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claim was, and had therefore endeavoured to seize Him,1 in order
to put Him to death, but had not been able to do so. Christ's argument was that,
if He had been a blasphemer, as His enemies deemed Him, He could not have worked
such miracles as He did; for those were works of divine power, and divine power
would not have been committed to one who falsely claimed to be the Son of God.
The Jews could not answer this argument. They could not deny His miracles, they
would not accept His claim, and so they strove to kill Him, thereby condemning
2 themselves.
(4) The Lord Jesus Christ coupled together belief in His Father and belief in
Himself in a manner which distinctly implies His own essential Deity. Thus He
said to His disciples shortly before His precious death upon the cross: 'Let
3 not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.'
He then went on to make to them promises which implied that He had the authority
in heaven 4 and on earth which He elsewhere declared that He
possessed, for He said: 'In 5 my Father's house are many mansions; if
it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto
myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.' He then added: ' I 6
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PROOF OF THE DEITY OF CHRIST
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the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by
me.'
(5) In another way also the Lord Jesus associates Himself with God in dealing
with the spirit of the believer, in such a manner that it is impossible to
understand His words unless we remember His Deity. Thus He said to His disciples
in the Gospel; ' If 1 a man love me, he will keep my word and my
Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.'
(6) The Lord Jesus Christ not only claims to be the Son of God, but also
teaches that belief in Him as God's Son is necessary for salvation. Thus in one
passage He says: 'God 2 so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have
eternal life. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but
that the world should be saved through him. He that believeth on him is not
judged: he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not
believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God.' In another He says: 'This
3 is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son,
and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the
last day.' Again, it is written that our Lord opened the eyes of a man born
blind 4, and that the Jews excommunicated the man for believing in
5
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