The Son of God vs. God, the Son

trinityThere is a teaching of man, commonly referred to as the Trinity Doctrine that says God is one, in three Persons: Father, Son and Holy Ghost/Spirit. This is a fundamental tenet in Christianity. As a result, many believe that Jesus is God, but what does the Bible say?

Below is a list of every verse in the New Testament that includes the Greek words for “son” (G5207 “uihos”) and “God” (G2316 “theos”). Notice, that Jesus is never referred to as “God, the son”, but is consistently referred to as “the Son of God”. (Also note that there are other “sons of God” mentioned as well.)

See for yourself. 

(Matthew 1:23 ESV) “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

(Matthew 4:3 ESV) And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

(Matthew 4:6 ESV) and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'”

(Matthew 5:9 ESV) “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

(Matthew 8:29 ESV) And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

(Matthew 14:33 ESV) And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

(Matthew 16:16 ESV) Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

(Matthew 26:63 ESV) But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.”

(Matthew 27:40 ESV) and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

(Matthew 27:43 ESV) He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.'”

(Matthew 27:54 ESV) When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

(Mark 1:1 ESV) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

(Mark 3:11 ESV) And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

(Mark 5:7 ESV) And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”

(Mark 15:39 ESV) And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

(Luke 1:16 ESV) And he will turn many of the children[sons] of Israel to the Lord their God,

(Luke 1:32 ESV) He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

(Luke 1:35 ESV) And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy–the Son of God.

(Luke 3:2 ESV) during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

(Luke 4:3 ESV) The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

(Luke 4:9 ESV) And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

(Luke 4:41 ESV) And demons also came out of many, crying, “You are the Son of God!” But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Christ.

(Luke 8:28 ESV) When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”

(Luke 12:8 ESV) “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,

(Luke 20:36 ESV) for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

(Luke 22:69-70 ESV) But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.”

(John 1:18 ESV) No one has ever seen God; the only God*, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. 

*I do not know why the translators said “the only God“, the Greek word used is “uihos”, not “theos”. A more literal translation: (John 1:18 YLT) God no one hath ever seen; the only begotten Son, who is on the bosom of the Father–he did declare. And another translation: (John 1:18 KJV) No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

(John 1:34 ESV) And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

(John 1:49 ESV) Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

(John 1:51 ESV) And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

(John 3:16-18 ESV) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

(John 3:36 ESV) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

(John 5:25 ESV) “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

(John 6:27 ESV) Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

(John 6:69 ESV) and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One* of God.”

*I do not know why the translators used “Holy One”, when it appears the Greek word used is “uihos”. Here is a more literal translation: (John 6:69 YLT) and we have believed, and we have known, that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And another translation: (John 6:69 KJV) And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

(John 9:35 ESV) Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

(John 10:36 ESV) do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God‘?

(John 11:4 ESV) But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

(John 11:27 ESV) She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

(John 13:31 ESV) When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

(John 19:7 ESV) The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”

(John 20:31 ESV) but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

(Acts 2:17 ESV) “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

(Acts 3:25 ESV) You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’

(Acts 7:37 ESV) This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’

(Acts 7:56 ESV) And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

(Acts 8:37 ESV)Not available in this translation*.

*(Acts 8:37 KJV) And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

(Acts 9:20 ESV) And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

(Acts 13:21 ESV) Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

(Acts 13:26 ESV) “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.

(Acts 13:33 ESV) this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, “‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’

(Romans 1:4 ESV) and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

(Romans 1:9 ESV) For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you

(Romans 5:10 ESV) For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

(Romans 8:3 ESV) For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh,

(Romans 8:14 ESV) For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

(Romans 8:19 ESV) For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.

(Romans 9:26 ESV) “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.'”

(1 Corinthians 1:9 ESV) God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

(1 Corinthians 15:28 ESV) When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

(2 Corinthians 1:19 ESV) For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes.

(Galatians 2:20 ESV) I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

(Galatians 3:26 ESV) for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

(Galatians 4:4 ESV) But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,

(Galatians 4:6-7 ESV) And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

(Ephesians 4:13 ESV) until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

(Ephesians 5:6 ESV) Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

(Colossians 3:6 ESV) On account of these the wrath of God is coming.*

*It appears this translation truncates this verse. Here is a literal translation of the verse: (Colossians 3:6 YLT) “because of which things cometh the anger of God upon the sons of the disobedience,” and another translation: (Colossians 3:6 KJV) “For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:”.

(Hebrews 1:8 ESV) But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

(Hebrews 4:14 ESV) Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

(Hebrews 6:6 ESV) and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

(Hebrews 7:3 ESV) He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

(Hebrews 10:29 ESV) How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?

(Hebrews 12:7 ESV) It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

(2 Peter 1:17 ESV) For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,”

(1 John 3:8 ESV) Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

(1 John 4:9-10 ESV) In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

(1 John 4:15 ESV) Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.

(1 John 5:5 ESV) Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

(1 John 5:9-13 ESV) If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

(1 John 5:20 ESV) And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

(2 John 1:3 ESV) Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

(2 John 1:9 ESV) Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

(Revelation 2:18 ESV) “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

(Revelation 12:5 ESV) She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,

(Revelation 21:7 ESV) The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

As you can see, I quoted from the English Standard Version, because I think it is generally easier to read than the KJV. However, when I did the search using the free Bible software program, eSword, I used the KJV translation with Strongs’ numbers from the Strongs’ Concordance.

It seems abundantly clear to me that Jesus/Yeshua is “the Son of God” according to all the testimony provided in the New Testament, and the notion that he is “God, the Son” is unfounded.

About Messyanic

Homesteading Wife, Unschooling Mom and perpetual Bible student, continually taking the road less traveled. (@messyanic)
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9 Responses to The Son of God vs. God, the Son

  1. Sandra says:

    What does the “Old Testament” say about Messiah/Son of God. “What” is the “son of God”? I thought we were all “sons of the most high”, sons/daughters of God and even “Jesus” stated that we could do more than him… So, this is highly confusing and I tend to lean towards the NT Writings being more in line with Greek Ideals about their gods and how their gods came to be (through getting impregnated by “god”) and demi-gods etc.

    • Isha says:

      Wherefore did the heathen rage, and the nations imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers gathered themselves together, against the Lord, and against his Christ (Messiah); saying, Let us break through their bonds, and cast away their yoke from us. He that dwells in the heavens shall laugh them to scorn, and the Lord shall mock them. Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his fury. But I have been made king by him on Sion his holy mountain, declaring the ordinance of the Lord: the Lord said to me, Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces as a potter’s vessel. Now therefore understand, ye kings: be instructed, all ye that judge the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in him with trembling. Accept correction, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and ye should perish from the righteous way: whensoever his wrath shall be suddenly kindled, blessed are all they that trust in him. (Psalms 2:1-12 Brenton)

      And now thus shalt thou say to my servant David, Thus says the Lord Almighty, I took thee from the sheep-cote, that thou shouldest be a prince over my people, over Israel. And I was with thee wheresoever thou wentest, and I destroyed all thine enemies before thee, and I made thee renowned according to the renown of the great ones on the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, and they shall dwell by themselves, and shall be no more distressed; and the son of iniquity shall no more afflict them, as he has done from the beginning, from the days when I appointed judges over my people Israel: and I will give thee rest from all thine enemies, and the Lord will tell thee that thou shalt build a house to him. And it shall come to pass when thy days shall have been fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, even thine own issue, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for me a house to my name, and I will set up his throne even for ever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And when he happens to transgress, then will I chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the sons of men. But my mercy I will not take from him, as I took it from those whom I removed from my presence. And his house shall be made sure, and his kingdom for ever before me, and his throne shall be set up for ever. (2 Samuel 7:8-16 Brenton)

    • Isha says:

      I believe there is a great misconception as to what it means to be a/the son of God. This misconception existed at the time of Jesus/Yeshua’s time on earth and still exists to this day.

      When we consider what the “Old Testament” has to say and use that as our foundation for understanding the “New Testament”, it seems to me that the notion of a man being “a/the son of God” is firmly founded, whereas the falsehood of “God, the son” is not.

      While one could see an influence of Greek Ideals may have been forced upon the text of the NT writings, I believe the truth of the NT writings can be understood if we choose to look at it through the lens of the OT.

      For example, I do not believe the NT gives any indication that Jesus was born without a human father, but that is a *belief* that has been foisted upon the text. The OT (Genesis 4:1) lays the groundwork that a man knows a woman and then she conceives, and there is nothing to suggest the contrary from that point forward.

    • Isha says:

      Hi Beth, I haven’t had a chance to thoroughly look through that link, but at a quick glance I took issue with several of your premises. Particularly, John 1:1 tells us the “word” was with God and was God; it does not say Jesus/Yeshua was God. The subject of that verse (word) is an “it”, not a “he”. The NT clearly indicates that Mary was espoused to Joseph, and that Joseph was of the house of David, thereby making Jesus/Yeshua the son of both Joseph and David, in the flesh. Revelation 1:8 indicates it is “the Almighty” who is the Alpha and Omega, and that is clearly established in the Old Testament to be YHVH, the Maker of heaven and earth. (See 2 Samuel 5:10, 2 Samuel 7:8,25 for the first few mentions of “Almighty”.)

  2. Carissa says:

    Yup. Agree wholeheartedly. I would like to do some more research on the “Sons of God”… at one point I believed there were certain implications that we could either be a “Son” [on our own] – maybe through obedience to our Father – OR that we could be baptized into Christ and – perhaps – reap the family benefits that way? I don’t know.

    Also, maybe someone can help me out? The only verse that “trinitarians” use that I can’t find reasoning for is John 20:28 when Thomas responds to Yeshua’s wounds with “my Lord and my God”. I honestly don’t bother engaging in conversations about it (or anything to do with my lack of belief in “Jesus as God”) as it doesn’t seem to do any good, but I would like peace if anyone has any discernment that they can share in regards to the John 20:28 verse?

    • Isha says:

      Regarding John 20:28, I think it’s very likely that Thomas is referring to both Yeshua and YHVH…first to Yeshua as “my Lord” and then to YHVH as “my God”. It seems to me that he was recognizing that it was indeed Yeshua standing before him and then recognizing the power of YHVH who raised him from the dead. That’s how I understand it.

    • Isha says:

      I found this particularly interesting when I was putting together this post regarding the first part of your comment:

      And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” (Luke 20:34-38 ESV)

      Also considering what Yeshua says in John 3 regarding being born from above (or “born again” in some translations).

      Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again (or “born from above”) he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again (or “born from above”).’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:3-8 ESV)

      And then this comes to mind (sorry for quoting the whole chapter, but I think the entire chapter is relevant)…

      There is, then, now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit; for the law of the Spirit of the life in Christ Jesus did set me free from the law of the sin and of the death; for what the law was not able to do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, His own Son having sent in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, did condemn the sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

      For those who are according to the flesh, the things of the flesh do mind; and those according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit; for the mind of the flesh is death, and the mind of the Spirit–life and peace; because the mind of the flesh is enmity to God, for to the law of God it doth not subject itself, for neither is it able; and those who are in the flesh are not able to please God.

      And ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God doth dwell in you; and if any one hath not the Spirit of Christ–this one is not His;
      and if Christ is in you, the body, indeed, is dead because of sin, and the Spirit is life because of righteousness, and if the Spirit of Him who did raise up Jesus out of the dead doth dwell in you, He who did raise up the Christ out of the dead shall quicken also your dying bodies, through His Spirit dwelling in you.

      So, then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; for if according to the flesh ye do live, ye are about to die; and if, by the Spirit, the deeds of the body ye put to death, ye shall live; for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God; for ye did not receive a spirit of bondage again for fear, but ye did receive a spirit of adoption in which we cry, `Abba–Father.’ The Spirit himself doth testify with our spirit, that we are children of God;

      and if children, also heirs, heirs, indeed, of God, and heirs together of Christ–if, indeed, we suffer together, that we may also be glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory about to be revealed in us; for the earnest looking out of the creation doth expect the revelation of the sons of God; for to vanity was the creation made subject–not of its will, but because of Him who did subject it –in hope, that also the creation itself shall be set free from the servitude of the corruption to the liberty of the glory of the children of God; for we have known that all the creation doth groan together, and doth travail in pain together till now. And not only so , but also we ourselves, having the first-fruit of the Spirit, we also ourselves in ourselves do groan, adoption expecting–the redemption of our body; for in hope we were saved, and hope beheld is not hope; for what any one doth behold, why also doth he hope for it ? and if what we do not behold we hope for, through continuance we expect it . (Romans 8:1-25 YLT)

  3. Sandra says:

    Isha – -I agree there is a misconception here. I was raised in a very strict Christian household, and coming out of “it” for many years, and some of the Christian ideals are and have crept into Messianic Congregations EVERYWHERE. In any case, this is one of them that “God = Jesus” and “Jesus = God”.

    Most people tend to lean on NT Writings and do not know the OT Writings concerning “Sons of God”, Messiah and who He is, was to be, etc., according to Prophecy – -if Messiah is a “Moses” then guess what?? He’s flesh and an highly annointed flesh who was given this annointing to lead us and provide us the path/direction on how to live our lives in line with how our Creator wants us to live/be.

    In any case, I’d like to see more emphasis on OT Writings because this is the foundation, right? The NT Writings should fall right in line with the OT Writings, and if they do not, then there’s a potential issue there.

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