A devoted disciple today can approach the gospel with the heart of someone entering the world of the Bible itself, where God is recognized as the one supreme ruler above all creation, yet the reality of other spiritual beings—angels, messengers, and cosmic powers—is acknowledged. This is not a denial of God’s ultimate sovereignty, but a recognition that God reigns over a rich spiritual universe, placing Him above all, as the King of kings. In this light, the life, teaching, and mission of Jesus can be seen as the work of God’s chosen representative, fully empowered by the Father, sent to reveal God’s justice, mercy, and plan for salvation. Prayer, worship, and obedience are directed to the one true God, who reigns supreme, while the disciple can recognize that other spiritual realities exist under God’s authority without competing with Him.
Living in this understanding, a disciple can embrace a deep sense of intimacy with God, following Jesus as the Father’s appointed Messiah, knowing that the gospel is about faithfulness to the one true God, participation in God’s kingdom, and the cultivation of holiness and love in everyday life. This original gospel understanding, termed ‘henotheism’ by theologians, in this pastoral sense, provides a lens to see the supremacy and uniqueness of God while remaining humble in the presence of the spiritual richness of creation, encouraging devotion that is both scripturally grounded and spiritually alive.
A disciple rooted in the original gospel, seeing God as supreme above all and Jesus as the Father’s appointed Messiah, can approach religious differences with humility and confidence. With strictly monotheistic Rabbinical Judaism, the disciple can recognize that God is indeed one and supreme, but gently maintain that the biblical witness allows for a hierarchy of divine beings under God’s authority. The disciple can honor the Jewish commitment to God while testifying to the centrality of Jesus’ role in God’s plan, emphasizing obedience, faith, and the revelation of God’s mercy through Christ, without denying God’s sovereignty or the existence of angels and heavenly powers.
When engaging Trinitarian Christians, the disciple can acknowledge the sincere effort to preserve God’s oneness while pointing out that the New Testament depicts a henotheistic structure: God is supreme, the Father sends the Son, and the Spirit carries God’s work in the world. This disciple can focus on the practical and relational aspects of faith—love of God and neighbor, prayer, devotion—while explaining that the original gospel did not require collapsing distinct roles into an ontological Trinity, and that Christ’s mission can be honored without that metaphysical framework.
In the case of Pentecostal Oneness believers, the disciple can approach with both compassion and clarity, noting that their insistence on absolute singularity of God in Jesus’ form mirrors the same pressure toward rigid monotheism seen historically. The disciple can affirm Jesus as the one sent by God to accomplish redemption, while encouraging reflection on the broader cosmic order in which God reigns above all powers, angels, and spiritual realities. In all three cases, the disciple’s witness rests not on winning an argument, but on living faithfully in the pattern of the original gospel: worshiping the one true God, following Jesus as the Father’s appointed Messiah, and recognizing God’s supreme authority over all creation, spiritual and material.
Worded by AI, prompted by Stephen D Green
