---
title: John 10:38
url: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-10-38/
markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/verses/john-10-38.md
type: verse
perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching
reference: John 10:38
testament: NT
section: Gospels
index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt
---

# John 10:38

## Text (Berean Standard Bible)

> But if I am doing them, even though you do not believe Me, believe the works themselves, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”

## JW Usage

Jehovah's Witnesses interpret "the Father is in me, and I am in the Father" as unity of purpose — the Father and Son work together and share the same goals, just as Jesus prays in John 17:21 that believers may be "one" as he and the Father are one. The Watchtower argues this is relational language, not ontological: it describes agreement, cooperation, and shared mission rather than shared being. A human ambassador can be "in" his king in the sense of acting on behalf of the king's interests.

## Protestant Usage

"The Father is in me, and I am in the Father" is the climax of Jesus' argument in John 10:34-38. After defending his claim to be the Son of God through a lesser-to-greater argument from Psalm 82, Jesus concludes with a claim to mutual indwelling with the Father. This is not merely unity of purpose. No prophet, angel, or created being in Scripture ever claimed mutual indwelling with God. Moses was God's spokesman; Elijah was God's servant; Gabriel was God's messenger — none said "God is in me, and I am in God." The audience reaction — trying to seize him again (v. 39) — confirms they understood this as a claim beyond agency. The mutual indwelling language is unique to Jesus' self-description and forms the basis of the Trinitarian understanding of the Father-Son relationship: distinct persons sharing one divine nature.

## Arguments Using This Verse

- [The Elohim Category Trap](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/elohim-category.md) — Psalm 82 — If Jesus Is 'a God,' Which Kind? [Deity of Christ]
- [Gods Who Die and God to Pharaoh Don't Parallel Jesus](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/psalm82-exodus71-gods-parallel.md) — Psalm 82:6-7 / Exodus 7:1 / John 10:34-36 [Deity of Christ]