Jesus is God, a Core Doctrine: A Series on Christianity's Core Beliefs

Last week I discussed 3 doctrines in the Church that I consider to be marginal issues. They are doctrines that regardless of where you stand on them, have no impact on your salvation. Again, I define marginal doctrines as those doctrines that you could disown without effecting your status as "saved." I could probably write a blog every day for the next year, and still not be done with marginal doctrines. Such doctrines as the virgin birth, proper age and execution for baptism, and whether Satan exists or not are all marginal doctrines that divide Christians because we take them to be necessary for our salvation. If we do not take them to be essential for our salvation, then our arguing is done in vain.

If you haven't guessed already, I define "core doctrines" as doctrines a Christian must believe in order to ensure their salvation. The first doctrine I would like to address as core is the doctrine of Jesus' divinity/humanity. I place divinity and humanity together as each attribute tends to be overemphasized in certain groups and it is forgotten that Jesus was 100% human and 100% divine. This doctrine is important and core for multiple reasons. The main issue is that, as Scripture points our throughout, it is important not to worship any false gods. Exodus 20:3 is clear that "you shall have no other gods before me." God wants us to worship him, and no idols that we make up and place as God. Therefore it is important to know who God is and who he consists of, in order to ensure that we are worshiping the one true God.

Therefore, if Jesus is divine, and therefore considered one with God, it is important that we address him as God, because if we do not, then we are not worshiping the one true God.

We have from Scripture numerous sections that refer to him as God. Most clearly he is referred to as God in John 1:1 which states, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Also in John 20:28, after Jesus revealed himself to doubting Thomas as the resurrected Lord, Thomas exclaims, "my Lord and my God" falling down to worship him. In every other Scripture passage where someone falls down worship someone that is not God, including the angels, that person is told to get up and not to worship them for they are not God. In this passage Jesus responds, "seeing you have believed. Blessed are they who having not seen, yet still believe." So it is clear from these passages that Jesus is God.

Jesus does many things that only God can do, including forgiving people of their sins, and knowing their thoughts. It is clear from Jesus' actions that he is God.

It is clear from much of the New Testament that we are to include Jesus as part of the Godhead. Therefore, if you do not believe in the divinity of Jesus, you are not worshiping the one true God.

Now, I am not going to argue for the trinity in this post, but let me say that it is necessary for one to believe in the trinity in order to be following the proper God. The reason for this is that it is clear that God states he is one, and that there is only one god. Deuteronomy 6:4 states, "hear o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." Therefore, if we are to worship the proper God, he must include Jesus, and yet remain one.

So it does not matter what one thinks about end times, about what specific actions count as sins, or about the inerrancy of the Bible. In the long run, none of those beliefs matter. But one belief that does matter, is that Jesus is God and that God is One. Come back tomorrow as I continue my series on the Core Doctrines of the Church as we discuss the next core doctrine.

End Times, a Marginal Belief: A Series on Christianity's Core Beliefs

Beginning our series on core vs. marginal beliefs, I have decided that I will start by discussing marginal beliefs and end the series by discussing core Christian beliefs. That was the easy part as I planned for this series. The difficult part was deciding what marginal beliefs to discuss. As I discuss the marginal beliefs, I want to pick out the ones that Christians today tend to fight most over. It would do no good to point out marginal beliefs that most Christians already agreed were marginal. What is important is that we establish what marginal beliefs we most argue over with the hope that, knowing they are not part of the core of what we believe, we will no longer view them as worth arguing over. One of the most divisive of all of these marginal doctrines centers around end times theology, or eschatology.

I have seen churches split over end times theology. I have seen members thrown out of churches because of their eschatology. I have seen Christians attack each other in the name of the end times. When the number two commandment in Scripture is to love your neighbor as yourself, defending end times theology to the death is wrong whether it is a core belief or not.

There are several different beliefs regarding the end times that have caused many splits and many different factions within Christianity. There are churches that devote every worship service to preaching the end times. But is end times theology all that important? Does it make a difference in the lives of Christians? Does our salvation depend on having a correct eschatology? The answer to the last question will determine whether eschatology is a core doctrine or a marginal one.

As I read Scripture, though it is important for us to know that Jesus will come again, it is not important for us to know when or how. Matthew 25:1-13 is a parable that many interpret as a parable about the return of Christ at the end of time. Verse 13 is especially insightful: it starts our by telling us to "be on the alert" for his return. So we are asked by him to acknowledge that he will come back and to be aware that it could be anytime. But the second part of the verse warns, "for you do not know the day nor the hour." This verse assumes that even we today do not know when his return will be, or even if we will still be here on this earth. Therefore, to conjecture about when Jesus' return will be is fruitless, and to argue over the details and fight with other Christians about it, is to miss the point of the end times: we do not and cannot know when it will be.

Finally, Jesus' words in Matthew 24:36 are informative: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." If not even Jesus himself knows about the details of the end times, who are we to think we can? If only the Father knows, is it that pertinent for us to attempt to attain such high knowledge? Our eschatology, our knowledge of the end times do nothing for our salvation and say nothing about our position in the Church, within the body of Christ. The Bible is clear on this, end times theology is a marginal belief that should not be defended to our utmost. If there is any core doctrine in Christianity relating to the end times, it is that Jesus is going to return, and I question even if that is core. Whether we believe if Jesus will return or not does not effect our salvation according to Scripture.

So as we interact with other Christians, let us continue to engage each other with an attitude of love and compassion, and when we are debating about the end times, let us be willing, for our edification and theirs, to let go of arguing, knowing that this is a marginal belief.