The answer to this question largely hinges on Jesus’ identity. If Jesus is  regarded as deity in the same sense as His Father, then we should worship Jesus.  If the New Testament documents identify Jesus with Yahweh, then we should  worship Jesus. If He is merely a prophet of God, the worship of Jesus would not  be appropriate. Given the Bible’s insistence that worship is to be directed to  God alone, any God-fearing individual will need a satisfactory answer to this  all important question.

The Apostle Paul called Jesus “our great God  and Savior” (Titus 2:13),  and points out that, prior to His incarnation, Jesus existed in the “form of  God” (Philippians 2:5-8). God the Father says regarding Jesus:  “Your throne, O God will last forever and ever” (Hebrews  1:8). The Apostle John says that “in the beginning was the Word and the Word  was with God and the Word [Jesus] was God (John 1:1).  Other passages identify Jesus as the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (John 1:3; Colossians 1:16-17;  Hebrews 1:2). Jesus receives  worship several times in the gospels (Matthew  2:11, 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52; John 9:38, 20:28). Jesus is never said  to reject such adoration. Rather, He accepts such worship as well placed. So  does the Bible portray Jesus as fully deity? The answer is certainly “yes”.

With that being said, Christians need to recognize that the Bible also  teaches the deity of the Father (John 6:27; Romans 1:7; 1 Peter 1:2) as well as the  Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4;  1  Corinthians 3:16). And yet the Scriptures teach that there is only one God  (Deuteronomy  6:4; 1  Corinthians 8:4). How can this be? The Christian church has historically  taught that the Bible is clearly portraying God as one Being who exists in three  persons. This doctrine is known as the Trinity.  Dr. James White, author of The Forgotten Trinity, has provided what we believe  to be a helpful definition of the Trinity. Here it is: Within the one Being that  is God, there exists eternally three coequal and coeternal persons, namely, the  Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We contend that this is the clear teaching  of Scripture and should be affirmed by any biblically faithful Christian.

These biblical distinctions go a long way in providing the proper  balance in Christian worship. We must remain conscious to not overemphasize our  adoration for any one Person in the Godhead at the expense of another. The Bible  teaches that while the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit perform unique functions and  have different roles, all three Persons of the Godhead are equal in power and  majesty.

In summary, the Bible teaches that Jesus of Nazareth is  nothing less than God the Son, the second Person of the Triune God (Trinity). In  view of this, He is due our full worship and devotion. To fail to do so would be  sinful.