“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house.” Acts 16:30-31
We rejoice in the Lord that all who believe in the Lord Jesus will be saved. I am troubled however at how many profess faith in Jesus, but alas, the Jesus they believe in is not the Jesus of the Bible. That is why we are continuing with a short series in hopes of answering the question, “Who is the Jesus of the Bible?” The bulk of the content in this series comes from papers I wrote when studying Systematic Theology in seminary in 2001.
This time we will begin addressing Christological Errors and Biblical Truth. There are three basic kinds of errors regarding the person of Christ.
1. Errors Affecting the Deity of Christ. A classic example of errors affecting Christ’s deity is the error of Arianism. Arians believed that Jesus is not eternal. This error is based on a misunderstanding of passages like Romans 8:29 and Colossians 1:15 that call Christ the “firstborn.” These passages were misunderstood to be about Jesus’s essential being rather than His economic work as a man in the plan of redemption. This error was condemned at the council of Nicea in A.D 325, but lives on in groups such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Arianism was named for its chief proponent, Arius (256-336 AD), Presbyter of Alexandria. Arianism is not to be confused with the racism of Aryanism.
2. Errors Affecting the Humanity of Christ. An example of error that denies Christ’s humanity is the error of Apollinarianism. This error teaches that Jesus is fully divine, but that Jesus had no human spirit, mind, or will. According to this error, Jesus is a divine being inhabiting a human body. This heretical attempt to emphasize Christ’s divinity while denying His humanity was condemned by the First Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D. Apollinarianism was named for its chief proponent, Apollinaris (310-390 AD), Bishop of Laodicea.
Next Time we will consider number three: Errors Affecting the Integrity of the Person of Christ..