One God, the Father

God is one. There is only one person who is God.

Before the universe came into being, the living,
personal, self-existent God was alone. This one
infinite and perfect Being is unique. He has no
identical. He is in a class of His own. In His nature,
personality, and attributes God is undivided and
indivisible.

The unity of God includes two primary thoughts: the

oneness of God and the unity of God's character. The
oneness of God refers to the fact that there is only
one person in the universe who is the supreme
source and ruler of all things. The unity of God's
character refers to the truth that His nature is
undivided.

Christianity is based on monotheism. The God of the

Old Testament is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christianity in the Roman Empire constantly
conflicted with paganism. The unity of God naturally
became a fundamental doctrine of the apostolic
church. Wherever they went, the early missionaries
of the church proclaimed the truth of God's oneness.
Their converts "turned to God from idols to serve the
living and true God" (1 Thess. 1:9).

In writing to the church in the idolatrous city of

Corinth, Paul asserted: "We know that an idol is
nothing in the world, and that there is none other
God but one. For though there be that are called
gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be
gods many, and lords many,) 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" (1 Cor. 8:4-6).

"For there is one God, and one mediator between

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God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave
himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time
" (1 Tim. 2:5, 6).

There is one God, one human race, and one mediator

between the two. The one God is a unity who alone is
the source of all created things. His character is
holiness, love, and truth. The one human race has
descended from its common ancestors, Adam and
Eve. The human race had a common origin and
constitutes a unity. The entire human race is in sin
and needs salvation. The one mediator is Jesus
Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

I. Major Bible Truth

The fact that there is only one God is an outstanding

teaching in the Bible. It was the basic message of the
prophets and apostles. It is the foundation truth of
the gospel.

1. One God. The Bible clearly states that there is one

God. Bible writers show that God is a sole individual,
a unique being. God is one; there is one person who
is God.

Ephesians One God and Father

4:6 of all
1 Timothy
There is one God
2:5
1
None other God but
Corinthian
one
s 8:4
1
There is but one
Corinthian
God, the Father
s 8:6
James 2:19 There is one God

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 Galatians
God is one
3:20
Matthew None good but one,
19:17 that is, God
None good but one,
Mark 10:18
that is, God
The Lord our God is
Mark 12:29
one Lord
Deuterono The Lord our God is
my 6:4 one Lord

2. The Only God. The Bible teaches God's simple

unity not only by stating that He is one, but also by
affirming that He is the only God. The word "only"
means alone, by one's self, apart, to be solitary.

Thee the only true

John 17:3
God
I Timothy
The only wise God
1:17
I Timothy The blessed and only
6:15 Potentate
Denying, the only
Jude 4
Lord God
Jude 25 To the only wise God
2 Kings
Thou alone
19:15
2 Kings
Thou only
19:19
Nehemia
Thou art Lord alone
h 9:6
Psalm Whose name alone is
83:18 Jehovah
Psalm
Thou art God alone
86:9, 10
Isaiah Stretcheth forth the

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 44:24 heavens alone

3. There Is None Other. All, others are excluded.

There is none else. God is alone; beside Him none
other exists.

There is none other

Mark: 12:32
but he
1
There is none other
Corinthians
God but one
8:4
Deuteronom There is none else
y 4:35 beside him
Deuteronom
There is none else
y 4:39
Deuteronom There is no god with
y 32:39 me
1 Samuel There is none beside
2:2 me
1 Kings 8:60 There is none else
Before me no God,
Isaiah 43:10
neither after
Beside me there is
Isaiah 43:11
no saviour
Beside me there is
Isaiah 44:6
no God
Isaiah 44:8 I know not any
There is no God
Isaiah 45:5
beside me
There is none beside
Isaiah 45:6
me
Isaiah 45:14 There is none else
Isaiah 45:18 There is none else
There is no God
Isaiah 45:21
beside me
Isaiah 45:22 I am God, there is

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 none else
I am God, there is
Isaiah 46:9
none else
Jeremiah The Lord is the true
10:10 God
Joel 2:27 None else

II. Indications of God's Oneness

1. God's Infinite Attributes. The oneness of God

is required by the fact that God is infinite.
Reality permits the existence of only one
person who is absolutely perfect. There can
be only one person who is supreme. Pre-
eminence excludes all but one. When one
speaks of the original, the source, the first
cause, the greatest, the highest, the supreme,
the ultimate, the final, he refers to a position
that only one person can occupy. God's
infinite superiority requires Him to be a single
unit, a sole individual, a unique being.
2.
For more than one infinite God to exist would
be a contradiction of thought. If several
persons existed as God, they would limit each
other. They would need to be finite. None
would be all in all--the one supreme God.

The idea of God is appropriated to an

individual, and does not admit of
application to more than one. There cannot
be any thing above God, or equal to Him,
or which is not dependent upon Him. He is
not only the first and the best, but the
greatest of beings; and, consequently, He
stands alone in the universe. What do we
mean by the term God but a being who is
infinitely and absolutely perfect? The idea

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 of two equal gods is therefore a chimera.
There may be more kings than one,
because royalty only implies that each is
vested with sovereign authority in his own
dominions; but there cannot be a plurality
of gods, because, from the nature of
things, only one can be possessed of all
possible perfections. (Wakefield, Samuel.
Christian Theology. New York: Nelson &
Phillips, 1873, pp. 140, 141.)

2. The Unity of Nature. The unity of nature reveals

the unity of God. All created things form not a
multiverse but a universe. The universe evidences
itself as the work of one mind, one power, one will--
one God. Each new scientific discovery emphasizes
the truth of the unity of nature and the oneness of
God.

3. Man's Psychological Nature. Man finds a oneness

of life in the oneness of God. Unity of personality and
purpose is discovered in loyalty to one God. "Hear, O
Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all
thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deut. 6:4, 5).
Because God is supreme, men are to worship Him
supremely. Because God is one, men are to love Him
with oneness of person. The one God who is all in all
insists on total loyalty in His creatures.

Psychology recognizes the need for an organizing

principle in man's life. Every circle needs a center.
Every solar system needs a sun. Every life needs a
supreme loyalty to give it unity and purpose. The
oneness of God fills this basic psychological need
within man. In supreme loyalty to the one God, man
finds a center for his circle and an adequate purpose
for his life.

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Sinful men cannot worship, obey, and love God in an
acceptable way until they become properly related to
God through the mediatorial work of Jesus Christ.
The sinner must turn his back to sin in repentance
before he can turn his face toward God in worship.
He must exercise trust in Christ as Sacrifice before
he can yield proper obedience to Him as Lord. He
must surrender to God's saving grace and
transforming power before he can be filled with
Christ's imparted righteousness which is love. Only
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
therefore, can man properly fulfill his threefold
responsibility of worship, obedience, and love.

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