According to the Bible, did Jesus Christ raise Himself from the dead, or did God do it?

Question

Time for some serious Bible study!

The other day I heard my (unsaved) dad ask a client on the phone (sort of rhetorically) if Jesus raised Himself or God raised Him. The client apparently answered that God did, and Dad was pleased with that answer.

I get the feeling he's going to put this question to me next, as he sometimes does (either to educate himself or to stump me). I've been Googling around and reading some Bible studies on the subject, but I'm still confused. I've never quite mastered the concept of the Trinity, which is why I'm having so much trouble with this question.

Even if you don't know which it was, can you tell me why the matter would be important? I get the feeling it's a profound question, but I'm not sure why it is.

Also, if you know of a good resource on the definition of the Trinity, could you link me to it?

Thanks for all your help, everyone!

Answer 1

First to the matter of who raised whom. 10 times in Acts Christ disciples speak of God raising Jesus (as born of woman) from the dead. vis. 2:24,32; 3:15,26; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:23,33, 37. To me, the belief that God raised Christ from the dead:
1) fulfills prophecy and gives weight to the word of God itself.
2)Then we can read the word of God and believe that God raised Christ from the dead, then He will also raise us from the dead, that is to say death will no longer have power over us. That is a spiritual death, not a physical one. Look at Rom 7:4; 10:9 1Cor 6:14; 15:15 Gal 1:1 Col 2:12 1Pet 1:21 also.
As for the trinity, there are examples in the Bible, subtle at times Look at 1Cor 6:14 God.....Lord.....power [of the Holy Spirit] In the beginning God created, He spoke the word and all came into being, that power to move nothing into something I believe to be His Spirit. John 1:1 "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.....All things were made through Him and without Him not one thing came into being that has come into being......vs 14 And the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" And now my brother, you also were begotten: God spoke His word through His Son Jesus Christ and You hearing those words and believing those words were born from above by the power of the Holy Spirit and live[eternal] In Him. Your link to the trinity is called fellowship with the Father and Son, get in His word and be strengthened in it. Check out the e-sword, you can do word search in Hebrew and Greek, it's all there for the asking.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
According to the Bible, did Jesus Christ raise Himself from the dead, or did God do it?
Time for some serious Bible study!

The other day I heard my (unsaved) dad ask a client on the phone (sort of rhetorically) if Jesus raised Himself or God raised Him. The client apparently answered that God did, and Dad was pleased with that answer.

I get the feeling he's going to put this...

Answer 3

Well, first of all, Jesus is God. (Isaiah 9:6, 1 Timothy 3:16, 1 Timothy 6:14-16) We must remember this to answer the question correctly. John 2:19 say's "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days >I< will raise it up." First of all, Jesus' body is the temple. Jesus clearly stated the HE, himself, would raise it (his body) up. He could do this because, if you remember, all power was given to him in heaven and in earth, as Matthew 28:18 tells us. So the answer to your question is Jesus, who is the Almighty Father incarnate (Isaiah 9:6), raised himself up.
I would also like to note I do not believe in the Trinity. I'm what they call "Oneness Pentecostal" or otherwise known as Apostolic. We teach the Jesus is the First and the Last, therefore being the Everlasting Father (Isiah 9:6). If Jesus was not the Father, then he would not have said "I and my Father are One"...and Isiah would not have prophecied that Jesus would be called the Everlasting Father. Clearly, Jesus will sit in the throne AS the Father. Remember, Jesus is the only begotten Son of the eternal God. If you would like a Bible study on the Oneness, I would be more than happy to give one to you! God Bless you.
-Andrew

P.S...Good Question though!

Answer 4

Jesus is God, Goid is Jesus. Both answers are correct. The Bible says "he has risen", so there is no real answer if God the Father or God the Son(Jesus) restored teh body of Jesus Christ from the dead. Either way the answer is God.

Answer 5

Simple question deserves a simple answer. God raised the man Jesus from the dead. I hope you know who God is to me, a Trinitarian? Seems like most religions don't know who God really is to a Trinitarian. I know even a few Trinitarians who openly say God is the Three persons, but then secretly when they put God into their own sentences, it's only the Father each and every time. These few Trinitarians should practice what they believe in, they ought to know who their God really is.

Answer 6

On the day of Pentecost, when he preached the first sermon of the Christian age, Peter testified that God raised Jesus from the dead.

Acts 2:22-24.

22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

Acts 2:32.

32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.


God the Father raised God the Son from the dead

Answer 7

No. By what he said at John 10:18, did Jesus mean that he would resurrect himself from the dead? Does that mean that Jesus is God, because Acts 2:32 says, “This Jesus God raised up”? Not at all. Such a view would conflict with Galatians 1:1, which ascribes the resurrection of Jesus to the Father, not to the Son. Using a similar mode of expression, at Luke 8:48 Jesus is quoted as saying to a woman: “Your faith has made you well.” Did she heal herself? No; it was power from God through Christ that healed her because she had faith. (Luke 8:46; Acts 10:38) Likewise, by his perfect obedience as a human, Jesus provided the moral basis for the Father to raise him from the dead, thus acknowledging Jesus as God’s Son. Because of Jesus’ faithful course of life, it could properly be said that Jesus himself was responsible for his resurrection.

BTW, if Jesus were part of an everlasting trinity, where was that trinity while he was dead for 3 days?

If Jesus were God, can God die? Ps. 90:2

"God raised Jesus from the dead because Jesus is God." Does that make sense?

What is the Trinity Doctrine? In a nutshell, there is one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. The three persons of the Godhead are coequal and co-eternal.

There is not one verse in the Bible that says the Father, Son, and holy spirit make God or that they are co-equal, co-eternal, and almighty.

Answer 8

"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it up again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (John 10:18)

So, Jesus took up His own life after laying it down. So, God raised Jesus from the dead, because Jesus is God.

Answer 9

John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.

John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

There is a good article on the Trinity in the Catholic Encyclopedia.

.

Answer 10

BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!

ALLELUIA !

HE IS RISEN!