Sison, Kyle Matthew

MF BFL
Doctrinal Statement (Bibliology): The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16)
I believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16) Everything that is written
in it is the truth. (Titus 1:2-3) That God superintended the authors by the Holy Spirit to write
according to their own personality, literary style, and experience. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

Doctrinal Statement (Theology): God is sovereign and is in control over all creation. (Isaiah
46:9-10)
I believe that God created all things and holds it together, according to His sovereign will and
purpose. (Colossians 1:16-17) That God’s Will is ultimate and no one can resist His sovereign
plan. (Daniel 4:35) And that God acts only according to His own will and purpose, having
ultimate authority for all eternity that He shares with no one else. (Isaiah 46:9-10)

Doctrinal Statement (Christology): I believe that Jesus is truly God. (John :1-2,14)
That Jesus eternally existed as the Logos (Word), that Jesus shares a special kind of unique
relationship with “Theon”, God the Father, for all eternity. And that Jesus himself, the Logos, is
God. (John 1:1-2) That He is the image of the invisible God and all of creations were created
through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:15-17) That Jesus never ceased to be God even during
the incarnation and His earthly ministry, He always have remained as God. (John 1:14-15)

Doctrinal Statement (Pneumatology): I believe in God the Holy Spirit, one in essence with
the Father and the Son. (Acts 5:3-4)
That the Holy Spirit is the third person and one in essence with the Father and the Son. (Acts 5:3-
4) He was sent by God the Father and God the Son to bear witness about the Son, Jesus Christ.
(John 15:26) That He came to convict the world of their sin and righteousness and judgement.
(John 16:8-11)

Doctrinal Statement (Anthropology): I believe that God originally created man perfectly
without any flaws. (Gen. 1:26-27,31)
I believe that God originally created man in His image, perfectly without flaw, and affirmed this
by declaring His creation "very good" (Gen. 1:26-27,31). God gave man free will, giving him the
responsibility to choose obedience by forbidding him to eat from the tree of knowledge of good
and evil (Gen. 2:16-17). Man’s disobedience led to the fall, resulting in sin, death, and decay
entering the world (Gen. 3:6,16-19).
Doctrinal Statement (Soteriology): I believe that we are saved only through faith in Christ
apart from works. (Eph. 2:8-9)
I believe that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ alone apart from works. (Eph. 2:8-9)
That no one can be justified by the law for all have fall short of God’s standard, but by the law
comes the knowledge of sin and that we are sinners. (Rom. 3:20,23) We are justified freely by
God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. (Rom. 3:24-25,28)
Doctrinal Statement (Sanctification): I believe that we are constantly being made Holy by
the Holy Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18)
I believe that we are constantly being made Holy by the Holy Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18) I believe that
according to God’s foreknowledge, those who have responded to the Holy Spirit’s call are
sanctified for obedience to Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:2) And that sanctification is a cooperative
working of us with the Holy Spirit, choosing to live by the Spirit because of our new identity in
Jesus Christ. (Galatians 5:16-17)
Doctrinal Statement (Eschatology - Individuals): I believe that we [Christians] will be
immediately in the presence of God once we die. (Luke 23:43)
I believe that we [Christians] will be immediately in the presence of God once we die. (Luke
23:43) That all, believers and unbelievers, will make an account for all that we did to God.
(Romans 14:10-12) And that, believers will still be judged according to their works, no longer
for salvation, but for rewards. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
Doctrinal Statement (Eschatology - General): I believe that the end times will occur once all
the nations have heard of the gospel. (Matthew 24:14)
I believe that the end times will occur once all the nations have heard of the gospel. (Matthew
24:14) That there will be rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), and a seven year period of
tribulation (Dan 9:24-27, Matthew 24:21-22). And after that, there will be the millennial reign of
Christ, during which Satan is bounded not able to deceive anyone; and after the millennia, Satan
will be released for a little while and will then be thrown to the lake of fire to be tormented
forever. (Revelations 20:1-10) Finally, God will create the New Heaven and the New Earth,
which will be the final dwelling place of the righteous. (Revelations 21:1-7)
Discourse Topic: I believe that Jesus is truly God. (Christology)
That Jesus eternally existed as the Logos (Word), that Jesus shares a special kind of unique
relationship with “Theon”, God the Father, for all eternity. And that Jesus himself, the Logos, is
God. (John 1:1-2) That He is the image of the invisible God and all of creations were created
through Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:15-17) That Jesus never ceased to be God even during
the incarnation and His earthly ministry, He always have remained as God. (John 1:14-15)
3 Major Supporting Verses
1. John 1:1-2 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.1”
2. Colossians 1:15-17 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
16
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through
him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.2”
3. John 1:14-15 “14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore
witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me
ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)3”

A. That Jesus eternally existed as the Logos (Word), that Jesus shares a special kind of
unique relationship with “Theon”, God the Father, for all eternity. And that Jesus
himself, the Logos, is God. (John 1:1-2)
In the first chapter of John, we notice that John’s approach in writing his introduction is
unlike of the other three synoptic gospels. It was evident that he has taken the same theme of
Genesis 1 by using the same introduction of “In the beginning”, establishing the pre-eminence,
distinction, and the essence of being the God, of Logos. He underscores that the Logos was
present “In the beginning”, which is in the same sense of Genesis 1, wherein “In the beginning”
means the point of where creation had begun from eternal past. This shows that the existence of
the Logos is not as a created being as well, but as the eternal source and eternal participant in the
creation. This distinguishes the Logos as the source of all things and is not of the creation. (John
1:3) Also, in verse 1, it shows that the Logos is in a unique relationship with the Theon, God the
Father, indicating a distinction between Logos and Theon, but clearly shows that they are of the
same essence, being, which is God, “and the Word was God” (John 1:1c).
Having established the divinity of the Logos, we now go into how we know that the Logos is
Jesus Christ Himself.

1 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 1:1–2.

2 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Col 1:15–17.

3 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Jn 1:14–15.
 John 1:14 communicates how this Logos came into human history, revealing that the
eternal Word took on flesh in the person of Jesus. The same divine person who was 'with God'
and 'was God' entered our world, fulfilling the prophecy given to Mary and Joseph that a child
would be born, conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20-21, Luke 1:35). We know that based
on the previous verses, (John 1:4-5,9-13), the description of John of the Logos as the true light
and the source of life (Jesus claimed to be the light of the world, John 8:12), that He came into
the world to give right to those who receive Him to be the children of God, specifically refers to
Jesus as how His story was told throughout John’s gospel. (John 3:16-18) That no other person
will be fitting of the description beyond reasonable doubt, except Jesus Christ. This provides a
cumulative case that the Logos is indeed Jesus Christ.
Therefore, since the divinity of the Logos is established, and we have a case that the Logos is
the same person as Jesus Christ, then Jesus Christ, who was the eternal Word before taking on
flesh, is God.
B. That He is the image of the invisible God and all of creations were created through
Him and for Him. (Colossians 1:15-17)
In Colossians 1:15, the pronoun “He” clearly refers to Jesus Christ, this is proven through the
previous contextual evidence in which Paul continued from verse 14, referring to whom we have
redemption and forgiveness of sin, the Son, which is Jesus Christ. So, it is clear that Paul
identifies Jesus as the image of the invisible God, which resonates well with Jesus’ claim in John
14:9, stating that he who has seen Him has seen the Father. For Jesus is God who took on flesh,
taking on a material body that is visible to our physical senses, but still shares the same essence
of God. Therefore, seeing Jesus is the same way of seeing God, the shared essence of the Trinity.
Paul also says that all of creation was made through Jesus, and for Jesus. It shares the same
message in John 1:3. Everything that was created, meaning not only the physical realm but also
the spiritual realm, in heaven and earth, visible and invisible, was done by Jesus and for Jesus. It
was done by Jesus as the person of God the Son, being the agent of creation, and done for Jesus
as God in essence. For all of creation is for the purpose to glorify God.
Having established Jesus’ role in creation, we now turn to the key theme of Paul’s writing,
the pre-eminence of Christ, particularly in verses 15 and 17. To delve deeper, we must examine
the controversial title of "firstborn."
Firstborn of all creation does not mean that Jesus was literally birthed or created into
existence as the first creation and then other creations was done through Him; For it is clear that
when Paul states that “all things were created through Him,” it does not communicate that He
Himself is created. For if that is the case, then the appropriate translation would be “all other
things were created through Him.” This title is usually used mainly by Jehovah’s Witnesses and
Latter-Day Saints to raise objections to Christ’s identity as the eternal God, which will be
addressed in a later chapter on objections. For now, we will extensively look into how firstborn
is used by exploring further contextual evidences to affirm the position that the firstborn title
does not imply Christ being the first created being, rather only speaks of His pre-eminence and
authority.
 Prototokos, which is the original translation of firstborn, is used to communicate and
establish Christ’s pre-eminence and authority over all of creation. The cultural usage of the word
prototokos is to show the special status of the firstborn child and pre-eminence over other family
lines.
To discuss further regarding how it is used, we will have a quick overview of the background
of Paul to help us establish the points contextually.
We know that Paul is very well educated in the available scriptures their time, which would
be the Old Testament. This is evident by Paul articulating his qualifications, including that he
was also a Pharisee (Philippians 3:5-6). So, Paul understood that God does not share His glory to
anyone (Isaiah 42:8). Therefore, Paul writing this in light of that knowledge would mean that he
recognizes Jesus as truly God and not just the first created being. This is further affirmed by Paul
stating that the creation was done through Jesus Christ and for Him. Hence, we can conclude
reasonably that Paul, considered a scholar in scriptures, would require him to contradict his
firmly held beliefs before stating what he recorded in verse 16. Knowing Paul’s character, it is
reasonable to think that he will not do this intentionally, and even more that he will not commit it
unintentionally as well, since it is a major issue, for it will be a blasphemous statement.
Therefore, Paul’s usage of the title prototokos (firstborn), is a clear evidence he recognizes
that Jesus is definitely truly God, and that His title is used thereof to communicate His pre-
eminence and authority overall creation, and that He Himself is not created, rather He is God
eternal.
C. That Jesus never ceased to be God even during the incarnation and His earthly
ministry, He always have remained as God. (John 1:14-15)
Having established Jesus’ divinity from subtopic A and B, that showed Jesus is the Logos,
and that He is God the Son who took on flesh. This time, I will build a cumulative case that will
evidence His divinity, being truly God, even while in human form.
The first point, is that John the apostle, wrote in 1 John 3:5 that no sin is found in Jesus.
Knowing John spending at least 3 years together with Jesus Christ, not only as a normal
follower, but he is part of the inner circle. So John had indeed been with Jesus very closely, and
for him to be a witness and write about Jesus’ record of having no seen, speaks volume of how
Jesus really have lived. Showing that Jesus indeed have lived a sinless life.
Building from this, we know that Jesus therefore cannot lie, for a lie, whatever form it
might be, is sin. So, when Jesus have declared the claim that He is God, He therefore is only
speaking the truth. In John 8:13-18, Jesus was being charged by the Pharisees that Jesus, bears
witness about Himself, therefore His testimony was not true. However, Jesus responded that Him
bearing witness for Himself is true on His authority for He know where He came from, and on
verse 18, He said that Himself and God the Father bears witness for Him.
Therefore, in verses that Jesus claims equality with God, for example in John 8:58, where
Jesus claimed the name ‘I AM,’ ego eimi, which is the same name which God revealed to Moses
on Exodus 3:14, firstly speaks of the nature of His claim as evidenced by how the Jews reacted
as they are about to stone Jesus for blasphemy. To add an additional layer of case here, from the
earlier verses we see in 14-18, it also applies to Jesus’ claim of the ‘I AM’, wherein He speaks
this truth by His authority, bearing witness for Himself, and that God the Father bears witness for
Him as well.
Another is from John 10:30, where Jesus claimed equality with God by stating, “I and the
Father are one.”, and notice again how the Jews reacted by picking up stones again, furthermore
in verse 33, they explicitly mentioned the reason for why they will stone Jesus, because of
blasphemy, saying that “…because you [Jesus], being a man, make yourself God.” This shows
that Jesus indeed claimed divinity even though He was with us, in flesh. He also did not denied
that that was His claim, instead He even advised the Jews that even if they do not believe in
Jesus, believe in the evidence of His works for the Father that will help them know and
understand that the Father is with Jesus and Him with the Father (John 10:37-38).
Another important factor to consider, aside from Jesus’ claim of Himself, is how Jesus
indirectly showed His divine authority by forgiving sin. In Mark 2:5-7, Jesus forgave the sins of
the paralytic man, in which the Pharisees questioning in their hearts or mind, not verbally
blurting it out, that Jesus is committing blasphemy, for none can forgive sins but only God alone.
This is a long-held belief and truth even mentioned in the Old Testament such as in Isaiah 43:25
and Micah 7:18. Which justifies how the Pharisees reacted. However, Jesus did not retract what
He did, but furthered it by first demonstrating His power by knowing what was in the hearts of
the Pharisees who questioned Him. Later on proving His authority to forgive sins through His
work of miracle in healing the paralytic man (Mark 2:9-10).
Lastly for this topic, another important evidence to Jesus’ divinity even He is still in
human form is His accept of worship. It is very clear that the Jews do not worship any other gods
and idols. The law God gave to Moses explicitly communicates that they are only to worship the
One and True Living God, that they are not to bow to any other gods and any forms of idols
(Exodus 20:3-6). In light of this, Jesus’ disciples who very well knew this commandments, and
also Jesus Himself, we have records of which the disciples worshiped Jesus, and Jesus did not
rejected their worship but accepted them. I will mention two instances here.
First is the miracle where Jesus walked on water. Those in the boat worshiped Jesus and
acknowledge that He is truly the Son of God (Matthew 14:33). In this verse, there was no
particular record of how Jesus responded, however, by reason, we can logically conclude that
Jesus accepted their worship. For if Jesus rejected their worship, it will be recorded as it will be
an important detail to note of Jesus’ view of Himself. Because receiving worship in their time, if
they are indeed not God, is an act of blasphemy.
Second and the last instance I will mention, is Jesus’ acceptance of the worship of Peter,
acknowledging that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Messiah and the Son of the living God. Not
only did Jesus accepted the worship, but even blessed Peter (Matthew 16:15-19). To provide
context, this particular act, Peter acknowledging Jesus is the Messiah and Son of the Living God,
and Jesus accepting this acknowledgement or worship, is blasphemous if in reality, Jesus is not
actually the Messiah and the Son of the Living God. That directly goes against the first two
commandments of the Mosaic Law. Furthermore, this helps add contextual evidence to how we
can reasonably conclude that Jesus accepted the worship of those in the boat mentioned in
Matthew 14:33, providing how Jesus actually responds when He is being worshiped or
acknowledge as the Son of the living God. But, having established earlier that Jesus never
sinned, we also apply John 8:12-18 in here, that Jesus exercises His authority as bearing witness
for Himself and the Father bearing witness for Him as well. Therefore, He is acting upon the
‘truth’. So His acceptance of worship comes naturally from His true identity, that He really have
the divine identity as being the Son of God.
In conclusion, having first established that Jesus never sinned, which means that He
never lies. We then can confirm indeed, that how Jesus views Himself even if He was still in the
form of man, that He is the ‘I AM’ (John 8:58), that He and the Father are one (John 10:30) and
some other recorded claims of His about His divine identity; Secondly, how Jesus practiced His
authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-7); And lastly, how Jesus accepted worship (Matthew 14:33,
16:15-19). Are views and acts from the truth, bearing witness for Himself and the Father bearing
witness for Him (John 8:18). Therefore, it is very evident that Jesus’ divinity, Him being God,
did not cease from when He limited Himself by taking on the form of a servant. But instead, it
was just Him not using His divinity to take advantage of others (Philippians 2:6-8). For He did
not cease to practice that of which can only be practiced by God.

Objections (3)
1. Objection: Jesus is only a man and never claimed to be God.

Defense: Jesus clearly claimed to be God such as in John 8:58 and John 10:30. It was
evident that His claim is considered blasphemous as shown by how the Jews reacted to
try to stone Him. This objection is directly addressed in Subtopic C.
It was discussed there how Jesus directly claimed the title only appropriate for God, and
claimed equality with God from verses John 8:58 and John 10:30.
Jesus also indirectly assumed divinity, not explicitly stating that He is God; but doing
things that only God can do, by forgiving sins and accepting worship in verses Mark 2:5-
7, Matthew 14:33, 16:15-19.

In conclusion, the Bible is very clear in recording the claims of divinity and
divine practices of Jesus Christ. Which is a complete contrary to the notion that Jesus
never claimed to be God.

2. Objection: Jesus was born a man, and after resurrection, was just then exalted as God.
This objection is usually used by Iglesia Ni Cristo, Mormons, and Latter Day Saints.
They believe, that indeed Jesus was a man, and the chosen one as the savior or Messiah,
but He did not hold divinity, instead was just exalted after the resurrection. It is an
objection to Jesus’ inherent divinity.
 Defense: Jesus clearly communicated that He had shared in glory with God the Father
from eternal past in John 17:5, and that His glory is not only after His resurrection.
To add to this, as discussed in Subtopic A and B, we have established that Jesus as the
Logos before the incarnation has been eternally existing and eternally in a relationship
with God the Father (John 1:1). He also is the firstborn, prototokos, meaning He is pre-
eminent and is before all of creation, since He is the creator Himself (Colossians 1:15-
17). We also have established that the usage of ‘firstborn’ is not literally the first to be
created or to be birthed, rather is about the pre-eminence and authority over all creation.
This is tackled with more depth in Subtopic B.

Therefore, John 17:5 harmonizes with John 1:1 and Colossians 1:15 by confirming Jesus’
pre-existence and unity with God. His prayer for glorification is fitting because it reflects
His eternal position and divine identity, reinforcing the belief that Jesus truly existed
“before the world existed.” Contrary to the claim of some beliefs that Jesus only got His
divine status after being exalted when He was resurrected.

3. Objection: Jesus is the first created being whom through him, created everything else.

Defense: The objection that Jesus is a created being misinterprets key terms in
Colossians 1:15 and John 3:16. In fact, these verses affirm Jesus’ unique divinity and
preeminence, aligning with the portrayal of Jesus as God in John 1:1.
Objectors insist that because of Colossians 1:15 translation of prototokos “firstborn of all
creation” and John 3:16 translation of monogenes “only begotten son” that Jesus is also
just a created being. However, it is very clear in John 1:1 that Jesus is truly God with a
special relationship with the God the Father. And that, the commonly used verses as
mentioned above actually only speaks of Jesus’ pre-eminence and Jesus’ unique and one
of a kind relationship with the Father, respectively.

The issue with Colossians 1:15 has been discussed extensively in Subtopic B, so
we will shift our focus on another famously used verse to suggest that Jesus was indeed a
created being, being ‘begotten’ from John 3:16.
The claim, is that being the begotten Son of God, means that Jesus was created into
existence as well. Derived from the literal meaning of beget, which means to procreate or
to produce as per Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. Therefore, they apply the same literal
sense of beget to the ‘begotten Son’.

However, as discussed in the first paragraph of this defense, the original

translation is actually monogenes. Monogenes is composed of two combined words,
‘mono’ meaning one, and ‘genos’ meaning kind. So, a more accurate translation in
modern English is unique or one of a kind, in some renderings, one and only. To provide
further context, the same monogenes was used to describe Isaac in Hebrews 11:17. That
Isaac is Abraham’s monogenes. So, to use the translation that Isaac is Abraham’s only
begotten son in a literal sense is inaccurate. Since Abraham first had Ishmael. It was
instead used to communicate that Isaac is unique and one of a kind in his role.
That is why the rendering monogenes to literally mean as ‘only begotten’ in modern
English is not accurate.

Therefore, we are able to establish that monogenes in John 3:16 does not mean
that God literally bore or created Jesus into existence, but that He is unique and one of a
kind in His role, as the person of God the Son.

In conclusion, both Colossians 1:15 and John 3:16 is just an issue with semantics,
but by examining the overall surrounding context, we can reasonably conclude that what
it really communicates is contrary to the objection. Instead of it communicating Jesus as a
created being, it instead communicates Jesus’ divinity by being the pre-eminent one,
sharing a unique and one of a kind relationship with God the Father. All in line with John
1:1 as well.