Does Jesus sharing God's nature mean there are two Gods?
No. The Bible never presents Jesus as a second God; it teaches one God who exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus claimed to be the one God of Israel come in the flesh, and the church confessed His deity precisely because the oneness of God is non-negotiable.
Not a summary of these passages: the passages themselves. Read them, then come back to the study below.
The study
What the Scripture says
1
The oneness of God is where the Bible begins
Israel's daily confession was single-minded: 'Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.' God insists on it through Isaiah: 'I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.' Jesus Himself answered the scribes by quoting the same confession. The oneness of God is not up for revision.
Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one.Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:
Jesus answered, “The greatest is, ‘Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one:And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior; There is no one besides me.Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.
'Before Abraham came into existence, I AM,' He said, taking the name from the burning bush. 'I and the Father are one.' The crowd heard exactly what He meant: 'You, being a man, make yourself God.' Jesus did not announce a new deity; He revealed that the one God had come in the flesh.
Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.”Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
The Jews answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself God.”The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
But if I do them, though you don’t believe me, believe the works; that you may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
A second god would be idolatry, and Scripture allows none
'Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me.' Paul, writing in a city full of gods, holds the line: 'there is no other God but one,' and yet in the same breath he names the Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things exist. The New Testament never flinches from calling Jesus God, and never lets go of the one God. Both are true at once.
“You are my witnesses,” says Yahweh, “With my servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither will there be after me.Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, 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.
Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that no idol is anything in the world, and that there is no other God but one.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.
yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.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.
looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ;Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
John 1 says both at once: the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Son prays to the Father, and yet He and the Father are one: Jesus told Philip that whoever has seen Him has seen the Father, and said, 'In him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily.' Jesus is not a second god alongside the Father; He is God the Son, distinct in Person, one in nature with the Father and the Spirit.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
The church did not invent three gods under a new name. Facing the very question you are asking, it confessed one God in three Persons, and it did so because Scripture forces both truths: the Lord is one, and Jesus is Lord. Jesus even commanded baptism into the single name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is not a compromise with polytheism; it is the shape of the one God's own life.
Go,and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.
Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may also glorify you; even as you gave him authority over all flesh, he will give eternal life to all whom you have given him. This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you such a long time, and do you not know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
yet to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we live through him.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.