[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":248},["ShallowReactive",2],{"footer-links":3,"content-\u002Ftrinity\u002Fproof\u002Fequal-with-god":12},[4,9],{"path":5,"title":6,"type":7,"isExternal":8},"\u002Fabout","About","link",false,{"path":10,"title":11,"type":7,"isExternal":8},"\u002Fdisclaimer","Disclaimer",{"id":13,"title":14,"body":15,"description":239,"extension":240,"meta":241,"navigation":243,"path":244,"seo":245,"stem":246,"__hash__":247},"content\u002Ftrinity\u002Fproof\u002Fequal-with-god.md","Equal with God",{"type":16,"value":17,"toc":235},"minimark",[18,22,35,47],[19,20,14],"h1",{"id":21},"equal-with-god",[23,24,25],"blockquote",{},[26,27,28,29],"p",{},"This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. — ",[30,31,34],"span",{"className":32,"dataReference":34},[33],"bible-ref","John 5:18 (ESV)",[26,36,37,38,41,42,46],{},"Out of context, it seems like this verse support the ",[30,39,40],{},"Trinitarian"," formula that defines ",[43,44,45],"em",{},"the Son is equal with the Father",". The bible commentator of the AICNT explains:",[23,48,49,57,226],{},[26,50,51,52,56],{},"However, Jesus' own response in verses ",[30,53,55],{"className":54,"dataReference":55},[33],"John 5:19","–29 is a systematic, point-by-point denial of independent divine authority — and every claim he makes is explicitly grounded in delegation from the Father.",[58,59,60,91,112,144,173,198],"ul",{},[61,62,63,64,68,69,72,73,77,78,82,83,86,87,90],"li",{},"First, the charge in verse 18 — \"making himself equal to God\" — is the narrator's report of what the Jews concluded, not a statement endorsed by Jesus or the author as theologically correct. Throughout John's Gospel, the Jewish opponents consistently misunderstand Jesus' claims. They accuse him of having a demon (",[30,65,67],{"className":66,"dataReference":67},[33],"John 8:48",",52; 10:20), of being a Samaritan (",[30,70,67],{"className":71,"dataReference":67},[33],"), and of making himself God (",[30,74,76],{"className":75,"dataReference":76},[33],"John 10:33",") — and ",[79,80,81],"strong",{},"in each case, Jesus corrects or reframes their conclusion",". The same pattern operates here. The Jews heard Jesus call God \"my Father\" and inferred equality with God. Jesus' immediate response in verse ",[30,84,55],{"className":85,"dataReference":55},[33]," is ",[79,88,89],{},"not to confirm that inference but to dismantle it",": \"the Son can do nothing of himself.\" If Jesus intended to affirm equality with God, verse 19 is the worst possible way to do so.",[61,92,93,94,97,98,101,102,105,106,111],{},"Second, Jesus' reply in ",[30,95,55],{"className":96,"dataReference":55},[33]," is the most emphatic ",[79,99,100],{},"denial of independent divine authority"," imaginable: \"The Son can do nothing of himself, unless he sees the Father doing something\" . A being who is ontologically God can do all things of himself — omnipotence is a defining attribute of deity. Jesus declares the opposite: he cannot act independently. ",[79,103,104],{},"His works are entirely derived from and dependent upon the Father",". He sees what the Father does and replicates it. This is the language of an apprentice who watches and imitates his master, or of ",[107,108,110],"a",{"href":109},"..\u002F..\u002Fshema\u002Fagency","an agent who acts only within the scope of his commission",". It is the language of total dependence, not of co-equal deity.",[61,113,114,115,118,119,123,124,128,129,133,134,138,139,143],{},"Third, every prerogative Jesus claims in the passage is explicitly said to be ",[79,116,117],{},"given by the Father",". \"The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing\" (",[30,120,122],{"className":121,"dataReference":122},[33],"John 5:20",") — the Son's knowledge is shown to him; it is not omniscient self-knowledge. \"As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will\" (",[30,125,127],{"className":126,"dataReference":127},[33],"John 5:21",") — the Son's life-giving power is patterned on and derived from the Father's. \"The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son\" (",[30,130,132],{"className":131,"dataReference":132},[33],"John 5:22",") — judgment is given, delegated, entrusted. \"He has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man\" (",[30,135,137],{"className":136,"dataReference":137},[33],"John 5:27",") — the authority is given, and the reason for the delegation is precisely Christ's humanity, not his deity. God entrusted judgment to the Son of Man because he is human, qualified by shared nature to judge humanity (cf. ",[30,140,142],{"className":141,"dataReference":142},[33],"Acts 17:31",", \"he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed\").",[61,145,146,147,150,151,155,156,159,160,164,165,168,169,172],{},"Fourth, ",[79,148,149],{},"the purpose of the Father's delegation is stated"," in verse ",[30,152,154],{"className":153,"dataReference":154},[33],"John 5:23",": \"that all may honor the Son, ",[79,157,158],{},"just as they honor the Father","\". Trinitarians read this as requiring divine ",[107,161,163],{"href":162},"..\u002F..\u002Fdivine\u002Fworship","worship of the Son",". But the verse explains why the Son receives such honor: because ",[79,166,167],{},"the Father has delegated judgment to him",". ",[79,170,171],{},"The honor is consequent upon the delegation"," — it is the honor due to the one whom God has appointed, not honor owed to a co-equal divine person by nature.",[61,174,175,176,180,181,184,185,188,189,193,194,197],{},"Fifth, in ",[30,177,179],{"className":178,"dataReference":179},[33],"John 5:25","–29, Jesus declares that the dead will hear \"the voice of the Son of God\" and live, and that \"an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out.\" ",[79,182,183],{},"This authority over resurrection is extraordinary"," — but it is explicitly delegated: \"as the Father has life in himself, so ",[79,186,187],{},"He has granted the Son also"," to have life in himself\" (",[30,190,192],{"className":191,"dataReference":192},[33],"John 5:26","). The verb edōken (\"He granted,\" \"He gave\") is ",[79,195,196],{},"decisive",". The Father has life in himself inherently; the Son has life in himself because the Father granted it. If the Son possessed life in himself by nature as God, there would be nothing to grant — He would already have it. The granting presupposes that the Son did not originally possess this prerogative and received it from the Father. This is derived, bestowed authority, not inherent divine nature.",[61,199,200,201,204,205,208,209,213,214,217,218,225],{},"Sixth, Jesus concludes by stating, \"",[79,202,203],{},"I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge",", and my judgment is just, because ",[79,206,207],{},"I seek not my own will but the will of Him Who sent me","\" (",[30,210,212],{"className":211,"dataReference":212},[33],"John 5:30","). This bookend returns to the theme of ",[30,215,55],{"className":216,"dataReference":55},[33]," and frames the entire discourse. Jesus began by denying independent action and ends by denying independent will. His judgment is just not because he is omniscient God but because he subordinates his will entirely to the Father's. \"I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me\" — the will of the sender and the will of the sent are distinguished, and the sent one defers to the sender's will. This is ",[79,219,220,221,224],{},"the self-description of a perfectly ",[107,222,223],{"href":109},"obedient agent",", not of a co-equal divine person",".",[26,227,228,229],{},"-- ",[107,230,234],{"href":231,"rel":232},"https:\u002F\u002Fcorebible.app\u002FJHN\u002F5?verseNumber=%2236%22&translation=AICNT",[233],"nofollow","CoreBible",{"title":236,"searchDepth":237,"depth":237,"links":238},"",2,[],"Does \u003Cspan class=\"bible-ref\" data-reference=\"John 5:18\">John 5:18\u003C\u002Fspan> teach that Jesus is equal with God?","md",{"keywords":242},"\u003Cspan class=\"bible-ref\" data-reference=\"John 5:18\">John 5:18\u003C\u002Fspan>, Jesus, God the Father, equality with God, delegated authority",true,"\u002Ftrinity\u002Fproof\u002Fequal-with-god",{"title":14,"description":239},"trinity\u002Fproof\u002Fequal-with-god","_uLdi4Tko8BvEoXuaVwNxpz7NGEFGGarVQ1V-APWg7c",1794459725521]