ANSWER: “I and My Father are one” – Not Limited to Shepherding
Introduction: What Is One? This question should be explained in detail.
We often submit John 10:30, “I and My Father are one,” as an evidence of Christ’s deity or His being God. That both are God and therefore they are one. And the explanation ends there. That incomplete argument is not effective. My recommendation is: There should be a deeper and wider explanation on the term “one”. The INC-1914 counters that Christ’s oneness with the Father is limited to shepherding which they base on 10:24-29. We should overcome that claim.
Following are other bases of unity of the Father and the Son. Quotes are from the NKJV:
- The Father Is in Me and I in Him – Attributes and emotion and plans and works intersect and intertwine.
- John 10:38, “. . . though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know Me, believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
- John 14:11, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works. . .”
- John 17:10, “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.”
2. Christ Is Life and Has Life – The Father and Christ are the source of biological and spiritual life.
- John 1:4, “In Him was life.”
- John 5:24, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
- John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
- 1 John 5:11, “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
3. Mine is Yours and Yours Is Mine – Their knowledge intersect and intertwine
- John 7:29, “But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”
- John 10:15, “As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father.”
- John 16:15, “All things that the Father has are Mine, Therefore I said, He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”
- John 17:10, “And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them.”
- Matt. 11:27, “All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. . .”
4. His Teaching is from the Father
- John 8:28, “. . . I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.”
5. Father & Some Have Same Work
John 5:17, 19-20 “. . . My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. x x x the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do, for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. . . and shows all things that He Himself does, and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”
John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.”
6. All Authority Given to Christ but it Does not Mean the Father has no Authority
- John 5:27, “and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.”
- John 17:2, “as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.”
7. Christ Is the Image of God which Shows Identicality of Attributes
- Heb. 1:3, “who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person. . . .”
- Col. 1:15, “He is the image of the invisible God. . .”
8. All Judgment Given to Christ
- John 5:22, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment in the Son.”
- Acts 17:31, “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”
9. Bonded by Love – God is love.
- John 5:20, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does. . .”
- John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”
See John 1:1-3; John 17:5; Col. 1:15-16; Heb. 1:2, 10 to prove Christ’s existence before the earth was created.
10. The Father Was in Christ Reconciling the World to Himself
- John 3:14-17, “. . . even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son unto the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:19, “that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”
- Romans 5:5, 8, “Now hope does not disappoint,, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us x x x but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
11. Shepherding Is only One of the Many Items the Father the Son are One in – John 10:22-29.
NOTE: It is generally accepted that there is the oneness, the harmony, the unity and cohesion of the husband&wife situation. This oneness is not in their physical bodies because their solid bodies are not blended into one mass. Their oneness is more in the psycho-mental realm. Verses we submit on this oneness are Genesis 2:24; Malachi 2:16; Matt. 19:6; Mark 10:6-9; 1Cor. 6:16; Ephesians 5:31.
Overall conclusion: Shepherding is only the eleventh basis of oneness listed in this study, so don’t limit it to shepherding. (Enumerate the other ten taken from the Book of John with support from other books.) Today, those who refuse to recognize the unity and oneness of the Father and Christ that leads to the conclusion that Christ is God, are like the Jews who took up stones and accused Christ of blasphemy (10:31-33). Let us tell the disbelievers on the Deity of Christ to please don’t be like the Jews who were hardened doubters who wanted to stone Christ.