This will sound harsh, but we need to say it out loud: If Jesus isn’t God, the word “Christian” doesn’t mean anything.
We live in a moment where it’s fashionable to say, “I’m a Christ‑follower” while quietly hollowing out who Christ actually is. Jesus gets recast as a social reformer, life coach, or non‑violent activist, but not as Lord and God. We live in a moment where it’s fashionable to say, “I’m a Christ‑follower” while quietly hollowing out who Christ actually is. Share on X
Here’s the problem: the New Testament doesn’t give you that option. And honestly, neither does logic.
Let’s start with hoe Jesus behaves in the Gospels.
He doesn’t talk like a mere prophet, saying, “Thus says the Lord.” He says, “Truly, truly, I say to you.” The prophets speak for God, Jesus speaks as God. He places His words on the same level as God’s words. He claims that all judgment has been entrusted to Him and that people must honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He forgives sins as if they are personally against Him. He repeatedly accepts worship – something good Jews do not do.
When people bow down to Peter or Paul in the book of Acts, they are horrified and tell them to get up: “We’re just men.” When people fall at the feet of Jesus, He receives it. No disclaimers. No corrections. Why? Because He is not “just a man.”
Then there’s the atonement problem.
If Jesus is a created being, then the cross is exactly what critics call it: cosmic child abuse. God brutalizes an innocent third party so He can let the guilty go free. But that’s not the biblical story. Scripture presents the cross as God Himself, in the person of the Son, bearing the penalty we deserve. The Judge steps off the bench and absorbs the sentence His own justice demands.
Only an infinite Being can bear an infinite moral debt. Only the One who is Creator, not a creature, can carry the full weight of the world’s sin and still stand as our living Savior on the other side of death.
Denying Jesus’ deity doesn’t “soften” the gospel; it destroys it.
It also destroys the authority of the Savior. When Jesus speaks about sexuality, money, forgiveness, enemies, judgment, and eternity, why should we listen? If He’s just another inspired teacher, we can put Him on the shelf next to Buddha, Confucius, and whoever currently runs your favorite podcast. But if He is God in the flesh, His words are not one voice among many. They are the voice of the One who made you, who owns you, and who will one day judge you.
That’s why the early church drew a hard line. The Athanasian Creed bluntly says that those who reject the full deity of the Son and Spirit are outside the boundaries of Christian faith. That wasn’t about power; it was about truth. You can’t rip the identity of Jesus out of Christianity and still pretend you’re talking about the same faith.
So, what do we do with the difficult verses—the ones people throw like grenades in the comments?
- “The Father is greater than I.”
- “The head of Christ is God.”
- Jesus calling Himself a servant and a man, or saying He doesn’t know the day or hour.
We do the same thing detectives do with evidence in cumulative cases. We make inferences based on all the evidence in the context of the entire case file. The New Testament relentlessly shows Jesus as:
- Creator and sustainer of all things.
- The exact imprint of God’s nature.
- The One in whom all the fullness of deity dwells bodily.
- The One through whom all things were made and through whom all things are reconciled.
Within that context, the “problem” verses make sense as references to:
- His role: He acts in humility to accomplish his mission during the incarnation.
- His function: He submits to the Father’s will.
- His humanity: Fully God and fully man, Jesus understands us without ever ceasing to be God.
If you’re in a church, small group, or online community where people proudly say, “We’re Christians, but we don’t believe Jesus is God,” you’re not in a slightly different version of Christianity. You’re in a different religion that borrows Christian language while gutting its core.
That’s not unkind to say; it’s just honest.
You cannot preach a Jesus who is not God, and then claim the authority, salvation, and worship the Bible attaches only to God the Son. The deity of Christ isn’t a theological accessory. It’s the center of the bullseye.
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For more information about the reliability of the New Testament gospels and the case for Christianity, please read Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels. This book teaches readers ten principles of cold-case investigations and applies these strategies to investigate the claims of the gospel authors. The book is accompanied by an eight-session Cold-Case Christianity DVD Set (and Participant’s Guide) to help individuals or small groups examine the evidence and make the case.
