The Deity of Christ is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. It is the belief that Jesus, the Son of God, is, by nature, God in flesh; the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily within Him. It is a segment of a larger doctrine, the doctrine of the Trinity, which is vital for salvation.
Because it is such an important doctrine, Christians should not only know the doctrine, but also know how to defend it, especially as it is one of the most commonly attacked doctrines. Thankfully, Scripture is filled to the absolute brim with proofs of the Deity of Christ, so much so that we are actually spoilt for choice. You will likely forget many of them shortly after learning them, simply because there are so many! Because of this embarrassment of riches, it's actually better to learn one or two of them well, rather than trying to learn them all at once. In this article series, I intend to give you a few ideas of which ones to study, briefly showing the Deity of Christ from Scripture. But first...
What is Scripture?
Before finding the Deity of Christ in Scripture, it's important to remember what Scripture actually is. According to its own testimony, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
This is an important doctrine that Christ Himself affirms. Throughout its pages, Christ can be seen endlessly pointing back to Scripture, saying things like "...the Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35), "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?" (Mark 12:24), and even "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." (John 10:39). Jesus is a very firm supporter of Scripture as the Word of the Living God, which He actually says testifies of Him. The Old Testament, He says, point us right to Him, even in the very words of Moses, so that you cannot believe Moses without Christ, nor in Christ without Moses.
The New Testament is written with similar authority. Before the Ascension, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit (distinguishing the Holy Spirit from Christ Himself), and that He would guide His Apostles to "all truth" (John 16:13). Furthermore, just as Christ affirmed the impossibility of separating Moses and Himself, He affirmed "Now I tell you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am He. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.”" (John 13:19-20).
With this in mind, it is clear that you are not a Christian if you reject God's prophets or Apostles, and that their words are actually guided by God Himself. Furthermore, even ignoring the divine inspiration element, it cannot be denied that the Bible is the most reliable source on Jesus, and that without it, you can't even know much about Him at all. An entirely separate article series could be published around this topic, but I don't want to turn the introduction to a series on the Deity of Christ into an essay on the infallibility of Scripture.
Christ by any other name
An amateur Bible student may easily be tripped up here. If Christ says that the Old Testament testifies of Him, especially in Moses' writings, where is He? Try typing "Jesus" into Bible Gateway. You'll get plenty of results from the New Testament, but the Torah never says the word even once.
The obvious solution is that deductive reasoning is valid. Unfortunately, some people will point out "the word 'Trinity' isn't even in the Bible", as if that's a silver bullet that ends the entire discussion. But such people are not to be taken seriously, especially since they tend to be "Monotheists", whereas "theism" and its related words are not found in the Bible either. But Jesus is a huge fan of deductive reasoning, and He used it quite often. In fact, one of the things He did when He rose again was track down His disciples and explain to them all the things Scripture says about Him (Luke 24:13-27).
Therefore, if we don't see Christ in the Old Testament, it's because we're just not studying properly. To the same degree, if we do not see the Trinity in Scripture, especially the Deity of Christ, we're doing something very wrong.
Throughout this series, we will see just how obvious this concept is. We will see quite explicit citations that Christ is God, but we will also see some deeper things. We will see Christ identify Himself as God in ways a Jew would recognise, and that the Jews of His time did recognise them. We will see Scripture attribute things to Christ that can only reasonably be said of God. We will see God refer to Himself in "strange" ways that can only realistically imply that He is multipersonal. Ultimately, we will show that Biblical evidence of the Deity of Christ is so abundant that it is preserved even in translations that were specifically corrupted to remove it. God has given us no escape route. Christ is Lord, and without that confession, we will never enter His Kingdom.
1. Hebrews 1:8-9: God calls the Son "God"
As I said earlier, it's generally better to have a few proofs you know well than to overwhelm yourself with many. My personal go-to is Hebrews 1:8-9, because it works on both a deep and surface level. On the whole, the book of Hebrews is a very deep book, written, in particular, to those who already have a strong foundational knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures. It shows how Christ, in every aspect of His being, is superior to the Old Covenant religious system, and how even this system was ultimately designed to point us to Him. The law made nothing perfect, yet Christ is perfect. The priests of the Old Covenant died, yet Christ lives forever. Even the fathers and the prophets, ultimately, are superseded by Christ.
Of course, if you're a Christian, you probably already have a very high regard for Christ, so it shouldn't be surprising that Hebrews sings His praises in these ways. It is self evident that Christ is greater than the law, the priests, the prophets etc. But Hebrews 1:8-9 says something particularly interesting about Him.
First, we need a little context. We've already summarised the book of Hebrews, but let's start reading from the beginning:
"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did He ever say: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You”? And again: “I will be to Him a Father, And He shall be to Me a Son”? But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” And of the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits And His ministers a flame of fire.” But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”"
From this, we see that it is actually God speaking in Hebrews 1:8-9. But what is He saying, and who is He saying it to? Quite explicitly, "to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions." To the Son. So, God is calling the Son God, and calling Himself the Son's God? So God has a God who calls God "O God".
This isn't just something new, plucked from thin air by the mysterious author of Hebrews. Remember how Jesus claims the Scriptures speak about Him? Go to Psalm 45 and read verses 6 and 7: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions."
Even this has a note of God speaking to God, as if to another, yet clearly not another, for there is one God! From verse 1, we see that Psalm 45 primarily addresses a King, and in verse 2, we see "Therefore God has blessed You (the aforementioned King) forever." But this isn't God actually speaking, is it? Well, there doesn't appear to be any kind of switch here. The most natural reading is that the same person is being addressed from verse 1 to verse 9.
But remember, while the Scriptures are physically penned by man, they are not the exclusive work of man. If they were, we could discard them as easily as any other man's work. But as we have seen, they are in fact the word of the Living God. Furthermore, in 1 Peter 1:12, we read that "To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into." This same Peter tells us "And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." (2 Peter 1:19-21).
With this in mind, Psalm 45 is literally God saying these things to the Son. Psalm 45 addresses Jesus in the same way Hebrews 1:8-9 explicitly tells us God speaks to the Son. There's no way around this: Jesus, the Son, is God, and is called God by none other than God Himself! So unless there are two Gods (which we know there cannot be), or Scripture is not the word of God (which is a very anti-Christian claim to make), it is undeniable that the Son is God, and God Himself says so.
2. Hebrews 1:3: Jesus is the express image of God's person
We hear a lot about "the original languages" when discussing Scripture. It is often claimed that English translations don't do justice to the original texts, and seem more supportive of certain doctrines. Ironically, these doctrines precede the existence of the English language, let alone English translations. But a great test of doctrine is its ability to not only be conveyed in other languages, but even to survive attempts to remove it.
The Deity of Christ is certainly one such doctrine. A common strategy for pseudo-Christian religions is to produce counterfeit Bible translations which suit their particular doctrine. One such organisation, The Watchtower, is notorious for being one such denomination. In 1984, it published the New World Translation, a meticulously designed non-translation which was intended to remove all references to Jesus as God. For example, regarding Hebrews 1:8, the NWT says "But about the Son, he says: “God is your throne forever and ever, and the scepter of your Kingdom is the scepter of uprightness."
But because the Bible is so deep, heretics often overlook the less obvious references. In this case, not even the NWT has managed to erase Psalm 89:6 and Hebrews 1:3. In the more reputable NKJV, Psalm 89:6 reads "For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the Lord?" This is a rhetorical question, the unspoken answer of which is "no one". No one can be compared to the Lord, not even the sons of the mighty.
But according to Hebrews 1:3, Jesus "...being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"
So notice, right before God explicitly says to the Son "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever...", the author of Hebrews also tells us that Jesus is the express image of God's person. But who can be compared to the Lord? If Jesus can be not only compared to the Lord, but can also be called the brightness of His glory, and express image of His person, the only conclusion is that He is the Lord. And not even intentionally corrupt Bible translations managed to remove this.
3. Hebrews 1:6: Angels worship the Son
As you can probably tell, Hebrews 1 is a very pregnant passage regarding the Deity of Christ. We have shown that God calls the Son "God", we have shown that no one is like God, yet the Son is the exact representation of His being, and now, we are showing that the Son is worshiped by angels, all from the same short, introductory passage.
Remember, the context of Hebrews is to show the superiority of Christ over even the Old Covenant religious system. It examines Old Testament sacrifices and how they had to be repeated, whereas Christ was sacrificed only once, and that is sufficient. It examines the priesthood, and shows how this was weak because the priests all died, whereas Christ lives forever. It does all this, and more, showing that while man is a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5), Christ is actually higher.
One way in which it does this is to say "But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”" Exactly where God says this is disputed. Some commentaries will point to Psalm 97:7, which says "Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods." But it is often pointed out that both the Latin Vulgate, and, more importantly, the Septuagint, with which Paul was intimately familiar, render this passage "all His angels". Barnes' Notes, for example, says "Worship him, all ye gods - Hebrew, אלהים 'Elohiym. The Septuagint and the Vulgate render this, "all his angels." The original word אלהים 'Elohiym is that which is commonly applied to the true God (Genesis 1:1, et saepe), though it may be applied to angels, or to magistrates. See Psalm 82:1, note; Psalm 82:6, note. On the general meaning of this passage, and the question respecting its reference to the Messiah, see the notes at Hebrews 1:6. The reference here, according to the quotation in Hebrews 1:6, is to the angels. The original word will admit of this interpretation, and the entire structure of the psalm will justify its application to the Messiah." (1).
Of course, divine inspiration trumps all. If there are multiple ways to render an Old Testament passage, but God, in the New Testament, cites one, that one is the correct rendering. But ultimately, even if we reject Psalm 97:7 as the verse to which Paul refers, Paul himself indisputably claims, under divine inspiration, that God says of the firstborn (i.e. Christ) "Let all the angels of God worship Him".
But Scripture makes it quite clear that worship is reserved only for God. When worship is directed away from God, that's called idolatry, and it is strictly forbidden. In fact, Paul directly warns us "Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God." (Colossians 2:18-19). But if we do see angels, the temptation would absolutely be to worship them.
In fact, we see this very phenomenon even among the faithful! In Revelation 19:10, speaking of an angel, John says "And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”" This would not be the only time John, the disciple Jesus loved (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20), would be tempted to worship this majestic being, as again in Revelation 22:8-9, we read "Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”"
As tempted as people, including the faithful, would be to worship an actual angel, the Godly angels will always give a default response: Get up! Worship God. We see, then, that worship is not a thing to take lightly. Human beings cannot be worshiped legitimately. Angels cannot be worshiped legitimately. And the servants of God, man or angel, will never accept worship. Yet, not only does Jesus, who knows no sin, accept any worship He is offered, but God Himself commands His angels to worship Him! The only way to be legitimately worthy of worship is to be God, yet Jesus is worthy of worship from all of creation. There is no feasible conclusion to this matter other than that Jesus is God.
4. Hebrews 1:2: Jesus created the worlds
One particular way in which Jesus shows Himself to be divine is by claiming divine attributes, or actions, as His own. The second verse of Hebrews does this in more ways than one. It tells us that God "has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;", affirming several truths about Christ.
To begin with, it affirms His pre-existence, which is by no means unique to Hebrews. John's Gospel opens by telling us "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." (John 1:1-3). Colossians 1:15-17 says "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist." In John 17:5, Jesus prays for Himself, asking "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was." And of course, who could overlook the time when Jesus said "...Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:58)?
All of these claims affirm the pre-existence of Christ, something unique to Him. With human beings, "...the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual." (1 Corinthians 15:46). Yet, centuries before the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she had been selected to bear the Son of God, this same Word of God, who according to John was God, was also with God in the beginning, in glory He set aside for a season, and by Him, everything was created. If a thing was created, it was created by Him, and if it still exists, it exists in Him.
This leads us to a very simple syllogism:
P1: In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.
P2: In the beginning, Jesus created the Heavens and the Earth.
C: Jesus is God.
Anti-Trinitarians like to object to this by pointing out that Scripture actually calls Jesus the "firstborn over all creation" (Colossians 1:15), which they take to mean God created Jesus first, then He created everything else. But this argument holds no water when you understand what "firstborn" actually means in Scripture.
In Exodus 4:22-23, God says to Moses "Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn.” ’ ”" This makes it very clear that the Bible does not always use the term "firstborn" in a literal sense. While God calls Israel His "firstborn", there is no way to interpret this literally. Israel, the patriarch, was the second twin to emerge from the womb, with his brother Esau being the actual firstborn. The nation of Israel, likewise, was hardly the firstborn nation, be it on Earth, or even in the Abrahamic line. So how do we interpret "firstborn" here?
Though it is not always literal, there is a literal meaning, which is used in Scripture alongside the figurative. Historically speaking, the firstborn son had particular privileges, and particular obligations. This is to the extent that when this order is reversed, it seems particularly strange to ancient people. We see this quite early on in Scripture when Israel blessed Joseph's sons: "Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father’s hand to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”" (Genesis 48:17-18).
This event shows not only the significance of the firstborn, but also that this tradition can be disregarded, and in some cases was, and the preeminence of the firstborn could pass to another son. This is the case with Isaac, Abraham's "only son" (Genesis 22:2), in spite of the fact Ishmael was Abraham's literal firstborn. This was the case with Esau, Isaac's firstborn, who sold his birthright for sake of a single meal (Genesis 25:33). This was the case with Reuben, Israel's firstborn, who slept with his father's concubine (Genesis 49:3-4).
This is the beginning of the theological significance of the "firstborn", which is easily missed by those who insist on interpreting it too literally. To put it simply, the concept of Christ as firstborn does not mean He is the literal firstborn creation. He is, of course, the literal firstborn of Mary, but He is not the literal firstborn of God.
Nor indeed could He be, for it is said that "All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." (John 1:3, emphasis added). Now, if without Him, nothing was made that was made, it is impossible for Him to have been made, because otherwise, He would have to have been made without Himself, while simultaneously making Himself before He was even made. Surely you see the logical impossibility of this?
5. Hebrews 1:10-12: Christ the unchanging one
Let's play a game. I'm going to present two verses, and you're going to try to guess which one is from the Old Testament, and which is from the New. Ready?
Reference A | Reference B |
“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You remain; And they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will fold them up, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will not fail.” | Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. But You are the same, And Your years will have no end. |
Which reference is from the OLD Testament?
Reference A
Reference B
As you can see, these two references are extremely similar. They are slightly different, enough that there is a right answer to the question. It's Reference B, in case you were wondering. That quote comes from Psalm 102:25-27, and there is no dispute, in any circle, that this refers directly, and exclusively, to God. God alone can claim to be the Creator, as we have already seen Christ can also claim. But aside from having legitimate claim to be the Creator, Hebrews 1:10-12 (Reference A) tells us that Jesus doesn't change.
Of course, that cannot be said of His physical body. Physically, "...the Word became flesh and dwelt among us..." (John 1:14). However, we cannot ignore that Scripture describes the flesh as a tent (2 Corinthians 5:1-5). When you step inside a tent, you, yourself, do not change. Similarly, even if this tent is destroyed, Paul effectively says our spirit is untouched. This is why we, as believers, are guaranteed immortality. Destroy this body, God will give us a new one.
In much the same way, when Christ became flesh, He didn't cease to be the same God He always was. He "stepped inside a tent". But we know He existed prior to this. How else could He have been present in the beginning with God, creating all things that were created?
But we're overlooking something here. These two references are identical. In the Psalms, no one denies it's about God. But Hebrews here tells us it's about Jesus. Without any extra details, that settles the debate: Jesus is God. But it also means however we interpret the Psalm, we must interpret the Hebrews reference. Thus, if the Psalm tells us God is eternal, it must also be telling us Jesus is eternal. He does not change. He had no beginning, He will have no end. This eternality is enough to establish Christ as God.
6. Hebrews 3:4: He who built all things is God
Let's play another game. Imagine I said to you "the father of Bill is Ben". Shortly after, I introduce you to a man, and I say "this is the father of Bill". Who have I just introduced you to?
Ask your question
Winnie the Pooh
Ben
Bob Marley
Joe Biden's poopy underpants
The obvious answer is I have just introduced you to Ben. You know this because I've just told you "the father of Bill is Ben", and "this is the father of Bill". When we say "he who is this is that", we are identifying the two things as synonymous with one another.
In Hebrews 3:1-4, we read "Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was faithful in all His house. For this One has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God."
This continues the theme of Hebrews, setting Christ above all things. In this case, even above God's most famous prophet. Christ is above Moses. Why? Because He who built the house has more honor than the house itself. But then Hebrews goes as far as to say every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God.
Even lacking verse 4, Hebrews 3 has done a fantastic job establishing Christ as divine. He's worthy of more honor than Moses inasmuch as He who built the house has more honor than the house. But who built that particular house? Go back to Exodus, it was God. God created Moses and the circumstances in which he was raised, God gave him the call, God empowered him to succeed in the call, and God finally took him home to be glorified.
But with verse 4, we can construct yet another simple syllogism:
P1: He who built all things is God.
P2: Jesus built all things.
C: Jesus is God.
This actually sets aside any and all strange philosophies wherein God is effectively just a passive observer while His first creation does the rest of the work, like typing a prompt into some kind of AI system. No, it's very simple: He who builds all things is God. To be the builder of all things is an exclusively divine claim, yet Christ is able to make it about Himself.
7. Hebrews 3:7-11: The triune wrath
While the primary theme is establishing the superiority of Christ over the Old Covenant system, a particular benefit of Scripture is it's thousands of layers deep. As one quote, attributed to Jerome*, puts it: "The Scriptures are shallow enough for a babe to come and drink without fear of drowning and deep enough for a theologians to swim in without ever touching the bottom".
In this particular case, we not only have a strong defence of the Deity of Christ in Hebrews 3, but actually, of the entire doctrine of the Trinity. At the surface level, the main takeaway of this passage is to endure in the faith, not tempting God in unbelief, as the Israelites did when God brought them out of Egypt. They rebelled, they got punished. We should not rebel, because we, likewise, would be punished for our unbelief.
But what's interesting about Hebrews 3, on a deeper level, is the way this particular event is described. Note verses 7-11. After exhorting us to hold fast to our hope and endure to the end, Hebrews tells us "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”"
As the beginning of verse 7 tells us, the rest of the quotation is what the Holy Spirit says. But note that this is God's work of which He speaks. The Holy Spirit says the fathers tested Him, tried Him, and saw His works forty years. He was angry, He said they go astray in their heart, and have not known His ways. So He swore in His wrath "they shall not enter My rest".
This even ties in with the famous "unforgivable sin". While Jesus' ministry did not last 40 years, a key element of His own case is His works (John 10:25-38; John 14:10-12). In other words, just as their fathers did in the wilderness, the Jews saw the works of the Holy Spirit before their very eyes. Yet, rather than repent and believe in Him, they attributed His miracles to the devil (Matthew 12:22-32). Thus, they suffered the same fate as the fathers for their faithlessness; they were denied God's rest.
But another key fact here is that the Holy Spirit does not speak alone. Foretelling of His arrival, Jesus tells His disciples "...when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you." (John 16:13-15).
From this, we know without shadow of a doubt that when the Holy Spirit speaks in the book of Hebrews, He is not speaking on His own authority, but is glorifying Christ, taking from what is His and declaring it to the Apostles. In other words, when the Holy Spirit says "“Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”", Jesus says "“Today, if you will hear (My) voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”"
But who really says this? "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice: “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work. For forty years I was grieved with that generation, And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts, And they do not know My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”" (Psalm 95:6-11).
It's God again. God says all of these things. Yet here in Hebrews 3:7-11, we see the Holy Spirit taking from what is Christ's, and all things (including this) that are the Father's are Christ's. Thus, while Hebrews, as a whole, focuses on Christ's unique role, this particular segment establishes the entire doctrine of the Trinity.
8. Psalm 110: The priest in the order of Melchizedek
Few Biblical figures are as shrouded in mystery as the legendary Melchizedek, who is mentioned in only 3 places: Genesis 14, Psalm 110, and the book of Hebrews. In the book of Hebrews, he is once again used to show the superiority of Christ over the Old Testament system. The distinction is made between the priesthood of Levi, which needed to be replaced (Hebrews 7:11-19), and the order of Melchizedek, which will remain forever steadfast (Hebrews 5:6; 6:20; 7:17, 21, 24).
The "order of Melchizedek" is mentioned 6 times in the book of Hebrews, but this is not the first time this order is found in Scripture. In fact, even in the book of Hebrews, it is actually a citation of Psalm 110.
Psalm 110 is a fiercely Messianic Psalm, which Christ Himself expertly uses to silence the Pharisees when they attempted to test Him on The Law (Matthew 22:34-46). As it is only 7 verses long, we can quote the whole thing here: "The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies! Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power; In the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth. The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.” The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations, He shall fill the places with dead bodies, He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside; Therefore He shall lift up the head."
If you've read Hebrews, and especially if you've followed along for purposes of this article, a lot of that should actually be quite familiar to you. It doesn't address the whole Psalm, but it does draw very heavily from it, with the order of Melchizedek being the most prominent subject matter.
But there's something special about this Psalm. With its New Testament citations, we know that the Psalm is about Jesus. The Lord (God) says to David's Lord (Messiah, the Son of David) "Sit at my right hand...". The Psalm continues to the part where the Lord swears, and will not relent, that the Messiah is a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. But notice the shift. "The Lord is at Your right hand; He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations...".
On the one hand (pun intended), the Lord tells Jesus to sit at His right hand. But after swearing to give Him the priesthood, we switch to "The Lord is at Your right hand...". If this was still the same person talking to the same person, the eternal priest, sitting at the right hand of God, would actually have God on His left hand! You can test this right now. Ask your friend to sit at your right hand. Where are you now sitting? At their left hand.
Now of course, you could be sitting facing opposite sides. That would be quite a strange way to sit in most contexts, but it's possible. But to further prove the shift, consider Jesus' words in John 5:22-23: "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."
Note how the figure in Psalm 110 not only has the Lord at His right hand, but judges among the nations on the day of His wrath! Only the doctrine of the Trinity can solve this apparent dilemma. Just as God says to the Son "your throne, O God, is established forever", God says to God "you are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek".
9. Hebrews 7:3: No beginning, nor end, of days
Further adding to the mystery of Melchizedek is the debate surrounding his exact identity. On the one hand, many argue that he is a mysterious human being who held a particular priesthood in the time of Abraham, being typological of Christ. On the other hand, Melchizedek has some very interesting features that some believe identify him as the pre-incarnate Christ Himself.
The evidence on both sides would be compelling were it not for the evidence on the other. Melchizedek could have been a man, like any other, or he could be the pre-incarnate Christ. In a future article, I may well sum up the arguments for both sides, but my current argument does not depend on either conclusion. What matters for now is the way in which Melchizedek resembles Christ.
Hebrews 7:1-3 describes Melchizedek this way: "For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually."
Already, you should be able to see why the debate exists. This mysterious figure shares titles with Christ, has no genealogy or parentage, has neither beginning of days nor end of life, and unlike priests who do have end of life, remains a priest continually.
With Melchizedek, we can at least feasibly interpret this figuratively. Maybe he lacks parentage or genealogy, beginning of days, and end of life, because this simply isn't written of him, and has been lost to history. And maybe he remains a priest continually in the same way as the figures in Hebrews 11 are considered a "cloud of witnesses" who surround us. Melchizedek may well be long dead, yet "speaks" to us through his example, of which we read in Scripture.
But as we have seen in previous points, Christ preceded His physical birth. Biologically speaking, He has no father, and eternally speaking, prior to Mary, He had neither mother, nor genealogy. Most importantly, He has neither beginning of days, nor end of life, remaining a priest continually. Whether Melchizedek is a prefigure of Christ, or Christ Himself, His typological attributes show us that Christ is divine, being the only one who can truly claim to share eternality with God.
10. Hebrews 13:8: God does not change
There are, of course, a great many distinctions between man and God, a few of which we see in the book of Hebrewss. God has no beginning of days, nor end of life. God creates ex nihilo. God has no superiors. These are just a few ways in which God differs from us.
One major way in which God differs from us is His immutability. As we read in Malachi 3:6, "“For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob." It is this immutability that allows us to trust in God in all things. This is to the extent where "If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself." (2 Timothy 2:13).
This is sharply contrasted with human beings. In Numbers 23:19, for example, we read "“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?"
It is this immutability to which Paul refers when he, in Hebrews 13:8, tells us "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Not that Jesus is not the Son of Man, of course. It is an essential component of the incarnation that Jesus is 100% human. But the only way Jesus can be the same yesterday, today, and forever, is if He is also 100% God.
Other sons of men change all the time. We of course have origins as tiny babies, growing into naive children, learning many lessons, both good and bad. Who among you will not affirm that they have changed as people, for better or for worse, even in the past few years? Only Christ, who applies the title "Son of Man" to Himself in a unique manner, can claim otherwise.
A common straw man on the part of heretics is that Hebrews 13:8 is insufficient to show that Christ is uncreated. They attempt to block this interpretation by suggesting that "yesterday" was preceded by a former era, in which Christ obviously did change. He, in their worldview, went from not existing to existing, and eventually took on flesh, another change. However, this argument is a straw man because Hebrews 13:8 is rarely used to show Christ's eternal nature. We have other Scriptures for that (as shown above). Hebrews 13:8, in particular, is linked to how God does not change His character, nor does He falter in His promises. By appealing to Christ as though He shares God's unwavering faithfulness, Hebrews shows that He is God.
Conclusion
In this article, we have seen how the Book of Hebrews alone contains many references to the Deity of Christ. If you know the Scriptures, you can link them together with Hebrews to show that even the less obvious references are irrefutable, but Hebrews is especially powerful in that it shows God explicitly referring to Jesus as God. You may never find Christ Himself saying the words "I am God, worship me", as many heretics demand, but you will find, in Hebrews, God calling Jesus God, and commanding even the angels to worship Him. The book of Hebrews alone is sufficient to establish the Deity of Christ, but it is certainly not alone. When this series continues, we will see that the entire Scripture proves, beyond all reasonable doubt, that Jesus is God, and He never once forgot that.
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References
1. Barnes, Albert - Barnes' Notes On The Bible, Psalm 97, 1832 (link)
*Sadly, while there are many citations which attribute this quote to Jerome, I have been unable to find the original source. If anyone is aware of where Jerome said this, or has information as to the origins of the quote, please contact Bible Brain.