Bishop's Epistle: June 2019

Saturday, June 29, 2019

THE DUAL NATURE OF CHRIST . (Chapter Five: The Test of Deity)

Christ Pantocrator, Sinai

The Test of Deity

Throughout this paper we have been discussing the dual nature of Jesus of Nazareth. It should be quite clear by now that one can not arrive at a correct understanding of who Jesus is without the knowledge of the deity and human natures in Jesus. This knowledge is key; and, in this chapter we will discover how to apply this all important Key.

Some have asked: If, indeed, Jesus has two natures, one divine and one human - and if He does exist and have being on two separate planes - How can it be determined which nature, human or divine, any particular Jesus-Passage is referencing? (Jesus-Passage: any passage of Scripture that references Jesus; were, either He is speaking or is being spoken about.)

This question is answered by the following method: The God Test.

The God Test method is simply this: there are five characteristics that are true of God anywhere and at any time (these we will call the God-Absolutes), if the Jesus-Passage is in disagreement with any one of these five God-Absolutes, that particular Jesus-Passage is referencing His human nature. If, on the other hand, the Jesus-Passage reflects any one of the God-Absolutes, that particular Jesus-Passage is referencing His God Nature.

In the following list are the God-Absolutes:

1. God has Omnipresence (1 Kings 8:27);

2. God has Omniscience (Acts 2:23;1 Peter 1:2; Isaiah 46:10);

3. God has Omnipotence (Genesis 17:1);

4. God is Immutable (James 1:17; Malachi 3:6);

5. God is Eternal (Deuteronomy 33:27)

The God-Absolutes listed above will be applicable to Jesus as God, but not to Him as Man. Employ these God-Absolutes to determine if a given passage of Scripture is referencing Jesus as God (Son of God), or as Man (Son of man).

Amen

THE APOSTOLIC CREED

I believe in one God, solitary in being; Maker of Heaven and Earth, and all things therein: by His eternal Word. That is to say: By the breath of his mouth. Thereby, and because of creation, reasonably termed the Father.

Who, because of us sinners, and for our salvation, became manifested in flesh. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. This incarnation not lessening His deity, nor altering his humanity; fully God and fully man, consubstantiated. Therefore, the angel named him Jesus - Jehovah Savior. As to his deity, He is the same essence, nature, and being as the Father. As to his humanity, he is a like essence, nature, and being with us men. Thereby, and because of generation and redemption, reasonably termed the Son of God.

Who suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, was buried, and descended into Hades. Who, in His deity raised Himself from the dead on the third day, ascending to the right hand of the Majesty on High; from which he shed forth His Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Thereby, and because of emanation and sanctification, reasonably termed the Holy Spirit.

I believe in the one true saving gospel: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Which saving graces are individually appropriated respectively, through repentance, water baptism with the invocation of Jesus’ name: thereby, washed in his blood; and the infilling of His Spirit as in the beginning.

I believe in the holy, universal, and apostolic Church, the communion of the saints, and the forgiveness of sins; the sacramental mysteries of: Jesus name water baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the laying on of hands. I believe in the resurrection of the body, the catching way of the Church; the physical return of Jesus Christ, eternal judgment and life everlasting.

Be sure to continue reading the Dual Nature in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at the links provided here:

Chapter One: Introduction to the Fact

http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-dual-nature-of-jesus-of-nazareth.html

Chapter Two: Jesus is Yahweh Godhttp://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-two.html

Chapter Three: Jesus is Human

http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-three.html

Chapter Four: Distinctions Between the Two Natures

http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-four.html

Chapter Five: The Test of Deity

http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-five.html

Apostolically Speaking

☩☩ Jerry L Hayes

(Mar David Ignatius)

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the Bishop's Podcast: Apostolic Bishop, at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-apostolicbishops-podcast/id1472262392?fbclid=IwAR2FlRYnNsw5Vu_Bz4PjyEdiAxFMawhtD2BFr_S7WysrpFcYjuQYSHGAlZ

Read other Essays from the pen of the Bishop on he subject of the Godhead:

Godhead Theology is a study of Christian Godhead theology. ... Was He God or not? In Godhead Theology Bishop Jerry Hayes follows that debate through the first 300 years of the Church's history. Our book is in five sections: Section One ... demonstrates Modalistic Monarchianism as the original orthodoxy of the Chruch; Section Two introduces the Apostolic Creed ... ; Section Three is an affirmation of Modalistic Monarchianism; Section Four is Modalism's responses to objection from the pluralists Trinitarians, Binitarians, Arians and Semi-Arians. Included are two comprehensive indexes: Subject Index and Scripture Index. 613 pages.

Own this classic book today by ordering from the link provided here:https://www.amazon.com/Godhead-Theology-Modalism-Original-Orthodoxy/dp/1516983521/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+hayes&qid=1554244653&s=books&sr=1-4

The Jesus Debate is a written debate between Bishop Jerry Hayes and Prof. Willy Olmo. This book contains all papers submitted between this two knowledgeable men. Bishop Hayes affirms and defends the Oneness of God; Prof. Olmo affirms and defends Arian Unitarianism.

Own this classic debate by ordering from the link provided here:
https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Debate-Modalism-Arianism-Unitarianism/dp/1484036670/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+hayes&qid=1554244653&s=books&sr=1-6

The Hayes vs Mulbah Debate is a formal written debate on the subject of the Godhead, between Bishop Jerry L Hayes (Onenessarian) and Minister Andrew Mulbah (Trinitarian). This work contains the debate in its entirety plus other related material. Included are the two Creeds from which both disputants argue their respective views: The Apostolic Creed (the statement of faith for the Oneness/Modalistic Monarchian theology) and the Athanasian Creed (the official statement of faith for the Trinitarian theology).

Own this remarkable debate today, by ordering it from the link provided here:https://www.amazon.com/Hayes-Mulbah-Debate-Oneness-Trinity/dp/1727358953/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=Bishop+Jerry+hayes&qid=1554244653&s=books&sr=1-8

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT BY

PURCHASING OUR BOOKS OF YOUR LIBRARY

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the Bishop's Podcast: Apostolic Bishop, at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-apostolicbishops-podcast/id1472262392?fbclid=IwAR2FlRYnNsw5Vu_Bz4PjyEdiAxFMawhtD2BFr_S7WysrpFcYjuQYSHGAlZ

THE DUAL NATURE OF CHRIST (Chapter Four: Distinctions Between The Two Natures)

Christ Pantocrator, Sinai

Distinctions Between The Two Natures of Jesus

The life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, presented by the four Evangelists, offer a wealth of knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration to all those who open the pages and apply themselves to reading the story. It is remarkable, however, that so many who read the Gospels come away without really knowing the main character. Some see Jesus of Nazareth in the pages of the Gospels as something more than a man, but not quite God – in the Almighty sense. Others see in the writings of the four Evangelists a Jesus that is indeed the Yahweh of the Old Testament. We may question how these two opposing opinions of Jesus arise from the same set of Scriptures. The answer is most likely found in the seemingly contradicting presentations given in the Gospels of His life and teachings. Much of the four Gospels gives an account of Jesus as Isaiah’s “child born and son given,” i.e. the human Christ – the son of David, while a very large part is dedicated to the divine Savior and presents Him in the light of Isaiah’s “ Mighty God and Everlasting Father. “

Sadly, most people do not do close readings of the Gospels – they are prone to read the Bible as one might read, well…. a novel. In such a cursory perusal one is likely to pick up one or the other aspects of the Evangelists’ accountings. So some come away saying, O Jesus was a holy man – more than a mere man really, but not God in the real sense. Others read the last words of John’s Gospel and declare without reservation that Jesus is indeed the Mighty God of the Old Testament.

In reality, both are correct and/but neither is correct without the other. The Evangelists were faithful to record the life and teachings that emitted from both natures of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was both God and Man. At times those things we read concerning Him are referencing Him as Man and at times the things concerning Him are referencing Him as God. It is error to read the Jesus-Passages that reference His humanity and feel as though that’s all there is. (Jesus-Passage: any passage of Scripture that references Jesus; where, either He is speaking or is being spoken about.) It is equally error to take the Jesus-Passages that reference Him as God and say that is all there is. Only when the information concerning His humanity and that concerning His deity are fused together do we have the truth concerning Jesus of Nazareth.

The following is a sampling of the seemingly biblical contradictions concerning Jesus. Remember these are not contradictions at all; but, only a demonstration His two natures.

· Jesus is Omniscient (knows all): In His God Nature that is true (John 21:17; Jude 25); but, in His Man Nature it is untrue (Mark 13:32; Revelation 1:1).

· Jesus is Omnipotent (all powerful): In His God Nature it is true (Heb 1:3); but, in His Man Nature it is untrue (John 14:28).

· Jesus is Omnipresent (everywhere at once): In His God Nature it is true (Matthew 18:20; Jeremiah 23:23); but, in His Man Nature it is untrue (Matthew 3:16; John 11:1-21).

· Jesus has All Authority: In His God Nature it is true (Colossians 2:10); but, in His Man Nature it is untrue (1 Corinthian 11:3).

· Jesus is Lord of All: In His God Nature it is true (Acts 10:36); but in His Man Nature it is untrue (1 Corinthians 15:28).

· Jesus Resurrected Himself: In His God Nature it is true (John 2:19-21); but, in His Man Nature it is untrue (Galatians 1:1).

The conclusion of this, then, is that Jesus of Nazareth is both Almighty God and Man in one person although the deity and humanity remain separate and distinct, the one from the other.

The Icon at the top of this essay is Christ Pantocrator, Sinai, which has different facial expression for each side of its face to represent the Dual nature of Christ: God and man. Here each side is mirrored to show the two personas.

Be sure to continue reading the Dual Nature in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at the links provided here:

Chapter One: Introduction to the Fact
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-dual-nature-of-jesus-of-nazareth.html

Chapter Two: Jesus is Yahweh Godhttp://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-two.html

Chapter Three: Jesus is Human
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-three.html

Chapter Four: Distinctions Between the Two Natures
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-four.html

Chapter Five: The Test of Deity
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-five.html

Apostolically Speaking
☩☩ Jerry L Hayes
(Mar David Ignatius)

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the Bishop's Podcast: Apostolic Bishop, at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-apostolicbishops-podcast/id1472262392?fbclid=IwAR2FlRYnNsw5Vu_Bz4PjyEdiAxFMawhtD2BFr_S7WysrpFcYjuQYSHGAlZ

Read other essays from the Bishop on the subject of the Godhead:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT BY

PURCHASING OUR BOOKS OF YOUR LIBRARY

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the Bishop's Podcast: Apostolic Bishop, at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-apostolicbishops-podcast/id1472262392?fbclid=IwAR2FlRYnNsw5Vu_Bz4PjyEdiAxFMawhtD2BFr_S7WysrpFcYjuQYSHGAlZ

THE DUAL NATURE OF CHRIST (Chapter Three: The Humanity)

Christ Pantocrator, Sinai

Chapter Three

Jesus Is Human

To prove that Jesus is God the Father is to prove only half of the truth. It remains to be shown that Jesus is also Man.

· In Matthew 2:13 we are told that Jesus had dependency upon parents. The fact that He had parents is a testimony to His humanity. Matthew records of His childhood: “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.”

· The CHILD Jesus grew and increased in knowledge according to Luke 2:40, 52, “Ands the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” And also verse 52: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” Surely, it would be redundant to make comment concerning the application of these passages to the humanity of Christ.

· The temptation of Jesus is an attestation to His manhood. Matthew 4:1 records vividly the fact of the temptation: “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.” The writer of Hebrews, also is witness to the fact of the Temptation of Christ: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” This seems, to this writer, to be significant in showing the sharp distinction between the two natures: how that one nature can be acted upon and react without affecting the other. Nestorius termed it a lack of communion between the two. I say this, because, in the light of the above Scriptures, which make it cloudlessly clear that Jesus was tempted, the Word of God declares that “…God cannot be tempted…” (James 1:13). Therefore, the nature of Jesus which was tempted was the man nature. That the God nature was not in any way acted upon by this temptation is shown from Scripture, i.e. “…God cannot be tempted …”

· Jesus knew the limitations of man. He knew hunger, thirst and weariness. Matthew 4:2 shows that He was tempted to turn stones into bread, because He was hungry, “And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.” John records Jesus at the well of Jacob: “Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour, There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink” (John 4:6-7).

· Jesus was a descendant of other men; Romans 1:3 tells us He was of the seed of David: “Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;” (See Revelation 22:16).

· The humanity of Christ is seen in the certainty of the human soul and spirit which He possessed. Here we will look to the Scriptures which demonstrate this truth. The human soul of the Son of God is seen in Acts 2:31, “He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.” (See also Matthew 26:38 and Isaiah 53:12). The human spirit of Christ is recorded in Luke 23:46, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said that he gave up the ghost.”

· Jesus had a human will separate and apart from His divine will. In the Garden, on the Mount of Olives, we happen upon a scene where a very human ‘will’ is locked in mortal combat with the divine ‘will.’ Here, the human will of Christ is not at all in unity with the divine will. This we should note: Jesus was God, therefore, He had a divine will; Jesus was Man, therefore, He had a human will. Here, in the Garden, the human will is at odds with the divine will. The only other proposal available is that the will of God the Son, a divine will, is not in agreement with the will of Father God, a divine will; in which case you would have God in distraction, God in bewilderment; God in a mix-up; God in chaos; God in turmoil; God in abasement; and, God in embarrassment. Jesus did pray, “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). Two wills are in view here. Jesus said “…not my will, but thine…” Clearly it was the will of the one praying to live and not to die. The only interpretation, it seems to this writer, that will keep the integrity of the Deity of Christ intact is that the will that was praying was that of the MAN Christ Jesus.

The human nature that we have been viewing is none other than the Son of God. Galatians 4:4 informs us that the humanity of Jesus is the Son of God, “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.”

In conclusion, we have seen that the dual nature of Jesus consist of a Divine, and a Human nature; these qualities being separate and distinct one form the other; acting and being acted upon independently one from the other. We have seen the divine nature is that of Father God, and the human nature to be that of the Son of God.

The Icon at the top of this essay is Christ Pantocrator, Sinai, which has different facial expression for each side of its face to represent the Dual nature of Christ: God and man. Here each side is mirrored to show the two personas.

Be sure to continue reading the Dual Nature in chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 at the links provided here:

Chapter One: Introduction to the Fact
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-dual-nature-of-jesus-of-nazareth.html

Chapter Two: Jesus is Yahweh God
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-two.html

Chapter Three: Jesus is Human
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-three.html

Chapter Four: Distinctions Between the Two Natures
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-four.html

Chapter Five: The Test of Deity
http://bishopjerrylhayes.blogspot.com/2019/06/the-dual-nature-of-christ-chapter-five.html

Apostolically Speaking
☩☩ Jerry L Hayes
(Mar David Ignatius)

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the Bishop's Podcast: Apostolic Bishop, at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-apostolicbishops-podcast/id1472262392?fbclid=IwAR2FlRYnNsw5Vu_Bz4PjyEdiAxFMawhtD2BFr_S7WysrpFcYjuQYSHGAlZ

Read other essays from the Bishop on the subject of the Godhead:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT BY

PURCHASING OUR BOOKS OF YOUR LIBRARY

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the Bishop's Podcast: Apostolic Bishop, at:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-apostolicbishops-podcast/id1472262392?fbclid=IwAR2FlRYnNsw5Vu_Bz4PjyEdiAxFMawhtD2BFr_S7WysrpFcYjuQYSHGAlZ