Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? 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? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. ~ John 10:31:-38

In the reference above, the Jews wanted to stone Jesus again ( an extension of John 8:59), for claiming to be the Son of God (i.e., God). In his response to them Jesus challenges them by citing Psalm 82:6

I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. ~ Psalm 82:6

Some sects of charismatic Christianity have used this as justification to teach that Christians are little gods. Listed below are some quotes from a popular Word of Faith minister. These quotes demonstrate just how far off the rails some have slid in the misappropriation of this scriptural text.

I say this with all respect so that it don’t upset you too bad, but I say it anyway. When I read in the Bible where he [Jesus] says, ‘I Am,’ I just smile and say, ‘Yes, I Am, too!’

On the cross, Jesus won the right for believers to be born again back into the god-class. Adam was created, not subordinate to God, but as a god; he lost it, and in Christ we are taken back to the god-class.

You don’t have a god in you, you are one.

These are just some of the crazy claims made by this popular WOF minister by his misappropriation of this portion of scripture. It’s unfortunate because many sincere believers follow him and other ministers who teach similar things. Consequently they are missing out on what Jesus is actually telling the Jews who wanted to stone him when he appealed to Psalm 82.

So what exactly is Jesus telling the Jews to whom he was speaking when he says, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? Ellicott’s Commentary for English readers points out the following:

I said, Ye are gods?—In the Hebrew of the Psalm, as in the Greek here, the pronoun is emphatic. “I myself said, Ye are gods?” The words are probably to be understood in the Psalm as spoken by God, who sits in judgment on the judges whom He had appointed, and gives the name of “gods” (Elohim) as representing Himself.

When Jesus cites this text, he was telling those Jews that he is Son of the God they claimed to represent, and the works which the Father had done through him was an indictment against them. They had misrepresented the God of Israel, and thus they were being judged.

Recently, I wrote a couple of teachings on the topic of the Son of man. Jesus, who is the Son of God often referred to himself as the Son of man. Among the Old Testament prophecies which speak of the Messiah was Daniel’s reference to the Son of man, to who God would give the Kingdom and appoint as the righteous ruler and judge. With this in mind consider Jesus’s words to the hostile Jews in John 5.

For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. ~ John 5:20-27 

When Jesus cited Psalm 82 in John 10, he was standing in the place of God, as God’s Son, pronouncing judgment on the leaders of the people who controlled the synagogue, misrepresented God, and oppressed the people.

Psalm 82, when read as a whole is not a text telling the people that they are deities. It is an indictment against the unjust rulers who misrepresented God. Thus they were condemned by God’s judgment. No Jewish leader who would have heard Jesus speaking in John 10, would have thought that Jesus was telling them that they were deities because of Psalm 82. They would have heard Jesus claiming that the works which the Father had done through him, the Son of God, was judgment against them as rulers over the people.