(Romans 10:9) that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

(Romans 10:13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Also see: Acts 2:21, Joel 2:32)

     Believing that Jesus IS God is essential to salvation and eternal life. Because of the importance of this, I am going to show where the Bible proclaims that Jesus is indeed God.

     I want to begin by focusing on CRUCIAL Greek and Hebrew words. I started with the verses above because if Jesus is not the “Lord” of your life, He is not your Savior. There are those who teach that when “Lord” is used in reference to Jesus, it does not mean that He is God. Two things need to be said in regards to this:

1. It is true that Lord (“Gr: kurios“) did not always historically mean “God,” however, this changed. Quoting Strong’s Concordance on this: “His (Jesus’) purpose did not become clear to the disciples until after His resurrection, and the revelation of His Deity consequent thereon. Thomas, when he realized the significance of the presence of a mortal wound in the body of a living man, immediately joined it with the absolute title of Deity, saying, “My Lord and my God,” Jn 20:28. Thereafter, except in Acts 10:4 and Rev 7:14, there is no record that kurios was ever again used by believers in addressing any save God and the Lord Jesus; cf Acts 2:47 with 4:29.30.”

2. In (Rom 10:13), we learn a VERY important thing. (Rom 10:13), as well as (Acts 2:21), are the fulfillment of prophecy. The prophetic verse is found in (Joel 2:32) which says, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” HERE is the important thing; the “Lord” in this verse in Joel is the Hebrew word “YAHWEH! Yahweh = God! Therefore, when Paul and Luke are quoting this prophetic verse, and using it reference to “calling upon Jesus,” they are saying Jesus  is “Yahweh!”

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     Our next Greek / Hebrew lesson is similar to this. In (Isa 40:3) we see this prophetic verse, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Also see: Mal 3:1). This prophetic verse is quoted in (Mt 3:3)(Mk 1:2-3)(Lk 3:4)(Jn 1:23)(Lk 7:27)(Mt 11:10), and we see that this messenger is referring to “John the Baptist.” He was sent to “Prepare the way of the Lord,” who is Jesus. AGAIN, the “Lord” who Isaiah is talking about, and John the Baptist prepared the way for, is called “Yahweh” in Hebrew!

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     Next, we need to look at the word “Almighty.” The word “Almighty” is used 9 times in the New Testament for God. Almighty comes from the Greek word pantokrator meaning “all-power” (“pas” = all, “krateo” = power). This is where we get our word “omnipotent,” meaning “all-powerful.” Only God is omnipotent = Almighty. Looking at (Rev 1:8) and (Rev 4:8), we see that JESUS is called “Almighty” (see Rev 1:17-18 to know that Rev 1:8 is speaking of Jesus).

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     Now, let’s go to (Jn 8:24) which says, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” The word “He” in this verse is a bad translation. If you look at the Greek (check out an “interlinear Bible”) of this verse, you can see that the word “He” was not originally a part of this verse. It doesn’t belong there. Here is how (Jn 8:24) should be translated in Greek.

“I said (eipon) therefore (oun) to you (hymin) that (hoti) you will die (apothaneisthe) in (en) the (tais) sins (hamartiais) of you (hymon) if (ean) for (gar) not (me) you believe (pisteusete) that (hoti) I (ego) am (eimi) you will die (apothaneisthe) in (en) the (tais) sins (hamartiais) of you (hymon)”

     Notice Jesus says that you must “believe” that He is “I am (ego eimi)” not “I am He.” BIG difference, right?  Jesus repeats that He is “I am” (ego eimi) in two more places in John chapter 8 (Jn 8:28)(Jn 8:58). Look at what follows after He says it the third time in (Jn 8:58), “Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.” The Jews clearly caught the meaning of what Jesus was saying, and they were going to kill Him for it. He was saying He was the “I AM” of the Old Testament, a name reserved ONLY for God (Ex 3:14). (He is still “I AM” today).

***Note: Notice that when Jesus repeats in (Jn 18:6) that He is “I AM” (again, not “I am He”), the power of that declaration caused those who came to arrest Him to fall backwards to the ground.

***Note: Since Jesus said you must “believe” He is “I AM,” and “I AM” equals God, we must believe Jesus IS God to be saved.

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     Virtually all who deny the deity of Jesus believe that He was a created being. This is false, and I refute this here. However, in relation to this subject, I LOVE this verse in (Rev 5:13), “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” “Creature” in this verse is the Greek word “ktisma,” and Strong’s defines it as “formation i.e. (created thing).” In other words, EVERY created thing (which does not include Jesus) offered the same worship to the Father AND the Lamb (Jesus).

***Note: In relation to this, the Bible tells us that we are not to worship men (Acts 10:25-26)(Acts 14:11-15) or angels (Rev 19:10)(Rev 22:8-9), however, Jesus was worshipped (Mt 2:2,11)(Lk 24:52), allowed Himself to be worshipped while on Earth (Mt 8:2)(Mt 9:18)(Mt 14:33)(Mt 15:25)(Mt 20:20)(Mt 28:9,17)(Jn 9:38), and is worshipped in Heaven (Rev 4:10-11).

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     Now, let’s look at some other verses showing that Jesus is God.

     The best single verse in the Bible:

(Heb 1:8) But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.

     Other verses:

(Jn 1:1) In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(We know the Word is Jesus from (Jn 1:14) “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us….”)

(Jn 10:30) I and my Father are one.
(In verses 10:31-33, the Jews were going to stone Jesus for this because He was making Himself God.)

(Jn 20:28) And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

(Phil 2:5-6) Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus: (6) Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.

(Isa 9:6) (In the names Jesus shall be called, one is “The Mighty God.”)

(Titus 2:13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.

     Jesus claimed omnipresence:

(Mt 18:20) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.

     Can anyone but God be perfect? Yet, Jesus was. He was sinless:

(1 Jn 3:5)(2 Cor 5:21)(Heb 4:15)(1 Pet 2:22)

     Jesus claimed the angels were His:

(Mt 13:41)(Mt 24:30-31)(Mt 25:31)(Mk 13:27)

     Jesus claimed God was His Father: (Jn 5:16-18)

(The Jews were going to stone Him for this statement. Why? Because in Jewish thought the father WAS the son, Jesus was saying He was God.)

     Jesus said YOUR fathers:

(Jn 6:49) Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. (Why did Jesus say “Your fathers”? Were they not also His fathers? Jesus was proclaiming His deity by disassociating Himself with mankind.)

     INTERESTING!

In (Num 21:6-9) it speaks of the Lord sending the serpents upon the Israelites for their sin. Yet, in (1 Cor 10:9) we read: “Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.” (Note: in verse 7 Moses prayed to Jesus) (Again, the Hebrew word “Yahweh” is used for Lord in verses 6 and 7)

     Jesus was prayed to by Stephen:

(Acts 7:59) (See: “Is it ok to pray to Jesus?“)

     Jesus also said to ask in His name and HE would do it:

(Jn 14:13-14)

     Jesus forgave sins:

(Lk 5:20-25)(Mk 2:1-12)(Mt 9:1-8)(Lk 7:47-50), and it was called blasphemy, why? In the OT there was no command to forgive sins. It was always an eye for an eye (Ex 21:24-25) or restitution (Ex 21 & 22). Only God could forgive sins, so when Jesus forgave sins, He was claiming deity.

     John the Baptist affirmed His deity:

John was born 6 months before Jesus (Lk 1:24-2:7), yet in (Jn 1:30) John said that “He (Jesus) existed before me” (NASB) (or “he was before me”- KJV). In saying this, he was clearly proclaiming Jesus’ eternal existence as God.

     Jesus is called Emmanuel in (Mt 1:23), which means “God with us.”

This fulfilled a prophecy concerning Jesus in (Isa 7:14) which said, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

     Another excellent way to show Jesus IS God is to show the attributes both God and Jesus share:

     Who will judge?

God (Heb 13:4)(Rom 3:6)(Ps 82:8)(Ps 50:6)
Jesus (Jn 5:22)(Jn 5:27)(2 Tim 4:1)(2 Cor 5:10)

     Who is Creator?

God (Gen 1:1)(Isa 42:5)(Isa 45:18)
Jesus (Col 1:16)(Heb 1:10)(Jn 1:3)

     Who is the “Almighty”?

God (Gen 35:11)(Gen 17:1)(2 Cor 6:18)
Jesus (Rev 1:8)(Rev 4:8)

     At who shall every knee bow?

God (Rom 14:11)(Isa 45:22-23)
Jesus (Phil 2:10)

     Who is the beginning and the end?

God (Rev 21:6-7)(Rev 4:8)(Rev 1:8)(Rev 1:11)
Jesus (Rev 1:17-18)(Rev 2:8)(Rev 22:13)(Jn 1:1)

     Who is the “Rock”?

God (Deut 32:4)
Jesus (1 Cor 10:4)

     Who is “King of kings and Lord of lords”?

God (Deut 10:17)(Ps 136:2-3)
Jesus (Rev 17:14)(Rev 19:16)(1 Tim 6:14-15)

     Who is “Saviour” of all men?

God (1 Tim 4:10)(Jude 25)(Titus 2:10)(1 Tim 2:3)
Jesus (Lk 2:11)(Phil 2:10)(Jn 4:42)(2 Tim 1:10)

     Who is the “fountain of life”?

God (Ps 36:9)
Jesus (Rev 21:6)(Jn 4:14)(Jn 6:35)

     Who is the “Holy One”?

God (1 Jn 2:20)(Ezek 39:7)(Hab 1:12)(Ps 71:22)
Jesus (Acts 3:14)(Mk 1:24)(Acts 2:27)(Ps 16:10)

     Who is the “light”?

God (1 Jn 1:5)(Ps 27:1)(Isa 60:20)(Mic 7:8)
Jesus (Jn 1:7-9)(Jn 8:12)(Lk 2:32)(Jn 12:35-36)

     Who is “shepherd”?

God (Ps 80:1)(Ps 23:1)
Jesus (Jn 10:11)(Jn 10:14)(Heb 13:20)(1 Pet 5:4)

     Finally, I want to close with what I call the “Revelation Road.” This is a great and simple way to way to witness to those who deny the deity of Jesus (particularly Jehovah Witnesses, who love the book of Revelation).

Ask The Question: Who is the Almighty? Their answer will be: God.

You reply: Ok, let’s see if you are correct.

Go to first verse: (Rev 1:8) Show them they are correct. Connect the Almighty to the Alpha/Omega, Beginning/End.

Go to second verses: (Rev 21:5-7) Again correct. Alpha/Omega, Beginning/End is God.

Go to third verse: (Rev 22:13) Again correct. Alpha/Omega, Beginning/End, First/Last is God.

Go to fourth verse: (Rev 1:17) Read then STOP. Confirm with them that it is the same as the previous verses. Then continue to (Rev 1:18). (Also see: Rev 2:8)

Question: Are you saying God died??

     This will leave most who deny the deity of Jesus confused. If you wish,  you can follow up with what we said above, that the word “Almighty” comes from the Greek word pantokrator meaning “all-power” (“pas” = all, “krateo” = power). This is where we get our word “omnipotent,” meaning “all-powerful.” Only God is omnipotent = Almighty.

Related:

Explain the Trinity!

Can a person deny the deity of Jesus and still be saved?