Jesus Is and Isn’t God

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One of the fundamental points of Christian theology is the deity of Jesus Christ—the belief that Jesus of Nazareth was truly the God of the Old Testament, born of a woman, living as a human being. 

But Christ’s divinity does not mean that God was nowhere else when he lived on earth. Both God and Jesus simultaneously existed (as they had before Jesus was born). While on earth Jesus referred to God as “Father.” Consequently, Trinitarianism speaks of “God the Father” and “God the Son” (Jesus). The third person of this Trinity is the Holy Spirit. So even though Jesus is God, he is not the Father—hence the play on words:

Jesus is God, but he isn’t God (the Father).

Jesus is identified as God in several ways in the New Testament. Scripture describes him as having attributes and authority possessed only by God. John 1:1–2, 14 straightforwardly identifies Jesus as God:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us …

There are subtler New Testament expressions that claim Jesus is God. 

  • Jesus has the power to forgive sins, a prerogative of God alone (Mark 2:1–12). John 5:21 unambiguously asserts, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” 
  • Jesus had the power to raise the dead and grant life—a power only the creator of life would have (cf. John 11:43). 
  • Jesus claimed to be one with the Father (John 10:30) and that “the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:38).

The New Testament writers go beyond even these verses to equate Jesus with the God of the Old Testament. There are several instances where they will quote an Old Testament verse about the God of Israel, but swap Jesus for God when they do so. 

For example, in Joel 2:32 we read, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” The word LORD is the divine name, Yahweh. 

Yet when Paul quotes this passage, he identifies the one to call on and be saved as Jesus:

 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.… For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Rom. 10:9, 13)

Jesus isn’t the Father, but that fact is no obstacle to his deity. The New Testament claims that Jesus isn’t God the Father, but he is indeed God.


Heiser, M. S. (2018). 

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