Surveys of Evangelical belief ought to be straightforward, but Ligonier’s State of Theology research has uncovered a consistent pattern of error and confusion over recent years. The following answers are from those who profess profess core evangelical beliefs about the Bible and salvation in the USA. 62% claim to believe the heresy that “Jesus is the first and greatest being created by God”. 30% also agree “Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God” with a further 8% unable to reject it absolutely. Other worrying trends are that evangelicals are evenly divided in response to “Everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature”. Similar results were found in a survey of UK evangelicals in 2018. If this is even remotely accurate it reveals at the very least catastrophic confusion about core doctrine. Clear teaching cannot be taken for granted. We need to remind ourselves often of the glorious deity of the Lord Jesus Christ and just why it matters so much.
This not a matter of mere theological interest for those who study such matters. It is a matter of eternal life and death; it concerns our salvation. Why indeed is it so important? This is a question that the Larger Catechism asks (Q38). “Why was it requisite that the Mediator should be God?” The answer is very full, it shows that our salvation depends on it entirely. “It was requisite that the Mediator should be God, that he might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under the infinite wrath of God, and the power of death; give worth and efficacy to his sufferings, obedience, and intercession; and to satisfy God’s justice, procure his favour, purchase a peculiar [special] people, give his Spirit to them, conquer all their enemies, and bring them to everlasting salvation”.
How do we know that Christ is God and how does it affect us? It affects the faith, worship and obedience we owe to God. Knowing and believing that Christ is God are the two vital matters that Francis Cheynell (a member of the Westminster Assembly) helps us to do that in this updated extract. We need first of all to establish clearly from Scripture that the Lord Jesus is truly and eternally God, equal with the Father and Holy Spirit.
1. CHRIST HAS THE SAME NATURE AS THE FATHER
Jesus Christ is over all God blessed forever (Romans 9:5). God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). The blessed and only Potentate, who only has immortality etc and to whom everlasting honour and power are ascribed (1 Timothy 6:16). He is the great God (Titus 2:13). The true God (1 John 5:20).
Which of the saints or angels did God at any time call: my Son, the heir of all things, the illustrious brightness of my glory, and the express image of my person? His throne as God is forever and ever, and all the angels of God worship Him (see Hebrews 1:3-13). These things are so clear and plain, that I am even almost ashamed to write more in arguing this case. Yet I am encouraged and even provoked to proceed. Jesus Christ was the Wonderful Child; a Child, and yet a Father, the Father of Eternity; a Child, and yet a Counsellor, the wisest of all Counsellors, for he is Wisdom itself; a Child, and yet a God, a mighty God (Isaiah 9:6).
The same Godhead subsists in the Lord Jesus, who is equal to the Father because He subsists in the nature of God (Philippians 2:6). The word translated “being” or “existing” in Philippians 2:6 could be best rendered by “subsisting”. This is because there is a comparison there between two subsistences or persons, the Father and the Son. The Son counts it no robbery to be equal with the Father because He subsists in the nature of God.
He has the same Divine nature, the same Godhead with the Father and “all the fullness of the Godhead” dwells truly, really, bodily in the Son (Colossians 2:9). Body is the opposite of shadow, so it might be rendered: the Godhead dwells personally in the Son and is often translated as person. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells really in the subsistence or person of the Son. Christ is the illustrious brightness of His Father’s glory, the express living image or character of His Father’s subsistence or person (Hebrews 1:3). Christ is not the character of His own subsistence, but His Father’s subsistence. The Son, therefore, has a special subsistence distinct from the subsistence of His Father. Christ is the express image of His Father’s person, and therefore the person of the Son is distinct from the person of the Father; for no person is the image or character of itself.
2. CHRIST IS ETERNAL
The Godhead subsists in Jesus Christ, who was before the beginning (John 1:1). The word “was” indicates what is past. Therefore, He had His being before the beginning of time. It is clear that His eternal being is a divine being both because it is eternal and because it is not only said that He was with God before the beginning, but He was God. It clearly follows that Jesus Christ is the same eternal God with His Father; for it is impossible that there should be more than one God.
3. CHRIST IS JEHOVAH
Jehovah is a title unique and special to God (Isaiah 43:11-12). Jehovah is the only Saviour, the only God. His name alone is Jehovah, the Most High over all the earth (Psalm 83:18). But the Lord Christ is Jehovah, and therefore the Lord Christ is God. Jehovah sits on a throne in majesty and glory (Isaiah 6.:1, 3, 5, 8) but the Lord Christ is this Jehovah, as the apostle, assures us (John 12:41-42). The Lord Christ is that Jehovah to whom every knee must bow; as appears by comparing Isaiah 45:21-25 with Romans 14:9-12 and Philippians 2:6, 9-11.
The same is clear by comparing Psalm 102:19, 22, 25-26 with Hebrews 1:10-12. Once more, compare also Numbers 14:26-27 with 1 Corinthians 10:9-10 and Numbers 21:6. Thus, Christ is so gloriously described in Revelation 1:5-8 as Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, which is which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. And therefore, He is Jehovah. For the apostle there and to the end of that chapter uses these and similar expressions which comprise the sense and meaning of that divine and glorious title of Jehovah.
I might further argue this by showing that the title of Lord so often given to Christ in the New Testament corresponds with the title of Jehovah in the Old Testament. The apostles most likely purposely used the title of Lord, not to offend the Jews with frequently pronouncing the word Jehovah. The word Jehovah in Deuteronomy 6:13 and Deuteronomy 10:20 is rendered Lord when the verse is quoted in Matthew 4:10 (compare also Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:37).
4. CHRIST IS GOD WITH US
Jesus Christ is Immanuel, God with us (Matthew 1:23). He is that God who took flesh and blood (1 Timothy 3:16) and that God who redeemed the Church with His own blood (Acts 20:28). The Early Church Fathers frequently pointed to John 16:15 compared with John 10. 30 and John 10. 37. From this, they concluded that Christ has the same divine nature and Godhead with the Father. Both have the same divine and essential titles and attributes and perform the same inward operations in reference to all creatures. They inferred from this that it was reasonable to use the word “consubstantial” [that the Father and Son share the same divine substance]. Even though the word is not in Scripture, the sense and meaning are. It is orthodox and scriptural because it is evidently deduced from these verses and others previously cited. I will add one more to make it even clearer: compare John 17:10 with John 16:15. Whatever belongs to the Father as God, belongs to Christ (in terms of essential rather than personal properties).
For the clearer demonstration of this truth, let us now come down to specific matters. The attributes of God; the works of God and the worship of God are all ascribed and given to Jesus Christ. This is so that we may confess and acknowledge Him to be God, the true God, the mighty God, the self-same only God with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
5. CHRIST HAS THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
(a) Christ is Eternal
“In the beginning, was the Word” (John 1:1). The word “was” denotes some former duration. Therefore, we conclude that He was before the beginning, before any creation or creature. It is said that He was God in the beginning and His divine nature by which He works is eternal (Hebrews 9:14). He is the First and Last (Revelation 1:17). He is called the first-born of every creature, because He who created all and upholds all, has the power to command and dispose of all (Colossians 1:15-17). This is just as the first-born had the power to command the family or kingdom (compare Isaiah 44:6with Revelation 22:13 and Proverbs 8:22-23)
(b) Christ is All-Powerful
He is able to subdue all things to Himself (Philippians 3:21). He is called the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). He is the Almighty (Revelation 1: 8). He made all things (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17; Psalm 102:26 compared with Hebrews 1:8-10 and John 1:10. He upholds all things (Hebrews 1:3; Colossians 1:17).
(c) Christ is Unchangeable
See Hebrews 1:12, a quotation from Psalm 102:26-27.
(d) Christ is All-Knowing
He knows what is in the heart (John 2:25). He is the searcher of hearts (Revelation 2:23). He knows all things (John 21:17). He is the wisdom of the Father (1 Corinthians 1:24). He knows the Father of Himself (Matthew 11:27) and according to His own will reveals the secrets of His Father’s bosom as the Word. All the treasures of wisdom are in Him (Colossians 2:3).
(e) Christ is Infinite
He is not contained in any place, He was before there was any place, and created all places by His own power (John 1:1, 3). While He was on earth in respect of His bodily presence, He was in the bosom of the Father – which must be understood of his Divine Nature and Person (John 1:18). He came down from heaven yet remained in heaven (John 3:13).
6. CHRIST DOES THE WORK OF GOD
Christ performs the works of God, those divine and supernatural works that are special and unique to Him. Those such as none but God can perform. He raised the dead by His own power at His own will (John 5:21, 28-29; John 11:25). He is called the resurrection and the life because He is the author of both. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise (John 5:17, 19). He wrought miracles, He has the same Nature and power with the Father, and therefore does the same works. He regenerates our Souls, pardons our sins, saves our souls. He has appeased the wrath, and satisfied the justice of God, by His divine mediation. He gives temporal, spiritual, eternal life (2 Corinthians 5:17; John 6:38, 40).
7. CHRIST RECEIVES DIVINE HONOR
(a) All the glorious angels are commanded to worship Him (Hebrews 1:6).
(b) All true Christians are described by calling on and believing in the name of Christ (Acts 9:14; John 1:12).
(c) All are obliged to give the same honour to Christ which they are required to give to God the Father (John 5:23).
(d) There are many examples of this being done in Scripture which confirms these commands (Acts 7:59-60; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Revelation 22:20).
(e) Baptism is administered in the name and to the honor of Christ (Matthew 28:17-20).
(f) At the Day of Judgment, every knee must bow to Him and acknowledge Him to be equal to His Father (Isaiah 45:21-25 compared with Romans 14:10-12 and Philippians 2:6, 9-11).
(g) All that are justified believe in Him and those who believe in Him shall not be ashamed (Romans 3:25-26; 1 Peter 2:6-7).
(h) The apostolic benediction so often repeated in the epistles includes the Lord Jesus Christ in a divine blessing.
Because God is true, He will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11), and He because He is just He cannot do so either. Though Christ is a distinct person from His Father, He is not a distinct God but one and the same God with Him, God blessed forever.
8. WE MUST BELIEVE IN CHRIST AS GOD
God the Son is the object of our faith (John 14:1). The whole gospel was written for this purpose, that we might be persuaded to believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God (John 20:31). Believing this is necessary and effectual to salvation (John 20:31; 1 John 5:11-13; 1 John 5:20). We are to believe in Christ as a Mediator, that our faith and hope may be settled in God (1 Peter 1:21).
The great encouragement to believe in Christ as an all-sufficient Mediator is this, Jesus Christ is the natural Son of God. If Christ presents us to His Father, we are confident that the Son of God, His only begotten Son will prevail with His Father for us. His relation to God assures us that the intercession of our High-Priest will be irresistible and undeniable (Hebrews 5:5-6; Psalm 110:1, 4; Psalm 2:2,7-8; Hebrews 7:25, 28). All the offices of Christ are based on His Sonship. His kingly power (Psalm 2:6-7); His prophetic office (Matthew 17:5) and His priestly office (Galatians 2:20).
We must believe in Christ as God, the self-same God with the Father. When we know Christ to be God, we must glorify Him as God by believing in Him. When Peter preached to Cornelius, he told them that Jesus Christ was Lord of all (Acts 10:36), judge of all (Acts 10:42) and that all the prophets gave witness to Him. Also that through His name, whoever believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43).
We must abide in the doctrine of Christ (2 John 9). Every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:11). The Father is glorified in the Son (John 14:13). The Son is to be glorified in all them whom the Father has given Him (John 17:10). And Christ is to be glorified by their believing in Him (John 17:23). And the Father Himself loves them because they believe in the Son (John 16:27). If we do not honour the Son, we do not honour the Father (John 5:23). There is also the great mystery of uniting the soul to Christ by Faith (Ephesians 5:32) and making of it one Spirit with the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:17).
CONCLUSION
These truths are not mere items of information. They are food for faith to feed on, they are reasons for love to wonder and adore, they are encouragements to persevere in obedience and dependence on Christ. A failure to teach people clearly the core truths of Christ robs them of the fulness of these things and means that they are not learning Christ as they are meant to. Cheynell gives us a final way to apply these truths.
We may then look upon the Son, admire and bless the Father, look upon the Father and bless the Son, look upon Father and Son and bless the Spirit, look upon all three, admire and bless, adore and love, know, believe and obey all three coequal persons, subsisting in the same most single Godhead, and have access to the Father through the Son, and by the Spirit with reverence and confidence, zeal and love.
Note: the Ligonier survey results can be found at https://thestateoftheology.com/
