Grudem - Chapter 26 - The Person of Christ Flashcards
How can the Biblical teaching about the Person of Christ be summarized?
Christ was fully God and fully man in one person, and will be so forever.
How was Jesus brought into earth?
Through the Virgin Birth
What are the three aspects of doctrinal importance the virgin birth of Christ?
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.
What were Christ’s weaknesses and limitations?
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
What incidents exemplify Christ’s possession of a human body?
1) His hunger and thirst
2) The flesh and bones that Christ has post-Crucifixition
3) The Ascension
What incidents exemplify Christ’s possession of a human mind?
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.
What incidents exemplify Christ’s possession of a human soul or human emotions?
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
What incidents exemplify Christ was viewed as only a mere man?
1) The People of Nazareth did not accept him.
What aspect of Christ’s character is crucial yet not common to man?
His Sinfulness.
Does humanity always imply sin?
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.
What does Scripture affirm about Christ and sin?
1) Christ never actually sinned
2) Jesus was tempted in a very real way
3) God cannot be tempted without evil
What is the process of thought that draws the conclusion that Christ was unable to sin?
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.
Why was Christ’s full humanity necessary?
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
What is the State of Christ’s duality over time?
Jesus will be man forever.
What are the direct Scriptural claims that show Christ’s divinity?
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
What Evidence Exists That Jesus Possess Attributes of Deity?
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
Where does Kenosis Theory Originate in Scripture?
Philippians 2:5-7
What are the reasons for the Kenotic interpretation of Philippians being deemed Scripturally false?
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.
What is the predicated assumption of rejecting the divinity of Christ?
That the New Testament is not an absolute and divine authority for us today.
Why was Christ’s deity necessary?
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.
What are three inadequate views of the Person of Christ?
1) Apollinarianism
2) Nestorianism
3) Monophysitism/Eutychianism
Describe Apollinarianism.
Christ had a human body but not a human mind or spirit.
Describe Nestorianism.
Christ is Two Separate Persons, a Divine Person and a Human Person.
Describe Monophysitism/Eutychianism.
Christ has only one nature. A mix between the two natures if you will.
What Attempted to Solve the Problems Raised By Controversy of the Person of Christ?
The Chalcedonian Definition of 451 AD.
What three Heresies did the Chalcedonian Statement Attempt to Guard Against?
1) Apollinarianism
2) Nestorianism
3) Eutychianism
How does the Chalcedonian Statement attempt to guard against Apollinarianism?
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.”
How does the Chalcedonian Statement attempt to guard against Nestorianism?
The statement that Christ is “indivisibly, inseparably… conjuring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons.”
How does the Chalcedonian Statement attempt to guard against Eutychianism?
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.”
What are the conclusions that must be drawn when we combine specific Biblical Texts on Christ’s Deity and Humanity?
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
What Attributes Does Christ Communicate From His Divine Nature To His Human Nature?
1) Worthiness To Be Worshipped
2) An Inability to Sin
What Attributes Does Christ Communicate From His Human Nature to His Divine Nature?
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
