What are the strongest biblical arguments for the divinity of Christ?
Few claims in the Bible carry more weight than the claim that the man from Nazareth is God Himself. One writer notes how deeply this runs through the text:
A J PollockHow vitally important is the truth of our Lord's Deity... It is asserted in Scripture again and again, and woven into its very structure.
Scripture Names Him God Outright
The simplest argument is that the Bible says it in plain words — and says it about Him at every stage of His career, not only before He came.
Robert F. WallThe Scriptures clearly affirm the Deity of the Lord Jesus in that again and again in the Bible He is called God... "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)" (Matt. 1:23). "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1, 14)... He is presented to us as God in every position which He has and will take as man, not only before the cross, but also after it. To Him in resurrection Thomas could say, "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28)... "But of the Son He says, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever." In connection with His second coming we are "waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).
The God of the Old Testament Turns Out to Be Him
The New Testament writers repeatedly take passages written about the LORD of Israel and apply them to Jesus. One of the sharpest cases is Isaiah's vision in the temple.
Robert F. WallThere is another passage in John 12 which also shows that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus of the New... "Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke of Him" (John 12:37-41). We know that it was the glory of Jehovah that Isaiah saw, yet here John the Evangelist says that this glory was the glory of the Lord Jesus and that it was about Him that Isaiah was speaking (Isa. 6:1-10).
His Own Words, and What They Cost Him
He was not misunderstood by accident. Three times in John's Gospel He said something about Himself, and each time His hearers reached for stones — which tells us how they heard it.
James McBroom"My Father is working until now, and I am working." "This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God" (John 5:17-18). "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at Him" (John 8:58-59). "I and the Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him" (John 10:30-31).
Honour Owed Equally
He also placed Himself on the receiving end of the honour that belongs to God — and made refusal of it a serious matter.
Hamilton SmithThe claim to equal honours with the Father involves Deity. He can say "The Father... has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honour the Son even as they honour the Father" (John 5:22-23).
The Attributes and the Works
Beyond direct statements, the argument builds from what He is and what He does. Both categories run past anything a creature could hold.
Michael HardtHe is eternal (Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2, John 8:58 etc.); He is unchangeable (Mal. 3:6; Ps. 102:25-27); He is omnipotent (Rev. 1:8; Phil. 3:21); He is omniscient... He created all things (Jn 1:3, 10; Col. 1:16, Heb. 1:2); He preserves and sustains all things (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17)... He forgives sins (Lk 5:24, Col. 3:13)... He will raise the dead (2 Cor. 1:9; Jn 5:21; 11:25)... He will judge the world (Jn 5:22; Rev. 20:12).
Take just one item from that list. When He forgave a paralysed man, His critics had the theology right and the conclusion wrong.
A J PollockThey were quite right in proclaiming that God alone could forgive sins; they were quite wrong in refusing to acknowledge the Person of Christ, and that this power belonged by right to Him.
He Accepted Worship Instead of Refusing It
Thomas's confession is often dismissed as a shout of surprise. The response to it is what settles the case.
F. B. HoleDeniers of our Lord's deity have sought to avoid the force of this by treating this as a mere exclamation, addressed to no one in particular, but the record distinctly states that the words were said to the Lord... The risen Jesus was the Lord and the God to him. And what is more significant still, the Lord replied, "Thomas... you have believed." Beyond all question then He treated Thomas' joyful exclamation as faith laying hold of FACT... There is no greater sin than for a mere man to accept Divine honours or adulation, as witness the drastic smiting of Herod, recorded in Acts 12. When John fell down before a holy angel as about to worship him, the instant reply was, "You must not do that!" (Rev. 22:9). Instead of rebuking Thomas, Jesus approved of his confession and called it faith.
Summary
- Named. Scripture calls Him God at every stage — at His birth, before creation, in resurrection, on the throne, and at His return.
- Identified. Titles reserved for God alone land on Him: Isaiah's vision of the LORD's glory is said by John to be a vision of Jesus.
- Claimed. He said God was His own Father, that He and the Father are one, and that He existed before Abraham — and each time His hearers reached for stones.
- Demonstrated. He created, sustains, forgives sins, raises the dead and will judge the world; His critics were right that God alone forgives, and wrong about who stood in front of them.
- Worshipped. Herod was struck down and an angel refused worship — yet Jesus took Thomas's "My Lord and my God" and called it faith.