The Lord Is One

Q. 5. Are there more Gods than one?
A. 5. There is but One only, the living and true God.(1)

(1) Deut. 6:4; Jer. 10:10.

In one sense, the answer to this question really could have been just one word: "No." Despite that, the Westminster Divines express the answer to this question in a rather emphatic way to drive the point home. Not only that, they qualify the direct answer with who it is. There is one and only one God. There is no other (cf., Isaiah 42:8). 

This God is living as opposed to the gods of the nations, for those so-called gods are nothing but the figment of their imaginations. These gods have no life in them. They do not an cannot see, hear, create, or do anything at all. 

Our God, the only God, the God who reveals Himself to us in creation and in Scripture is ever living. For creatures, living involves often a beginning, growth, change and development, yet because of sin it also involves slow decay as a part of that change. Not so with God. He unchangeably lives. He has all life in Himself as He is uncreated; life was not given to Him nor was it obtained by Him. He lives.

This God is also the true God. As already noted, the other so-called gods are nothing and therefore false gods. All that the God of the Bible is (see the previous question) cannot be found in the false gods of our imaginations. They have no being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, or truth that is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. The God of the Bible alone is true God.

What does this mean for us? Remember man's chief end and realize that in our glorifying and enjoying Him forever, we owe Him our allegiance. All that God made serves Him and His purpose (more on that in the near future). Since He is the only living and true God, we must serve only this God. Sin has entered into this world and as a result, man serves the creature rather than the creator (Romans 1:25). It is only through the saving work of Christ that sinful man can once again serve the Creator... the one, true, and living God.