The Apostle Paul wrote to exhort believers to pray for the salvation of all men since God desires to save the whole human race, which is why he sent Christ to become a human mediator who offered up his life as a ransom for mankind:
“First of all, then, I exhort that petitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings, be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the witness for this proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:1-6
Paul is merely echoing the words of the Lord himself:
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45
“Now while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it. And giving it to the disciples, He said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.’” Matthew 26:26-28
“This is the bread which comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and also the bread which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” John 6:50-51
Unfortunately, there are some who use the Apostle’s inspired words to deny the Deity of Christ and the Trinity. They focus in on the fact that Paul states that Jesus is a Man who mediates between the one God and mankind. Unitarians interpret this to mean that since Jesus is not the one God but is distinguished from him, he therefore cannot be divine in any sense. Others do not take it this far but instead argue that this verse shows that the Son can only be a lesser divine being.
The problem with this assertion is that it completely ignores both the immediate and overall contexts of this particular section of the inspired Scripture. Once Paul’s statements are examined in light of the entirety of the biblical writings it will, thus, become clear that this blessed Apostle is actually affirming the Deity and essential co-equality of Christ with the One God, who is the Father, specifically the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Take, for instance, Paul’s stating that Jesus has ransomed all mankind:
“who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the witness for this proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:6
This in itself affirms that Christ cannot be merely human since Jesus plainly taught his disciples that no mortal human creature is capable of saving himself, let alone others:
“The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, “With MAN this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’” Mark 10:26-27 New International Version (NIV)
The prophetic writings concur that it is impossible for a finite human being to ransom and save anyone, which is why God chose in his love and mercy to personally bring about salvation:
“Truly, no man can redeem his brother; He cannot give to God a ransom for him—For the redemption price for their soul is costly, And it ceases forever—That he should live on eternally, That he should not see corruption… But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Selah.” Psalm 49:7-9, 15
“And He saw that there was no man, And was astonished that there was no one to intercede; Then His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.” Isaiah 59:16
“I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished, and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me.” Isaiah 63:5
Paul himself knew that God alone is capable of ransoming anyone from the power of sin, which is why in another epistle he describes Christ as the Great God and Savior who came to redeem a people to be his very own holy possession:
“looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (tou megalou theou hemon soteros ‘Iesou Christou), who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all lawlessness, and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good works.” Titus 2:13-14
This happens to be one of the clearest and most explicit verses identifying the risen Lord as God in an absolute sense. As the New English Translation (NET Bible) text note explains:
tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, theos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, sōtēr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4. (Ibid. https://netbible.org/bible/Titus+2; emphasis mine) (1)
This explains why the inspired Apostle depicts the risen Son doing exactly what the Hebrew Scriptures portray YHWH Almighty doing, namely, redeeming a people from their sins in order to make them his cherished possession:
“‘So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” Exodus 19:5-6
“If You should keep iniquities, O Yah, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness, That You may be feared… O Israel, wait for Yahweh; For with Yahweh there is lovingkindness, And with Him is abundant redemption. And it is He who will redeem Israel From all his iniquities.” Psalm 130:3-4, 7-8
Hence, the reason why Jesus is able to redeem individuals from their sins for the express purpose of making them his very own is because he is the great God and Savior YHWH Almighty that became human!
The logic is inescapable:
- No mere human being can save or redeem anyone from sin and death.
- Only YHWH is able to ransom sinners from the power of sin and death.
- Jesus Christ has redeemed an innumerable host of human lives from sin and death (Cf. Rev. 7:9-17; 1:5-6; 5:8-14).
- Jesus must, therefore, be YHWH God Almighty in the flesh.
The inspired Apostle provides further indication that he didn’t intend to relegate Jesus to the status of a mere human creature.
In this same epistle Paul went on to once again describe Christ in a language that is reminiscent to the way the Hebrew Bible depicts YHWH:
“that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which HE will bring about at the proper time—HE who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, WHO alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To HIM be honor and eternal might! Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:14-16
The context shows that it is Jesus whom the inspired Apostle portrays in such lofty terms since Christ is the nearest antecedent of what follows immediately thereafter.
Astonishingly, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ own Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society admit that the blessed Apostle is referring to Jesus in 1 Timothy 6:15-16,
Jehovah is the “happy God” and his Son Jesus Christ is called “the happy and only Potentate” (1 Tim. 1:11; 6:15)… (Aid to Bible Understanding [Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., 1971], p. 711 http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200001868?q=Jehovah+is+the+%E2%80%9Chappy+God%E2%80%9D+and+his+Son+Jesus+Christ+is+called+%E2%80%9Cthe+happy+and+only+Potentate%E2%80%9D+%281+Tim.+1%3A11%3B+6%3A15%29&p=par; bold emphasis mine)
Despite making an effort to undermine the implications that such exalted language has on our understanding of who God’s Son truly is:
How can Jesus be “the one alone having immortality”? The first one described as being rewarded with immortality is Jesus Christ. That he did not possess immortality before his resurrection by God [sic] is seen from the inspired apostle’s words at Romans 6:9: “Christ, now that he has been raised from the dead, dies no more; death is master over him no more.” (Compare Re 1:17, 18). For this reason, when describing him as “the King of those who rule as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords,” 1 Timothy 6:15, 16 shows that Jesus is distinct from all other kings and lords in that he is “the one alone having immortality.” The other kings and lords, because of being mortal, die, even as did also the high priests of Israel. The glorified Jesus, God’s appointed High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, however, has “an indestructible life.” – Heb 7:15-17, 23-25. (Insight on the Scriptures [Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc., Brooklyn, NY 1988], Volume 1. Aaron-Jehoshua, p. 1189 http://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/1200002155#h=6– see also p. 1032)(2)
1 Timothy 6:15-16 isn’t the only place where Paul offers a doxology, or an ascription of praise, to the risen Christ:
“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom… In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing… At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the preaching might be fulfilled, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will save me unto His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:1, 8, 16-18
Jesus is said to be the Lord who will judge the living and the dead when he appears at his second coming.
Nor is Paul alone in speaking of Christ in such a manner, since the apostle John did likewise:
“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:5-6
“These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and elect and faithful.” Revelation 17:14
“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sits on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; having a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself, and being clothed with a garment dipped in blood, His name is also called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty. And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’” Revelation 19:11-16
“‘Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end… I, Jesus, sent My angel to bear witness to you of these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.’… He who bears witness to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” Revelation 22:12-13, 16, 20-21
Now contrast this with the way the inspired prophets speak of YHWH Almighty:
“For Yahweh your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the fearsome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.” Deuteronomy 10:17
“Vav But Yahweh abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, Vav And He will judge the world in righteousness; He will render justice for the peoples with equity.” Psalm 9:7-8
“Say among the nations, ‘Yahweh reigns; Indeed, the world is established, it will not be shaken; He will render justice to the peoples with equity.’ Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, as well as its fullness; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before Yahweh, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.” Psalm 96:10-13 – Cf. 62:12; 98:9
“Bless Yahweh, O my soul! O Yahweh my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, Wrapping Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out the heavens like a tent curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He sets up the clouds to be His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind;” Psalm 104:1-3
“Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His lovingkindness endures forever.” Psalm 136:3
“Behold, Lord Yahweh will come with strength, With His arm ruling for Him. Behold, His reward is with Him And His recompense before Him.” Isaiah 40:10-11 – Cf. 62:11
“I, Yahweh, search the heart; I test the inmost being, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his deeds.” Jeremiah 17:10 – Cf. 11:20; 29:23
“The king answered Daniel and said, ‘Truly your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries since you have been able to reveal this mystery.’” Daniel 2:47
It is YHWH who clothes himself with light, reigns as Lord of lords and who comes to judge the nations in righteousness. And yet both Paul and John attribute all of these roles and characteristics to Jesus!
It is, therefore, clear that Paul in 1 Timothy 2:5 did not intend to deny that Christ is essentially equal to the one God for whom he mediates, i.e., the Father. The blessed Apostle plainly testifies in that same letter, and all throughout the rest of his writings, that Jesus is no mere human but is rather one in essence, nature, power, glory and worship with God the Father.
Unless noted otherwise, scriptural references taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).
FURTHER READING
One Mediator and One God Pt. 1
One Mediator and One God Pt. 2
JESUS CHRIST: THE GOD-MAN WHO REDEEMS
CHRIST: THE DIVINE MEDIATOR AND SAVIOR
JESUS CHRIST: THE ONE LORD OF THE SHEMA
NT SCHOLARSHIP ON JOHN 1:1 AND TITUS 2:13 PT. 2
GRANVILLE SHARP AND THE DEITY OF CHRIST
Ephesians 5:5: Another Example of Granville Sharp’s First Rule?
2 Thessalonians 1:12 and Christ’s Deity: Sharp’s Rule Triumphs Again!
ENDNOTES
(1) The Apostle Peter in his inspired letter also employed the same Greek construction that Paul did in reference to Jesus, and did so no less than five times! He even concludes his epistle with a doxology to the risen Christ!
“Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received the same kind of faith as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ (tou theou hemon kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou)… for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (tou kyriou hemon kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou) will be abundantly supplied to you.” 2 Peter 1:1, 11
“For if they are overcome, having both escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (tou kyriou kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou) and having again been entangled in them, then the last state has become worse for them than the first.” 2 Peter 2:20
“that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior (tou kyriou kai soteros) spoken by your apostles,” 2 Peter 3:2
“but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (tou kyriou hemon kai soteros ‘Iesou Christou). To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18
And much like Paul did in Timothy and Titus, Peter attributes to the Son the same language which the Hebrew Scriptures ascribe to YHWH:
“Declare and draw near with your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has made this heard from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, Yahweh? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:21-22
In light of the Greek construction being the same as in Titus 2:13, it therefore comes as no surprise that the NET Bible also includes 2 Pet. 1:1 as one of the clearest NT testimonies to Christ’s Deity:
tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. In fact, the construction occurs elsewhere in 2 Peter, strongly suggesting that the author’s idiom was the same as the rest of the NT authors’ (cf., e.g., 1:11 [“the Lord and Savior”], 2:20 [“the Lord and Savior”]). The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, theos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, sōtēr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on the application of Sharp’s rule to 2 Pet 1:1, see ExSyn 272, 276-77, 290. See also Titus 2:13 and Jude 4. (NET https://netbible.org/bible/2+Peter+1; emphasis mine)
(2) That the explanation offered by the Society is rather desperate would be putting it mildly.
The NT doesn’t teach that Christ possesses immortality because of the indestructible life he received by virtue of his resurrection. Rather, Jesus has this quality due to his being Life itself who gives life to every person. The following passages are all from the NWT (https://www.jw.org/en/publications/bible/study-bible/books/):
“All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. What has come into existence by means of him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:3-4
“For just as the Father raises the dead up and makes them alive, so the Son also makes alive whomever he wants to… Most truly I say to you, the hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead will hear THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD, and those who have paid attention will live… Do not be amazed at this, for the hour is coming in which all those in the memorial tombs will hear HIS [the Son’s] VOICE and come out, those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced vile things to a resurrection of judgment.” John 5:21, 25, 28-29
“This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose none out of all those whom he has given me, but that I should resurrect them on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who recognizes the Son and exercises faith in him should have everlasting life, and I will resurrect him on the last day… No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him, and I will resurrect him on the last day.” John 6:39-40, 44
“My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them everlasting life, and they will by no means ever be destroyed, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is something greater than all other things, and no one can snatch them out of the hand of the Father. I and the Father are one.” John 10:27-30
“Jesus said to her: ‘I am the resurrection and THE LIFE. The one who exercises faith in me, even though he dies, will come to life; and everyone who is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all. Do you believe this?’ She said to him: ‘Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’” John 11:25-27
“Jesus said to him: ‘I am the way and the truth and THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6
“The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his Servant, Jesus, whom you handed over and disowned before Pilate, even though he had decided to release him. Yes, you disowned that holy and righteous one, and you asked for a man who was a murderer to be given to you, whereas you killed the Chief Agent of life. But God raised him up from the dead, of which fact we are witnesses.” Acts 3:13-15
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have observed and our hands have felt, concerning THE WORD OF LIFE, (yes, THE LIFE was made manifest, and we have seen and are bearing witness and reporting to you THE EVERLASTING LIFE that was with the Father and was made manifest to us), that which we have seen and heard we are reporting also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:1-3
Therefore, since Christ is the Life, the Eternal Life, and the Chief Agent of Life, who raises the dead and gives everlasting life to all who trust in him, it was impossible for him to remain dead:
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus the Naz·a·reneʹ was a man publicly shown to you by God through powerful works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know. This man, who was handed over by the determined will and foreknowledge of God, you fastened to a stake by the hand of lawless men, and you did away with him. But God resurrected him by releasing him from the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held fast by it.” Acts 2:22-24
In fact, the Lord himself said that no one could take his life away and that he would personally raise himself up from the dead in three days:
“Jesus replied to them: ‘Tear down this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said: ‘This temple was built in 46 years, and will YOU raise it up in three days?’ But he was talking about the temple of his body. When, though, he was raised up from the dead, his disciples recalled that he used to say this, and they believed the scripture and what Jesus had spoken.” John 2:19-22
“This is why the Father loves me, because I surrender my life, so that I may receive it again. No man takes it away from me, but I surrender it of my own initiative. I have authority to surrender it, and I have authority to receive it again. This commandment I received from my Father.’” John 10:17-18
Yet despite the Society’s erroneous interpretation, their position regarding 1 Timothy 6:15-16 shows that even this anti-Trinitarian cult clearly see and readily acknowledge that the Apostle Paul described the glorified Christ as the only Sovereign Lord and King, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light!
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