Why is it important to believe that Christ was God?

Question

I hear a lot of people saying that Jehovah's Witnesses aren't going to heaven because they don't believe that Jesus was divine, but that he was God's son. Why is this important? It seems that it is more of a inessential theology thing than the big deal it is made into. Why is this important?

Let me note that I believe that Jesus was God, and that I can confidently defend it. I am just wondering why people make such a big to-do about it.

Answer 1

To Brad:

Since you already believe that Jesus is God, I'm not going to spend much time proving to you that He is. (Just enough as it relates to why its important). I want to show WHY it's imperative that a person does believe this.

It is imperative because Jesus said if you don't believe this, then a person will pay for their own sins. They have no Savior.

In John 8:24, Jesus said, "Unless you believe that I AM, you will die in the sins of you". (Straight literal translation from the greek)

Now, Jesus knew exactly what He was saying, and how it would be received. By referencing Exodus 3:14, He was claiming to be the same person that spoke to Moses from the burning bush. And thats exactly how His enemies took it. Thats why they wanted to stone Him. ("You being a man, make yourself equal with God"). Their charge was true. They had a choice; Either fall down and worship Him, or reject what He was saying, and stone Him for blasphemy.

Now I know there are folks and groups who like to "spin" it and say that He really did'nt mean THAT. Doesnt matter what they think. The only thing that matters is what He said. If He didnt mean it, THAT is the LAST thing He would have ever uttered. He KNEW how it would be received. Many times in His ministry He would preface statements with the " I AM." Such as, "I AM the Door", " I AM the Good Shepard," or "I AM the light". This time He wanted to be SURE to be understood. Why? Because a persons salvation DEPENDS on it. Thats why He let it stand alone.

So thats why its important that a person believes it. Because if you dont, then you have NO salvation, and you die and pay for your own sins.
I hope you see now why its important, and why as Christians, we insist on it.
Its a NON-NEGOTIABLE.
Because it was a non-negotiable with Jesus.

....theBerean

Answer 2

Because only God can really save people from sin. That is the whole point of the Crucifixion and Resurrection.
A friend of mine on a mission trip in Africa used the example of the enormous termite mounds they have there. If a human wanted to communicate something vitally important to the termite world, how could he do that? They can't hear us and probably don't really percieve us unless we impinge directly on their world. They wouldn't understand our words, so what to do? The only way would be *to become a termite* and communicate in their own way so they can understand. That's what God did.
Jesus wasn't "separate from" or "other than" God, he is God in the flesh. If you like, God's manifestation in our world. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word *was* God...and the Word became flesh and lived among us."
You can't put it clearer than that. The Word (Jesus, the Logos) WAS (and is) God. Only God could make a sacrifice acceptable to Himself that would cover All the sins of all mankind, past, present and future. Not everyone takes advantage of the offer of that grace and forgiveness but it is there.
I once heard a young man pray for Saddam Hussein's conversion. (this was several years ago). At first I was indignant, but then I thought, "No, that is what Jesus meant when he said we are to pray for our enemies. Not just the people we think are "worthy."
Can you imagine how someone like that, or say Stalin or Hitler, would feel if they *truly* were converted and realised the enormity of what they had done?
And yet, sin is sin. We all need the forgiveness bought by the Cross.

Answer 3

It is important because that is the clear testimony of Jesus, and His apostles. I have to make this statement and ask this question. The claim to sonship is a claim to deity. Hebrews 1:8 - "but to the Son, God says, Your throne o God is forever and ever." Why does Jesus always receive worship and never refuse it. In eternity, we will be praising God and His Son for all eternity. God the Father doesn't say, don't worship Him worship Me only, after all I am the Lord your God."
Is a son less valuable than his father? No, they are equal in intrinsic value. Jesus was not a created being. He always was. Jesus said, "before Abraham was, I am" The same thing that God said to Moses in Exodus 3. We are called to give the Lord the glory due His name. The bring Christ down to a created being is a heresy of the first rank which was why Arias was excommunicated in the fourth century. This heresy threatened the well being of the church. Phiippians 2 cleary affirms Jesus' deity. In fact, I John says you can't be a Christian and deny Jesus being the Son of God. If Sonship meant something less than deity, why would John make that statement. Jesus had to be both God and man to be the Mediator between God and man. I Timothy 2. He has all the qualities of deity: eternal, Savior, Lord over the cosmos and the elements. Yes, this is a big deal and not just a minor point of doctrine. God bless.

Answer 4

It's important because it's the central belief of Christianity. If you do not believe that Christ was God, you cannot legitimately call yourself a Christian. Jehovah's Witnesses and the Watchtower Society even come right out and say that they do not consider themselves to be a Christian denomination.

Theology:

It's important that Christ is God, because the sacrifice He made for us on the Cross would not have the same meaning if He were not God. God Himself had to become one of us in order to show us that He was willing to go through the same suffering and travails as we as humans do, including death.

One early commentator remarked once that if all you needed was a good virtuous person to die, just an ordinary human, no God, then the Bible could have ended with the story of Cain killing Abel.

Only God Himself could ransom us, and pay the terrible price to atone for all the sins of mankind for all time. No mere human being could do it, no matter how holy that human might be - only God could save us.

It is a very big deal, in fact the biggest deal of all ;-)

Answer 5

The test of the JW belief is clearly what is taught. In the translation of the Bible they use (The New World Translation) they incorrectly translate John 1:1 like this :

"In the begining was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was a God".

Note the slight difference in accepted translations that correctly render the phrase "Word was God" verses "Word was a God".

Now if The New World Translation is correct, Jesus was not God, then all of His I AM statements, and His reference to being the Son of Man, and the statement "I and the Father are one" and all the other references to the fact Jesus was indeed God are false. Therefore salvation by Grace becomes false and one must still continue to be judged by their good works, which is the basis for the JW faith. They chose to live by the law which is not the better way. For the law leads to sin, and sin unto death.

They believe Jesus lived, but that he was a separate diety, a lesser God. To disbelieve that Jesus was infact God incarnate, is to tear down the foundation of Salvation by Grace and not of works. If the foundation is not solid the whole house will fall.

"And I will build my Church upon this rock that even the very gates of hell shall not prevail against it" Jesus was not refering to Peter, but to the stone the builders rejected, The Chief Cornerstone was Jesus.

God said that this plan of salvation was thought out before the foundation of the world. God knew that He would at a specific point in time have to become the one, that would be the acceptable sacrafice.

Any other belief that denys the diety of Christ, JW's and LDS as well (They teach that Jesus is infact Michael the Arch Angel and is the spirit brother of Lucifer) are indanger of eternal damnation.

"Though we or an angel preach any other Gospel to you let him be accursed" "Only by the Holy Spirit can anyone say that Jesus is Lord" this last reference by the way demonstrates the untimate power of the Holy Spirit, in that one day "every knee shall bow and every toung shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" On the day of Judgement, the time for free will is taken away for all creatures (even satan and his demons) and the Spirit of God will compell all to make this statement. Some of us will be compelled by our obedients to our heart and the call of the Holy Spirit and it will not be a hard thing at all, and some will be compelled force, by the almighty Power of a Holy God, but it will happen. I look forward to that great day.

Is Jesus divinity a big deal? It is the biggest truth ever told and we as Christians must defend it with as much zeal as the Holy Ghost gives us. This truth is as prescious as the blood He spilled on the way and at Calvary. It is the eternal truth of John 1:1 and verse 14 "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us". What wonderous Love is this oh my soul oh my soul.

God bless
al 4 now B

Answer 6

The most important reason that Jesus has to be God is that if He is not God, His death would not have been sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Only God could pay such an infinite penalty. Only God could take on the sins of the world (2 Corinthians 5:21), die, and be resurrected - proving His victory over sin and death.

Answer 7

Correct.

No where in the bible does it state that salvation comes from believe Jesus is divine. Instead Salvation is a free gift from God. There is nothing you can do to get it. Not even works.

"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)

Adam was a perfect man as was Jesus. Adam was not a God and neither was Jesus on Earth. Jesus could not perform the miracles he performed without his father's spirit (or power).

Acts 10:38 "You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power"

The bible clearly states Jesus is divine when he was in Heaven.

John 1:1 - Word was god.

Answer 8

John 14:6 and 7
I am the way, the truth , and the life:
no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also:
and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

The founder Russell was proven a false prophet. Joseph Rutherford who followed was also a false prophet.

JW's deny the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. These are two main fundamentals of Christianity and the Holy Bible which is the Word of God. Many things can be agreeably argued about but there are basic fundamentals of Christianity. To deny them is to deny the Word of God.

The JW's rewrote the Bible into "The New World Translation."
They claim 5 Greek scholars rewrote it, but anyone who knows Greek or Hebrew knows there are gross errors in this translation. Nathan Knorr didn't learn from this previous false prophets and he began to prophecy that 1975 would be the end of the age.

Quite similar to the Pope of old, they believe only the Organization of Watch Tower can interpret the Bible. They believe to reject the Organization is to reject God. The Organization is God's sole channel for His truth and not the Bible God's Word as Christians believe.

Answer 9

1. Yes, he entered in the 1st stage of life...Conception...he didn't go in as a 1yr old 2. He became man and lived as man lives, he was fully human and fully divine 3. He is God (He the second part of the trinity) He is the word made flesh, God the Father created through his Word (Jesus-as seen in the OT) and the Holy Spirit is their love between them 4. God is Alpha Omega, Beginning and End, He was and Ever will be. He became incarnate but that doesnt mean God was only two during Bible times 5. He is still alive and never will die. He gave his physical life death on the cross for ur sins and those of the world, and then he rose again. He still can be in ur life and nothing can replace him but u should stop putting such crude comments about him. Still, He will wait for u

Answer 10

Because then they're not much different than Jews and Muslims who believe in monotheism but deny Christ's divinity. How is it inessential if faith in Jesus is the basic premise of Christianity. If people believe Jesus was merely a created being, then by definition it can't be considered true faith. There are even people who say that believing in one true God is nonessential and that you can believe in other gods and still be saved. A inessential theology would be side issues like debating whether there was a literal 6 day creation or whether there is going to be a rapture.

Answer 11

Denying the divinity of Christ makes Him out to be a liar. The Berean hit the nail right on the head. Jesus used God's name "I AM," and applied it to Himself several times.

The problem is that English Bibles do not do a good job (except in one case, which is John 8:58.) Several other passages (in the Greek) are clear. These include: Matthew 14:27, Mark 6:50, Mark 13:6, Luke 21:8, John 4:26, John 6:20, John 8:24, 28, and John 13:19. Many of the English Bibles translate "I AM" to "It is I," or "I am He."

Denying the deity of Christ is an old heresy that goes back to a man named Arius. His heresy was a prime reason for the Council of Nicea, which resolved (at least in Christian circles) this fundamental belief.