Jesus Christ Possesses the Names and Titles of God

 The strongest argument for the deity of Christ is the one that most incensed Jesus' contemporaries. He took to Himself the Old Testament names and titles for God and also allowed others to call Him by the  same names and titles. When Jesus called Himself by those appellations of deity, it so angered the rulers of the Jews that they tried to kill Him for blasphemy.  The Jewish authorities had no doubt. This Galilean teacher was claiming to be Almighty God. 

One could object, saying that Jesus' claiming those divine names and titles did not make Him and God one and the same. Several people may have the same name and title. Or, John Smith can be a man husband, friend, and vice president of sales, all at the same time. Some names and titles, however, are exclusive and can be held by only one person. For example, there can be only one President of the United States at any one time. Many of the names and titles that the Bible uses for Jesus were those that only one person could rightfully have – and that was God. 

Yahweh (Jehovah) 

 Jesus claimed for Himself the name of God most revered by the Jews, a name considered so sacred that the Jews would not even utter it: YHWH (now often pronounced Yahweh or Jehovah). 

God first revealed the meaning of this name to His people in Exodus 3. After Moses had asked God by what name God should be called, the Lord replied,  "I AM WHO I AM .. Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me to you (Exodus 3: 13, 14). 

The phrase I AM is not the word YHWH. However it is a derivative of the verb "to be, ' ' from which the divine name Yahweh (YHWH) is also derived in Exodus 3:15. Thus the I AM WHO I AM title which God gave to Moses is a fuller expression of His eternal being, shortened in v. 15to the divine name of YHWH. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament, translated the first use of the phrase I AM in Exodus 3:14 as ego eimi. (Greek was the spoken language of Jesus' day and is the language in which the New Testament was written.) 

    So, in the time of Jesus, the emphatic form of "I am ' (ego eimi) 

inGreek was the equivalent of the Hebrew Yahweh. Depending on the context, it could be a forceful way of saying "I am! ' ' (as in John 9:9),  or it could be the name of God Himself, the eternal

I AM. 

On several occasions Jesus used the term ego eimi of Himself as it can be used only of God. The clearest example is when the Jews said to Jesus: " You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham? '  Jesus said to them 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM (Greek: ego eimi) .  Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him' '  (John 8:57-59). The Jews sought to kill Him for!he presumption of that claim to deity. The Old Testament was clear. The prescribed penalty for blasphemy was to be stoned to death (Leviticus 24:16) . 

Jesus ascribed this title to Himself in other instances as well. Earlier in the same chapter, Jesus declared:  "... unless you believe that I am (ego eimi] He, you shall die in your sins (John 8:24). In Greek the word He does not appear. It simply reads "... unless you believe that I am..."  He told the Jews, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am (ego eimi) He" (John 8:28). Again the He is omitted /  in the Greek. 

Jesus continually affirmed His deity. When Jewish temple guards, along with Roman soldiers, came to arrest Him the night before His crucifixion, Jesus asked them "Whom do you seek? They answered Him 'Jesus the Nazarene.' He said to them, 'I am (ego eimi] He.'... When therefore He said to them,  'I am He,' they drew back, and fell to the ground' '  (John 18:4-6). They were unable to stand before the force of His claim and the force of His person.  

The New Testament writers, convinced that Jesus Christ was God, saw no conflict in ascribing to Jesus Old Testament passages that referred to YHWH (Jehovah) . 

Beginning his Gospel, Mark quoted Isaiah's reference to God: A voice is calling, Clear the way for the LORD Yahweh) in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God " ' (Isaiah 40:3). Mark interpreted that passage as having its fulfillment in John the Baptist's preparing the way for Jesus (Mark 1:2-4; compare John 1:23). 

Paul quoted Joel 2:32, ' 'And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD (Yahweh)  will be delivered (saved].'' Paul applied that quote to Jesus, writing about Him and saying, "for 'Whoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved' '' (Romans 10:13). 

Peter quoted the same verse from Joel. "Every one who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved °  (Acts 2:21). Then when the people asked what they had to do to be saved, Peter told them "Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ .. "  (Acts 2:38). Having just stated that calling upon the name of the Lord (Yahweh) was a prerequisite for salvation, Peter tells them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Had Peter not considered Christ God, one would have expected him to tell them to be baptized in the name of Yahweh,  which would have been consistent with Jewish practice and belief. 

 Perhaps more important than the fact that the disciples gave this designation to Jesus is that His enemies recognized that He was claiming to be God.  A hostile witness is always strong evidence in a court of law. For example, as will be elaborated on later,  Jesus said, 

 "I and the Father are one. " The Jews took up stones again to stone Him Jesus answered them, "I showed you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you stoning me?'' The Jews answered him ''For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God' ' (John 10.30-33). 

 There was no doubt as to who the Jewish leaders thought Jesus was making Himself out to be. Thus,  the main accusation of Jesus' enemies centered not on what He did, but rather on who He claimed to be:  God. 

 God

 The Greek word used hundreds of times in the New Testament for God is the word Theos (corresponding to the Hebrew Elohim in the Old Testament). Jesus is called by that name in distinction to false gods in a number of instances. 

The biblical Judeo-Christian view of one true God stands in contrast to Hindu and Buddhist religions which, respectively, identify man's true self as one with God or with ultimate reality. For example, most Hindu gurus in this country have no problem in saying, "I am God, ' ' and in teaching their thousands of followers likewise. Obviously one who believes he is inwardly already God has no need to seek God in the Christian sense, or to accept a personal Savior.  Such is not the case with the New Testament, set in the Jewish, monotheistic framework which clearly delineates between God and His creation. Culturally,  Jesus could not have been called by the name God unless he was considered to be the "one God''  (Deuteronomy 6:4), since in Jewish thinking there were no ''other gods.'' 

C.S. Lewis writes: 

 One attempt consists in saying that the Man did not really say these things, but that His followers exaggerated the story, and so the legend grew up that He had said them This is difficult because His followers were all Jews; that is, they belonged to that nation which of all others was most convinced that there was only one God – that there could not possibly be another. It is very odd that this horrible invention about a religious leader should grow up among the one people in the whole earth least likely to make such a mistake. On the contrary we get the impression that none of His immediate followers or even of the New Testament writers embraced the doctrine at all easily.' 

 God stood separate from His creation. Human beings were not an extension of God. 

Following are eleven New Testament examples where Christ is called God. 

  1. In Hebrews 1, in which Christ's supremacy over angels and prophets is presented, the writer of Hebrews said, "But of the Son He (God] says, .Thy throne, 0 God [Theos], is forever and ever.'" Hebrews 1:8 just quoted, is a direct quote from Psalm 45:6, 7 where "God ' is addressing ' 'God.' '  As translated, Hebrews 1:8 is a correct rendering of the Greek text despite how it is translated in some versions.' 

     2. Peter called Christ "God" (Theos). He wrote,  "Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ... by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1), the phrase Jesus Christ here acting as an appositive to God and Savior.  (An appositive in Greek means that a noun or a noun phrase is used with another as an explanatory  equivalent). 

In the original New Testament Greek, this is called a Granville Sharpe construction. One article covers both nouns (God and Savior). The Greek conjunction "and'' (Greek: kai) couples the two nouns inseparably. This means that the appositive (the word that renames), Jesus Christ, must refer to both God and Savior. Jesus Christ is our God and Savior. Grammarians are emphatic that only one person is meant, not two. Winer Schmeidel's Grammatik (p. 158) says,  "Grammar demands that one person be meant", A T. Robertson's Word Pictures in the New Testament (Vol. 6, p. 147) states, "One person not two."  (Compare Moulton's Grammar, Vol. 3, p 181, and Dana and Mantey's A Manual Grammar of NT Greek, p.  147.) All agree that Jesus Christ is the "great God and Savior. ' ' 

3. The same Granville Sharpe construction was also used by Paul as he told Titus to await the "appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,  Christ Jesus "(Titus 2:13). 

    4. Thomas, who doubted the resurrection, said,  "Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails,  and put my hand into His side, I will not believe''  (John20:25) When Jesus appeared to Thomas, He said, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands;  and reach here your hand, and put it into My side;  and be not unbelieving, but believing'' (v.27).  Thomas replied My Lord and MyGod [Theos]!"  (v.28). There is no mistaking that Thomas's words were addressed to Jesus. Thomas used both titles to express his understanding of Christ's deity and lordship. Jesus did not rebuke Thomas for blasphemy. Instead, He accepted those titles of deity. 

5. Acts 2:36 says, "God has made him (Jesus)  both Lord and Christ."  Verse 39 speaks of God as "the Lord our God, " and thus Christ who is Lord (v.36) is also God (v.39). Acts 10:36 reinforces this point, referring to Christ as "Lord of all.'' 

6. Acts 16:3l and 34 refer to belief in the Lord Jesus)  as belief in God. 

7. Revelation 7:10-12, 17 reads: And they cry out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.' And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,  saying, 'Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.'... for the Lamb in the center of the throne shall be their shepherd, and shall guide them to springs of the water of life; and God shall wipe every tear from their eyes. ' ' Note that in verse 10 it is God who sits on the throne and in verse 17 it is the Lamb (Jesus) in the center of the throne. Who is in the center of the throne? To say that Jesus is at the center and yet deny His divinity is to rob God of the central place in heaven, an untenable position

8. In Acts 18, the way of the Lord... the things concerning Jesus (v.25) is the same as the "way of God (v.26). 

9. Another name for the Messiah was the name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14), which translated literally means God with us."  In Matthew 1.23 this title is clearly assigned to Jesus: ''Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means,  'God with us.' ' 

10. Isaiah 9:6 reads, ''For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."  This prophecy concerning Jesus, the Messiah, indicates that one of His names will be ''Mighty God, " which is the Hebrew El Gibbor. The same phrase is used of Yahweh in Isaiah 10:21. The point is that the Holy Spirit designated the child Jesus with such names. If the names were not intended to express the child's nature, it would be deception. "His name will be called' ' means "This is what He is,'' not 'this is what His name means,  but He is not that which it states. " 

As Herbert C. Leupold says, "This is the type of character that will be his... he is called by these names because he actually is the kind of person the names say he is."3 If Jesus is not mighty God, neither is He ''Wonderful Counselor'' or the ''Prince of Peace."  And if He is not one of these, why use such terms at all?   Why tell us the meaning of a name if it has no relevance? But, as the rest of Isaiah and the Old Testament point out, the Messiah is a wonderful counselor and a prince of peace (Isaiah 42 and 49; compare Zechariah 9:9, 10; Micah 5:4). And as the New Testament proves, He is also Almighty God (John 1:1; Titus 2:13). 

  11. John 1:1, 14 reads, ''In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Theos) .. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' ' There is not a more widely used nor more highly controversial passage about Christ's deity than John 1:1. There is little question that the "Word"  refers to Jesus, since verse 14 says,  "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.' ' Taken at face value, verses1and 14 teach the deity of Christ; they state that the Word was ''with God, " " was God, " and "became flesh. "

To deny the deity of Christ after reading those verses, one would have to mistranslate or reinterpret John 1:1. One way John 1:1 is mistranslated is by rendering the phrase "the Word was God" as the Word was a god. The problem with this translation is that the Greek text does not warrant the use of the indefinite article ''a'' before ''God.'' 

Bruce Metzger, a student of the Greek language,  relates a study of the Greek definite article done by Dr. Ernest Cadman Colwell of the University of Chicago. Colwell writes that

 ''A definite predicate nominative has the article when it follows the verb; it does not have the article when it precedes the verb .. The opening verse of John's Gospel contains one of the many passages where this rule suggests the translation of a predicate as a definite noun. The absence of the article (before theos) does not make the predicate indefinite or qualitative when it precedes the verb; it is indefinite in this position only when the context demands it.  The context makes no such demand in the Gospel of John, for this statement cannot be regarded as strange in the prologue of the gospel which reaches its climax in the confession of Thomas. "4

 F. F. Bruce, an expert in biblical languages, says that rendering the phrase as ''a god ' is a frightful mistranslation because the omission of the indefinite article is common with nouns in the predicative construction.5 

 Thus, John 1:1 is one of the clearest verses in the New Testament expressing the absolute deity of Christ. The construction has been discussed by many of the world's great Greek and biblical scholars. We might paraphrase the verse something like this: Before anything came into existence, the Word was already in existence. He enjoyed a close relationship to God and what God was, the Word was."

As F. F. Bruce says of verse 1, " .. The force is 'and the Word was Himself God.' ''6

Sometimes people ask how Jesus could be "God' '  and "with God" at the same time. The response to that is found in the concept of the Trinity: one God in three eternal persons. The Word of John 1:1 was with the other persons of the Trinity and is Himself God by nature. 

A group known as The Way International interprets Jesus' being the "Word"  in the sense that He was an expression of God in the way that our words are an expression of ourselves. The Way does not believe that Jesus was the Word in the sense of being God. To support this interpretation, adherents say that John 1:1-18 is primarily speaking of God, not Jesus; that if these verses were speaking of Jesus,  they would be attributing to Jesus characteristics that only God could have. Thus, as much as possible,  they try to take Jesus out of the limelight, saying that the overall thrust of John 1 is to point to God. 

There are problems with their interpretation,  though. First, the string of pronouns He and Him in John 1 make little sense if they refer mainly to God rather than Jesus, since the whole thrust of John's Gospel is that people might believe in Jesus. In the Gospel's key verse, John said, ' ' .. these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God °  (John 20:31). It seems logical,  therefore, that John's introduction would tie in with his main theme.

Second, all that is spoken of in the first 18 verses of John  is repeated about Jesus elsewhere in the Gospel or in other New Testament passages. Some examples: 

 

Chapter One   Verses 3 and 10: He created the world   Verse 4: "in Him was life' '             Verses 4 and 9: He was the "light of men'' and the "true light''  Verse 10: He was in the world"         Verse 11: "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him."     Verse 12: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.

Parallel Passages   Jesus was active in creating the world (Hebrews 1:1, 2, 8-13;  Colossians l; 16-I8) . Jesus said He was the "bread of life,'' "the resurrection and the life, ' ' " the way, and the truth, and the life' ' (John 6:35, 48, 51; 11:25; 14:6).  John 20.31 states that people can have life by believing in Jesus.  Jesus said He is the ' 'light of the world' '  (John 8:12; 9:5).  Who? Logically, the verse points to Jesus.  Throughout the rest of John's Gospel, the emphasis is on Jesus coming into the world (John 3:17; 6:33, etc.).  The Jews rejected Jesus, not God as they understood God (see John 3:32). In rejecting Jesus they thought they were doing God's will.   Throughout this Gospel,  John makes clear that people are to believe in Jesus (John 3: 16-18;  5:24; 12:44, 20:31, etc.).  Jesus bestows eternal life (John 10:28).

 

Alpha and Omega:  the First and the Last

 The terms Alpha and Omega give a beautiful, awesome description of God. Long before the stars filled the heavens and our universe existed, God was. He is from everlasting to everlasting. Genesis 1:1 says, "In the beginning God... '' God alone deserves the titles Alpha (the first) and Omega (the last). 

Thus, these names express the eternal nature of God. He is the source and goal of all creation. No created being could ever rightfully claim to be the first and last of all that is. 

Jesus and God are both called the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, in Scripture. 

 

God   Isaiah 41:4 –" I, the Lord (Yahweh), am the first,  and with the last, I am He.' '       Isaiah 48:12 – ''l am He,  I am the first, I am also the last.' '     Revelation 1:8 – '''I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.      Revelation 21:6, 7 – " I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes shall inherit these things, and t will be his God and he will he My son. "

Jesus   Revelation 1:17, 18 –  "... I am the first (protos) and the last (eschatos), and the living One,  and l was dead, and behold, 1 am alive forever-more..." Revelation 2:8 –" And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:  ''The first and the last,  who was dead, and has come to life.'' Revelation 22:12-16 –  "Behold, I am coming quickly .. I am the Alpha and the Omega,  the first and the last, the beginning and the end ...I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things... "

 The significance or the above passages in the book of Revelation cannot be underestimated. They are some of the strongest and clearest examples of Christ's claim to deity. There cannot be two first and two lasts, two Alphas and Omegas. 

 Lord

 The title Lord is freely used in both Testaments to refer to God and Jesus. In the Old testament the Hebrew word for Lord was Adonai. In the Septuagint and the New Testament the word translated "Lord"

is Kurios. Both Adonai and Kurios were used for God  by the Jews. 

In the New Testament Kurios had two meanings,  one common and one

sacred. The common usage was a courteous greeting meaning ''sir ' or "master.'' The sacred sense implied deity. Some New Testament passages obviously use the word Lord as a term of respect for Jesus (John 4:11).  Because the early Christians were monotheistic, as were the Jews, if they used the word Lord in the sacred sense for Jesus, it would be strong evidence that they thought Christ was God. As Hogg and Vine  state, 

 The full significance of this association of Jesus with God under the one appellation, 'Lord,' is seen when it is remembered that these men belonged to the only monotheistic race in the world. To associate with the Creator one known to be a creature, however exalted, though possible to Pagan philosophers, was quite impossible to a Jew. 7

 Romans who worshiped the emperor as a god would often greet one another and say "Caesar is Lord." One reason the early Christians and Jews were persecuted was that they refused to give that honor to the emperor. That practice may also explain the significance of the Christian phrase, ''Jesus is Lord"  i.e., Lord being used in the sense of God. 

There are several clear examples where Jesus is called Lord"  in the sacred sense in Scripture. Paul wrote, "No one speaking by the Spirit of God .. can say, Jesus is Lord, "  except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). Some individuals might object by saying "I believe in Jesus as my Lord but I certainly do not think he is God.' ' The important question is what is meant by the word Lord. Anyone can mouth the words "Jesus is Lord" and some even mean it in the sense of master, but that is not what Paul was talking about. Several things indicate that Paul was making a statement about Jesus' divinity. 

     1. Paul began chapter 12 of 1 Corinthians by speaking of spiritual gifts and the fact that the Corinthians had been led into the worship of idols as gods. In contrast to those false gods (vv. 1, 2), Paul stated that no one by the Spirit of God can say "Jesus is accursed' ' and no one can affirm ' 'Jesus is Lord' ' except by the Holy Spirit, implying that Jesus, the Lord, is the true God worthy of worship. 

     2. In verse 3, Paul treated the Spirit, Jesus and God on an equal basis.

Verses 4-6 also show: 

verse 4: varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 

verse 5: varieties of ministries, and the same

Lord (i.e., Jesus, verse 1), 

verse 6: varieties of effects, but the same God. 

If Jesus is not God, why is he treated equally in verse 5? In verses 11 and 18 the Spirit and God are again treated as synonymous. 

If one were to ask a person who denies the deity of Christ if he or she ''prays to the Lord" that person would have to ask, ''Whom do you mean?''  That is the point. Throughout the New Testament,  God and Jesus are both called Lord. The general answer he or she would be apt to give is "I pray to God, but I don't believe in praying to Jesus." In response, there are five New Testament examples where prayer is offered to Jesus in heaven as Lord (or the Son of God). 

    1. In Acts 7:59, 60 Stephen called on Jesus as Lord.  As he was being stoned, he prayed "Lord Jesus,  receive my spirit."  That indicated his belief that Jesus was more than a man, powerful enough to receive his spirit. ''Falling on his knees he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them! " ' A pious Hellenistic Jew would not pray to anyone less than God. 

   2. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul wrote to the "saints...  who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours." 

3. In 2 Corinthians 12-8-9 as Paul spoke of his ''thorn in the flesh,'' he said, ''Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. ' Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.' ' 

4. In l John 5:13-15 we read: ''These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence which we have before Him that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from Him,' ' The pronouns He and Him refer to the Son of God (v.13). 

5. In Acts 8:24 Simon said, "Pray to the Lord... "  (in Verse 16 Jesus is the "Lord." ) 

Peter and Paul each made the assertion that Jesus is "Lord of all' ' (Acts 10:36; Romans l0:l2) . Paul also said, '' .. for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory' ' (1 Corinthians 2:8). Who is the Lord of glory? Psalm 24:10 states that ' 'The LORD [YHWH] of hosts, He is the King of glory." (See also Psalm 96:7, 8.) 

In 2 Corinthians 4:4-5, Paul called Jesus Lord, saying, ''The god of this world (Satan] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord.» Thus, Christ, the image of God, is Lord. 

Paul used the same language and imagery in calling Jesus Lord that Isaiah used in the Old Testament of Yahweh (Jehovah): 

 

God   "I am God and there is no other... to Me every knee mill bow every tongue will swear allegiance. They will say of Me, 'Only in the Lord are righteousness and strength' " (Isaiah 45: 22-24) .

Jesus " at the name of Jesus every knee should bow... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Philippians 2: l0-11).

 

 Paul, an Old Testament scholar and Pharisee, would not have used that parallel by accident. 

Jesus referred to Himself as "Lord of the Sabbath," a reference to Himself as the creator of the sabbath.  In Exodus 31:13, 17 God said, °  You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you... It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever.'' For the Jew, Yahweh was both author and Lord of the sabbath. When some Pharisees rebuked Jesus for allowing His disciples to pick grain on the sabbath, thus breaking the law by ' 'working,' ' He said that it was all right because he was «Lord of the Sabbath °  (Matthew 12:8). As C.  S. Lewis says, 

 Here is another curious remark: In almost every religion there are unpleasant observances like fasting. This Man suddenly remarks one day, ''No one need fast while I am here. Who is this Man who remarks that His mere presence suspends all normal rules? Who is the person who can suddenly tell the school they can have a half holiday?8 

 The Jews who heard Him considered His words blasphemy Then, that same sabbath day, He went into their synagogue and made a point again of ''working,' ' healing a man, which further infuriated them. That, too, was breaking the sabbath according to their understanding. Incensed at His claiming authority that only God could have, they tried to kill Him (Matthew 12:14). To reiterate, according to Deuteronomy 6:4 and Mark i2:29, there can be only one Lord.

Savior

 The God of the Old Testament stated unequivocally that He alone is the Savior. "I, even I, am the LORD (Yahweh),. And there is no savior besides me" (Isaiah 43:11). Yet Scripture explicitly states that Jesus is also savior.