One God – None Other
On the back cover of this magazine there is a conversion story that describes the discovery of the one true God. To Corinth, located in the midst of rampant idolatry Paul wrote: “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” (1 Cor 8:4-6).
To believers, it may seem unnecessary to emphasize the reality of the one God, but as never before in the English speaking world, we are being exposed to “gods many and lords many.” The educational system has a theory of tolerance that exposes students to the teachings of Islam etc. They are told that they must better understand and respect the religion of those who are not Christians. There is a suggestion that they might be right and we might be wrong. We need to look at what we believe and why we believe it.
There are three ways in which God has revealed Himself as the one true God. The first is creation (Psa 19:1-6). “For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom 1:20). The second is the inspired, written Word of God (2 Tim 3:16). It contains overwhelming evidence of its authority. To those who will hear it, faith comes from God to believe it (Rom 10:17).
I had many conversations with a man who was a total atheist. I felt defeated in most of them. One day he came to work with a Bible in his hand. He had never given me a clue that he was reading it, but he was, and he said, “This book has proven to me that it is from God.”
The third perfect revelation is the Lord Jesus Christ. “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared him” (John 1:18). His birth, life, words, works, death, burial and triumphant resurrection declare that He is the eternal Son of God. Peter speaks of a “more sure word of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19) because all of these events were recorded centuries before Christ came. Only Christ has an empty tomb.
One Son – None Other
“If I had not done among them the works which none otherman did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father” (John 15:24). To Philip, the Lord said, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father” (John 14:9). The Lord Jesus had “neither beginning of days, nor end of life … the Son of God” (Heb 7:3).
One Savior – None Other
I heard a man say that the heavenly Jerusalem has 12 gates and there are many different ways of getting there. But the Lord Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). No verse in the Bible states this more clearly than Acts 4:12, “”Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). In the midst of religious confusion let us be sure of this, there is only one Savoir, only one way to heaven and salvation is not in “any other thing.” Those who claim Christ as their Savoir trust Him only, not Christ and their own works, nor Christ and their baptism, nor Christ and their church, but Christ only.
