Interesting Questions-39

"Mistaking Christ for God"
(John 1:14;  Philippians 2:6-8)

Letter to the Editor:
PASUGO, January-February 1993, p.2

THE BIBLE EXPLICITLY says  that God is the Savior, I Tim. 2:3. In your denial of the Godship of Christ you have a pseudo-savior.  I Tim:2:5 explicitly states that Jesus Christ is a mediator not savior.   It is Jesus Christ, God Incarnate, true God and true man who is and no one else.

Your insistence   that Jesus Christ is only a man and is devoid of divinity is practically denying the veracity of a basic biblical truth—the Incarnation  as   revealed in Jn. 1:14 and Philippians   - 2:6-8.   Except for the Iglesia ni Cristo, Christendom believes that Jesus Christ is true God and true man because he is God Incarnate.  In denying this you have made liars of John and Paul and since their lies appear in the New Testament this is tantamount to saying that the Holy Bible, the Iglesia ni Cristo's sole rule of faith  is tainted with lies.

Lutgardo P. Alquiros
Lucena City, Philippines

Editor's reply:

Your letter deals with an interesting topic, that the denial of the Godship of Christ allegedly  yields a pseudo-savior.

I Timothy 2:3 indeed states God is our Savior. The Iglesia ni Cristo preaches that 1 Timothy 2:5 (King James Version) indeed states that Christ is a man, the mediator between God and men. The Iglesia ni Cristo preaches that also.

³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, (I Timothy 2:3-5, NKJV)

But what about Titus 1:4,3 which states that Jesus Christ is also our Savior? Do you deny that?

³So, at the proper time, God our Savior gave this message and told me to announce what he had said.  ⁴Titus, because of our faith, you are like a son to me. I pray that God our Father and Christ Jesus our Savior will be kind to you and will bless you with peace! (Titus 1:3-4, Contemporary English Version)

John  1:14 does not state that God became flesh. What it states is that the Word (or Logos) was made flesh. Your conclusion that the Word is God is taken from a mistranslation of John 1:1. The word had a beginning and thus cannot  be God because God had no beginning (Ps. 90:1).

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.       ¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:1 & 14, NKJV)

Thus, the Moffatt  Version renders John 1:1   "... the Logos was divine" and Smith-Goodspeed renders  it  " .. .the Word was divine."    Biblical scholars say that the Logos means word, thought., concept, and the expressions thereof (Ryrie Study Bible, p. 1599).    Also, the word. Logos means reason or plan (The New Encyclopedia  Britannica, Micropaedia, p. 302). Thus Logos means thought, word, or plan of God, not God.

The Logos existed in the very beginning, the Logos was with God, the Logos was divine. (John 1:1, Moffatt Version)

IN THE beginning the Word existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was divine. (John 1:1, The Complete Bible: An American Translation, Smith and Goodspeed)

Philippians 2:6-8 does not say Christ is God but on the contrary it says Christ is man.  He is indeed in the form of God;  but so is Adam who was created in the image and likeness of God. (Gen.l:26).

who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:6-8, NKJV)

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; . . . . (Gen: 1:26, NKJV)

Christ is not equal to God. Not in power for the Father is greater than Christ (Jn. 14:28) nor in knowledge for there is something the Father knows that Christ does not know (Mark 23:32). But in holiness for God is holy (Hosea 11:9) and Christ is holy (Mark 1:24)—God  cannot  sin (Heb. 6:18) and Christ did not sin (II Cor. 5:21).

Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. (John 14:28, KJV)

“No one knows when that day or time will be. The Son and the angels in heaven don’t know when that day or time will be. Only the Father knows. (Mark 13:32, Easy to read Version)

I will not execute the fierceness of My anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, The Holy One in your midst; And I will not come with terror. (Hosea 11:9, NKJV)

saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24, NKJV)

So these are two things that don’t change, because it’s impossible for God to lie. He did this so that we, who have taken refuge in him, can be encouraged to grasp the hope that is lying in front of us. (Heb. 6:18, Common English Bible)

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (II Cor. 5:21, NKJV)

Thus, the belief in Christ who is "God Incarnate" is truly a belief in a fake or "pseudo-savior."  It is the believers  of such  doctrine —that Christ is God Incarnate—who have made liars of not only John and Paul but also of the prophets, the Apostles, Christ, and even God Himself who all say that Christ is man, chosen by God to be Lord and Savior and Judge on Judgment Day.

___________________

Note: Verses in smaller font were added for clarity, emphasis ours.

Bible Study Suggestion: If you have further questions, please feel free to visit the Iglesia ni Cristo congregation nearest you. A minister or an evangelical worker would be happy to answer any biblical question you have in mind.