Expert: LEBoyd - 9/15/2009

Question
QUESTION: In your answer to James, as to whether a person must believe in the deity of Jesus Christ to be saved, you stated, "There's too many verses in the New Testament that attest to the fact that others and Jesus himself claimed to be Deity." My comment is that it was many years before the church had the completed New Testament. In fact, it was many years before the church had ironed out its own conclusions as to the many aspects of the deity of Christ. So was there no one saved until the New Testament had been complete and until the church had ironed all this out?

ANSWER: Kent,

Good question.  Prior to the written word Christians were converted through the spoken word.  As we read in Acts many were spoken to by others and converted.  One of my favorites was the Ethiopian eunuch in chapter 8.  The question asked by Philip was "Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God."

The two points I notice in this verse is first being the son of God indicates much more than being human and second the verb tense is present tense not past tense.

I am non-demominational and don't think of "the church" as making decisions.  We each make our own decisions and if we follow the plan of God as taught in the Bible He adds us to the church (Acts 2:47).

Hope this helps.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The fact that Jesus is the Son of God makes him divine. But one may believe that Jesus is the Son of God and yet not understand that it actually makes him in truth God. How much do you expect a person to understand about the deity of Christ before they can be saved?

I am also non-denominational, but I believe that churches have formulated much in the way of dogma that effects the way people think, even non-denominational people. You made reference in your response to James concerning the time the church took to iron out all the aspects of the doctrine of the deity of Christ. So my point is that, in the early days of christianity, there must have been much question and confusion about this subject by believers who believed that Jesus was the Son of God and yet had not come to the understanding that being so makes him in truth God. We are dealing with the question, "Does a person have to believe in the deity of Christ in order to be saved". The church in its infant stages of Christianity had very limited understanding of things that we know today, because we have the completed Scriptures. Yet this limited understanding had nothing to do with their ability to be saved. I would equate them in some ways as a little child. I would not expect a little child to understand very much in order to be saved.

Thank You

Answer
Kent,

Your last statement is key.  Even today, I would not expect a new Christian to have a full understanding of many subjects, anymore than a child.  However, that doesn't mean they wouldn't have some understanding.  Believing that Jesus is the Son of God is a belief that Jesus is Deity, although maybe not as well developed as you or I would understand this.

There are many subjects that are similar.  The Trinity is a good example.  I wouldn't expect a new Christian to fully understand the Trinity, but I would expect them to understand that there is a Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit).  I wouldn't expect them to fully understand the roles that each one plays, but I would expect them to understand that each one plays a different role.

I'm sure that between the two of us we could create a list of more than a dozen subjects such as these two, wherein a "babe" in Christ would have very limited understanding of the subject but you and I would have a deeper understanding.

I also understand that "the church" historically has "made decisions", with possibly the most commonly known being the Catholic church.  We both know the many errors that were made in the past with these "decisions" (and the ones now) and we both know that each individual will be judged not "the church".  I suppose it is similar to a "company".  A "company" doesn't make decisions, the individuals of the company do.  A "government" doesn't make decisions and a "court" doesn't make decisions.

But back to the subject, just to restate, I agree that a new Christian would have limited understanding of the Deity of Christ.  However, I believe that just believing that Jesus is the Son of God is a limited understanding of His Deity.

Thanks,