Darin said:
"Well, quite obviously, because there was nothing wrong and everything right with giving him praise and honor and proclaiming him as the Son of God. There are many examples of forms of "worship" (if that's the word you prefer) of all sorts of men of renown and honor. That doesn't make them Yahweh.
I think the message of the Bible is quite clear. The angel of Revelation 22 made it clear: We don't worship angels and we don't worship men. The only One we worship is God. If Jesus is not God, then He should not be worshipped. You just said that there was "nothing wrong and everything right with giving (Jesus) praise and honor and proclaiming Him as the Son of God." But if Jesus, the Son of God, is not also God, then there is nothing right and everything wrong with worshipping Him.
By the way, it's interesting that, in your post, you substituted the actual words of Matthew 14:33 saying that they "worshipped HIm" to "giving him praise and honor". It seems that you are reluctant to allow the passage to say what it actually says - that they worshipped Jesus, and said, "You are certainly God's Son!"
Peter told Cornelius, who was bowing down to him, "Stand up; I too am just a man." Acts 25-26 Yes, I prefer the word "worship", because that's the word the Bible uses. Cornelius "fell at Peter's feet and worshipped him."
You are right. Just because someone worships or praises or bows down to a specific man, who may be a man of renown and honor, that does not make the man God. Jesus is not God, because people worshipped Him. The people worshipped Him because He was God. Only God can command the wind and the sea, and they obey Him. Only God can open the eyes of the blind, cleanse the lepers, heal the sick and the lame, cast out demons, and raise the dead. Jesus is God because He not only did the works of God, but He fulfilled the prophecies of God, and the word of God testifies to Him being God. Isaiah 9:6-7; John 1:1,14; John 5:18; John 10:33; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 2:9
There is no Savior other than God, according to Isaiah 43:3 and 11. Paul, in Titus 1:3 affirms that God is our Savior. But Paul also says in Titus 1:4 that Christ Jesus is our Savior. So now we have both God AND Christ Jesus being our Savior. How is that possible, since there is only one Savior? Unless, of course, Jesus is God.
Paul says again that God is our Savior in Titus 2:10. But in Titus 2:13, he says that he is looking for the appearing of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus. So, not only is Christ Jesus our Savior, but He is also our great God. But in Isaiah 44:6 and 8, God says there is no God besides Him. So is He God or is Christ Jesus God? There is only one God. Obviously, Jesus and the Father are both God.
Again, in Titus 3:4, Paul says that God is our Savior and in Titus 3:6 - Jesus Christ is our Savior. Paul was very much a Jew - a Hebrew of Hebrews. He knew from the Old Testament that there is Only One God, Only One Savior, Only One Lord. Yet he testifies over and over that Jesus is that God, that Savior, and that Lord.
God said in Isaiah 44:6: "I am the first and I am the last." Yet John tells us that Jesus made that same claim in Revelation 1:17 and 2:8 and 22:13. So which is it? Is God the Father the first and the last or is Jesus the first and the last? I think we know the answer. Jesus is God. He said, "I and the Father are One." John 10:30 He told Philip, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father." John 14:9
I don't know how much more "clear, straightforward, and unambiguous" the teaching of scripture can be. It is not, therefore, without merit to say that we cannot fully understand the Trinity or God. There is more than enough evidence, I believe, for understanding that Jesus is God. I don't believe the problem is that people can't see it. I believe the problem is that they don't want to see it. It doesn't fit into their doctrinal box, so they try to explain away all the above scriptures and more. The more we try to explain away scripture, the further from the truth we get.
However, I agree with Steve, concerning the Trinity, that those who don't accept it, are not therefore, necessarily unsaved.
God bless you,
Dwight