Thank you for your concern for my soul; however, there is nothing in these arguments which I have not seen before. All of this kind of reasoning stems from the assumption that God can be only one kind of being. It assumes that God could not be a spirit in Heaven and a man on earth at the same time. This unnecessarily limits the power and resourcefulness of the Creator of the Universe.

 

Isa is God the Son become Man, and therefore the perfect Man. In this way he is able to show us what it means to be a human being with a perfect relationship to God the Father. That is why we see him constantly deferring to the Father with respect to knowledge and power. A human body cannot contain the entirety of God. That is to say, as a man, Isa could not be everywhere at once or have all knowledge physically present in his human body. This is part of the wonder of the Incarnation, that God was willing to step down from the privileges of Godhead. This is what Philippians 2:6-11 is about, where it says that Isa is “in very nature God” but “did not consider equality with God something to be held on to.” Instead he “humbled himself and became obedient to [the point of] death.” This is the Prince of Heaven putting aside the privileges of the palace to walk among the commoners, in order to “seek and to save that which was lost.” Because he humbled himself in this way he is able to be an example for us, and a comfort, because we know he really does understand what it is like to be a human being. Once this is understood, there seems nothing inconsistent between Isa’s submissive and subservient attitude with respect to God the Father. That fact that Isa acknowledges the supremacy of the Father while he the Son is on the Earth should come as no surprise. This is not an admission of inferiority of essence, but inferiority of state. According to the Apostle Paul, once he had done his work on earth, once he had died and come to life and ascended to the right hand of the Father,

 

“God (the Father) has exalted him to the highest place, and given him a name that is above very name that every tongue should confess that Isa the Messiah is Lord.” (Phil 2:9-12)

 

Isa also said “the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” – John 5:22,23. What mere prophet could say such a thing? It would be blasphemy!

 

Did Isa really claim to be the Son of God? While it is true that his favorite term for himself was “Son of Man,” he never denied that he was the Son of God. On the contrary, he affirmed that he was the Son of God on many occasions as I will show below.

 

The web page you sent me quotes Luke 4:11:

 "And the devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak; for they knew that he was Christ."

in an attempt to prove that Isa would not allow himself to be called this. However, this same verse gives the real reason he rebuked the spirits, and the phrase “Son of God” was not the problem. In fact, they were not saying anything that was not true. The problem was that they knew he was the Christ (that is, the Messiah), and for whatever reason he did not want this fact announced at this point. This was probably a matter of timing.  (Compare John 2:4 and John 7:6) Possibly he perceived that to be popularly acclaimed as Messiah too soon would jeopardize his mission. It is likely for the same reason that he told his disciples to keep this secret under their hats in the early stages of his ministry.

 

Does the fact that other people are called God’s son in the Bible prove that Isa is not unique? God can call anyone his “son,” by which it is meant that he will care for him as for a son,  but only Isa was born with the full character and essence of God. That is what it means to be “the only begotten son,” not that God the Father had physical relations with a woman.  Adam was “created in the image” of God but not born of the essence of God. Adam had no existence before his creation, but long before being born into flesh “in the fullness of time,” Isa was with God and was God from the beginning, the Creator of all things. (John 1:1-3)

 

Does Psalm 2:7 prove that Isa is not the “only begotten son?” Psalm 2 is a Messianic Psalm.  The phrase “Anointed One’ in verse two is the word “Messiah” in the Hebrew text. Although the Psalm may apply literally to David in a limited sense (as the LORD’s anointed for the time being), it ultimately looks forward to “the” Messiah who will ultimately take the throne forever. To the Christian of course, this Messiah is Isa (The very word “Christ” comes the Greek word for Anointed). Isa did not deny he was this Messiah. When Peter called Isa Messiah the Son of the Living God in Matthew 16:16, Isa said did not deny it, but told him his (Isa’s) Father in Heaven had revealed it to him, plainly confirming that this statement was true. (See John 4:25 and 26 and Matthew 11:2-6 for further confirmation from Isa himself that he is the promised Messiah)

 

 

The statement from the web page that “The Bible confirms that Jesus is not the unique son of God.” Is clearly untrue. The Bible confirms the opposite.

Isa himself claimed to be the Only Begotten (or Unique) Son of God in John 3:16. Of the many other times he is referred to as Son of God it is always “the Son of God” not “a Son of God,” implying a unique sort of sonship.  In John 3 verses 17 and 18 Isa again refers to himself as the Son of God. The Gospel of Mark refers to him as the Son of God in the very first verse. According to Mark 1:11, a voice out of Heaven proclaimed Isa his Son. (See also Luke 3:22) In Luke 1:32, he is called “the Son of the Most High.”  John the Baptist testified that Isa was the Son of God in John 1:34. When he came to his disciples walking on the water, they said “truly you are the Son of God” and he did not rebuke them. Matthew 14:33. Martha made a similar confession in John 11:27.

 

In John 5:18, the Jews are ready to stone Isa because he has called God his Father, making himself equal with God.

 

In John 5:25, Isa refers to himself as the Son of God with the power to raise the dead.  In verse 5:27 he equates the Son of God with the Son of Man, the ultimate judge. Isa calls himself the Son of God again in John 10:36 and John 11:4.

 

At his own trial he was asked point blank: “Are you the Son of God?” and he confirmed that this was true. – Luke 22:70

 

Near the end of his gospel John states, “These things are written that you may believe that Isa is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” – John 20:31.

What does he mean by Son of God? Does he mean it only in the sense that all mankind is the Son of God? Does he mean that as a Jew he is a Son of God? As I pointed out earlier, the repeated use of the definite article “the” shows that a unique form of sonship is intended. Others may be called “sons of God” but only Isa is “The Son of God.”

Isa  repeatedly refers to God as “My Father” and “Your Father” but never “Our Father,” implying he sees the relationship as distinct. He clearly defines the relationship as unique in Matthew 11:27.

Besides the claim to be “The Son of God,” Isa made many grand claims which were more appropriate for God than for a mere prophet. They would border on blasphemy if not true. For example:

 

Isa  claimed to have existed before his own birth and before the beginning of the world:

 

 

 “before Abraham was born, I am” – John 8:56

 

“Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” John 17:5:

 

“I came from the Father and entered the world” John 16:28.

 

He claimed authority to forgive sins. Matthew 9:6, Luke 7:48.

 

He claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath. Matthew 12:8.

 

He claimed to be greater than Solomon. Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31

 

He claimed to have come down from Heaven. John 6:38, John 8:23

 

He claimed (repeatedly) to be the one who would raise the dead at the last day.  John 6:39, John 6:45, 6:54

 

He repeatedly emphasized the importance of believing in him. E.g., John 3:15-18, John 7:37, John 8:24, John 10:9, 16. John 11:25, John 12:44, John 20:29. If he were a mere prophet he would emphasize believing in God.

 

There are so many passages which show clearly that Isa believed himself to be equal with God that we must assume that we must look harder at those few that appear on the surface to be contrary to this fact. Opponents of the deity of Isa are especially fond of quoting Mark 10:18:

 

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

On the surface this it may seem that Isa is rebuking the man for calling him good, since only God is good, but that is jumping to a conclusion. Isa is not saying here that he is not God or even that he is not good. He is only challenging the man to consider the meaning of what he has said.

This same story also appears in Matthew 19:18, but there the question is worded “Why do you ask me about what is good?” This wording completely eliminates the implication that Isa was challenging the man for calling him good. The issue is not that he has said anything inaccurate or blasphemous, but that he has failed to appreciate what “good” really means.

 

The young man who asked the original question “What good thing must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16) seems to have thought that Isa’s goodness was something he could imitate and gain eternal life. Isa forced the man to recognize that only God is truly and completely good, and such goodness cannot be attained by human effort. As far as good deeds are concerned, this man had a good report card by human standards, or at least in his own eyes. Isa listed six of the ten commandments, and the man claimed to have kept them all since childhood, but when called upon to give up all his wealth and follow Isa, he could not do it. After this incident Isa told his disciples that it is impossible for man to be saved by his own efforts, but that for God, anything was possible (Matthew 19:25-26). That is what the Gospel is all about.  We are saved by the grace of God, and not through our own efforts. (Ephesians. 2:8-9)

 

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