What is the harm in believing that Christ is an incarnation?
- It is inconsistent with the Scripture
- It distorts the message of the Gospel and the true meaning of various passages
- It undermines the humanity of Christ – To be a true human being he must have been brought into existence as a human – not having preexisted as God or an angel of God. Believing in the true humanity of Christ is essential to the Gospel message. 1 John 4:2 declares that we must believe Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (was a human being).
1 John 4:2 (ESV), That Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God
By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
Acts 3:13 (ESV), The God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him
Acts 17:30-31 (ESV), He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Romans 5:19 (ESV), By the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous
For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
1 Corinthians 15:21 (ESV), By a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead
For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
Philippians 2:8-9 (ESV), Being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (ESV), one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
Hebrews 4:15 (ESV), We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses
we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 5:1-5 (ESV), Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed
For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people. And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”
Hebrews 5:8-10 (ESV), He learned obedience through what he suffered
Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.
Arians actually believe that an extraterrestrial became fully human
The basic dictionary meaning of extraterrestrial is “being from another world.” Merriam-Webster defines extraterrestrial as “originating, existing, or occurring outside the earth or its atmosphere. According to Wikipedia, Extraterrestrial life, colloquially referred to as alien life, is life that may occur outside of Earth and which did not originate on Earth.
The Arian Christological view (held by Jehovah’s Witnesses and others), is that Jesus was God’s first created being who existed before this world was made. They affirm that Jesus is an incarnation of this being who existed for ages and ages before his human life.
The parallel with the Arian view of Jesus is that Arians believe Jesus was from a world that existed before this one and that Jesus was transported down from heaven in one way or another. That Jesus was transported down from heaven and then transported back to heaven where he existed previously.
Arianism Undermines the Humanity of Christ
Luke 2:52 – Revised Standard Version (RSV)And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.
- Acts 3:22 refers to Jesus as one whom God would raise up as “a prophet like me from your brothers” (i.e., like Moses from mankind). Jesus must clearly be a man who is a descendant of man.
- Acts 3:25 -‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ It is Abraham’s offspring that all the nations would be blessed. Being Abraham’s offspring, Jesus couldn’t have preexisted Abraham.
- Acts 3:26 – “God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first.”—This clearly indicates that God raised up his servant (in his human life as a man), not that God had sent down a pre-existent servant from heaven.
Arians try to read things into Paul, such as Philippians 2, based scholars recognize that Phil 2 says nothing to substantiate notions of literal preexistence and incarnation. There is a based non-Arian interpretation of all so-called Arian proof texts.
Unfortunately, once Arian indoctrination sinks in, it is so hard to reverse it. They start to believe a lie and become blue-pilled. Biblical Unitarians refuse to drink the Arian Kool-Aid. It is not much better than the Trinitarian stuff.
For more on issues with John see, https://issueswithjohn.com
