|
|
The irrefutable argument stated: 1.
"Who can forgive sins
except one, God?" Mark 2:7 2.
Jesus forgave the sins of
others in a way obviously different from the common practice of the Levitical
priests and the Jews called it blasphemy. 3. Jesus must therefore be God. Is Jesus Almighty God Because He Could
Forgive Sins? The above 3 points argument of www.bible.ca is often used to
show Jesus's divinity from the Bible is that he had the authority to forgive sins. However, according
to the Gospel of John the disciples also had authority to forgive sins. John 20:23 "If you forgive anyone his sins, they
are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven". SO NOW ACCORDING TO THE WRONG BELIEF OR WRONG
ASSUMPTION OR WRONG INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURES, Bible.ca will have to
believe that the disciples are also divine or Gods. The disciples were able to forgive sins was
because Jesus gave them the authority to do so. In a similar way, the
Almighty God and Father Yahweh (Remember Jesus saying in John 20:17 that he
has a God and Father too in Heaven) gave Yahshua the Messaih (Jesus Christ)
the ability and authority to forgive sinners of their sins in his name. The Apostles couldn’t do all these things if
Christ hadn’t given them this Divine right. Because according to the Old Testament
(Genesis 2:7, Joel 2:27-29) God poured out his spirit on flesh just like how
Jesus did (John 20:22 and Acts 2:30-33). However, that does not prove that
Jesus is divine. Almighty God could have simply done it through the agency
of Jesus Christ. Notice what the verse says in Acts 2:30-33 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had
promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his
throne. 31 Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the
Christ,[a] that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see
decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the
fact. 33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father
the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. The verse clearly shows that the Holy Spirit
is originally being given from the Father. So the Father is giving the Holy
Spirit through Jesus Christ. These next examples confirm that this is how
the Apostles forgave sins, not on the basis of their own authority like Jesus
did, but in the name of Christ who alone forgives sins: Matthew 6:9-15 "This, then, is how you should pray: " 'Our Father
in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom
come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have
forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.[a]' 14 For if you forgive men when they
sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do
not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. So Humans could forgives other Humans who
committed sins against them. THAT DOES NOT MAKE THEM GODS. The Apostles were given the authority and
ability to forgive the sins of new repentant believers in Yahshua. THIS DOES
NOT MAKE THE APOSTLES, GODS. Similarly, Yahshua Messiah (Jesus Christ)
forgiving humans in the name and authority of his heavenly father and God's
Yahweh's name DOES NOT MAKE JESUS AN ALMIGHTY GOD. The disciples forgave sins because they had
the authority to. Jesus forgave sins because he had the authority to as well.
People may argue that only God could give the authority and since Jesus gave
the authority then that means he is God. Well not necessarily because
remember Jesus was GIVEN all authority by God and so it is possible that this
authority which was GIVEN to him also included giving authority to other
people. |
|
Comments: |
It was a common practice for the Levitical priests to
pronounce forgiveness of sins based upon the law of Moses. (Lev 4:20 "So
the priest shall make atonement for them, and they shall be forgiven.")
Levitical Priests pronounced forgiveness of sins quite commonly every day. It
was well understood that these priests were not "absolving from
sin", for absolution from sin is strictly a function of deity. (Isa
43:25) But it was clear to the Jews that Jesus was claiming a personal,
direct power of absolution from sin, never seen before in any man. Jesus made
the claim that no Jewish priest would ever make, that He Himself, had the
power to forgive sins, hence the power of absolution. Jews and Christians
never have the power to forgive sins in the mind of God. No man can, by
personal grace, change a man's eternal destiny, apart from the mind of God.
This is why they accused Jesus of blasphemy. |
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttals:
|
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #1 |
The unbelieving Jews said this false statement
of fact, not Jesus. The Bible also records the lie of the devil in Gen 2 that
Eve would "surely not die". The Jews statement that "only God
can forgive sins", is just as wrong as the Devil's statement to Eve,
"you shall surely not die". |
|
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted |
1.
True, but an absolutely unacceptable
suggestion! The Jews would not be wrong on such a fundamental key point as
forgiveness. This is your PERSONAL ASSUMPTION
here too. There are many incidents and individuals who were wrong and have
been recorded in the Bible, AS IT IS or as it happened. That does not mean we
should right every wrong, according to our assumptions. At the very least, it proves that the
current Jewish thought of the day was that only God could forgive sins. Yes. God could forgive sins through the atonement made
for sins by the Levitical priest according to the law. 2. Notice that Jesus was "aware in His spirit that they were reasoning that way within themselves". This proves that Jesus' answer "in order that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" was to reinforce the current Jewish thought that only God could forgive sin. Isa 43:25 confirms this current Jewish thought to be accurate. In the Old Testament a priest in the sanctuary could communicate God’s forgiveness when the atoning sacrifice was made. But Leviticus simply says that when the worshiper confessed the sin and made the sacrifice, the sin was forgiven (4:26). It was God who forgave (see also Psalm 32); the priest could only communicate that good word to the genuine penitent after he saw the contrition, the sacrifice, or the restoration to health. At other times a prophet would come and announce to the sinner that God had put away the sin (see 2 Sam. 12:13). But here Jesus, seeing their faith, announces that the man’s sins are forgiven--before he was healed, before he offered a sacrifice in the Temple, and before he even said anything, if we can assume that in the account he did not say anything else. The basis for the forgiveness from the paralytic’s side was faith. It was his faith that saved him; it was his faith that made him whole. He believed in Jesus and wanted to be set before Him. And yet the text says that Jesus saw “their faith”; it is possible for people to show faith as they help another man’s faith, for that is what has happened here. Here Jesus was claiming to be able to forgive sins--to be divine. They thought that He was saying
something easy, a word that was not capable of demonstration, a divine claim
that no one could challenge, and so not true. To them this was blasphemy
since only God could forgive sins. To them Jesus was claiming something that
He should not have claimed, and certainly could not have done--so they
thought. And then He posed the question: “Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins
are forgiven,’ or ‘Get up and walk’?” The question immediately made them
realize that there was a connection between sin and suffering. Matthew (8:17)
has already reminded the reader of the famous passage in Isaiah 53, that
Messiah would pay for sins and infirmities by His death. But as Isaiah 53
makes so clear, the mission of the Messiah was to deal first with the cause
of suffering, sin, and then secondly, the healing of disease. 3.
To correct the "alleged Jewish
misunderstanding", Jesus could have simply said, "Hey guys, I am
forgiving in the same way your Levitical Priests do! I am not God any more
than they!" But he did not correct them, but rather reinforced their
view because it was correct! Only God can forgive sin! But on the other hand, the teachers of the Law and
Pharisees would have seen the statement that the sins were forgiven as a very
hard saying. They stumbled over it, for no mortal would dare say that. It would be easier
for them if Jesus simply healed the man, even though it would demonstrate
that He had the power of God. But Jesus was not catering to their unbelief; He was responding to the faith of the paralytic. It was easier for Jesus to say “Your sins are forgiven” because He has the authority to forgive sins--as the miracle would immediately show. Jesus demonstrates His authority to forgive
sins (Matt. 9:6-8). Jesus said to them, “But so that you may know that the
Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . .” then he said to the
paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” So Jesus healed this man to
show that He, the Son of Man, has the authority to forgive sins. If He could
heal the disease, He could also heal the cause of the disease, the sin. If He
had simply forgiven the sin, people would not have known if the man was
forgiven or not. Now they knew. |
|
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #2 |
The apostles could forgive sins just like
Christ, does that make the Apostles God? John 20:23 "If
you forgive the sins of any, their sins have [already] been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of
any, they have [already] been
retained." |
|
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted |
1.
If Jesus was merely forgiving sins like
men forgive sins, they would not have called Jesus a blasphemer, for the Old
Testament commanded men to forgive each other. 2.
Jehovah's Witnesses are always deifying
the creature by ascribing solely divine functions to a creature. Such is rank
polytheism. Amazing that they would even suggest that any one but God can
forgive sins. God's own word - The Bible says
that Almighty Father God allowed his Son to forgive sins. WHY ARE YOU GOING
AGAINST THIS? This is strictly a divine function! Isa 43:25
"I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own
sake; And I will not remember your sins." The very best Jehovah's
Witnesses can argue is that Jesus was now performing what had previously been
viewed as an exclusively divine function. Not
a Jehovah's Witness so I ignore the above last point. 3.
The literal Greek reads: "their sins have [already] been forgiven them". In other words,
when the apostles proclaim that someone is forgiven of sins, based upon the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit which was just "breathed on them",
God has already forgiven their sins before this! The verse is not saying that
"God forgives sins, the moment the apostles proclaim it" but
rather, when the Holy Spirit leads them to proclaim forgiveness of sins, God
has already previously forgiven them. First they are forgiven in God's mind
(true divine absolution) then the apostles proclaim it. Click here to see commentaries that explain this truth in more detail. 4. Jewish priests already had the power to grant forgiveness of sins based upon the Law of Moses. If Jesus was merely "proclaiming forgiveness based upon delegated authority" the Jews would not have charged Jesus with blasphemy! This proves that the Jews saw a difference between the common practice of the Levitical priests proclaiming forgiveness of sins based upon God's law and the ABSOLUTION from sin which Jesus proclaimed because he was God. They charged Jesus with blasphemy because Jesus was performing a divine function. You are raising an objection and reacting the same way that the Jewish priests had STUMBLED AND REACTED. Your assumption is that because Jesus has been given the authority from Heaven by his Father to forgive sins. This divine function according to you should be given to Jesus ONLY IF HE IS ALMIGHTY GOD IN THE FLESH !!!!!! In the Old
Testament times, Yahweh was the only Savior. But in the New Testament times,
he has assigned his only begotten son to be the Savior on Earth too. Before,
in the Old Testament times, Yahweh was the only Savior's name from ABOVE THE
HEAVENS. (Isaiah 43:11) Now post New Testament times, the same Almighty
decided that the name of Yahshua will be the only Savior's name UNDER THE
HEAVEN. (Acts 10:28) 5.
Acts 5:31 proves this rebuttal wrong. The
Jews correctly understood that only God forgives sin: "He is the one
whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant
repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." YOU YOURSELVES ARE CONTRDICTING YOUR OWN STATEMENTS. Jehovah's
Witnesses must argue that they can forgive sins, just like Jesus can! Yet
this is still an exclusive function of Jesus! |
|
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #4 |
Jesus power to forgive sins was given to him
from God proving that it was not inherent in Him and therefore not God. |
|
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted |
1.
One of the biggest deceptions that
anti-Trinitarians use to prove Jesus was a creature, is to say that because
his authority was derived while on earth, that he is not God. But such a view
completely misses the grand theme of "glory - servant - glory" that
Jesus underwent by coming to earth... the incarnation. Jesus relinquished all
his inherent rights, and took orders from the Father. THIS IS NOT A BIBLICAL TEACHING. THIS IS HUMAN
ASSUMPTIONS. 2.
If an army commander, with inherent
power, decides to personally to take orders from a private in the army for a
day by agreement, it doesn't change the rank of the private or the commander! 3.
If one man says to another, "I will
not use either of my arms, until you instruct me to" does not mean that
man did not previously have full personal control over the use of his arms. HE REALLY DID NOT. AS SIMPLE AS THAT.
Rather, he has become a perfect slave. KIDDISH
ARGUMENTS. "This ain't rocket science!" JW's should be
ashamed! 4.
God the Son, NOT
ONE SINGLE SCRIPTURE IN THE FULL BIBLE HAS THIS MAN MADE STATEMENT OF YOURS
THAT IS God the Son. gave up his glory, came to earth and instead
of acting like a head of state, acted like a slave saying, "I will only
do what I am told". 5.
Therefore this silly rebuttal is invalid,
because obedience does not determine what rights you have inherently. 6.
Jesus had many inherent divine rights
before he became man, but chose to relinquish personal claim to these rights
and act as a perfect slave towards the Father. NO
SCRIPTURAL SUPPORT HENCE NONE QUOTED TOO. 7.
John 5:30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I
hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will,
but the will of Him who sent Me. Just
like the Jewish Priests, you want to get SELF STUMBLED by not following the
text and context of Scripture but by adding your man made teachings to the
word of God. |
|
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal #5 |
The Jews called Jesus a blasphemer, because only
Levitical priests could pronounce forgiveness. Jesus was of the tribe of
Judah. |
|
Anti-Trinitarian rebuttal refuted |
If the Jews' concern was over Jesus not being a priest,
they would not have taken issue with a man forgiving sin. It was obviously
something never before seen, unlike even the Levitical priests would ever do.
Jesus was claiming the power of absolution. THE
JEWS WHO DID NOT ACCEPT JESUS AS THE MESSIAH, THOSE JEWS UNDERSTANDING YOU
WANT TO FOLLOW. WOW. INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING THE MESSIAHS TEACHINGS AND
UNDERSTANDINGS, YOUR ENTIRE ARGUMENT IS TELLING THAT YOU AGREE WITH THE EVIL
JEWISH PRIESTS WHO WERE AGAINST OUR SAVIOR. WOW AGAIN. |