I Corinthians 8:6 of the American Standard Version of the bible says, yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through him.
Who is the one lord in 1 Corinthians 8:6? Is he the Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit or all three of them?
Here is the Greek text of 1 Cor 8:6
ἀλλ' ἡμῖν εἷς θεὸς ὁ πατήρ, ἐξ οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς εἰς αὐτόν, καὶ εἷς κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα καὶ ἡμεῖς δι' αὐτοῦ.
The NASB gives a good translation but supplies some words to smooth out the English, so here is my overly literal translation:
but for us [there is] one God, the Father, from whom [are] all things and we for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we through Him.
According to this text, the One God is the Father and the One Lord is Jesus. That much is uncomplicated.
However, the matter becomes much more complicated when one recalls that the word κύριος (kyrios) is used consistently in the NT to translate the OT tetragrammaton, YHWH. And since the OT consistently declared that YHWH was God (1 Kings 8:60, 18:39, Josh 22:34, Deut 4:39, Ps 100:3, 118:27, 2 Chron 33;13, Isa 45:18), 1 Cor 8:6 is also saying that Jesus is Jehovah God as well. Note further, that Jesus in Isa 9:6 is also called "Mighty God, Everlasting Father".
For this reason, Barnes observes:
The word "Father" here is not used as applicable to the first person of the Trinity, as distinguished from the second, but is applied to God as God; not as the Father in contradistinction from the Son, but to the divine nature as such, without reference to that distinction - the Father as distinguished from his offspring, the works that owe their origin to him. This is manifest:
(1) Because the apostle does not use the correlative term" Son" when he comes to speak of the "one Lord Jesus Christ;" and,
(2) Because the scope of the passage requires it. The apostle speaks of God, of the divine nature, the one infinitely holy Being, as sustaining the relation of Father "to his creatures." He produced them, He provides for them. He protects them, as a father does his children. He regards their welfare; pities them in their sorrows; sustains them in trial; shows himself to be their friend. The name "Father" is thus given frequently to God, as applicable to the one God, the divine Being; Psalm 103:13; Jeremiah 31:9; Malachi 1:6; Malachi 2:10; Matthew 6:9; Luke 11:2, etc. In other places it is applied to the first person of the Trinity as distinguished from the second; and in these instances the correlative "Son" is used, Luke 10:22; Luke 22:42; John 1:18; John 3:35; John 5:19-23, John 5:26, John 5:30, John 5:36; Hebrews 1:5; 2 Peter 1:17, etc.
Who is the one lord in 1 Corinthians 8:6?
1 Corinthians 8:6 (NASB)
"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him."
The first part of the verse: "Yet for us, there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him." it is a reiteration of some verses in the OT.
Deuteronomy 6:4 (NASB) “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!
Isaiah 43:10-11 (ASV)
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. 11 I, even I, am Jehovah; and besides me there is no savior.
Isaiah 45:6 (ASV)
6 "That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am Jehovah, and there is none else."
For the second part of the verse:"and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him." An from the NT we notice that Jesus is different from God and is subject to him.
1 Corinthians 11:3 (NASB)
3 "But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ."
1 Timothy 2:5 (NASB)
5 "For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,"
Matthew 4:10 (NASB)
10 "Then Jesus *said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.’”
Philippians 2:9-11 (NASB)
9 "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Conclusion:
The OT clearly Identifies Jehovah as God the Father, notice also that in Philippians 2:9-11 the scriptures make it very clear that Jesus and his Father are distinct individuals and that God exalted him to a higher position after his resurrection and is subject to the Father.
We have two distinct individuals
1/ Lord God the Father
2/ Lord Jesus Christ the begotten Son of God.
The text seems clear; the one Lord is Jesus Christ.
In context, Paul is discussing the fact that most non-Christians believed in many gods. He was warning the mature Christians to be sensitive to newer Christians who were still coming to understand there is only one God and his Son.
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:36
Both "God" and "Lord" here are divine names, but Paul distinguishes in the realm of the divine differences between the Father and the Son through this distinction. The same is true with the prepositions "from" ἐξ and "through"/"by" διά: everything, that is to say, the entirety of the created reality, the whole created universe both visible and invisible is "from" the Father, "through" the Son, to the effect that the Son is co-uncreated with the Father and is necessary for the Father in creation of the world, being the universe's co-Creator with the Father.
Thus, in this passage only two Persons of the Godhead are mentioned: the Father with the divine name "God" and the Son with the divine name "Lord".
