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(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
I agree, that to fulfill the law one had to be capable of transgressing the law. There are in the scripture two Adams part of Gods' plan, the first was formed from the dust of the ground, earthy. He was without sin and the Holy Spirit could dwell in him and God could have a relationship with man. He was disobedient to God and ate of the tree God said not to eat from, therefore sin entered, and God could not dwell in him. The dwelling place/mansion was corrupted by sin that passed to all men/women.
The last Adam was our Lord from heaven, he took on the same flesh as the first Adam without sin, and as the first Adam, he was capable of transgressing the law. The difference between the two was the last Adam was obedient to the Father. "For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous".
The last Adam repaired/prepared that place, what we see in John 1:1-3 that He said He was going (going to the cross) to do. When He told them this, it was just before He was taken and crucified that finished the work He was sent to do.
With what the last Adam, Jesus, The Son of God did, He became our high priest and the only mediator between us and God, knowing what it is like to be tempted and battle sin made it possible for God through His Holy Spirit to dwell in man again and become the tabernacle of God.
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"
Just my understanding.
God bless,
RLW
The beginning of John; much like Romans 1 indicates the Creation of God. However; the true light (God or Christ Himself) is NOT known in man's darkened; sinful state despite the evidences seen externally (v. 4-5). Verses 9 through 11 discuss Christ coming; not being known by His creation OR His chosen people. Verse 13 gives the first of a myriad of indications of God's election of who is saved; as it is not ultimately determined by the will of man. The rest of the chapter shows how Christ was supernaturally revealed to John the Baptist; and how He began to choose the 12 apostles who would someday judge the 12 tribes of Israel ( Matt. 19:28; also Rev. 4:10 showing O.T. descendants of Jacob as other 12 most likely).
John 2: This chapter illustrates how Christ would only be understood by those who are His own; even if it doesn't state anything directly. There were certain things to be revealed in its time; hence the miracle of the water to wine was perhaps a sort of local affair; and we see that there is no salvation message here; or any healings as is seen after He officially started His ministry after being tempted by the Devil for 40 days. ( Luke 4:2; Mark 1:12). This is NOT mentioned in John. A rare event when the disciples actually knew Christ was fulfilling prophecy without rather torturous explanations on His part was in verse 17 when they understood the prophecy of the zeal of His house. Verse 19 is the first of many verses hiding a meaning from the Pharisees as to what the Temple would be that was destroyed and would rise in 3 days (His body). The disciples wouldn't get it until after the Resurrection. This shows that Christ had to reveal Himself as God in the flesh only to those God chose to do so ( Matthew 16:17). We need also to see how ALL of Christ's ministry was an example of following God's plan; and speaking only His words as is seen in John 8:38 and other passages. He expounds on hidden truths to His own.
But if you asked, 'is there One called Jesus Christ, who came to Earth from Heaven ( John 3:13; John 6:38), from within the Person of God ( John 1:1-14), to become Man, died, arose from the grave, & now ascended to the right Hand of the Father, ever living as the Word of God made flesh (where Divinity has merged with Humanity) making intercession for His people, & one day returning to Earth in the same state that He left this Earth (as the Word of God: Revelation 19:13)?', then I would say, YES. Any other Jesus is, from my understanding of the Scriptures, to be another Jesus - One assumed maybe from incorrect teaching and/or a bias against the Plan of God to secure our salvation.
If I avoided certain pertinent Scriptures revealing the full Nature of Christ, I could well agree with you. And some of us have shared those Scriptures, but receiving no exposition.
1 John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, WE HAVE FELLOWSHIP ONE WITH ANOTHER , and (then) the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."
GBU
Is Jesus Christ God?
After reading through a post discussing who Jesus is and seeing that some believe He is a created being by God, some believe He is God, and some just say He is God's Son so He cannot be God Himself, I would just like to share my understanding on who Jesus is. First of all, a lot of the discussion has been centered on John Chapter 1 which I agree shows not only the deity of Jesus, but also shows that He is God manifested in the flesh. But what I would like to use instead is Matthew Chapter 1.
Matthew Chapter 1 can be broken into two sections, Verses 1 through 17 prove that Jesus Christ literally and legally fulfills the Abrahamic and Davidic covenant for the Jews. And then the second section, Matthew 1:18-25 gives us the ancestry of the Christ. The entire ancestry table is found in Matthew 1:1-17. The second section gives us the ancestry of the Christ explained. In simpler terms, these two sections would be called "The birth of Christ," and "The birth of Christ explained."
Matthew 1:1 would be the caption or title. It is entitled the ancestry, not the genealogy. The word for genealogy is not used in Verse 1. And there is a reason for that. The word for genealogy in the Greek text is GENEALOGIA. But the word used in Verse 1 is GENESIS, pronounced Gen-ay-sees, with the "G" sound as in Girl. The word "generation" in Verse 1 is the Greek word GENESIS. It is not the word for birth.
Matthew is purposely avoiding the word for birth. What Matthew is saying here is that this is the scroll of the origin of the Christ. Why is this important? Well, what Matthew is presenting here fits perfectly to what John said in John 1:14 that "The word became flesh and dwelt among us." You see, Jesus was not born. He became flesh. He has always been in existence. This is why Matthew avoids using the word for birth. He is presenting to us the origin of the Christ.
An example can be found in Luke 4:2-4
2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
Plus, a lot of our difficulties arise from unconfessed sin and not doing God's will. We all have pet sins.
Luke 9:23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Search your heart, confess your sins to God, and repent--turn away from them.
Psalms 139:23, 24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Psalm 25:4 Show me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
Galatians 5:22-24 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
So, this Word that was with God and was God ( John 1:1), was not only the Word uttered by God to create all things (v3), but in God's Wisdom & Plan, He gave His Word flesh (v14) - drawn from the Essence of God into humanity, & the disciples saw that this Glory which reflected from Him was that of the Father's only begotten Son (not first created, 'protokitises', but first born, 'prototokos': in relation to the first 'of its type in creation, of divinity & humanity as one'). At a previous time, someone else translated that verse to be, 'that Jesus then became God's Word' (i.e. Jesus came & then the Word placed into Him; rather than 'the Word came & was made human'). Herein is the problem.
Then when we look at John 17:5, we can see in Jesus' Prayer that He recalls to His Father about the Glory that He had with Him. This glory Jesus had to lay aside for the sake of becoming human ( Philippians 2:5-8). And in John 17:1-5, Jesus speaks to His Father about this Glory: that Jesus was in the throes of completing the Work of the Father, of bringing Glory to Him through it (v4), and now longs for God's Glory (which Jesus once had), to be granted back to Him (v5). Now exactly what this Glory entails, we're not told. But it would certainly reflect His Position within God's Person (seen in the verses cited), the task accomplished on Earth, & the Glory, Power & Victory emanating from the coming resurrection.
And the glory we've received: being in Christ as Christ is in God ( Col 3:3) - not gods, but sharing in all the goodness & vitality of the One Who is now our Father & Jesus our Brother.
John 1:1-2
John 1:14
John 3:16
Revelation 3:14: "These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." The Greek for 'beginning' is 'arche', as we add that prefix to the words such as 'arch-enemy, arch-bishop, arch-rival. It certainly has the primary meaning of a 'beginning or first in line', but it clearly denotes 'one who holds the primary highest position/control over others'. That being the case, if Jesus first appeared as the creation by God in the womb of Mary, it could never be said that He was the beginning/first in line to all of God's Creation, which happened several millennia prior. But Jesus was there because He was involved in the creative Work ( John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2).
Colossians 1:15: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." I understand that 'firstborn' indicated here, refers to the 'rights & privileges' of the firstborn child (e.g. 2 Chronicles 21:3). All God's creation have received His Love & Care, but at the birth of His Son into humanity, Jesus, as the Son, was the first(born) to gain/inherit His Father's full estate, as well as enjoying "the fullness of God in Himself" ( Colossians 1:19). But the full riches of God to humanity could only be realized by those placing their trust in the Forerunner & Shepherd of their faith, Jesus Christ.
John 17:5: "O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was." What was His Glory? We can assume all of God's Glory, for He is the Word of/from God, but even if that wasn't the case, Jesus, as the Word of God, had that Glory even before creation of the worlds.
You stated, "I honor the Son for what He gave up." If Jesus (the Word) didn't exist from eternity within the Person of God, & was only created from the womb of Mary, I wonder what He had to give up? Your responses have been very interesting.
I think your doctrine of not believing in Jesus's divinity requires a few hoops to jump through:
1. Not take John 1:1 literally that says Jesus (Word) is God
2. Ignore that God is plural 'we' and 'us' in Genesis
3. Assume that Jesus's behavior as a temporary man with limited power automatically means that that is how He normally is
4. Misinterpret the word "begotten"
5. Ignore the words Godhead and claim its a bad translation
6. Ignore that Jesus's name Immanuel means 'God with us'
7. Ignore 1 John 5:7-8 that the Father, Son, Holy Spirit are one, and try to dilute the word 'one' to make it seem insignificant.
8. Ignore John 1:3 that Jesus has always been and made everything and claim that Jesus was created later
9. Ignore that Jesus is the same I AM in the NT as the I AM in the OT
10. Ignore that Jesus is the same First/Last, Beginning/End in the NT as the same from God in the OT.
There's much more, but I'll stop at 10. I'm also not 100% sure you even read my last 2 replies so I don't want to spent energy on something you may not even read. There's an enormous about of verses supporting that Jesus is God and nothing clearly saying the opposite. For example if you found a verse that says 'Jesus is NOT God', then you would then only begin to your cause to counter the Bible already saying Jesus IS God in John 1:1, but we don't even have that.
With all the scriptural evidence here, is it possible you have any vested interest to prove that Jesus isn't God for another reason? If you read enough verses supporting that Jesus IS God, is that something you might reconsider someday or do you feel content with your current belief?
Do you believe Jesus is truly Lord like it says in Romans 10:9?
God bless.
Your first point about "In the beginning" is the 2nd time you brought that up and I already responded to it- did you see it? Just scroll up. Not only that, GiGi also responded to you on that exact point too, but you still brought that false assumption up as 'evidence' against Jesus being God even after it was explained?
The next couple paragraphs seems hard to follow on how this relates to my previous comment.
The end of your comment I see you did respond not to the "I AM" question but to the "First/Last, Beginning/End" part. I see you are somehow viewing this as confirmation that Jesus has limits. This is strange to me, because this exact phrase means he does NOT have limits, that He spans all existence. What was significant about this is God in the Old Testament says this AND Jesus says it in the New Testament. And "I AM" was spoken by God in the Old Testament AND by Jesus in the New Testament. Do you understand the significance of this?
Finally, I can tell that your use of the word "begotten" is not the real meaning of that word. That word means "only". Jesus is God the Father's *only* son. See the Greek word here: Link
Some have misinterpreted this word, hopefully not intentionally, to make it seem as though Jesus was "created." But not only does that word not mean that, but the Bible already debunked this in advance, as if they even predicted people might one say start saying stuff like this.
John 1:3 "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made."
This means all things were made by Jesus and without Jesus, nothing else was made. In verses 1-2 before it, it clearly says Jesus was always there, and so was God the Father. Both of them together. This debunks the idea that God the Father created Jesus.
There is a mountain of Bible verses saying Jesus is God and not one that says the opposite. Even Jesus's name Immanuel is "God with us."
I do hope your rehab goes successfully in learning to walk again. I will pray for you over this time you are there, so please check back in with us with updates to remind me to pray for you.
key word born can't be reversed, also collossians 2:13-23 then all same epistle chapter 3 deals with where
we keep our mind. Look brother we have been redeemed i.e. bought back and justified i.e. and we have the
righteousness of God inChrist which means we stand infront of God with no sense of sin guilt or condemnation
walking by the spirit so do not beat yourself up GOD ISNT. If God is no longer against us when we do our best
then why do we when our sin is bought and payed for not saying if we blow we don't ask forgivemess, we
acknowledge our broken fellowship which is what sin and do it honestly then keep moving on. That's what our
great example King davuid did when he blew it with bathsheba and had her husband murdered, he acknowledge
his sin ask forgiveness was in sackclothe and ashes three days prayer that the child would live then when he got
word that he died immediately got himself together and back to doing what God told him to be doing. Remember
this is a man that God says scripturally uis a man after His own heart. So love yourself and think of yourself as
God thinks of you, and remember the sabbath was made for man not man for the sabbath IT IS WRITTEN.
Part 1
I can say and I believe you as well, we believe God has no beginning or no end. In John 1:1 it starts with in the beginning, why? Does it mean Jesus the Son of God has been God from eternity or is that an assumption? Scripture tells us Jesus the Amen is the beginning of creation, Rev. 3:14.
Scripture tells us Jesus in whom we have redemption through His blood and forgiveness of our sins and is the image of the invisible God (the manifestation of God). Jesus is the firstborn of every creature and through Him, everything that is was created through and for Him Col. 1:12-17.
It also says the Father made us meet/qualify of the inheritance and says He, Jesus was before "all in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things". Does that say He was eternal with the Father or does scripture tell us He was the firstborn of every creature/all creation in the beginning?
By this Jesus can say "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, He, Jesus was first of all and He will be the last and the ending of this creation when the mystery of God should be finished and the new heaven and the new earth (the new creation perfect without spot).
Jesus the Son of God was the beginning, He is the only begotten Son of God. Does scripture honestly tell how He was begotten? Can we only say God ordained it before the world? Jesus said in John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. With our human minds can we have any clue to what that glory is?
See part 2,
We can never lose our salvation by failing our Lord. 2 Corinthians 1:22 "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts."
God bless you and keep you, John.
Therefore, to your words, "the Spirit doesn't become flesh (man)" - the Spirit remains as God's Spirit. God took His Word & clothed the Word (Jesus) with human flesh ( John 1:1-14). And this act cannot be an impossible task for God. Is anything too hard for the LORD? Jesus lived out His Days in holiness & worked by the Power of God's Spirit within Him. And this Holy Spirit is the same as Jesus' Spirit, even as Paul declared ( Romans 8:9), & Peter as well ( 1 Peter 1:11).
Question: how can the Spirit of Christ be the same as God's Spirit ( Romans 8:9), if Jesus is not eternally a part of the Godhead? As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit within, but none of us can say that He has replaced our spirit with His Spirit ( Romans 8:16). Our spirits will always exist, but now we have another Spirit Who will "abide with us forever" ( John 14:16). But Jesus Spirit was only the Holy Spirit, & not a human spirit, because He came from the Father Who is Spirit ( John 17:5).
Thank you for participating in this interesting and important conversation with Adam.
I just want to enter the conversation here and address what you said about "in the beginning". This was not speaking of God having a beginning (He didn't. He is eternal and everlasting and ever-existing). Nor does it speak of the beginning for the Word, the Son of God, (Jesus). (He always exists as one of the persons of the Godhead.)
It is speaking of the very beginning of creation. When only the Triune Godhead existed eternally, nothing else existed until the Godhead chose to create everything else that is and has existed. This "everything" does not include God (Elohim) which is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The three Persons of the One Godhead existed forever outside of time and space. When the Godhead created everything, this included all spiritual beings and realms and all material creatures and the physical realm (all that is made of matter, all of the energy and powers that affect the physical realm (time, gravity, + and - charges in atoms, sound waves, radio waves, magnetism-for example.) These things were created (made from no pre-existing materials), made (made of the materials God created), and formed (as with man, from materials that God had created). Jesus is not one of these creations nor was He made in the beginning. That has long been considered heretical teaching. When the Word, became flesh, the second Person of the Godhead God took upon Himself humanity with all of its aspects, body, soul, spirit. The Father (the first person of the Godhead) created the DNA to join with Mary's ova to conceive this humanity that from that moment of conception on united the second person of the Godhead (the Word) with humanity. That is why the church has taught through the centuries that (the Word who is God ( John 1:1) always existed and is always God, but this union of the Word who is God and humanity in Jesus did have a beginning at conception.
continued
I'm not able to follow your thought process on all your points, but some. I think most of your points fall within the same logic/belief that Jesus prayed and referred to the Father as "God" and even prayed to "God" therefore how can Jesus be God and pray to Himself? Am I understanding your position accurately? If so, I think most of your "If Jesus is God..." arguments seem to fall within this one overall assumption.
The thing missing from this assumption is that Jesus is not in His normal state. He became a man to go to earth to live as us and to die for our sins. John 1. Yes, Jesus prayed to God the Father. I believe He limited His power to a degree to live on Earth like us. I think He could have exercised His power, but chose not to. Example: Matthew 26:53.
Philippians 2:6 - this says Jesus is equal to God. Verse 7-8 says he humbled Himself as a servant as a man. v9-11 then Jesus was exalted, that every knee will bow and confess Jesus is Lord, name above all other names.
If you believe the Bible when it says that says Jesus created all things ( John 1:3 ), is equal to God ( phil 2:6), is one with God ( John 10:30), is God ( John 1:1), has a name above all other names ( Phil 2:9-11), should be baptized in His name ( Matthew 28:19) then is it such a stretch to believe that's true?
Simply believing what the Bible says is not a 'doctrine' as some claim, but those believing things the Bible doesn't say is definitely a human doctrine.
I get that people have a hard time comprehending that God is plural and how exactly that words out. We will find out in the end. But just because people don't understand 1 John 5:7 doesn't mean it's not true. Truth is true regardless of whether people choose to believe it or not.
John 8:58 - What do you think Jesus meant when he said "I am"?
Exodus 3:14 - What do you think of God saying "I am"?
John 5:23 - strong warning to anyone who dishonors Jesus.
God bless.
I appreciate your respectul remarks and am ok with continuing to dialog as long as that remains.
I can offer a challenge to few of your points in your last comment.
1. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning", God does not have a beginning.
It sounds like you are using this as evidence to support your view. I don't view it that way at all. First, this says "in the beginning" not "in God's beginning" or "in the Word's beginning". So, this phrase doesn't suggest any limitation on God whatsoever, but is just marking for us in our own human terms that Jesus was always there.
Do you remember Jesus saying this: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." That doesn't mean He's limited, but the opposite, it means He spans everything! Revelation 22:13 - notice the words in red that Jesus said that.
It also says this in Revelation 1:8, notice it says "says the Lord". Lord is Greek word kurios which is supreme authority or God. Some translations say "says the Lord God" and is the same meaning. This is Jesus speaking about Himself, it too is in red.
Isaiah 44:6 "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God." - notice this is the same claim Jesus made in Revelation. If there's only one and only one who makes that claim then it seems logical that the claim in both the New and Old Testament are from the same being.
Revelation 11:17 - This uses the same word Lord (kurios) of which Jesus is Lord ( Romans 10:9) and uses the word theos (God) with it, so it calls Jesus "Lord God." Do you agree? How do you feel about this verse?
Isaiah 43:11 - "I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour." So, it says Jesus is Lord and our savior in the New Testament and there's no other Lord. Here in the OT it also says the Lord is the savior and no one else. That is all in alignment with John 10:30. Yes?
John 5:23 - we must honor Jesus.
I know from past experience that people have used similar arguments in a dishonest way, however, in attempt to discredit God. I noticed you claimed those who believe in the trinity as it says in 1 John 5:7 didn't start until constantinople. That is untrue. People would have believed in the Godhead the first time they heard or read the scriptures, because its direct from scripture. 1 John 5:7, John 1:1, Philippians 2:6, and numerous verses that talk about the Godhead and plural "we" and "us" for God all align for even a child to understand that God consists of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. God is aware of our hearts and any attempts to discredit Him or spread false info will be taken seriously. Those who disrespect, dishonor, slander Jesus may not even be saved according to John 5:23.
Thanks for explaining your position.
Your comment stood out to me: "Jesus is the word, every word Jesus said was of God and from God the Father, the word of God became flesh not God. "
What's interesting is that John 1:1 does not say what you wrote. You acknowledge that Jesus is the Word as it says in John 1:14, ok so we agree on that aside from your use of a lowercase word instead of Word. The name Word is a proper title, similar to many other names of Jesus has been given.
1. After you used lowercase to describe Jesus instead of Word you then slipped in "word" but as a different meaning but to also create distance between God and Jesus.
That is surprising, because John 1:1 literally says "the Word was God."
Bible: "Word was God."
You: "every word Jesus said was of God."
That seems sneaky to me. That's not what that verse says. I have been in prayer about this and I encourage you to do the same. Surely God will honor those who seek Him with wisdom and understanding about who He is, do you agree?
There's no verse in the Bible that says Jesus isn't God. All the scripture supports that He is part of a triune God and is the Son. Yes, the Father is also called God and I see how people latch onto that. And I see how people don't want to understand that God can sometimes mean God the Father and can sometimes mean a triune God. But if someone believes there's no trinity and that Jesus isn't part of the Godhead as scriptures say, then how else do people explain the verses where God refers to itself as "we" and "us" and how Jesus created everything John 1:3. It says the 3 are 1 in 1 John 5:7. It doesn't say the part of the Godhead is everyone, or Paul, or Peter, or Samson or you. No, there's only 3 and it includes the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost just like it says.
One last comment for now:
"The doctrine says all three are equal, does scripture agree?"
The Bible doesn't say their roles are equal. What doctrine are you talking about?
And on this thread I just posted 26 other verses supporting that Jesus is God, the Son, and that God is truine. How many verses have you found supporting the opposite?
To give this even consideration, please share at least 26 or more verses supporting your view and then we can pray over this and read them together. Surely if we pray to God to know the truth and open our hearts to receive His wisdom and truth we can come to arrive at the truth, do you agree?
Link
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Who is the Word?
John 1:14-15 says the Word is Jesus. Does anyone deny that the Word is Jesus?
If someone believes John 1:14, then do they believe John 1:1
"...the Word was God."
"...[Jesus] was God."
JESUS.
WAS.
GOD.
John 1:1
This is God's Word.
Some here are saying "Jesus was NOT God" despite John 1:1 clearly saying Jesus WAS God. I'd like to know exactly how someone can believe in all other verses of the Bible except this one? If something WAS something, that seems to offer little room for interpretation. It means it's the same, does it not? So, if something WAS something, how does someone twist this into believing it says something WAS NOT something?
It then must be asked: since it takes so much effort to take a sentence something WAS something to turn it into: something WAS NOT something, what is the true underlying motive here? Does God's Word carry the most weight and influence or does something else?
This is eerily similar to Gen 3:4 where satan denied what God said and claimed that they shall NOT surely die. Satan loves opposites and this seems to have his signature, does it not?
I welcome any perspective I'm missing, but do not consider anything other Bible verses as valid evidence. God's Word is all that matters and because there's already numerous verses supporting that Jesus is God like John 1:1 then that is what is true. Lastly, why not just pray and ask God directly to know the truth? Genuinely ask!
1 John 5:7-8
John 10:30
John 8:19
Genesis 1:26
Genesis 11:6-7
(plural "us")
Philippians 2:5-8
2 Corinthians 5:19
John 1:3
Matthew 28:19
1 Peter 1:2
2 Corinthians 13:14
Deuteronomy 6:4
John 14:10
John 20:28
1 John 2:22-24
Matthew 1:23-25
Colossians 2:9
Acts 17:29
Romans 1:20
Isaiah 7:14
Hebrews 1:8
Isaiah 44:6
Isaiah 43:11