One God and ALSO One Lord and Savior His Son

1 CORINTHIANS 8:6 Yes, to us there is one God, and one God only, the Father, out of Whom all is. This One is quite separate and distinct from the Lord Jesus Christ, though, of course, there is a close relationship between them. The One is the Father, the other is the Son. The One is Supreme, the other is termed Sovereign (Col.1:18). But let us note this; the Lord Jesus Christ is Sovereign only because God, the Supreme One, has made Him so. Peter explained this to Israel when he stated most emphatically, as recorded in Acts 2:36, “Let all the house of Israel know certainly, then, that God makes Him Lord as well as Christ—this Jesus Whom you crucify.” Paul also tells us this (in Phil.2:9), “wherefore, also, God highly exalts Him, and graces Him with the name that is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should be bowing, celestial and terrestrial and subterranean, and every tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory of God, the Father.” What room is there here for the conception of the Trinity— three gods in one and one three, and all co-eternal and co-equal? (In none of the passages we have quoted is God’s holy Spirit even mentioned.) The doctrine of the Trinity, as generally understood, is a most pernicious one, and is yet another attempt by the Adversary to undermine the deity of God. The words Father and Son lose their meaning if the Father does not precede the Son, and if the Father is not greater than the Son. Jesus Himself said, “The Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), and spoke of the Father as His God (John 20:17). It is surprising how widespread this undermining doctrine has become, and how many believers it has deceived. We get into real difficulties whenever we use terms that are not in the Scriptures to describe scriptural matters. “Trinity” is a term invented by theologians; it has its origin in their creeds and finds expression in their hymns. We should be very wary of using terms which are unscriptural, and even more wary of building doctrines upon them. It is true that there is a Father and there is a Son and there is a holy Spirit, but they are not three Beings in one, still less are they one in three. The Father is God in absolute right; He was, is, and always will be, the Supreme. As such, He is entitled to the worship and adoration and affection of all. The Son is God in a relative sense only. He is “the only-begotten God” (John 1:18). As the Original of God’s creation (Rev.3:14), the Firstborn of every creature (Col.1:15), He appeared before creation “in the form of God” (Phil.2:6) so that He might reveal to creation the God Whose true Image He is. But invariably the Son is pointing to the Father, and directing that glory be given to Him. It is the Father, Who (subsequent to obedience of His Son on the cross) ordains that acclamation be given to Christ, when He highly exalts Him, and gives Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. It is clearly stated that this acclamation is “for the glory of God, the Father.” GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT The holy Spirit is not a god at all, but simply the power of God as manifested in His invisible, intangible operations. For example, it operated invisibly in order to bring about the conception of the babe Jesus (Matt.1:18). It operated, too, on the minds of the various ones chosen by God to write down His Word (2 Peter 1:21). Now it dwells in the hearts of God’s saints (1 Cor.3:16). It is never, in itself, an object of worship, but directs praise and acclamation to God and to His Son. The beautiful relationship which exists between the Father and the Son was most aptly expressed by Jesus, when He said, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30), but this can by no means be used to support the theory of the Trinity, for later Jesus prayed that His disciples may also “be one, according as We are” (John 17:11), and later in the same chapter, “that they may all be one, according as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us” (v.21). Jesus always recognized the deity of His Father, and will always do so, for at the consummation He gives up the kingdom to His God and Father, and Himself is subject to the One Who has subjected all to Him, that God may be All in all (1 Cor.15:24-28). Let this disposition, which is in Christ Jesus, be in us also, and let us give all honor and glory to God, realizing and acknowledging that we can do nothing of ourselves. Thus may we subject ourselves to Him, that He may be All in us now. John H. Essex Part 1 Part 2 YOU ARE HERE Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6