“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.

[7] Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.” (1 Corinthians 8:6-7)

In my continuous study of scripture, I have never read a verse plainly establish who God is to this great of an extent than this one written by apostle Paul. When the Holy Spirit led me to this verse, it confirmed something that I was confused by since I was a little boy: how can Jesus be God if he is the Son of God?

The truth of the matter is that Jesus is not God himself—he is our Lord and Savior, the one who was chosen by God, the Father, to become the propitiation of the sins of the entire world.

This goes against the fundamentals of most Christian doctrines of the world today. Most doctrines claim that God is a triune God: one God that exists as three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), each co-eternal in being, co-identical in nature, and co-equal in power and glory. However, this is a doctrine that has been created by Satan and has amassed misconceptions to confuse man into idolizing a doctrine that makes both Jesus and the Holy Spirit as “God…” and many people are straying further from His word because of it.

The Father is signified as God innumerable times in the New Testament, typically as “God the Father” or “God our Father” (roughly 64 times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke; 120 times in John; and over 40 times in the Pauline letters). Not once is “God the Son” or “God the Holy Spirit” used in scripture—not a single time. There have been assumptions that Jesus calls himself God throughout scripture, but this is also untrue. Jesus only claimed to be the Son of God and never once associated himself to be God in any fashion, as evidenced in John 10:32-36:

“Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?
[33] 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.
[34] Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
[35] If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;
[36] 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?“

In this exchange, it is the Jews who claim that Jesus has blasphemed by calling himself God. Instead, Jesus corrects them by saying that he is the Son of God and that he has not blasphemed because it was the Father who sanctified and sent him into the world. It was God who sent Jesus, His only begotten son, into the world because it is God who loves us and wants us to reconcile back to Him (John 3:16).

Jesus ≠ God

Many Christian doctrines equate Jesus to being God, or rather one of God’s “persons.” This is innately blasphemous and goes against the first commandment. Only the Father is God, and to call anyone else God in His place is no different than idolatry. The world has used this doctrine to idolize Jesus as God and worship him. However, Jesus tells us that we not to worship him, but to worship the Father because the Father is God and He is the one who seeks those to worship Him:

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
[24] God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24)

Jesus even professes to Satan that there is only one who is to be worshiped and served: the Lord God. Clearly Jesus is not referring to himself, but the Father in this context:

“And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Luke 4:8)

Everything that Jesus says and does is for the glory of the Father. Jesus himself is the glory of the Father (John 1:14). The notion that Jesus is “co-equal” with the Father cannot be further from the truth, for Jesus himself said his Father is greater than I and greater than all:

“My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:29)

“Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28)

I have heard many doctrines propose that because Jesus was speaking in the flesh, this is why the Father is greater than him. The problem that arises from this line of logic is that the same doctrines claim that Jesus is both “fully man” and “fully God.” This assumption greatly diminishes the power of God’s authority and oversimplifies it. God cannot die, pray, or be conceived of flesh. These are attributes that flesh exhibit, but an Almighty, omnipotent, omnipresent God does not have these traits—or a need to experience them—in order to save us.

The Father = God

The Father is the one who sends both Jesus and the Holy Spirit on His behalf. While it is true that Jesus created the heavens and the earth, he did so using the power and authority that was given to him from God the Father (Matthew 28:18). The power and the kingdom belongs to the Father alone and by Himself, but He shares it with those who believe in the words He has spoken through His son Jesus Christ. Here are a few distinguishing characteristics between the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit:

1. 1. God the Father does all things alone and by Himself. He does not rely on another to do His will, but He will use those who freely choose to do His will instead of their own will—Jesus included (Isaiah 44:6, Isaiah 44:24).
   2. God the Father will not give His glory to another, but He shares it with Jesus and His children (Isaiah 42:8, Isaiah 48:11).
   3. The doctrine does not belong to Jesus, it belongs to God the Father, and Jesus only speaks what the Father has told him to speak (John 12:48-50, John 7:16-18).
   4. God the Father has given Jesus the authority to commit judgment (John 14:6, John 5:19, John 5:30).
   5. God the Father is life itself, and has given that life to his Son (John 5:26).
   6. Only God the Father knows the exact time of the second coming, and has not yet revealed this to Christ. This is a major reason why we are commanded to warn others while it is called today (Mark 13:32, Matthew 24:36, Hebrews 3:13).
   7. God the Father sends the Holy Spirit to bring His word back to our remembrance of all of the things He has taught us from the beginning and written on our hearts (John 14:26).
   8. All things in heaven and earth were made by God the Father through Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2).
   9. God the Father provides the commandment, and Jesus carries out the commandment (John 12:49, John 15:10, Genesis 1:1-26).
   10. Jesus serves as the advocate with God the Father (1 John 2:1).

It is critical to understand that all glory goes to the Father. Jesus professes that his Father is the only true God, and wants to share in his Father’s glory (John 17:3-5). We thank Jesus Christ for revealing God’s wisdom to us by way of the Holy Spirit, and we acknowledge the Father as our one and only God.

Amen.