John 17:3
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Whenever the "true God" is used in the Bible it is always used in contradistinction with idols.
2 Chronicles 15:3, 8
(3) For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.
(8) Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD.
Jeremiah 10:10-11
(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.
(11) Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
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
(20) 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.
(21) Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
The Lord Jesus is not ruling out that He is God in John 17:3, but He is contrasting that the Father is the only true God in comparison with all idols.
a. BDAG (3rd Edition): of God in contrast to other deities, who are not real J 17:3 (alēthinos, page 43)
b. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: the one, true God, in contrast with the polytheism of the Gentiles (ginōskō, page 117).
The same Greek word for only (monos) as found in John 17:3 is used in Jude 4.
Master (despotēs)
Jude 4
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:24
When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, Master, You are the One who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them. (HCSB)
There is only one who is the despotēs which every Christian has.
If a person who denies the Lord Jesus is God responds in this thread, then please answer this question in your first response:
---> Who is the only Master (despotēs) of every Christian?
a. If a Unitarian affirms the Father is the only despotēs of every Christian, then that would contradict Jude 4.
b. If a Unitarian affirms the Lord Jesus is the only despotēs of every Christian, then that would contradict Acts 4:24.
c. If a Unitarian affirms both the Father and the Lord Jesus are the only despotēs of every Christian, then say good-bye to Unitarianism.
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
Whenever the "true God" is used in the Bible it is always used in contradistinction with idols.
2 Chronicles 15:3, 8
(3) For many days Israel was without the true God and without a teaching priest and without law.
(8) Now when Asa heard these words and the prophecy which Azariah the son of Oded the prophet spoke, he took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had captured in the hill country of Ephraim. He then restored the altar of the LORD which was in front of the porch of the LORD.
Jeremiah 10:10-11
(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.
(11) Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
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
(20) 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.
(21) Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
The Lord Jesus is not ruling out that He is God in John 17:3, but He is contrasting that the Father is the only true God in comparison with all idols.
a. BDAG (3rd Edition): of God in contrast to other deities, who are not real J 17:3 (alēthinos, page 43)
b. Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: the one, true God, in contrast with the polytheism of the Gentiles (ginōskō, page 117).
The same Greek word for only (monos) as found in John 17:3 is used in Jude 4.
Master (despotēs)
Jude 4
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Acts 4:24
When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, Master, You are the One who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them. (HCSB)
There is only one who is the despotēs which every Christian has.
If a person who denies the Lord Jesus is God responds in this thread, then please answer this question in your first response:
---> Who is the only Master (despotēs) of every Christian?
a. If a Unitarian affirms the Father is the only despotēs of every Christian, then that would contradict Jude 4.
b. If a Unitarian affirms the Lord Jesus is the only despotēs of every Christian, then that would contradict Acts 4:24.
c. If a Unitarian affirms both the Father and the Lord Jesus are the only despotēs of every Christian, then say good-bye to Unitarianism.
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