5 Arguments Showing that Jesus is Not the One God By Andrew Davis

5 Arguments Showing that Jesus is Not the One God

The following arguments set out to briefly argue that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is not himself the one God, the Supreme Being, Who is one person only, the Father, but that he is another distinct person (rational individual being) besides that one God.

Argument 1: Jesus is the Son of God.

A son is necessarily another person than his father, and is not his father.

Jesus is the Son of the one God;

Therefore Jesus is another person besides the one God, and is not the one God.

The first premise is plain in itself, according to the very thing signified by the words ‘father’ and ‘son’, that they denote a relation between two distinct individuals, and never a relation between an individual and himself. The second is made plain in many passages of scripture, including John 3:38, 18, Romans 5:10, and 1 John 4:15. It is plain that the ‘God’ Who Jesus is declared to be the Son of is the one God; and this is made even more explicit by John 17:1-3 “Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (NASB).
Here the same one that Jesus calls ‘Father’ He also calls ‘the only true God’, showing that the God that Jesus is declared to be the Son of is the one and only true God. And so scripture declares that Jesus is the Son of the one God.

Argument 2: Jesus is the Mediator between God and man.

A mediator between two parties, must be another third party besides those two.

Jesus is the Mediator between two parties, the one God and man.

Therefore, Jesus is not the one God.

The first premise is clear from the very function of a mediator, as one who intervenes between two or more parties. The one who so mediates cannot be himself one of the parties in need of mediation, or else, if he interacts with the opposing party, the interaction between parties will be direct and immediate, rather than through mediation. And the apostle Paul mentions as well, that a mediator is not for one party only (Galatians 3:20); and if a mediator is not for one party only, much less could the mediator himself be one of the parties in need of mediation.

The second premise is clear from the text of scripture: “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5 NASB). We see here that the one mediator and the one God are distinguished from one another as two distinct parties, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is that one mediator, Who intervenes between two parties: one God, and mankind.

Argument 3: Jesus is the High Priest of God.

The high priest of a God is distinct from that God he is priest to.

Jesus is the High Priest of the one God.

Therefore Jesus is not the one God.

The first premise is clear from the very nature and function of priesthood; for a priest both mediates between men and a deity, leads men in worship of his deity, and himself worships and serves his deity. A mediator, as we have shown above, must be distinct from the parties between which he mediates; and so no priest can be the God he is priest to. And so in leading men to worship God, a priest leads men to worship another, and not himself. And to be priest to a God involves worshipping that God; and yet proper worship is always paid to another, and not to one’s self. It follows from all these things then that a priest of a God must be distinct from that God he is priest to.

That Jesus is the High Priest of God is the express teaching of scripture: “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession;” (Hebrews 3:1 NASB) “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, 10 being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 5:9-10 NASB). And Hebrews 7:1 tells us this Melchizedek was the priest of “God Most High”, that is, the one God, the Supreme Being. And therefore, Jesus, being priest according to the order of Melchizedek, is likewise High Priest to no other than the same God Most High, the one and only God.

It may also be added, as a related argument, that the one God, being supreme over all, worships none. And so then that the Lord Jesus worships the Father, as the High Priest of God, shows that He is not Himself the one God, the Supreme Being, since He worships another, a thing which the one God does not do.

Argument 4: Jesus is our One Lord in contradistinction to the Father as our one God.

Scripture proclaims that Christians believe distinctly in one God and in one Lord; and so one is not the other.

Jesus is our one Lord, in contradistinction to the Father as our one God.

Therefore, Jesus is not the one God.

The first premise can be seen from several passages of scripture, including 1 Corinthians 8:6 and Ephesians 4:4-6, which both teach that Christians believe distinctly in one God and in one Lord. “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:4-6 NASB). If then we have one God and one Lord, these must be distinct from one another, so that the one Lord is not the one God, and the one God is not our one Lord.

The second premise is proved from 1 Corinthians 8:5-6: “For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through him.” (NASB).

So the one God is equated particularly with one person, the Father, and our one Lord particularly with another person, Jesus Christ. And unique functions of each of these are also mentioned, to still more clearly set the two in contradistinction to one another; namely, that our one God is the one from Whom are all things, that is, the one supreme cause of all, while our one Lord is the one through Whom are all things, that is, the one instrumental cause of all. And so it is shown that Jesus Christ is our one Lord, in contradistinction to our one God, the Father.

Argument 5: Jesus is the Christ of God.

To be Christ of God is to be anointed by God, and therefore, distinct from Him.

Jesus is the Christ of the one God.

Therefore Jesus is not the one God.

The first premise is apparent from the meaning of the very terms Christ, and its Hebrew equivalent, Messiah, which both mean ‘anointed one’. And so in Acts 10:38 Peter preached “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the holy spirit and with power, and how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.” (NASB). And in Acts 2:36 he preached “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”” (NASB). So the one Who is anointed by God with power and the holy spirit, is obviously distinct from that God Who anointed him.

That Jesus is the Christ of God has already been shown in the paragraph above, and is one of the most clear and repeated teachings of the New Testament.

• Peter quotes Psalm 2 as about Jesus in his preaching : “‘The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against YAHWEH and against His Christ.’” (Acts 4:26 NASB).
• “And he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
  And Peter answered and said, “The Christ of God.”” (Luke 9:20). 

“Christ” then, as we have said, is a title literally denoting having been anointed by another, and particularly in scriptures, denotes the one Who would come and be anointed by God as His prophet, priest, and king (for each of these offices were ordained by anointing in the Old Testament). And so then, that Jesus is the Christ of God is clear, and this shows that he is another besides the one God Who anointed him, the God Jesus serves as His prophet, priest, and appointed king over the people of God.

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5 Arguments Showing that Jesus is Not the One God