Does Jesus Being Called “Lord” Mean He is God?
Even though the Bible is clear that there are, “in fact there are many gods and many lords” (1 Corinthians 8:5 NRSV), A question arises, Does Jesus being called “Lord” mean he’s God?
Ephesians 1:3 – “…to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This verse clearly indicates that Jesus has a God over him. This God of Jesus is his Father. Someone who has God over him cannot be God. The fact that Jesus is called “Lord” obviously doesn’t make him God.
Ephesians 4:5,6 – “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.” (ESV) Jesus is the “one Lord” here, and Yahweh, his Father, is the “one God.” This unity is expressed in very simple terms. A key takeaway from this verse is that the “one God” does not include the “one Lord”, Jesus Christ. Without Jesus being God, the Trinity doctrine collapses.
1 Corinthians 8:6 – “there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and through whom we live.” (GNB) – An obvious distinction is here made here between God, who is “the Creator of all things”, and ‘Jesus Christ, through whom God created everything’. Even though Jesus is called “Lord”, that doesn’t make him either “God”, or “the Creator”. Those titles belong to the “the Father”, as we can see from this verse.
