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Is Jesus truly God? This is a crucial question to answer, and it’s a question that has received many different responses. The Bible does indeed teach that Jesus is God; He is the incarnate Son of God. Let’s look at this in more detail.
To address the question “Is Jesus God?” requires us to consider who God is according to Scripture. An excellent definition comes from Westminster Shorter Catechism 4: “Q. What is God? A. God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” Further, there is only one God. By saying that Jesus is divine, we’re not saying that He’s a second God but that He is God the Son—the second person of the Trinity. Nor are we denying His true humanity in the incarnation, for Jesus our Mediator is true God and true man.
Scripture clearly attests Jesus’ divinity. One way we see this is in New Testament passages that use the name “God” to refer to Jesus. For example, the disciple Thomas identified Jesus in John 20:28 as “my Lord and my God,” and that fits with the theology of John’s gospel. In fact, twice in John’s opening section, Jesus is identified as “God” (John 1:1, 18; see also 1 John 5:20). Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus speaks of the singular name of God that includes Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). The New Testament does not teach a modalistic view of God—that is, it does not teach that God appears in three subsequent forms. Nor does the New Testament teach a confusion of the divine persons, but it speaks of three eternally existing divine persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (see also Matt. 3:16–17).
Paul’s letters also refer to Jesus as God. Jesus is God over all (Rom. 9:5), and He is our God and Savior (Titus 2:13). Similarly, Peter also refers to Jesus as our God and Savior (2 Peter 1:1). Another important text is Hebrews, where Jesus the Son is identified as the God whose throne is forever (Heb. 1:8). This teaching is not unclear or isolated to one author or text. The use of “God” for Jesus is consistent and is found among a range of New Testament genres and writers.
Even so, passages that teach Jesus’ divinity are not limited only to texts in which “God” is used for Jesus. The New Testament’s teaching about Jesus’ divinity is much more pervasive. One of the classic ways to understand the Bible’s teaching about the divinity of Christ (and the Holy Spirit) is found in Westminster Larger Catechism 11:
How doth it appear that the Son and the Holy Ghost are God equal with the Father? A. The Scriptures manifest that the Son and the Holy Ghost are God equal with the Father, ascribing unto them such names, attributes, works, and worship, as are proper to God only.
Here are four ways that we know that Jesus is divine according to Scripture: to Him are applied the (1) names, (2) attributes, (3) works, and (4) worship that are true only of God. If these are applied to Jesus in Scripture, then these passages require us to conclude that Jesus is divine. To illustrate this, we can find all four of these elements applied to Jesus in Hebrews 1.
- Names. Hebrews 1:8 identifies Jesus as “God” in its quotation of Psalm 45 that is applied to Jesus: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” The name of God is explicitly applied to Jesus.
- Attributes. Hebrews 1:11–12 applies Psalm 102 to Jesus, specifically that He remains forever. This points to the divine eternality of Jesus: He remains forever and never changes.
- Works. Hebrews 1:2, 10 says that Jesus is the agent of creation and is the One who upholds the world by the word of His power (v. 3). Only God is Creator. If Jesus is the Creator, then He must be divine.
- Worship. The Bible is clear that only God is to be worshiped (Matt. 4:10). It is therefore an indication of divinity that Jesus is worshiped by angels (Heb. 1:6).
In sum, not only does the New Testament explicitly identify Jesus as “God” using the term, but the New Testament also applies to Jesus divine names, attributes, works, and worship. We have strong scriptural support for believing that Jesus is God.