All People Should Honor the Son Even as They Honor the Father

Professing Christians who defend false Oneness doctrine often run to Old Testament verses that say God is “one” or that there is “no God besides Me,” and then claim those verses prove Jesus is God the Father incarnate. But that is not honest Bible interpretation. Those verses prove monotheism, meaning there is only one true God. They do not prove that God is only one Person, and they do not prove that Jesus is the Father.

That is the exact error. False Oneness doctrine takes true biblical monotheism and twists it into a denial of the Father and the Son. It says it is defending one God, but in reality it is perverting the saving and redemptive identity of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word made flesh.

John 1:1 — The Word Was God

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” That verse teaches both distinction and deity. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then John 1:14 says, “And the Word was made flesh.” It does not say the Father was made flesh. It says the Word was made flesh, and His glory was “the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.”

That alone disarms false Oneness doctrine.

Psalm 110:1 — The LORD Said Unto My Lord

Psalm 110:1 also exposes the problem. It says, “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Oneness supporters must answer this plainly. Who is speaking to whom? The LORD is speaking to David’s Lord. Jesus Himself used this passage in Matthew 22:42–46 to prove that the Messiah is more than merely David’s son. David calls the Messiah “Lord.”

This is not the Father talking to Himself. This is not one Person pretending to speak to another. This is divine distinction within the one true God’s redemptive plan. The Father speaks to the Son, and the Son is exalted at His right hand.

Hebrews 1 — God Has Spoken in His Son

Hebrews 1:1–3 makes the same truth clear. God has spoken “in His Son.” The Son is “the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person.” The Son made purification for sins and then “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” The Son is not the Father. The Son reveals the Father, represents the Father perfectly, and sits at the Father’s right hand.

John 17 — The Son Prays to the Father

John 17 teaches the same truth. Jesus prays to the Father. He does not pray to Himself. In John 17:5 Jesus says, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” That is not Oneness language. Jesus speaks to the Father, asks the Father to glorify Him, and speaks of glory He had with the Father before creation.

Then Jesus says in John 17:21, “that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee.” This is important. Jesus uses “one” to describe unity, fellowship, shared purpose, love, and relationship. He does not use “one” to mean the Father and Son are the same Person.

If Oneness doctrine says “one” means the Father and Son are the same Person, then John 17 creates a serious problem for them. Jesus prayed that believers would be one just as the Father and Son are one. Does that mean all believers become one person? Of course not. It means believers are united in faith, love, truth, and purpose. In the same way, the Father and Son are one in divine nature, glory, will, love, and redemptive purpose, but they are not the same Person.

John 17:23 makes it even clearer: “I in them, and thou in me.” Jesus is in believers, and the Father is in the Son. That does not mean believers become Jesus, and it does not mean Jesus is the Father. It speaks of unity, indwelling, relationship, and shared life.

So when Jesus says in John 10:30, “I and my Father are one,” He is not saying, “I am the Father.” He is saying He and the Father are one in divine power, purpose, will, and nature. The Jews understood He was claiming equality with God, but Jesus never said He was the Father. He repeatedly distinguished Himself from the Father.

First Peter 3:22 says Jesus Christ “is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.” Again, the risen Christ is at the right hand of God. That is not false Oneness. That is the exalted Son in glory with the Father.

This is why I reject false Oneness doctrine as a dangerous perversion of the saving identity of Jesus Christ. The Bible does not teach that the Father became the Son. The Bible teaches that the eternal Word was made flesh, the Son came from the Father, the Son revealed the Father, the Son died for sinners, the Father raised Him, and the Son is now exalted at the right hand of God.

The issue is not whether Jesus is God. I fully confess that Jesus is God. The issue is whether Jesus is the Father. Scripture says He is not.

That is not man’s philosophy. That is John 1:1, John 1:14, John 17:5, John 17:21–23, Psalm 110:1, Matthew 22:42–46, Hebrews 1:1–3, and First Peter 3:22.

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