FOR THOSE WHO SAY THAT CHRIST IS NOT GOD.
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Not knowing Christ as God won't be one of them to which I have to answer as He has revealed Himself to me. That being said, all my sins are under His blood; Romans 4:8.
It is not about trading places with another human, you have that all wrong. This isn't about out running your buddy when being chased by a grizzly.
It is whether or not you know Christ, better yet, that He knows you, and that you, from Him knowing you, know He is God, and that in this knowledge you see how very wretched and miserable you are.
Yet your false teachings and attitude toward others paint a different story than this. So, don't worry about not wanting to trade places with me. It is your own self that should give you the most worries, not others.
And then after that? It is ultimately Christ who should worry you the most in said state.
It is not about trading places with another human, you have that all wrong. This isn't about out running your buddy when being chased by a grizzly.
It is whether or not you know Christ, better yet, that He knows you, and that you, from Him knowing you, know He is God, and that in this knowledge you see how very wretched and miserable you are.
Yet your false teachings and attitude toward others paint a different story than this. So, don't worry about not wanting to trade places with me. It is your own self that should give you the most worries, not others.
And then after that? It is ultimately Christ who should worry you the most in said state.
@Trofimus - Jesus uses the sacred name of God, or YHVH, which is "I am." Except it is not "I am" in Greek, but "I, I am" “ἐγώ ἐιμί!"
John in his gospel refutes these early heretics,and the Jews, with his 7 “I am” statements!
“I am the bread of life” John 6:35
“I am the light of the world.” John 8:12
“I am the door” John 10:9
“I am the Good Shepherd” John 10:11
“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
“I am the way, the truth and the life” John 14:6
“I am the true vine, my Father is the vinedresser” John 15:1
Now, while these are all expressive and interesting word pictures, but how do they prove the deity of Christ?
For example, looking at the first one more closely. John 6:35, for example says "Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς·" "I am the bread of life." But please notice, he does not say Eimi, which would be the normal way to say "I am" in the rest of the Bible. Jesus specifically uses the sacred name of God, to refer TO HIMSELF.
Unfortunately, the Greek wording does not come out in any English translation that I am aware of. But the Greek is very important. The way to say, “I am” in Greek is εἰμί or eimi. Indeed, in each of the 7 “I am” verses I listed just a minute ago, the word “I” or ἐγώ” or ego is also included. Thus, in all 7 of these “I am” statements, John actually says, “ἐγώ ἐιμί” οr “I, I am.” So again, that is “ἐγώ ἐιμί.” Or just think “I, I am!” But even that is not enough to explain why these statements, among others, made the Pharisees and the scribes so angry, that they tried to stone Jesus for making himself equal with God.
We have to look back to the Old Testament to find the full reason. In Exodus 3:14 Moses asks God whom he is to say sent him to Pharaoh. YHWH gives his sacred name.
“God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Ex. 3:14.
In Hebrew, “I am” is the tetrgram YHWH, or as some transliterate into English, Yahweh. A few hundred years before the time of Christ, Alexander the Great, when he ruled the known world, started a rigorous program of Hellenization (or making everyone into Hellenes or Greeks,) The Jews started were losing their Hebrew. So in Egypt, an ambitious project to translate the OT into Greek was started, for the Hellenized Jews, and completed around 300 years before the time of Christ.
So how do you think this Old Testament, which was called the Septuagint or LXX (After the 70 or 72 translators who translated the Hebrew into Greek), which Jesus and the disciples also used, translated “YHWH or יְהֹוָה ? In Greek, Exodus 3:14 was ἐγω ἐιμί. Repeat that ἐγω ἐιμί! The sacred name of God was translated as “I am” in exactly the same way John wrote that Jesus called himself at least 7 times, in the above statements. The Jehovah's witnesses translate "ego eimi," into the word Jehovah! But the Jews, before Christ, they translated YHWH into Greek using the words ἐγώ ἐιμί. in Exodus 3:14. I think they knew what they were talking about, and certainly Jesus knew what he was talking about, when he called himself the same name as God! And that is why the Jews were so angry with him they tried to stone him. He was calling himself God. He said before Abraham was ἐγώ ἐιμί or "I, I am." And then in his teaching he repeated the fact in his parables and metaphors that he was God. Because he said "ἐγώ ἐιμί" or "I, I am" or YHWH!"
It doesn't get any clearer than that!
John in his gospel refutes these early heretics,and the Jews, with his 7 “I am” statements!
“I am the bread of life” John 6:35
“I am the light of the world.” John 8:12
“I am the door” John 10:9
“I am the Good Shepherd” John 10:11
“I am the resurrection and the life.” John 11:25
“I am the way, the truth and the life” John 14:6
“I am the true vine, my Father is the vinedresser” John 15:1
Now, while these are all expressive and interesting word pictures, but how do they prove the deity of Christ?
For example, looking at the first one more closely. John 6:35, for example says "Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς·" "I am the bread of life." But please notice, he does not say Eimi, which would be the normal way to say "I am" in the rest of the Bible. Jesus specifically uses the sacred name of God, to refer TO HIMSELF.
Unfortunately, the Greek wording does not come out in any English translation that I am aware of. But the Greek is very important. The way to say, “I am” in Greek is εἰμί or eimi. Indeed, in each of the 7 “I am” verses I listed just a minute ago, the word “I” or ἐγώ” or ego is also included. Thus, in all 7 of these “I am” statements, John actually says, “ἐγώ ἐιμί” οr “I, I am.” So again, that is “ἐγώ ἐιμί.” Or just think “I, I am!” But even that is not enough to explain why these statements, among others, made the Pharisees and the scribes so angry, that they tried to stone Jesus for making himself equal with God.
We have to look back to the Old Testament to find the full reason. In Exodus 3:14 Moses asks God whom he is to say sent him to Pharaoh. YHWH gives his sacred name.
“God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Ex. 3:14.
In Hebrew, “I am” is the tetrgram YHWH, or as some transliterate into English, Yahweh. A few hundred years before the time of Christ, Alexander the Great, when he ruled the known world, started a rigorous program of Hellenization (or making everyone into Hellenes or Greeks,) The Jews started were losing their Hebrew. So in Egypt, an ambitious project to translate the OT into Greek was started, for the Hellenized Jews, and completed around 300 years before the time of Christ.
So how do you think this Old Testament, which was called the Septuagint or LXX (After the 70 or 72 translators who translated the Hebrew into Greek), which Jesus and the disciples also used, translated “YHWH or יְהֹוָה ? In Greek, Exodus 3:14 was ἐγω ἐιμί. Repeat that ἐγω ἐιμί! The sacred name of God was translated as “I am” in exactly the same way John wrote that Jesus called himself at least 7 times, in the above statements. The Jehovah's witnesses translate "ego eimi," into the word Jehovah! But the Jews, before Christ, they translated YHWH into Greek using the words ἐγώ ἐιμί. in Exodus 3:14. I think they knew what they were talking about, and certainly Jesus knew what he was talking about, when he called himself the same name as God! And that is why the Jews were so angry with him they tried to stone him. He was calling himself God. He said before Abraham was ἐγώ ἐιμί or "I, I am." And then in his teaching he repeated the fact in his parables and metaphors that he was God. Because he said "ἐγώ ἐιμί" or "I, I am" or YHWH!"
It doesn't get any clearer than that!
It is very simple what and who I believe is Jesus the Christ the Son of the living God.
I found it right here in the bible.
Matthew
Chapter 16
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist:
some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them,
But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
I found it right here in the bible.
Matthew
Chapter 16
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist:
some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them,
But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
And now, going even deeper into Greek, we need to look at the Granville Sharp Rule. It proves that Jesus is God. Because in in verses like 2 Peter 1:1, in Greek, the AND or kai, is epexegetical, NOT copulative.
In simple English, the AND or kai, is NOT adding another person, but rather, describing the same person as before the kai. This is called the Granville Sharp rule. It doesn't matter the name, what matters is the Greek. There are elaborate rules in Greek, which do not come through in English. But, in Greek, 2 Peter clearly says that Jesus is "our God and Saviour."
"Συμεὼν Πέτρος δοῦλος καὶ ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῖς ἰσότιμον ἡμῖν λαχοῦσιν πίστιν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ·" 2 Peter 1:1
"To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:" 2 Peter 1:1 ESV
Basically the rule states:
When you have an article, "ὁ" "the" "τοῦ" which the article in the masculine genitive singular, and it is followed by a substantive (noun, pronoun, particle, participle) and then kai and another substantive, the two substantives refer to the same person.
τοῦ θεοῦ (ἡμῶν) καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
article substantive and substantive = name, Jesus Christ.
Now, not counting the Christological references, there are 80 passages that fit the requirements for Granville Sharp Rule. There are no exceptions in the NT to the TSKS rule. Many have tried to prove Granville Sharp wrong, but since he wrote about this in 1807, not one Greek scholar has been able to disprove this rule.
Thus, when you have τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ in 2 Peter 1:1, it is saying Jesus Christ is "our God and Saviour." Same person - Jesus.
In simple English, the AND or kai, is NOT adding another person, but rather, describing the same person as before the kai. This is called the Granville Sharp rule. It doesn't matter the name, what matters is the Greek. There are elaborate rules in Greek, which do not come through in English. But, in Greek, 2 Peter clearly says that Jesus is "our God and Saviour."
"Συμεὼν Πέτρος δοῦλος καὶ ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῖς ἰσότιμον ἡμῖν λαχοῦσιν πίστιν ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ·" 2 Peter 1:1
"To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:" 2 Peter 1:1 ESV
Basically the rule states:
When you have an article, "ὁ" "the" "τοῦ" which the article in the masculine genitive singular, and it is followed by a substantive (noun, pronoun, particle, participle) and then kai and another substantive, the two substantives refer to the same person.
τοῦ θεοῦ (ἡμῶν) καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ
article substantive and substantive = name, Jesus Christ.
Now, not counting the Christological references, there are 80 passages that fit the requirements for Granville Sharp Rule. There are no exceptions in the NT to the TSKS rule. Many have tried to prove Granville Sharp wrong, but since he wrote about this in 1807, not one Greek scholar has been able to disprove this rule.
Thus, when you have τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ in 2 Peter 1:1, it is saying Jesus Christ is "our God and Saviour." Same person - Jesus.
Here is the Granville Sharp Rule, as written by Daniel Wallace.
Granville Sharp Rule
“Our restatement of Sharp’s rule is believed to be true tothe nature of the language, and able to address all classes of exceptions that were raised.
The “Sharper” rule is as follows:
In native Greek constructions (i.e., not translation Greek),when a single article modifies two substantives connected via και(thus, article-substantive-και-substantive), when both substantives are (1) singular (both grammatically and semantically), (2) personal, (3) and common nouns (not proper names or ordinals), they have the same referent.”
(1) By observing the verbal parallels, we find that there is a syntactical pattern being employed on the part of the author of 2 Peter. The author uses precisely the same syntactical pattern in 1.1 as he does in 1.11, 2.20, and 3.18 (with the simple substitution of “God” for “Lord”), where only one referent is intended.
2 Peter 1.1 - tou Theou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou (“our God and Savior Jesus Christ”)
2 Peter 1.11 - tou Kuriou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou (“our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”)
2 Peter 2.20 - tou Kuriou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou (“our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”)
2 Peter 3.18 - tou Kuriou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou (“our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”)
(2) Nowhere in either of the Petrine Epistles does the ὁ – substantive – καὶ – substantive syntactical pattern ever refer to two individuals (i.e., 1 Peter 1.3, 2.25; 2 Peter 1.11, 2.20, 3.18). In light of this it strikes me as being really quite odd that the author would use the same syntactical pattern (ὁ – substantive – καὶ – substantive) throughout his work(s) to refer to one individual with exception to 1.1.
(3) Even more compelling is that three of the four occurrences of “Savior Jesus Christ” (all of which occur within the ὁ – substantive – καὶ – substantive construction) here within the Petrine Epistles (2 Peter 1.11; 2 Peter 2.20; 2 Peter 3.18) unanimously signify a mutual identity with the preceding (or “head”) noun.
(4) The author utilizes a common literary device found throughout Scripture known as a chiasmus. Both, in the opening and closing statements of 2 Peter, like terms are used ("knowledge," "grace"), as well as syntactical style. Whereas 2 Peter 1.1, the author refers to Christ as "our God and Savior," his closing statement in 2 Peter 3.18 is a doxology, a sudden outburst of praise to God.
There are certainly more things that can be added, but these are just a few examples.
Ref:
Granville Sharp’s Canon and its Kin; Semantics and Significance
2009 Daniel B. Wallace
p. 281
Granville Sharp Rule
“Our restatement of Sharp’s rule is believed to be true tothe nature of the language, and able to address all classes of exceptions that were raised.
The “Sharper” rule is as follows:
In native Greek constructions (i.e., not translation Greek),when a single article modifies two substantives connected via και(thus, article-substantive-και-substantive), when both substantives are (1) singular (both grammatically and semantically), (2) personal, (3) and common nouns (not proper names or ordinals), they have the same referent.”
(1) By observing the verbal parallels, we find that there is a syntactical pattern being employed on the part of the author of 2 Peter. The author uses precisely the same syntactical pattern in 1.1 as he does in 1.11, 2.20, and 3.18 (with the simple substitution of “God” for “Lord”), where only one referent is intended.
2 Peter 1.1 - tou Theou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou (“our God and Savior Jesus Christ”)
2 Peter 1.11 - tou Kuriou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou (“our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”)
2 Peter 2.20 - tou Kuriou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou (“our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”)
2 Peter 3.18 - tou Kuriou hemon kai Soteros Iesou Christou (“our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ”)
(2) Nowhere in either of the Petrine Epistles does the ὁ – substantive – καὶ – substantive syntactical pattern ever refer to two individuals (i.e., 1 Peter 1.3, 2.25; 2 Peter 1.11, 2.20, 3.18). In light of this it strikes me as being really quite odd that the author would use the same syntactical pattern (ὁ – substantive – καὶ – substantive) throughout his work(s) to refer to one individual with exception to 1.1.
(3) Even more compelling is that three of the four occurrences of “Savior Jesus Christ” (all of which occur within the ὁ – substantive – καὶ – substantive construction) here within the Petrine Epistles (2 Peter 1.11; 2 Peter 2.20; 2 Peter 3.18) unanimously signify a mutual identity with the preceding (or “head”) noun.
(4) The author utilizes a common literary device found throughout Scripture known as a chiasmus. Both, in the opening and closing statements of 2 Peter, like terms are used ("knowledge," "grace"), as well as syntactical style. Whereas 2 Peter 1.1, the author refers to Christ as "our God and Savior," his closing statement in 2 Peter 3.18 is a doxology, a sudden outburst of praise to God.
There are certainly more things that can be added, but these are just a few examples.
Ref:
Granville Sharp’s Canon and its Kin; Semantics and Significance
2009 Daniel B. Wallace
p. 281
Which is all to say, for those who need short posts - Greek proves over and over that Jesus is God!
Sorry you are reading the NWT or some other Bible that distorts the Greek and Hebrew. No matter how many times you read a bad translation, you will not understand the truth of who Jesus is.
The Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, if you read the Greek. Mind you, it is right there in the English, if you understand English!
Sorry you are reading the NWT or some other Bible that distorts the Greek and Hebrew. No matter how many times you read a bad translation, you will not understand the truth of who Jesus is.
The Father is God, Jesus is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, if you read the Greek. Mind you, it is right there in the English, if you understand English!
Yea I do have a question fgt regarding the text that your quoting at Matthew 16:16. The Apostle Peter said to the one person of Jesus Christ that He/Jesus Christ is (1) the Christ/Messiah and (2) the Son of God. So why was Jesus accused of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God at Matthew 26:63-65 since the Jews themselves also claim to be the sons of God? In other words, what was it that Jesus claiming that He was the Son of God so upset the Jews? 
IN GOD THE SON,
bluto
IN GOD THE SON,
bluto