On the Deity of Christ: A Response to INC Cult

This was written by Edizen (Taglish) in Christian Evangelism & Apologetics Facebook group.

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POINT #1 – HINDI NAMIN DIYOS ANG ATING PANGINOONG JESUCRISTO SAPAGKAT WALA PONG SINASABI SA BIBLIA NA SINABI NIYA NA SIYA AY DIYOS.

Response:

I agree na walang exact words na makikita sa Bible na sinabi ni Jesus that He is God, but just because hindi Niya ito sinabi, using the exact words “I am God, ay hindi na Siya Diyos. Why? Because the Scripture testifies that Jesus is God. The Apostle John writes,

In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. (John 1:1-2)

Sa mismong simula pa lamang ng libro ay sinasabi na ni John na Diyos si Jesus. And in verse 14, of the same book, we see that the Word became flesh.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

The Word who was in the beginning, the Word who was with God, the Word who was God, became flesh and dwelt among the Jews and Gentiles, and that is in the person of Jesus Christ! We can also see this truth in Philippians 2,

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

The Word(God) became flesh, took the form of a servant, born in the likeness of men, found in human form. Who is this? It’s Jesus Christ! Going back to the first chapter of the book of John, after writing that the Word(Jesus) was God, that He(Jesus) was in the beginning with God, we then see that all things were made through Him(Jesus).

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)

The Apostle Paul complements this truth in his letter to the Colossian Church. He writes,

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. (Colossians 1:16)

If Jesus is not God and is just a created being, how can a finite being be the source of everything in the universe? Unless, He is who He is what the Scripture says and the Scripture says this, “Jesus is God and by Him all things were created and through Him all things were created and for Him all things were created.”, it is an undeniable truth that Jesus is God.

POINT #2 – NGUNIT MAYROON SIYANG IPINAKILALA NA IISANG DIYOS NA DAPAT NATING KILALANIN AYON KAY CRISTO MISMO.

Response:
Sure, but it is not only the Father that we should know but also Jesus Christ whom He sent. Why? Because Jesus is God and in Him is eternal life.

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:7)

And also,

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

POINT #3 – ANG AMA LAMANG ANG IISANG DIYOS NA TUNAY(JOHN 17:1,3)

Response:

Is this true? Yun nga ba ang nakasulat sa text? Tignan natin.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17: 1, 3)

In verse 3, it appears na parang ganun nga ang nasusulat but before I refute INC’s interpretation of John 17, I would like to clear up some things. Take note, in verse 1, Jesus said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,”. In the Old Testament, the Prophet Isaiah writes,

I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. (Isaiah 42:8) 

And also,

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. (Isaiah 48:11)

It is clear sa passages in Isaiah that God never gives His glory to another yet in John 17, sinabi ni Jesus to the Father, nai-glorify ng Father si Jesus para i-glorify ni Jesus ang Father. If the Father is the only true God and Jesus is not God, and it is written that God will not give His glory to another, what Jesus said to the Father is blasphemy and is punishable by death. The Father should have killed Jesus right away after saying that, but we see in the Scripture that the Father didn’t do anything to Jesus. So, how do we explain this? I will give you three options but only one is correct:

1. Did God let Jesus sin against Him and just let it be?
2. Did God contradict Himself?
3. Jesus is God.

Let’s try the first option, did God let Jesus blaspheme against Him and just let it be? Nope. The Scripture says,

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. (1 Peter 2:22)

So, if Jesus committed no sin, then Jesus didn’t blaspheme against God. And if there’s no deceit found in His mouth, then what Jesus said to the Father is true, that the Father glorify the Son. The first option is wrong. Let’s now proceed to the second option, if the Father is the only true God and Jesus is not God yet The Father glorify the Son, and if the Scripture says that God will not give His glory to another, did God contradict Himself? Absolutely…not. God will never contradict Himself. For the Scripture says,

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? (Numbers 23:19)

When God says something, He really does it. And He says He will not give His glory to another, He really does it, and will never change His mind because God is immutable. The Scripture says,

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6)

And also,

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)

And also,

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

The second option is wrong. Obviously, the correct option would be the last one, that Jesus is God. How? If Jesus is God, then God cannot sin against Himself. If Jesus is God, then God cannot contradict Himself. The Father shares His glory to the Son. God shares His glory to Himself. To understand what Jesus is saying in verse 1, let’s keep on reading John 17 and in verse 5, Jesus says,

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (John 17:5)

Jesus was saying that the Father glorify Him with the glory that He had before the world existed, before He took on flesh, and that He will also glorify the Father after the Father glorify the Son. It is also clear in this verse that Jesus existed before the world was even created. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is God, the Word who became flesh.

THE ARGUMENT OF INC IN JOHN 17:

1 – “John 17:3 says that the Father is the only true God.”.

Response:
If the Father is the only true God, then what about Jesus? It is undeniable that it is written in the Bible that Jesus is God, and He is also the only God just like the Father. And it is written:

No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. (John 1:18)

Jesus, who is at the Father’s side, is referred to as the only God by the Apostle John. Remember, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus is God.

2 – “Wait, if Jesus is the only God and the Father is also the only God then it is contradicting the Scripture, for it is written in Deuteronomy 6:4 that God is one and you are saying that there are two Gods in the Bible.”

Response:

That is a strawman to my position because I also believe that God is one. The only difference, between your view(Unitarianism) and my view(Trinitarianism), is that you believe that the Father is the only true God and that plainly contradicts Scripture because Jesus is also God. But in my view, the being of God is shared by three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Jesus and the Father were never identified as two separate being but Jesus and the Father are one. Jesus says this,

I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30)1

Jesus, the Son of God, and the Father are one. One in being, different in terms of person, but one. In this verse, Jesus claimed to be God by saying He is one with the Father. The Jews who were there with Him knew exactly what He was saying, for they were ready to stone Him for what He said.

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:31-33)

The Jews thought Jesus was just a man, just like what the INC is saying. But we know that when Jesus said that, it was the truth. For it is written,

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. (1 Peter 2:22)

Jesus didn’t commit blasphemy, nor was deceit found in His mouth. Jesus is God. We also see the oneness of the Father and Jesus, in terms of being, in the fifth chapter of the first letter of John:

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)

In this verse, John says that the Son of God came and given us understanding, so that we may know Him(the Father) who is true, and that we are in Him(?) who is true, who is that “Him”? If we continue reading, we see that it is Jesus Christ. The Son of God came, gave us understanding, so that we may know the Father who is true, and that we are in Jesus Christ who is true. The Apostle John then writes that the “Him” is the true God and eternal life, which is both Jesus Christ and the Father. Jesus is one with the Father and is God.

POINT #4 – IPINAKILALA DIN NG PANGINOONG JESUCRISTO NA AMA NIYA ANG AMA, KANIYANG DIYOS AT ATING DIYOS. HINDI NIYA SINABI NA SIYA RIN AY DIYOS. (JOHN 20:17)

Response:

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17)

Sure, the Lord Jesus Christ did say that the Father is His Father and our Father, His God and our God. This verse doesn’t really refute the Trinitarian view but actually refutes the Unitarian view. How? Because the Father also says the same thing to the Son,

But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” (Hebrews 1:8)

If you hold the Unitarian view, this verse in Hebrews would not make sense because the only true God, who is the Father, calls Jesus, “God”, when Jesus is only a man. In the Trinitarian view, if God calls Himself God, we actually don’t have a problem with that, because we know that God is one and exists eternally in three, co-equal persons: the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

SOLI DEO GLORIA

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¹According to James White, The single most popular passage cited in defense of modalism, however, is one that is often cited in defense of the deity of Christ: “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). In this context, the assertion would be that the Father and the Son are one person. Yet this is not what the passage says at all. In fact, the simple citation of the passage, without due regard to its context and meaning, neither proves the modalistic viewpoint nor the deity of Christ! Its witness to the truth about Christ comes from the context, which is most often ignored. Literally, the passage reads, “I and the Father, we are one.” The verb translated “are” is plural in the Greek. Jesus is not saying, “I am the Father.” The distinction between the Son and the Father remains even in the verb He uses. And in context, He is making specific reference to the oneness He shares with the Father in the redemption of His sheep… (James White, The Forgotten Trinity, ch. 11)