The God
OF
Chapter Sixteen
Is Jesus YHWH?
Some theologians believe when NT writers apply OT passages associated with YHWH to Jesus, they are identifying Jesus as YHWH. An example of this approach is seen in Romans 10:13. Here Paul appears to quote from Joel 2:32.
Romans 10:13: "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord (Greek: kurios) will be saved."
Joel 2:32: And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD (YHWH in the Hebrew and kurios in the Septuagint) will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
In Romans 10:9, Jesus is identified as Lord. “If you confess with your mouth,'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Because Jesus is identified as Lord in verse 9, it appears to follow He is the Lord of verse 13 as well where Paul writes about calling on the name of the Lord. Therefore, the “Lord” of Romans 10:13 appears to be Jesus and by Paul applying a phrase to Jesus that is applied to YHWH in the OT, it is believed Paul is identifying Jesus as YHWH.
If the Lord of verse 13 is Jesus, does Paul’s application of Joel’s saying to Jesus mean Jesus is YHWH? In verse 9 Paul writes Jesus was raised from the dead by God. When Paul uses the word God in his writings, context shows he almost invariably uses the word to mean the Father. The Scriptures reveal the Father to be YHWH God. Is Paul identifying Jesus as also being YHWH God? Did YHWH God, in his “hypostatic” existence as Father, resurrect YHWH God, in his “hypostatic” existence as Son? Did God resurrect God?
In verse 11, Paul writes, “As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame’." This is an apparent paraphrase of Isaiah 28:16 where the prophet writes, “So this is what the Sovereign LORD (YHWH) says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.' ” Isaiah is quoting YHWH as laying a cornerstone in
Paul follows his statement in verse 11 by saying, “For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him (verse 12)." In Acts 10:34-35, Peter speaks of God accepting men of every nation who fear Him and do what is right. In verse 36 Peter writes, “You know the message God sent to the people of
Because Paul, in Romans 3:29:30 writes of there being one God who is the God of both Jews and Gentiles and writes of Jesus being Lord of both Jews and Gentiles in Romans 10:12, some believe Paul is equating Jesus with YHWH God. A careful reading of Romans chapter 3 will reveal, however, that it is God the Father who is the focus as the facilitator of salvation through his agent Jesus the Christ. In verses 25-30 Paul shows how the one God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin and it is through Jesus the one God justifies both Jews and Gentiles. There is not a hint in Romans 3 that Jesus is also the one God Paul is discussing.
As we have already discussed in this book, Paul distinguishes between the one God who is the Father and the one Lord who is the Christ, the anointed of the Father. A careful examination of the Scriptures will reveal it is the LORD (YHWH) God the Father who through His Lord Christ has facilitated salvation for both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus is the anointed Lord through whom the Most High LORD does his work. Jesus is called Lord throughout the NT in his role as the appointed and anointed agent of the one God who is the Father. Jesus is called Lord because He was made Lord by the one and only Supreme LORD, God the Father (Acts 2:36). Jesus is Lord in His capacity as the anointed of YHWH God not because he is YHWH God. Only the Father is intrinsically LORD. No one made the Father LORD. The Father has eternally existed as the Supreme LORD of all including being the LORD God of Jesus. Jesus is seen as receiving His Lordship from the Father. The Supreme LORD, who is the Father and who is the source of salvation, is seen as facilitating His salvation through the one He made Lord (Acts 2:36). Jesus is the mediator of salvation. Paul plainly said, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
The Father is the Supreme, Most High LORD (YHWH) God Almighty. Jesus is the Lord Christ, the begotten and anointed of YHWH God. Jesus is the LORD’s lord as we saw in our examination of Psalm 110:1 in Chapter Three. Since the Greek Scriptures use only the one word kurios to designate Lord, context must be the determining factor as to what Lord is being referenced in any given passage. For example, in Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus, Luke writes:
Luke 1:32: He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
Here it is obvious the “Lord God” is referring to the Most High God (YHWH) who is the Father and is seen as distinct and superior to the one to be called the Son. In Luke 2:26, the Son is referred to as the Lord’s Christ which is to say the anointed of the Most High LORD (YHWH) God. Here the word Lord is obviously referring to the Father. The word Lord (kurios) occurs nearly twenty times in Luke chapter 2 and by context can be seen to refer to God the Father. The very language of Luke, chapter 2 shows seeing Jesus as YHWH God to be a Scripturally untenable position.
NT writers apply many sayings from the OT to Christ. Often such sayings are seen to have a different meaning in their OT context. We will examine examples of this in the Chapter Seventeen when we consider Matthew 1:23 and Isaiah 7:14. One example is when Joseph was told to escape to
Because YHWH is seen as savior in scripture and Jesus is seen as savior in scripture doesn’t mean Jesus is YHWH any more than Jesus being called out of
Language applied to YHWH in an OT context which is applied to Jesus in a NT context does not equate YHWH with Jesus. Use of similar language in different contexts and in association with different individuals does not translate into those individuals being the same individual. To assume such is the case is to assume the thing to be proved and amounts to a Non Sequitur argument where the conclusion does not follow from the premise. For example, Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 10:22 about arousing the Lord’s jealousy is a phrase found in association with YHWH in several OT passages. Because Paul uses this saying in association with the Lord Christ, some conclude this identifies Christ as YHWH. It is concluded Jesus is YHWH because similar language is used in association with YHWH in the OT. Does arousing Jesus to jealousy identify Him with YHWH because YHWH is shown as being aroused to jealousy?
In Proverbs 6:34, the writer shows a husband to be aroused to jealousy over his wife becoming involved in adultery. In Acts 5:17, the high priest and his associates were aroused to jealousy over the success of Peter healing the sick. In Acts 13:45, the Jews were aroused to jealousy because of what Paul was doing. No one would conclude these folks were aroused to jealousy because YHWH is seen as being aroused to jealousy and therefore they are YHWH. In 2 Corinthians 11:2, Paul says, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.” Does Paul having a godly jealously mean he is the Lord God or the Lord Christ?
In Psalm 24:1 it is written, “The earth is the LORD's, (YHWH’s) and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” In 1 Corinthians 10:25-26, Paul is dealing with the issue of foods sacrificed to idols and says, “Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, ‘The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.’" Because Paul references Christ a number of times in this chapter, some believe Paul is applying the statement from Psalm 24 to the Lord Jesus in 10:26 and this identifies Jesus as YHWH since it is YHWH who is seen as possessor of the earth in Psalm 24.
A careful reading of the entirety of 1 Corinthians 10 will reveal Paul speaks both of God and Jesus as Lord in this passage. Since the earth is seen as belonging to YHWH in Psalm 24 and YHWH is referenced in a similar manner in Exodus 9:29, I would lean toward Paul referencing the Father in10:26 as the Father is seen as the YHWH who is creator of heaven and earth. On the other hand, YHWH has given great power, authority and glory to Jesus which includes rulership over the earth. Therefore, Jesus could be seen as possessor of the earth. This doesn’t make Jesus YHWH any more than Jesus being savior equates Him with YHWH. Jesus is who He is because YHWH has granted Him the wherewithal to be who He is and not because He is YHWH.
It is critical we look at the whole of Scripture in determining the relationship between YHWH as LORD and Jesus as Lord. Jesus is the appointed and anointed Lord of the Supreme LORD God Almighty. Jesus and YHWH are not the same Lord as is clearly seen in our examination of Psalm 110 and dozens of other Scriptural passages we have discussed. Statements directed to YHWH in the OT and used in association with Jesus in the NT do not identify Jesus as YHWH.