John 10:30
(‘Is God and Christ one in nature or in purpose?)
“I and My Father are one.”
(John 10:30 NKJV, Emphasis mine)
(John 10:30 NKJV, Emphasis mine)
THE PROPONENTS of the Christ-is-God theology so confidently believe that Jesus’ statement in John 10:30 is an admission of His “divinity.” However, a careful study of the verse itself, comparing it with the truth written in other verses of the Bible, and an analysis of the Greek text of the passage will show us the error of believing that John 10:30 confirms the so-called “divinity” of the Lord Jesus Christ.
EXAMINING THE CONTEXT
If a person has an open mind for truth, in just a glance at John 10:30, he can immediately see that it was only the opinion or interpretation of those believing that Jesus is God in saying that this verse confirms that Jesus is God. Nothing in the verse that says, “Jesus Christ is God.” Let us cite this passage once more:
“I and My Father are one.”
(Reference: Jn.10:30 New King James Version)
Clearly, nowhere in the verse says that “Jesus is God.” It is only the interpretation (or should we say misinterpretation) that the verse confirms that Jesus is God. Actually, if we are to carefully study the context, it clearly shows that Jesus is not talking about His “divinity.” Let us take a look at the preceding verses of John 10:30:
(John 10:27-28 ibid.):
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.”
Here, the Lord Jesus promises that He will give His “sheep” eternal life, and “they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” Then in the proceeding verse ― (29), this is what Christ said:
(John 10:29 ibid.):
“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
The Lord Jesus said in verse 28 that “they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” And in verse 29, He also said, “no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” Thus, Jesus concluded in verse 30:
(John 10:30 ibid.):
“I and My Father are one.”
Thus, the previous verses (verses 27-29) explain why Jesus said, “I and My Father are one.” Jesus and His Father (the one He referred to in John 17:1-3 as the “one and only true God”) Are ONE in PURPOSE because as much as no one can snatch the “sheep” from His hand, also no one can snatch them out of His Father’s hand. Therefore, the context of the verse shows us that Jesus is not talking about his alleged “divinity,” but He is talking about how He and His Father will take care of His “sheep” – thus, what they have in common, no one can snatch them from their hands.
Take note, the “sheep” were given to Christ: “My Father, who has given them to Me…” This further demonstrates that there are two of them, the giver ― God, and the receiver ― Christ. Christ’s sheep are not inherited, further demonstrating a separation of being equal. If Christ were God, nothing would need to be given to Him, for all things with God are inherited. The true God is the source of all things, I Corinthians 8:6 (AMPC). Thus, if Christ were God, then it would appear that there are two Gods, one God who gives and one God who receives. A biblical and contradictive absurdity against the ones of God.
WHAT OTHER TRANSLATIONS OF THIS VERSE SAY
Based on the context of John 10:27-30, it is clear that the Lord Jesus is talking about how He and His Father are one in taking care of His sheep. Further strengthening this position, many versions of the Bible support our position that when Jesus said in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one,” He is not referring to His alleged divinity, but rather how He and his Father are one in taking care of His sheep. Let us read:
THE MESSAGE:
“I and the Father are one heart and mind.”
CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH VERSION:
“I am one with the Father.”
“I am one with the Father.”
SIMPLE ENGLISH BIBLE:
“My Father and I are united.”
“My Father and I are united.”
LAMSA TRANSLATION:
“I and My Father are of one accord.”
“I and My Father are of one accord.”
(*Emphasis added to context)
In accordance with the supported translations of the unity between the Father and Son “being one in purpose caring for the sheep,” the Rev Bible Commentary on John 10:30 further expounds:
“I and the Father are one.” Here in John 10:30, Jesus says that he and the Father are “one” in purpose, and unified in their goals and actions. Jesus and the Father operate in perfect unity…”
(Reference: https://www.revisedenglishversion.com/John/chapter10/30, Emphasis Mine)
Furthermore, Calvin’s commentaries by trinitarian Jean Calvin on John 10:30 has this to say:
“The ancients made a wrong use of this passage to prove that Christ is (ὁμοούσιος – consubstantial) of the same essence with the Father. For Christ does not argue about the unity of substance, but about the agreement which he has with the Father.“
(Reference: Calvin’s Commentaries by Jean Calvin, 1509-1564 p.417, Emphasis Mine)
Therefore, even other Trinitarian scholars agree that Jesus is not talking about His alleged “divinity” in John 10:30, but rather about how He and His Father are one in taking care of His sheep. However, the proponents of Christ-is-God theology insist that Jesus statement in John 10:30 (“I and My Father are one”) is an admission that Jesus and the Father are “one in number,” “one in nature and state of being”, “one in power or authority,” and “being one God.”
Saying that Jesus and the Father are “one in number,” “one in nature or state of being,” “one in power or authority,” and “being one God,” is truly UNSCRIPTURAL. The verse doesn’t say such things. The interpretation or conclusion of the proponents of “Christ is God” regarding Jesus’ statement in John 10:30 are not only unscriptural but also AGAINST THE TRUTH written in the Bible.
So is Jesus and the Father one in number?
Nowhere in the verse does Jesus say, “I and My Father are one IN NUMBER.” Actually, the interpretation that when Jesus said “I and my Father” means they are “one in number” contradicts the very words of the Lord Jesus in John 8:16-18 and many other verses in the bible. Let us read:
“Yet even if I do judge, My judgment is true [My decision is right]; for I am not alone [in making it], but [there are two of Us] I and the Father, Who sent Me.”
(Reference: Jn.8:16 AB, Emphasis Mine)
“I am One [of the Two] bearing testimony concerning Myself; and My Father, Who sent Me, He also testifies about Me.”
(Reference: Jn.8:18 AB, Emphasis Mine)
“In your [own] Law it is written that the testimony (evidence) of two persons is reliable and valid.”
(Reference: Deut. 19:15 AB, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, it is clear that Jesus and the Father are NOT ONE in number. Jesus explicitly said, “…for I am not alone [in making it], but [there are two of us] I and the Father…”
Another major problem for Trinitarians is that the “Holy Spirit” is missing in this verse, which is necessary to complete their trinitarian formula of 3 persons in 1 Godhead.
THE GREEK TEXT SUPPORTS OUR POSITION
The statement of Jesus in John 10:30, “I and My Father are one,” referring to His alleged divinity, is not supported by the Greek text when doing a careful analysis of the Greek gender rule, but rather the Greek text supports that Christ and His Father are one in taking care of the sheep. Let us cite the Greek text of John 10:30:
“egō kai o patēr én esmen”
As translated: “ego” (I), “kai” (and), “ho” (the), “Patēr” (Father), “én” (one), and “esmen” (are). Thus, translated as “I and My Father are one.” Let us first take note that there are three equivalents in Greek of the English word “one” based on gender:
“ONE”:
eis (masculine)
mia (feminine)
én (neuter)
To have a better understanding of the gender rule above, let’s turn to the example in the New Testament of these three Greek terms used in Ephesians 4:5:
εἷς (heis): (“one Lord”)
μία (mia) pistis: (“one faith”)
ἕν (én) baptisma: (“one baptism”)
Take note that the word used in the Greek Text of John 10:30, which is equivalent to “one” in English, is “én” (the “neuter adjective”). Thus, in the Greek Text of John 10:30, the equivalent of the English word “one” (the Greek “én”) doesn’t refer to Jesus and the Father. If the word “one” refers to Jesus and the Father, the verse should have used the masculine “eis” instead of “én.”
In The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Gospel According to John, on page 394, the author D.A. Carson agreed that if the masculine “eis” is used, this could refer to Christ and the Father and would have meant that Christ and the Father are one in state of being or nature. However, because the neuter “ÉN” was used instead, it shows that Jesus and the Father are of “one accord” or one in objectives, purpose, and actions.
Let us examine how I Corinthians 3:8 used the Greek term “ÉN” for further proof of this grammatical gender agreement:
(I Corinthians 3:8):
(Koine Greek)
“Ὁ ΦΥΤΕΎΩΝ ΔῈ ΚΑῚ Ὁ ΠΟΤΊΖΩΝ ἝΝ ΕἸΣΙΝ”
(Greek Transliteration)
“O FYTEÚON DÉ KAÍ O POTÍZON ÉN EISIN”
“Now HE WHO PLANTS AND HE WHO WATERS ARE ONE, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.”
(Reference: New King James Version, Emphasis Mine)
“The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.”
(Reference: The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek and English, Emphasis Mine)
The equivalent in the Greek text of the English word “one” here in I Corinthians 3:8 is the neuter “ÉN” because the verse shows that Apostle Paul (“he who plants”) and Apolos (“he who waters”) are “one” in goal, objective, purpose, or action, not one in number which would be a clear absurdity to say that Apostle Paul and Apolos are one in number. Thus, how the Greek term “ÉN” is used in I Corinthians 3:8 is also the same as how it was used in John 10:30. The Greek term “ÉN” (translated in English as “one”) does not indicate that the two subject are “one in number,” “one in nature” or “one and the same,” but — ONE IN GOAL, OBJECTIVE AND ACTION.
Therefore, those who insist that John 10:30 means the Father and Son are one God are clearly wrong, as shown by New Testament Greek grammar alone. “God” in New Testament Greek is always masculine and must take the masculine form of adjectives, pronouns, etc., in agreement. (See Mark 12:29, 32; 1 Cor. 8:4; Eph. 4:4-6 in Greek interlinear Bibles).
Or, as Dr. Marshall puts it in one of his basic NT Greek grammar rules:
“Rule 7. Adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify in number, gender,… and case …”
(Reference: Alfred Marshall, New Testament Greek Primer, Zondervan Publishing House 1962, p.25, Emphasis Mine)
You may also compare 1 Cor. 3:8 [esp. footnote in The Zondervan Parallel New Testament in Greek and English] with NIV; NAB; LB; and CBW).
Therefore, the use of the neuter “one” (ÉN) in John 10:30 shows “one God” could not have been intended by Jesus but instead shows “metaphorically, union and concord!” It is possible to have gender irregularities when someone is described figuratively (“metaphorically”), such as “he is a Rock” or “Jesus is the Lamb,” but when he is being literally described, we must have gender agreement.
If we insist on supplying an “understood” ‘God,’ it must be at a place which uses the masculine form of “one” (heis) in gender agreement (cf. Mark 10:18; Rom. 3:30). Trinitarian Scholar Robert Young commented on this knowledge of the word “one” at John 10:30 in his Young’s Concise Critical Bible Commentary:
“The particle en [hen] being of the neuter gender, can hardly signify ‘one being, i.e. one God,’ but rather ‘one in will, purpose, counsel…”
(Reference: Young’s Concise Critical Bible Commentary, Baker Book House 1977, p.62, Emphasis Mine)
The Bible Knowledge Commentary, a Trinitarian Bible study reference book, agrees with Trinitarian Young (above) in its discussion of John 10:30:
“The sheep here belong both to the Father and the Son… and enjoy fellowship with both simultaneously… “One” in Greek is NEUTER and does not refer to “one person.” Jesus is affirming a unity of purpose and will. The protection of the sheep results from the joint work of Father and Son.”
(Reference: The Bible Knowledge Background Commentary, p.101,Emphasis Mine)
In conclusion, with the final nail in the coffin, the assertion that God and Christ are identical and one in number is definitively refuted by Christ’s prayer to the Father regarding the unity of the Father, Christ, and the Christians. His employment of the pronoun “us” in His declaration underscores the distinct identities of the two figures, further reinforcing the argument for their separation.:
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me…”
(Reference: Jn.17:20-21 New King James Version)
IN CONCLUSION
1
Truly, there is absolutely no evidence for a “trinitarian” interpretation of John 10:30. The real meaning shows Jesus is not God simply by Greek Grammar alone and the plural context seen in scripture.
2
“God” in New Testament Greek is always masculine and must take the masculine form of adjectives, pronouns, etc.
3
Even Trinitarian Scholars emphasize that the Greek Gender rule particle “en” [hen] agrees that Christ and the Father are “one” in goal, objective, purpose, and action, not one in number which would be a clear absurdity; just as much it would be an absurdity to say that Apostle Paul and Apolos are one in number since the same syntax and gender “ÉN” (one) was used to describe them as one in purpose from I Corinthians 3:8. In addition, Apostle Johns would not contradict his own writings elsewhere, e.g. Jn. 17:1,3., that the only True God is the Father introduced by Christ.
4
Apostle John maintained a consistent standpoint, as evidenced by his writing in John 17:3. In this passage, he refers to the Father, introduced by Christ, as the “only true God.” As such, any claim that John suggests a numerical unity between the Father and Christ is biblically unfounded and contradicting.
5
Another mind-boggling challenge for those sincere Trinitarians to consider in their interpretation of John 10:30 is the absence of the Holy Spirit to complete their trinitarian formula of three person in one Godhead. Thus, to claim that the Father and Christ are one in number with the absence of the Holy Spirit in the passage creates a huge problematic theological dilemma for Trinitarians to explain based on the definition of the “Trinity,” further giving evidence that their position for any trinitarian inference is non-existent.
WE KINDLY EXTEND our visitors an invitation to explore the pristine, unadulterated teachings of Christ and His apostles as they were taught in the first-century Church Of Christ:
The Truth about God and Jesus Christ
SUPPORTERS OF THE BELIEF in the divinity of Christ, also known as the Christ-is-God or the God-man doctrine, assert that God exists as a trinity consisting of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although they are three in nature and considered distinct beings, proponents maintain that they form a single God. The concept of the Trinity lacks explicit biblical endorsement; thus, proponents often argue that it represents a profound mystery beyond human comprehension and should be accepted by faith alone.
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