Systematic Theology: God is the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of All Things [5], and God is One

“God” in Genesis 1 is a translation of the Hebrew word Elohim. The –im ending is the usual way that Hebrew makes masculine nouns plural. In some contexts, elohim is properly translated as “gods” (see, for example, Psalm 82:6). However, in Genesis 1 Elohim takes singular verbs, demonstrating that in that passage the term is to be understood as “God” in the singular. Also, beginning in Genesis 2:4 Elohim is identified with the personal [singular] name YHWH. Explicitly, in Deuteronomy 6:4 we read that “YHWH [is] our Elohim, [and] YHWH is one.” Also, in Isaiah 45:5 YHWH strongly declares, “I am YHWH and there is no other; there is no Elohim besides Me.” (See also: Isaiah 46:9.)

The New Testament is consistently clear in passages like John 17:3, Romans 3:30, 1 Corinthians 8:6, 1 Timothy 2:5, and James 2:19 that whereas there may be many false “gods”—demonic entities or people trying to assume the place of God—there is only one true God.