Introduction to Jesus Isn’t God Scriptures
We’re going to look at Scriptures that people will use to prove that Jesus isn’t God. We’re going to look at every one of these Scriptures in the light of the hypostatic union: one Person, Jesus Christ, with two full natures. Jesus is truly God and truly man.
This is going to be a Bible study and heavy in the Scriptures. Now, how would you answer someone who brings these verses to you telling you that Jesus isn’t God? I’ve got 9 categories of verses here for you. Let’s go to the first category.
1) Human Limitation / Growth
Intro: These verses look like “limits” (fatigue, learning, not knowing a time) and are often used to deny Christ’s deity. They actually display His real humanity. Remember, Jesus truly is a man.
Mark 13:32
But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
The one Person truly lacked this knowledge according to His human mind; as God He is omniscient. Incarnation = real human limitation without denying deity. Jesus was limited at times because He became a man. And the Scriptures are showing us He 100% was a man.
Luke 2:52
And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Real human development according to His humanity; no change to His divine nature.
Hebrews 5:8
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Learning/obeying are human experiences of the one Person; His deity remains impassible and perfect.
John 4:6
Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
Weariness is human; the same Lord upholds all things as God. God doesn’t get tired.
John 19:28
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
Bodily thirst is human; the Person who thirsts is also the eternal Word.
Summary: These verses show real human properties (growing, tiring, not knowing a time) that are true of Jesus according to His humanity, while He remains fully God and omniscient according to His deity.
2) Prayer / “My God” Language
Intro: Passages where Jesus prays or says “my God” are read as proof He isn’t God.
John 20:17
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
As man He worships the Father as His God; this does not deny that He is God according to His divine nature. He’s setting the example for us as men and women. What of Jesus came and didn’t call His Father God? He didn’t, though. He set the example for us.
Matthew 27:46
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
Real human dereliction suffered by the Person in His assumed humanity; deity isn’t forsaken or passible.
Summary: The one Person of the Son truly experienced, according to His human soul and body, the felt abandonment/judicial forsaking of the Father while bearing our sins on the cross. It is not a break in the Trinity or a loss of deity; it’s the human experience of God–forsakenness under judgment that the God-Man endured for us. He bore our sin in His body on the cross.
3) Sent / Given / Subject (Mediatorial Office)
Intro: “Sent,” “given,” “subject,” “made Lord” can sound like Jesus is inferior.
John 5:30
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.
This is voluntary subordination in His office as mediator between man and God. This doesn’t mean He is inferior to the Father as God. You must understand the man Christ Jesus.
John 6:38
For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
As a man, Jesus has His own will. As God, there is one will with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This distinguishes Persons and role; the One sent is from heaven (deity), yet obeys as man. Do you see the hypostatic union in this Scripture? From heaven = God. Obedience = man.
John 8:28
Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things.
Obedience belongs to His mediatorial work; deity remains equal. He is not ceasing from being God. He is obeying His Father in heaven as a man.
John 12:49
For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
This speaks of his office or mission. This is not a denial of deity.
John 14:10
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.
This speaks of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost indwelling one another mutually. They are distinct persons yet inseparably one. Their works of God toward the world are the undivided works of the one God. Jesus isn’t saying He weaker or lesser as God. Instead, Jesus is revealing the inner unity of the Trinity.
John 5:26
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Gifted “life in Himself” reflects eternal relation and mediatorial role, not creaturehood. Jesus isn’t a creation. The verse is relating Jesus directly to the Father.
Matthew 28:18
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Public enthronement of the risen God-man; not a new nature.
John 13:16
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.
“Sent” marks role/order, not lesser deity.
John 4:34
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
The incarnate Son finishes the Father’s work.
Acts 2:36
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
“Made” = installed/declared in office after resurrection.
1 Corinthians 11:3
But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
“Head” speaks to order/role, not essence. The head of Christ is God doesn’t mean Christ isn’t God Himself. This is how the entire Bible works. Jesus is the son of David but David calls Him Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:28
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.
At the end, the Son hands the kingdom to the Father to show God’s rule over everything.
Revelation 1:1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
Gift/commission language; no denial of deity.
Summary: All of these Scriptures that people will attempt to use are actually His economic mission/office language: the Son obeys the Father as the incarnate Mediator, not as a lesser deity; in essence He is equal with the Father.
4) “Only True God / One God The Father”
Intro: Monotheism texts highlighting the Father are used to exclude the Son.
John 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
The praying incarnate Son distinguishes Persons; John also calls the Son God.
1 Corinthians 8:6
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Paul applies the divine title “Lord” to Jesus and places Him in creation.
John 1:18
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
The unseen God is declared by the Son who shares the divine being and became flesh. God is a Spirit. No man hath seen Him. The Son hath declared Him.
John 20:31
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
“Son of God” in John carries full divine identity, not creaturehood.
Summary: All of these Scriptures distinguish Persons within the one God; the same writers also call the Son God/Lord and place Him there during creation, so they don’t deny His deity.
5) Only Begotten / Firstborn / Beginning / “Good”
Intro: Titles and terms are misread as creaturehood or denial of deity. People will attempt to use these Scriptures to say that Jesus is a creation.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
“Only begotten” = unique, one-of-a-kind Son; not “created.”
Colossians 1:15
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
“Firstborn” = preeminent heir; the very next verses say He created all things.
Revelation 3:14
And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
“Beginning” = source/ruler/origin of creation, not first thing created.
Mark 10:18
And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Jesus exposes the ruler’s understanding: if only God is good and you call Me good, reckon with who I am.
Matthew 19:17
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Same probing point; not a denial of His deity.
Summary: “Only begotten” = unique Son; “firstborn” = preeminent heir; “beginning” = source/ruler; the “good” sayings press recognition of His divine identity—none teach that He’s created.
6) “Does Nothing Of Himself” / “Father Greater”
Intro: Statements of dependence or “greater” are treated as proof He’s lesser in nature.
John 5:19
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
Far from weakness—this claims perfect unity: whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does.
John 7:16
Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
Mission/obedience language in His incarnate office.
John 14:28
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.
“Greater” = the Father’s position in the economy during the Son’s humiliation, not a lesser essence.
Summary: Proclaims unity of action and the Son’s humiliation/mission, not inequality of nature.
7) “God Of Our Lord / My God”
Intro: Christ’s own “my God” are taken to deny His deity. These phrases are perfectly fitting to the Son’s true humanity and worship of the Father, and they coexist with explicit statements of His deity.
Ephesians 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Apostolic prayer titles the Father as the God of our Lord Jesus Christ (according to His humanity).
2 Corinthians 1:3
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Similar blessing formula from Paul.
1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
Peter uses the same praise-and-blessing pattern.
Revelation 3:12
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
The risen Christ Himself speaks of “my God” according to His humanity.
Summary: They reflect His true humanity and worship of the Father and sit alongside explicit affirmations of His full deity.
8) Servant Language
Intro: “Servant” marks His Messianic role as the Anointed One in the flesh; Scripture simultaneously names Him God and Lord.
Matthew 12:18
Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.
Isaiah’s Servant fulfilled in Jesus identifies His messianic office.
Acts 3:13
The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.
The God of the fathers glorified His Servant/Son Jesus—office, not denial of deity.
Acts 5:30
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Apostolic preaching of the Servant who was raised—again messianic role.
Summary: “Servant” identifies His Messianic role in the flesh; the same Scriptures call Him God and Lord—office, not ontological subordination.
9) Wisdom Personified (Misapplied)
Some press Proverbs 8 to claim the Son was created.
Proverbs 8:22
The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
Proverbs speaks of wisdom personified (poetry/typology), not the Son’s origin; the NT clearly presents the Son as Creator, not creature.
Conclusion: How The Nine Points Fit In Christ’s Two-Natures, One-Person Reality
- One Person, two natures explains all nine.
Every “problem” text falls into one of three buckets: (1) real human properties (limits, growth, prayer); (2) mission/office language (sent, given, subject); or (3) word-usage/context (“firstborn,” “beginning,” “only true God”). None of these deny Christ’s deity; they presuppose that the one Lord Jesus is truly man while remaining truly God. - According to His humanity vs. according to His deity.
When Scripture shows Him tired, learning, or not knowing a day/hour, that is according to His human mind and body. When it shows Him creating, sustaining, forgiving, searching hearts, that is according to His divine nature. The subject is always the same Person. - Unity of action without inequality of essence.
“I and my Father are one,” “the Father in me and I in the Father,” and “whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise” teach perichoretic unity—the undivided works of the Trinity—not that the Son is a lesser God. “My Father is greater than I” speaks to the incarnate mission (humiliation and obedience), not to a smaller deity. - “My God” and “God of our Lord” fit true humanity.
The Son’s worship and the apostles’ praise lines fit His real human devotion and His mediatorial office. They live alongside clear declarations of His full deity—so they complement, not cancel. - Titles don’t make Him a creature.
In Scripture, “only begotten” = unique Son; “firstborn” = preeminent heir; “beginning (arche)” = source/ruler. Read in context, these titles exalt Christ. The NT repeatedly places Him on the Creator side of the line. - Communication of idioms (properties) guards clarity.
Because the Person is one, Scripture can say “God purchased the church with His own blood”: the Person who is God truly suffered in the assumed humanity. We don’t blend natures; we attribute what’s proper to each to the one Lord. We might say God shed His blood. As a man, He had blood to shed. - Why this matters (so what).
Only the God-Man can reveal God perfectly, obey the law for us, bear our sins in real flesh, and save to the uttermost. The nine sections, rightly read, secure atonement, mediation, and worship. - Reading rule you can carry everywhere.
Ask: Who is acting? (the one Person, the Son). Which nature supplies the property? (human or divine). Then confess it cleanly: “Jesus does/experiences X according to His humanity (or deity).”
One-sentence takeaway:
All nine groups of verses, taken together, don’t chip away at Christ’s deity; they require and display the hypostatic union—one Lord Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, united without mixture, change, division, or separation, so that whatever either nature does is truly done by the one Person for our salvation.
Let’s pray.
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