One God & One Lord

The following is a guest article written by Jason Styba.

In my quest to understand who God is and who God’s only begotten Son is, I’ve realized that there are numerous differences between God and his Son.  This is not to say that his Son Jesus Christ did anything contrary to the will of God, but rather to highlight the inherent differences concerning who they are, what they have done and their relationship to us.  There are many more points than what I’ve listed here. Hopefully one can begin to see that they are not the same being if these hold true.  I believe the first and the last points listed are the most important.  It’s also of utmost importance for one to understand that God is my Father, and that Jesus is the Christ and he is my Lord.  I love God with my whole being and am ever thankful that he provided THE way for salvation by sending his only begotten Son into the world to sacrifice his perfect self on the cross, making atonement for our sins.  I thank God for raising my Lord Jesus Christ from the dead after three days and three nights and making him both Lord and Christ.  What a great God we have and what a wonderful Savior!  That being said, please let us consider the following, looking up each scripture reference to see for yourself:

• God’s Son actually died and was raised from the dead, while God is eternal and immortal and, therefore, cannot die.  (Romans 5:10, 1 Tim 1:17)

• God’s Son learned obedience to God, while God need not obey anyone for he is almighty.  (Hebrews 5:8, Acts 5:29, Daniel 7:27)

• God’s Son grew in favor with God, while God cannot grow in favor with his own self.  (Luke 2:52, common sense)

• God’s Son was given all things by his Father, while God already has all things.  (Luke 10:22)

• God’s Son did not seek to do his own will, while God is the one who’s will he sought and did. (Luke 22:42)
• God’s Son is a man, while God is spirit with no flesh and bones.  (Mark 15:39, John 4:24, Luke 24:39)

• God’s Son has a God, while God is the MOST HIGH GOD, having no God himself.  (John 20:17, Genesis 14:22)

• God’s Son has a Father, while God has no Father for He is the creator.  (Matthew 11:27, Isaiah 40:28)

• God’s Son was made of a woman, while God has always been.  (Galatians 4:4,  Romans 16:26)

• God’s Son prayed to his God, while God doesn’t pray to anyone - for He’s God and receives prayer.  (John 17:1-3, common sense, and Acts 10:31)

God’s Son is our Lord Jesus Christ, while God is our Heavenly Father!  (1 Corinthians 8:6, Luke 11:13, 2 John 1:3)

Jason Styba

• Luke 8:39 NASB
  (39) “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

Here’s another passage that might be construed in the same manner. This one is about Jesus healing the ten lepers:

• Luke 17:15-18 NASB
  (15) Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice,
  (16) and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.
  (17) Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine–where are they?
  (18) “Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”

And another, about the healing of the man born blind:

• John 9:24-25 NASB
  (24) So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.”
  (25) He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.“

For the context of why they say they knew that Jesus was a sinner, refer to a few verses earlier:

• John 9:16 NASB
  (16) Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.

But getting back to the healed blind man:

• John 9:31-33 NASB
  (31) “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him.
  (32) “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind.
  (33) “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.“

When you do something good for someone, do you take credit for it yourself, or do you give the glory to God as you should? From the perspective of the recipient of the healing or other good deed, it is you who “did it.” You are glorified by it. However, anyone who knows God knows to whom the glory is due. Jesus knew that the glory for all of his deeds goes to God. Thus in Luke 8:39, Jesus acknowledged what God had done (through him), while the person healed told of what Jesus had done.

• John 8:54 NASB
  (54) Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’;

When you do the work of God, you are glorified (for doing God’s work) and God is glorified (for being the source by whom you were capable of doing it).

• John 11:4 NASB
  (4) But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.”
• Matthew 5:16 NASB
  (16) “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

• Colossians 2:9 NASB
  For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

Yes, Colossians 2:9 says that all the fullness dwells in Jesus. And Colossians 1:19 says that God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in him. Do these statements amount to a declaration that Jesus is God?

In Ephesians 3:19, Paul prays that all Christians would “be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (NIV) or that you “be filled up to all the fullness of God” (NASB).

• Ephesians 3:19 NASB
  and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

In Ephesians 4:13, Paul desires Christians to “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (NIV). In other words, Paul’s desire for us (and it should be our desire for ourselves and other Christians) is that we attain to the same fullness that was in Christ - the whole measure that was in him.

• Ephesians 4:13 NIV
  until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Having the fullness of God does not make one God; it does not make Jesus God. Having the fullness is the goal of all who love God. It is the mark of a mature Christian.

Now let’s look at Colossians 2:9 again, but this time with the “rest of the story”–

• Colossians 2:9-10 NASB
  (9) For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
  (10) and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;

The word translated “complete” in verse 10 is just the verb form of the same word translated “fullness” in verse 9. The NIV translates the word properly as “fullness” in both places–

• Colossians 2:9-10 NIV
  (9) For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,
  (10) and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

The fullness dwells in Christ and in him, we too are given the fullness. Is there anything that suggests it is one kind of fullness that is in Christ, but another kind in us? No, and we can let Paul remind us of that by showing again his prayer for Christians in Ephesians 3:19 –

• Ephesians 3:19 NASB
  (19) and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

As the fullness of diety dwells in Jesus, Paul’s prayer is that the same fullness, the fullness of God, would fill us.

There is a song sung in our church, and I’m sure in many churches throughout the world, titled We Fall Down. Here is a portion of the lyrics:

We fall down
We lay our crowns
At the feet of Jesus
The greatness of mercy and love
At the feet of Jesus
We cry holy, holy, holy
We cry holy, holy, holy
We cry holy, holy, holy
Is the lamb

I’m sure the person who wrote these lyrics believes it is biblically accurate, and I’m sure the people who select this song to sing in their church services believe the lyrics to be accurate, as well. But they are confusing Father and Son, and thinking the Son to be God Almighty.

Let us, however, review the scripture and see the truth.

The idea behind the song is taken from Revelation 4:10, the only verse in scripture that talks about casting crowns or laying crowns. The song lyric was probably from the New International Version, which uses the word “lay” rather than “cast.”

• Revelation 4:10 NIV
  the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne

• Revelation 4:10 NASB
  the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne
  

It is the 24 elders who fall down before the throne of God and cast their crowns. It was back up in verse 4 that we were told about the 24 elders and what they were wearing:

• Revelation 4:4 NASB
  Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.

Whether the 24 elders are literally 24 individuals or if they are symbolic of something else, we won’t discuss here. I’m sure there is no one who loves God who would hold back casting their crown at His feet, so for the purpose of this article, the song lyrics can refer to 24 elders or to every God-fearing person since the Creation, represented by the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles of Christ.

Getting back to Revelation 4:10, the elders fall down “before Him who sits on the throne.” The writer of the song We Fall Down wants us to believe the one on the throne is Jesus. Is it? Let’s find out.

To identify who it is that is sitting on the throne, we need to look at the text within its context; therefore, below is a large passage of scripture, spanning the last four verses of Revelation chapter 4 and the entirety of chapter 5. The key verse for the song lyrics is highlighted in blue.

• Revelation 4:8–5:14 NASB
  8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME.”
  9 And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,
  10 the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
  11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
  1 I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.
  2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?”
  3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.
  4 Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;
  5 and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.”
  6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
  7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
  8 When He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
  9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
  10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
  11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,
  12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
  13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
  14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen ” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

One of the first things we can note, and then move on, is that the four living creatures are saying, “Holy, holy, holy” to “the Lord God, the Almighty” and not to the Lamb. The Lamb is given much praise in verses 9 through 12 and is, indeed “the Holy One of God” (John 6:69), but that is not who the “Holy, holy, holy” is directed towards in this passage.

Beginning at Revelation 4:9, we read that the One who sits on the throne is “Him who lives forever and ever.” It is to this One that the 24 elders fall down and cast their crowns in verse 10 (highlighted blue, above).

Then in verse 11 (Revelation 4:11), we see the elders address the One on the throne as, “You, our Lord and our God.” So far, we are pretty certain that the one on the throne to whom the elders are bowing and casting crowns is God.

Continuing on into chapter 5, we see in verse 1 that the One who sits on the throne is holding a book in His right hand and that the book is sealed. In verse 2, an angel asks “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” No one was found worthy.

In Revelation 5:5, we are told that “the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David” has overcome and can open the book and its seals. And, behold (verse 6), the Lamb was seen standing between the throne and the elders. He (the Lamb) came and took the book out of the right hand of “Him who sat on the throne” (verse 7).

It should be clear at this point that the Lamb is not the One who sits on the throne because he takes the book from the One who sits on the throne.

We also know that the Lamb is Jesus (John 1:29 - The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”).

In Revelation 5:8-10, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fall down before the Lamb and sing a new song to the Lamb:

“Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

And later in verse 13 we are told that every created thing gave praise to both God and Jesus, saying “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen ” And the elders fell down and worshiped. (Revelation 5:14).

We fall down
We lay our crowns
At the feet of … who?

The Almighty God, who is someone other than Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Maybe the song writer doesn’t claim to base his song on scripture, in which case he can say whatever he wants to say and cast his crowns wherever he wants to cast them.

If you think I’m being too picky, too pedantic, you should know that people memorize song lyrics more readily than they memorize the words in the Bible. I heard someone say once, “But doesn’t it say in the Bible that …” and she was corrected by her husband, “No, that’s just a song.” That’s why we can’t be too picky about the songs we sing, especially in church.

Addendum 03/03/08: One of the members of my congregation made an interesting comment about the song. He wrote, “I didn’t assume that the ‘We Fall Down’ song refers to Heaven. I assumed it was referring to our “earthly crowns” that we humans place so much value on, and the song is saying that we as Christians surrender them to Jesus while we are here on earth.” I think that’s a great way to interpret the song!

What a question! But for the child of God, it is a question with an easy and obvious answer. Love is supremely important! Here are some reflections on love from the scriptures.

Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13, puts it quite bluntly: Without love, dear Christian, you are nothing. You can be abundant in spiritual gifts or have faith that can move mountains, but without love, says Paul, you are nothing. You can donate to charity, feed the poor, or take any other action of sacrifice to help others, but if you do it without the motivation of love in your heart, it profits you nothing. Or to put that in the words of Isaiah the prophet, all your righteous deeds are as filthy garments (Isaiah 64:6).

Paul continues in 1 Corinthians 13 to describe the markers of love. If we have the love of God in our hearts, these are the markers of our character: patience, kindness, not jealous, not boastful, not arrogant, we will not act unbecomingly (in other words, we do not act outside the boundaries of love), we are not provoked to anger or improper action, we do not keep track of the times when someone wrongs us, and we do not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoice in the truth.

He goes on to say that love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and that love never fails. Wow.

Some want to believe that this agape love that is to characterize the child of God is meant to apply within the body of Christ. In other words, it is how Christians are to be towards one another. This is true in a sense, as Paul writes in Galatians 6:10 that we are to do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. But do note that he wrote “all people.” Jesus said that we are to love even our enemies and to do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us and pray for those who mistreat us (Luke 6:27-28).

The apostle John wrote that If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen (1 John 4:20). And if we can’t love our brothers and sisters in Christ, how can we possibly love our enemies? It begins with God, beloved. When we love God, we will love our brothers and sisters. And if we love God and we love our brothers and sisters, we will love our enemies.

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” What are his commandments? Just read through the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They contain the words that Jesus wants us to keep. And his commandments are God’s commandments because “he whom God has sent speaks the words of God” (John 3:34) and Jesus said that he did not speak on his own initiative, but the Father who sent him commanded him what to say and what to speak (John 12:49).

Whoever keeps his word (the words of Jesus, the commandments of God), in that person the love of God has truly been perfected (1 John 2:5). By this we know that we love the children of God: when we love God and observe His commandments (1 John 5:2).

Peter speaking to Jesus, said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (John 6:68). How right he was. Jesus himself said, “the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63).

• John 12:49-50 NASB
  (49) “For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
  (50) “I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”

How important is love? The kingdom of God is promised to those who love Him (James 2:5).

We started by defining love from the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, so let’s end with the very last verse of the same chapter:

• 1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB
  (13) But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

• 1 Corinthians 8:6 NASB
  (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.

The above is the most straight forward creed of the Christian faith regarding God and Christ that is found in the Bible. Notice that God is identified as the Father and only the Father. Confirmation of this is also found in a very straight forward statement, this one by the Lord Jesus Christ while praying to his Father.

• John 17:3 NASB
  (3) “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

See how this is in beautiful harmony with the Jewish “Shema” found in the book of Deuteronomy:

• Deuteronomy 6:4 NASB
  (4) “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one!”

Jesus himself affirmed the Shema in Mark chapter 12. When he was asked which commandment is the foremost (greatest, first) of all of the commandments, Jesus answered:

• Mark 12:29-31 NASB
  (29) Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;
  (30) AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’
  (31) “The second is this, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

When the scribe who asked him the question agreed with Jesus’ answer, Jesus told him that he was not far from the kingdom of God.

There is much debate about the verses that claim to support a “Trinity” doctrine. (The above clear verses are not those.) If disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ would study the trinitarian claims with an open heart, they would find that those claims are not as strong as their trinitarian teachers would have them believe. The plain words of Jesus and Paul, along with the foundation of the Old Testament prophets, will prevail over the interpretations of men handed down over the centuries.

After his resurrection, Jesus told Mary Magdalene to go tell the brethren that “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.” (John 20:17) Just a few chapters earlier, Jesus identified his Father (and our Father) as the only true God. Do you believe Jesus? Do you have the same God that Jesus has? Do you “worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:23), the same one-person God that Jesus prayed to? Or do you worship a man-made three-person god that is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible?

Friends, read your Bibles!

The four statements below were copied from the Statement of Belief at a Biblical Unitarian website. I think they comprise a good, basic statement of biblical unitarian theology. Statements beyond these four items on Unitarian statements of belief are basically denomination-specific.

1. We believe that the Scriptures are “God-breathed,” perfect in their original writing, without flaw or contradiction, and provide the only sure and steadfast basis for faith. Understanding the Scripture is attainable by applying logic and sound principles of biblical interpretation, in conjunction with the spirit of God in us.
2. We believe that God, the Creator, the Father of Jesus Christ, is “the only true God” (John 17:3), holy and separate from all His creation. He is a personal God who has committed Himself to us in writing.
3. We believe that Jesus Christ, the “last Adam,” is the only-begotten Son of God. He was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, suffered and died as a payment for all men’s sin, was raised from the dead and exalted to the position of “Lord” by God His Father.
4. We believe that “the Holy Spirit” is another name for God, while “holy spirit” is God’s gift of His divine nature that a person receives when he is born again, the “spirit of truth” that Jesus promised.

When encountering anything “unitarian,” it is good to understand the distinction between what is known as “Unitarian Universalist” and “biblical unitarianism” or “Biblical Unitarians.” Biblical unitarians have specific beliefs about God and Christ that differ from trinitarianism (God in three persons), as noted in points 2, 3, and 4 above. Beyond that, biblical unitarians and trinitarians often overlap in what they believe, with variations within denominations.

Unitarian Universalist (UU), on the other hand, is a wholly separate religion unto themselves. One might compare it to Scientology, the religion invented by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, in that UUs accept all deity beliefs and even non-theistic beliefs. Basically, UUs have no set beliefs about anything.