Justice Is Found In The Lord (Proverbs 29:26)

 

Many seek the face of a ruler, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe. [Proverbs 29:26]

In the United States, people are preparing to vote in the upcoming midterm elections. This year has been filled with media coverage about candidates and their respective positions, which has enflamed the arguments between ordinary citizens in this great nation of ours. I plan on voting in November, and many millions of Americans will vote as well. Why do I plan on voting? I plan on voting because I want to let my voice be heard, I want to support the candidates that I would like to represent me in government, and I want to promote the beliefs that I hold.

Many Americans have similar reasons for voting, but not all Americans think in this way. Some people want to vote for candidates because they think that their candidates are the only people who can ensure that the government will be run in a way that is just, fair, and efficient. Some people will go so far as to say that they are going to be voting about whether or not America will be a democracy anymore (which would imply that America is a democracy, which it is not). You can tell when somebody is overly invested in politics when they are easily upset about political discussions, when life revolves around the news, and when all they talk about is politics.

It is no secret that I used to study political science. I studied political science while I was in high school, then I began to study political science in college. I spent most of my mid-to-late teenage years studying politics, and that continued until I entered my twenties. I know what life is like when it centers around politics and the news. I lived that kind of life, and I have met many people who live that way. I did not change what I was majoring in because I was not good in my original major (I was very well-read, and I seemed to do well in debates), I changed my path because I realized the way that my life was being negatively impacted by the degree that I was studying for. I would have to read all kinds of biographies, history books, political philosophy books, and books about different issues that were being discussed in this country.

One of the most notable changes that my education had on me is that I became very cynical. In my defense, how could I look at the way people try to fix issues in this country, yet they fail over and over again, often making things worse than they were to begin with? That cynicism bled into other aspects of my life, including my relationships, my hobbies, my faith, and the way I thought in general.

I am mentioning my past not because I wish to bore everybody (though, if I wanted to bore everybody, discussions about political science would be a great way to accomplish that), but because when I read the verse that this essay is about, I am reminded about the people who put their trust in leaders, rather than in God.

Keep all of what I said in mind as we dive into today’s verse.

Many seek the face of a ruler,...

While this part of the verse does not directly relate to what I have written about, I believe that what I have previously explained is tangentially related to this part of the verse. When I look at other translations, they explain this portion of the verse as being about those who seek to win the favor of a leader, or to be heard by an individual with authority. In other words, many people look to earthly leaders to do what only the Lord can do.

…but it is from the LORD that a man gets justice.

The Lord gives us justice. The Lord is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. From Him justice is given to us. We can search high and low for a leader to give us the justice that we deserve, but there is no leader on earth who will not die, who will not be removed from power, who will not make mistakes, who will not misunderstand the situation, or who has the power to give us real justice. The only way we can ever receive justice is to trust in the Lord. The Lord is faithful, He sees everything, He knows everything, He is everywhere, and He is just.

Rather than looking to earthly rulers for justice, we must look to God. God is just, and He is in control of everything.

Trees of Life: Desire Fulfilled (Proverbs 13:12)

 

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. [Proverbs 13:12, ESV]

This verse is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. When I read this verse for the first time, I was going through a very difficult time in my life, and I had grown weary as I prayed and waited for the Lord to do what He had spoken to my heart. I read this verse two or three times, which was enough for me to memorize the verse verbatim. I have never forgotten this verse, and this verse is used frequently when I am speaking to other Christians about waiting on God during hard times. This verse does not tell us what to do during hard times, but it encourages us to look toward the future that God has prepared for us.

Ever since I first read this verse, the way it describes a desire fulfilled has been really interesting to me. In my studying of the book of Proverbs, I have come across other verses that describe things as being trees of life. I have wanted to write about each of these trees of life, so here I am. Today’s tree comes from Proverbs 13:12.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,...

I love the way that the ESV translates this verse. “Hope deferred” is a more elegant way of describing the repeated disappointment that comes with waiting for something. To defer something would mean that that thing is being postponed, pushed off, or delayed. The deferment of certain things can be good, but deferring hope is not good at all. Hope includes the longing for something that has not happened, something that one greatly desires, something that one really wants to happen. When that hope is deferred – when that which he is hoping for is delayed – the heart is made sick.

What does it feel like to have a sick heart? A sick heart causes a deep, unwavering pain in a person. That pain works its way into every area of one’s life, keeps him awake at night, brings him to tears, and leaves him feeling like nothing else matters.

I have experienced the pain that comes with hope being deferred, and I know how awful it feels. In private, I have described the period of my hope being deferred as being so awful that I would not wish it upon my worst enemy, and too awful for me to be willing to take that pain from somebody. If there ever was an opportunity for me to take away from another the pain that comes with a sick heart, I would like to think that I would be willing to take said pain away, but I cannot say that I would. Perhaps I need to pray for God to give me the willingness to take the pain of others away from them, or perhaps I need to stop worrying about situations that have never happened to me.

…but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Hope deferred causes the heart to become sick, which is one of the worst feelings that one can have. The encouraging part of this verse comes from the part that is being discussed now. Yes, it is hard to have our hope deferred, it causes us pain, and it can feel like nothing will change, but when things do change, it will be a tree of life.

What is a tree of life? A tree of life is (in my interpretation) an indescribably powerful form of encouragement. A tree of life brings life back to one who feels like his life has ended, it brings joy to the heaviest of hearts, and it brightens the darkest of days. A tree of life is something that one will always remember, something that will encourage him for the rest of his life, and something that can encourage others.

It is not easy to wait for things to change. There are things that I have been waiting a long time for, so I know the way it hurts to go to bed, knowing that another day has come and gone without desire being fulfilled. However, I have experienced the tree of life that comes from a desire fulfilled, and it really changed the way I look at life.

I suppose one could apply this verse to things that do not involve God. However, this is a verse from the Bible, and I am a Christian, so I am talking about the meaning of this verse in the context of waiting on God to do something that He has promised to do. There is a certain type of faith that can only come from the Lord. This faith is something from God, letting us know that He will do something. When we have that type of faith about something, we cannot give up on what God has said that He would do, but we cannot force things to happen. The faith in question means that one is “stuck” (for lack of a better term) in a place where he cannot go backwards, cannot go to the right hand or to the left, and cannot stop moving forward. The journey toward what God has put on one’s heart can be incredibly difficult, and it may be tempting for him to give up. However, when one perseveres, trusts in the Lord, and hopes for what God has promised to him, the day that God’s promise comes to fruition will change his life forever. The day that journey comes to an end will be a day that will be remembered always.

Trust in the Lord, hope in Him, and keep His commandments. God is always faithful, He loves us, He sees us, He cares about us, and He will never forsake us. If you are currently hoping for something from God, do not give up. If God says that something will happen, it will happen. Trust in Him, ask for His guidance, and He will plan your steps.

Listen Now, Discuss Later (Proverbs 25:20)

 

Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, and like vinegar on soda. [Proverbs 25:20, ESV]

From my experience in dealing with trials in my life, I knew immediately what this verse was talking about. When people are suffering, the worst thing we can do is try and figure out what happened, why it happened, how to fix it, or who is at fault. This lesson is important for all of us to understand, but especially for us men. As a man, I have seen numerous examples of this scenario in my own life, and in the lives of other men:

A girlfriend/wife/mother/sister is upset about something, the man learns about the way she feels, the man tries to figure out how to address the situation, the situation is made worse.

The reason why I specifically address men in this essay is because of the way that men tend to think. Generally speaking, men seem to think in terms of “how can this be resolved” or “how should this be addressed”, rather than spending time to deal with the emotions that come with whatever issue comes up. Women, on the other hand, tend to spend more time on the emotional aspect of an issue. Men and women are equally valuable, but they are different. One of the most amazing parts about how God created us in His Image is that men and women have different capabilities that complement each other.

All that to say, if you are a man, and you have a girlfriend/wife/sister/mother or whatever else, and she is upset about something, spend some time listening.

This verse reminds me of the story of Job. For those of you who are not familiar with Job, let me summarize the story:

Job is a strong man of God. Satan tells God that if Job’s possessions were taken from him, Job would curse God to His Face. God tells Satan that he can take Job’s possessions, but he cannot harm Job. Satan destroys Job’s property, kills Job’s servants, and kills his children. To make things even harder on Job, Satan did all of those things on the same day. Job hears, from people coming and reporting to him, what had happened. Job tears his robe, shaves his head, then falls to the ground and worships God. Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.

Satan returns to God, telling Him that, if he could take Job’s health from him, surely he would curse God to His Face. God gives Satan permission to harm Job, but Satan is not able to kill him. Satan returns to Job and gives him sores all over his body.

Job’s wife asks Job why he continues to praise the Lord. His wife suggests that Job “curse God and die” [Job 2:9, ESV], but Job tells his wife that she speaks “as one of the foolish women would speak”. No matter what, Job did not sin with his lips.

Three of Job’s friends find out about what had happened to him, and they all travel to visit him. When they saw Job, “they did not recognize him” [Job 2:11, ESV]. His friends raised their voices, wept, and tore their robes, out of sadness over what happened to Job.

The point of me explaining the story of Job is so that the next verse makes sense to the point of this essay:

And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great. [Job 2:13, ESV]

When his friends saw how much Job was suffering, his friends knew what they needed to do: shut up for a moment!

When people are going through something difficult, we must give them time to grieve. Do not leave them alone, do not ignore them, but give them time. The majority of the book of Job is about the back-and-forth between Job and his friends. His friends tell Job that he must have done something to deserve what had happened to him, that Job needed to repent, and that he actually deserves worse than what had already happened to him. These friends end up making Job’s situation even worse for him. Not only had he lost his property, lost his children, and been afflicted with sores all over his body, his friends were now accusing him of doing something to deserve what had happened to him!

(The book of Job ends with God contrasting His power to Job’s weakness, Job retracting what he had said about God, Job repenting, God rebuking Job’s friends, and God giving Job more than he had to begin with.)

Let us examine the verse from Proverbs:

Whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like who who takes off a garment on a cold day,...

Singing songs (in this context, at least) is a way of expressing one’s joy. I write a lot about the joy I feel, but the things I write are for me (primarily). If I wanted to show everybody how much joy I feel in my heart, I would sing songs, so that everybody could hear how much joy I have. The expression of joy can be a wonderful thing, but it can also be detrimental to others. For example, singing songs to a person who is really sad would be detrimental to the sad person. It would be like removing clothing when it is really cold outside. If it is cold, one would already be suffering, but to remove clothing from him would make the cold even harder to bear. Not only would removing clothing on a cold day cause one to suffer more, it would make the cold more noticable. The contrast between joy and grief is very great. When a grieving person sees a joyful person celebrating, the contrast between the two people causes the grieving person to suffer more than he was suffering before. When a joyful person sees a grieving person, the joyful person begins to lose his joy.

…and like vinegar on soda.

This is the second way that this verse describes the effect of singing songs to a heavy heart. The meaning of this portion of the verse is less obvious than the previous portion. I prefer the way that this part of the verse is translated in the New Living Translation (NLT):

“...[and] pouring vinegar in a wound.”

In conclusion, singing songs to a heavy heart would be like removing clothes from somebody who is cold, or pouring vinegar into a wound; it makes things even worse.

When somebody is suffering, take a moment, listen to them, and let them have time to grieve. When they have been able to have some time to get through their emotions, then there can be discussions about what to do next. Do not rush into trying to solve issues, especially when it involves the way others feel.

Autotheism

Autotheism is a clearly heretical doctrine. “Auto” means self, and “theism” refers to the belief in the existence of a god. Put the two parts together, and we are greeted by some grade-A anathema. Autotheism is the belief that you are god. Rather, autotheism would be the belief that I am god, but you would be believing that you are god if you described yourself as an autotheist.

I have never met somebody who genuinely believes that he is god, but I have seen a huge number of people who worship humans. When I began researching this heresy, I thought that autotheism is just a fancy way of describing the worship of man, rather than one actually believing that he is god, but I was mistaken. Autotheism is the belief that one is god.

This belief is heretical, as the Bible makes it very clear that there is only one God, and we have already had God revealed to us. None of us are gods, and by believing otherwise, one would be rejecting Christ, the Bible, and the free gift of salvation that was given to us by Jesus Christ.

The reason why I have written about this belief is that – whether intentional or not – there are false gospels that tell those who believe that they are (or can be) gods. The most prominent of said false gospels is Mormonism (otherwise known as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints). Mormons believe that God was once a man, and that, if we work hard in this life, each of us can become a god, and we can rule over our own planets, respectively. The Mormon teaching in question would require that the believer believe that he is god, which would fall under the definition of autotheism.

Another notable example of autotheism is the Mirror Bible, written by Francois Du Toit. The Mirror Bible, despite its name, is not a Bible. Rather, the Mirror Bible is a perversion of the Gospel. This book describes how every person has a bit of God’s “divine DNA” in us, and how Jesus was sent to earth to let us know that we can be gods. As for how we can become gods, Du Toit would respond that we just need to realize that we have a bit of God in us already. The Mirror Bible is an excellent example of autotheism being forced into Christianity. 

The Depravity of Man

 

The third doctrine that we will discuss is the belief that we are born into a world of sin, we are sinful creatures, and we will all die in sin (if we do not accept the gift of salvation, given to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is). Nobody can be saved by good deeds, positive thinking, giving to charity, treating others nicely, or anything else.

Not all roads lead to God. In fact, the Bible makes it very clear that the only way to God is through Jesus Christ. In John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” [John 14:6, ESV]

There is nothing we can do to save ourselves, and there is no way that anybody can save us, aside from Christ. This doctrine explains why people of different faiths cannot have salvation. In order to receive the gift of salvation, one must confess with his mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in Him.

Only through Christ can we be justified. We are saved by grace, through faith, not as a result of our works.

The Trinity

The next core doctrine that we will discuss is the doctrine of the Trinity. The Trinity is easily the most complicated of Christianity’s doctrines, but one cannot be a Christian if he does not understand the Trinity.

Before I explain, I would like to show an excellent diagram of the Trinity. This diagram will be referenced later in this essay.

As we can see, the diagram has three interconnected points, with all three points being connected to a single point in the center of the diagram. The simple explanation of what is being shown in this diagram is that God exists in three distinct Persons. These Persons are known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (or the Holy Ghost). These are three separate Persons, existing at the same time. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father, but all three Persons are God.

There is a difference between “little-g god”, and God. All three Persons are God, as in the one true God (see the previous part of this series for more information). The Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God.

I can write more about how the Bible supports the doctrine of the Trinity, but this is supposed to be an introduction to Christanity’s doctrines, not an in-depth essay about the Trinity in Scripture, so I will leave that subject for a separate discussion.

The Persons of the Trinity are equally God. All three Persons of the Trinity have always existed.

The word “heresy” is used to describe beliefs that contradict the core doctrines of Christianity. To believe in a heretical doctrine would be to reject Christianity. In order to better understand the Trinity, let us examine two heresies that are fairly easy to fall into:

1. Tritheism

Tritheism is the belief that each Person of the Trinity is a god, rather than the Persons of the Trinity being God. The prefix “tri” means three, while “theism” describes the belief in a god. In other words, tritheism means, “belief in three gods”. The reason why tritheism is heresy is that it rejects the Christian doctrine of their being one God. Three Persons, one God, not three gods.

2. Modalism

Modalism is the belief that there is one God, and God “transforms” into one of the three Persons of the Trinity. As previously discussed, the Trinity consists of three coequal, coexisting Persons. A modalist would assert that God turned into Jesus, then turned into the Holy Spirit. Such an assertion would be false, and would be a rejection of the existence of our triune God.

Watch Your Mouth! (Proverbs 4:24)

 

Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. [Proverbs 4:24]

This verse is one that I have been trying to apply to my life. I have been making an effort to change the way I speak, so that I keep the Lord’s commandments, but I do not always succeed. I have always loved to talk (this may contribute to my desire to write as much as I do), and the more I speak, the more opportunities I have to speak about something that I should not be speaking about, and the more opportunities I have to say something that I should not be saying. I have never been a “bad kid”, but I do remember being scolded many, many times for saying something rude or inappropriate. Many of those scoldings were about me saying something that I really did not intend to be offensive.

This issue of mine is made worse by my honesty. I have numerous issues with my character, but I have always been honest. However, there are some things that are not helpful to say, and there are things that are important to say, but they must be said in a certain way. I still struggle to “sugar-coat” things, and I still struggle with keeping my mouth shut, but as I have sought the Lord, He has helped me control my tongue. I am far better at controlling what I say than I was before, but I am still working on myself. Pray for me.

This verse tells us exactly what we should do:

Put away from you crooked speech

What does “crooked” mean? In this context, crooked speech refers to speech that is hateful, prideful, angry, evil, antagonistic, unnecessarily offensive, crude, or otherwise sinful. I included the word “unnecessarily” when describing the type of offensive speech that we should put away from ourselves. There are many things that we have an obligation to say to others, and many of those things can be offensive. I do not think that it is sinful to offend others, especially considering how people are offended by different things, and what is acceptable to 99% of people will be unacceptable to the remaining 1%. That being said, there are offensive things we can say that are unnecessary. We should avoid unnecessarily offensive speech.

One’s mouth speaks what is in his heart. When our hearts are filled with love and compassion, our speech will be filled with love and compassion. When we are filled with hate, our speech will be filled with hate. We must put off the aforementioned forms of speech, so that we can honor the Lord in what we speak.

and put devious talk far from you

This part of the verse is restating the first part. Separate yourselves from evil speech, and guard your hearts. The heart will determine what is spoken.

Do Not Rejoice in The Suffering of Others (Proverbs 24:17-18)

 

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the LORD see it and be displeased, and turn his anger away from him. [Proverbs 24:17-18, ESV]

This proverb explains how we are to respond when we see our enemies stumble. The human response to seeing an enemy struggle with something is to celebrate, to mock, and to think to himself, “they deserved that”. However, we are Christians, and as Christians, we are called to be like Christ, not like the world. The book of James tells us that friendship with the world is enmity with God [James 4:4], and the book of Proverbs tells us all about the blessings that we will receive when we fear the Lord and keep His commandments.

With our duty to seek Christ and His righteousness in mind, let us break down this passage, examine each portion of it, and understand how to apply it to our lives.

Do not rejoice when your enemy falls

This part is fairly straightforward. When we see our enemy “fall”, we are not to rejoice. In other words, the aforementioned human response to seeing an enemy struggle would be a sinful way to respond to calamity coming upon our enemies. As Christians, we should be showing compassion to everybody, forgiving others, correcting them in love, and seeking to encourage them to seek the Lord. By rejoicing in the fall of an enemy, we are rejecting what Jesus tells us is the second most important commandment: “love your enemy as yourself” [Matthew 22:39].

and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles

This portion of this passage is especially interesting to me. We can suppress our desire to rejoice in the fall of our enemies, but this part of the passage tells us that we are not to let our hearts be glad. We are not only called to not rejoice in the suffering of our enemies, we are called to not let our hearts feel happy at the sight of our enemies’ suffering. How can we stop our hearts from feeling glad when we witness our enemies stumble? The heart of man is desperately wicked, but our God is perfect, righteous, and totally separate from sin. When we ask God for help in obeying His commandments, He will answer us. There are certain situations, certain illnesses, and certain problems that God will not deliver us from (according to His Will), but the Bible makes it clear that God does not want us to sin. If it is sinful for our heart to be glad when we see our enemies stumble (which it is), then we can ask God in confidence, knowing that He will honor our desire to repent. Ask God, ask Him to work in your heart, and spend time in His presence. He will help us overcome our sinful desires.

lest the LORD see it and be displeased

This portion of this passage warns us of what is to befall us if we rejoice in the suffering of our enemies. Our Father will be displeased when He sees us acting sinfully. When one is walking closely with the Lord, displeasing Him is often enough to dissuade him from partaking in sinful behavior. However, if the idea of displeasing the Lord is not enough, the final portion of this passage gives another reason why we are not to give in to our human desire to rejoice in the suffering of our enemies.

and turn away his anger from him

What happens when we rejoice in the suffering of our enemies? Proverbs 24:17-18 tells us that by rejoicing in the suffering of others, we will displease the Lord, and the Lord’s anger will be turned away from him [the enemy in question]. What does this passage mean when it describes the Lord turning His anger away from our enemies? There are two explanations:

1. The Lord will be displeased and not punish our enemies.

This is the first explanation, and I really do not think that this is the correct interpretation of the passage. I am including this explanation, since I am sure that others have interpreted the passage in this way, and I would like to address them. The Lord is righteous, and He must punish sin. Why would God overlook the sin of one because of the sinful behavior of another? If we continue the thought process behind this explanation, there is a larger issue that comes up:

If our rejoicing in the suffering of our enemies displeases the Lord, causing the Lord to avert His anger from our enemies, then what is our incentive to resist our sinful desires? For people like me, the thought of displeasing the Lord is enough for me to resist my sinful desires, but what about the person who does not know the Lord? Would one who does not know God want to resist his desire to rejoice in the suffering of his enemy, so that God punishes said enemy? How can one resist the desire to see his enemy suffer, hoping that he can see God punish said enemy? Would that not mean that he is rejoicing in the suffering of his enemy? This explanation is self-refuting.

2. The Lord will be displeased and turn His anger onto us.

This explanation is clearly the superior of the two explanations. When we witness our enemies suffering, and we rejoice in their suffering, we will displease the Lord, and the Lord will punish us for our sin. This explanation lines up with what the Bible tells us about God, about His righteousness, and about the way God punishes sin. The way that this passage describes the Lord’s anger being turned away from our enemies, in response to our rejoicing in the suffering of said enemies, implies that the Lord’s anger was once turned on the enemies in question. With the implication of this passage in mind, this explanation makes sense. God must punish sin. Therefore, when we sin by rejoicing in the suffering of our enemies, God will punish us.

In conclusion:

We must not rejoice in the suffering of our enemies, as our rejoicing will displease the Lord, and the Lord will punish us for the sinful desires of our heart. We can resist our sinful desires by studying the Word of God, asking the Lord for help, and by actively resisting the urge to sin.

There is One God

 

The first of the core doctrines of Christianity that we will discuss is the belief that there is one God, and only one God. Let us examine some passages from the Bible, in order to better understand this doctrine:

1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [Genesis 1:1, ESV]

This is a very well known verse from the Bible. In this verse, we learn that God created “the heavens and the earth”. In the beginning, “God created”, meaning that God has always existed, and through Him all things exist.

2. For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth — as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords” — yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. [1 Corinthians 8:5-6, ESV]

Paul explains how, despite there being many “gods” and many “lords”, we know that there is one true God, and one Lord. This passage also describes Jesus Christ as being God, which is part of the doctrine of the Trinity (I will explain this in another section). Not only are we told that there is one God, this passage also explains that it is God through whom all things exist, and through God we exist. This passage supports what is written in Genesis 1:1, in that God created everything, and He has always existed.

3. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,... [1 Timothy 2:5, ESV]

This verse is another example of why Christians believe there is one God (beside the fact there is only one God). We are told, yet again, that there is only one God. The second half of this verse describes Jesus Christ as being the “one mediator between God and men”, which is true, but is not what we are discussing right now. I will explain what is meant by Jesus being the “one mediator” in another essay. In my explanation of the Trinity, I will also explain why this verse describes Jesus Christ as a man.

4. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. [Deuteronomy 6:4, ESV]

This verse comes from Deuteronomy, when Moses had received the Ten Commandments. After telling the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, Moses declared that “the LORD is one”.

The reason why “Lord” is capitalized whenever the Tetragrammaton is used in the Hebrew (which is the language that the majority of the Old Testament was written in). For more information about the Tetragrammaton, click here.

As you can see, the Bible makes it clear that there is only one God, and we are not to worship anybody other than God. In the next part of this series, I will describe the second core doctrine of Christianity: the Trinity.