Is Y'shua God? Part 2
by Ian Michaels
FALSE PRESUPPOSITIONS (from an article by J.K.McKee)
When someone is convinced that what he or she believes is the truth, that person will then go to great lengths to prove it. In the realm of Biblical theology, what a person often starts out believing begins with presuppositions. If a person is convinced of one thing, then everything relating to that subject will often be keyed off of that one thing. If, for example, one believes that Y’shua the Messiah came to do away with the “Law of Moses,” then almost every Scripture written relating to the life of the Messiah and the period thereafter will be viewed with a negative connotation in relation to the Torah. If one believes that YHWH will rapture the saints prior to the Tribulation period, then Scripture relating to the Last Days will be viewed through this lens. But like many things, it goes beyond what the Scriptures themselves say. There is always an ideological reason as to why we believe what we believe, and hopefully that ideological reason is always in line with the character of Elohim as demonstrated throughout the Bible, and how He has dealt with us in our lives. Those of us in the Messianic community who believe that Y’shua did not do away with the Torah, aside from the Scriptural proofs in favor of Torah observance, believe that it is inconsistent for Elohim to codify all of these laws and commandments for the Ancient Israelites, only to one day say later that they are all unimportant and meaningless. Those of us who see the fallacies of pre-tribulationism do not see Elohim removing His people from times of trouble, but always protecting them and preserving them. This runs contrary to the unsound ideologies of antinomianism (the denial of Elohim’s Law) and escapism. When it comes to the Divinity of Y’shua, what is the ideological reason for those who deny Him being Elohim in the flesh? My conviction for believing that He is Elohim in the flesh is because only Elohim can save us from our sins, and only Elohim can forgive us of our sins. I do not see any Scriptural evidence that indicates that a human being can save us from our sins, or forgive us of our sins. Some claim to have complicated historical arguments which tell us that it was not until the Second and Third Centuries when people started believing that Y’shua was Elohim, and thus the First Century Believers only considered Him to be a human Messiah. But the truth of the matter is that people and religious authorities from the First Century to the Second and Third Centuries and all the way until today have never fully agreed as to whether Y’shua is Divine or human. There have always been those who have believed that Y’shua was just a man, perhaps the Messiah empowered by YHWH, but never YHWH in the flesh. And there have been those who have believed that He was indeed the Divine Savior.
The problem for us today in the Messianic movement is that many of the arguments against Y’shua’s Divinity are based on sensationalism which basically goes along the lines of, “The Catholic Church has said that if you deny the Deity of Jesus then you’re a heretic.” Because it is presumed that everything that Roman Catholicism has advocated over the centuries is wrong - regardless of whether or not it aligns with Scripture – the logic goes that we must reject it. The naïve person who does not know the Bible falls as easy prey to these arguments. And sadly, many are unwilling to reasonably examine the Scriptures and instead are only hearing what they want to hear. My reasons for believing in the Divinity of Y’shua are firmly based upon the Scriptures, and in the sound ideological reason that only YHWH can save us from eternal punishment. It does not matter to me what theologians have believed in the centuries past, as the Bible itself must be our primary basis for believing anything. There has always been a divergence of opinion over the centuries. It does not matter if Catholicism said that denying the Divinity of the Messiah was heresy or not. What matters is whether or not the Divinity of Y’shua is a clear teaching of Scripture and is reflected in the testimony of the Apostles. We pursue a Messianic Torah obedient lifestyle because we are trying to live lives that are fully consistent with Scripture. There are those in the Messianic movement who do not. We believe in the Divinity of Y’shua because we believe that it is in full alignment with Scripture. There are those in the Messianic movement who do not believe in Y’shua’s Divinity, because people have used belief or non-belief in it for self-serving purposes. Ultimately, their denial of Y’shua’s Divinity – and the very source of their salvation – is tied up in bitterness and hatred, not objectivity and a contrite spirit wanting to examine what the Scriptures truly tell us.