with DR. SAMUEL H. SUTHERLAND/DR. CHARLES L FEINBERG
other words, He laid aside His di vine independent use of His attri butes; He laid aside the visibility of His glory, Once in a while He allowed it to shine out as on the occasion at the Mount of Transfig uration or at Gethsemane. When the government officials came to take Him, they asked, “Are you Jesus of Nazareth?” He said, “I am.” At that moment there was the outshining of His undiminished deity. They fell backwards. Those passages show that He did not empty Himself of His deity. God is always everlasting ly God, and always will be. If for any moment of time the Lord Jesus ceases to be God, then on the cross we had a wonderful righteous inno cent man dying. Such an individual could only be a sacrifice for another person, not for the whole world. That which makes His death efficacious is the fact that He is an infinite being. Notice the relationship throughout the Bible. He says, “I and the Fa ther are one” ; “He that hears my words and believes on him that sent me” ; “If you believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” Those are all expressions of deity. Our Lord Jesus didn’t empty Himself of anything that pertained to the sub stance of deity. He simply laid aside the visibility of His glory so that He could serve all submissively to the purpose of His Father. He says so in John’s Gospel, "I do always the things pleasing unto my Father.” There is probably no more key ques tion in the Word of God. It is impor tant to get a correct understanding
Q. Pueblo, Colo. — “A neighbor of mine said that in their study of Acts at church the question had come up whether or not a Jew is a religion or a Nationality.” A. Both are true. The Jews were essentially a nationality, but it be came a religion when the law was given on Mount Sinai. The two words are synonymous in this sense. Today many Jews have repudiated Judaism so that now they are not the same. Jews who are born again are saved not because of their nationality or their religion. They are saved be cause they have put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Q. Turlock, Calif. — “We are taught that when Jesus came to earth He took upon Himself the form of man, being emptied of His deity. Was He then only a man and not literally God?” A . This is one of the most important questions in the Bible. One of the best Scriptural answers is found in Philippians 2:5-11. Christ did not cease being God when He came to earth as a man. Rather, He divested Himself of His glory. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says of Christ, “Who being in the form of God.” There is nothing more em phatic in the Bible than the undimin ished deity of our Lord Jesus. He is in the actual form and image of God. He thought it not a thing to be grasped or to be held onto to be equal with God. The Saviour took upon Him the form of a servant. In 18
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