Christians for One God - Jesus is our Lord and Savior, but only the Father is our God

Christians for One God

Jesus is our Lord and Savior, but only the Father is our God

PROCLAIMING ONE GOD

• The Bible constantly says there is only “one God,” whom Jesus called “the/my Father.”
• The NT proclaims that the Father is the one and only God (1 Cor 8.4, 6; Eph 4.6; Jn 17.3).
• In all of the sayings of Jesus recorded in the four NT gospels, he never claimed to be God.
• Twice Jesus was sort of accused of claiming to be God, and both times he denied it (Jn 5.18-46; 10.30-38).
• Several times Jesus addressed or described the Father as “my God” (Mt 27.46; Jn 20.17; Rev 3.2, 12).
• The NT repeatedly states that Jesus had a God—the Father (Rom 15.6; 2 Cor 1.3; 11.31; Eph 1.3, 17).
• None of the evangelistic messages in the book of Acts declare that Jesus is God.
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• None of the requirements for salvation in the NT include belief that Jesus is God (e.g., Rom 10.9-10).
• Though Christians are taught they must believe God is three Persons, the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible.
• The Bible doesn’t teach Trinitarianism—God is one essence existing as three co-equal, co-eternal Persons.
• Most Trinitarians read the Bible uncritically by superimposing their theological grid of Trinitarianism on it.
• The early, Jewish Christians were strictly monotheistic and had never heard of God being three persons.
• The Word of God is not a personal entity distinct from God, but that through which he expresses his mind.
• God’s Word is to God what a human word is to a human since humans were made in the image of God.

EXPLAINING "ONE GOD" VERSES

The following verses proclaim that only the Father is God and/or indicate that Jesus cannot be God. These verses are arranged in what we generally think is their order of importance in affirming these things clearly.

Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), which is preferred by scholars. Other abbreviations are as follows:

NT=New Testament
LXX=The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible begun in the 3rd century BCE
JPS=Jewish Publication Society

“Jesus Is Not God” Verses	Our Explanation
John 17.1, 3: Jesus prayed, “Father,… this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”	We think it doesn’t get any clearer than this, that the Father is “the only true God,” so that Jesus Christ cannot be God. Moreover, Jesus said it himself.
1 Corinthians 8.4,6: “’there is no God but one.’…yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”	Paul alludes to the Shema, in Deut 6.4, which says God is “one.” Then he says this “one God” is “the Father.” Next, Paul identifies “Jesus Christ” as “one Lord.” So, for Paul, only the Father is the one God, and he reserves the title “Lord” exclusively for Jesus. His “from/for whom” language refers to God the Father as creator. Paul’s “through whom” expression refers to Jesus for whom the Father made all things and over which Jesus will be their head.
Ephesians 4.4-6: “There is … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”	Again, Paul applies his “one Lord” language exclusively to Jesus. Then he clearly identifies the “one God” as “Father.” Finally, he says the Father is supreme over all, and “all” includes Jesus (cf. John 14.28; 1 Cor. 11.3).
John 5.44: Jesus called the Father “the one who alone is God.”	We don’t think this needs any explanation, and it is Jesus himself who said it.
John 14.28: “The Father is greater than I.”	Jesus means this not only functionally, but essentially.
Mark 12.28-34: “One of the scribes … asked him [Jesus], ‘Which commandment is the first of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The first is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one;’… Then the scribe said to him, ‘You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that “he is one, and beside him there is no other;”’… When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’”	Jesus answers the scribe’s question by first quoting the Shema as saying God is numerically “one.” The Hebrew word echad in the Shema (Deut 6.4) generally is treated numerically, as it is in the LXX; but some authorities, including rabbis and the JPS, render it “alone.” This scribe, however, indicated that he understood it numerically, and Jesus accepted what he said. Such an understanding disallows the doctrine of the Trinity.
Mark 10.17-18: A man asked Jesus, “‘Good Teacher,what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.’”	Church fathers asserted that Jesus implied he was God. But that is irrelevant to the man’s question. And Jesus was not denying his goodness. Rather, he meant only God the Father is good in the absolute sense.
“My God” Verses. Jesus identified the Father as “my God” several times: on the cross (Matt. 27.46; Mark15.34); appearing to Mary Magdalene to tell his disciples, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and my God and your God” (John 20.17); and 5x in Revelation 3.2, 12.	So, the NT clearly reveals that Jesus called the Father “my God” several times. Furthermore, the NT never says the Father calls Jesus “my God” or anything to that effect. Plus, the NT never presents angels or humans calling Jesus “my God,” although see the comment below regarding John 20.28.
Jesus Has a God Verses. Paul repeatedly writes the phrase, “the God and Father of the/our Lord Jesus (Christ)” (Romans 15.6; 2 Corinthians 1.3; 11.31; Ephesians 1.3; Colossians 1.3). He also writes, “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory” (Ephesians 1.17). And Paul writes in most of the salutations of his thirteen letters, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.	Paul clearly believed that only the Father is God andthat he is the God of Jesus Christ. Thus, Paul could not possibly have believed that Jesus is God. Conversely, neither Paul nor any other NT writers or characters ever reciprocate by saying that Jesus is the God of the Father. Paul was much educated as a Pharisee; if, as a result of his Christian conversion, he believed God is three persons, one being Jesus, it would be in the NT.
1 Corinthians 15.27-28: After Jesus returns with his kingdom and subdues all his enemies, “he hands over the kingdom to God the Father….then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.”	Scripture repeatedly states that Jesus is essentially subordinate to God the Father, so that Jesus cannot be equally God. This is the only Bible text which tells of this future act of Jesus subjecting himself to the Father as evidence of his essential subordination.
Romans 16.27: Paul writes, “to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever.”	The ultimate object of our praise and glorifying should be God the Father by means of our Lord Jesus Christ.
James 2.19: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder.”	Neither demons nor Jesus’ brother, James, believed that Jesus was God or that God is three persons.

EXPLAINING "JESUS IS GOD" VERSES

Most distinguished Trinitarian scholars who have written on the doctrine of the Trinity, or more particularly, that Jesus is God, cite the following texts as the foremost biblical support for these beliefs. We only call them “Jesus is God verses” since this is the easiest way to identify them and indicate that’s what Trinitarians think they say, but, of course, we do not. Trinitarian scholars generally do not regard other scriptures as important as these. Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), which is the English Bible translation preferred by most scholars.

OT=Old Testament
MT=Masoretic Text (Hebrew OT)
LXX=Septuagint(Old Greek OT)
NT=New Testament
KJV= King James Version
NEB=New English Bible
NAB=New American Bible

Trinitarians Say	We Say
Genesis 1.26, 3.22, and 11.7 relate God the Father speaking to “us” and “our” in his decision to make man. He therein addresses the other two members of the Trinity: God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.	Jews have always correctly believed that their God is a single person and that their scriptures reflect this. Consequently, they have rightly interpreted the “us” and “our” in these Genesis texts as God (the Father) speaking to a select group of angels. Cf. “us” in Isa 6.8 with “seraphim” in vv. 2 and 6.
Isaiah 9.6 identifies Jesus as “mighty God.”	The Hebrew text is el gibbor, and it can be translated “mighty warrior.” That fits better the prior context, in vv. 4-5, which is the yet future messianic destruction.
Mark 2.5-7 indicates that Jesus is God because it says he forgave a man’s sins, then healed him, and scribes sitting there who heard and saw this rightly thought, “who can forgive sins but God alone?”	No, these scribes erred. Jesus therein also claimed “authority on earth to forgive sins” (v. 11). It was given to him by God the Father and thus not inherent in Jesus’ own being (cf. Jn 5.18, 28). Moreover, on other occasions Jesus declared that the Father had given him “all things” (Mt 11.27; 28.18; Jn 3.35; 13.3; 16.15; 17.2, 10). Such essential subordination to the Father necessitates that Jesus cannot also be God.
John 1.1c reads, “and the Word was God,” and v. 14 says “the Word became flesh,” referring to Jesus’ incarnation. These two texts taken together declare as strongly as any Bible text that Jesus was God.	Translate John 1.1c is very complicated because its Greek text has multiple grammatical issues: (1) the word order of logos (word) and theos (God) in 1.1b is reversed in 1.1c, (2) their order in 1.1c is reversed in this common translation, and (3) theos is anarthrous (no article) in 1.1c, but not in 1.1b. So, the NEB has a more accurate translation of 1.1c which reads, “what God was, the Word was.” This rendering, similar in meaning to Heb 1.3, says the Word is like God, not is God. And church fathers surely erred in treating the Word, here, as a personal entity distinct from God.
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John 5.18 says that after Jesus healed a man on the sabbath, “For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God,” which suggests that Jesus was God or a god.	The author means that this is not his assessment but that of Jesus’ opponents. Indeed, Jesus never broke the sabbath, but only the Jews’ false commandments regarding Sabbath-keeping. The author indicates this by then reporting that Jesus refuted this allegation in vv. 19-46. Jesus begins it by saying, “the Son can do nothing on his own” (v. 19; cf. v. 30). This can’t be true if he’s God. Instead, Jesus reveals that he is essentially subordinate to God the Father for giving him eternal life and the authority both to raise the dead and execute future judgment (vv. 21-28). Jesus adds that the Father is “the one who alone is God” (v. 44). Besides, this text says the Jews accused Jesus of making himself equal to God because he was calling God his Father. If correct, Christians calling God their Father makes them equal to God, which is absurd.
John 8.24, 28, 58 presents Jesus as saying “I am he,” in which “he” does not appear in the Greek text. In each case he alludes to the “I am” of Exodus 3.14, thus indirectly identifying himself as God.	If Jesus’ opponents had thought he herein identified himself as God, they wouldn’t have asked him, “Who are you?” (v. 25). Rather, Jesus meant, “I am the Son of Man” (cf. v. 28). In v. 58, he didn’t claim to have preexisted, but only meant he outranks Abraham.
John 10.30 relates that Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” This is the primary gospel saying of Jesus in which he identifies himself as God. The Greek word here translated “one” is heis. Jesus meant it as “one in essence,” thus indirectly claiming the same deity as that of God the Father.	The context indicates Jesus meant he and the Father were unified in their relationship and work. The same Greek word, heis, occurs in Jn 17.11, 21-22, affirming this meaning. Jesus explains in John 10.38 what he meant by “one” by saying, “the Father is in me and I am in the Father,” thus not claiming deity. God being in Christ (2 Cor 5.19) is not Christ being God. Jesus later said, “the Father is greater than I” (14.28).
John 10.33 relates that Jesus’ Jewish opponents correctly said to him, “you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.”	On the contrary, they erred in making this accusation. And Jesus refuted it by citing Ps 82.6, which calls the rulers of Israel “gods.” He then implied that it would be acceptable to likewise identify him, who is greater than them. Yet he only says, “I said, ‘I am God’s Son’” (Jn 10.34). Jesus being God’ Son doesn’t indicate he is God. The title “son/Son of God” should be understood by its OT usage as someone uniquely related to God since it is applied to angels, men, Israel’s kings, and Israel itself. Yet Jesus is the Son of God far above all others.
John 20.28 reports that when Thomas saw the risen Jesus, he said to him, “My Lord and my God.” This is the clearest and strongest statement in the NT in which someone called Jesus “God.”	Thomas calls Jesus “my Lord.” His expression “my God” indicates not only that Thomas was praising God for raising Jesus from the dead, but that he was recognizing that the Father indwells Jesus. How so? Thomas recalled what Jesus told him a few days earlier, recorded only in this gospel, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father,” because “I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14.9-11). Thus, Thomas herein does not call Jesus God but says God is in Jesus.
Romans 9.5 calls Jesus God because it reads, “the Messiah, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.”	This text has a grammatical difficulty. That is why some versions translate it differently, in which it does not call Jesus God or they have an alternate reading as such in a footnote. The reason is that ancient Greek did not have punctuation or spaces between words, thus making it is difficult for translators to decide how to punctuate a text. Also, “over all” and “blessed” are applied to God the Father in the NT.
Philippians 2.6-8 says Jesus preexisted in “the form of God” and possessed “equality with God,” which indicates his incarnation—God as the Logos/Son came down from heaven to become a man. This is further indicated since he “emptied himself” of certain divine attributes to become a man, either by laying them aside or choosing not to exercise them during his incarnation.	Trinitarians err by superimposing their Christology as a grid on this text, thus insisting it indicates Jesus preexisted. On the contrary, “form of God” refers to Jesus being made in God’s image (Gen 1.26). “Equality with God” alludes to Satan deceitfully telling Adam he could be “like God” (Gen 3.5). And, if Jesus “emptied himself” of certain divine attributes to become man, he no longer was God. Rather, these words refer to Jesus’ humility in accepting God’s role for him to deny (empty) himself and die on the cross. Scholars call this “the human interpretation”in contrast to “the preexistence interpretation.”
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1 Timothy 2.5 indicates Jesus is a God-man since it says, “there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus.”	Since this says “one God,” which surely refers to the Father, Jesus cannot also be God. Jesus was qualified to be the mediator by being the sinless “ransom” who died for our sins (v. 6). (Cf. 1 Tim 1.17; 6.15-16).
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Hebrews 1.8 presents God the Father identifying Jesus as God since it reads, “But of the Son he says, ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.’”	This text is complicated since Heb 1.8-9 is a quotation from Ps 45.6-7 in the LXX, and it appears here in a catena of seven OT quotations (Heb 1.5-13) that may have had wide use when this was written. While the psalmist addresses “the king” (v. 1) as God (Heb. elohim), rabbis claim it is hyperbole, insisting he wouldn’t view a man as God. Plus, both texts have grammatical difficulties. And v. 9 presents God saying to Jesus, “God, your God, has anointed you.” Moreover, if the author believed Jesus was God, most of his book is a superfluous argument for Jesus’ superiority over angels, Moses, and others.
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1 John 5.20 is translated by most versions, or similarly so, “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” The pronoun “This” (Gr. houtos) refers to the previous, nearest antecedent—“Jesus Christ”—so that this text calls Jesus “the true God.”	There is no evidence that ancient Greek grammar had this rule as does modern English. So, the author more likely intended “This” to refer to “him who is true.” The next phrase, “in his Son,” indicates that “him who is true” is God the Father, which some versions clarify with “even in his Son” (KJV, NIV). This interpretation is supported by Jesus calling the Father “the only true God” in John 17.3.

For more information about the above texts, we recommend Kermit Zarley’s 600-page book,The Restitution of Jesus Christ. It treats each of these scriptures and more in considerable depth. Also, see his fifty, two-page articles on these and other Bible texts, which represent condensations of his book, at his website. Kermit is a founding member of Christians for One God, which he named.

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT A PERSON

During the early centuries of Christianity, there was no consensus among church bishops and scholars as to whether the Holy Spirit was a person (Gr. hypostasis). Many Christians ever since have wondered about this. But church fathers did arrive at a consensus about this during the late fourth century. It was that the Holy Spirit is a full-fledged Person and one of the three members of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

So, when Trinitarians try to prove that the Bible says the Holy Spirit is one of the three persons of a supposed triune God, that is, the Godhead, they are first compelled to prove that the Holy Spirit is a person. We CFOG members do not believe that the Holy Spirit is an actual person, and the following remarks represent our brief response to this issue.

The Holy Spirit (=the Spirit of God) is Not a Person Because:

• The Holy Spirit is not a person distinct from God, but God’s Spirit manifesting [God's] presence and power.
• The Holy Spirit is to God what a human spirit is to a human since humans are made in the image of God.
• Persons have names. God’s name is YHWH. Jesus has his name. But the Holy Spirit does not have a name.
• The NT often says God and Jesus ... in heaven without ever mentioning the Holy Spirit.
• Holy Spirit pronouns in Greek NT can mean “it.” Translator bias is in Eng. Bibles with “he.” See Jn 16.4-14.
• All salutations in Paul’s 13 NT letters mention God the Father and Jesus Christ, but never the Holy Spirit.
• The NT never exhorts people to believe in, pray to, or worship the Holy Spirit, or tells of anyone doing so.
• The Revelation has heavenly scenes of angels praising God and Jesus without mentioning the Holy Spirit.
• Though God is spirit, the Bible often ascribes body parts to God, yet it never does so of the Holy Spirit.
• Two people lied to the Holy Spirit (Ac 5.3-4), thus to God, but that doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit is God.
• Early Greek NT manuscripts had all capitals. Thus, English Bibles capitalizing Holy Spirit is translator bias.
• Jews don’t capitalize “holy spirit” because they rightly deny that it is a separate entity/person from God.
• As with God’s word and wisdom, the Bible personifying holy spirit as speaking doesn’t indicate a person.
• Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, yet he is “the Son of God” (Luke 1.35) not the Son of the Holy Spirit.

All the above articles were taken from:

http://christiansforonegod.com/