2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
The King James translated this verse to say “by the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” The difference is that the Jehovah’s Witness will use the KJV to prove that Peter is speaking of two different identities, rather than calling Jesus God.
In the Greek it does literally say “of God our and Savior Jesus Christ” (too The-oo hemone kai Soatheros I-asus Christoo).
To better understand this verse let’s take a look at verse 11 – “For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
In the Greek it literally says ” of Lord our and Savior Jesus Christ” (too Kuri-oo hemone kai Saotheros I-asus Christo0).
The only difference in the two is in one verse Peter uses God and the other he uses Lord. Grammatically translating into English is not always as simple as word for word in the same order. The same is true in translating other languages such as Spanish into English.
The preposition “of” (too) brings both God and Savior together in verse 1 as well as Lord and Savior together in verse 11. Peter is literally referring to Jesus as God in verse 1.
But, in verse 2 Peter changes it up and actually does refer to God the Father and Jesus our Lord. “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
In the Greek it literally reads “of God and Jesus of Lord our” (too The-oo kai I-asus too kuri-oo hemone).
Notice the “of” (too) for both? Each has their own preposition.
So, what does Peter believe about Jesus? He believes the same as what Thomas did in John 20:28 “My Lord and my God!”
Do not allow anyone to tell you that Jesus was just a man or just a prophet or another God among many gods. Jesus is God just as much as the Father and the Holy Spirit is God.
I will not say that the King James translated it wrong but the way it is translated it could be used as an argument either way. But, in the original there is no argument.
Why is it so important to understand the divinity of Jesus Christ? We are living in a time that many are teaching that all religions worship the same God but by a different name. I can argue against that point but let’s keep one thing clear – Jesus Himself said that there was no other way to get to the Father except through Him.
I saw a survey recently that said that over 40% of Christians believe that all religions worship the same God. We have to study the Word of God or there will be many who think that they know what is right and will be dead wrong. Eternity is at risk.
- The Mormons teach that Jesus and Satan are brothers and that one day they will become a god as Jesus did.
- The Jehovah’s Witness teach that Jesus is just another god.
- Islam teaches that Jesus will return but will be submissive to Mohammed’s teachings.
It is very important to know your Bible and know the God of the Word. If Jesus does not return soon it may be illegal for me to write such things. This teaching is what got many Christians killed in Rome in the early centuries. History has a way of repeating itself.
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Filed under: Hidden in the verses, Misrepresented | Tagged: deceived, false teaching, Jehovah's Witness, Jesus, LDS, mormons | 2 Comments »