The Lord Jesus Christ – the Holy, Pure Son of God
Examining the Deity of Christ in light of his absolute moral perfection
The website www.muslimconverts.com has published a transcript of a lecture that was given more than twenty five years ago by a Muslim apologist/polemicist named Steve Johnson (a.k.a. Farukh Abdallah). In the lecture, Mr. Johnson sought to discuss the evidence that Christians normally present to prove the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. His purpose was to show why the arguments of the Christians are inconclusive, being based on faulty logic and premises, and therefore do not prove that Jesus is God.
One of the points which he tried to tackle is the issue of Jesus’ sinlessness or perfection and how Christians use this to prove that Christ is God. Johnson stated that:
Christians view Jesus as perfect. Their line of argumentation is very simple. Since only God is perfect and Jesus is perfect, then Jesus must be God.
In logic we dismiss that kind of an argument, we say it is the fallacy of the undistributed middle term.
Let me give you an example of that, to show you how illogical it is. If I said that Begin is tired and Reigan is tired then I would have to conclude that Begin is Reigan.
So obviously it is an illogical kind of argument. It is the same kind of argument that we find there. You don´t even have to be a Major in logic to see that that is illogical.
If you look to the Bible itself in the famous sermon on the mount in Matthew (chapter 5, verse 48), Jesus supposedly commands us to "be ye therefore perfect, as your Father who is in Heaven is perfect".
Again Jesus of course was paraphrasing the Torah. We find those words in Leviticus (chapter 19, verse 2).
But by commanding us to be perfect, or holy as it is said in Leviticus, to Jesus and God it means to indicate that we all have the potential to be God.
Well of course no orthodox Christian would make such a claim. The fact is that if Jesus lived a perfect life, then he was a perfect man, but a perfect man is not God.
Jesus was simply following the commandment revealed by God to Moses. (Truth about Jesus, source)
Anyone who is slightly familiar with the teaching of the Holy Bible can see that if anyone is committing a logical fallacy it is Johnson for distorting the Christian position and for essentially attacking a straw man.
Moreover, apart from misrepresenting the Bible on the nature of Jesus’ perfection and holiness, the logical flaw of Johnson’s argument is evident in the second of the above quoted paragraphs. The crucial word is “only”. The tiredness of Begin and Reigan [sic] (Menachem Begin being the Prime Minister of Israel [1977-1983] and Ronald Reagan being the President of the USA [1981-1989] at the time of this lecture) does not establish their identity. If it could validly be said that only Begin is tired, then Reagan being tired would establish that he is Begin. However, “only Begin is tired” is obviously wrong, so that Johnson’s attempted analogy breaks down before the discussion even starts.
With that said, the purpose of this article is to show that, although God commands his followers to be perfect as he is, the fact is that no creature is capable of attaining such perfection since God alone is absolutely sinless and holy. This explains why every creature (angels included) needs the grace of God to save and preserve him/her. We will further show that, according to God’s inspired Writings, the Lord Jesus is absolutely perfect, being completely holy and righteous just as God. We will then follow that up with some closing remarks.
1. God alone is absolutely pure and perfect and will not tolerate or put up with wickedness for long:
“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” Deuteronomy 32:4
“Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” 2 Chronicles 19:7
“So listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong.” Job 34:10
“You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the LORD abhors.” Psalm 5:4-6
“As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.” Psalm 18:30
“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’” Psalm 92:14-15
“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?” Habakkuk 1:13
“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48
“What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!” Romans 9:14
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5
1b. The Holy Bible further says that there is no one who is as holy as Yahweh, none who is like him in his holiness:
“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, terrible in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:11
“There is none holy like the LORD, there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.” 1 Samuel 2:2
2. According to the Holy Bible human beings are born fallen and their very beings are corrupted by sin.
“When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near;” 1 Kings 8:46
“If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand?” Psalm 130:3
“Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.” Psalm 143:2
“Who can say, ‘I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin’?” Proverbs 20:9
“There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins…This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.” Ecclesiastes 7:20, 29
“This is the evil in everything that happens under the sun: The same destiny overtakes all. The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live, and afterward they join the dead.” Ecclesiastes 9:3
“‘Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’” Isaiah 6:5
“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and made us waste away because of our sins.” Isaiah 64:6-7
“To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it.” Jeremiah 6:10
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.” Jeremiah 13:23
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9
“My people are determined to turn from me. Even if they call to the Most High, he will by no means exalt them.” Hosea 11:7
“You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:11-13
“The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil.” John 7:7
“What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’ ‘Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.’ ‘The poison of vipers is on their lips.’ ‘Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’” Romans 3:10-18
2b. The Holy Bible further says that humans are conceived in sin from conception since their parents are sinful by nature, and so can only give birth to sinful and wicked children.
“The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Genesis 6:5
“Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble. He springs up like a flower and withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure. Do you fix your eye on such a one? Will you bring him before you for judgment? Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one! Man's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.” Job 14:1-5
“Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5
“Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.” Psalm 58:3
This further explains why the desires of people’s hearts are said to be evil from childhood:
“Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.’” Genesis 8:20-21
After all, flesh gives birth to flesh:
“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6
And according to the Holy Bible, to be born as flesh is to be corrupt and wicked by nature:
“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -- for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.” Romans 8:5-13
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Let us have no self-conceit, no provoking of one another, no envy of one another. Galatians 5:16-26
2c. Moreover, being sinful by nature means that humans are under the power and control of Satan who uses them to carry out his desires. This is why the Holy Bible repeatedly speaks of sinners needing to have their very natures transformed and set free from the power of sin and the Devil by turning to the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.” Deuteronomy 10:16
“The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.” Deuteronomy 30:6
“Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done— burn with no one to quench it.” Jeremiah 4:4
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.” Isaiah 53:4-8
“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20
“Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!” Ezekiel 18:30-32
“Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So IF the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed… You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:34-36, 44
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:1-7
“In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,” Colossians 2:11-13
“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26
2d. The Quran itself agrees with God’s true Word, the Holy Bible, by testifying that all human beings are sinful and corrupt by nature and therefore need Allah to purify them, provided he chooses to do so:
Hast thou not regarded those who purify themselves? Nay; only Allah purifies whom He will; and they shall not be wronged a single date-thread. S. 4:49
And if Allah were to seize mankind for their wrong-doing, He would not leave on it (the earth) a single moving (living) creature, but He postpones them for an appointed term and when their term comes, neither can they delay nor can they advance it an hour (or a moment). S. 16:61 Hilali-Khan
And your Lord is Most Forgiving, Owner of Mercy. Were He to call them to account for what they have earned, then surely, He would have hastened their punishment. But they have their appointed time, beyond which they will find no escape. S. 18:58 Hilali-Khan
O ye who believe! follow not Satan's footsteps: if any will follow the footsteps of Satan, he will (but) command what is shameful and wrong: and were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, not one of you would ever have been pure: but Allah doth purify whom He pleases: and Allah is One Who hears and knows (all things).
If Allah were to punish men according to what they deserve. He would not leave on the back of the (earth) a single living creature: but He gives them respite for a stated Term: when their Term expires, verily Allah has in His sight all His Servants. S. 35:45
Those who avoid the heinous sins and indecencies, save lesser offences surely thy Lord is wide in His forgiveness. Very well He knows you, when He produced you from the earth, and when you were yet unborn in your mothers' wombs; therefore hold not yourselves purified; Allah knows very well him who is godfearing. S. 53:32
3. Not even the constellations or the heavenly beings are pure enough in God’s sight:
“Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker? If God places no trust in his servants, if he charges his angels with error, how much more those who live in houses of clay, whose foundations are in the dust, who are crushed more readily than a moth!” Job 4:17-19
“What is man, that he could be pure, or one born of woman, that he could be righteous? If God places no trust in his holy ones, if even the heavens are not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is vile and corrupt, who drinks up evil like water!” Job 15:14-16
“How then can a man be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure? If even the moon is not bright and the stars are not pure in his eyes, how much less man, who is but a maggot— a son of man, who is only a worm!” Job 25:4-6
3b. The Quran, again, implicitly agrees with the Holy Bible since it teaches that even those nearest to Allah can only hope for his mercy:
Those they call upon are themselves seeking the means to come to their Lord, which of them shall be nearer; they hope for His mercy, and fear His chastisement. Surely thy Lord's chastisement is a thing to beware of. S. 17:57
The Quran includes angels as being near to Allah, thereby including them in this list of those who can only hope for Allah’s mercy and who fear his chastisement:
The Messiah will never be proud to reject to be a slave to Allah, nor the angels who are near (to Allah). And whosoever rejects His worship and is proud, then He will gather them all together unto Himself. S. 4:172 Hilali-Khan
4. Jesus, however, is the sole exception. Christ truly believed that he was absolutely sinless and that he always does what pleases God since he was completely free of all unrighteousness whatsoever:
“Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, AND IN HIM THERE IS NO FALSEHOOD.’” John 7:16-18
“And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, FOR I ALWAYS DO THE THINGS THAT ARE PLEASING TO HIM… Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?” John 8:29, 46
And, unlike the rest of humanity who were born sinful and under Satan’s control, Jesus was holy from conception:
“And the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born WILL BE CALLED HOLY—the Son of God.’" Luke 1:30-35
As such, Satan had no hold or authority over him:
“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,” John 14:30
Christ even managed to get his followers to believe this! For example, Peter testified that Christ is the Holy One and Author of Life, being the Righteous One who died for the unrighteous:
“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’” John 6:68-69
“But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, You killed the Author of Life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” Acts 3:14
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” 1 Peter 3:18
Peter further likened Jesus to an unblemished lamb that was free from all deceit, having committed no sin:
"knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." 1 Peter 1:18-19
"For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore OUR SINS in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:21-24
The Apostle Paul echoes Peter’s statements:
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21
And by speaking of Jesus’ essential purity in highly, exalted terms the inspired writer of Hebrews shows that he also believed this:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15
“For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” Hebrews 7:26
“how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” Hebrews 9:14
The beloved of Christ, John, is another Apostle who testifies that Jesus is the Righteous One,
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2
The Evangelist proceeds to present Christ as the standard of purity, sinlessness, and righteousness which all true believers must emulate since Jesus came to destroy the power that Satan and sin have over the lives of his faithful:
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when HE APPEARS we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself AS HE IS PURE. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, AND IN HIM THERE IS NO SIN. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, AS HE IS RIGHTEOUS. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” 1 John 3:1-10
4b. Once again the Quran agrees with the true inspired Word of God, the Holy Bible. According to the teachings of Islam Jesus is the only sinless prophet/messenger.
He said: I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I may bestow on thee a faultless son… And hath made me blessed wheresoever I may be, and hath enjoined upon me prayer and almsgiving so long as I remain alive, S. 19:19, 31 Pickthall
… the gift of a holy son. S. 19:19 Y. Ali
… That I will give you a pure boy. Shakir
The Muslim scripture further claims that Mary’s mother prayed that Allah would protect both her daughter and grandson from the stain of Satan:
When the wife of Imran said, ‘Lord, I have vowed to Thee, in dedication, what is within my womb. Receive Thou this from me; Thou hearest, and knowest.’ And when she gave birth to her she said, ‘Lord, I have given birth to her, a female.’ (And God knew very well what she had given birth to; the male is not as the female.) ‘And I have named her Mary, and commend her to Thee with her seed, to protect them from the accursed Satan.’ S. 3:35-36 Arberry
A prayer which Muhammad believed Allah answered:
Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:
Abu Huraira said, "I heard Allah’s Apostle saying, “There is none born among the off-spring of Adam, but Satan touches it. A child therefore, cries loudly at the time of birth because of the touch of Satan, EXCEPT MARY AND HER CHILD.” Then Abu Huraira recited: “And I seek refuge with You for her and for her offspring from the outcast Satan” (3.36). (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 55, Number 641; see also Volume 4, Book 54, Number 506)
Jesus and his blessed mother are the only persons whom the Devil could not touch and get near to, which may explain why the following Muslim scholar could say that they are the only ones who never committed any sin:
“Jesus and his mother did not commit any of the sins which the REST of the children of Adam commit.” (Mahmoud M. Ayoub, The Quran and Its Interpreters: The House of Imran [State University of New York Press (SUNY), 1992], Volume II, p. 94; capital and underline emphasis ours)
Muhammad himself is said to have mentioned something similar, i.e. unlike the true prophets and Muhammad who committed specific sins Jesus never did:
Narrated Abu Huraira:
Some (cooked) meat was brought to Allah Apostle and the meat of a forearm was presented to him as he used to like it. He ate a morsel of it and said, "I will be the chief of all the people on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know the reason for it? Allah will gather all the human being of early generations as well as late generation on one plain so that the announcer will be able to make them all-hear his voice and the watcher will be able to see all of them. The sun will come so close to the people that they will suffer such distress and trouble as they will not be able to bear or stand. Then the people will say, 'Don't you see to what state you have reached? Won't you look for someone who can intercede for you with your Lord' Some people will say to some others, 'Go to Adam.' So they will go to Adam and say to him. 'You are the father of mankind; Allah created you with His Own Hand, and breathed into you of His Spirit (meaning the spirit which he created for you); and ordered the angels to prostrate before you; so (please) intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see in what state we are? Don't you see what condition we have reached?' Adam will say, 'Today my Lord has become angry as He has never become before, nor will ever become thereafter. He forbade me (to eat of the fruit of) the tree, but I disobeyed Him. Myself! Myself! Myself! (has more need for intercession). Go to someone else; go to Noah.' So they will go to Noah and say (to him), 'O Noah! You are the first (of Allah's Messengers) to the people of the earth, and Allah has named you a thankful slave; please intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see in what state we are?' He will say.' Today my Lord has become angry as He has never become nor will ever become thereafter. I had (in the world) the right to make one definitely accepted invocation, and I made it against my nation. Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else; go to Abraham.' They will go to Abraham and say, 'O Abraham! You are Allah's Apostle and His Khalil from among the people of the earth; so please intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see in what state we are?' He will say to them, 'My Lord has today become angry as He has never become before, nor will ever become thereafter. I had told three lies (Abu Haiyan (the sub-narrator) mentioned them in the Hadith) Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else; go to Moses.' The people will then go to Moses and say, 'O Moses! You art Allah's Apostle and Allah gave you superiority above the others with this message and with His direct Talk to you; (please) intercede for us with your Lord Don't you see in what state we are?' Moses will say, 'My Lord has today become angry as He has never become before, nor will become thereafter, I killed a person whom I had not been ordered to kill. Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else; go to Jesus.' So they will go to Jesus and say, 'O Jesus! You are Allah's Apostle and His Word which He sent to Mary, and a Spirit sent by Him, and you talked to the people while still young in the cradle. Please intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see in what state we are?' Jesus will say. 'My Lord has today become angry as He has never become before nor will ever become thereafter. JESUS WILL NOT MENTION ANY SIN, but will say, 'Myself! Myself! Myself! Go to someone else; go to Muhammad.' So they will come to me and say, 'O Muhammad ! You are Allah's Apostle and the last of the prophets, AND ALLAH FORGAVE YOUR EARLY AND LATE SINS. (Please) intercede for us with your Lord. Don't you see in what state we are?" The Prophet added, "Then I will go beneath Allah's Throne and fall in prostration before my Lord. And then Allah will guide me to such praises and glorification to Him as He has never guided anybody else before me. Then it will be said, 'O Muhammad Raise your head. Ask, and it will be granted. Intercede It (your intercession) will be accepted.' So I will raise my head and Say, 'My followers, O my Lord! My followers, O my Lord'. It will be said, 'O Muhammad! Let those of your followers who have no accounts, enter through such a gate of the gates of Paradise as lies on the right; and they will share the other gates with the people." The Prophet further said, "By Him in Whose Hand my soul is, the distance between every two gate-posts of Paradise is like the distance between Mecca and Busra (in Sham)." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, Number 236)
And:
… They would come to Jesus and would say: O Jesus, thou art the messenger of Allah and thou conversed with people in the cradle, (thou art) His Word which He sent down upon Mary, and (thou art) the Spirit from Him; so intercede for us with thy Lord. Don't you see (the trouble) in which we are? Don't you see (the misfortune) that has overtaken us? Jesus (peace be upon him) would say: Verily, my Lord is angry today as He had never been angry before or would ever be angry afterwards. HE MENTIONED NO SIN OF HIS. (He simply said:) I am concerned with myself, I am concerned with myself; you go to someone else: better go to Muhammad.
They would come to me and say: O Muhammad, thou art the messenger of Allah and the last of the apostles. Allah HAS PARDONED THEE ALL THY PREVIOUS AND LATER SINS… (Sahih Muslim, Book 001, Number 0378)
This leads us to our next point.
4c. The Quran repeatedly mentions the fact that Muhammad was a sinner whom Allah constantly rebuked and commanded to repent.
Surely, We have sent down to you (O Muhammad) the Book (this Qur'an) in truth that you might judge between men by that which Allah has shown you (i.e. has taught you through Divine Inspiration), so be not a pleader for the treacherous. And SEEK the Forgiveness of Allah, certainly, Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And argue not on behalf of those who deceive themselves. Verily, Allah does not like anyone who is a betrayer of his trust, and indulges in crime. S. 4:105-107 Hilali-Khan
Allah forgive thee (O Muhammad)! Wherefore didst thou grant them leave ere those who told the truth were manifest to thee and thou didst know the liars? S. 9:43
Then have patience (O Muhammad). Lo! the promise of Allah is true. And ASK forgiveness of thy sin, and hymn the praise of thy Lord at fall of night and in the early hours. S. 40:55 Pickthall
So know (O Muhammad) that La ilaha ill-Allah (none has the right to be worshipped but Allah) and ASK forgiveness for your sin, and also for (the sin of) believing men and believing women. And Allah knows well your moving about, and your place of rest (in your homes). S. 47:19 Hilali-Khan
When comes the Help of Allah (to you, O Muhammad against your enemies) and the conquest (of Makkah), And you see that the people enter Allah's religion (Islam) in crowds, So glorify the Praises of your Lord, and ask for His Forgiveness. Verily, He is the One Who accepts the repentance and forgives. S. 110:1-3 Hilali-Khan
Hence, even Islam agrees that Jesus, unlike the prophets and the rest of humanity (especially Muhammad), is absolutely pure and completely holy, one who never committed any sin whatsoever!
Conclusion
With the foregoing in perspective we can now clearly see that the Christian argument is logically sound. The Holy Bible, the inspired and inerrant Word of God, expressly and emphatically proclaims that God alone is absolutely pure, holy and righteous and that all of his creation is less than completely pure in his infinitely holy sight. At the same time, the inspired Scriptures affirm that Jesus is also absolutely pure, holy and righteous. Thus, Jesus must therefore be God! To put this in the form of a syllogism:
- Only Yahweh is completely pure, holy, righteous and sinless.
- Jesus is also completely pure, holy, righteous and sinless.
- Jesus is therefore Yahweh God (yet not the Father or the Holy Spirit).
Since the Holy Bible (as well as the Islamic corpus) affirms that both premises are true then the conclusion is also true and valid. After all, valid premises lead to valid conclusions which means that the Muslims cannot escape the logic of the inspired Scriptures that Jesus is God (the Son) since he is just as pure, holy, and righteous as God is (i.e. he is just as righteous and sinless as both God the Father and his eternal Holy Spirit are).
This concludes our discussion. Lord Jesus willing, there will be further responses to the rest of Steve Johnson’s points that will appear shortly.