Originally posted by godrulz
Jesus claimed to be the Messiah and Son of God. He did not stop there, nor did John, Peter, and Paul. The religious Jews understood His claims and shouted blasphemy, that He was claiming to be God. Jesus received worship as God, the "I am" of the OT.
Many religions believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Some believe He is God Almighty, while others believe He is created or a mere prophet/teacher.
There are about 40 verses that show He is God, equal with the Father and of the same essence. The 5 verses used by JWs to show He is subordinate relate to His positional place while on earth, not His essential Deity as seen in other verses.
Thomas (Jn. 20:28) correctly called him "My Lord and my God" (literal Gk. = the Lord of me and the God of me"...the same phrase used by the Psalmist about Almighty God). Jesus did not rebuke Thomas, but affirmed him and received it as worship.
Jn. 1:1 properly exegeted is sufficient proof.
I cannot imagine any Christian refusing to say that they love and worship Jesus as God Almighty. If you believe this, why not state it. If you reject it, then you are outside of biblical Christianity and are trusting a counterfeit Christ of your own imagination (Gal. 1:5-9; 2 Cor. 11:4).
I was hoping you are a brother in the Lord. Your dancing around the issue is of grave concern.
When people leave a group such as JWs or SDAs, some become godless and want nothing to do with religion or God. They were burnt once and will not risk it again. Others end up in similar groups with heretical teaching of a different type. They are still in bondage to false religion. Some retain belief in God and develop there own ideas. They avoid organized religion. The only legitimate response is to find out the truth and fellowship with those who have it. This is my prayer for you, if you deny the classic understanding of the Deity of Christ (trinity is secondary at the moment).
