Page 59 - Apologetics Student Textbook (3 Credits)

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John 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you
will die in your sins."

The literal word for word translation of the Greek reads “I said therefore to you that you will die in the
sins of you, for if you believe not that I AM (ego eimi), you will die in the sins of you.

The word “Yahweh” occurs some 5,300 times in the Old Testament and is connected with the verb, “to
be.” In Exodus 3:14, God declared His name as “I AM WHO I AM.” The I AM in verse 14 and the name
for “Yahweh” in verse 15 are both derivatives of the same verb, “to be.” I AM (ego eimi) is God’s name
in that the name expresses the full nature of God’s eternal nature. I AM and Yahweh have the same
root meaning and can be considered interchangeable. Both mean “eternal self-existence.” For
example,

Isaiah 41:4 "Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
'I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last, I am.'" (ego eimi)

Moses asked God who he should tell the Israelites who sent him, and…

Exodus 3: 15 God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to the sons of
Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" In the Greek translation of the OT, ego eimi is used to translate God’s
name, I AM.

God told Moses to tell the Israelites that the I AM, the Eternal One, sent him.

In this verse, Jesus told those who heard him in the temple, UNLESS YOU BELIEVE THAT I AM, YOU WILL
DIE IN YOUR SINS! He used the same root words of Himself as God used to Moses. As a result, those
who did not believe He was God picked up stones to kill Him. They clearly understood His claim to be
God.

John 10:33 (ASV) The Jews answered him, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and
because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.

John 5:18 (ASV) For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake

the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus claimed to possess only the powers of and authority of God. In Mark 2:5-7 He forgave sins; in John
14:6 He claimed to be life; in John 5:26-27 He claimed to be the light of the world. He also allowed
people to worship Him (Matthew 14:33). Not only did Jesus clearly claim to be God, but He was willing
to die for his claims (John 19:7).

So Jesus clearly claimed to be God and everyone at the time understood this very well. The question is
now - was he who he claimed to be? Just for the sake of argument, let us assume he was not. Then he
either knew that he was telling a lie or he was sincerely deluded about who he was. We will show that
both alternatives cannot be true.

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