WHAT DOES JOHN 5:26 MEAN?
“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself” (John 5:26, ESV)
In this verse is one of the great mysteries of God revealed by our Lord Jesus Christ. It has also been one of the verses of the scripture which has attracted much argument among Christian teachers and theologians.
If we must have a proper understanding of what Jesus Christ said in this verse, we must pay attention to two important things in it – the phrase “life in Himself” used in relation to the Father and to the Son, and the word “granted” or “gave” or “given” used by different versions of the English Bible.
Life in Himself
In relation to God, the Father of all beings, the phrase “life in Himself” [Greek: zoen en heauto] means that life is resident in God. He is the source or fountain of life. Therefore, His existence is not derived from any other being. He has life in Himself or of Himself. It is from this fountain of life within God that all of creation derived their existence. He gave and continues to give life to all beings. But He did not derive His life from anyone else except Himself. That is why we confidently say that God is self-existent or that He is the source or fountain of life. Having life in Himself from which He gives life to others is what makes Him God and the Father of all beings. Since He did not derive His own from anyone, no one can take His own from Him. His life is limitless and eternal. He is the source of all life and that is why He is the only God, the only living and true God.
Our Lord Jesus Christ said in that short verse that He, the Son, also has “life in Himself.” This means that the Son is also a source or fountain of life. It is from this source that the only begotten Son of the Father gave life to all the creation of God. All of creation were created by the Son on the orders of the Father. The Son followed the “design” given Him by the Father in bringing creation into existence (Gen. 1:3-31).
The Word “Given”, “Gave” or “Granted”
Different versions of the English Bible use the word “given”, “gave” or “granted” in John 5:26. It is important that we take note of the word because it is the word that brings out the difference between the Father’s having of “life in Himself” and the Son’s having of “life in Himself.” Whereas the Father has life in Himself and of Himself, the having of “life in Himself” by the Son was granted or given Him by the Father. It was the Father who made His only begotten Son to be a source or fountain of life.
We should also be mindful of the fact that what the Father gave the Son in this verse is not just life but to have life in Himself. Of course, it was the Father who gave life to His Son. That is why the Father is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 20:17; Eph. 1:3, 17; 1 Pet. 1:3). And that is why Jesus Christ is a Son of God like the angels (Gen. 6:2,4; Job 1: 6; 2:1) and Adam (Luke 3:38). They are all sons of God because they derived their life or existence from God.
In John 5:26, what the Father gave or granted His only begotten Son is to “have life in Himself”. He granted or gave the Son to have life within Himself, or to be a fountain of life. The Bible is silent as to when this attribute was given or granted the Son by the Father. But it is likely that the Son inherited this attribute through His begettal by the Father. We see in this verse that the Father granted His only begotten Son to be a source or fountain of life. That is what makes the Son to be a giver of life just like the Father. See 2 Cor. 3: 6, 17; 1 Cor.15:45. The Father, being the primary or principal source of life, gave life to the Son from the life that is within Him. He then gave life to all other beings from the life that is within His Son. The Son of God created all things at the beginning from the life which is within Himself, which the Father had given or granted Him before the creation of all things (John 1:3; Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:15 – 17). We have also seen that while the only begotten Son of God got His life or existence directly from God, all other things got their existence through the Son.
It must also be mentioned that human beings got their own existence from both the Father and the Son (Gen. 1:26; 2:7). The involvement of the Father and the Son in the creation of human beings places humankind above the animals in the world and the universe itself.
The having of life in Himself, out of which He gives life to God’s creation is what makes Jesus Christ God like His Father. The Father is the God of all beings, including Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ is also God to all who were created by God through Him. For it is out of the life, which is within Himself, which the Father had put in Him, that He created all things.
To us who have been granted insight into the scriptures, we have seen that John 5:26 alongside other scriptures like 1 Cor. 15:45 and 2 Cor. 3:6, 17 provide a convincing and clear explanation to the Godhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But as long as God forever remains the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Godhood of the Son of God is derived from, subordinate to, and subsumed in, the Godhood of the Father. Jesus Christ’s reference to the Father as the only true God (John 5:44) and the only true God (John 17:3) is not unconnected with this fact. But it does not deny the Godhood of the Son of God. Neither does it deny the fact that the Father who granted His only begotten Son to have life in Himself is the only self-existent Being, the one Christ Himself called the only true God (John 17:3). The One who gave life or existence to His Son and who gave the same to others through His only begotten Son is the one God (John 5:44;1 Cor. 8:6). He is the One who made His Son Lord and the Christ (Acts 2:36).
Only the Father and the Son possess life in themselves. It is from this one fountain which is in the Father and the Son that all lives derive their existence. It is because the Son is a creator like the Father, albeit not independently, that make the Father command His holy angels to worship the Son (Heb. 1:6). This command of God cannot be justified in any sense if the Son Himself was not a God Being. And I must say that the Godhood of the Son is not in the sense that He is self-existent like the Father. It lies in the fact that His begettal by God made Him inherit the “God” nature of the Father. The possession of life in Himself, like the Father, is the second sense in which Christ is also a God Being or, putting it simply, God. We must, as Christians, understand the difference in the Godhood of the Father and of the Son.
The Man Jesus of Nazareth
Some people have argued that if Jesus Christ was God, Apostle Peter would not have referred to Him as “a man accredited by God” (Acts 2: 22) neither would Paul have called Him “the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). Quickly we say that the apostles did not deny the Godhood or divinity of Jesus Christ.
Let us not forget that Jesus Christ became flesh or human being in order to die for the sins of mankind (John 1:14; Rom. 8:3; Heb. 10:5). Jesus Christ left His Godhood with the Father when He was coming to the earth in human form (John 17:5). Therefore, when He was on the earth, He was completely a human being (Heb. 2: 14, 17). If He was a hybrid of divinity and humanity in His body, how could He have died for our sake? The Trinitarian teaching of Christ being perfect God and perfect man in His incarnation is grossly at variance with scriptural truth. Christ was completely human when He was on the earth. The apostles’ statements are totally in agreement with the truth. Jesus Christ, while on the earth, was 100 percent human. Mary gave birth to a human Jesus. And the Jews killed a human Jesus. The apostles’ statements do not deny the fact that, before Jesus Christ came into the world, He was a God Being (Ps. 45:6; John 1:1). From the time of His conception to the time of His resurrection from the grave, He was completely a human being. Apostle Paul wrote that He rose from the grave with a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:44). He ascended to heaven with this spiritual body. The person that the Jews killed was Jesus of Nazareth, a man accredited by God because He was a complete human being while on the earth.
The reader’s attention is drawn to the following excerpt from the Christology section of the Athanasian Creed:
“For the right faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and man. God of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds, and man of the substance of His mother, born in the world. Perfect God and perfect man, of a reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting. Equal to the as touching His Godhood [Godhood] and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood. Who, although He is God and man is man, yet He is not two, but one Christ. One not by conversion of the Godhead [Godhood] into flesh, but by taking of that manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ”.
The creed teaches that the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ was not by conversion of His Godhood into flesh, but by taking of the flesh into God (Luke 35). This means that, while He was in the earth, He was both God and human in the same body. Interestingly, Luke 33 says He is equal to the Father with regard to His Godhood but inferior to the Father as touching His human hood. In a nutshell, the Creed teaches that Christ’s Godhood and human hood was simultaneous, not successive. Taking this a little further, it means that our Lord Jesus Christ was equal to God and inferior to Him at the same time. I make bold to say that no single verse of the Bible teaches this crass absurdity. The truth revealed in the Bible is that the Son of God has never been equal with His God and Father. The Bible also reveals that mortality and immortality cannot coexist in the same body. One must give way to the other. While on the earth, Jesus Christ was 100 percent human. See Heb. 2: 14-17; 1 Cor. 15: 50-54. A change must take place before what is mortal becomes immortal. And before the Logos (the Word, Jesus Christ) because flesh, His Godhood had to be suspended by God. Jesus Christ made a veiled reference to this in John 17:5.
Conclusion
The Godhood of the only begotten Son of God lies on two major factors. First, He came out of God. He is the monogenes, a Greek word which literally means “only generated” or “only begotten.” Jesus Christ is the only one who came out of God through a begettal process which involved the transfer of the attributes of Godhood to Him. He is God because the One who gave birth to Him is God (Gen. 1:11, 12, 21 – 25; John 3:6, 16; 1:14, 18; 16:28). No one should, however, bring the birth of the only begotten Son of God by the transcendent God to the same level of the birth of human offspring, a process which involves a sexual union of a man and a woman. To have a Son without having a wife is not an impossibility to the Omniscient and Omnipotent God who created hermaphrodites. Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26; Mark 10:27; Luke 18:27). The extent of God’s power far excels our carnal reasoning. His glorious and awesome power, wisdom and ability should never be compared with that of His creation who are, in many respects, finitely limited in comparison with Him.
Secondly, He has life in Himself which enabled Him to be a giver of life, or creator, like the Father. This makes the Son to be an “author of life” (Acts 3:15) just like the Father. The power and authority to give life to others was exercised by the Son during the creation of all things. He is God like the Father because He also can give, and has given, life to others. His Godhood, however, cannot rightly be interpreted to mean that He is coequal with His God and Father. That conjectured and fallacious teaching is not supported by the Scriptures.
The Bible has clearly mentioned the Godhood of the Lord Jesus Christ in both the Old and New Testaments (Ps. 45:6, (cf. Heb. 1:8); Isa. 9:6; John 1:3; Heb. 1:2; Col. 1:15-18). To deny these clear scriptures amounts to a denial of the truth. I suppose those who deny the Godhood of Jesus Christ do so because they have not grasped where His Godhood, which has been briefly explained in this article, is different from that of His God and Father. The Father is the one known as God while the Son is called the Son of God, not God the Son.
If we have three self-existed, coequal and coeternal Gods as taught by Trinitarians, they have removed all logical grounds of believing in one God. What the Bible has taught is that God, the Father, is the only self-existent Being from whom all other beings derived their existence. That is why He is called the Father of all [beings] (Eph. 4:6). His Son is not coequal with Him and His spirit is nothing more than His spirit, a part of Him (1 Cor. 2:11). It is neither another person nor is it another God. The Bible has not portrayed God’s holy spirit as another person or God.
