John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(His only begotten Son. What does only begotten Son, mean? Can’t we just be Christians & not worry about him being the Son or not?)
I John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
(No! Apparently, it matters, especially since there are some very different beliefs about the only begotten Son.)
John 8:24 I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.
(There are many people who profess belief in Jesus, yet, sadly, believe very different things about the only begotten Son.
Early in church history, different beliefs of the only begotten Son developed about the same time, and some were heresies.
The heresies about the Son were becoming dangerous for the churches, even while they were still persecuted by Rome.)
I Corinthians 11:19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
(Apparently, the heresies were allowed to come up, so that the Christians would know which pastors were approved unto God:)
II Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
(The heresies were refuted scripturally, by those pastors approved unto God, yet some have resurfaced, again, in our time.
For example, three refuted beliefs, about the only begotten Son, were Incarnational Sonship, Arianism, and Semi-Arianism.
Incarnational Sonship believed that the Son only “began” at the virgin birth.
Some said a 2nd person thus began at the virgin birth, others said there was a 2nd person who became the Son at the virgin birth.
So, if there was no Son before the manger, then the Father was not the Father before then, either, i.e., he was God, but not Father.
Except the scriptures clearly show the Son before the manger, that the Son, himself, did the creating, as the Son, for the Father:)
Hebrews 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
Ephesians 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Proverbs 30:4 Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
(Other teachings about the only begotten Son, came about as a result of a rapidly spreading heresy, by a teacher named Arius.
He taught that the Son was the first creation of God, and then the Son created everything else.
Except the scriptures show that "every" created thing was created by the Son, so he could not have been created:)
John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(Arius taught that there was a time when the Son was not, but had a beginning.
However, the Son did not have a beginning, but rather, he says of himself, that he "is" the beginning:)
Revelation 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
(All of time, space, matter, and energy began when the Son spoke it all into existence.
Arius, and his followers, believed that Jesus was of different essence than the Father, and thus a lesser god, a small "g" god.
In time, many that held to this began to consider that the Son was created as the highest-ranking angel.
Modern day Arianism in centered in the Jehovah Witnesses, who believe that the Son is Michael the archangel.
Except the scriptures show that he wasn't an angel, nor did he take on the nature of angels:)
Hebrews 1:5a For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee?
Hebrews 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
(Since this heresy spread rapidly in the early 300's, it was decided to have a council of pastors to address the doctrine.
The 1st Roman emperor to profess Christ, Constantine, convened the council at Nicaea, in 325 AD.
However, by that time, not only were there many that had become Arians, but also there were many semi-Arians.
Semi-Arianism essentially held that Jesus and the Father were of similar essence, but not the same essence.
That was a major problem, because to be one God, the Father and the Son must be the same essence.)
John 10:30 I and my Father are one.
John 14:9b he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
(Also, semi-Arians hold that the Son was begotten in eternity past, in contrast to the Son being eternally begotten.
Similar to the NASV having the words, "only begotten God", in John 1:18, instead of, "only begotten Son".
No, the Father did not have a baby God, way back in eternity past.
It is NOT, "God having begotten God", but rather, "the Father having begotten the Son".)
(Then, the doctrine that refuted the others, was presented from the scriptures, at the council of Nicaea, by Athanasius.
He showed that the scriptures reveal that the Son is the same essence as the Father, as also the Holy Ghost.
Semi-Arians rejected his teaching of the same essence, because they said it sounded too much like Oneness that Sabellius had taught.
But after considering everything, the council accepted the scriptural teaching that Athanasius presented.
And this teaching has been held by Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, and Baptist churches since then.)
(Sadly, however, in our day, semi-Arianism has been resurfacing, and even finding its way into some churches.
One way, is by how parts of Proverbs 8 is presented as showing, essentially, "young" Son of God, "growing up" in eternity past.
Proverbs 8 is speaking of wisdom, which the semi-Arians say, is actually referring to the Son of God:)
Proverbs 8:22 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
23 I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
24 When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
30 Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;
31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
(The Son was not "setup", he always was, and also, it was the Son who created everything:)
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(The semi-Arian teaching leads way to pictures of the Godhead, where the Father is shown to be much older than the Son.
Semi-Arianism is more like three beings “as” one God, since they hold that the Son is not the same essence as the Father.
The problem may simply be related to a difference in the understanding of the word, “begotten”.)
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(It’s easy to forget that we were made in the image of God, and instead try to understand the LORD by making him in our image.
For Adam's descendants, in the Bible, beget, begat, and begotten is one generation of man passing on his nature to the next generation, following in time.
In time, there first is a father without a son, then at a point in time he begets a son, the son grows up and the father grows old.
The father in time dies, leaving the son, but the son becomes a father of his own son & on & on from generation to generation.
The problem comes if we think that the LORD is like us, that the Father must have begotten the Son at some point in time.
Semi-Arianism says that the phrase, “this day have I begotten thee”, proves there was a specific day when the Son was begotten.
However, the four times that the scriptures use this phrase, shows a completely different picture:)
Psalm 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
(This day - The context of Psalm 2 is the second coming of Jesus after the tribulation.)
Acts 13:33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
(This day - The context of Acts 13:33 is the resurrection of Jesus.)
Hebrews 1:5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
(This day - The context of Hebrews 1:5 is Hebrews 1:3, two lines earlier, which is the ascension of Jesus into glory, to the throne.)
Hebrews 5:5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
(To day: instead of “this day” it says “to day”, instead of a specific day, it’s continuous, in the present, “to day”
The context is the high priestly role of Jesus, which he continuously carries out as he intercedes for us before the Father.
So which day is it? the day he comes back? the day he rose from the dead? the day he ascended? or everyday he intercedes?)
(So, what does only begotten mean? How is the Son begotten of the Father?
When a father begets a son, he is transferring, or communicating, his nature to his son, that’s why sons are like their fathers:)
Genesis 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:
(But the Son of God shares the same nature as the Father, the same essence as the Father.)
John 14:9c he that hath seen me hath seen the Father;
(So, the begetting is not something that happened in time, but rather is an eternal relationship between the Father and the Son.
Not begat (past tense), nor begetting (present tense), nor will beget (future tense), nor continually begetting (but never complete), nor had begotten (past perfect tense - completed at some point in the past), nor will have begotten (future perfect tense - to be completed at some point in the future) - but rather: have begotten (present perfect tense - complete at this present moment).
The LORD is not in time, but eternal. Present perfect is the only way to describe it. God never "had" a past, man has a past. God always "is" right now in the past, and right now in the future. Whenever anyone considered, they would have to say that the Son has been begotten. In eternity, or throughout time, the Son always has been communicated all the nature of the Father. Not a process where the Son becomes more and more like the Father, but eternally and always a nature from the Father to the Son. Not something that was started, and not finished yet, but something that eternally always has been. The begetting of the Son needs to be understood from eternity’s perspective, not from a point in time, because the LORD is immutable, God doesn’t change.
In present perfect, it means that it is always true that he is the only begotten Son of God.)
(In the present perfect, it means that it was ‘never not true’.
On ‘any day’, or for ‘every day’, it is true that, “this day have I begotten thee”, because at any time, it is already so.
It has always been true that the Father has fully communicated all of his nature to the Son, it was never not true.
There never was a “before”; in other words, there never was a time when the Son had not been begotten yet.
Hence, begotten is always true, the Son always was and always will be begotten.
Therefore, Jesus is truly, and uniquely, the only begotten Son of God.
The doctrine of eternal Sonship holds that the generation of the Son is an eternal state in the Godhead.
So, eternally begotten means, always was and always will be, a state of the Father having begotten the Son.
In this sense, the Father can say of any day, “this day have I begotten thee”.)
(The only begotten Son is understood in a completely different way than those who are called sons of God:)
Job 38:4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
(Those sons of God were angelic beings beholding when the earth was formed.
But those angelic sons of God had been created by the only begotten Son of God, who created heaven, them, and earth.)
Genesis 1:27a So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him;
Luke 3:38 Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.
(Adam was created as a son of God, by the only begotten Son of God, who had created everything.
The only begotten Son of God created Adam in his own image, but the only begotten Son of God "is" the express image of the Father:)
Hebrews 1:2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3a Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
(We who are saved, became sons of God:)
John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
(That happened when we were born again, and adopted:)
I Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
Galatians 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
(Born again sons of God, at first, were not sons, but then they were made sons of God, by the very, only begotten Son of God, himself.
They were made sons of God, but the only begotten Son, is God, in all and every aspect, the same essence as the Father.)
(The Godhead is revealed to us, in the scriptures, as an eternal relationship, independent of time and space.
The Father loves the Son, the Son loves and always pleases the Father, and the Holy Ghost glorifies the Son.)
John 3:35a The Father loveth the Son,
John 14:31a But that the world may know that I love the Father;
John 8:29b the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
John 16:13a Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
14a He shall glorify me:
(The intimate relationship of love, of the Father and the Son, always was:)
John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
24c for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
(This close relationship of the Father and the Son is something that he wants us to know about:)
John 14:11a Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me:
(And this close relationship of the Father and the Son, is what we will see, and know, in eternity:)
Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
Revelation 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
John 1:18b the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
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