1 TIMOTHY 2:5 : Does It Support Unitarianism?
"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus," (1 Tim. 2:5) NKJV
Ang words na ito sa Pastoral letters ni Apostle Paul ay one sa mga favorite na proof-textes ng mga Unitarians para sa kanilang Unitarian Christology and to disprove the Trinity. we Latter Day Saints however agree with them na isa itong proof against sa Trinity that says na si Jesus Christ at ang God the Father are of the same being but we have in the other hand that Jesus is differentiated between God and Himself (cf. Mt. 27:46; Mk. 15:34; Jn. 17:3-21; 20:17; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; Heb. 1:1-3); but this does not however prove na si Jesus Christ ay man by nature alone. sinasabi sa v. 6 na :
".......who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time," (1 Tim. 2:6) NKJV
Sinasabi sa context ang mediatorship ni Jesus Christ, and na kanyang ibinigay ang kanyang sarili as ang ransom for all. the atonement is in view here. we must recall that man cannot redeem his fellow human as said in the Psalms na "....None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him—" (Ps. 49:7). if Jesus is man with no divinity, he can't meet the demands of justice na kanyang ireredeem ang lahat ng humans. for him to meet these requirements, he must be divine, so continuing in v. 15, it says "........But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me. Selah" (Ps. 49:15; cf. Isa. 12:2; 43:11). Jesus came here on earth with divine nature and he took human flesh for him to experience death (Jn. 1:1-14, 18; Phil. 2:5-11; Heb. 2:5-9; 2 Jn. 1:7). so one must also note na to affirm the deity of Christ is to also affirm his humanity. the context ng 1 Tim. 2:5 (and v. 6) gives us this case where kailangan ni Jesus Christ na maging human din in order to fulfill his mission which is ang redemption ng mankind. saying "Jesus is man" and to assume yung kanyang human attributes is pointless to argue against sa deity ni Jesus Christ. and now to conclude, ang passage na ito does not support Unitarianism.
