“It's important to note that the beliefs and practices of early Christians varied, and there was not a single uniform set of beliefs. However, if a believer today held to some of the core beliefs of the earliest Christians, such as a strict monotheistic view of God and a rejection of the Trinity, they might be labeled as Unitarian. Unitarianism is a Christian theological position that emphasizes the oneness of God and rejects the traditional Trinitarian doctrine.”
(ChatGPT 3.5)
If you look in John 8:18 you find that Jews insisted there be two testimonies about Jesus as the Law requires. He cited the Father as his second witness besides himself. That makes two, he said. His own plus the testimony of the Father. Very important that it is true that this means two testimonies. That means Son and Father are two distinct people, two beings, in the eyes of the Law of God.
Does this imply some kind of polytheism? Or more importantly, how do we focus of the Father as the One True God to worship before all others? In obedience to the command? Having no other gods before the One True God, that is the commandment, so we call Jesus ‘the Lord’, not ‘God’, and let him be to us the Lord as the One True God has appointed and sent him to be.
In English there is no linguistic way to distinguish God the person, who Jesus called the Father, and God the status, a status many can be given by God the person. In Greek the way God the person was denoted lingustically was with a definite article “ho”, so this gave “ho theos”, literally translated into English “the God”. It implies a particular God, in a Christian or Jewish context this is the God who Jesus called the Father. In Greek there is a linguistic way to denote more generally anyone with some kind of God status, which is to drop the definite article (Greek has no indefinite article like “a” which we have in English), hence “theos” without “ho” preceding it. In Hebrew there was less of an issue because they mainly wrote about one person as God, Yhwh. Then a more general, less personal God status could be denoted with the word Elohim. In English it is important for good understanding to avoid the word God in regard to the person Jesus Christ, as is avoided in New Testament scriptures too, and to give him the title given him by the Father, the title “Lord” or “the Lord”. This avoids confusion. When referring to his God-like status, we should avoid describing him as God with a capital G. On occasion, such as with translations of verses such as Hebrews 1:3, it may be necessary to use capitalised ‘God‘, but these occasions are rare since only very few scriptures address him in this way. On the whole the New Testament scriptures with only very few exceptions indeed address him as Lord. This is the title given him by the Father so it is not blasphemous and neither does it risk breach of the command to have no other gods before the LORD, Yhwh.
Jesus willingly received a human body, being made lower than angels by God the Father. The Father made the Word become flesh, and Jesus did not consider this a robbery or usurption but accepted it willingly. This act affirms that God the Father is the One True God, as He subjected His Son, Jesus Christ, to Himself, and Jesus embraced this submission. Furthermore, Jesus willingly accepted the cross. As a result of His obedience, God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted Jesus to be Lord, while Jesus was still forever subject to God the Father. Thus, the Father remains the One True God, and Jesus is the Christ whom He sent.
The One sent the one who died for your sins on the cross is the one who is the Only True God. “I am God”, He says. He is the true Father. In the end, over a thousand years from now, He is the One to whom all things will be subjected forever. He and the one who died for your sins on the cross will bring into full subjection all things. Then the Son will subject himself to the Father, the One True God forever. This Son is called the Lord because he is not ultimately the One True God to whom all things will be subjected forever. This Lord is fully able to master all things and all people. He will raise the saints from the dead and rule for a thousand years when he comes just decades from now. The household of God is under him. This Lord, is Jesus, the Christ: The Lord Jesus Christ. Even Nature revolves around the power of his name. By believing he is the light of the world, sent by the One True God, and holding to his teachings, as we find them in the gospels, and as the Holy Spirit confirms, we can be his disciples and have hope that we too will be raised from the dead by him at his coming, or if we are still alive when he comes, be transformed by him into immortal bodied people. New Testament scripture warns Christians to reject people who deny these things and not even receive them into their house, because receiving them is sharing in their wicked work.
There will always be those who fight to preserve a position contrary to all this. As Paul wrote to Timothy” “They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.” Be content and remember this: Jesus, the Christ, sent by the One True God to be the light of the world, died on a cross for you, enabling you to forsake that dark path and cease being an adversary of what is right, before it overtakes you.
