5. Only One God

Source: The Trinity — Evidence and Issues, Robert Morey, Chapter 5 pp. 63ff

Trinitarians do not believe that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three separate gods. Such an idea is tritheism which is a form of polytheism. Neither do Trinitarians believe that angels or men have ever or will ever be God, or be divine, by nature.

If these Trinitarian beliefs are true then what would we expect to find in the Bible?

We would expect to find in the Bible where God Himself says that He alone is God and that the gods of other religions are false gods.
We would expect to find in the Bible where prophets, priests, kings, and apostles state that there is only one God and the gods of other religions are false gods.

When we turn to the Bible, what do we find? (Translation: NASB)

Deuteronomy 32:39 'See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded and it is I who heal, And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.
2 Samuel 7:22 "For this reason You are great, O Lord GOD; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
1 Kings 8:60 so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no one else.
1 Chronicles 17:20 "O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
Isaiah 37:16 "O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
Isaiah 43:10 "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.
Isaiah 44:6 "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.
Isaiah 44:8 'Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.'"
Isaiah 45:5-6 "I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; ⁶ That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other,
Isaiah 45:21-22 "Declare and set forth your case; Indeed, let them consult together. Who has announced this from of old? Who has long since declared it? Is it not I, the LORD? And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me. ²² "Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other.
Isaiah 45:14 Thus says the LORD, "The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush And the Sabeans, men of stature, Will come over to you and will be yours; They will walk behind you, they will come over in chains And will bow down to you; They will make supplication to you: 'Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No other God.'"
Isaiah 46:9 "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me,
Jeremiah 10:6-7 There is none like You, O LORD; You are great, and great is Your name in might. ⁷ Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? Indeed it is Your due! For among all the wise men of the nations And in all their kingdoms, There is none like You.
1 Corinthians 8:4-6 Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. ⁵ For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, ⁶ yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

The Only True God

2 Chronicles 15:3 "For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.
Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation.
John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
1 Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God,
1 John 5:20-21 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, guard yourselves from idols.

The Only Eternal God

Genesis 21:33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Everlasting God.
Deuteronomy 33:27 "The eternal God is a dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, 'Destroy!'
Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
Jeremiah 10:10 But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation.
Romans 16:26 but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith;
1 Timothy 1:11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

The Only Living God

Deu 5:26; Jos 3:10; 1Sa 17:26,36; 2Ki 19:4,16; Psa 42:2; 84:2; Isa 37:4; Jer 10:10, 23:36; Dan 6:26; Hos 1:10; Mat 16:16; 26:63; Acts 14:15; 2Co 3:3; 6:16; 1Th 1:9; 1Ti 3:15; 4:10; Heb 3:12; 9:14; 10:31; 12:22; Rev 7:2

The only God by Nature

Gal 4:8 — “However, at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those [gods] things which by nature are no gods.”

If the gods of the heathen are not God by nature, then what is their nature? The famous German commentator Heinrich Meyer comments:

For, in the apostle’s view, the realities which were worshipped by the heathen as gods, were not gods, but demons. In his view, therefore, their nature was not divine but at the same time not of mere mundane matter; it is demonic, a point which must have been well known to the Galatians from his oral instruction. 1 Corinthians 10:20-21 (Deuteronomy 32:17)

Behind the pagan idols were demons: Deu 32:17; 2Ki 19:18; 1Ch 16:26; 2Ch 13:9; Psa 96:5; Isa 40:8-20,25,26; 45:18; Jer 2:11; 5:7 10:8-10,14; 16:20; Hab 2:18-20; Acts 19:26; 1Co 8:4-5; 10:20; Gal 4:8.

The Maker of Heaven and Earth

The constant theme throughout the Bible is that the God of Israel is the only true God because He is the Creator of all things: Isa 37:16; 40:26,28; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12,18; 48:13; 51:13; 64:8; Jer 10:12-16;

The importance of God as Maker of heaven and earth cannot be under emphasized. This is why the theory of evolution is the main weapon in the atheist's arsenal. If evolution is true, then the God of the Bible is false. It is either one way or the other.

Conclusion

What must be in order for what is to be what it is? When we opened the Bible we found that it does in fact teach the first principle of the doctrine of the Trinity: There is only one, true, eternal, living Being who is God by nature and Maker of heaven and earth. This concept is exactly what we expect to find in the Bible if the doctrine of the Trinity is true.