I was talking to a Christian couple who were long time church leaders. When our topic shifted on the importance of doctrinal foundation in discipleship I learned that the husband believed in Jesus Christ as the Creator while the wife believed Jesus as a creature.
When the husband learned about it, he was surprised about what he just heard from his wife. He thought his wife and him share the same belief about Jesus. He has no idea that his wife believed Jesus was created by His Father.
What will happen to the wife if she dies believing in Jesus as a created being?
Surely a created Jesus cannot saved her.
No matter how sincere we are in our faith if we are wrong then we are sincerely wrong. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself says, if we have a wrong understanding about who He is then it will cost us our eternal destiny. Remember that a false Jesus cannot saved us from our sins. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself stated,
“I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
John 8:24, ESV
In the Literal Version His statement is more emphatic and clear. It states,
“Therefore, I said to you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.”
John 8:24, Literal Version
In other words, if any person believes the following, they are trusting in another Jesus.
1. Jesus is man not God.
2. Jesus is an inferior god.
3. Jesus was created by His Father.
4. Jesus is not equal in nature with the Father.
5. Jesus is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
6. Jesus is not fully God and fully Man.
7. Jesus is not a historical person but a fable.
8. Jesus is not the Almighty God.
9. Jesus is not called Yahweh like His Father and the Holy Spirit.
“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.”
2 Corinthians 11:4, ESV
On the same vein, if a person believes Jesus is the Holy Spirit then he is attacking and dismissing the Holy Spirit’s very personality leading to irreverence and disrespect. This is different from being unaware about the existence of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 19:2).
If they believe Jesus is not existent then they are embracing a wrong Jesus.
Yes. Jesus is fully God and fully Man. He is one of the three distinct divine Persons in the Godhead. To honor Jesus in His rightful claim is to honor His Father. No wonder the book of Hosea says, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). It is also Paul who wrote to Timothy about the importance of both sound doctrine and life transformation.
“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
1 Timothy 4:16, NIV
Do you really know who Jesus Christ is?
If Jesus will ask you today about who He is, how would you describe Him?
How well do you know Jesus?
Is He truly the Jesus of the Scripture?
The Bible reveals He is the Creator God, Lord & Master, Saviour, Incarnate Man, and the Eternal Yahweh. He is one of the three distinct divine Persons in the Triune God. I hope that we will also arrive at a revelation given by the Father about His Son stating, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).
Jesus is asking you too, “But who do you say that I am?” – Matthew 16:15
As former Jehovah’s Witness turned Christian Lorrie McGregor once said,
“If you have the right Jesus then you are right for all eternity. But if you have the wrong Jesus then you are wrong for all eternity.”
Biblical References:
Jn. 1:1, 14, 18; 5:18; 8:58; 10:30; 20:28; Isa. 9:6; Phil. 2:5-7; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:8, 10; Rev. 1:8
the God that i know is the one that created the heaven and earth, the God in 3 persons, the father, the son and the holy spirit. The God who was called in many names, Jesus Christ, mediator, redeemer, elohim, yaweh, el shaddai, emmanuel, king of kings and lord of lords.
Thank you for your thoughts. I don’t think the Bible call the three Persons as “Jesus Christ” just like the contention of the Oneness cults. The Lord Jesus is the Son alone not the Father nor the Holy Spirit. The “everlasting father” in Isaiah 9:6 is a description of the son’s divine nature along with Mighty God and Wonderful Counsellor but never to be understood as a relational term.
Hi Friend,
We are not saved by the type of “Jesus” we believed but the Jesus presented by the Scripture through the claim of Jesus Himself and his apostles. There are many “Jesus” in this world like the Jesus of the Mormon, the Jesus of the “Oneness” Pentecostals, the Jesus of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Jesus of Islam, the Jesus of the Hindu, the Jesus of the Mind Science, and so on and so forth. Surely, they are not all right at the same time. We need to examine, scrutinize, investigate, inquire, and search the Scriptures just like how the Bereans did it so we will know if what they are saying about the Bible is true or not. Our faith must always be placed on the right Jesus of the Bible not on the wrong Jesus. Only the right Jesus saves. Only the right Jesus can give us eternal life. Only the right Jesus rose Himself up from the grave. The first century is privilege to meet the right Jesus of the Scripture. And it’s good that they documented everything they knew about Jesus Christ so we will not be duped by a number of false Christ all over the world. Thanks for your comments.