THE DEITY OF CHRIST
“BEHOLD, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14). The divinity of Jesus Christ is the root and groundwork of the plan of salvation. That He was the Son of God is the foundation of our faith; yet this is the question that is being much disputed in the religious world today.
There are numerous religious cults which deny the divinity of Jesus Christ and declare that He was only a man. It is of vital interest to everyone who expects to reach the Kingdom of heaven to know whether the Bible supports this belief or not. “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son” (II John 9).
The words of Jesus regarding Himself are these: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58); and in His prayer (John 17:5,24), “And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.” “Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world.” The woman at the well said to Jesus, “I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ.” Jesus said unto her, “I that speak unto thee am He” (John 4:25, 26).
All Christians determine the spirit of truth and the spirit of error by the Word of God. Any doctrine which is contrary to the Word of God is not of God, and should therefore be avoided. (Read Romans 16:17, 18). Modern theology, which is being embraced by a great many ministers of the present day, strictly denies the divinity of Jesus Christ, saying that He was merely a man, though they admit Him to be the world’s greatest ethical teacher, and say that His miracles are merely legendary exaggerations of events that are entirely explicable from natural causes.
On the 14th day of April, 1916, in the City of New York, the Presbytery came together in a great convention and decided on a vote, sixty-three to two, that the virgin birth was untrue, rejected the raising of Lazarus, the account of Jonah and the whale, and the divinity of the Son of God. Such a damnable apostasy on the part of those who profess to be teachers of Christianity is a marked warning that we are living in the last days.
These are perilous times, days of infidelity, when those who stand behind the sacred desk deny the deity of Jesus, the authority of His Word and the power of His Blood, and in so doing cut themselves off from eternal life and prevent many others from entering who would otherwise believe and be saved.
Paul the Apostle foresaw such a condition. In 2 Tim. 3:1-5 we read: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” He gave a solemn charge (II Tim. 4:1-4): “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
Your salvation depends upon your faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ (I John 5:1): “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God.” “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also” (1 John 2:22, 23).
It is necessary to believe all the teachings of the Word of God (Rev 22:19): “If any man shall take away from the words of the Book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this Book.” “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (I Cor. 3:11).
There are multitudes today who are weighed in the balances and found wanting because they discounted God’s eternal Word. If you would be justified before God, and free from the power and dominion of sin, you must believe in Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God.
“And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son: hear Him” (Luke 9:35).
BACK TO THE BIBLE
How can anyone dare question the Word of God? It is time to get back to the old Bible. It is no time to speculate, no time to launch some new and unscriptural fancy. It is time to get back to the principles of salvation, the old-time religion, and feel the power of God’s remedy for sin flowing through the soul.
Knowing that the Bible is the Word of God, it is our duty positively to accept its every teaching, its every statement, as proceeding out of the mouth of God. The Scriptures are declared to be God-inspired (II Tim. 3:16), and have stood the attack of infidels down the ages and to the present day.
Study the Bible; study it as no other book, but as it is plainly declared to be – the Word of God. It is to be reverenced and obeyed above all the teachings and doctrines of men. It is our compass and guide, and obedience to its commandments our plain duty and hope of salvation. It matters not where you may open the Bible, if you give your mind to the words, God will talk to your heart. Through it, God is speaking directly to you. Absolutely rely upon every promise, meditate upon its precepts daily, and never depart from it (Prov. 3:1-6; Joshua 1:8; Rev.22:18, 19).
The Bible stands apart from all other books in the world. The eternal God is its Author. The man who believes a part of it must believe it all. The Bible is the revelation of the mind and will and character of the infinitely great, perfectly wise, and absolutely holy God. Men have burned the Bible and spent their lives trying to destroy it; but it shines today brighter than all the intellects of the world. It has stood the test of ages, and today is circulated in greater numbers than any other book. It is the only Book that brings peace, rest, and salvation to the soul. It is the Book by which all will be judged at the great Judgment Day.