Christians believe in one eternal God Who created the universe, and
Muslims apply these attributes to Allah. Both view God as
all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present.
A vital difference between the Islamic and Christian views of God is
the biblical concept of the Trinity. In the Bible, God has revealed
Himself as one God in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Spirit. While each Person of the Trinity is fully God,
God is not three gods but three in one.
God's Son came in the form of man, a truth called the incarnation
(Luke 1:30-35; John 1:14; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 4:1-3). The Lord
Jesus Christ conquered the penalty and power of sin by dying on the
cross (Romans 6:23). After rising from the dead, Jesus went back to
heaven to be with His Father and sent the Holy Spirit to believers
(Acts 1:8-11). One day, Christ will return to judge and rule (Acts
10:42, 43). Those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus will live with
Him, but those who refuse to follow Him must be separated in hell from
the holy God.
"The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey
the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him" (John
3:35-36). Either Jesus bears the wrath of God for your sin on the
cross or you bear the wrath of God for your sin in hell (1 Peter
2:24).
The Trinity is essential to the Christian faith. Without the Trinity,
there would be no incarnation of God's Son in the Person of Jesus
Christ. Without Jesus Christ, there would be no salvation from sin.
Without salvation, sin would condemn all to an eternal hell.
So, do Christians and Muslims worship the same God? A better question
is, "Do Christians and Muslims both have a correct understanding of
who God is?" To this question, the answer is definitely no. Because of
crucial differences between the Christian and Muslim concepts of God,
the two faiths cannot both be true. The biblical God alone addresses
and solves the problem of sin by giving His Son.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that
whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to
save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has
not believed in the name of God's one and only Son" (John 3:16-18).
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