The God of Jesus by Peter Barfoot

The God of Jesus by Peter Barfoot 

Is the phrase “the God of Jesus” scriptural? In Ephesians 1:17, the apostle Paul writes of “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.” It was clear to Paul that the God of Jesus is the Father of glory. Beginning his letter to the Ephesians, Paul blesses “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” In closing, he blesses them with “peace…and love with faith, from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:3; 6:23).

In John 20:17 Jesus tells Mary, “I ascend to my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.”
In John 17:3 Jesus refers to his Father as “the only true God.” Jesus was a unitarian believer in the One God.

Those who believe in the doctrine of the Trinity say that a denial of an eternally preexistent “God the Son” diminishes Jesus by stripping him of divinity. But one can reject the doctrine of the Trinity and yet still affirm Christ’s “divine nature” by pointing to his unique origin as Son of God. When the “power of the Highest” overshadowed Mary, the “Son of the Highest” was begotten (Luke 1:32, 35). God declared His fatherhood of Jesus when He called him, “My beloved Son” (Matt. 3:17). Christians too are to be filled with the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19).

Some believe that Jesus Christ was a “mere man” — no different from any other — except that he was sinless. They diminish Christ. In standing against the error of the Trinity they sometimes reduce the status of Jesus. There is no need to overreact. The inspired writers of the New Testament speak of Jesus in superlatives. The exiled John’s graphic figures of speech describe an otherwise indescribable risen Lord! (Rev. 1:14-16).

Jesus is “the image [icon] of the invisible God” (in whom we see the Father clearly); “the brightness of His glory” (mirrored on our faces); and “the exact image of His person” (stamped on us, leaving a lasting impression)! How can we not rejoice in our wonderful Lord?

We should not think that God is more exalted when His Son is diminished. What son’s accomplishments do not reflect well on the person of his earthly father? How much more, then, is the Father of Jesus glorified when we praise the spotless life, excellent works and selfless sacrifice of his Son? And his revelation of the secret of immortality in his Gospel of the Kingdom (II Tim. 1:10).

“And whatsoever you shall ask in my name I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:13).

The spirit of God opens up truth concerning God and his Son, but only to the genuine seeker after Truth. It certainly is a matter of perception, something like buying a new car and then seeing so many of the same make and model on the road. We find the One God of Jesus where we had never seen Him before. We are encouraged and inspired by the Bible, but only when the Lord “opens our eyes” to how little we know, do we realize how much we’ve missed.

An example of this lack of perception is how we either see or don’t see the significance of 1 Corinthians 8:6, which clearly informs us that “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.” How is it possible for the “one Lord” to be seen as co-equal with the “one God”?

Tradition answers that the One God is comprised of three Persons: a co-equal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We should never underestimate the ability of tradition to accommodate Bible truth before veiling it in mysticism.

How many hours in how many months over how many years did the theologians of the Church debate the question about Jesus’ part in sending the spirit? The eastern and western church actually excommunicated one another over this question! A quick look at Acts 2:33 would have resolved the issue immediately: “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he [Jesus] has shed forth this, which you now see and hear.” The words of Jesus in John 16:7 confirm that the Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son.

We find it difficult to believe that the same Martin Luther who defied the Church of Rome in stating “the just shall live by faith” actually referred to the book of James as “an epistle of straw” and was openly and actively anti-Semitic.

We are horrified to learn that the great Calvin could order Servetus, a brother in Christ, to be burned to death at the stake (slowly, on green wood). What terrible heresies did Servetus profess? He taught that the rite of infant baptism and the Church’s belief in the Trinity were unscriptural.

My belief is that Christians in years to come will see the doctrine of the Trinity for what it is: the product of a gathering of bishops convened by Constantine the Great to unify the teaching of the Christian Church in the disputed matter of the Godhead. Under pressure, some bishops capitulated against their better judgment and the matter was settled. It was set in stone and used to “club” others into conformity.

Only when the Church accepts 1 Corinthians 8:6 as the true definition of the Godhead will it be able to proclaim to the Jews: “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is also the God of Jesus — your Messiah and ours!”

Around the globe two strong forces are locked in conflict: the Spirit of Christ and the spirit of antichrist.
When Jesus returns, one body comprised of both Jew and Gentile — but inseparable in faith and in confession of the One True God and His Son, Jesus Christ — will rise to meet the Lord in the air, and then descend with him to rule the nations.

“And so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

The above was taken from
Focus On The Kingdom Vol. 9. No. 7

Thinking about “The word was with GOD” in John 1:1

Thinking about “The word was with GOD” in John 1:1 

When John in his gospel wants to say that one person is next to or with another person, he does not use the Greek preposition pros (translated “with” in John 1:1). But in John 1:1 John does use the preposition pros. John writes that the word was “with God.” Thus John did not write, “In the beginning was the SON of God [a person] and the SON of God was with GOD [person with person].”

If John had written “In the beginning the Son was with God (the Father),” that of course would make two GODS and break the fundamental rule of Scripture that GOD is a single Person.

It would also contradict flat, the wonderful accounts of the origin of the Son of God by miracle in Mary some 2000 years ago. Luke 1:35 and Matt. 1:18, 20 (“begotten in her”) inform us with simple clarity that the Son of God began to exist in the womb of Mary. This is true of all human beings. Jesus was a human being, not an “average” human being, but still a human being. He is “the man Messiah Jesus.” Paul said this beautifully and simply in 1 Timothy 2:5 where he repeats the true Christian creed: “There is one God [the Father], and one mediator between that God and man, the man Messiah Jesus.”

We need to repeat our point: John did not contradict Matthew and Luke by teaching that the Son of God was literally with God from eternity. John did not write “the Son was with the Father.” He wrote “the word was in God’s mind” — fully expressive of God’s plan and purpose.

Jesus defined God as “one single Lord” in Mark 12:29: “The Lord our God is one Lord” — agreeing with a fellow Jew about the most important of all commands! And we all know that Jews were never Trinitarians. They believed God was a single divine Self/Person. Jesus taught and rehearsed this in prayer (as we should) that the Father is “the only one who is true God” (John 17:3). That excludes Jesus from being the One God! “The Father is the only ONE who is true GOD.” Jesus is not God but the Son of God (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20). John 17:3 proclaims that Jesus Christ is the fully accredited agent of the One God, the Father. Jesus was sent by God as agent of the One God.

Look again at John 1:1. “In the beginning was the word [not Word!] and the word was with God.” The word was pros God. If John had wanted us to believe that this means one person was with another person he would have used the preposition para (with) or meta (with). Why? Because those are the pronouns he used elsewhere in his gospel to describe one person with another person. Thus (show your friends this) John 1:39: “They stayed with (para) him for the day.” 4:40: “They asked him to stay with (para) them.” 14:17: “He remains with (para) you.” 14:23: “We will come and make our residence with (para) him.” 14:25: “These things I have spoken to you while remaining with (para) you.” John also uses the preposition meta (with) in 3:22: “they remained with (meta) them.” 3:25: “a discussion with (meta) a Jew.”

So then this shows us that if John wanted to say “In the beginning was the Son and the Son was with the Father,” he would have used meta or para, for person with person. But John meant in fact that the word/plan/intention of God was with (pros) GOD, in the mind of God. In the same way Paul wrote in Galatians 2:5: “so that the truth of the Gospel [not a person!] might remain with (pros) you.” The meaning is “in your mind, in your consciousness.”

Thus in John 1:1 the word or Gospel-plan was in God’s mind, fully expressive of God, the Father. The word was in relation to [pros] God, was God’s concern.

The capitalization of “Word” in many translations for logos (word) misleads the reader into believing that GOD was with GOD. How many Gods is that? More than one. The universe is shaken by polytheism.

(For a striking account of how a former Trinitarian scholar came to see the truth of our point here, please read free on the internet Eric Chang, The Only True God at theonlytruegod.org)

Most of the English translations from the original Greek before the KJV in 1611 spoke of “word” (lowercase w) and not “Word.” And they translated correctly, “All things were made by it,” the word, not by him, the Son — contradicting the rest of the Bible (see July, 2004 Focus ... for complete list).

It is interesting that in John 1:5 he speaks of the light. The light is a thing, not a person. The pronoun is neuter (auto). But once Jesus comes on the scene, the light becomes a person (auton, him) in verse 10. The Son appears fully in verse 14 and is the uniquely begotten SON — certainly not a second GOD! The Bible is based on the unitary monotheism of Jesus and his Jewish heritage (Deut. 6:4 = Mark 12:29).

John 1:18 reports, “No one has ever seen GOD [the Father], but the uniquely begotten SON has revealed the Father.” It would be nonsense to say that “no one has ever seen GOD, but we all saw Jesus who is GOD!”

John, remember always, defines that Father as “the only one (monos) who is true GOD” (17:3). The word “only,” as we all know from an early age, restricts and limits and excludes all others! Jesus is the Son of God who was sent (John 17:3) but he cannot be “the only one who is true GOD” — the Father.

It is instructive to see how muddled and contradictory Trinitarian Dr. James White becomes when he tries to avoid the obvious in John 17:3. He writes in his book The Forgotten Trinity: “What of the phrase ‘the only true God’ (John 17:3)?” He forgets to tell you that this phrase from Jesus is addressed to the Father: “You, Father, are the only true God.” White then asks, “Doesn’t this mean that Jesus isn’t God? Of course not.”

But of course it obviously does mean that Jesus isn’t God! If the Father is the only one who is true God, everyone else is excluded. Dr. White has been using language like this (involving “only”) all his life without the slightest confusion. But here he is driven by the Trinity! He is forced into an obvious misuse of easy language. He goes on to repeat his tradition that Father and Son both share the one Being of God. But Jesus does not say anything like this.

Jesus knows nothing of the language of “Being.” Jesus knows nothing of the language of “Essence.” Dr White thinks that his Triune God is “one what” (The Forgotten Trinity, p. 27). But Jesus has a different concept entirely in John 17:3: “The Father [one single Person] is the only one [a single Person, excluding all other p/Persons] who is [a single Person] true God [a single Person].” All quite straightforward until a contradictory tradition (post-Bible) was introduced to complicate and confuse the monotheism of Jesus.

Well did scholar and teacher Franz-Josef Ohlig write in his very informative book One or Three: from the Father of Jesus to the Mystery of the Trinity: “Jesus himself stood in the tradition of Jewish monotheism…His thinking and acting were geared toward this one God…It is certain that the doctrine of the Trinity as it became dogma…has no biblical foundation whatsoever” (p. 121, 130).


The above was taken from
Focus On The Kingdom Vol. 15. No. 11