WHO IS THE TRUE GOD IN 1st JOHN 5:20? IS IT THE FATHER OR THE SON?

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (New King James Version)

1st John 5:20 is often quoted by those who teach that Jesus Christ is the true God. They argue that the antecedent of the pronoun THIS in the second sentence of the verse is Jesus Christ, which is the noun immediately preceding it. If it were so, then it would appear that this verse is directly referring to Jesus Christ as the true God.

Daniel Wallace, a Greek grammarian, admits that this text has exegetical problem. He avers that:

"This text is exegetically problematic for a variety of reasons. What concerns us here is what the antecedent is. Many scholars see  ο Θεοζ rather than Χριστσς as antecedent, even though Χριστσς is closer." . . . "The issue cannot be decided on grammar alone. But suffice it to say here that there are no grammatical reasons for denying the αληθινος ο Θεος descriptive of Jesus Christ." (Wallace, Daniel, Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament, pp. 326, 327).

Although Wallace thinks that the phrase "true God" is descriptive of Jesus Christ,  he admits that many scholars see that the antecedent O THEOS [God] rather than Jesus Christ, even though CHRISTOS (Christ) is closer to the modifier this. However, the Greek scholars are right to tell us with the solution in identifying the antecedent. There is truly a need for us to look deeper into the context to determine who really is the "true God" referred to in the verse.

A closer look at the first sentence undeniably tells us that the true God is the Father since it states that the true God has a Son. Logically, then, the antecedent of this in the last sentence, "This is the true God and eternal life," is the Father not the Son. To claim that Jesus Christ is the true God in the last sentence while admitting that the Father is the true God in the first sentence of 1st John 5:20 is short of admitting that in this verse alone, there are two true Gods mentioned in the verse, the Father and the Son.

Hence, it is clearly a mistake to assert that the term "true God" refers to Christ. Even each scholars agree that it is God [O THEOS] rather than Christ [CRISTOS] that is the antecedent of this in 1st John 5:20. One of them is William Loader who points out:

"The Greek of 5.20 has only the true (one) and reads literally: we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we know the true (one) and we are in the true (one), in his Son Jesus Christ. This (one) is the true God and eternal life. It is clear from this that the true (one) God is throughout. Christ is his Son. In the final sentence this (one) most naturally refers still to God, not to Christ, as some have suggested" (The Johannine Epistles, p. 79).

To William Loader, it is clear that the True One mentioned throughout 1st John 5:20 is God and not Christ as some have suggested.

Why are we certain that Jesus Christ is not the true God in 1st John 5:20? Analyzing further the context, we can see that the verse says "the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true." It is clear that the Son came to give us an understanding of who the true God is.

If Jesus were the true God, he should have explicitly said so. Much to the chagrin of our Trinitarian friends, Jesus Christ never issued such statement, either explicit or implicit, pronouncing that the he is the true God.

On the contrary, when He fulfilled His mission of making known to us who the true God is, He pointed to someone else and not to Himself. John wrote, what Jesus uttered during His prayer wherein He introduced the Father as the only true God. Examine His prayer:

"Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also glorify You. ...And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:1,3, NKJV)

In His mediatory prayer, Jesus Christ introduced the Father as the only true God who must be known or recognized by the true Christians. With this recognition is the prospect of gaining eternal life.

Why is there a need for the Son to give us an understanding about who the true God is? Because the world does not know who is the true God as testified to by Jesus Christ himself in John 17:25

"O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent me."

Jesus Christ declared that the world has not known the Father as the true God. It is for this reason that God sent His Son Jesus Christ as the one who shall make known or declare the identity of the unseen God (John 1:18).

The Lord Jesus did accomplish His mission. He introduced to the Christians that the Father is the only true God and it is this knowledge which the apostles handed down to the believers when to the Corinthians Apostle Paul wrote:

"Yet there is for us only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live..." (1st Corinthian 8:6 GNT)

In the final analysis, the true God in 1st John 5:20 could not be the Son or Christ, who was sent by the Father. The only true God whom we should acknowledge and recognize in order to gain eternal life is the Father Almighty, who sent His Son, Jesus Christ.

From Joe Ventilacion FB posts