Read more about the article Did Micah Prophesy That Jesus Preexisted?
The Prophet Micah, Jan van Eyck, 1432 (The banner quotes the beginning of Micah 5:2)
Preexistence / Principle of Agency / Who is Jesus

Did Micah Prophesy That Jesus Preexisted?

There are a handful of passages that some point to in an effort to prove that Jesus preexisted as God in heaven.  One of those verses appears in the book of Micah:  Micah 5:2 (NASB) "But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity."Jerusalem was going to muster troops to fight Assyria, but God took…

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January 28, 2021
Read more about the article Do You Have to Believe in the Trinity to Be Saved?
The Holy Trinity by Antonio de Pereda, 17th century
Proof Texts for the Trinity / Principle of Agency

Do You Have to Believe in the Trinity to Be Saved?

What must we believe in order to be saved? According to the fifth century Athanasian Creed, we must believe in the doctrine of the Trinity and the related doctrine of the incarnation of Jesus. The creed states in part:So in everything...we must worship [Father, Son, Holy Spirit] their trinity in their unity and their unity in their trinity.  Anyone then who desires to be saved should think thus about the trinity.  But it is necessary for eternal salvation that one also believe in the incarnation of our…

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May 9, 2020
Read more about the article In My Father’s Name
Who is Jesus / Principle of Agency

In My Father’s Name

If Jesus is God and the second member of a triune being, as fourth century councils would later determine, we would expect him to act in a manner consistent with a divine nature.  As deity, we would expect Jesus to come in his own name, that is, to act on his own authority,  according to his own will or determination.  What we find in Scripture, however, is that Jesus did neither.  Instead, Jesus said he came in his Father's name: John 5:43 (NASB) "I have…

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April 20, 2020
Read more about the article Is Jesus Equal with God? An Examination of John 5:18
Proof Texts for the Deity of Christ / Principle of Agency

Is Jesus Equal with God? An Examination of John 5:18

When Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bethesda, he commanded him to, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk."  When the self-righteous Jews found out what Jesus had done, they began persecuting him because it had occurred on the Sabbath.[1]  What infuriated them even more was Jesus' response to their aggression:John 5:17-18 (NASB)  But He answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working." 18  For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill…

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July 20, 2019
Read more about the article Jesus, the Human Agent of God
Who is Jesus / Principle of Agency

Jesus, the Human Agent of God

How could Jesus do the works of God and teach with the authority of God and yet not be God?  The answer: the principle of agency, a concept theologians and academicians understand, but one that is relatively unknown by laity. In The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, we learned that an agent is one who has been "authorized to act for or in the place of another,"[1] In Hebraic terms, the agent or the "one sent" is called the…

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July 13, 2019
Read more about the article The Principle of Agency in the New Testament
How to Read the Bible / Principle of Agency

The Principle of Agency in the New Testament

The Principle of Agency in the New Testament As we learned in The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament, an agent is one who has been "authorized to act for or in the place of another."[1] In Hebraic terms, the agent or the "one sent" is called the shaliah.[2]  Its New Testament equivalent is the term apostle or apostolos in the Greek, and it means: a messenger, one sent on a mission.[3]  Regarding agency, James McGrath, professor and New Testament scholar writes: Agency was…

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July 9, 2019
Read more about the article The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament
How to Read the Bible / Principle of Agency

The Principle of Agency in the Old Testament

The Principle of Agency in the Old TestamentThe principle of agency, also known as the law of agency, is an important precept that helps us better understand, not only Scripture as a whole, but more specifically, who Jesus is, his ministry, and his relationship to God.  Those who traverse the halls of academia have long known about this principle.  Unfortunately, those charged with instructing the Christian in the pew either do not know about it, or they have neglected to share it with those in…

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July 5, 2019