“yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.” (1 Corinthians 8:6, New International Version)

In this passage, Paul wrote that the Father is “one God” of the Christians, yet he makes a distinction between this “one God” and Christ. This does not mean that Jesus is not God, for there are numerous passages that teach this truth. Yet, Paul made this distinction for a reason.

As a Jew, Paul would understand the difference between the one omnipotent, omniscient God and His image, the Son of Man. He would know that Christ was the God of Israel in a lesser, human form. He would also understand that God in this form is vastly different than the timeless immutable Spirit of God.

The title: “Christ” means “the Anointed One” or “the Messiah.” It is a term used for the Son of David or Son of Man, the human being born at Bethlehem. Paul calls the Father the “one God” apart from the Son of God or human Christ in this passage to facilitate the distinction that exists between God as an omnicient, omnipotent Spirit and God in the lesser for of a man.
Yet, since Paul wrote that the Father was the "one God" of the Christians, yet also wrote that all the fullness dwelt in Chirst bodily (Colossians 2:9,) Paul's words either prove that Jesus is the manifestation of this one God, or the apostle taught a false doctrine which excludes the persons of "Son" and "Holy Spirit" from the "Godhead."

Next Page: One God and Father of All

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