In John 14:1, why did Jesus distinguish himself from God if he is God? [duplicate]

There is no "distinction" between Jesus and God as the OP supposes. There is certainly distinction of persons but not divinity. Indeed, the conjunction here is essentially the cumulative coordinating conjunction, kai, which means in this case that Jesus, in John 14:1, is asking His disciples to believe in Jesus the same way they believe in God;

"believe in God, believe also in Me." (John 14:1)

That is, Jesus is asking the disciples to believe in Him in the same way they believe in God the Father.

Jesus said this other places as well:

• John 14:7, 9 - If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”... Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?
• John 5:17, 18, “In his defence, Jesus said, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’
• John 5:23, “so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
• John 10:30, “I and the Father are one.” (Compare Deut 6:4.)
• John 20:28, “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God.’” (This declares Jesus as ὁ Θεός.)

That is, while Jesus and the Father are separate and distinct persons, they are both (and one) God. John 1:1, Matt 1:23.

The main Hebrew word used mainly for God throughout the Old Testament is “Elohim” which is a plural word used as singular, just like “family”, “team” etc.

[If Moses was a strict Unitarian, he would not have used that word extensively for God especially when a singular variant of the same word (like “El” or “Eloah”) was available to him at that time]

Consistently, the Greek New Testament used “Theos” and the English used “God” for the same word.

Strangely enough, the Scripture explains that Elohim/Theos/God is a family.

“So, then, you are no longer strangers and tenants, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and of the family of God” (Eph 2:19).

Scripture witnesses this about Moses:

“And Jehovah would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exo 33:11).

Naturally friends who speak directly and personally will know much about each other. Thus, Moses knew more about his Elohim.

So Moses who talked to God “face to face”, clearly shows two distinct Beings in this family.

“And Jehovah rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from Jehovah out of the heavens” (Gen 19:24).

Here, the first Yahweh took a human form and had appeared to Abraham with two of His angels as explained in the 18th chapter in greater detail.

Scripture also testifies that no one has seen God the Father at any time.

“No one has seen God at any time” (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12).

Yet, Old Testament states that many including Abraham and Moses, saw God Yahweh.

Combine Gen 19:24 and John 1:18, we get a clear picture. No one has ever seen God the Father (“Jehovah out of the heavens”) yet some have seen Yahweh God who is the first “Jehovah” of Gen 19:24.

This Yahweh God whom Abraham saw was the pre-Incarnate Word of God, Jesus Christ.

God the Father and Lord Jesus Christ are two distinct Beings in the Elohim family with distinct “Will” of each (Mat 26:39).

Jesus Christ came to disclose the Father to the world (John 1:18).

In the New Testament, in order to avoid total confusion, the Apostles followed the following pattern.

“but to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by Him” (1 Cor 8:6).

In the above verse, God the Father is the Yahweh out of the heavens and Lord Jesus Christ is the first Yahweh we saw in Genesis 19:24.

The Old Testament name “Yahweh” is consistently translated into Greek Septuagint as “Kurios” which tradition is kept in the New Testament by the Apostles. This “Kurios” is translated as “Lord” into English.

If there is any doubt about it, Apostle Paul is ready to clarify.

He quotes Isaiah 45:23 which in the Old Testament is as follows:

“I have sworn by Myself, the Word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me (Yahweh) every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear”.

Now Paul applies the same to Jesus Christ:

“Because of this also God highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name (this is the name of Yahweh/Kurios), that at the name of Jesus "every knee should bow," of heavenly ones, and earthly ones, and ones under the earth (the entire creation), and "every tongue should confess" that Jesus Christ is "Lord (this is Yahweh/Kurios)," to the glory of God the Father” (Phlp 2:9-11).

The distinction between one God and one Lord is not hard and fast because in the New Testament, one God the Father is also called Lord and one Lord Jesus is also called God.

The God family is a single package; you cannot accept One and reject the Other.

“Everyone denying the Son does not have the Father. The one confessing the Son also has the Father” (1 John 2:23).

“all should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:23).

Answer

This is exactly why Jesus distinguished Himself from God even when He Himself is God.

Under standard Trinitarian Doctrine, both are true. They are three separate "persons", and one holy entity.

In Trinitarian doctrine, God exists as three persons but is one being, having a single divine nature. The members of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, one in essence, nature, power, action, and will.

So there's nothing really problematic about Jesus talking like The Father or The Holy Ghost are separate, or like they are the same as himself, depending on the point he's working towards.

The belief that all three were not in fact separate in any way at all, which seems to be what you are thinking and thus getting confused by, was in fact an historical Christian heresy of the 2nd Century called Sabellianism.

In Christian theology, Sabellianism is the belief that there is only one Person ('hypostasis' in the Greek language of the fourth century Arian Controversy) in the Godhead. For example, Hanson defines Sabellianism as the "refusal to acknowledge the distinct existence of the Persons" and "Eustathius was condemned for Sabellianism. His insistence that there is only one distinct reality (hypostasis) in the Godhead, and his confusion about distinguishing Father, Son and Holy Spirit laid him open to such a charge." Condemned as heresy, Sabellianism has been rejected by the majority of Christian churches.

In the early days of The Church there used to be tons of these little disagreements about the exact nature of the Trinity, all ending with the losing points of view being ruled "heretical" (and often with another word or phrase to tack onto the Nicene Creed).

These days of course you are (in most places) perfectly free to develop your own conception of The Trinity if you like^*. However, if its not compatible with standard Trinitarian Doctrine, you will be flying without a net. Most Christian theology in the last 2 millenium is based on that foundation. For me personally, I like to think I'm a smart guy, but no way am I smarter than 2,000 years of the best theological minds on earth. So I'm not gonna try and reinvent everything that came after by myself.

^{* - I see someone in a (currently downvoted) answer did just that}

In John 3:13 Jesus said “And no one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven, even the Son of Man."

Jesus does not say the "Son of God" descended from heaven, rather He says the "Son of Man" descended from heaven.

There is a distinction between the phrases "Son of Man" and "Son of God" that is key in understanding how Jesus says the Son of Man descended down from heaven.

First let's deal with what is meant by "Son of God".

When God begat in a Hebrew woman who was a descendant of those to whom He had made the promise, that human body which was born of her could be called the "Son of God" since it was begotten by God.

This is clearly stated in the wording of Gabriel to Mary in Luke 1:35: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy thing shall be called the Son of God."

As with all humans, along with that body came a "soul." And these were perishable, as the scriptures tell us in Acts 2:27: "THOU WILT NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW THY HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY."

But this human body that was called the "Son of God" was actually a "temple" for God Almighty Himself to dwell in among men.

Thus, in John 2:19 Jesus says “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

But, being that it was God indwelling this human body/temple that He had formed for Himself, in so doing, God became the "Son of Man."

This is stated plainly in 2 Corinthians 5:19, where Paul says "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself."

The importance of understanding this is emphasized by Jesus Himself in Matthew 16:13 by Him asking the disciples “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Peter responded saying "You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God"

To which Jesus responded "flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 16:16-17)

But in order for Him to atone for the sins of man, He had to become fully mortal so that He could die. This we are told in Hebrews 2:9 which says, "But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone."

And although He was limited in the days of His flesh to being like all other men, we are told in Colossians 2:8-9 "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form."

And Hebrews 1:3 tells us of Him: "He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power."

This interaction of God's spirit "upon" or "in" a human body is the form of manifestation known in scripture as the Holy Spirit, just as previously described in Luke 1:35: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you."

But God's spirit that became the "Son of Man" dwelled not just "upon" but also "in" His own human body (which is the Son of God) and it is in this manner that Jesus said in John 16:28: “I came forth from the Father, and have come into the world."

And it was only after Jesus had atoned for man's sin and was glorified that the Holy Spirit was given to dwell in those believers who had been sanctified by His blood. Because it is only through the Spirit of Him that dwelt among men in the flesh that the Spirit of the Father will dwell in those who have been sanctified, thus John 16:14-15 says:

“He shall glorify Me; for He shall take of Mine, and shall disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said, that He takes of Mine, and will disclose it to you."

And also in John 16:7 Jesus said:

"if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you."

So, to understand why Jesus said He was sent by the Father understand that it was the Father Himself who became the "Son of Man" by dwelling in a fleshly temple called the "Son of God" as Hebrews 10:5 tells us:

"Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, 'SACRIFICE AND OFFERING THOU HAST NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY THOU HAST PREPARED FOR ME.'"

The answer to the question Jesus asked in Matthew 16:13 of “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” is one of the "keys to the kingdom of heaven" that Jesus told Peter he would be given in Matthew 16:19.

The other Key is what was revealed through Peter on the Day of Pentecost when he said in Acts 2:38:

“Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

People today don't realize that during Jesus' earthly ministry they only baptized with Him being physically present to act as "witness."

And it was through Jesus witness of their baptism that their names were recorded in "the book of the Lamb" as alluded to in Luke 10:20 saying:

"rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

It was on the Day of Pentecost that it was revealed by the Holy Spirit through Peter that by calling upon the "Name of Jesus" in baptism they could invoke His active presence in the Spirit to act as a witness during His heavenly ministry just as He had borne witness in the flesh during His earthly ministry.

This is what is spoken of in 1 John 5:7-9:

"And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for the witness of God is this, that He has borne witness concerning His Son.

This calling upon the Name of Jesus in baptism is what Peter meant in Acts 4:12 when he said " there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.”

It is also the means by which a person fulfills the requirement for salvation which Jesus spoke of in John 3:5 when He said “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

For a baptism to be valid it requires the witness of Jesus Himself because it is only through His witness that a person's name is recorded in heaven. This is what Jesus was speaking of to His disciples in Luke 10:20 when He said to them "rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”

Also, it is by calling upon His Name as a witness that He is present to anoint the believer being baptized with His blood of atonement without which no person can receive the purification required for entry into heaven, as stated in Revelations 21:27 "nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life."

Deuteronomy 6:4 tells us “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!" And Acts 2:38 tells us “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins."

These are the "keys to the kingdom of heaven" of which Jesus said "unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5)

But of "where" the kingdom of God is... Jesus tells us “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21)

Thus, once Jesus had been glorified, as He attested of in Matthew 26:64 saying "hereafter you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER", then that Spirit that was indwelling Him in the days of His flesh was sent through Him into those who had been sanctified in His blood, thereby bring about what He spoke of in John 14:20 when He said “In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you."

Solomon said in 1 Kings 8:27 "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee."

All of that is to explain John 3:13 which reads "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man."

But the words "which/who is in heaven" that are found in many English versions of scripture at the end of the verse are not found in the older more reliable manuscripts like Sinaiticus and Vaticanus....they are an interpolation.