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NASB | John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true [supreme and sovereign] God, and [in the same manner know] Jesus [as the] Christ whom You have sent. |
Subject: Can't make a doctrine out of one verse |
Bible Note: "We cannot make a doctrine out of one verse. To do so is to invite error." 'John 17:3 and the Only True God '"And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent," (John 17:3, NASB). 'The Jehovah's Witnesses cite John 17:3 as a proof text to deny the Trinity and claim that Jesus Christ is not God. They reason that if Jesus were God, then He would not have called the Father, "the only true God." If the Father is the only true God, then it must require that Jesus cannot be God. 'First of all, it is not proper to make a theological doctrine out of one verse. Of this the Jehovah's Witnesses are sometimes guilty. Nevertheless, they do tend to take one or two verses on a subject and use them to interpret all the others. Instead of getting a balanced position, they arrive at an interpretation that is in agreement with their theological position. This is called "proof-texting" and is something the Jehovah's Witnesses do frequently. 'First, Jesus was speaking as a man to His God. Remember, Jesus was both God and man, second person of the Trinity, the word made flesh (John 1:1,14). Since He was both divine and man, as a man He would naturally, and properly say that God was the only True God. He was not denying His own divinity, but affirming the Trueness of God as was done in the OT: "And now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou alone, Lord, art God," (Isaiah 37:20) 'Second, John 17:3 must be examined in the light of the totality of scripture. We see that Jesus is called God in John 1:1,14; 8:58; Col. 2:9; Heb. 1:8. Therefore, John 17:3 cannot be interpreted in a way that disagrees with other scriptures. 'Third, this verse reflects the sonship of Jesus. The Father and the Son have a unique relationship. Jesus is the eternal Son. The terms Father and Son denote a relationship which is why God is called the God of the Son in 2 Cor. 11:31. 'Fourth, if we are to be consistent using the Jehovah's Witness logic that the Father is the only true God, then the following verses present a problem if we use their logic. '"For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ," (Jude 4, NASB). 'Does this mean that the Father is not our Master and Lord? Of course not. Yet, Jesus is called our only Master and Lord. '"And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone," (Mark 10:18, NASB). 'Does this verse mean that Jesus is not good? Jesus said only God was good. Then, if we use the Jehovah's Witness logic, Jesus is not good. Of course, that doesn't make any sense. '"I, even I, am the Lord [YHWH]; And there is no savior besides Me," (Isaiah 43:11). 'We know that Jesus is the Savior. Again, according to Witness logic, Jesus could not be the Savior since the Bible tells us that YHWH is the only Savior. '"Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders," (Psalm 72:18, NASB). 'Jesus performed many miracles. But if it is the Lord [YHWH] is the one who alone performs wonders, how then can it be that Jesus also? '"Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, "I, the Lord [YHWH], am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself, And spreading out the earth all alone,'" (Isaiah 44:24, NASB). 'According to John 1:3 and Col. 1:16-17 Jesus made all things. With JW logic would have a problem. 'As we can see, we cannot simply make a doctrine out of one verse. To do so is to invite error.' (CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS AND RESEARCH MINISTRY www.carm.org) |
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Questions and/or Subjects for John 17:3 | Author | ||
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justme | ||
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kalos | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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Odaat |