Let the Bible speak for itself.
Years ago I had a discussion with a pastor of a very large church in Ohio. I explained to him how I had a number of questions I’d like to talk to him about concerning who the Almighty actually is. Was the Father the Only True God as the Savior tells us He is in John 17:3, or is the Almighty actually made up of three different and distinct beings, namely the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? I handed him a few sheets of papers that I had written up which simply contained passages that I had copied from the Bible. (I'll listed the passages below). I asked him if he’d read through them and possibly at a later date he could give me his understanding on what the passages meant. Being the sincere man that he seemed to be, he agreed. After a month or so I went to the pastor’s home to ask if he had a chance to review the passages. We started talking and he explained to me how he took the papers to a man that he referred to as “his mentor,” someone he obviously looked up to. With almost a glazed look in his eyes he began to explain to me how his mentor, after reading through the passages, said to him “this is true, this is true.” All the passages on the sheets that I had given him he believed to be true.
I realize how strange that must sound for me to say that a minister actually believed the bible passages that I had copied to a sheet of paper. But the sad truth is that most ministers today would have a hard time accepting the passages I handed this man, and as I mentioned, I have listed below. The reason there are over 30,000 different Christian denominations in the world today is due to the fact that most ministers either refuse to believe certain things in the bible or they have a different understanding of what it is the Bible actually teaches. The understanding of just who the Almighty is, is one of those teachings that many churches are divided on. (I’ll list the various beliefs in closing.)
Well a month or so after our conversation in which the pastor had told me that he and his mentor, believed all the Bible passages which clearly showed the Heavenly Father to be the Only true God (Jn 17:3; 20:17; etc), I went to his church. I was curious as to how this minister’s congregation had accepted their pastors change of understanding on who the Almighty actually was. As I mentioned, due to the size of this congregation it had 3 pastors, when I asked one of the other two if I could talk to the one I had met previously I was told he no longer worked there at that church. “We had to ask him to leave” the pastor told me, “he got off into a heresy, denying the Trinity, and he was asked to leave.“
I didn’t know this pastor personally, I don’t even remember his name, but I do know this much about him, he was a man to which “Truth” meant more to him than his job as a pastor. He lost his income and his livelihood because he embraced what he now believed to be the Truth. He believed the words of the Savior in that the Father is the Only True God, and it cost him. Other than losing his job as a pastor, I don’t know exactly how more it cost this man for his believing the words of the Messiah, in that the Father is the Only True God. But I think I'm safe in saying that he lost most of his former "friends" who had no desire in accepting the Truth about the Father being the Only True God.
I was recently reminded of this man when I came across the sheets of paper with the Bible passages that I gave to him so many years ago. So I thought I’d list those passages here on the website. Hopefully there may be others who are sincere as this man was in being willing to lose their jobs if need be, in order to embrace the Truth.
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Joh 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yahoshua Messiah whom You have sent.
Most of us are aware of the fact that the word “God” (Heb:: elohim; Gr: theos) is not a name but rather a title meaning “might one” or “mighty ones” depending on the context in which it‘s used. And of course there are many that are referred to as ‘God’ in the Bible (see the article “I said you are Gods”), such as the Messiah Yahoshua of course (John 1:1; Heb 1:9), along with the ‘judges of Israel’ (Ps 82:6/John 10:34), the angels (Ps 8:5, the word 'angels is actually the Hebrew word 'God' ), Samuel the prophet who was called an 'elohim/god' (1 Sam 28:13) , and Moses (Exo 7:1). But even though there are many that are called 'God' for us there is only One God (1 Cor 8:6), who the Messiah tells us is his Father, Yahuweh, the Only True God (John 17:3) The One from whom all the others that are called ‘god’ received their power and authority (Ps 82:6).
Joh 20:17 Yahoshua said to her, "do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"
Mark 15:34 At the ninth hour Yahoshua cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani?” which translated means "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?“
After the Savior rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, to be seated at the right hand of the Father, he continued to refer to His Father as 'his God.'
Rev 3:12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.
The seven angels having the seven last plagues sang the song of Mosses “and” the song of the Lamb, and here is what they sang:
Rev 15:3 And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and marvelous are Your works, O Yahuweh God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!
Even though there are many that are called 'God', again such as the judges of Israel (Ps 82:6/John 10:34), angels (Ps 8:5), Moses (Exo 7:1) and of course the Messiah Yahoshua (John 1:1; Heb 1:9) the apostle Paul states that for us, that is the followers of the Messiah, “there is but one God, the Father, and one Lord (or Master), the Messiah Yahoshua, whom the Father “made” both Lord (Master) and Messiah” (Act 2:26).
1Co 8:6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Yahoshua Messiah, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
1Co 11:3 But I want you to understand that Messiah is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Messiah.
It should go without saying that the One the Messiah calls “His God” would also His Head.
1Th 1:9-10 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He (the living and true God) raised from the dead, that is Yahoshua, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
(see “Did Yahoshua raise Himself from the dead?“)
Literally decades after the resurrection Paul continues to state that there is only one God, meaning there is one one true Mighty One, and there's One mediator between that One God and man, the 'man' Yahoshua the Messiah.
1Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Messiah Yahoshua,
Right now sitting at the right hand of the Father is the “man” Yahoshua the Messiah.
In Peter’s first sermon to the 1,000’s of Jews in Jerusalem observing Shavuot, the Feast of Pentecost, Peter explains to them that Yahoshua was a “man” attested by God with miracles, wonders and signs which God did “through” him. Notice that unlike so many minister today, Peter does not, nor does anyone else in the entire Bible, try convincing the Jews that Yahoshua was “god the son”, or the god/man, or part of a Triune godhead.
Act 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Yahoshua the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which Yahuweh performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know…
Peter was the first apostle to bring the message of Salvation to the Gentiles, and again, just as he told the Jews years earlier in Jerusalem, he explains to the first Gentile converts that Yahoshua was “a man” that Yahuweh God was working “through”,
Act 10:38 How God anointed Yahoshua of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
Paul tells us that God will judge the earth and how will He do it, - “through a man”. The Man of course being Yahoshua the Messiah, who has been given authority over heaven and earth (Rev 17:14; Matt 28:18).
Act 17:30 "Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,
Act 17:31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
Notice how the writers of the epistles distinguish between the Father and the Son in each of their letters.
Rom 1:8 First, I thank my God through Yahoshua Messiah for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world.
Rom 1:9 For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son (that is God's Son), is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,
1Cor 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord (or Master) Yahoshua Messiah.
1Cor 1:4 I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of Yahuweh which was given you in Messiah Yahoshua,
2Cor 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord (or Master) Yahoshua Messiah, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
Gal 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord (or Master) Yahoshua Messiah,
Eph 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord (or Master) Yahoshua Messiah.
Eph 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord (Master) Yahoshua Messiah, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Messiah,
Col 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Messiah who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
Col 1:3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Yahoshua Messiah, praying always for you,
Php 1:2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord (or Master) Yahoshua Messiah.
Php 4:19 And my Godwill supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Messiah Yahoshua.
1Th 1:1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord (or Master) Yahoshua Messiah: Grace to you and peace.
1Th 1:2 We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers;
1Th 1:3 constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord (Master) Yahoshua Messiah in the presence of our God and Father,
1Th 1:9-10 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His (that is the living and true God) Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Yahoshua, who rescues us from the wrath to come.
2Th 1:6-8 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord (Master) Yahoshua will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord (Master) Yahoshua.
2Th 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of Yahuweh and from the glory of His power,
1Tim 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Messiah Yahoshua according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Messiah Yahoshua, who is our hope,
1Tim 1:2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Messiah Yahoshua our Lord (Master).
1Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Messiah Yahoshua,
1Tim 5:21 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Messiah Yahoshua and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.
2Tim 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Messiah Yahoshua, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
Tit 1:1 Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Yahoshua Messiah, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to holiness.
Tit 1:4 To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God, the Father and Messiah Yahoshua our Savior.
Phm 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God, our Father and the Lord (Master) Yahoshua Messiah.
Heb 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He (God) appointed heir of all things, through whom also He (God) made the world.
God made the worlds. How did He do it “though” His Son – thus Genesis 1:26 “Let us make man...”
James 1:1 James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Yahoshua Messiah, To the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad: Greetings.
1Pet 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Yahoshua Messiah, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Yahoshua Messiah from the dead,
2Pet 1:1-2 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Yahoshua Messiah, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Yahoshua Messiah:
1Jn 1:1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life--
1Jn 1:2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--
1Jn 1:3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Yahoshua Messiah.
Although John tells us that “he has heard, his eyes have seen and he's looked upon and touched“ the Messiah Yahoshua, he goes on to tell us in the same letter that, “No one has ever seen God at any time“ (1Jn 4:12)
1Jn 4:12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
Yahoshua made it clear to his disciples that “no one has ever seen Father, whom he tells us is the Only True God (John 17:3).
Joh 6:46 "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.
Which of course is the same thing Yahuweh, the Father, the only true God, told Moses on the mount.
Exo 33:17 Yahuweh said to Moses, "I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name."…..
Exo 33:20 But He said, "You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!"
1Jn 1:5 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1Jn 1:7 but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of His Son Yahoshua cleanses us from all sin.
2Jn 1:3 Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Yahoshua Messiah, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
Jud 1:1 Jude, a bond-servant of Yahoshua Messiah, and brother of James, To those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Yahoshua Messiah:
Jud 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, unholy persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Yahoshua Messiah.
Jud 1:25 to the only God our Savior, through Yahoshua Messiah our Lord (Master), be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Yahoshua Messiah, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
God, that would be the Only True God, the Father Yahuweh, revealed the entire book of Revelations to His Son. It wasn't known to the Messiah until the Father "revealed" it to him.
Rev 1:4 John to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come (that is the Father Yahuweh), and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
Rev 1:5 and from Yahoshua Messiah, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--
Rev 1:6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His (Yahoshua’s) God and Father – to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Rev 1:7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Yahuweh God, "who is and who was and who is to come (speaking of the Father, see verse 4), the Almighty."
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If it’s the “truth” that you’re seeking than here are other passages that you might want to consider.
Dan 7:13 "I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him.
Dan 7:14 "And to Him (the Son of Man) was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
Mat 11:27 "All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Did the Savior reveal his Father to you? Yes he did in John 17:3 when he told us that the Father, who name is Yahuweh, is the Only True God. It's now up to you to believe him
Joh 14:28 "You heard that I said to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
Mar 13:32 "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
When Yahoshua appeared to his disciples “after” his resurrection he still did not know the day and hour, or times and seasons, that the Father, his God, has fixed by His own authority.
Act 1:7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
Keep in mind also that the entire Book of Revelation “was given” to Yahoshua decades “after” he took his seat at the right hand of the Father Yahuweh (Rev 1:1)
The last day and hour is a unique day known Only to Yahuweh, the Father.
Zec 14:7 For it will be a unique day which is known to Yahuweh, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light.
Yahoshua was “tempted in all things.”
Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
The Father, the Only True God can not be tempted.
Jas 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone.
Yahoshua worshiped his God and Father (John 20:17)
Joh 4:22 ….We (including the Messiah Himself) know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him.
Joh 4:24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
Mat 12:31 "Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
Is the Savior telling us here that someone can be forgiven for blaspheming the 1st and 2nd parts of the Trinity, but to blaspheme the 3rd part is unforgivable? No, course not, to blaspheme the Father, the only true God, who is the Spirit (John 4:24), is unforgivable. The “spirit” is the spirit of God the Father, the only true God.
Clearly from all that’s been stated thus far, the apostles never thought of the Messiah Yahoshua as being the 2nd part of a “Trinity” or the Almighty. But who did the people think Yahoshua to be when he walked the earth?
Mat 16:13 Now when Yahoshua came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
Mat 16:14 And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets."
Mat 16:15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
Mat 16:16 Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."
Notice that “no one” thought him to be the the Almighty or the god/man, or part of a triune godhead, not the apostles nor any of the people.
When Yahoshua entered Jerusalem for the last time, before his death, the people were shouting:
Mat 21:9 The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahuweh (Psa 118:24-26); Hosanna in the highest!"
Mat 21:10 When He had entered Jerusalem, all the city was stirred, saying, "Who is this?"
Mat 21:11 And the crowds were saying, "This is the prophet Yahoshua from Nazareth in Galilee."
No one thought Yahoshua to be a 'god/man' or 'god the son', or part of a Trinity. Terms should as those are never found in the Bible.
The religious leaders sought to seize Yahuweh, why?
Mat 21:46 When they sought to seize Him, they feared the people, because they considered Him to be a prophet.
While Yahoshua was hanging on the stake the scribes and elder accused him or “trusting God”
Mat 27:43 "He trusted in God: let’s see if God rescues him now, if He delights in Him: for he said, “I am the Son of God.“”
The vast majority of Christianity and the Messianic movement continue to deny the words of the Savior when he tells us that his Father, Yahuweh, is the Only True God (John 17:3: 20:17). But if you’re as the pastor that I mentioned above, who after coming to recognize the Father as the Only True God, lost almost all that he had in this world, remember it's Eternal Life that he’ll gain in the next.
“This is Eternal Life; that you know the Father, the only True God, and Yahoshua the Messiah that He sent” (John 17:3)
Eternal life is contingent on “two things”
1) knowing the Father, Yahuweh, as the Only True God and
2) the Messiah Yahoshua as the One that He sent.
Most people who claim to believe in the Messiah refuse to believe much of what he said. I pray that you're not one of those people.
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This is Eternal Life that they might know you Father, the Only True God……..”
For other articles concerning the Father being the Only True God click any or all of the links below.
“Hear Oh Israel Yahuweh is One“ Deut 6:4
“I am Yahuweh, that is My name to all generations” Exo 3:15
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Here are the 4 different ideas, that I’m aware of, which people have today concerning who or what the Almighty actually is. Out of the 4 there’s only one that is actually stated in the Bible. That is “the Father being the Only True God“ - John 17:3.
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There’s the 3 in 1 god known as the Trinity, which basically states that although there are 3 different and distinct gods, god the Father, god the Son and god the Holy Spirit, these 3 are actually “One.” this Trinity we're told is a mystery that can not be explained or understood. And although such terms as: Trinity, god the Son, god the Spirit, or a god/man are never mentioned in the Bible, the Trinity remains the most popular belief among Christians today.
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Then there’s the 'Duality', the 2 in 1 god. This teaching is generally believed on by those who come to recognize that the Holy Spirit is not a separate person or being. After seeing that there can't be a 3 in 1 god, or trinity, they continue to believe that the Father and Son make up the so-called “godhead. Thus they believe in a Duality, a 2 in 1 god.
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And there’s whats called the “Oneness” doctrine, which is sometimes called 'Modalism'. Oneness, or Modalism, is a belief that god is one person who has revealed himself in three forms or modes. In contrast to the Trinitarian doctrine where god is one being existing in three separate and distinct bein gs.What they say is that originally there was only one god, the Father, who abided in heaven. The Father left heaven and came to earth as the Son. Since Father ceased to be the Father and now became the Son there was no longer a 'god' in heaven, he now resided on the earth as the Son. There are some who take this teaching a step further by saying that when the Son died at Golgotha, he ceased to be the Son and now became the Holy Spirit. By believing this doctrine the Oneness people feel they consistently maintain a belief in “one god” who changes modes, or forms, throughout time.
Personally, the Oneness doctrine is by far the strangest idea that I’ve ever come across in my 35 years in discussing the Bible with others, but sadly enough there are many confused Christians today that adhere to this teaching.
And finally there is the one teaching that is actually taught in the Bible and that is that the Father, who's name is Yahuweh, is the Only True God - John 17:3.
Shalom Reuven