Grudem - Chapter 26 - The Person of Christ

Question 1

How can the Biblical teaching about the Person of Christ be summarized?

Answer 1

Christ was fully God and fully man in one person, and will be so forever.

Question 2

How was Jesus brought into earth?

Answer 2

Through the Virgin Birth

Question 3

What are the three aspects of doctrinal importance the virgin birth of Christ?

Answer 3

1) A reminder that salvation must ultimately come from God and cannot be accomplished by human action alone.
2) Clearly united humanity and deity of Christ in one single action.
3) It makes Christ’s true humanity possible without inherited sin.

Question 4

What were Christ’s weaknesses and limitations?

Answer 4

1) Jesus Had a Human Body
2) Jesus Had a Human Mind
3) Justs Had a Human Soul and Human Emotions
4) People Near Jesus Saw Him Only as a Man

Question 5

What incidents exemplify Christ’s possession of a human body?

Answer 5

1) His hunger and thirst
2) The flesh and bones that Christ has post-Crucifixition
3) The Ascension

Question 6

What incidents exemplify Christ’s possession of a human mind?

Answer 6

1) The statement that Jesus “increased in Wisdom” means He had to actually learn
2) Jesus does not know the day or hour when God will return.

Question 7

What incidents exemplify Christ’s possession of a human soul or human emotions?

Answer 7

1) Jesus feels “troubled” before the Crucifixion
2) Marveled at the Faith of the Centurion
3) Wept at the Death of Lazarus
4) Maturity in Temptation

Question 8

What incidents exemplify Christ was viewed as only a mere man?

Answer 8

1) The People of Nazareth did not accept him.

Question 9

What aspect of Christ’s character is crucial yet not common to man?

Answer 9

His Sinfulness.

Question 10

Does humanity always imply sin?

Answer 10

No. In fact Adam and Eve were without sin in the Garden before they sinned. Humans now are in an abnormal situation that Christ did not possess.

Question 11

What does Scripture affirm about Christ and sin?

Answer 11

1) Christ never actually sinned
2) Jesus was tempted in a very real way
3) God cannot be tempted without evil

Question 12

What is the process of thought that draws the conclusion that Christ was unable to sin?

Answer 12

1) If Christ’s human nature had been part from his divine nature that he would have been just like Adam and Eve who would have been free from sin but would have been able to sin.
2) But Christ’s human nature never existed apart from his divine nature. He was always one person
3) An act of sin involves the whole person of Christ, both the divine and human aspect
4) If Jesus would have sinned in the Divine nature he would have ceased to be God.
5) Therefore, it must not be possible for God to sin. And Christ must not have been able to sin.

Question 13

Why was Christ’s full humanity necessary?

Answer 13

1) For Representative Obedience to God and His commandments
2) To Be A Substitute Sacrifice (Had to Be Like Us For This To Work)
3) To Be A Mediator Between God and Men
4) To Fulfill the Original Dominion Mandate of Man to Rule Over Creation
5) To Be Our Example and Pattern in Life
6) The Be The Pattern For Our Redeemed Bodies
7) To Sympathize as a High-Priest

Question 14

What is the State of Christ’s duality over time?

Answer 14

Jesus will be man forever.

Question 15

What are the direct Scriptural claims that show Christ’s divinity?

Answer 15

1) The Use of (God) Theos to describe Christ.
2) The Use of (Lord) Kyrios to describe Christ.
3) Christ makes Strong Claims That He Is Divine

Question 16

What Evidence Exists That Jesus Possess Attributes of Deity?

Answer 16

1) Omnipotence - Calming the Storm at Sea
2) Omniscience - Knowing Nathaniel’s Thoughts Under the Fig Tree
3) Divine Sovereignty - He could forgive sins
4) Immortality - He conquered the Grave
5) Worthy to Be Worshipped

Question 17

Where does Kenosis Theory Originate in Scripture?

Answer 17

Philippians 2:5-7

Question 18

What are the reasons for the Kenotic interpretation of Philippians being deemed Scripturally false?

Answer 18

1) No One in Church History Ever Thought This
2) Does Not Say He Emptied Himself of Attributes
3 He Emptied Himself By Taking the Form of a Servant
4) The Purpose of the letter to Philipp was to persuade them to be humble at put others first.
5) Can’t affirm full deity of Christ on earth.

Question 19

What is the predicated assumption of rejecting the divinity of Christ?

Answer 19

That the New Testament is not an absolute and divine authority for us today.

Question 20

Why was Christ’s deity necessary?

Answer 20

1) Only someone who Is infinitely God could bear the weight of the sins of those who believe in him.
2) Salvation is From The Lord and only someone who is divine could maintain that message.
3) Only someone truly God could be a mediator between God and men.

Question 21

What are three inadequate views of the Person of Christ?

Answer 21

1) Apollinarianism
2) Nestorianism
3) Monophysitism/Eutychianism

Question 22

Describe Apollinarianism.

Answer 22

Christ had a human body but not a human mind or spirit.

Question 23

Describe Nestorianism.

Answer 23

Christ is Two Separate Persons, a Divine Person and a Human Person.

Question 24

Describe Monophysitism/Eutychianism.

Answer 24

Christ has only one nature. A mix between the two natures if you will.

Question 25

What Attempted to Solve the Problems Raised By Controversy of the Person of Christ?

Answer 25

The Chalcedonian Definition of 451 AD.

Question 26

What three Heresies did the Chalcedonian Statement Attempt to Guard Against?

Answer 26

1) Apollinarianism
2) Nestorianism
3) Eutychianism

Question 27

How does the Chalcedonian Statement attempt to guard against Apollinarianism?

Answer 27

The statement that Christ was “truly man, of a reasonable soul and body… Consubstantial with us according to the Manhood; in all things like unto us.”

Question 28

How does the Chalcedonian Statement attempt to guard against Nestorianism?

Answer 28

The statement that Christ is “indivisibly, inseparably… conjuring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons.”

Question 29

How does the Chalcedonian Statement attempt to guard against Eutychianism?

Answer 29

The statement that Christ is “to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably… the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved.”

Question 30

What are the conclusions that must be drawn when we combine specific Biblical Texts on Christ’s Deity and Humanity?

Answer 30

1) One Nature Does Some Things That The Other Nature Does Not Do
2) Anything Either Nature Does, The Person of Christ Does
3) Titles That Remind Us of One Nature Can Be Used of the Person Even When the Action

Question 31

What Attributes Does Christ Communicate From His Divine Nature To His Human Nature?

Answer 31

1) Worthiness To Be Worshipped

2) An Inability to Sin

Question 32

What Attributes Does Christ Communicate From His Human Nature to His Divine Nature?

Answer 32

1) An Ability to Experience Suffering and Death
2) An Ability to Understand By Experience What We Experience
3) An Ability to Be Our Substitute Sacrifice