The Nugget:
John 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
My Comment:
I am continuing this series on the attributes of God. This Bible Nugget (John 5:26) speaks of (2) God’s self-existence.
That may be too deep of a concept for me to muster any further words about it. God has always existed. He possesses the attribute of self-existence. This is sometimes spoken of in terms of the fact that God is essential being, or necessary being, clearly uncreated and without beginning or end.
But notice carefully that God has given to His Son to have life in himself. No one else has that attribute. This would seem to be a good bit of evidence to prove that the Bible asserts the Deity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now that idea does not sit well with Jehovah’s Witnesses, with Unitarians, or with any group or individual who would deny the Bible doctrine of the Trinity.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses published a booklet some years ago with a title something like The Trinity: Should You Believe It?. That may not be the exact title, but it is close enough to find that publication. Going by what the Bible itself teaches, I would have to pronounce their publication to be utter error, cleverly done, but still false.
The word “Trinity” is not found in the Bible. But the doctrine of the Trinity is found there by necessary inference.
For those who desire to DIG DEEPER into this subject:
(1) Consult the cross references given in Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible on page 1173 for John 5:26.
(2) Consult the cross references given in The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 1194 or in Logos 5 or 6 Bible software for John 5:26.
(3) Consult the cross references given in the original Treasury of Scripture Knowledge on page 67 of the New Testament for John 5:26.
(3) Most people today do not have access to those three resources, so I have posted cross references for this passage as I have developed them even more completely for your study as given below:
John 5:26. the Father. 2 P 1:17. 1 J 5:7. hath life. T#221. Jn 1:4. *Jn 6:57. Ge 1:1. Ex 3:14. Dt 32:40. *Ps 36:9. 42:2. 90:2. Is 41:4. Je 10:10. Da 4:34. Ac 14:15. 17:24, 25, 28. Ro 11:35, 36. *1 Tim 1:17. *1 Tim 6:13, 15, 16. Re 1:17, 18. so hath. *+Jn 1:4. 4:10. 7:37, 38. 8:51. 11:26. **Jn 14:6, 19. 17:2, 3. *1 Cor 15:45. *Col 3:3, 4. 1 J 1:1-3. Re 7:17. 21:6. 22:1, 17. have life. Jn 6:57. *Jn 11:25. +*Mt 28:19. Ac 3:15. Ro 5:10. 1 P 2:4. in himself. Jn 10:18. 1 J 5:11.