Gideon Odoma responds to Abel Damina’s claim that Jesus is not more righteous than believers
A theological debate has intensified after popular Nigerian preacher Dr. Abel Damina reiterated that “Jesus is not better than us.”
Pastor Gideon Odoma, a Christian apologist and preacher, issued a detailed response on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday, 11 August 2026, rejecting the statement as biblically inaccurate.
In his post, which has drawn significant engagement, Odoma argued that there is no context in which it is correct to claim Jesus is not better than the believer. He emphasised the fundamental difference between Jesus as the uncreated Son of God and believers as created beings.
“Jesus as the head of the church, for instance, is not an exact parallel to husband as head of the wife. Both the husband and the wife are creatures. But both Jesus and the church are not creatures. Jesus exists by the necessity of His own being,” Odoma wrote.
He further explained that while believers receive righteousness, grace and eternal life from Jesus, these attributes remain contingent in the believer and require continuous sustaining by Christ. In contrast, Jesus possesses them necessarily and needs no external support.
Citing Romans 11, Odoma noted that believers are branches upheld by the root, not the other way around. He also referenced Hebrews 7:7, which states that “the lesser is blessed by the better,” and 1 Peter 2:17, which calls on believers to fear God.
“It is wrong therefore to say His righteousness is NOT better than mine. More, I think it is meaningless to say so,” Odoma stated.
Damina, senior pastor of Power City International Church, has faced criticism in recent years for several theological positions that some Christian leaders consider unorthodox. His latest remarks have once again sparked widespread discussion among Nigerian Christians online.
Odoma’s response has been widely shared by those who argue that affirming the uniqueness and superiority of Christ is essential to orthodox Christian doctrine.
