A Renowned Scholar’s Obvious Error

To a Jew, God wasn’t just supreme—He was completely unique. There was no such thing as God “sharing” His identity with someone else. Especially not with a man. That would’ve been idolatry.

Isaiah 40:18 says: “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to him?”

But here’s where Wallace’s argument falls apart. Even though he claims to agree with all that, he turns right around and says:

“The deity of Christ permeates through the whole New Testament.”

That is a massive contradiction. The whole Hebrew Bible—the very Bible Jesus and the apostles read—teaches the exact opposite.

Let’s talk about what the word “Messiah” actually means. The Hebrew word is mashiach—it means “anointed one.” And in the Bible, the anointed one is always a man chosen by God for a task, and never ever God being anointed for anything. For example:

1 Samuel 10:1 says: “Then Samuel took the vial of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him, and said, ‘Isn’t it because Yahweh has anointed you to be prince over his inheritance?’”

Psalm 89:20 says: “I have found David, my servant. I have anointed him with my holy oil.”

Isaiah 61:1 says: “The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the humble.”

Every one of those people was human, not God. And yet God gave them authority and power to act on His behalf. Why? Because they were God’s agents. And this pattern never caused confusion. Nobody thought these men were Yahweh. Because they weren’t. They were anointed by Yahweh.

Stephen makes this very clear in Acts 7. He tells how God gave Joseph wisdom and favor and made him governor over Pharaoh. But no one mistook Joseph for God. 

Acts 7:9–10 says: “God was with him and delivered him… and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh… He made him governor over Egypt.”

Then Stephen talks about Moses. Even though Moses was rejected at first, God later sent him back as ruler and deliverer. 

Acts 7:35 says: “This Moses whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—God has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer.”

Moses even performed signs and wonders, just as Jesus did. 

Acts 7:36 says: “This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness for forty years.”

Exodus 7:1 says: “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.”

That’s a strong statement. But even then, no one thought Moses was God. They understood: Moses was a man acting on God’s behalf. He was God’s agent—anointed, appointed, and sent.

So why would anyone who has read the Old Testament as a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ think Jesus, being anointed by God, somehow means He is God? They didn’t learn that from the Old Testament because the Old Testament taught the opposite. What Stephen gave us is a complete explanatory framework for understanding what it meant for Jesus to be “Christ” (the Anointed One).

Stephen even quotes Moses saying that God would raise up another prophet—like Moses himself. 

Acts 7:37 says: “The Lord your God will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.”

That prophet, of course, was Jesus. A man raised up by God. And yes—He was rejected too, just like Moses. But His rejection didn’t mean He wasn’t chosen. It proved He was.

Now, someone might say, “But didn’t people worship Jesus?” Yes, and that’s important. But let’s be clear. The Hebrew word for “worship” is shachah. It means to bow down or show honor. And the Bible shows many cases where people bowed before God’s chosen leaders—without ever thinking those men were God.

Joseph’s brothers bowed before him (Genesis 42:6). People bowed before David (1 Samuel 24:8; 2 Samuel 9:6). Elisha was bowed to by other prophets (2 Kings 2:15). Kings and angels were bowed to as well (Genesis 19:1; 2 Samuel 14:4).

And guess what? The same word—shachah—is used in all of those examples. So if “worship” automatically means “deity,” then you’d have to say David was God. Or Elisha. Or the angels. But no one believed that.

Why not? Because the people of God understood something that modern theologians seem to forget: honoring God’s anointed is not the same as calling them God, nor is it idolatry.

Matthew 9:8 says: “They glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”

That’s why Jesus didn’t rebuke them: because, by doing so, they were glorifying God who had given such authority to men, just as He had with David, Joseph, and others whom they worshiped without ever crossing the line into worshiping other gods.

It doesn’t say they worshiped Jesus as God, “who had become a man.” No—they praised God for giving authority to men. That’s what the people saw in Jesus. And that’s what the apostles saw too.

1 Peter 1:11 says: “The Spirit that would later be poured out upon the Christ, was already active in the prophets, testifying ahead of time about His sufferings and glory.”

That doesn’t mean Jesus was personally present in the prophets. It means the same Spirit that would later anoint Jesus was already active before Him.

Isaiah 61:1 says: “The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me…”

That’s the same Spirit that came on Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:2) and on the seventy elders with Moses (Numbers 11:25).

The pattern is clear: God sends His Spirit on mortal men to carry out His will. And no one confuses the Spirit-filled man with God Himself.

 

And that’s why telling a first-century Jew that “the deity of Christ permeates the New Testament” would’ve sounded just as strange as saying “the deity of the prophets permeates the Old Testament.” That phrase would’ve been nonsense to them. Why? Because no one ever confused the one who was anointed with the One doing the anointing.

To say “the deity of Christ” in their ears would’ve been no different than saying “the deity of Moses” or “the deity of Elijah.” It only makes sense if you’re talking about the power of God working through those men—not the men themselves being God. And of course, that’s not how Trinitarians or Onenessians use the phrase. They mean Jesus personally is God. That’s where the absurdity comes in.

Think about how it would sound today. The Bible says we have an anointing—1 John 2:20 and 2:27 both say that clearly. But no one would describe that as “the deity of Brother Bob” or “the deity of Sister Diana.” That would sound ridiculous. And that’s exactly how the phrase “the deity of Christ” would’ve sounded to a first-century Jew. It’s not just a word mix-up—it’s a total misunderstanding and subtle rejection—of what “Christ” means.

To them, confusing “the Christ of God” (Luke 9:20) with “the deity of Christ” would be like saying:

• “The sun couldn’t shine until it got light from a candle.”
• “The Creator needed permission before He could create.”
• “The source of life had to be given life by someone else.”

That’s not just confusing—it’s idolatry. It’s the kind of false image that violates the second commandment. Not just an image made of wood or stone, but one made in the mind that corrupts the identity of God.

Jews like Stephen understood what “anointed” meant—and what it didn’t mean. Out of all the people anointed in Scripture, not once is the term ever used for God. Why? Because Hebrews 7:7 says, “The lesser is blessed by the greater.” To be anointed is to receive something. God doesn’t receive anointing. He gives it. So to claim the Anointed One is the Anointer would have been unthinkable—it would’ve been a contradiction in terms. That’s why the phrase “the deity of Christ” would have sounded like an oxymoron to them.

In fact, saying “the deity of Christ permeates the Bible” would’ve sounded just as backwards as saying:

“The immortality of humanity permeates the Bible.”

No, it doesn’t. The Old Testament is crystal clear: humanity is mortal, people die, they don’t inherently have eternal life. And just exactly like immortality is something given by God, so is anointing. In every case, the one anointed is not the one doing the anointing. Not any more than we give ourselves eternal life.

That’s the lesson the Old Testament teaches us. The anointed is always distinct from the Anointer. And that meaning doesn’t change from the Old Testament to the New.

It’s the same with eternal life. Jesus didn’t possess it as God—He received it to give to others. That’s why the New Testament repeatedly shows that eternal life is a gift:

Romans 6:23 says: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

John 3:16 says: “…that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 10:28 says: “I give eternal life to them. They will never perish.”

John 17:2 says: “…you have given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to all whom you have given him.”

These verses very clearly teach us how to understand what being given a gift is. If eternal life is something Jesus gives because it was given to Him, then being “Christ”—the Anointed One—is no different. That, too is something He was given. And the giver is always greater than the one receiving.

Matthew 28:18 says: “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.”

Not, “I’ve always had it.” No—it was given. Even after His resurrection, Jesus remained God’s anointed, not God Himself.

And not “some” authority either, all authority that Jesus wielded was given to Him, which can only be true if He did not have any until it was given to Him.

Only someone shaped by philosophy or pagan tradition would ever imagine that being anointed by God means being God Himself. That idea never came from the Bible—it came from the serpent.

Mark 14:61 says: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”

That’s like saying, “Are you the one given authority, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am.” That was a direct, honest, and clear answer. Not a claim to be God, but a claim to be God’s anointed. And the apostles said the same:

Acts 10:38 says: “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power… for God was with him.”

Acts 2:36 says: “God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Hebrews 5:4–5 says: “No man takes this honor to himself… So also Christ didn’t glorify himself to be made a high priest, but it was he who said to him, ‘You are my Son. Today I have become your father.’”

So let’s be clear. Jesus is the Anointed One. The Christ. That doesn’t mean He’s God. It means God gave Him everything He has. That’s the truth. And that’s why the phrase “the deity of Christ” is not only false—it’s dangerous.

 

Number Two: By Whose Authority?

Since Jesus never equated being “the Christ, the son of God” with being God, it is obvious we need to search the scriptures for a different reason for Him being put to death. What He claimed was to be sent by God—the Christ, the Son of the Blessed. That was the real issue behind His trial, and that’s what the religious leaders hated: He didn’t get their approval.

Throughout the gospels, what do we see over and over again? The religious leaders weren’t asking, “Are you God?” They were asking, “Who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23). And what was Jesus’ response? He didn’t claim deity. He pointed back to John the Baptist and said:

“The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men?” (Matthew 21:25).

He flipped their question. Why? Because John had already testified about Jesus—and if they admitted John’s authority came from heaven, they’d be forced to admit Jesus was sent by God too. But they refused to answer. Not because of Jesus’ essence, but because it was a power struggle over God’s approval. If Jesus was approved by God and He was condemning them, (just as John the Baptist had been doing) then their approval from God was being seriously challenged.

Jesus didn’t play by their rules. He taught “as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:29). And He did rebuke their practices, calling them empty traditions of men that made worship of God worthless.  That’s why He was constantly at odds with them. 

But, He didn’t come through their rabbinical system or seek permission from their councils. And that put them at odds with Him. That’s the same attitude you’ll see today in churches that say, “Unless you’re ordained by our group, you don’t speak for God.” It’s the same spirit. And it’s what Jesus faced.

Here’s what the leaders were quoted as saying:

• “If this man were from God, he would know…” (John 9:16)
• “We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this man, we don’t know where he is from.” (John 9:29)

They weren’t accusing Him of being God. They were accusing Him of not being from God.

Even when they charged Him with blasphemy in John 10, look closely at the conversation:

“You, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:33)

This is very clear evidence that Jews never expected God to become a man. That is important because God said:

Amos 3:7: “Surely the Lord Yahweh will do nothing, unless he reveals his secret to his servants the prophets.”

But Jesus corrected them immediately. He didn’t accept that accusation. Instead, He quoted Psalm 82:

“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If He called them gods to whom the word of God came… do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?” (John 10:34–36)

Jesus made it clear: His claim was not “I am God,” but “I am the one the Father sanctified and sent.” That’s the difference between a servant and the Master.

The false accusation totally backfired on the Pharisees. Jesus pointed out that even men were called Gods, those to whom the word of God came. But Jesus wasn’t even claiming that. He was only claiming to be the Son of God, which indicated David’s offspring as spoken to David in 2 Samuel 7:11-14.

This same issue comes up again and again:

• “I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me.” (John 5:43)
• “My teaching is not mine, but His who sent me.” (John 7:16)
• “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me.” (John 8:54)

Every time, Jesus affirms: He was sent. He was not self-authorized. He was acting by God’s authority—not man’s.

Even at His trial, the high priest didn’t ask if He was God. He asked:

“Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61)

And Jesus answered:

“I am.” (Mark 14:62)

That’s when the high priest tore his robe and shouted, “You have heard the blasphemy!” (v. 64). What was the “blasphemy”? That Jesus claimed to be the Christ—without their approval. That’s what enraged them.

Jesus had already explained their motive in a parable. Speaking of Himself, He said:

“This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” (Luke 20:14)

That parable tells us everything. The heir is not the owner. He is not the Father. He is the one who receives authority, not the one who always had it. By painting Himself as an heir and not as the true owner of what was to be inherited, He was saying through the parable that He was not God.

So when modern theologians say Jesus was killed because He claimed to be God, they’re dismissing the very explanation Jesus gave—and they’re siding with the accusers.

That’s the serpent’s method: take something God already said, then replace it with man’s interpretation. And Trinitarian theology does just that.

After the resurrection, Peter made it plain:

“Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God did through Him…” (Acts 2:22)

That’s not “100% man, 100% God.” That’s a man approved by God. Distinct from God.

Peter also said:

“The God of our fathers glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered up.” (Acts 3:13)

So again: they didn’t kill God. They killed the one God approved and glorified.

Jesus wasn’t executed because of His identity, but because they rejected His authority. In fact, just to emphasize how big of a deal this is, all four gospels make a point of telling us that receiving Jesus meant receiving Who sent Him:

Matthew 10:40: “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.”
Mark 9:37: “…whoever receives me, doesn’t receive me, but him who sent me.”
Luke 9:48: “…Whoever receives me receives him who sent me…”
John 13:20: “…Most certainly I tell you, he who receives whomever I send, receives me; and he who receives me, receives him who sent me…”

That’s agency, not identity.

Even at His trial, the leaders couldn’t find anything valid to charge Him with:

“The chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, to put Him to death, but found none.” (Matthew 26:59)

Now think about that. If Jesus had said, “I am God,” they wouldn’t have needed false witnesses. Because real blasphemy—like claiming to be YHWH—was punishable by death.

Leviticus 24:16 says: “And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death…”

But the gospels are clear: they had to look for false testimony. That tells us there was no true claim to deity they could use.

They had to twist His metaphor about destroying the temple and raising it in three days (John 2:19–21), which had nothing to do with claiming to be God.

This leaves Trinitarians in a tough spot. If Jesus had claimed to be God, they wouldn’t have needed a trial at all. But the gospels show that the real accusation was His unauthorized claim to be the Christ—not a claim to be God.

In fact, the whole Trinitarian idea collapses if we just take the trial record seriously.

Jesus never said, “I am God.” The apostles never said it. The accusers never said it. Instead, Jesus is called:

• The Son of God
• The Messiah
• The one sent
• The servant
• The man approved by God
• The one who does nothing of Himself
• The one given authority

Never once is He called “God the Son.” That’s a man-made phrase that came much later. The sad part is, there will still be Trinitarians who will read all this and still try to defend the Trinity and claim all of these scriptures are being taken out of context.

The point is, when someone says Jesus was condemned for claiming to be God, they’re doing exactly what the false witnesses did—twisting His words and misrepresenting His mission.

Matthew 26:59–60 says: “They sought false testimony… and found none.”

So if the accusation of deity were true, the apostles would be liars. But if the apostles were right, then the accusers were wrong. You can’t have it both ways.

1 Corinthians 15:14 says: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.”

And Ephesians 2:20 says the church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

That means if we undermine their testimony, we’ve undermined the whole gospel.

So we’re left with a choice:

Do we believe the apostles, who said Jesus was falsely accused?
Or do we believe the accusers, who claimed He committed blasphemy?

This is exactly why Paul warned in 2 Corinthians 11:4:

“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus whom we have not proclaimed… you put up with it readily enough.”

The real Jesus—the one they preached—was not God, but God’s anointed. Not the source, but the servant. Not the Sender, but the one sent.

And that’s what we must stand on.

Number Three: Jesus Never Misrepresented His Identity

Now here’s our third unshakable standard: God doesn’t lie. And neither did His Son.

Jesus never once misrepresented Himself. Not in private, not under pressure, and definitely not under oath. Whenever someone asked Him a direct question, He gave a direct answer. His responses were sometimes strategic—He used parables, or turned the question back on the crowd—but He never lied, never twisted the truth, and never played games with who He really was.

Let’s look at a few categories to prove it.

First, Jesus answered plainly when asked directly:

• In Mark 14:61–62, the high priest asked: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus didn’t dodge. He said: “I am.” That’s a clear answer.
• In John 18:37, Pilate asked: “Are you a king then?” And Jesus replied: “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born…” That was a Semitic way of saying “Yes,” without boasting.
• In Luke 22:67–70, they asked: “Are you the Son of God?” And again, Jesus answered: “You say that I am.” Culturally, that meant He agreed with the statement. He never denied who He was.

Second, He exposed dishonest questions by turning them around:

• In Matthew 21:23-27, they asked Him, “By what authority are you doing these things?” and He responded with His own question about John the Baptist’s baptism: “Was it from heaven or from men?” He wasn’t being evasive—He was exposing their hypocrisy. They weren’t really seeking truth. They just wanted to trap Him and protect their power.
• In Luke 10:25-28, when a lawyer asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus pointed him back to Scripture: “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” Again, He turned the man’s attention away from debate and back to God’s Word.

Third, He never contradicted Himself:

• In John 5:18, when the Jews accused Him of making Himself equal with God, He didn’t say “That’s right—I am equal.” He said the opposite. In verses 19 through 30, He repeatedly emphasized that He could do nothing of Himself, and that everything He said and did was given to Him by the Father.
• In John 10:33-36, when they said, “You, being a man, make yourself God,” Jesus didn’t say, “Exactly—I am God.” Instead, He quoted Psalm 82: “I said you are gods”—and reminded them that He was the one sanctified and sent by the Father. In other words, God’s appointed human agent.

So let’s be clear. Jesus always spoke truthfully. If He had been God in the flesh, He would have had a moral obligation to say so—plainly, and especially under oath. But He never did. Not once. Why? Because He wasn’t God. He was the one sent by God. The Messiah. The Son of the Blessed.

That’s why He said in John 12:48–50: “He who rejects Me and doesn’t receive My sayings has one who judges him. The word that I spoke will judge him on the last day.
For I did not speak from Myself, but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command—what I should say and what I should speak.
I know that His command is eternal life. So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

This is not God speaking as God. This is a man—speaking the words He heard from God.

As Jesus said in John 8:40: “But now you seek to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.”

He called Himself a man. And He never lied about it.

Now here’s the shocking part. Dan Wallace says Jesus couldn’t publicly claim to be God because He would be executed immediately. But Wallace also claims Jesus did publicly claim to be God at His trial—which led to His death.

But that creates a huge problem:

If Jesus said He was God before the God-ordained court of the Sanhedrin—and that’s what got Him killed then Wallace is saying Jesus broke the Law, committed blasphemy, and was guilty of sin—a sin worthy of death under Leviticus 24:16. That would mean the high priest was right, and Jesus was justly condemned. If that were the case, then the Bible could not say that Jesus was without sin. But that’s not what Scripture says.

It is, however, where Wallace’s whole logic collapses—and the one “very, very clear” moment he claims proves Jesus’ deity completely falls apart. Because he’s trying to defend Jesus and accuse Him at the same time. And just like the serpent in the Garden, he ends up twisting God’s Word—making it sound like obedience to the Law would have been wrong, and breaking it was somehow righteous.

And how do Wallace and other Trinitarians justify Jesus committing a capital sin? By appealing to all the unclear passages and saying those prove He was God. That’s circular reasoning—and it condemns itself.

Even worse, that’s not just bad theology. That’s rebellion disguised as reverence.

No, the problem wasn’t with Jesus. The problem was with those who refused to believe Him. Jesus had been saying it clearly all along: He was sent by God. He was God’s Messiah. Not “God the Son.” Not a second person. But the one anointed, empowered, and glorified by God.

So when Wallace sides with the high priest’s accusation, he’s actually siding with the Sanhedrin—against Jesus.

And that’s the pattern we see again and again. People clinging to religious traditions instead of God’s clear moral standards. That’s exactly what Jesus condemned in Matthew 15 and Mark 7: replacing God’s commandments with the doctrines of men.

Some believers today think they can stay in corrupted religious systems and somehow be a light within them. But that didn’t work for Adam. I’ve even heard people suggest Adam went along with Eve, hoping he could convince God not to destroy her. But Jesus said the blind leading the blind will both fall into a pit. Hoping for reform inside a system God calls “Babylon” is not wisdom—it’s disobedience.

Jesus didn’t call us to reform the world’s institutions. He said:

“My kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)

And He refused to get entangled in earthly disputes (Luke 12:14; Matthew 22:21). The apostles followed the same pattern. Paul said:

“Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.” (2 Corinthians 6:17)

We are not called to clean up Babylon. We are called to leave it.

What are we called to do? Reach individuals. As Paul said:

“We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)

And to those individuals, God gives this warning:

“Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4)

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees—not to reform them, but to expose them. And we are called to follow in His steps.

This is how we respond to the truth—by aligning with God’s moral standards, not with human systems, not with church traditions, and definitely not with theological games. Because anything less is just another form of rebellion.

So now you know why Paul warned about those preaching another Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:4).

This isn’t a minor debate. It’s the difference between standing on truth—or siding with the serpent who whispered, “Yeah, hath God said…?”

Pastor’s Report

August 6-7, 2025, Son of God conference, Pastor’s Report

Successful Son of God Conference

Dear Brother Tom, We’re thrilled to share that the Son of God conference on August 6-7, 2025, was a huge success! Many received healing, deliverance, and were blessed by your teachings. 

Conference Impact: 

• Great testimonies and joy were shared. 

• Many were touched by the truth about the Son of God doctrine. 

• The brothers and sisters are eager to continue learning. 

Financial Update: The $1,500 was used for: 

• Food and drinks 

• Projector and PA system 

• Transportation 

• Internet and electricity etc.. 

Gratitude: We’re grateful for your love and support. Your teachings have deepened our understanding of the Son of God doctrine. 

May God bless you abundantly. 

Sincerely, Ibrahim and Edward