Tag Archives: Divinity of Christ

Evangelism

DA Carson – How Do You Explain the Gospel in Five Minutes

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Gospel, Theology

Inadequate Understanding of Love

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Our understanding of God’s love is so raw since it is shaped by our culture we were born in and raised, books that we read, music that we listen to, and movies that we watch. What we understand as love is only what we are capable of ourselves doing it to others. That is utterly inadequate definition of love. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of what love really is. God is love,[1] and His love is actualized and demonstrated in the person of Jesus Christ on the Cross in Calvary. He is no less than the incarnate Son of God, preexisted with the Father, not made but begotten, the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form.[2] Without diminishing his divinity, he voluntarily took a human form to deliver the humanity from the bondage of sin by offering himself as the ultimate sacrifice.[3] For the penalty of sin is death.[4] Jesus paid the price by his own blood even when we were still sinners.[5] And that is love.

Scripture References:

[1] 1 John 4:8

[2] Colossians 2:9; Philippians 2:6-8

[3] Hebrews 10:10

[4] Romans 6:23

[5] Romans 5:8

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Church History, Theology

Biblical Nuggets: Nestorius and Nestorianism

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Nestorius was an archbishop of Constantinople from 10th April 428 to 22nd June 431 A.D.  It is not certain if Nestorius himself was a Nestorian; however, his name has been associated with this view. He got into trouble when he rejected the title, Theotokos – the idea that Virgin Mary should be called the “Mother of God”.

Regarding person and nature of Christ, Nestorius proposed two natures and two persons view. He believed that the unity of Christ’s human and divine natures is just like a man and his wife living under one roof. He believed that human and divine are impossible to unite with each other. If such union had occurred, then Christ could neither truly have  been equal to God or consubstantial with God nor consubstantial with man, since God cannot be borne  as a human, grow in to maturity, suffer, and die. However, there is a problem in this view. It makes difficult for Jesus to be both God and human at the same time. It diminishes the person and nature of Christ, thereby rejecting the true Logos Incarnation (In the beginning… [John 1:1,14]) in Nestorianism. Thus, Nestorius was condemned heretic by Cyril of Alexandria at the First Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D.

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Reference:

* Consubstantial (homoousios) : regarded as the same in substance or essence. This term homoousios stirred the Christendom which eventually led to Christological Controversy.

Theology

Biblical Nuggets: Apollinaris on the Person of Christ

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Apollinaris on the Person of Christ

Apollinaris is a bishop of Laodicea in Syria. He is noted opponent of Arianism. He believes that Jesus had a human body and human soul, but he had the Divine Logos in place of a human spirit. This view appealed to the trichotomy and switched human spirit of Jesus with the Divine Logos. In other words, Apollinaris is trying to conceptualize human and divine nature of Jesus Christ. He taught that Jesus has human soul and human body but his spirit is placed by Divine spirit or Logos. Continue reading Biblical Nuggets: Apollinaris on the Person of Christ →

Scripture

Scripture Reading: John 1:14-18

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ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:14-18 [SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT)]

14 Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ ἐθεασάμεθα τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας·

And the Word became flesh and he encamped among us, and we beheld {the} His glory, glory as of an only begotten from the Father, full of grace and of truth;

15 (Ἰωάννης μαρτυρεῖ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ κέκραγεν λέγων· [Οὗτος ἦν [a]ὃν εἶπον·] Ὁ ὀπίσω μου ἐρχόμενος ἔμπροσθέν μου γέγονεν, ὅτι πρῶτός μου ἦν·)

(John testifies concerning Him and has cried out, saying, [“This One was {of} whom I said;] the One coming after me has become before me, for He was before me.)

16 [b]ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πληρώματος αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς πάντες ἐλάβομεν, καὶ χάριν ἀντὶ χάριτος·

And out of his fullness we all received, also grace upon grace;

17 ὅτι ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωϋσέως ἐδόθη, ἡ χάρις καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐγένετο.

for the law was given through Moses, the grace and the truth came through Jesus Christ.

18 θεὸν οὐδεὶς ἑώρακεν πώποτε· [c]μονογενὴς θεὸς ὁ ὢν εἰς τὸν κόλπον τοῦ πατρὸς ἐκεῖνος ἐξηγήσατο.

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son/God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father, he declared {him}.

Footnotes:

  1. ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:15 ὃν εἶπον Treg NIV RP ] ὁ εἰπών WH
  2. ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:16 ὅτι WH Treg NIV ] Καὶ RP
  3. ΚΑΤΑ ΙΩΑΝΝΗΝ 1:18 μονογενὴς θεὸς WH Treg NIV ] ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός RP

Note: SBL Greek New Testament Texts are taken from biblegateway.com.

Fore More Readings:

//John 1: 1-5//     //John 1:6-8//     //John 1:9-13//