Is Jesus God -- Yes, But Not the Father

Dan Corner

No One Should Believe Jesus Is The Father!

Both the Jehovah's Witnesses, who wrongly deny the deity of Christ, and the United Pentecostals (also known as Apostolics or Jesus Only), who affirm the deity of Christ, teach erroneously about the two separate personages of the Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus. The Jehovah's Witnesses misrepresent Christians who believe in the Trinity by saying that we teach Jesus is the Father; while the United Pentecostals will argue that Jesus is the Father meaning the Father and Son are the same person. Much doctrinal confusion, to say the least, has been created by these groups and their teachings. Yet, all along the bible answers in the affirmative the question Is Jesus God?

Two Separate Persons and Plurality

The word both indicates plurality and is found in Scripture distinguishing the Father from the Son:
Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 1:9)

If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. (John 15:24)

Again, Christians who correctly believe in the Trinity, do not believe Jesus is the Father though we do believe Jesus is deity like the Father is. Furthermore, the words we and our also indicate plurality between the Father and Son:
Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." (John 14:23)

This Is The Real Jesus Christ of Nazareth

That They May Be One as We Are One!

Christians are to be one as the Father and Son are one:
I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name - the name you gave me - so that they may be one as we are one. (John 17:11)

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: (John 17:22)

This refers to one in unity, not one in person. Jesus is not the Father.

Jesus Is God In The Flesh

Jesus Is The Father Myth Demolished

Jesus taught the following:
"But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." (John 8:16-19)
Two separate and distinct personages are shown in that passage when referring to Jesus and the Father, just like in the Old Testament passage, which the Lord referred to. In other words, they are two just like 1+1=2.

Did Jesus Pray to Himself?

Furthermore, Jesus prayed to the Father. This also shows he can't be the Father. If he was, then he prayed to himself, which is ludicrous:
Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." When he had said this, he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46)

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you." (John 17:1)

Did Jesus Send Himself?

If you believe Jesus is the person of the Father, then you are also going to have to believe that Jesus sent himself into this world:
What about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, "I am God's Son"? (John 10:36)

As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. (John 17:18)

That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:21)

I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:23)

Jesus is God and God's Unique, One-of-a-kind Son

The United Pentecostals will sometimes argue that a person can be both a father and a son (as well as a husband) and all at the same time. While this may be true on occasions in the natural, such a person is never a father, a son (and husband) to the same person. Furthermore, Jesus (the Word) is a separate person who was with the Father before he came to earth:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)

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

The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. (1 John 1:2)

The Lord Jesus later returned to the Father:
Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me." (John 7:33)
The Father and Son must be understood as being two separate persons to make sense out of all of the aforementioned Scriptures and the following ones, which show the same by the word and:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Pet 1:2)

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with us in truth and love. (2 John 1:3)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:2)

Hence, the Apostles Peter, John and Paul all believed the Father and Son are two separate persons and wrote in that way. Similarly, ponder the following important Scripture which, like many others, proves that salvation is conditional, as well as plurality between the Father and Son:
Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist - he denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he promised us - even eternal life. (1 John 2:22-25)
[Clearly, wrong doctrine can cause a Christian to lose his salvation. See also 1 Cor. 15:2; 2 John 9 and Gal. 5:2-4. This fact disproves another false doctrine (the heresy of eternal security).]

God [the Father] is Spirit, But Jesus Isn't

Referring to the Father, Jesus said:
God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
In contrast, Jesus said of himself:
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:39)
Therefore Jesus can't be the Father (who is spirit), since he has flesh and bones which a spirit does not have.

No One Has Heard or Seen the Father,
But Did Hear and See Jesus

Furthermore, no one has ever heard or seen the Father at any time, according to Jesus:
And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form. (John 5:37)
No sane person would deny that people both saw and heard Jesus teach, but Jesus said the same people never heard the Father and never saw his form. Again, we can only deduce Jesus cannot be the Father. Here are Scriptures to show people did see Jesus:
But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. (John 6:36)

Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." (John 20:29)

"Anyone Who Has Seen Me Has Seen The Father"

What did Jesus mean when he spoke the following? Should we believe Jesus is the Father from that?
Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (John 14:9)
Jesus was not saying he is the person of the Father. He isn't. Instead he said that in him we see how the Father would express himself under the same circumstances. Notice the following:
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Heb 1:3)
Jesus is the exact representation of his being, that is, Jesus is of the SAME NATURE as the Father - God.

Everlasting Father But Not Heavenly Father

Various titles describe the Lord Jesus, including Everlasting Father:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6)
The Hebrew says Jesus is the father of eternity, which is not the same as being the person of the Father. It is impossible for Jesus to be the person of the Heavenly Father, because of all of the aforementioned evidence and the following. Jesus is the Son, who was sent by the Father into the world to die for our sins and is now sitting to the right side of the Father (Heb. 1:3).

A similar contrast, which is easier to see, is between Abraham and the Heavenly Father. Abraham is called our father (Rom. 4:12) and the father of us all (Rom. 4:16), yet no one would think he is the Heavenly Father, who is called our father (Col. 1:2; etc.) and the father of all (Eph. 4:6). Each is called father with similar titles, yet they are clearly not the same person. Abraham is not the Heavenly Father and to reason that he is based on those titles is ludicrous.

The Term God Often Refers to the Person of the Father
Only, But Not Always

Another truth that will help many understand this plurality between the Father and Son as well as the deity of Christ is to know that the term God often refers only to the Father, but at other times to the Son and at other times to the Holy Spirit. This is shown in the following three verses respectively:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor 1:3)

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:27,28)

Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn't it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn't the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God." (Acts 5:3,4)

Jesus is NOT the Father, Who He Sits By

The ascended Lord Jesus is most often sitting at the right hand of the Father, but once he was seen standing at the Father's right hand:
"Look," he said, "I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." (Acts 7:56)
Stephen saw two personages when he was dying. Also, Jesus is shown elsewhere taking the scroll from God (the Father) who was sitting on the throne:
He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. (Rev 5:7)
All through the Scriptures we find evidence that Jesus is not the Father, but is deity (God by nature) like the Father. With all of this evidence about plurality between the Father and Son, how multitudes have been deceived about this is alarming to say the least. It seems once again that a creed or doctrinal confession has been the basis for one's personal belief rather than the Holy Scriptures. The truth is: Jesus is not the person of the Father, but he is deity like the Father. To believe Jesus is the Father is both irrational and unscriptural. Now you know how to answer, Is Jesus God in detail.

Jesus, YHWH Of The Old Testament
The Trinity
Information for Apostolics (Jesus Only or United Pentecostals)
Answering The Most Common Objections To The Deity Of Christ


OTHER TOPICS:

Skull And Crossbones Awards For False Prophets And False Teachers

Are You Saved At Baptism

Plan Of Salvation

What Is Calvinism

Former Roman Catholic

Will Not Inherit The Kingdom Of God

Evangelical Outreach Alphabetical Map

Contact Us Or Join Our Internet Church

Evangelical Outreach
PO Box 265
Washington, PA 15301

EvangelicalOutreach.org
EternalLifeBlog.com