Bible Options

Who Is Jesus Christ?

By Rev. Michael L. White
(Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved.)


NOTE: The Scripture pop-up service used on this page is RefTagger. To view a tagged Scripture text, simply hover your mouse over it. If the entire text does not display in the pop-up box, click on the "more »" link in the bottom right corner of the box to read the rest of it. If, for some reason, a Scripture text is not hyperlinked, try a forced refresh of your browser using the CTRL+F5 keyboard combination.

 

Having a proper understanding of Who Jesus Christ is will make all the difference in the world regarding where we will spend eternity. You see, everyone has an eternal soul that will continue forever; it's just a question of where it will continue – Heaven or Hell. Having a false or unbiblical understanding of Jesus Christ will condemn us to Hell, while having a true, biblical understanding will enable us to choose eternal life with Him in Heaven. I said "enable us to choose" because just knowing and understanding Who Jesus is won't save us until we accept what He has done for us and choose Him as our forever Lord, Savior, and King. Actually, those who are saved by Him will spend eternity with Him in the New Jerusalem, which will be situated on the New Earth. Essentially, the New Jerusalem will be Heaven on Earth (see Revelation 21:2 and Revelation 22:1-5, but read all of both chapters for a full description)!

Who Is Jesus Christ?

Everything we need to know about Jesus Christ is contained in the body of Scriptures called The Holy Bible. If it isn't found in there, it is not to be believed or trusted – and that includes other so-called holy books such as the Quran, The Book of Mormon, the New World fake translation of the Bible published by the Watchtower organization of the Jehovah's Witnesses, or any one of the many New Age books, all of which were written after the Bible and all of which presume to tell us facts about Jesus that clearly differ from what the Bible says.

According to the Bible, Jesus is many things to the world. He is:

What Are We Supposed to Believe About Jesus?

There are numerous other titles and descriptions of Jesus in the Bible, but the above list shows some of the basics of Who He is and what we are to believe about Him. Based on the list above, we are to believe that Jesus is the human incarnation of the One True God Who came into the world for the express purpose of saving humankind from the ravage, condemnation, and everlasting punishment of sin. Those who puzzle over how God could offer His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for all human sin fail to understand that God wasn't just offering His Son; He was offering Himself. Because He was and is God, He was the only one capable of living a completely sinless life, which was essential to being an acceptable sacrifice for all human sin from Adam to whoever will be the last person to be born. Moreover, the reason Jesus had to be born of a virgin was so that He would not be born with a sin nature, since every human being's sin nature is passed down genetically from father to child. Thus, we get our sin nature from our fathers, not our mothers (compare 1 Corinthians 15:45-49, particularly 1 Corinthians 15:49, where this is implied). Therefore, to reject the notion that Jesus was virgin-born is to reject Jesus' sinless conception and birth, never mind the fact that doing so is calling God a liar (since it is clearly stated and established as fact in His Word, the Bible; read Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18; Romans 3:3-4). If we reject Jesus' sinless nature and sinless life, He ceases to be the perfect and acceptable sacrificial atonement for all human sin, and that includes our own personal sins. If Jesus had been born with a sin nature yet somehow succeeded in living a sinless life, it would have all been for nought, since He would have been disqualified as the perfect sacrifice simply for having a sin nature. You see, believing in the virgin birth, along with everything else the Bible asserts about Jesus and what He came into the world to do, is essential to the salvation of our soul. To reject the truth of God's Word is to reject God and His Plan of Salvation. Moreover, if we can't trust God to tell us the truth about Jesus' virgin birth or His miraculous resurrection or any of the other supernatural events recorded in the Bible, such as the creation of the universe in six 24-hour days, the parting of the Red Sea, and the preparation of a great fish to swallow Jonah in the sea, how can we trust God to keep His promise to save our soul and spare us eternal damnation in Hell?

What Must We Do To Be Saved?

Receiving God's salvation is as simple and easy as accepting and trusting in what the Bible has said about Jesus and His sacrificial atonement for our personal sins, as well as for the sins of the whole world. Once we understand what Jesus did and accept it as fact, we must turn away from our former sins (this is called repentance) and ask for God's forgiveness of those sins as we ask Him to save our soul and enter our heart through the indwelling Presence of His Holy Spirit. Unlike an evil spirit that enters into an unbeliever for the purpose of controlling and compelling him/her to do evil (not to mention deceiving him/her about the things of God), the Holy Spirit desires to guide us into the truth of God and enable us to live the spiritually victorious life that is impossible without Him.

One who claims to have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and yet persists in living a sinful lifestyle (i.e., one who does not repent/turn away from past sins as defined and prescribed in the Bible) has not had a genuine conversion, because where there is no conversion (change of attitude and behavior from sin to righteousness) there has been no salvation or saving work. You see, one cannot simply ask God to forgive him/her of past sins and yet continue to commit those sins without restraint. Consider what the Bible has to say about conversion, repentance, and good works as part of the salvation experience in the following Scripture passages: 2 Corinthians 5:17; John 8:2-11; Matthew 3:8; Acts 26:19-20; Ephesians 2:10. There are others, of course, but these are particularly poignant.

Once you have made the decision to accept Christ's atoning sacrifice for your sins, repented of your sins, and received God's forgiveness for those sins, your next step is to share your decision with others around you and to begin sharing this same hope of salvation with others you know and even people you may not know as the opportunity presents itself. Also, you need to find a place where you can worship Christ on at least a weekly basis and you need to obtain your own copy of the entire Bible to begin reading for a deeper understanding of God and this newfound eternal life you have in Christ. I recommend either the New King James or the New American Standard versions of the Bible for a clear and accurate translation of the Holy Scriptures.

Finally, if you've made the decision to accept Christ and follow Him in discipleship as a result of reading this page, would you please share your good news with me? It would give me great joy and pleasure to help you celebrate your new relationship with Christ. Just send me an email.



Other Resources: visit www.parsonplace.com/articles.html for other spiritual resources and articles of encouragement.

Also, my book The Salvation of the LORD goes into much greater detail on what Christian salvation is, why it is necessary, how we can obtain it, and how we can know we've obtained it.