Module 3 · Lesson 11
Who Is the God of the Bible?
Let the apostles say who they mean.
14 minutes
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“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6)
- Hear Jesus’ own answer to “who is the only true God?”
- Let Paul identify the one God in his own words
- Learn what “only” means, by testing it against the whole Bible
- See why a verse that lists Father, Son and Spirit doesn’t, by itself, define God
- Receive a short, direct answer, to be tested over the coming lessons
The words of Jesus In His prayer to the Father, Jesus said:
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) Look closely. Jesus is speaking to the Father, and He says “thee the only true God.” Then He distinguishes: “and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” The word “only” is exclusive. Whoever it refers to, no one else is “the only true God.”
Paul says who the one God is Paul writes to believers about idols. First he says: “We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.” (1 Corinthians 8:4) Then he does what we need him to do. He identifies who that one God is:
“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Corinthians 8:6) Read it slowly. Paul has just said “there is none other God but one.” And then he says who: the Father. He doesn’t say “the Father, Son and Spirit together.” He says: “one God, the Father.” And he adds the Son in a different role: “one Lord, Jesus Christ.” Notice also why the Father is the one God, in Paul’s words: “of whom are all things.” The Father is the source, the origin. And the Son is the one “by whom are all things,” the One through whom the Father acts.
What does “only” mean? Let’s test the word “only.” “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.” (1 Timothy 6:16) The words “whom no man hath seen, nor can see” clearly refer to the Father, since many saw Jesus on earth. And the Father “only hath immortality.” But wait. Other beings do have, or will have, immortality: angels, the redeemed. Paul says of us: “this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). So how can the Father “only” have it? The answer is that “only” here doesn’t mean no one else will ever have it. It means no one else has it of themselves. The Father is the only source of immortality, and others receive it from Him. Apply the same principle to “the only true God.” It doesn’t mean no one else shares divinity. It means the Father is the one source of Godship, the one from whom all things come.
Put these two texts side by side. The Father “only hath immortality,” and yet the redeemed will “put on immortality.” “Only” cannot mean that no one else will ever have it. It means that no one else has it of himself: “Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15–16) “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1 Corinthians 15:52–53)
The Son’s life Jesus said: “For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.” (John 5:26) Two things stand out.
- The Son has life in Himself. That is the same unborrowed, underived life the Father has.
- The Father gave it to Him. So the Son has real, divine life. And the Father is the source of it. That is the same pattern as 1 Corinthians 8:6: “of whom” and “by whom.”
More from the apostles “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” (Ephesians 4:4–6) Paul mentions one Spirit, one Lord and one God. And when he specifies who the one God is, he says: “One God and Father of all.” Not the Spirit. Not the Lord. Not a combination of the three.
The Father and the Son cannot be separated. Look at how John 17:3 is built. “Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” The distinction between the Father and the Son is part of the sentence itself. Take either one out and the sentence collapses. John says the same thing in his letters: “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.” (1 John 2:22–23) “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” (2 John 1:9) He that has the Son has the Father also. If the one God were the three together, who would John mean by “both the Father and the Son”? Whom does he tell us we “have”?
“But some verses list all three” Many people find evidence for a triune God in verses that mention Father, Son and Spirit together. Let’s use the Reader’s Checklist: Does a verse that lists three things also say they are one God? Take Ephesians 4:4–6. It lists one Spirit, one Lord, one God. Yet Paul himself tells us who the one God is: the Father. The passage doesn’t make the three into one God. A list isn’t a definition. Take Matthew 28:19, which mentions the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Read the whole chapter. Jesus is giving instructions about baptism. The word “God” doesn’t appear in the chapter. The verse says there is a Father, a Son and a Spirit, but it doesn’t say what their relationship is, and it doesn’t identify who the God of the Bible is. That is found elsewhere.
One more verse “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:28) Why does the Son become subject to the Father? “That God may be all in all.” And who is “God” in this sentence? The one who “put all things under him,” the Father.
The answer in one sentence The one God of the Bible is God the Father. He is the source of all things, including the life of His Son.
Notice what this does not say:
- It doesn’t say the Son isn’t divine. The Bible says He is, and we’ll see how in later lessons.
- It doesn’t say we have the full picture. There is much more to examine.
This is the answer the rest of the Bible confirms. In Lessons 12–18 we follow it through the Old Testament, the Gospels, the apostles and Revelation, and you will see it hold at every step.
And one more thing. When this is understood, many other questions fall into place. If the one God of the Bible is the Father, the question “how can three be one?” doesn’t need to be asked.
- Jesus distinguishes “the only true God” from Himself, “whom thou hast sent.”
- Paul, identifying the one God, says “the Father.”
- “Only” in Scripture can mean “only source,” not “no one else shares it.”
- The Father gave the Son life in Himself.
- A verse that lists Father, Son and Spirit doesn’t by itself define God.
- The one God is the Father, the source of all things.
- In 1 Corinthians 8:6, whom does Paul name as “one God”?
- What does “only” mean in 1 Timothy 6:16? Have I applied the same reading to John 17:3?
- What would I need to see in the next lessons to change my mind?
1 Corinthians 8:6
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Did the Jews of the Old Testament worship a triune God, or a single God? Let’s go to the first witnesses.