Jesus Is God's Grace

( Bible quotations from the New International Version.)


To develop a joyful intimacy with Jesus, Christians have to have a proper understanding of: who Jesus is; where Jesus is; and, how to pray effectively.

The answer to these three questions starts in understanding who is the Holy Spirit, and understanding why Jesus stated: “The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”


Part 1 – The Spirit in us

Part 2 – Everlasting Father

Part 3 – Developing Intimacy with Jesus


PART 1 – The Spirit in us.


In the Bible, Jesus' apostle John stated:


And, Jesus' apostle Paul tells us that there is only one Spirit, one Lord, one God:


Paul also tells us that Christ lives in us (in “born again” Christians) and equates the words Christ and God:


Jesus is both the Lord and the Spirit:


God is Holy and He is Spirit. Spirit is what God is, the word Holy is not His name, it is an adjective modifying the noun Spirit, telling us what kind of spirit He is. Jesus, who is Lord, is Holy. The Lord Jesus is the Spirit, the Holy Spirit.


Both Jesus and Moses declared that God is one. Yet most Christians claim that they have the Holy Spirit in them, and that Jesus is with God the Father in Heaven. They do not yet know who Jesus really is. Even Jesus' disciples didn't understand who He is:

Seeing the Spirit, not the flesh.


Even Mark may not have understood who the man Jesus really was because he misquoted the Scriptures. Mark was quoting the 'Lord Almighty' [Jehovah] in Malachi 3:1:

But Mark, in his quote of the Old Testament wrote:

Mark wrote you instead of me.


Jesus, when incarnate, told us:

And yet, the prophet Isaiah called Jesus father – Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6). The man Jesus was God inhabiting flesh. The name Jesus means: Yah-saves or Yahweh-saves/Jehovah-saves.


I am:

Jesus said:

Paul wrote:

Jesus is our teacher:


God is the Word:

The original Greek verse did not use the word 'Word', but rather Logos. Our English dictionaries give the following definition for the word Logos: cosmic reason giving order, purpose, and intelligibility to the world; in other words – Divine Expression – God speaking.


The word with, in the second portion of the sentence, has been mistakenly used as the translation of the Greek word πρός (pros) which has six meanings: to, towards, on, toward, concerning, or unto. The word with from our English dictionaries has 28 different meanings, and the only definition that coincides with any of the six Greek definitions is the 19th one, which is, 'in regard to'.

Concerning, and in regard to, have a different meaning than the other 'with' definitions – in the company of, next to, beside, coming along side, etc. These last four definitions give the understanding of more than one. The word with in John 1:1 did not originally mean someone besides God.


The verse in John 1:1 from the Greek should have been translated: In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos was concerning God, and the Logos was God.


Without the proper understanding of the meaning of the words Logos and with, the reader, because of the 'trinity' belief, created by the Catholic Church, has been given a wrong idea of God. He or she thinks of the 'Word' of God as being someone besides God rather than God Himself. Even the last part of the sentence gives us the truth – the Word was God.

If by this time, it has occurred to the reader that what you are reading is a form of modalism then that is why the next 4 paragraphs were added here.


Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullianus (c 155 A.D. – c 240 A.D.) introduced the concept of 'trinity' in 213AD. Then at the first Council of Constantinople in 381 A.D., in order to combat many religious theories of the day (modalism, monarchianism, Arianism, Sabellianism, etc.) the Church, (by this time the Church was under the control of the Roman Empire – the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church) modified the doctrinal statements made in 325 A.D. at the First Council of Nicaea. The Church removed the statement 'The Son is the essence of the Father' and added the statement 'The Holy Ghost [Spirit] is to be worshiped together with the Father and the Son' thus giving the concept of 'three persons of the trinity of God' – three-in-one. The Church surmised that these three titles of God constituted three persons, and this doctrine of the trinity is still believed and taught by most Christians today. Any Christian who does not believe in this trinity is accused of 'modalism'.


It is necessary for a few dictionary definitions here:

Mode – a manner or form of being;

Being – a living thing, existence, as opposed to nonexistence [God is the Supreme Being];

Individual – existing as a unit; single, a person;

Person – any human being considered as a distinct entity or personality; an individual.


The dictionary, influenced by religion, also gives these definitions:

Person – one of the three individualities in the trinity.

Modalism – The theological doctrine that the members of the trinity are not three distinct persons but rather three modes of forms of activity (the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) under which God manifests himself.


The definition for modalism is in itself confusing. If the word mode means a being, and a person is a being, then the definition given here of modalism is stating that the “members of the trinity” are not three beings but that they are three beings (modes). This makes no sense. Using the words three modes of forms of activity, or three beings of forms of activity, makes no sense either. If the concept of modalism is that God changes from one form to another, well that is impossible, for God is immutable.


The meaning given for the word spirit in both Hebrew and Greek from Strong's Concordance is the idea of air moving – a current of air or a breath of air. Although no material substance such as air will ever describe spirit, it is the closest thing we have. If we were to think of air as being omnipresent as God is omnipresent, and to think of that air taking on moisture as God took on flesh, we would have the nearest comparison that we could think of to describe spirit. Just as we cannot see air which is all around us – ever-present, we can't see God who is omnipresent – ever-present; but when air takes on moisture and forms a cloud that we can see, the air is still everywhere-present; when Jehovah God took on flesh as the man Jesus, who could be seen, He was still everywhere-present.


Why did God, our Father Creator, who is Spirit, present Himself as the “Son” of God? One answer is that God did not want man to form an image in his mind of God, who is infinite and omnipresent, as a finite, three-dimensional (height/width/depth) person of flesh and bone. When Jesus came in the flesh as the Son of God, He spoke and lived as an example of a man in perfect obedience to our Father Creator – sinless, and, to show His great love, He died on the cross to pay for our sins.


Jesus often spoke in parables, and as a man, was a living parable. He was God, who is Sprit, within a flesh and bone body, speaking to us – Divine Expression.

Not the physical formation of flesh, but the person within the body, because God is not flesh and bone, He is Spirit.


Jesus, Who is Spirit, is God. Because He is God, nothing is impossible; He can do anything. When He died on the cross, He died a physical death, and because He is God, He rose from the dead. Jesus called Himself the resurrection:


Jesus said:

God, the Word/Logos, took on flesh as the man Jesus. God, our loving Father, revealed Himself to us in human form, giving His human life to pay for our sins. The Bible states:

(In the beginning was the Logos [Divine Expression], and the Logos [God communicating] was concerning God, and the Logos was God).

Jesus as a man was called 'Emmanuel', which means God with us (Matthew 1:23).


When God spoke to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:4), He spoke as our Father Creator from heaven. When we call on the Lord Jesus (Yah-saves), Jesus, our Father in heaven, who is Spirit, comes to live in us. He is the Holy Spirit. He now speaks to us, as He is the Spirit inside of us, if, we are “born again” (also called “baptized in the Spirit”).


These three verses from the Bible, Matthew 3:11, Mark 1:8, and Luke 3:16, all state:

The first part of 1John 2:27 states:

The Bible was not meant to be interpreted by man; its spiritual meanings are revealed by the Holy Spirit – Jesus. When we read the Bible, we need to ask the Lord Jesus to help us to understand it.

Jesus said:


“God is Spirit,” what does that mean to each individual? If Jesus had said 'I am God' rather than 'Son of God', so many would think of God as a being with arms and legs etc., such as us. But He is Spirit, omniscience, omnipotent, everywhere present, all knowing, and eternal – always existing. How does a simple man comprehend this? Only by spending time with Him, getting to know Him, does one begin to understand Spirit. If nothing is impossible for God to do, why can't we believe that He can create a body for Himself to walk and talk with man, His creation. Why can't we believe that He can be the man Jesus as an example to us of His requirements of us, and especially to show His love for us by dying on the cross for us?


Now, do you have more than one spirit in you, or is Christ God? Do we have three spirits to deal with, or is God one as both Jesus and Moses declared? No where in the Bible does it state that God is three-in-one. The Roman Catholic Church pressured a Dutchman named Desiderius Erasmus (Catholic theologian, 1466 A.D. – 1536 A.D.) to add an extra verse to the Bible, Erasmus did it, but reluctantly (See – A General Introduction to the Bible by Norman Geisler and William Nix, Chicago: Moody Press, 1968 page 450). This extraneous verse is found in the King James Version of the Bible:

This verse does not exist in the earliest existing manuscripts: Codex Vaticanus 340 A.D., Codex Sinaiticus 400 A.D., and Codex Alexandrinus 450 A.D. In 400 A.D. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin for the Catholic Church. This extraneous verse was not found there either.


The King James 'Authorized' Version was authorized by King James not by God. (See the Epistle Dedicatory of the King James Bible found in the front section of some King James Bibles.)

The lie that 'God is a trinity of three persons' that the Catholic Church brought to us is still being carried on today by Evangelical Churches. There is still need of reform in todays Churches.


When asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important,” Jesus had good reason to repeat Moses' statement before He gave His answer:



PART 2 – Isaiah calls Jesus, Everlasting Father.



Christ, from where we get the word Christian, comes from the Greek word Christos, which translates the Hebrew word Messiah. The Messiah is: the Anointed One, a deliverer and ruler of Israel promised by God and expected by the Jews.


The messiah's coming was predicted long ago in Hebrew Scriptures by: Moses in 1420 B.C., King David in 990 B.C., Isaiah in 760 B.C., Zechariah in 520 B.C., and Malachi in 400 B.C. (dates approximate). Christ/Messiah is not a name, but rather a title. The Bible states that Jesus is the Christ and Christians follow the teachings of this Christ – Jesus.


Christians call the man Jesus by many names: Lord, God, Son of God, Savior, and so on. But no man can become God, so why do they call Him this: because the Bible states that Jesus was much more than a prophet or the 'son of God'. Jesus' apostle John wrote:

John also tells us:

Jesus' apostle Paul wrote:

Not a man becoming God, but God manifesting Himself as a man.


The Bible states that Jesus spoke in parables:

Jesus, even though He spoke of Himself as a man, was a living parable; He was God in flesh. God did not want man to think of God as a fleshly being, but to know Him as He is – Spirit.


God, after sending many prophets throughout many centuries to teach us, finally manifested Himself as an example of how a man should live, and, more importantly, to demonstrate His love for mankind.

As a man, He died on the cross to pay for our sins. Because He is God, He rose from the dead.

Christians who believe that God is three persons – a trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) have not compared the verses that show God and Jesus to be one and the same person.


The following seven subtitles will have comparable verses from the scriptures to show that Yahweh / Jehovah God revealed Himself as the man Jesus. (Some Christians render the Hebrew word YHWH as Jehovah and others render it Yahweh. For ease of understanding both will be used here.)


#1 – I am (Yahweh) = Jesus:

The word or name Yahweh in Hebrew means: I am. In Exodus 3:14, when Moses asked God for His name, God replied:

From John 8:58 we find the man Jesus equating Himself with God:

Abraham lived many years before Jesus entered the world.

The name Jesus comes to us from the Greek Iesous which is borrowed from the Hebrew Yeshuä (Greek does not have the letters j, sh, or ä), and this Hebrew name means “Yah-saves”. (Yah / Jah: a contraction for Yahweh, found in Psalm 68:4, in the King James Version of the Bible.) The name Jesus, contains the name Yahweh plus the word saves – Yah-saves or Jehovah-saves = Jesus.


#2 – One Lord:

Both Yahweh / Jehovah of the old Testament, and Jesus of the New Testament are called Lord, yet the Bible states that there is only one Lord. (The word Lord when capitalized LORD in our English translations of the Old Testament originally was written Jehovah, not Lord.) Examples:


#3 – Savior:

In the Old Testament Yahweh / Jehovah says that He is the only God and the only Savior, yet the Bible calls Jesus God and Savior. Examples:


#4 – Redeemer, King of Israel, First and Last:

Yahweh / Jehovah is called Redeemer, the First and Last, and King of Israel. Jesus bears these same titles. Examples:

We know this was Jesus speaking in Revelation 1:18 because He said 'I was dead', the physical man or flesh, not the Spirit.


#5 – Father:

Isaiah said Yahweh / Jehovah is our Father, and called Jesus Everlasting Father, yet Jesus said there is only one Father in heaven. Examples:

Jesus said:

Even those who followed Jesus had a hard time understanding who the man Jesus really was:

Seeing the Spirit, not the flesh.


#6 – The Counselor:

Jesus' apostle John, in writing his Gospel, either contradicted himself or wrote the truth when he penned the verses in the Gospel of John, chapters 14 and 16. In chapter 14:16,26, Jesus says that the Father will send the Counselor, but in chapter 16:7, Jesus says that He (Jesus) will send the Counselor (Holy Spirit). Previously, in Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah calls Jesus – Counselor. This only makes sense knowing God as being one, not three in one. Examples:


Jesus called the Counselor “the Spirit of truth”, and in John 14:6,7, Jesus called Himself the truth:


#7 – The Spirit:

Jesus, speaking as a man, said the following:

Jesus shows Himself when He comes to live in us as the Holy Spirit.


Jesus' apostle Paul wrote:


Jesus called Himself the truth:

Then, two chapters later, Jesus speaks of Himself in the third person:

When we realize that Jesus is the Holy Spirit, then we can better understand why He said these next three verses:

If some readers find this is sounding confusing, there is a good reason; look at what Paul states in the following verses:

From these verse about the Spirit we can understand how a non-Christian has difficulty understanding; however, equally so the Christian of today may not understand because of the traditional teaching of the Church to which he or she has been condition.


Paul also equates the words Christ and God when he writes:

If we accept Jesus as our Lord, then we can ask Him for His gift of His Spirit.


Jesus is Holy, He is the Holy Spirit in us Christians, He is our God and Father. The person we pray to is Jesus (Jehovah-saves) who lives in us. Jesus said:

We develop intimacy with Jesus by spending time with Him in prayer.



PART 3 – Developing Intimacy with Jesus.


Jesus said:

Jesus' response of: “I never knew you” conversely means they didn't know Him either. They believed in who He is – the Lord, and they performed many works, but there wasn't a connection, a relationship.


Two dictionary definitions of the word Christian are:


The definition of Christian given here is inadequate; it is correct, but incomplete. Just believing in who Jesus is, doesn't make you a Christian, (the Bible states that even demons know who Jesus is); and, trying to live according to Jesus' words found in the Bible doesn't necessarily make you a Christian either. To be a Christian you must have a relationship with Jesus, and the only way to have this relationship is to spend time with Him – prayer. Reading the Bible gives us intellectual knowledge; then when we pray, God turns the intellectual knowledge into spiritual knowledge. But there is a problem, what do we think of when we hear the word prayer? We are taught (usually by example) that prayer is asking of God, whether for others, or for ourselves.


But the dictionary definition of the word prayer is twofold:


Here are the definitions Young's Analytical Concordance gives for the word prayer, and the number of times that the word prayer is used for each particular definition: whisper-1, wish-1, intercession-1, meditation-2, beseeching or supplication-12, pouring out-36, song of praise-72.


Unfortunately we Christians spend more time looking for what we can get from God, rather than giving to Him our time in worship – thanking and praising Him for who He is, what He has done, and is now doing for us.

God has given us insight on the best way to approach Him:

Paul also gives us understanding when he is talking about the gift of tongues:


Intermingle praise with thanksgiving because we can thank God for His greatness, for all He has created, for His infinite knowledge and wisdom in caring for us, for His patience with us, for His grace towards us, … the list is endless.


Starting with thanksgiving and praise helps us to understand the goodness and holiness of God, which, in turn, reveals more of our sinful nature. Confessing our sins, asking for forgiveness, and believing that He does forgive us, helps us to understand better the depth of His love for us. When we ask God for something for ourselves (supplication) or for others (intercession), we can ask with selfish motives. However, the time spent thanking and praising God first, changes our hearts and minds so that we know what to ask.


Bible reading is fairly easy, it is learning to pray well that is difficult. If we can set a certain amount of time aside each day for prayer (even if just five minutes to start with) and every few days increase that time a little growing to about an hour minimum), we will begin to build our side of our relationship with the Lord Jesus.


When we were first born in the flesh, we were helpless; we were fed and cared for. However, as we began to grow, we started to feed ourselves. It is the same when we are born in the spirit; God's joy carries us along until we are strong enough to feed our minds/souls through the tools He has given us to use. Just as the body needs both food and drink; so the mind/soul needs food (Scriptures) and drink (prayer). If one or the other were missing, we wouldn't grow.


Strong muscles don't just happen; it takes exercise or work, through time, to develop them. Strong Christians don't just happen. Time spent praying alone with Jesus strengthens our relationship with Him.


Jesus said:


Remaining in Jesus is being mindful of Him, constantly communicating with Him, talking to Jesus about His attributes; about what He has created, why He created us, what He is promising us, who He is, His character, His love for us, and so on.

God, who is love, is always giving; and we, who want to be like Him, need to learn to give to Him.

Spiritual dryness happens because we have wandered away from Him, thinking about ourselves instead of Him.


Why should God give us more if we don't learn to give in return? To enjoy more of God's Spirit we need to give more to Him; and since He created everything, including us, and has no needs; there is nothing we can give Him but our time in thanks and praise. And even of this, God has no need. Our giving of thanks and praise is for our good; it is we who need to learn to appreciate Him. The focus of our time with Him should be mostly thanks and praise.


The author of Hebrews 13:15 stated:

Jesus' apostle Paul, in closing statements to the Church of Thessalonians, gave these final instructions:


We are in error when we ask God to bring Spiritual revival; He has given that job to us.

It is up to us to stir up His gift in us, His love, His joy. With enough practice, praying to Jesus is no longer burdensome; it becomes joyful, fun, and exciting!!


Comments/Contact – jim@jigg.ca




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