THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL EVIDENCES OF THE DEITY OF CHRIST

When speaking of the external and internal evidence of Christ, one can

understand that we talk about everything regarding Jesus and it helps us establish the theme

of the Deity of Christ. The Gospel of John, with its 21 chapters and 844 verses,

they aim to clearly establish the Deity of Christ as they mostly

Can you mention all the relevant aspects regarding the deity of Christ?

This was the main purpose of this gospel. If the Christian wishes to learn

Well, the topic of the Deity of Christ, said Christian must take the study of it seriously.

gospel according to John, like other passages that confirm the Deity of Christ. The

The passage from John 1:1 not only teaches that Jesus was with the Father in the beginning,

but also emphasizes the preexistence of God and His eternity. The death of Abraham

it had happened many years ago. However, Jesus emphasizes His preexistence to

establish that before Abraham existed, he already existed. (John 8:58).

I and the Father are one.

I and the father are one.

Through this very short verse, our Lord Jesus Christ establishes that the

he shares the essence and nature of the Father. Through the gospel according to John.

We can see how this is the case. Jesus possesses the same attributes that the Father possesses.

When the Jews heard these words, again, they picked up stones.

to stone him.
 Why? Because they recognized that Jesus was becoming equal to God.

This is something they did not accept. According to: Guy N. Woods

He mentions in his commentary on the Gospel according to John, warns that this
passage should not be interpreted as giving the idea that Jesus is the person of
Father, that is to say, Jesus is God and God is Jesus.1

Through the Bible, we can see that Jesus and God are two persons.

different but sharing the same essence and divine nature. Another internal evidence

what we could consider are the signs that Jesus himself carried out in the presence of

the people. Therefore, let us observe each of these signs, which had the

purpose of verifying the Deity of Christ. This is what the apostle John said in (John

20:30-31).

We have heard some trying to define 'Deity' to mean

only the 'person of God', with or without divine attributes and characteristics. Such

what is a baseless assumption, an abuse of definition and Scripture, made

so as to justify the idea that Christ stripped Himself of all His attributes, characteristics and

powers (that is, nature) that were Yours as divine. The term does not refer

simply to the "person" of God, but "to the state of being God, Deity".

It is the 'divine essence of the Deity' and 'the divine and perfect nature'. It is 'that

What is God?”. Trench comments that Paul is “declaring that in the Son dwells all the

fullness of the absolute Deity; it was not merely rays of divine glory that gave him

they gave their shine, illuminating their person for a time and with a splendor that did not

he belonged; but he was, and is, the absolute and perfect God; and the apostle uses theotes to

express this essential and personal Deity of the Son.

1
Guy N. Woods, New Testament Commentary of the Gospel According to John (Nashville, TX: Gospel Ad
vocate Co.) p. 221
 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples,
which are not written in this book. But these have been written so that you believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so that by believing, you may have life in Him.
name2

Everything we have observed serves as evidence to establish the Deity of

Jesus. Man can consider this evidence and be sure that Jesus is the Son of

God and consequently shares the same essence and divine nature with the Father.

there is no doubt about all this more than in the minds of those who, like the

Jews did not want to believe in the Deity of Jesus. Evis Carballosa tells us:

The biblical evidence leaves no doubt regarding the nature of the Person.
of Jesus Christ. The titles used in reference to His Person, the attributes that
he demonstrated having the prerogatives he made use of during His earthly ministry
They make it clear that Christ was more than just a simple man. If the testimony is accepted
that the Gospels must also accept that Jesus, by the
things he did and for which he said, he demonstrated that he was God manifested in the flesh.
for example, take the testimony that appears in the Gospel according to St.
Matthew concerning the divine powers exercised by Christ3

The true conviction of the deity of Christ does not depend on 'certain passages

not biblical nor worn arguments that derive from them, but from the generalized fact

of the total manifestation of Jesus Christ and the impression he made on the world.

It is undeniable that this antithesis is too abrupt and that it may leave

to glimpse an unfounded mistrust in the evidence offered by the Scriptures

Scriptures. But above all this wealth of biblical evidence, Jesus left in the

world an impression that constitutes an independent testimony of its divinity, and it is

Reyna Valera, Holy Bible, biblical societies (1960).

2
3
Evis Carballosa, deity of Christ. Editorial spokesperson. (1982).
It is very possible that for many mindsets, this is the most conclusive of all.

evidence whether internal or external.

CHRIST POSSESSES ATTRIBUTES

“SANTIDAD”- Heb.7:26; II Cor.5:21; Juan.8:46. “OMNIPRESENTE”- Que está

everywhere. Mat.18:20; 28:20. "OMNIPOTENT" - He is all-powerful. Heb.1:3;

Rev. 1:8. "OMNISCIENT" - He knows everything. John 2:24-25; 16:30; 21:17.

"IMMUTABILITY" - There are no changes in essences, attributes. Heb. 1:1112; 13:8.

"ETERNAL" - John 8:58. "IS CREATOR" - John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:8-10. "RECEIVES

WORSHIP" - Mat.2:11; 14:33; 28:9. John.9:38. And only God can be worshiped.

Apoc.22:8. Neither angels are to be worshiped. "HAS AUTHORITY TO FORGIVE"

SIN - Mark 2:5, 7, 9-10; Luke 24:47.

THE I AM

That the Scriptures of the Old Testament testify of Him as the Messiah. (John

He existed before Abraham and He was the I AM of Exodus 3:13 & 14. I AM

I AM was the name of Jehovah and affirms His self-existence. (John 8:57, 58, and 59). He said,

I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE,

he will neither hunger nor thirst and will not die. He said, "I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD,"

In (John 8:12 & 9:5). He said, "I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP," (John

10:7), and everyone who enters through the door will be saved. (John 10:9). He said, 'I AM THE

I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

come to the Father except through Him. He said, "I AM THE RESURRECTION," (John 11:25), and

that everyone who believes in Him would live and never die. He declared Himself to be equal to God.
Father. (John 10:30-33; 14:8,9). He claimed his pre-existence, before the creation of the

world. (John 17:5).

EXTERNAL EVIDENCES THAT SHOW THE DEITY OF CHRIST

The belief in the essential equality of Jesus with God the Father was communicated by

the Apostles to the Church Fathers, to whom they entrusted the task of leading the

church. Even though these primitive leaders often struggled with how to describe

the concept of the Trinity with theological precision, they knew that their faith was in a person who

he was both man and God.

A little later, Irenaeus of Lyons (ca. 140-202 AD) had to emphasize the

humanity of Christ due to the Gnostic heresy that held that Jesus was only a

divine emanation. Irenaeus wrote: "There is, therefore... one God the Father, and one Christ

Jesus, our Lord, who... gathered all things in Himself. But in all the

aspects, also, is man, the formation of God; and thus he took man into himself, he

invisible becoming visible, the incomprehensible becoming comprehensible, the unchangeable

becoming capable of suffering, and the Word made flesh, thus summing up all things in

himself

In this article we will consider the evidence in favor of the deity of Christ. The

truth affirmations of Christianity depend on this central teaching and, once

accepted, this statement greatly reduces the viability of religious pluralism, it is

to treat all religious beliefs as equally true.

Because if God truly became flesh and spoke directly to His

disciples about things like sin, redemption, a final judgment, religions
false and true worship, then we have that the God of the universe expresses
 intolerance towards other religious claims - specifically, claims that
they dismiss the reality of sin and eliminate the need for redemption or the reality of
a final judgment. Some may not agree with God's religious intolerance,
but, again, disagreeing with God is what the Bible calls sin.4

Upon beginning to examine the evidence supporting the claim that Jesus Christ is

God in the flesh, or God incarnate, a good starting point is the self-concept itself.

of Jesus. It must be admitted first that Jesus never defines his place in the Trinity with

theological terminology. However, he made many statements about himself that not only

they would be inappropriate if not blasphemous if He was not God incarnate.

Perhaps the best way to try to answer this question is to think of all the

possible alternatives and see which makes the most sense without prejudging for faith any explanation

supernatural. The fact that Jesus lived and died a public death that has altered the

The course of history is true. One does not even need to go to the Bible for their

Verification. There are several references to Jesus and the impact he had on the world of his

era in secular history.

External evidence is linked to various aspects as it can be

understand in one way or another, and all these aspects that will be mentioned have a high

content about the external evidence that can be seen regarding the deity of

Christ, with that we would end up concluding everything about the evidence.

They are those that present situations related to the Bible that can only be

to be explained through the acceptance that she is the Word of God. Some of

The most notable external evidence is as follows:

Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology

4
 ON UNIT: The Bible was written by no less than forty authors, the

most of them never met since they lived in very different times with

intervals of up to 1,600 years, spoke different languages, belonged to cultures

different, lived in different countries, had such varied personalities and occupations

such as that of fisherman and poet, that of king and doctor; but, despite all of this, the

The Bible is not simply a collection of 66 different books; it is a book that shows

a unit from beginning to end. A unit of historical, doctrinal, and revelatory continuity.

The fact that the human writers of the Bible did not know each other and, many

sometimes they were not read either, highlighting the truth that the unity of the Bible is only

It can be explained as a miracle that places it in the category of the Word of God.

HIS EXTENSION

The Bible is a book that not only talks about spiritual matters. It is

extends to touch on scientific, historical, geographical, cultural, and social themes

sanitary, psychological. But, although the length of the content of the Bible is so

broadly, it is truly a miracle that each and every one of its claims in

Any of those fields are always accurate and error-free. This fact becomes more significant.

highlight when considering that the Bible is the oldest complete book that preserves the

humanity.

His books were written at a time when they were completely ignored.

modern discoveries; however, nothing that is written in them has ever been

contradicted by later discoveries. This infallibility in such diverse fields

knowledge can only be explained by the truth that the Bible is the Word of

God.
HIS PROPHECIES

The fulfillment in the history of different biblical prophecies is one of the

the most convincing evidence of its divine origin. In the Bible, prophecies are found.

like that of the succession of the great world empires, is announced by name the

the arrival of great conquerors like Cyrus is prophesied centuries in advance

exact date of the coming of the Messiah, the place and the manner of his birth are prophesied, his

character, his miracles, his words, the manner of his death, his burial, his resurrection.

In the end, most of the Bible is prophecy and most of it has been

fulfilled to the letter, the other party is being fulfilled in the present and the final part

it will soon be fulfilled in accordance with the order that she herself establishes. The fact that

the different predictions of the Bible have been fulfilled with absolute accuracy.

proof of its supernatural origin.

YOUR ACCEPTANCE

Although there have been no shortage of detractors of the Bible, the truth is that it continues to

being the most popular book ever written. It is the book that has been translated into

greater number of languages than any other. Every year, since the invention of the printing press,

has achieved first place in the number of copies printed and distributed.

Its acceptance is universal, it is read by children, young people, adults, and the elderly.

It has been an inspiration for writers, speakers, politicians, artists, etc. It is the book about which

the largest number of comments has been written. Thousands of scholars have dedicated themselves to its

study without exhausting, after centuries, its teachings and truths. This literary phenomenon

without equal, it is another proof of its divine origin.

YOUR POWER
 The Bible is the book that has changed the most lives. It transforms character.

men and homes. Its reading can free from vices, from diseases,

of sin and despair. Its reading encourages, rebukes, comforts, corrects. Whoever it

he will never be the same again. She has inspired great men of history and has

precipitated major events. No other book has proven to have more power to

move the human heart than the Bible.

The conjugation of the internal and external evidences that we have

mentioned proof that the Bible is the Word of God. However, it continues
pending resolution to explain how a book that was written by men
may be the Word of God.5

This question clarifies the concept of inspiration. To define

We are going to refute that concept appropriately, first of all, by addressing erroneous theories that attempt to...

to explain the phenomenon of inspiration.

Theory of dictation

It is the one that seeks to explain the inspiration of the Bible in the sense that the

men who wrote it acted solely as secretaries who copied what

God dictated to them. This simple conception does not do justice to the phenomenon that the

different men that God used to write the Bible left their own imprint

literary style in each of his books; something that should not have happened if in reality

they acted only as secretaries.

On the other hand, the men who wrote the Bible expressed many times their

sorrows, their fears, their joys, their expectations, and their personal desires; all things

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5
those who go beyond the simple function of a copyist. This phenomenon becomes

a powerful argument that disqualifies the theory of dictation.

Theory of the concept

It is the one that asserts that God only inspired the main concepts and,

Then, these were written by the writers using words of their choice. This

theory does not do justice to the infallibility of the Scriptures, for if men only

they drew inspiration from the concepts, they could very well have introduced errors

when they expressed all those concepts.

Partial Theory.

It establishes that the Bible is inspired only in some of its parts, not in others.

others. To date, none of the defenders of this theory have managed to define

appropriate criteria to determine which parts are inspired and which others do not seem to be

convenience and personal interests are the determining elements when it comes to

try to define this important issue.

Definition of Inspiration.

The true inspiration of the Bible is defined as a truth that God has

imparted directly to its authors and that, without destroying or nullifying its own

individuality, their literary style or personal interests, guided them by the Holy Spirit of

in such a way that what they wrote is the expression of their complete and intimate thought.

God used not only the hands of the men who wrote the Bible but

also their ideas, cultures, fears, desires, etc.; but in such a way that what

finally they wrote it down exactly as God wanted it to be recorded. Thus, there exists,

in the composition of the Scriptures, there is a divine aspect and a human one.
Kenosis

When we talk about Kenosis, we often focus too much on what

Jesus yielded, but Kenosis also concerns what Christ assumed. Jesus added a

human nature and humbled Himself. Jesus went from being the glory of glories in the

Heaven, to be a human who was condemned to die on the cross. Philippians 2:7-8 declares,

but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of

men.

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient

until death, and death on the cross.” In the utmost act of humility, the God of the universe

He became a human and died for His creation. Therefore, kenosis is Christ.

adopting a human nature with all its limitations, but without sin.

THE HYPOSTATIC UNION

The mystery is how all the self-existing Spirit of God could become a

human being. Despite the fact that this mystery took place at the moment of the

conception, the conception is not the mystery. The Scriptures simply affirm that

Mary conceived a son from the Holy Spirit, without addressing how it happened. On this basis,

some might argue that for us it is not important to understand how it

produced the conception.

In fact, the attempt to understand this union is the essence of Christology.

Consequently, it cannot be said that one should not seek understanding in this matter.

because this is not specifically addressed in the Scriptures.

CONCLUSION
 Through this brief study, we have considered the topic of the Deity of Christ.

I hope in God that we have all learned a lot from the information presented here.

I encourage you in the name of the Lord to take the study of the Bible more seriously,

especially all the fundamental themes aimed at strengthening our

faith so that no one can bring us down. Remember that the times we are living in are

very difficult. Unfortunately, many nowadays are abandoning their faith when being

confronted with the philosophies that attack the faith of Christians.