Question 5: Only One God

Question 5: Are there more Gods than one?

Answer: There is but one only, the living and true God.

At times the Bible will make reference to other gods. In doing so it acknowledges that people often treat things other than God as objects of worship. However, these gods have two great weaknesses: they are dead, and they are false. They are dead because there is no life in them. They neither live nor give life. They are false because the name 'god' is ultimately incorrect. They are not gods at all. Moses challenges the people of Israel in Deuteronomy 4:32-35, "Ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other beside him."

In contrast to dead and false gods, the one God is living and true. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 describes the response of the people at Thessalonica to the gospel: they "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." Because God is alive, he is able to do all the things that we would expect from a God: protect, overthrow, save, destroy, show mercy, bring wrath. He is sovereign over his entire creation. He and he alone deserves, and truly owns, the name "God."

There are many ways that we stray from the living and true God, and we will see some of these more fully when we come to consider the ten commandments. But for now, ask yourself, do I give credit to anything other than God (such as luck, fate, governments, people, or other things) for doing things that only the living and true God can do? Am I willing to turn to God from these idols?

Reference: Explanation of the Shorter Catechism by Thomas Vincent.