So, in summary, it seems you don't believe the Father is the only true God. The Bible says He is.
First. When you get to the other side of this life and have the opportunity, make sure you take that up with John.
It was John who quoted allegedly Jesus when he wrote...
10 and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them.
11 I am no longer in the world; and
yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name,
the name which You have given Me,
that they may be one even as We are.
12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
We might have a different perspective on who God is.
Might? Guaranteed. There is but one God. No one argues that point.
But why do you think that the reference to "Godhead" in The Holy Bible is necessary if there is only one?
Monotheism is the belief in one God, in contrast to polytheism, the notion that numerous gods exist. Unquestionably, the Bible affirms the concept of monotheism.
In the first commandment of the Decalogue, Jehovah charges, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Again, “Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah” (Deuteronomy 6:4). Or, “Jehovah, he is God; there is none else besides him” (Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 1 Kings 8:60; 1 Chronicles 17:20; Isaiah 43:11; Zechariah 14:9).
In the New Testament, Paul says that “God is one” (Galatians 3:20), while James notes: “You believe that God is one; you do well: the demons also believe, and shudder” (James 2:19).
Clearly, therefore, the
oneness of God, in some sense, is a biblical truth. The question is: what does Scripture mean by
one God?
In the Old Testament, the words el, eloah, and elohim, from related roots, are generic designations of God. The New Testament term is theos.
These appellations, when used of the true God, simply suggest the nature or quality of being divine—deity. The word “God” is not the name of a personality; it is the name of a
nature, a quality of being.
When it is said, therefore, that there is but one God, the meaning is:
there is but one divine nature. There is a
unified set of traits or characteristics that distinguish a personality as God.
The Divine Three
It is also clear that the Scriptures teach that there is a personal distinction between those individuals identified in the New Testament as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these persons are in some sense
three.
Study very carefully the following passages in which the persons of the divine Godhead are distinguished: Matthew 3:16-17; 28:19; Luke 1:35; John 14:26; 15:26; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Ephesians 2:18; 4:4-6; 1 Peter 1:2; Jude 20-21; Revelation 1:4-5.
It is obvious that these inspired verses reveal three separate persons.
Furthermore, additional biblical data reveal that each of these three persons is God—i.e., each possesses the quality or nature of
deity. The Father is deity (Ephesians 1:3), as is the Son (Hebrews 1:8), and so also the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4).
Any elementary student of logic knows perfectly well that the Godhead cannot be both one and three without a logical contradiction being involved—if the adjectives “one” and “three” are employed
in the identical sense.
But the fact of the matter is, they are not used in the same sense. There is but
one divine
nature, but there are
three distinct
personalities possessing that unified set of infinite qualities. Thus, there is no contradiction at all.
Without a recognition of the above principle, some Bible passages would be difficult to harmonize.
For example, in Isaiah 44:24 Jehovah affirms that he “stretches forth the heavens
alone; that spreads abroad the earth (who is with me?).” So, God was alone.
Yet in John 8:29 Christ said, “And he [the Father] that sent me is with me;
he has not left me alone.” And so, Jesus was not alone, for the Father was with him; correspondingly, the Father was not alone.
The question is: how can God be both alone and not alone?
In Isaiah’s passage, God (the one divine nature) was being contrasted with the false gods of paganism; the personalities of the Godhead were not a consideration there. In John 8:29, the relationship of two divine personalities (Father and Son) was in view. Different subjects, but no discrepancy.
Similarly, when a certain scribe affirmed that “he [God] is one; and there is
none other but he” (Mark 12:32), he was correct. He was declaring monotheism, as suggested above.
In another setting though, Christ, revealing a distinction between himself and the Father, said: “It is
another that bears witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true” (John 5:32).
Do you understand this ?
Colossians 2:9
For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,
When you see the word God, you're possibly thinking of a a concept or a group of persons who make up your God. However, when I see the word God I am not thinking of an assembly or a compound being or a being who indwells three members. I am thinking of God as a singular person because that's how Scripture describes God.
So John 17:3 describes the person named the Father as the only true God. When I say person, I am not saying the Father is a human. Just so I am clear about what I am saying.
Yes and I see you have posted a bunch of verses and ideas to explain why you believe what you do, but they don't really explain John 17:3a way. It's still there and Jesus wasn't the only one who talked about it. The Father's personal name can be proven to be YHWH. He was extremely direct about their not being any other God aside from Him in the OT. In the NT, Jesus agrees as well and John, Paul, and Peter.
It's quite evident, at least to me, that Jesus and all of the original disciples were Unitarians and monotheist. They didn't teach anything about the Trinity or say God is who the Trinity doctrine says God is, yet they believe identically what I do regarding the Father being the only true God. That's why I believe what I do.
If I may, why are you a Trinitarian when it's wrong and the Bible doesn't explain or describe it?
Because it is totally clear to me. As is briefly explained above.
When my Savior states.... 11 I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are....
I would not dare doubt what He has said.
And understanding there IS but one divine nature, but there are three distinct personalities... there is no question.
The Peshitta states John 17:11 this way 11“From now on, I do not dwell in the world, but these are in the world, and I am coming to join you. Holy Father, keep them in your Name- that Name which you have given me, so that they shall be one, just as we are.”
The Complete Jewish Bible states John 17:11 this way 11 Now I am no longer in the world. They are in the world, but I am coming to you. Holy Father, guard them by the power of your name, which you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as we are.
He does not lie. For it is impossible for Him to do so.
And finally because Paul said
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving [c]so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
And so I place my trust in the righteousness that the Holy Spirit has guided and shown me to know what is true and what is not.
