Galatians 3:20, 'Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is

one'.  It has been computed that between 250 and 300 interpretations of this

verse have found their way into commentary and essay, but most are

unsatisfactory because they ignore the demands of the context.  The last

thing that Paul meditated when he wrote these words, or for that when he

wrote the epistle, was a dissertation upon the nature or being of God.  The

innate idea of a mediator demands two parties.  A mediator cannot be a

mediator of one party.  But in the promise made to Abraham 430 years before

the giving of the law, 'God was one', for Abraham, the only other who could

have been a contracting party, was caused to fall into a 'deep sleep' (Gen.

15:12), in which state he could promise nothing.

1 Corinthians 8:4-6, 'As concerning therefore the eating of those

things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is

nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.  For though

there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be

gods many, and lords many) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of

Whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are

all things, and we by Him'.  Mediation is implied in this passage although

not stated, for that is the office of 'the lords many'.  No doctrine of the

unity of the Godhead can be extracted from this passage, for by so

attempting, we discover that we either prove too much or involve the teaching

in self-destruction.  If we maintain that the Father alone is God, then we

shall have to exclude from His province the words, 'By Whom are all things

and we by Him' for they belong only to the Lord.  This would cut across the

teaching of Romans 11:36, where we find that of the Lord it is said not only

are all things 'by Him', as is found in 1 Corinthians 8:6, but 'of Him' and

'for Him' which is exclusively ascribed to the 'one God' in that same

passage.  The Mediatorial office of the Saviour is the key to these apparent

Ephesians 4:4-6, 'There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are

called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God

and Father of all, Who is above all, and through all, and in you all'.  In

this sevenfold unity of the Spirit, the 'one Lord' holds the central place as

Mediator, and the references here to the 'one Lord' and the 'one God' fall

under the same category as these same terms do in 1 Corinthians 8:6.

Romans 3:30, 'Seeing it is one God, Which shall justify the

circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith'.  Here we

approach a parallel argument to that which is found in 1 Timothy 2:1-5.

There is no question of the Being of God in Romans 3; the chapter deals with

the justification of the believing sinner, whether he be Jew or Gentile.

'There is no difference', Jew and Gentile alike stand guilty before God, and

are justified freely by the same grace, through the exercise of the same

faith.  Because of this, the apostle says, 'Is He the God of the Jews only?

Is He not also of the Gentiles?  Yes, of the Gentiles also', and proceeds to

demonstrate this by saying, 'Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the

circumcision by (ek) faith, and the uncircumcision through (dia) faith'.

Exactly what distinctions the apostle intended by ek and dia may be difficult

to decide.  Not a few commentators bluntly say that there is no difference,

but this hardly accords with the scrupulous choice of language that we have

found marks the Scripture of truth.  Calvin suggests a shade of irony: 'This

is the grand difference: the Jew is saved ex fide, the Gentile per fidem'.

At the moment we are not concerned about this question.  What is to the point

is that the apostle introduces the expression 'One God' as a proof and a