Yes. Jesus has the authority to forgive sins. Only God can forgive sins.
(I’ve been busy with life….sorry I haven’t attended to this.)
Where explicitly does the Bible say, “
only God can forgive sins”?
Couldn’t that authority be conferred? Because Jesus said: “
All authority has been given me.” (Matthew 28:18) Which raises a related question: If Jesus were God, why would “
all authority” need to be “
given” Him?
He would already have had it. And as God’s chosen One, He would have had much authority already, performing those miracles.
You just presented a contradiction from the Bible. ???
If looked at through a trinitarian lens, yes, it does contradict. “Only” means what? If it meant more than one, the Bible writers should have explained. I don’t see where they did.
Are there others?
Who was in attendance at the meeting in the book of Job when Satan presented himself before God?
Angels, which weren’t/aren’t parts of God. Rather, they had the same
form (Gr., morphe) as God did: spirit.
Also...
1 Corinthians 8:5 NIV
For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth
(
as indeed there are many “
gods” and many “lords”),
Please, finish the Apostle Paul’s sentence (vs.6): “…
there is actually to us one God, the Father, out of whom all things are and we for Him; and there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things are, and we through Him.”
What does “one” mean? I see a complete separateness here.
It's not intended to quantify God.
What do you mean by “quantify”?
To a certain degree, I think Paul did it above. Just as Deuteronomy 6:4 does.
….If they are the same God
Do not the Scriptures tell us about Jesus as God’s “Chief Agent”? An agent is a go-between. But “from” whom does the HS come? If Jesus was given “all authority”, it is not too hard to imagine that He has access to it, too.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,
…and…
When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—
It seems both Jesus and God send it. See above.
I understand that if one's theology has "Jesus as fully God and fully human" as its foundation, one is pretty much forced to accept and perhaps try to make sense of the Trinity; I think it's the foundation itself that's flawed.
I agree.
What foundation should we consider? Maybe we should what Jesus’
Did Jesus’
followers believe He was God? Many use John 20:28 to claim that. Did Thomas mean more than just a surprised exclamation, “Oh my God!” as quite a few say do today?
Well, what did Jesus’ followers say about Him while walking on the road, in Luke 24:15-32? One named Cleopas said, “
He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.
20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him;
21but we had hoped that he was
the one who was going to redeem Israel.”
There is no ‘Jesus is God’ mentioned. Rather, a ‘
powerful prophet before God’ is what he said.
Another account revealing how Jesus’ followers viewed Him, is recorded at Acts 4:23-31. Notice their prayer…. Who were they praying to? Who was “Sovereign Lord”? Not Jesus, was it?
They referred to Jesus as
God’s “Holy Servant.”
They
did not claim that Jesus was God. Did they?
Let’s look at the “I AM” claim…
Did the Jews understand that Jesus was claiming to be God?
Well, that would be the ultimate blasphemy! Why didn’t they attempt to kill him
right after vs.24?
Why did they wait until He said “ego eimi” again, @ vs.58?
The account (vs59) says, “But Jesus hid and went out of the Temple”, right?
Why didn’t the Jews kill Him
the next time they saw Him? There was no statute of limitations… they would have just grabbed Jesus
the next time they saw Him!
They didn’t.
If John 8:24 & 8:58 is how many describe it, they would have had sufficient grounds to kill Jesus
later that day! Or the next. Whenever they got around him.
It’s actually not until John 11:54 that Jesus started to avoid public events.
Why wasn’t the fact that Jesus said “I Am / ego eimi” reaffirmed at His Sanhedrin trial?
All 4 Gospel accounts, like at Matthew 26:59-64, reveal, that at that trial, although
they were looking for even false witnesses to convict Him, they could not find grounds on which to kill Jesus. Until he admitted he was God’s Son. (What happened to “ego eimi”? They
forgot?)
In fact, in John 11:47-53, please read what the Sanhedrin members were saying:
not once did they say that Jesus said he was God.
So, this ““ego eimi” as “I Am God”” claim
has been used for centuries. But when context is scrutinized, the argument really carries no weight.
Context clarifies a lot.
IMO
Best wishes to you all, my cousins.