As it is written in the book of Psalms 82:6 it says "....you are gods..."Are we gods?
Answer
To understand Psalm 82:6 we have to read the entire Psalm. A phrase taken out of context can be misused to say much that it doesn’t really mean.
The psalm is talking about God judging men who act unjustly. People who set themselves up as gods and judge the poor and needy unjustly will be punished by God. The full sentence in question says, “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes.” In other words, you think you are like gods but you shall die like men. Don’t set yourselves up as higher than you really are.
The word used in the passage is Elohim, which is usually translated as “gods.” In Genesis it is one of the words used to denote the true God. In other places, however, it is properly translated as “judges,” referring to human judges. So the verse could be translated “ye are judges.”
There is also some question as to who the “I” is when it says, “I have said, ye are gods.” Is it God calling them gods or is it the psalmist? It appears that it is a person or persons saying it, and not God.
Yet, when Jesus was accused of blasphemy for claiming to be God, he used this verse to defend himself. “The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?” (John 10:33-36) His argument is that if the psalmist could say, “ye are gods,” then how could they stone him for claiming to be the Son of God and yet they praise David for calling mere men gods.
Are we gods? Not in the sense of immortal beings with the ability to judge absolutely righteously or the power to create and destroy. We are judges within the limited scope of our feeble knowledge. But we are never to set ourselves up as equals to God. As the psalm says, “ye will die like men.”
Thank you for an excellent question.