What is the biblical basis for Yahushua having one nature only, a human nature? Print

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what-is-the-biblical-basis-for-yahushua-having-one-nature

Many consider Yahushua to be God and Man - divine and human. We should not need extra-biblical support to determine the nature of Yahushua. An appraisal of the scriptures should suffice to know the true nature of Yahushua.

For this answer, I consider Yahushua to be divine as he is without sin and holy. This, however, does not make Yahushua God. To be filled with the fullness of God does not make one God. Is God filled with the fullness of deity? No, He IS God!

For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily. Col 2:9

Some translations say of John 1, ‘the logos was divine’. This neither makes the logos God. As we are told, it was ‘with’ God, so that alone makes it not exactly God as God is God. God’s spirit is divine, it is not a person either unless we cherry-pick a few texts and draw unnecessary inferences.

We will inherit a divine nature - this will not make us God, but Godly,

So that through these you might become partakers of the divine nature 2Pet 1:4

No texts outright claim Yahushua IS God, but always a man only. To show that Yahushua has only one nature - a human nature, he cannot be Yahuwah at all, but just the man, born of Mary by the power of Yahuwah's spirit, as we are told.

The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of Yahuwah. Luke 1:35

As there are so many verses that speak of Yahushua having a God - both before AND after his ascension, there is little merit in laboring that fact here. This alone makes him not Yahuwah to a rational mind intent on maintaining harmony with all scripture.

If Yahushua has a God nature, we should see that plainly revealed – what’s the big secret?

Before moving on, what IS the nature of Yahuwah? Briefly, Yahuwah is eternal – without beginning or end, never changing, absolutely holy and without evil – having one mind and not confused, dependent on nothing or no one, undefeatable in any sense, immortal, ever wise and all-knowing, with matchless glory. The only attribute Yahushua had was being holy and without evil. The New Testament testifies to that truth and the lack of all the others mentioned.

(In passing, we might also mention God's substance - He is spirit. Yahushua is flesh, and he is not mentioned as anything other. Yes, Yahushua is the logos, but only after his conception/birth. More on this later.)

If Yahushua only has one nature - a human nature, then he must be that person at all times. He cannot be God sometimes and not God at other times. For example, he cannot be God if tempted or dying. Both these things happened so it must have been to a man. A man who could have sinned but by the power of his Father in him, even through horrendous trial, suffering, and pain, he submitted his will to the Father and His carefully crafted plan to redeem all creation.

Can Yahushua have two natures if he has his own will? A will that he had to submit to his God and therefore it was contrary to God on several noted occasions. For Yahushua to have a contrary will in a two-natured arrangement where one was of the human man and one was of heaven is quite the dichotomy. In fact, it presents a problem of Yahushua willingly submitting - if his ‘divine will’ takes over. This makes a mockery of temptation and learned obedience if he is God! Heb 4:15, 5:8

We know that Yahushua 'came in the flesh.' This means we cannot then read that he was also God, for God is not flesh but spirit. Yahushua said he was not spirit, but flesh!

Yahuwah is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24

The test of Yahushua makeup is critical to understanding if the spirit of Yahuwah teaches or evil spirits do. How do we know the difference? That Yahushua only has one nature – this is explicit in him being flesh and only flesh.

Every spirit that acknowledges that Yahushua Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 1John 4:2

biblical-robe

To say Yahushua is somehow more than flesh or has a divine and human nature is contrary to what we are told. Made like us in every way Heb 2:17. Either he is, or he isn’t – being 100% God means he isn’t like us at all. Having a God nature is not like us at all!

There are hundreds of passages that inform Yahushua is not God. Paul writes this consistently to begin each letter contrasting Yahushua and God. Many state that Yahushua has a God.

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yahushua Christ whom You have sent John 17:3

If Yahushua has a God, he cannot be God and must only have one nature - human nature. Eph 1:3, Col 1:3, Rom 1:7, 15:6, 1 Pet 1:3 2Cor 11:31 to list just a few.

There are no verses anywhere saying Yahushua IS God – only alleged and biased verses that may be inclined toward supporting that hypothesis. To deny our bible versions have errors that favour a tri-part God is to be quite mistaken. Those versions that use a ‘dynamic equivalence’ are especially prone to imaginative and interpretive bias.

What about John 1? Much is made of the logos being the ‘pre-existing Yahushua.’ This might seem a complex issue, but it is made so by the errant teaching that has clouded this topic. There is no biblical reason to make this ‘logos’ a person who thinks, acts, speaks, etc. It is with God. We can see much more about this ‘logos’ in 1John 1.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life. 2 And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.

No person here – just the expression of God in this logos – which was revealed, made manifest, into Yahushua – NOW we have a person. Only Yahushua could be tempted, die, resurrected, exalted above the angels, and made heir to all Yahuwah’s creation. The ‘logos’ could never accomplish any of this. It is the power of life – that is now in Yahushua – the ‘logos’ become flesh. Does this ‘logos’ from which Yahushua is derived – being born ~4BC, give Yahushua another nature? Some insist that as the son of Yahuwah, he must be God or eternal. The son of man = human, and the son of God = God.

This is not borne out by scripture, so it must be an artificial construct. Why? Because we are not told this anywhere! It is simply a supposition without biblical support and has only tradition for support. What is 'tradition'? The ideas were decreed by the church fathers 100 years after the Apostles - who never taught anything these 'fathers' have proposed.

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the son of Yahuwah. Luke 1:35

There is no mention of any Yahushua, or ‘holy son of God’ before Yahushua was conceived and born. All we might do is clutch at a few proof texts that might angle Yahuwah’s word toward a pre-existing Yahushua. They are all readily dismissed by context, logic, or a parade of other verses contradicting the proposed hypothesis. There is no mention of Yahuwah becoming a man, and thus a two-natured man could exist. John mentions a ‘revealing,’ a ’manifesting’ of the logos of Yahuwah – not an incarnation – another unbiblical construct based on tradition alone.

deep-thinking

In the other Question regarding “the biblical basis for Yahushua having two natures,” several proofs were offered. The proofs shown were interesting reading, but I offer the reasons why these are insignificant.

He claims the right to forgive sin (Mark 2:10). Cherry-picking to avoid the true meaning and why he had this authority.

and they praised Yahuwah, who had given such authority to man. Matt 9:8

He claims to have existed before Abraham, which is generally interpreted as implying his eternality. (John 8:58) ‘Normally interpreted’ – is certainly not conclusive. Esp. when Paul defines what ‘before’ means in Gal 3:16- explaining Yahushua as the seed of Abraham – how is a seed before the seed giver? Manipulating ‘before’ with a pre-determined meaning to fit a dogma. In Ps 110, David also speaks of his descendant as the Lord, but not Yahuwah, who was speaking and reigning. Some bibles add 'existing,’ which is not in Greek, so using this interpretation is poor exegesis.
He willingly receives the worship of humans This is also poor form as the Greek for worship has a wide variety of meanings and is equally applied to humans with position over others – indeed, never the exclusive domain of Yahuwah. Even when Yahuwah calls others to worship His son rightly, some still object to this, claiming he ‘must be God,’ even though Yahushua has a God from his birth to his place at “Yahuwah’s right hand.” Yahuwah can call us to worship Yahushua if He deems it so, which He has. Yahushua is the glory of Yahuwah - when we worship His son, we worship Yahuwah.

And again, when Yahuwah brings his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all Yahuwah’s angels worship him.” Heb 1:6

nativity

so that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who is not honoring the son is not honoring the Father, the One having sent him. John 5:23

We still have people claiming Yahushua is the logos of John 1. The inability to read ‘logos’ and not ‘Yahushua’ in this context is baffling. John explains that when Yahushua became flesh – it was not ‘in the beginning’. Having no mention of him prior to this requires a ‘reading in’ of such pre-existent concepts which are wholly unsupported by scripture. Yahushua is NOT yet the logos of John 1:1-3
1 Timothy 3:16 was misquoted to say, “Yahuwah was manifest in the flesh" - there is no ‘God’ in the Gr. text. We must, again, rely on a few biased translations, which include ‘God’ for support. The passage is about Yahushua – no question. At least the ‘manifested’ bit was correct - being the 'logos' manifested, not God (1John 1).
And the old favorite, "I and the Father are one,” proposes many contrived ideas of what 'one' must mean—again ignoring the scripture’s plain self-revelation in John 17:11,21, which eliminates speculation.

Trotting out these traditional favorites is comparable to quoting 1 John 5:7 – everyone knows it’s an addition, yet it still gets used to defend unbiblical teaching.

Apparently, an ‘eternal begetting’ is evidence of Yahushua having two natures—zero biblical support for this odd concept. Yahushua IS the manifestation of the ‘life eternal’ expressed in 1 John 1 – the life that was a ‘which’ describing the logos of Yahuwah. So, Yahushua hasn’t come from another entity, a ‘person,’ but a ‘which,’ an inanimate expression OF Yahuwah, and nothing of itself, but for Yahuwah uttering something. The logos does nothing of itself, it is what Yahuwah creates (through) – His word, His plan, His reason, and His wisdom and power of life. This is not a nature that Yahushua was given to make him Yahuwah. It is a ‘which’! Not a who. Biased translations have enforced a ‘who’; no wonder so many are confused. The widespread use of ‘logos’ in the NT as other than ‘word’ attest to its generic basis and not its personhood. (statement, story, message, reason, to say, report, speech, news, account, utterance, assertion)

Without the person of the ‘logos,’ there can be no ‘God nature.’ Leaving Yahushua with his human nature unburdened by sin, but only human. Yahushua cannot have a ‘God nature’ because he comes from a simple word that means story, report, or message - but it is Yahuwah's word, His reason.

What about the Phil 2:6 passage? There is much to clarify here, but a summary will suffice.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Yahushua: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names.

Yahushua is the ‘form’ and ‘image’ of God. Other uses of these words clarify again that they do not mean Yahushua was God. WE are the image of God, just as Yahushua was (though we are only such in Yahushua). Yahushua is the form of God and of a servant concurrently.

The Son is the image of the invisible God Col 1:15

For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son Rom 8:29

The light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Cor 4:4

Put on the new self, which is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created it Col 3:10

They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands Rev 20:4

The image of the beast is not the beast either. Yahushua was, and mankind is, being drawn into the image of their creator Yahuwah. That’s why he had to learn obedience through suffering.

clear-your-mind What IS this image? This is not about seeing with eyes – but knowing with the mind. Yahuwah is invisible – there is no image of that, but of who Yahuwah is, Yahushua is. What we see him be and do, is like Yahuwah. We don’t need a physics lesson to know that an image is not the real thing! Yahushua, the man, has one nature – unspoiled by sin – that’s why he can fully represent Yahuwah. Not because he is God but because God is entirely in his humanity. Not by force or power but by Yahushua’s submission, the Father dwelt in Yahushua to show what God’s character looks like - through His son – being the word of Yahuwah as flesh. Born by the power of Yahuwah’s spirit and sustained by the same to remain sinless – by his continuous, sometimes difficult, choice.

Although He was a Son, he learned obedience from the things which he suffered. And having been perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation Heb 5:8

Yahushua faced off evil with a human nature – a nature that had the potential and the desire to do contrary to God’s will. How, then, can he manage this opposition to his God? By fervent prayer and reliance on Yahuwah and not on himself.

In the days of his flesh, Yahushua offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Heb 5:7

No fall-back to a God nature could ‘get him through.’ His only fall-back was his Father and the spirit He provided. If this was not the case and he had another nature that was God, how was he made like us in every respect?

No scripture supports Yahushua stopping being God. ‘Emptying himself’ is wide open for all kinds of conjecture and is usually read in line with tradition and not in concert with any other support. Emptying of what? Grasping or not grasping at what? Using an ambiguous verse to explain a doctrine is unsound. We can only understand these when we use the easy, plain, and clear ones to explain the difficult ones.

By his death, he might destroy him who holds the power of death Heb 2:14

If Yahushua has two natures and only the human one died (as the dogma goes), how is death defeated when the true Son of God, immortal and eternal and wholly God, did not die? What was the point – was it all a charade?

Two-nature pundits claim “it’s all a mystery” if queried about the finer details of such an idea. Again, this is also unbiblical – there is no mystery. I copied this from somewhere.

By being a man like us, like Adam, with doubts, anxiousness, fears and only by total reliance on Yahuwah, which Adam had failed at, would Yahushua defeat evil and sin and death for all.

‘Here’s a vital point to consider; it’s often expressed that the trinity is too complex to grasp fully. We, poor humans, cannot comprehend God in His triune nature… there’s a mystery that shrouds God in the complexity of His threeness.’

"See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." Col 2:8

Perhaps it is self-revelatory – the complexity is self-imposed by ideas without a biblical basis. The bible teaches a quite plain but marvelous story about a plan Yahuwah had from before the foundation of the world. Sin was a given, but He would send one to deal with it – His son would live as we do, fight evil as we do, as the first Adam did, but he would succeed. Not by being God, but by NOT being God. By being a man like us, like Adam, with doubts, anxiousness, fears and only by total reliance on Yahuwah, which Adam had failed at, would Yahushua defeat evil and sin and death for all.

No, Yahushua didn’t have two natures – one divine and one human. The whole point of him coming was to deal with sin. Not with inherent power but by love, trust, and obedience. We cannot have him being God for some things and not others – he either IS or he ISN’T. The Bible says he isn’t.

This is a non-WLC article. Source: https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/84184/what-is-the-biblical-basis-for-jesus-having-one-nature-only-a-human-nature

We have taken out from the original article all pagan names and titles of the Father and Son, and have replaced them with the original given names. Furthermore, we have restored in the Scriptures quoted the names of the Father and Son, as they were originally written by the inspired authors of the Bible. -WLC Team