Why Would a Person Want to Deny the Deity of Jesus Christ?

If Jesus is not God then Jesus is either a liar or a lunatic. If Jesus is a liar, He cannot even be a good moral person, or one of God's many prophets. That would mean whatever Jesus taught cannot be trusted. Thus Jesus teachings can be ignored. So what Jesus calls sin may not be sin. The concept would be get rid of the messenger so that you do not have to follow the message.

If Jesus says He is the only way to heaven, but He is not God like He claims to be, then it would be safe to assume He is not the only way to heaven. So, then a person could argue there are many ways to get to heaven.

If Jesus is not who He says He is, and Christianity is based upon the teachings of Jesus, then Christianity falls apart. So Christianity would just be another religion.

However, if Jesus is who He says He is, then everything He said, did, and taught is truth. Thus if He says He is the only way to heaven, there is no other way to heaven. If Jesus says the means to get to heaven is faith alone, then it is not faith and works. If Jesus says a person must be born again to get to heaven, then they must be born again to get to heaven.

Every other religion than Christianity states that a person gets to heaven by faith and works. Every other religion does not say you must trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Thus every other religion is false.

Some would say that this means Christianity is very exclusive. That is true, but only to an extent. It is very exclusive on how to get to heaven. However, it is also inclusive-whomsoever. Heaven is open to whomsoever puts their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Regardless of culture, race, sex, upbringing, education, etc.

Conclusion
"...Either this man was, and is, the Son of God; else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."
C S Lewis

Jesus is equal to God
There are verses that say Jesus is equal to God.
Some will argue that God the Father created Jesus to be equal to Him-not that Jesus was innately equal to God. It is immaterial. Whether Jesus was at one time not equal to God (which we believe is false doctrine), He is NOW equal to God. So Jesus is fully God. To argue otherwise, is in direct conflict with scripture.

Philippians 2:5-7 (KJV)
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
If Jesus on His own made himself equal to God, He could not do it unless He is God or God allowed it. If God allowed it, then God made Jesus equal to God, thus He is God. The true meaning of this passage is that was God, not that He was made to be equal to God.

What some people do is get hung up on the semantics of the phrases 'form of God'. Here are other translations to help bring clarity.

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Jesus has the characteristics of God

Only God is immortal
1 Timothy 1:16-17
16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Jesus is immortal. Some may say vs 17 is about God the Father, but the context would make it appear that it is talking about Jesus.

God is Preexistent
Colossians 1:17
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
Jesus was before all things. That means He was before all things existed. He had no beginning just like God had no beginning. And all things consist by Jesus.

Only God can forgive sins
Mark 2:5-7
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only?
Jesus forgives sin

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Ephesians 3:9
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

Colossians 1:15-19
¹⁵ Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

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Jesus as God
Isaiah 44:6
6 Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

Joel 2:27
27 And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed.
God, Jehovah, is speaking and He says that He alone is God- No one else is the Lord your God. Yet the New Testament has many verses calling Jesus Lord. So if Jesus claims to be God, He is either God or a liar. If He is a liar, He is a false prophet, not a good prophet. He is not a good man, He is an evil man to claim to be equal to God.

It is immaterial if the word Lord is capitalized or not. The argument that Jesus was claiming to be lord instead of Lord is an invalid argument. It is very clear in scripture that Jesus was claiming to be Lord-God, not one of many lords or gods.

John 5:18
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
There is no other way to read this verse other than the Jews believed that Jesus was making himself equal to God. They believed this because Jesus was making himself to be equal to God.

John 10:31-33
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.
32 Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 33 The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
Very clear again that Jesus was making himself equal to God. Thus, He is either God or a liar.

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Jesus as God and Saviour 
In this lesson we will explore the concept of Jesus being both God and Saviour. Throughout the New Testament Jesus Himself, and others call Jesus lord and saviour. Some may argue that Jesus is just one of many gods. We will deal with that in a moment. Others may argue that just because Jesus was Saviour that does not make Him God. We will also address that in a moment. In this lesson we will only look at the verses that call Jesus Lord and Saviour or God and Saviour.
(All verses are in KJV unless stated otherwise.)

Hosea 13:4
Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but me: for there is no saviour beside me.

In Hosea it is very clear that God, Jehovah, is speaking. He says there is no God but Him. And there is no saviour besides him. So, there is only one God and one Saviour. Thus if Jesus is called saviour, then he is equal to God-thus is God. Because there is only one true God.

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One of the essentials of Christianity is the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ. In simple terms this means that Jesus is fully God, not a God. Christianity is the only religion that believes Jesus is God. Every other religion or cult sees Jesus as either a good man, a prophet, one of many gods, or not even a real person. There are cults like Mormonism and Jehovah Witness that deny the deity of Jesus. This is why these cults are not Christian no matter how much they may say they are Christian. Their doctrine does not line up with the teachings of Scripture, in this instance, the deity of Jesus.

Jesus claimed to be God, either He was/is God or He is a liar. If a liar, he is not a true prophet or a good man. He would actually also be a fool to die believing He is God, if He is not God. A person who does not believe in the deity of Jesus Christ is not a Christian because they are denying a fundamental doctrine of Christianity.

There are over 20 Bible passages that proclaim Jesus has the attributes of God. Jesus proclaims Jesus as God and Savior, as God, as Creator, as equal to God, and having the characteristics of God. We will look at these verses in our next lesson.