In view of the fact that monotheism is a controversial topic of debate between Christian and Jewish theologians, what a surprise to see that there is no controversy whatsoever to be found about who God is in the New Testament. While the message of Jesus was being spread among the synagogues the World, no synagogue community ever charged the Christians with challenging the Truth that there is One God, the Father.
There was a major controversy over whether Jesus was the true Messiah; and there was controversy over whether it was obligatory to keep the Law given to Moses--correct. So, there’s no doubt that certain issues sparked heated debates, controversy, and persecution as the apostles preached. But why didn't any of the apostles suffer persecution for rejecting monotheism, like Christian preachers do these days? It’s because the Early Christians held to the Truth that there is One God.
So, as the apostles suffered rejection, persecution, and even martyrdom, what was the main issue at stake? What truths were they willing to die for? They were calling their fellow Jews to decide whether their covenant with God would continue to be through Moses, or whether the Jews would commit themselves to God through Jesus. That was the number one issue at stake—not monotheism. Monotheism was a given. The covenant was the key—and if you are not reading your New Testament in the light of that great controversy, how will it be possible for you to understand the Book of Acts, Romans, or Galatians?
The apostles’ assertion that Jesus was the Mediator of the long-awaited New Covenant produced conflict and friction regarding the correct interpretation of the Scriptures. However, isn’t it striking that not one debate or argument is registered in any book of the New Testament about who God might be? Why not?
The answer is simply because Christians had the exact same God as the Jews! In fact, the great majority of Christians were Jews in the early years of the expansion of the Christian Church. For example, all of the original Twelve Apostles, as well as the other 70 missionary apostles were Jews. So there’s never been any doubt as to who the God of the Christians is: Yahweh, the God the apostles would call in Hebrew their Aba, or Father. Look at what Paul said regarding this:
I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets (Acts 24:14).
Again, the challenge raised by the New Testament authors was never “We want to explain to you who God is and how he should be understood” but “We present Jesus to you as the one with whom you must trust in order to have a covenant with the One True God.” The confrontational element of the message we preach is that God can only be accessed through Jesus Christ.
The Jews think that we get to God through Moses, but the Church has always been firm about teaching that Jesus is the way to God--so firm that our religion earned the namesake “the Way” when it was still a small sect--recalling Jesus’ words “I am the Way... no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
... [Paul prior to his conversion] asked him [the High Priest] for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem (Acts 9:2).
... some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them (Acts 19:9).
About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way (Acts 19:23).
I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison (Acts 22:4).
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