No Other God

No Other God

by David Scott

In a recent poll by George Barna, he discovered that a huge number of born again Christians are not firmly grounded upon the fact that truth is absolute. While 56% of the adult believers questioned the existence of absolute truth, 91% of the teenage believers were in doubt of it. Thus, I agree with George Barna that the church has failed miserably to communicate certain biblical truths to God's people. This failure will likely be the main reason for the end-time falling away prophesied in 2 Thes. 2:1-3.

During the past 20 years, I have observed a growing pressure upon Christians to compromise certain essential truths, which can protect us from apostasy. This pressure originated among certain groups of unbelievers, who are attempting to syncretize all the religions of the world into one religion so it will be acceptable to those developing world government. This pressure is also being applied by some claiming to be leaders in the church. They not only include groups like the National Council and World Council of Churches, but also prominent individuals like Robert Schuler. They want us to tolerate the idea that all religions provide paths to God. This, in turn, implies that other saviors can be equated with our Lord Jesus Christ. It also implies that worshipping other gods varies little from the worship of the God of the Bible.

Several months ago, I wrote an essay, which explained from the absolute truths of God's Word that Jesus is the only Savior. No one can come to God apart from Him (John 14:6). Jesus is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved (Acts 4:12). The Greek word for "only" in John 3:16 reveals that Jesus is unique. A unique person is someone, who is so different from all others, that no one else can be compared to him. No one else has ever had or will ever have the same status as Jesus.

Just as Jesus is the only Savior, His Father is the only God. All other gods are impostors. The fact that the God of the Bible is the only God can be seen in several scriptures. Isa. 43:10 clearly states, "...Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me." Isa. 44:6 reaffirms this by saying, "Thus says the LORD, ...Besides Me there is no God." The prophet Isaiah was not the only one to declare that the LORD is the only God. Moses pointed out how evil it is to offer sacrifices to other gods in Exo. 22:20. King Hezekiah also acknowledged this in 2 Kgs. 19:19: "...that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone." King David said that God was his only rock and salvation in Psa. 62:2-6. Psa. 95:3 also says that God is "the great King above all gods." Most important of all, when Jesus prayed to the Father in John 17:3, He called Him "the only true God." Paul called Him "the only God" in 1 Tim. 1:17, and the "only Potentate" in 1 Tim. 6:15. Jude said the same thing in vss. 4 & 25 of his epistle. All these things are true of God because He is the only One, Who possesses immortality (1 Tim. 6:16).

The importance of this issue can also be seen in Rev. 15:2-4. What John saw in this passage pertained to those who will overcome the end-time world government. In order to qualify as overcomers, they will not be among those who compromise and fall away, as mentioned above. They will acknowledge Jesus as the only Savior, and the God of the Bible as the only God. This can be seen in the words of the Song of Moses (vs. 4), particularly the phrase, "for You alone are holy." The Greek word for "holy" literally means "other." Thus, God's holiness can also be called His otherness. Since God alone is holy/other, this means that no other deity can be compared to Him. He is other than they are. He is altogether different from them. Thus, other gods should be regarded as usurpers and their prophets are liars. No other god is holy. Only the LORD is holy.

If you expect to overcome the beast system, which is in the process of setting itself up on the earth, you must never compromise these truths about God and His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation than the Lord Jesus Himself (1 Cor. 3:11). However, we should not contend for the faith (Jude 3) by being contentious (Pro. 13:10). It is possible to show loving respect toward people in other religions without denying or compromising essential Bible truths.

For example, when I say the God of the Bible is the only God, I'm not motivated by hatred toward people in other religions. I'm proclaiming a truth that I lovingly hope will open their eyes to enable them to repent and turn away from the power of Satan to find salvation through Jesus Christ (Acts 26:18). If anything I say is perceived as being harsh or intolerant, it is because I am that way toward the demons, who hold such people in religious bondage, but I'm not that way toward the people themselves. Jesus showed us by His own example how it is possible to hate sin, yet love the sinner. This is especially true when dealing with unbelievers, who sincerely worship other gods due to ignorance (Acts 17:30).

Due to the threat of militant Islam, which is attempting to impose itself by force instead of deceit like New Age syncretizers, I also intend this essay to address a certain matter of ignorance pertaining to the true identity of the god they worship. When the Lord Jesus saved me in 1966, I began wondering if Allah was an Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew word for God - Elohim. The reason I supposed this may be so was because I heard some Muslims, who were not militant, respectfully refer to Jesus as a prophet. They also respectfully referred to the Old Testament as a sacred book. Because Ishmael was a descendant of Abraham and many Muslims are descendants of Ishmael, I thought there might be a translation link between Elohim and Allah.

However, about 4 years ago, I heard Janet Parshall interview an African Christian, who converted to Jesus Christ from Islam. While I do not remember his name, I still recall how impressed I was by his intelligence, eloquence, and scholarship. Before his conversion to Christ, he spent time researching the history of Islam in their literature. In an encyclopedia, which was printed by an Islamic publisher, he discovered Allah was the name of a Semitic moon god when the Semitic people were polytheistic. This is why the Moslem nations have a crescent moon on their flags. It also explains why their Ramadan festival begins when the moon is in crescent phase and ends at the next crescent phase.

Thus, Allah is not the same as Elohim. As a created being, Allah must be the name of a fallen angel, which Eph. 6:12 refers to as a principality. Just as the moon has no light of its own, but can only reflect the light of the sun, Allah has no light of his own either. He can only pretend to be a god by attempting to reflect the light of the Creator. This parallels what Paul had to say about Satan being an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Satan's hierarchy mimics this tactic to hold ignorant people in spiritual bondage. This also explains why they use force instead of love to propagate their religion.

May the only true God open their eyes to reject such spiritual extortion and turn back to Him, Who was motivated by love to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to provide for their salvation by His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection.