Who the True God is
(Jesus Praying to His God Jn. 17:3)
KNOWING WHO THE true God is is indispensable for the salvation of man. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself emphasized:
“After Jesus finished saying this, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father…
“And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.”
(Reference: Jn. 17:3 Today’s English Version, Emphasis Mine)
To be saved, therefore, is to know two beings, namely the true God whom Jesus identifies as the Father in verse one of the Book of John, chapter 17, and to know Jesus Christ whom the true God sent.
The Iglesia Ni Cristo recognizes the Father as the ONLY true God and no one else, and Jesus Christ whom the true God sent to save mankind. One of the requirements or the way to have eternal life to be saved is to know who the “true God is.” The New Living Translation, in its opening statement for clarity, renders it as such: “And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God…” This belief comes from what Jesus Himself told us in the passage cited above.
WHOSE GOD IS THE TRUE GOD?
When the true God announced Himself to Moses in the burning bush, He said, “I am the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Ex. 3:6, GNT). While “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, (Acts 3:13, NKJV)…” Hence, Jesus is not only God’s beloved Son (Mat 3:17 NKJV) but He is God’s Servant whom He glorified and, therefore, different from the true God. The God of the Old Testament is also referred to as “the God of Israel” (II Chron. 33:16, Ibid.). When Christ was dying on the cross and called on God, He said, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?” (Mk. 15:34, GNT). Christ also told Mary Magdalene, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'” (Jn. 20:17, NKJV)
Thus, the true God is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel, Christ, and His disciples of the Christians or members of the Church of Christ. He is the God of those people whom He has as His own people, and recognize Him as the only true God.
WHO DO NOT HAVE THE TRUE GOD?
The true God is not the “God of God” as asserted by the Catholic Church through the Nicene Creed issued by the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. because God has no God, never recognizes any other God besides Himself. He said:
“People of Israel, you are my witnesses; I chose you to be my servant, so that you would know me and believe in me and understand that I am the only God. Besides me there is no other god; there never was and never will be.”
(Reference: Isa. 43:10, GNT, Emphasis Mine)
So how can there be a “God of God?” The true God is not the God of the dead but of the living as asserted by our Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 20:38). The dead referred to are those who are dead because of sins (Eph. 2:1) and also those who will die the second death in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14).
The true God is not the God of those who are not members of the Church of Christ. Apostle Paul made this clear when he told the members of the Church of Christ at Ephesus in the first century:
“…remember what you were in the past. At that time you were apart from Christ. You were foreigners and did not belong to God’s chosen people. You had no part in the covenants, which were based on God’s promises to his people, and you lived in this world without hope and without God.”
(Reference: Eph. 2:11-12, GNT)
GOD'S UNIQUENESS AND ONENESS
The God of the Christians or of the Iglesia Ni Cristo recognizes only “one God,” not one in three nor three in one, not a trinity. This is so because there is no God besides the true God. God Himself asserts this:
“I am the LORD, there is no other god. I will give you the strength you need, although you do not know me. I do this so that everyone from one end of the world to the other may know that I am the LORD and that there is no other god.”
(Reference: Isa. 45:5-6 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
God also said:
“‘People of Israel, you are my witnesses; I chose you to be my servant, so that you would know me and believe in me and understand that I am the only God. Besides me there is no other god; there never was and never will be.”
(Reference: Isa. 43:10, GNT, Emphasis Mine)
This being so, that the Father is the only true God and there is no other, how can some people say that the Son is God also? How can they say that the Holy Spirit is God also? The Trinity doctrine is against God’s assertions, against God’s uniqueness and oneness.
But why does the Bible speak of other gods? Are there other gods? If so, what are they? There are indeed other gods, but:
“There is no god like you, O Lord, not one has done what you have done. All the nations that you have created will come and bow down to you; they will praise your greatness. You are mighty and do wonderful things; you alone are God.”
(Reference: Ps. 86:8-10 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
Even Christ speaks of other gods:
“… It is written in your own Law that God said, ‘You are gods.’ We know that what the scripture says is true forever; and God called those people gods, the people to whom his message was given.”
(Reference: Jn. 10:34-35, GNT)
Apostle Paul, too, speaks of gods:
“Even if there are so-called ‘gods,’ whether in heaven or on earth, and even though there are many of these ‘gods’ …”
(Reference: I Cor. 8:5, GNT)
God, however, is above all gods:
“For the LORD is a mighty God, a mighty king over all the gods.”
(Reference: Ps. 95:3 GNT)
And God is:
“…to be honored more than all the gods.”
(Reference: Ps. 96:4 GNT)
What then are these ‘other gods’?
“The gods of all other nations are only idols, …“
(Reference: Ps. 96:5 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
They are false gods because:
“No other nation has ever changed its gods, even though they were not real.”
(Reference: Jer. 2:11, GNT, Emphasis Mine)
The gods are really nothing:
“The LORD, the king of Israel, has this to say: ‘You gods of the nations, present your case. Bring the best arguments you have! Come here and predict what will happen, so that we will know it when it takes place. Explain to the court the events of the past, and tell us what they mean. Tell us what the future holds – then we will know that you are gods! Do something good or bring some disaster; fill us with fear and awe! You and all you do are nothing; those who worship you are disgusting!”
(Reference: Isa. 41:21-24 GNT)
And the chief of the false gods is the god of this world who keep people’s minds in the dark and keeps them from seeing the light shining on them (II Cor. 4:4). This god we know to be Satan. And worship of such false gods is worship of devils:
“They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.”
(Reference: Deut. 32:17 KJB, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, any entity put forward as “coequal and consubstantial with the Father” is a false god because the true God, the Father, has no equal.
THE TRUE GOD IS THE ONLY CREATOR
The true God is the Creator of heaven and earth and everything therein and gives life to all (Neh. 9:6) and He did it all alone:
“I am the LORD, your savior; I am the one who created you. I am the LORD, the Creator of all things. I alone stretched out the heavens; when I made the earth, no one helped me.”
(Reference: Isa. 44:24 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
When God said, “And now we will make human beings; they will be like us and resemble us… (Gen. 1:26, GNT), He proceeded and did it alone:
“So God created human beings, making them to be like himself. He created them male and female, blessed them, and said, ‘Have many children, so that your descendants will live all over the earth and bring it under their control. I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.”
(Reference: Gen. 1:27-28 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
Why did God say, “we will make human beings” and proceed to do it alone? He was talking to the angels who always surrounds His throne (Rev. 7:11). We are certain that the angels did not help, because the verse states He (singular) created and God Himself said, “no one helped me.”
And who is this Creator? The prophet Malachi said, “Don’t we all have the same father? Didn’t the same God create us all?” (Mal. 2:10,TEV). Thus, the Creator is the Father, and since this Creator-Father is only one, then there could never be a “Triune God” because of the three the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit – only one, the Father, is the true God. Thus, a “Triune God” is a false god.
GOD'S KNOWLEDGE AND POWER
The God of the Iglesia Ni Cristo is Almighty. This is the God who said to Abraham, “I am the Almighty God. Obey me and always do what is right” (Gen. 17:1, GNT). He made the earth by His power, established the world by His wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by His discretion (Jer. 10:12). Nothing is impossible with God (Lk. 1:37).
Being Almighty, He owes His power to no one else. Christ, whom many people claim to be their God, is only given all the power in heaven and in earth (Phil. 2:9-11), a power which does not include power over God:
“For the Scripture says, ‘God put all things under his feet.’ It is clear, of course, that the words ‘all things’ do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ…”
(Reference: I Cor. 15:27 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
Besides, Christ’s power will be relinquished to the Almighty God at the end:
“But when all things have been placed under Christ’s rule, then he himself, the Son, will place himself under God, who placed all things under him; and God will rule completely over all.”
(Reference: I Cor. 15:28, GNT, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, to say or to believe that Christ is God is to commit gross error because Christ is not the Almighty.
The God of the Christians or the God of the Iglesia Ni Cristo is omniscient:
“From the beginning I predicted the outcome; long ago I foretold what would happen. I said that my plans would never fail, that I would do everything I intended to do.”
(Reference: Isa. 46:10 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
“God is going to judge everything we do, whether good or bad, even things done in secret.”
(Reference: Eccl. 12:14 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, the true God knows everything — the past, the present, the future, the hidden or secret things, etc. This is not so with Christ. He Himself admits:
“No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come–neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; only the Father knows.”
(Reference: Mk. 13:32 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
Christ does not know when His own second coming will take place. Thus, those who install Christ as their god have made for themselves a false god!
THE NATURE OF GOD
God is a spirit (Jn. 4:24), having no flesh and bones (Lk. 24:36-39). He is eternal, immortal, invisible (I Tim. 1:17), and unchangeable (Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:17). And being so, He is not a man (Hos. 11:9) nor a son of man (Num. 23:19). He does not allow a man to become God (Ezek. 28:2; Acts 12:21-23).
Thus, a God who becomes a man or a God-man is certainly a false god, and not the true God. Thus, if other gods are no gods, then those who have a god different from the true God, who is the Father alone, have no god at all.
HOW TO KNOW THE TRUE GOD
Mere knowledge of the true God, His nature and attributes, will not save man. One does not get saved by merely standing in awe and admiration. Knowledge of God demands something more:
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
(Reference: Prov. 9:10 KJB)
How does one truly understand or know God?:
“If we obey God’s commands, then we are sure that we know him. If someone says that he knows him, but does not obey his commands, such a person is a liar and there is no truth in him. But whoever obeys his word is the one whose love for God has really been made perfect.”
(Reference: I John 2:3-5 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
Thus, when a man truly knows God, he fears Him with a fear that leads him to obedience of all His commands. If he does God’s commands, then his love is really made perfect. But one who says he knows God but does not obey His commands is a liar. And what does God do to liars?
“But cowards, traitors, perverts, murderers, the immoral, those who practice magic, those who worship idols, and all liars the place for them is the lake burning with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.“
(Reference: Rev. 21:8 GNT, Emphasis Mine)
IN CONCLUSION
1
The Only True God is The father. Although there are many other gods, these gods are the idols who are no gods at all.
2
Jesus is God’s Son and His Servant. The God of the Old Testament is the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who glorified His servant Jesus. Thus, Jesus is not the God of the Old Testament. There is no Trinity.
3
WE KINDLY EXTEND our visitors an invitation to explore the pristine, unadulterated teachings of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) as they were taught by Christ and His apostles in the first-century Church Of Christ. Learn the truth about the One and ONLY True God — The Father, and “…the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor. 11:3), His Son. These teachings presented here are the path that leads to eternal life for all on that appointed day of Judgment:
The Question On Christ's Nature
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.
Fundamental Beliefs of The "Iglesia Ni Cristo" (Church Of Christ)
WITH THE AIM of aiding others in achieving a more comprehensive understanding of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, a series of readings has been developed. These readings encompass a range of significant topics, from the nature and work of Christ to apostasy. We encourage all those who are curious or in search of truth to engage with these articles. They are designed to encapsulate the comprehensive doctrines and beliefs of the Iglesia Ni Cristo…
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(Eph. 4:29, Amplified Bible)
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(1 Corinthians 13:4-5, Amplified Bible)