We have 4 or 6 children depending on how you count them.
We are involved in Christian ministry. We participate in the Sunday morning children's ministry program at our local church. And we participate in various evangelistic outreaches.
Yes, it’s true. I’m regifting this year. In the current economy, it seems that regifting is more common than ever, but it is by no means new. The Christ of Christmas said, “You received without paying; give without pay.” So with the vast number of friends and family to whom I would like to give a gift, I’ve decided to join trend of regifting. The gift I have received is the gift of God – eternal life. It is the perfect gift for regifting. It is the gift that once you’ve received it you can regift it over and over again and still keep it for yourself. (Of course God, the original giver, continues to be the source of the gift.)
I love Christmas. But celebrating the birth of the Christ child apart from the reality of why He was born is empty and meaningless. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born in order that He might live as a man the perfect sinless life that no one else could ever live. And having lived that life, He was to die in the place of sinners. God, the universal Lawgiver and Judge, is holy and just. His justice demands that He punish lawbreakers, and all of mankind is guilty before the God to whom we must give account.. Yet He is merciful, and in His mercy he has determined to provide salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ.
When Jesus died on the cross, he died as a substitute for sinners. God, the Judge of all, transferred the penalty for sin to His sinless Son and punished Him. “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” The penalty for sin, if exacted upon sinners, would consign each and every one of us to eternal conscious punishment in hell. Yet the sinless God-Man suffered the full wrath of a holy God in one day on a Roman cross in Jerusalem, just six miles away and 33 years after His birth in Bethlehem. And three days later, as if to say, “I am satisfied with the death of My Son on behalf of sinners,” God raised Jesus from the dead. Now, because God has poured out all of His wrath for sinners on the Savior, all those who receive Christ have their sins forgiven and live forever with God.
This Christmas season receive the gift of eternal life. Stop trusting in your own goodness (you have none). Put your faith in the sinless Son of God instead. Repent and turn from your life of sinning against the Lawgiver and His law. Receive this greatest of gifts. And then you can regift it over and over again and still keep it for yourself.
There is great room for error when we fail to properly distinguish the various works of God in the salvation of sinners. This is especially true with reference to three prominent aspects of God's work of salvation: regeneration, justification, and sanctification. The work of God in regeneration must be distinguished from both justification and sanctification. And justification must be clearly distinguished from sanctification.
First, regeneration is to be distinguished from justification. Justification is a legal declaration by God the Judge of the universe. In it God declares the believing sinner to be righteous because Jesus paid the penalty for his sins on the cross, and the righteousness of Jesus has been credited to him. In justification the believing sinner becomes positionally righteous not practically righteous. In justification righteousness is credited or imputed (not infused) to the sinner; no change is made in him.
In regeneration, however, there is a radical change in the sinner. He who was dead in sin is now made alive. He who hated God now loves and trusts God. He who lived for sin now lives for righteousness. Regeneration is the actual infusion of holiness.
If we fail to distinguish regeneration from justification we fall in to the error of believing that our righteous standing before God depends on how holy and righteous we behave. Holiness in the life of the believer has as it origin and of necessity follows from regeneration, but our justification before God is always and only dependent on the merits of Jesus Christ.
Second, regeneration is to be distinguished from sanctification. Sanctification is a progressive work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer whereby we are brought into conformity with the righteous character of Christ. It begins at regeneration and is completed at glorification. Therefore, from the moment we put our trust in Jesus until we breath our last breath, the Holy Spirit is at work in us making us holy. Whereas in justification we are positionally declared righteous by God through faith in Jesus, in sanctification we are progressively made righteous practically.
Regeneration is an instantaneous work of the Holy Spirit and is the seed of all holiness of life that is to follow. Sanctification is a progressive work of the Holy Spirit, following upon the new birth, making us more and more holy.
If we fail to distinguish regeneration from sanctification we fall into the error of believing that any failure in the progress of sanctification makes void the grace of regeneration. Those who make this mistake find themselves seeking to be born again again and again.
The Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone in Christ Jesus Alone - Apart from Works
“And to the one who does not work but believes inhim who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:” (Romans 4:5, 6 ESV)
There are legalists in every age. The Pharisees, in New Testament times, were legalists. They had a list of laws, some biblical and some extra-biblical, that they believed must be kept to be right with God. Roman Catholicism is radically legalistic with its system of penance and venial and mortal sins. They believe that sinners are made right with God by a combination of faith and works. There are legalists in the Church today who give lip service to grace but then load people up with all kinds of laws that they say must be kept. Legalism is the heart of man’s religion. If man creates a religion you can be sure it will be legalistic. The biblical answer to legalism in all of its forms is the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ Jesus alone, apart from works.You cannot truly understand and believe this doctrine and be a legalist.
Justification is the imputation of righteousness to those whose faith is in God. The imputation of righteousness is not an infusion of righteousness, whereby, the sinner is changed into a righteous person. Rather it is the crediting of the righteousness of Christ to the account of the sinner.
The believing sinner is considered and treated as if he were righteous. God treats us as if we had lived the righteous life of Jesus. Our righteous standing before God is positional not practical. In justification, righteousness is not worked in us (that’s sanctification) it is credited to us. It is an alien righteousness; a foreign righteousness. It is a righteousness that does not have its origin in us. It is not the result of anything we have or can do. It is ours by imputation.
Our sin was imputed to Christ on the cross. Jesus was not infused with sin. He did not become a sinner. But God considered and treated Jesus as if He were a sinner. God treated Jesus as if He had lived our sinful life.
17 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.(Second Corinthians 5:21 ESV)
The righteousness of God (that is the righteous merits of the life of Jesus Christ) is imputed to believing sinners. The righteousness that is imputed to believers is the obedience of Jesus.
The obedience of Jesus was both active and passive. During His life, Christ actively obeyed the Father by keeping the law of God perfectly. In His death, Christ passively obeyed the Father by enduing the penalty for the violation of God’s law. The death of Jesus was complete payment of the penalty for the violation of God’s law that we by our sin incurred. The perfectly righteous life that Jesus lived is the source of the righteousness received by faith in justification.
In the law there is both precept and penalty. The precepts say “you shall do” or “you shall not do.” The penalty says, “if you violate the precept you incur this punishment.” Jesus lived perfectly. He actively did everything the law said do and He actively avoided everything the law said not to do. We actively violated the law. We didn’t do what the law said to do and we did what the law said not to do.
God imputed to Jesus the lawbreaking of the world and sentenced Jesus to be punished according to the law. Jesus passively endured the penalty prescribed in the law, thus satisfying the wrath of the just and holy God. With his sin paid for by Jesus, the believing sinner passively receives God’s imputation of the righteous merits of the perfect life of Christ.
Because of the imputation of righteousness the believing sinner is declared by God to be righteous. How righteous? Perfectly righteous; as righteous as Jesus Christ. Because our righteousness before God is the righteous merits of Jesus Christ. Now tell me, doth this offend you?
Men are incurably religious. When we reject the true and living God we have to create a god or gods to take His place. The result is a world full of false religions.
Every false religion has its origin in the sinful heart of man under the inspiration of demons.
(First Corinthians 10:18-20 ESV) 18 Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? 19 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.
The religions of the world come in many shapes and sizes. Postmodern philosophy would say, it’s up to you to choose which one is true for you, to choose not to participate in any, or to create your own system. And no religion is better or truer than any other.
But Christianity, with its truth claims stands out from all the religions of the world. It can never be subjected to the postmodern idea of relative truth. You cannot say, “Christianity is true for me.” Because Christianity is either absolutely true, or it is not true at all. Either Jesus really did rise from the dead, and therefore, Christianity is the only true ‘religion,’ or Jesus did not rise from the dead and Christianity is to be absolutely rejected.
Those who want to hang on to Christianity, but spiritualize the resurrection of Jesus are really creating another false religion and simply calling it Christianity.
No other doctrine sets Christianity apart from the false religious systems of the world more than the doctrine of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Christians claim that the bodily resurrection of Jesus is a historic fact. No other religion can say that its founder came back from the dead; nor do they need to. But if Christ did not rise, our faith is useless. The validity of our faith is dependent on the absolute truth of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ as a historic fact.
(First Corinthians 10:18-20 ESV) 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19If in Christ we have hopein this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
(Matthew 1:23 ESV) 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
(John 2:12 ESV) After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothersand his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.
The Roman Catholic Church teaches as a dogma (a teaching that must be believed by faithful Catholics) that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was perpetually a virgin. They say that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus and for her whole life. But the plain reading of John 2:12 (and many other passages that refer to the siblings of Jesus) seems to debunk this dogma. Obviously, if Jesus had even one brother in the normal sense of the word then it would stand to reason that Mary did not remain a virgin. So, to maintain the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary in the face of these passages Roman Catholics have offered a number of alternative understandings of the phrase “his brothers.” (I refer here to explanations given by private Catholics and/or popular Catholic apologists, not official Roman Catholic statements). For example, some have said that Joseph was married to another women before he married Mary and the “brothers” are the children of Joseph and his first wife. But most Roman Catholics argue that the word for “brothers” in the original language is broad enough to mean “cousins,” so the “brothers” are really the children of Mary’s sister. This is the preferred view because it saves Joseph’s virginity as well as Mary’s.
In response I would make seven points:
1). The “brothers” are always referred to as the brothers of Jesus and they are never called the sons of Joseph. This would be strange if their only connection to Jesus is that they were Joseph’s sons, because being Joseph’s sons would not make them the biological brothers of Jesus.
2). The “brothers,” whenever they appear in the Gospels, are always with Mary, which would be strange if they were the children of her husband and another woman.
3). The Greek word for “brothers” is the normal word for “brothers.”
While in certain contexts the word for "brothers" is used with a broader meaning such as kinsmen or even countrymen, the context always determines the meaning. There is a Greek word for cousins, but it is never used of this group’s relationship to Jesus. There is nothing in the context of John 2:12 or any other passage that refers to Jesus’ brothers to make one think it means anything other than “brothers.” Therefore, the Roman Catholic argues that “brothers” means cousins only because there is a predetermined perspective that says that Jesus had no siblings and this ultimately leads them to circular reasoning.
Imagine this conversation:
Evangelical: “John 2:12 says Jesus had brothers.”
Roman Catholic: “That means cousins.”
Evangelical: “How do you know that it means cousins?”
Roman Catholic: “Because Jesus didn’t have any brothers.”
Evangelical: “But the text says He did have brothers.”
Roman Catholic: “That means cousins.”
Evangelical: “How do you know that it means cousins?”
Roman Catholic: “Because Jesus didn’t have any brothers.”
So this is the kind of circular reasoning we encounter. To break this cycle the Evangelical must ask another question,
Evangelical: “How do you know that Jesus had no brothers?”
Roman Catholic: “Because Mary was perpetually a virgin.”
But this only broadens the circle of reason and a circle is a circle no matter how large. In other words Roman Catholics believe that the references to Jesus’ brothers must mean cousins because Mary was perpetually a virgin. So when you point out passages that speak of Jesus’ “brothers” it is automatically assumed that they are His cousins because Mary could not have had more children because she was perpetually a virgin. But the perpetual virginity of Mary is the very point that is at question. So they are using their conclusion, that Mary remained a virgin for her whole life, as the basis for their argument, that the references to Jesus’ “brother’s” means “cousins,” to prove their conclusion, that Mary remained a virgin for her whole life. That is the essence of circular reasoning.
Let’s take it one step further:
Evangelical: “How do you know that Mary was perpetually a virgin?”
Roman Catholic: “Because that is what the Church teaches.”
Evangelical: “The Bible says that Jesus had brothers.”
Roman Catholic: “That means cousins.”
Evangelical: “What makes you think that that means cousins?”
Roman Catholic: “Because Jesus did not have any siblings.”
Evangelical: “How do you know that Jesus did not have any siblings?”
Roman Catholic: “Because Mary was perpetually a virgin.”
Evangelical: “How do you know that Mary was perpetually a virgin?”
Roman Catholic: “Because that is the teaching of the Church.”
Ultimately then, for Catholics, the Bible does not determine what the Church teaches; the Church
determines what the Bible teaches. The final authority then is not the Bible but Rome.
4). The Bible nowhere teaches that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Christ. To say that she did is an argument from silence. This argument from silence is defeated by the argument from the texts which teach that Jesus had siblings.
5). The Bible actually teaches that Mary did not remain a virgin after the birth of Jesus. It does so in the many references to Jesus’ siblings.
Also, Matthew 1:25 says that Joseph had no sexual relations with Mary “until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus” (ESV). The word “until” is significant.If I say to you, “Loan me $50 “until” Friday,” it means that, if you agree, a certain condition will exist from now to Friday. The condition will be that you are without $50 of your own money and that I am indebted to you for $50. Well then, how long will this condition last? This condition will last “until”Friday, at which time, if I am true to my promise, the condition will change. So the word “until”implies that at the end of the stated time the condition will change. Matthew 1:25 says that Joseph had no sexual relations with Mary “until she had given birth to a son.” I might break my promise to pay back your $50, but when Matthew said, “until she had given birth to a son,” he was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Who cannot lie.
6). Mary was far too godly to abstain from normal sexual relations in the context of marriage.
Paul the Apostle, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, commanded married couples: “Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control”(First Corinthians 7:5 ESV). Accordingly, for Mary to remain a virgin she would be sinning by depriving her husband the normal sexual relationship that is commanded in Scripture for married couples, and doing so would make Joseph unduly vulnerable to sexual temptation.
7). The belief that Mary was perpetually a virgin (as well as the celibate priesthood) seems to stem from the false assumption that virginity is somehow better or more spiritual than marriage. It certainly does not come from the biblical record.
For the Bible says, “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous" (Hebrews 13:4 ESV).
John 2:12 says that Jesus had “brothers.” And “brothers” means brothers. Jesus had brothers because, after Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary experienced normal marital sexual relations. Mary did not perpetually remain a virgin.
(Galatians 4:4 ESV) 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
God’s sovereign control over all things is clearly seen in His orchestration of the timing and detail of the birth of the Messiah.
More than seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus, God declared through the prophet Micah:
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. (Micah 5:2 ESV)
The fulfillment of this prophecy was no small thing. For the mother of the Messiah to be in Bethlehem Ephrathah at “the fullness of” her time, or when “the days were accomplished that she should be delivered” (Luke 2:6 KJV) took nothing less than a decree from the Emperor of Rome.
(Luke 2:1-7 ESV) 1 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
How is it that Caesar Augustus would issue that decree just at the right moment in history; “when the fullness of time had come?” Further, how is it that Caesar Augustus came to be Emperor so as to be in a position to issue that decree?
(Daniel 4:17 ESV) 17 ...the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.’
Caesar Augustus was Emperor of Rome because the Most High made him Emperor of Rome.
(Proverbs 21:1 ESV) 1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
Caesar Augustus issued his decree “that all the world should be registered” at that very moment in history because God decreed it. The Most High turned his heart as if it were a few drops of water in the palm of His hand.
Truly the coming of the Messiah was right on time. The Incarnation happened “when the fullness of time had come.” The coming of Christ perfectly fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, because our sovereign God rules in the affairs of men.
(Daniel 6 34-35 ESV) 34 ...blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Absolutely nothing occurs outside of His sovereign control. This means he will bring to pass all He has promised and all He has threatened. It also means that He has purpose in all the things believers experience in this life no matter how good or bad they are.
(Genesis 50:18-20 ESV) 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Hell is a place of eternal conscious punishment. Unredeemed sinners, Satan and the fallen angels will forever experience the tormenting wrath of a holy God there. There will be no relief, no break, no end, and no hope. There are those who would say that sinners are cast into hell and experience its torments, but only temporarily. Either they will be annihilated or they will be paroled after serving a finite sentence. But the punishment of hell is not corrective purgative or rehabilitative.
Hear what Jesus said.
(Matthew 25:31-34, 41, 46 ESV)31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world... 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels... 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Jesus used the same word - “eternal” - to describe the punishment of the wicked as He used to describe the “eternal life” of the righteous. The punishment of the wicked is as “eternal” as the “life” of the righteous.
Christianity is nothing if it is not historical. Christianity is all about a Person; a real Person. A man! He was a man who lived in history. He lived at a particular place. He lived at a particular time; “when the fullness of time had come” (Galatians 4:4 ESV). He lived in a particular way. A man! He was an utterly unique man - a man like no other man, yet a man.
God the Son became a Man. Jesus possesses from all eternity the nature of God. He is equal to the Father in power, knowledge, self-existence, and holiness. In every way the Son is equal to the Father; “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation” (Colossians 1:15 ESV). God the Son in His Deity is spirit. He is eternally the WORD of God. He never ceased to be all that the Father is. But in the course of human history - at a particular place and time - He assumed a second nature. He became a Man. He did not become half Man and half God. He never lost a single attribute of Deity. While He never ceased to be 100% God, He became a real Man. He became a Man in every sense, only without sin. From eternity He was one Person with one nature. At a particular moment in history He became one Person with two natures. He is the God-Man. He is not a mixture of the divine and the human. He is 100% God and 100% Man. He is the WORD become flesh.
Christ, by highest Heav’n adored; Christ the everlasting Lord; Late in time, behold Him come, Offspring of a virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail th’incarnate Deity, Pleased with us in flesh to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel.
All of eternity past looked forward to the events that began when God became Man. And all of eternity future will look back on the Incarnation of the Son of God as the greatest event in the history of mankind. The events that began with the conception and birth of Jesus Christ stand as the ultimate demonstration of both the justice and the mercy of our great God.
Jesus remains the God-Man. In His glorified state He forever retains His Humanity. This qualifies Him to be our Mediator.
(First Timothy 2:5 ESV) 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
As Mediator, Jesus can represent men to God because He possesses our human nature. Jesus can represent God to men because He possesses God’s nature.
“God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4 ESV). “The Word became flesh” (John 1:14 ESV). God became a Man. The importance of this doctrine cannot be overstated. All Christian doctrine hangs on the fact that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. It is because of the Incarnation that we can know God. Had God not pitched His tent among us we could not know Him.
What an amazing thing that the God of creation would condescend to live among His creatures. Jesus lived the life of a man on earth for nearly three and a half decades. Think about it. He played. He laughed. He “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52 ESV). He worked. He taught. He loved. He healed. He prayed. He wept. He died. He rose again! His life has had a greater impact on the world than any other person or event. The events of one Passover weekend at the end of His life changed the world forever.
I recently asked someone on another blog this question: “Is Jesus God the Father?” In response I got a chain of modalistic statements denying the personal distictions between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Modalism is a branch of unitarianism that teaches that there is only one person in the being of God. The apparent personal distinction in the New Testament between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are unreal. For the modalist then, the Father is Jesus and Jesus is the Holy Spirit. Christianity has always rejected this belief as heresy.
So I have a challenge to all who deny the personal distinction between the Father and the Son. Whether you are a oneness pentecostal or some other type of modalist I would like for you to help me understand a Bible passage from your perspective.
First, read the following passage from First Corinthians 15.
(First Corinthians 15:22-28 NASB) 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET. But when He says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. 28 And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.
Now, go through the passage again and identify what person is being referred to be each use of a pronoun. Here is the passage with blank spaces provided.
(First Corinthians 15:22-28 NASB) 22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, 24 then comes the end, when ____ delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when ____ has abolished all rule and all authority and power. 25 For ____ must reign until ____ has put all ____ enemies under ____ feet. 26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death. 27 For ____ HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER ____ FEET. But when ____ says, "All things are put in subjection," it is evident that ____ is excepted who put all things in subjection to ____. 28 And when all things are subjected to ____, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the ____ who subjected all things to ____, that God may be all in all.
I want to share some questions I asked in a discussion I had recently with a Muslim:
Was Mohamed a true prophet of Allah?
Can a true prophet of Allah, when speaking as a prophet, lie?
Did Mohamed, speaking as a prophet, say that Jesus was a prophet?
Did Mohamed, speaking as a prophet, say that there is only one God and He cannot have a son?
Did Jesus claim to be the Son of God?
(Matthew 27:43 “for he said, I am the Son of God.” Luke 22:70 “Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.” John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 9: 35 “Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” John 10 36 “Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” John 11:4 “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.”)
Was Jesus telling the truth or was He lying?
If Jesus was telling the truth then He is the Son of God. If Jesus is the Son of God then Mohamed lied when he said, God cannot have a son. And if Mohamed lied then He can not be a true prophet of Allah.
If, on the other hand, Jesus is not the Son of God then He lied when He claimed He was. If Jesus lied about being the Son of God then He is certainly not a true prophet. And if Jesus is not a true prophet then Mohamed lied when he said that Jesus was a prophet. If Mohamed lied about Jesus being a prophet then Mohamed cannot be a true prophet of Allah.
Is it true that whether Jesus is the Son of God or not Mohamed is a false prophet?
