Who is the True God in 1 John 5:20?   

—The Truth that Few want to See! 

 

(The Overlooked Old Evidences) 

  

By Mario A. Olcese 

 

 

“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. (NKJV)” 

Many of those that mistakenly believe that the Messiah is the true God maintain that the final sentence in this verse: “This is the true God and the eternal life”, refers to Jesus, the Messiah, since the nearest noun to the word “This” is “Jesus Christ”.  However, since God and the Messiah are both referred in the first sentence of the verse, the final sentence can refer to either one of them.  The word (pronoun) “This” that begins the final sentence, is houtos (in Greek), and a study of it will show that the context, not the noun or nearest pronoun, should determine to which “This” is referring. The Bible provides examples of this, and a good one can be found in Acts 7:18, 19: “Till another king arose who did not know Joseph. This [Gr. Houtos] man dealt treacherously with our people, and oppressed our forefathers, making them expose their babies, so that they might not live.”(NKJV). It is clear in this example that “this” [houtos] cannot refer to Joseph, although Joseph is the nearest noun. It refers to the other king, the first one, in the verse, although that evil king is not the nearest noun. 

If it is true that the pronouns always refer to the nearest noun, the result would be serious theological problems. An example is found in Acts 4:10, 11: “Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This [Houtos] is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone” (NKJV). If “This” in the last sentence refers to the noun or to the nearest pronoun, then the man that was healed is really the stone rejected by the manufacturers that has become head of the corner, that is to say, the Messiah. Of course this conclusion is not true.  

 

An even more problematic example for those that don't recognize that the context, not the placement of the noun or pronoun, is the most vital key for the appropriate meaning of 1 John 5:20, where it is stated: “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 [Houtos] is the true God and eternal life”. This [Houtos] is the true God and the eternal life”. Like in the two previous examples, the pronoun “This” in this verse is not related to the nearest noun, but rather it refers to the Father, one of two people that are mentioned in the whole verse. 

A last example: 1 John 2:22. This interesting text says: "Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? This [Houtos] is the antichrist, even he that denieth the Father and the Son” (American Standard Version). If we conclude that "This is antichrist" is the same Messiah, the immediate person that precedes this sentence, we would have to conclude that the Messiah is the antichrist…¡and this would be a serious blasphemy! So we see that we cannot conclude that the sentence "this it is the true God and the eternal life" is referring to the antecedent person of this expression, because if we make it this way, we would have to make the same thing with 1 John 2:22 and then we would be blaspheming against the Son's person. 

Finally, it is the same Teacher, Jesus the Messiah, who revealed the Father to us, saying: “And this it is the eternal life: that they know you (not, “know us”), the only true God, and to Jesus, the Messiah, whom you have sent”. Here our dear Lord teaches us clearly a truth that few want to accept because of the Catholic and Protestant tradition. And this truth is that the same Messiah taught that His Father is only the True God and nobody else. Even, already in heaven, Jesus continues calling to His Father as “MY GOD” 4 times in Revelation 3:12: “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him my new name”. We wonder this, can a True God have His own True God? I believe that this is a point that deserves serious consideration. 

 

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