A couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses knocked on our front door a few days ago, one an older man and the other a younger one. The older training the younger from their appearance. The older man looked uneasy when I identified myself as a minister, and more so a Pentecostal one a bit later.
The younger one was surprised to hear that I knew their beliefs and made no comment when I said that I did not agree with their “New World” translation of John 1:1 and why not. They listened quietly as I dismissed that version’s insertion of “a” into the verse to make it read that “the word” was “a” God (meaning a lesser god).
When I mentioned that JWs believed those who spoke with unknown tongues were demon possessed, the older man nodded. The time spent with them was not unpleasant and before long, off they went to knock on more front doors. In parting, the younger man shook my extended hand but the older one did not. Their cult is a modern version of the ancient cult of Arianism. May the Spirit of God lead them to God in Christ.
There has been more controversy over the deity of Jesus than any other doctrine, and much support for it has come for it from 1 Timothy 3:16. That in spite of the fact that Paul the Apostle writes there that “without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness…” (In the six chapters of Ephesians, the NT Greek word translated “godliness” in 1 Timothy 3:16 appears eight times.)
Not, mind you, “Great is the mystery of God…” but rather “Great is the mystery of godliness.” Godliness means piety. It speaks of devotion, of holy nature and behaviour. “The mystery of godliness” is that God, who is a Spirit John 4:24) was manifested in the humanity of Jesus Christ.
The KJV reads, “God was manifest in the flesh…” But, according to the highly regarded Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary on the Bible, “the oldest MSS and versions read: HE WHO [was manifest in the flesh].” So this text refers to Jesus. Renowned Anglican theologian T N Wright, in his “The New Testament for Everyone”, translates: “Indeed the mystery of godliness is certainly great: He was revealed in the flesh…” According to 2 Corinthians 5:19, “God was IN Christ…”
Why this focus on the fact that Christ was manifested “in the flesh” — that he came as a human being and yet lived a sinless, perfect life? The answer is that a number of the early heresies, Docetism and Arianism, denied this very truth. In fact, the apostle John makes the humanity of Jesus the primary test of whether a spirit is of God or of antichrist.
“Every spirit which denies that “Jesus Christ is come in the flesh” — that claims that he was really an angel or some kind of demigod but was not a real human being — is not of God (1 John 4:1-4). Note the similarity in the words used by the apostles. Jesus was “the image of the invisible God” — “the very stamp of His being” (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3).
The essence of the problem is that throughout history, Bible scholars and theologians have tried to work out how Jesus could identify himself as “I AM” and yet also be human. The Nicene Creed and other creeds were attempts at simplifying the matter. The question has puzzled some of the greatest minds over the past 2,000 years.
But as for me, “the mystery of godliness” manifest in Jesus is a matter of spiritual insight; whereas how much Christ is in me is quite apparent when I take a long look at myself in the mirror (and even more so while I’m praying).