I believe it is not so black and white for people. God meets us where we are. To be saved one must believe that God sent His only begotten Son to die for us in our place, for our sins, then rose from the grave.
Paul Pankhurst - 14 years ago
If Jesus is not God, then what is he? The only possibility is that he would be a man. But that leaves us in the precarious position of having to depend upon our salvation as having come from the sacrifice of a mere man.
Paul tells us that, 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Rom 3:23). Also, John the Apostle tells us, 'If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.' (1 John 1:8) and again he says, 'If we claim we have not sinned, we make him [God] out to be a liar.' (1 John 1:10). So, if Jesus was only a man, then he was a sinner.
Can God accept the sacrifice of a sinner as payment for the sins of mankind? God told the Israelites how to offer their animals for sacrifice (Ex 12:5; Lev 3:1; Deut 15:21). The animals had to be without blemish or defect. In Hebrews we read, 'When Christ came as high priest . . . he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood . . . the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God' (Heb 9:11-13). And we see in Ephesians that, 'Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2) Therefore Christ was an unblemished sacrifice and was accepted by God as a fragrant offering.
We also have statements from the Bible that speak of the divinity of Jesus. John tells us, 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God' (John1:1). A little later in his book he says, 'The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth' (John 1:14). And Paul writes, 'Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen (Rom 9:5)
We also have Jesus' own words and the response of the Jews to those words. '"I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" We are not stoning you for any of these, replied the Jews, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God (John 10:30-33)
Jesus had to be a perfect, sinless human being to be acceptable to God as a sacrifice for our sins. He could not have done that with just the human abilities of a man. He, also had all the character qualities, abilities, and strength of being God that allowed him to live a perfect life.
Can a mere man pay for our sins? No! Can you trust in a mere man to be your savior? No! Is Jesus our savior and God? Yes! AMEN and AMEN!
Don Roper - 15 years ago
KISS---The gospel is very simple. Believe Jesus Died, was buried and rose again! (for you personally) 8 simple words! I Cor 15
I believe it is not so black and white for people. God meets us where we are. To be saved one must believe that God sent His only begotten Son to die for us in our place, for our sins, then rose from the grave.
If Jesus is not God, then what is he? The only possibility is that he would be a man. But that leaves us in the precarious position of having to depend upon our salvation as having come from the sacrifice of a mere man.
Paul tells us that, 'all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God' (Rom 3:23). Also, John the Apostle tells us, 'If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.' (1 John 1:8) and again he says, 'If we claim we have not sinned, we make him [God] out to be a liar.' (1 John 1:10). So, if Jesus was only a man, then he was a sinner.
Can God accept the sacrifice of a sinner as payment for the sins of mankind? God told the Israelites how to offer their animals for sacrifice (Ex 12:5; Lev 3:1; Deut 15:21). The animals had to be without blemish or defect. In Hebrews we read, 'When Christ came as high priest . . . he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood . . . the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God' (Heb 9:11-13). And we see in Ephesians that, 'Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph 5:2) Therefore Christ was an unblemished sacrifice and was accepted by God as a fragrant offering.
We also have statements from the Bible that speak of the divinity of Jesus. John tells us, 'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God' (John1:1). A little later in his book he says, 'The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth' (John 1:14). And Paul writes, 'Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen (Rom 9:5)
We also have Jesus' own words and the response of the Jews to those words. '"I and the Father are one." Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" We are not stoning you for any of these, replied the Jews, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God (John 10:30-33)
Jesus had to be a perfect, sinless human being to be acceptable to God as a sacrifice for our sins. He could not have done that with just the human abilities of a man. He, also had all the character qualities, abilities, and strength of being God that allowed him to live a perfect life.
Can a mere man pay for our sins? No! Can you trust in a mere man to be your savior? No! Is Jesus our savior and God? Yes! AMEN and AMEN!
KISS---The gospel is very simple. Believe Jesus Died, was buried and rose again! (for you personally) 8 simple words! I Cor 15