Live Like You are Dead

As we continue our study in doctrine, I hope that everyone is keeping in mind what our study is supposed to lead to. Remember this blog is called doctrine AND doxology. We are not just trying to become intellectually adept in the doctrines of the faith (although that is part of it). We are also hoping that our increased knowledge of God will lead us to live a greater life for Him and His glory. That is what this post is primarily about.

Again this post is a summary of a John Piper message which really impacted me. His text was Romans 6: 1-14.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for he who has died is freed from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

I felt it was necessary to post the whole thing because this issue is of utmost importance in the Christian life.

Paul is speaking to the Romans in this book. It is an interesting point that, at this time in Paul's life, he had not been to Rome yet. But He had a great interest in the church there and in their growth. Paul had just finished a long discourse in chapters 1-5 about how salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone and by His grace. Now he makes a sudden change in tone and begins to talk about the "living out" portion of the Christian life. In chapter 5, He finished up by talking about how sin used to abound in our lives but now grace so much more abounds since we are in Christ. Christ, as the second Adam, has imputed His righteousness to us so that we are positionally pure before God. But then he goes into chapter 6 and lets us know that while we should be, we are not pure in our practice. He asks since grace is now abounding, should we continue to sin so it can abound more and more. He answers with "God forbid!" In other versions it says "May it never be so!" So even though grace is abounding, that is not a license for us to sin all we want. It is completely the opposite.

He goes on to explain why we cannot keep sinning. "For how shall we who are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" He tells us that we are dead. A dead man can't do anything, including sin. Now we know that he did not mean we are literally dead but rather that our FLESH is dead. We are alive in Christ now and the old man, which is still in our nature, should be dying more each day. (2 Cor. 5:17) Our body of flesh was crucified with Christ on the cross, therefore we should no longer be living as slaves to sin as it says in verse 6.

So does this passage which speaks about our "works" or about how we are supposed to live as Christians contradict what Paul had previously said about salvation by faith alone, grace alone, in Christ alone apart from works? Was he saying "well I didnt mean it is completely apart from works. You have to keep some laws." NO. This passage in no way contradicts the previous verses. It instead teaches us that we must begin a process of sanctification, after our justification at the moment of conversion, wherein we start to live as though we are dead to sin, which we are. In other words, If you are saved, your flesh is dead. But we still sin. So we need to start LIVING like our flesh is dead. We cannot continue to "present our bodies as instruments of unrighteousness." The works we do and the way we live after salvation show that we have truly been justified and that a work of sanctification is happening in our hearts (or will). (James 2:18)

Ok, in conclusion I want to go back to the fact that Paul had never been to Rome. Notice how he asks them in verse 3 "Or do you not know....?" It is interesting that He asks them this because he had never been there to teach them, but He expected them to know about this issue which he was writing them about. He was in a sense saying this is just common sense for the Christian. We should realize that when we are saved, our flesh has died and we have been called to a life that is lived for Christ and no longer lived to fulfill our lustful passions.

I hope this had made sense. I feel this is an extremely important issue in our lives as Christians. Let us together strive to live as dead men. God bless you guys.

Blogging for His glory, Aaron Soutar

Is the Word Key to Salvation?

There is almost no way for me to communicate the ideas that have recently developed surrounding the importance of the knowledge and TRUTH of God. This may seem fundamental to some, but maybe it will encourage others to evaluate their true love for and devotion to God. Please understand that I am not making an idol out of brain capacity, or subjecting those less knowledgable people to a contest of intellectual ability where the winner is the true Christian and the loser is the apostate. The DESIRE for God is the topic in question. Do you DESIRE to know God through his Word, and does that desire manifest itself daily, truly overwhelming all others? Is there anything in your life that if you lost it, you would be more dejected than if you lost God's Word? The following paragraph is my attempt at expressing the foundational importance of the knowledge of God found in the book we call the "Bible."

Think deductively with me about the importance of the Scriptures. Read each thought, accepting it as truth, building on each other for the complete idea.

Life without God is death. God is Life. Death is separation FROM God. Christians, by definition, are dependent followers OF God. To know God, in His Word, is to have more life. To be separated from God, in His Word, is to have more death. To claim to be a follower, but not yearn for Life in the Word is apostasy, even hypocrisy. Without the Word, the true believer descends into atrophy, giving way to every temptation of substituting God’s Holiness with idols. His life becomes a seedbed of idolatry, blaspheming the precious Name he claims to follow. If he is a true believer, God quickly brings Him back to continual fellowship with Himself in the Word, producing a true follower out of the apostate. If the believer is false in His discipleship, which is the majority in this nation, the sinner lives dead in hypocrisy and idolatry until he is either quickened to life through the Word unto salvation, or dies, deceived by the father of lies into thinking that he has OBTAINED salvation by placing his faith in the idol of his decision on the “gospel.”

So then, what am I saying? I am saying this: A true “disciple” of God will be in a state of continual “fellowship” with God by constantly learning about Him in His Word. If the “disciple” does not continue in the Word, He was never a true disciple (1 John 2:19), and needs to have His life examined by the true Gospel of Christ to show the idolatry it is permeated with .

To take this idea a step further, I want to address the common fallacy that commentaries and resources are a substitute for truth, or are relative. All commentaries are man's interpretation of God's perfect Word, so they will be fallible. However, if a man is in communion with God and is interpreting the text using original languages, and the historical-grammatical-literal interpretation of the Word, who is to say that these great men cannot help us understand the depth that otherwise we would not be able to grasp? Men who devote their lives to the furthering of the deeper doctrines and teachings of the Scripture are there so that we can learn MORE about God in our everyday lives. They do the long work of interpretation, we read and measure it up to the truth of the Bible like the Bereans (Acts 17:10-12).

Therefore, do not hesitate to use a man's works (who is correct in his doctrine) to understand the Word greater. If anyone would like more material, or recommendations, I would love to help. My email is asetser@bellsouth.net.

I plan to do a post on the TRUE gospel soon, stay tuned.

In my studies of Greek and other specific material for preparation for Master's, our theology study will be slower, though I hope to continue it. I will keep you posted as to my projected plans.

Blogging for His glory, Adam Setser

I. 3. B. The Communicable Attributes (Part 2)

I. Theology Proper

3. Nature and Attributes of God (Cont. . .)

B. The Communicable Attributes (Part 2)

The Communicable attributes of God are obviously the longer of the two categories, so I split it into three parts. Just as a reminder, the easiest category to understand is definitely the incommunicable because we have no predetermined suppositions or fallacies to override in our learning. This category of communicable attributes should be the harder to understand, so we need to aggressively approach it and cast aside all former knowledge of these traits (as found in ourselves, or as taught inaccurately) so that we may more clearly understand the divine essence of God. In this post I will discuss the goodness of God, and the Holiness of God.

After the next post, we will be finished with the study of the attributes of God. Obviously, this is not exhaustive, but it is all-inclusive. We have learned the major attributes which all others are related to. Some broader attributes of God need to be discussed as well to help us focus on the vastness and congeniality of His character, i.e. His perfection, beauty, blessedness, loving-kindness, and righteousness (Holiness). If we could give a name to God that could reflect all these at once (like His true character), it would be: “The True Loving, Just, Righteous ONE.” Let  these three be fleshed out and made into more specific particular attributes, and you get those that we have studied in detail in this systematic theology.

1. Goodness of God (Love)

The 4th communicable attribute of God is His goodness. This attribute contains more specific attributes in itself of benevolence, love, mercy, and grace. Benevolence is the overall disposition of promoting happiness to all creatures. Love is that promotion of happiness directed at a specific rational being. Mercy is kindness exercised toward those in distress (mercy also includes the Scriptural attributes of pity, compassion, forbearance, and gentleness.) Grace is love exercised toward the unworthy. The love of a gracious God to undeserving sinners is the most mysterious attribute of all the divine nature.

In the definition of goodness, I want to just assume that we know what good versus evil is. Philosophically, goodness is that which coincides with the character and perfection of God, i.e. the absence of evil. On this topic of goodness, much debate has occurred, and will continue to occur, on the relative “goodness” of sin. Sin is the means to a greater good, making it necessary FOR the greatest good. Is sin therefore a good? In short, no, sin is not a good. However, sin is necessary for the glory of God to be full and complete. Without sin, there would be no great contrast between the Holiness of God and the complete inability of man to achieve that holiness apart from His grace and aid. The glory of God is the ultimate end of all things, while the good of man is the subordinate or secondary end of all things. It is wrong to assume that the earth is at the center of the solar system. Our astronomy would be in confusion. If we therefore make the creature, instead of God, the end of all things, our theology and religion will also be perverted. It is therefore safe to say that the sole purpose of the universe is to make God known, not to produce man’s happiness.

The actual goodness of God means that God is the final standard for good and that all that He is and does is worthy of approval. (Luke 18:19; Ps 100:5; Ps 106:1; Ps 34:8). Why is what God approves good? Because he approves it. He IS the ultimate source of good, so if He is involved in its proof of genuine goodness, no doubt his verdict of good versus bad WILL be the true and perfect judgement. We as humans can judge right and wrong and what is inherently good, but we are not sources of goodness itself. God IS that attribute - to the max. He IS goodness. Just like we can obtain and possess knowledge, He IS knowledge. As we can possess goodness, He IS goodness. All things good come from Him (Jam 1:17). 

We see that all that God is is good, now let’s move onto the second part of the definition: all He does is good. One example of the absolute goodness of God’s actions is in the creation story (Gen 1:31). Also, Paul urges us to renew our minds to find the “good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom 12:2). Another blanket text describing the goodness of God is in Rom 8:28.

In direct relation to the goodness of God is the Love of God. Some discuss this attribute separately, but I wanted to keep it with the main point for clarity and conciseness. 

God’s love means that God eternally gives himself to others. This definition assumes that love is the self giving for the benefit of others. So, in the same way that goodness is given to us finitely as a gift, remaining perfect and unblemished only in its creator and source, so is love. The love our world offers is cheap. The cheaper the love the more easily it is recognized as cheap, but all love is cheap unless it is founded and derived from its source: God.

2. Holiness of God

The holiness of God is the general term for the moral excellence of God. God is Holy (1 Sam 2:2; Ps. 49:9; Ps 111:9; Hab 1:13; Rev 40:4). Holiness contains two implications: One, that God is entirely free from moral evil; two, that there is absolute moral perfection in God. Absolute freedom from impurity is the primary idea of the word. To sanctify is to cleanse; to be Holy is to be clean. Infinite purity, even before infinite knowledge or infinite power is the object of reverence. 

Philosophically, the argument against God’s supreme attribute of moral excellence is as follows: First, for one to assume that God can delight in good, and hate evil, implies that He is able to be impressed or swayed. Any implication of relativity that we prescribe to God’s nature is inconsistent with the divine essence. Second, it is said that moral excellence implies subjection to moral law. But in the same way that God is not limited by time, distance, or knowledge, He is not limited in morality, for He is the supreme morality. All “good” morality comes from God since He is the source of the law, not under the law as we are. Third, there is a belief that all moral excellence must be free to choose between right and wrong. A moral agent, to be holy, must voluntarily do right. This view implies that God can do wrong if He desires, giving the possibility of the Absolute divine nature as we know it to be non-absolute. This is a contradiction which cannot occur in the divine essence, leaving us with the truth of the compatibility of absolute certainty (God’s absolute, immutable - unchanging - nature) and divine liberty.

In attributing moral attributes (even perfect ones) to God, we forget that he is a purely spiritual being that cannot possess wisdom, goodness, wrath, righteousness, etc; He IS all of those. They all come from HIM! 

Blogging for His glory, Adam Setser

Warren vs Piper- how to study the Bible

On the flight to CA, my time was completely capitalized by the videos and articles from John Piper's conference where he invited Rick Warren to his national conference. This invite is a big deal because their ministerial philosophies are completely opposite. Rick Warren is the author of The Purpose Driven Life, which caused quite an uproar among true bible teaching ministers like Piper, MacArthur, RC Sproul etc because of its seemingly temporal and shallow message. The video of Warren's message is HERE. The video of the analysis of the message by the panel is HERE. In that video, Piper gives his analysis of Warrens "philosophy" of ministry.

Rick Warren

John Piper

VS.

So, what is this distinct "Warren philosophy?" Here it is in a nutshell.

Piper believes that when a pastor teaches the bible in all its depth and truth that the Word will produce a Christian that becomes strong from the feeding on the Truth from the Word. The fruits of his life the come from the nourishment of the Word, not from an application-that-changes-your-life once a week. Rick Warren on the other hand believes that to lead a congregation to "being" a Christian begins when you teach them HOW to be a Christian per each application. This process is tedious because it requires the PERSON to do the application of the word and change himself accordingly- each week. SO, Rick advocates that pastors teach LESS and apply more so that that change once a week can be good solid growth leading to another fruit. This is very ANTI Piper as you can see, and honestly is, in my opinion, not what the Word tells us to do. I believe that Piper, MacArthur etc are correct in their teaching the Word in all its depth, and allowing the Spirit to apply it as the individual grows. later in life that person is still growing in the Lord as he continues to learn about God, getting stronger and stronger spiritually, becoming sanctified, while the other Warren-ite is still once a week, learning another application-that-changes-your-life.

That is the scoop, I encourage you to watch the Warren message and discern his philosophy from it. Overall, he has a good message, but his philosophy is there, just subdued (probably because he is at JOHN PIPER's conference). The more material we know the more discerning we can be about our own lives and how we are applying the Word for our growth. Are we applying every passage to one certain activity in our lives, or are we simply basking in the majesty of God in His Word, learning about Him, growing stronger in the faith and allowing the Spirit to apply in due time the truth to our lives? Rick's approach- on steroids- would point away from theological studies like ours as a waste of time because we can't APPLY it, which is the chief goal in his philosophy. In my, hopefully our, philosophy, Theology is the key to learning about God so that we can be more and more familiar with His character, so that specific application is secondary and a result, not a goal.

How are YOU studying scripture?

Blogging for His glory, Adam Setser

I. 3. B. The Communicable Attributes (Part 1)

I. Theology Proper


3. Nature and Attributes of God (Cont. . .)

B. The Communicable Attributes (Part 1)

The second category of God’s attributes are the communicable attributes, or those attributes of His character that can be shared in some limited way with human-kind, i.e. Power, goodness, truth, etc. As previously stated, the most important aspect of this categorization is to uphold superior clarity and orderliness. You don’t need to necessarily memorize the exact categorization as much as the attributes themselves and how they help attribute to the massive thatch-work of God’s being. This topic of attributes is not very standardized as to which are presented, but I will take a combination of Grudem, who presents many separate attributes, and Hodge, who is more concise, albeit meatier and philosophically exhaustive.

In Grudem’s Sytematic Theology, he further divides the “Communicable Attributes” into sub-headings based on their relation to God’s character as man would segment them. He separates them into subheadings like being, mental, moral, purpose etc. I considered following this outlines, but it simply helps to lead us into the dissecting of the person of God. We, as humans in the 21st century, are spoon fed everything to meet our mold of understanding. I understand that since these are “communicable,” or shared attributes that one could say that Grudem is not dividing God (which I believe is not his aim) but merely helping us to categorically see the parallels in our lives versus God’s nature. To which I would object that this mode of thought leads us to compare God to ourselves, our natures, etc. My aim is to look at God in a totally new way, without preconceptions and errors that would be subconsciously present in a comparison situation of infinite God and finite man  (who’s nature it is to attempt to rationally, logically understand God.) With that in mind, these below are listed logically, but not categorically. Please read and understand without any former conceptions and let the truth speak for itself, fresh in your mind. The single greatest thing we possess as true Christians is absolute truth. Let’s not waste that by applying our knowledge to His divine truth. In searching for a picture to put here of God, or of someone's conception of God, I have decided to put this picture here. Look at it and imagine the absolute depth, magnitude, power, wisdom, knowledge etc that it would take to CREATE this much less understand it. This God is far more than a just judge, or a benevolent father, or a sovereign creator; He is all of these and more! In our study of God, it is has transformed my view of God and His being. Don't let a subconscious preconception ruin that. DO NOT TRY TO RATIONALIZE GOD! Learn of Him and praise Him for being who He is! 

Disclaimer: Through this deeper study, truer, greater praise WILL RESULT causing you to look ridiculous to the world, but even more precious to God as you marvel at His greatness. (Results will vary, side effects include brain pain, a case of the so-heavenly-minded-no-earthly-good syndrome, and occasionally random acts of praise to God so that your life ends up being one big praise fest bound into a finite setting.)

1. Spirituality of God

In defining this key attribute of God, I want to begin with addressing the issue of language and interpretation. The use of language is communication. If the language intended to communicate an idea is out of date or confusing, then the language needs to be analyzed and changed to suit the proper end of the intended meaning. Therefore, I will define spirit as it was originally intended, so that true communication is upheld.

In Jesus’ day, when he used the word spirit (John 4:24) to identify the character of God’s physical being, he meant the idea of moving air, especially in the breath; then any invisible power; then the human soul. God is not flesh and blood. He is not made of matter at all; rather He is an immaterial being that is free from all laws and properties of matter. He cannot be divided, or compounded and does not have bulk form. He is invisible. If God is a spirit it is imperative that He be self-conscious, intelligent, and a voluntary agent. Also, since God is a Spirit, it follows that He is also an intelligent and moral Being. We, as humans have these characteristics because we too are spirits, therefore, it would be proper to assume that He must possess these attributes and more, lest we esteem ourselves higher and more sophisticated than God, our maker. The spirit of man is subject to change, whereas we know of God’s immutability, so He does not change. His nature is interwoven, creating a being greater than imagination, which, if simplified, destroys His majesty and takes away from His glory. 

The Scripture everywhere presents these attributes, and on these attributes a foundation is made on which all our worship, prayer, confidence in redemption, preservation and blessings lie. The God of the Bible is a person. He revealed Himself to Noah, He spoke to Adam, He covenanted with Abraham, He conversed with Moses. How? The Bible says that God gave us spirits to converse with and worship Him: (John 4:24; 1 Cor 14:14; Phil 3:3), and in which we are united with His spirit: (1 Cor 6:17) with which the Holy Spirit joins to bear witness of our adoption into God’s family: (Rom 8:16) and in which we pass into the Lord’s presence when we die: (Luke 23:46; Eccl 12:7; Heb 12:23). With this in mind, it is clear how God’s spirituality is labelled as a Communicable attribute.

Along with God’s Spirituality comes the attribute of invisibility. These two go directly together in my mind, so I will not discuss them separately. Basically, invisibility means that we will never see God. We (as humans in this finite world) have seen theophanies (appearances of God) when He appeared to Abraham (Gen 18:1-33), Jacob (Gen 32:28-30), the people of Israel as a pillar of cloud and fire (Ex 13:21-22). Also, God came in human form through His son, Jesus. Jesus said that “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). So we know that God can present Himself to us in someway, but His total essence will never be seen by us.

2. Knowledge (Omniscience)

Many philosophical debates and theories have risen on the subject of God’s omniscience. Some believe that God cannot know because with the idea of knowledge comes the implication of the knower versus the learner, i.e. God cannot know, or perceive something from a source. Knowledge must originate and be learned through deduction, instruction, observation, comparison, etc. This is the nature of knowledge. So, can there be knowledge in God? Can there be a distinction between subject and object in an absolute and infinite Being? This question is answered in Scripture. The Bible teaches that knowledge in God, is essentially what knowledge is in us, but perfect. If you take an attribute that we share with God into examination, it is always going to come with the imperfections that we know as humans. God’s knowledge is perfect, complete, full. There is no object and subject within God to possess knowledge since He is knowledge. The vast procession of events, thoughts, feelings, and acts, stands open in his view. He knows all things as they are. (Ps 89:1-2, Prov 15:3; Prov 15:11; Ps 147:5; Ezek 11:5; Acts 15:18; Matt 10:30.)

3. Truth of God- Faithful

The definition of truth can be stated in four sections. First, truth is that which is real, opposed to that which is fake. Jehovah is the true God, because he is really God while the gods of the heathen are not true, having neither attributes nor existence. Second, that truth completely fulfills what it claims to be. The true God is he in whom is found all that Godhead imports. Third, truth in life agrees with the declaration. God is true, because He really is what he claims to be; because He is what He commands us to believe Him to be; and because all His declarations correspond to what really is. Fourth, the truth can be depended on to never fail, change, or disappoint. God is true as He is immutable and faithful. His Word abideth forever.

This truth of God is the basis for our religion. Were it not for God’s absolute truth we would have no means to worship him over other gods who claim to be truth just as Jehovah does. God is the one true God (John 17:3; 1 John 5:20). Since God is the only being in his class, HE sets the standard for the Godhead. We, as humans, cannot assume we are the source of the knowledge of God as Godhead. We have had this limited knowledge placed inside us as by God himself. Were God not the source of all veracity (truthfulness or reliability) his character would be degraded into that which is moved by the same swaying, variable truth of other gods.

Blogging for His glory, Adam Setser

I. 3. A.-The Incommunicable Attributes

I. Theology Proper

3. Nature and Attributes of God

A. The Incommunicable Attributes

We have previously learned how the knowledge of God is exhibited in creation, but more clearly and familiarly in the Word of God. Through the Scriptures we see the nature of God taught through His works. This discussion of God’s nature is infinitely massive, but we will look at an index of His works, categorically, with hopes of leading you to a structure of Biblical study where you can search for and identify different categories of His nature during your intimate study of Him in His written revelation of Himself. 

As one could imagine, the categorization of such a huge topic varies according to time period and personality of the reader. Even though all categorizations vary significantly, they all attempt to do the same thing, i.e. Present God’s nature in an orderly and clear fashion. Which theory of categorization you choose doesn’t matter much because there has been no sufficient evidence to promote one method as superior over the rest. However, for this study, I will use the system of categorization (that Grudem uses) which is the simplest and most logical. It separates the attributes of God into two different categories based on their relationship with God and man. The first is incommunicable attributes, i.e. Those attributes of God which are distinctly God’s, not shared (communicated) with man. The second is communicable attributes, i.e. Those attributes of God which man can identify with in some limited way and are thus “communicated” between man and God.

In Scripture, there are three main attributes of God that override all others and are sufficient enough, if studied by themselves, to lead a person to understand the person of God better. These three are loving-kindness, on which are entire safety and well-being exists; judgement, which is daily exercised on the wicked, and awaits them in more severity for eternal destruction; and righteousness, by which the faithful are preserved and cherished. These attributes can be further expanded into truth, power, holiness, and goodness. These all rely on the above three, which, if true, produce the lower plus even more that coincide with the perfection attributed in the above three. Therefore, with these three uncategorized and seemingly simple attributes, we are adequately furnished with the means of glorifying God. However, in an attempt to understand God greater and deeper which makes our relationship still sweeter and more meaningful, read on as we will delve deeper into the infinite topic of God’s nature.

Incommunicable Attributes:

The incommunicable attributes of God are probably the easiest to understand because we cannot relate to them at all. There are no pre-conceived ideas in our minds to muddle our thoughts or provide confusion. In an attempt to cut down on this massive task, I may list some attributes with minimal definitions. If you want more clarity on a particular point, let me know (aka: COMMENT!)

1. Independence

God’s independence is defined as follows: God does not rely on the creation for anything, yet the creation can glorify Him and bring Him joy. God is absolutely independent and self-sufficient. (Acts 17:24-25): God needs nothing from mankind. (Job 41:11): No one has ever contributed anything to God that did not first come from Himself. God, as a being, is totally unique. It is not that God does not need the creation for anything, but He could not need the creation for anything. The fact that we bring God joy infers that our life is not meaningless. (Isa 43:7): God made us for a significant purpose, i.e. HIS GLORY- (also: Eph 1:11-12; Rev 4:11).

2. Immutability

Immutable means unchanging, or not subject to change. Let me make a few factual statements of God’s immutability then come back and address a couple. God is absolutely immutable in his essence and attributes. He can neither increase nor decrease. He is exalted above all other causes. He is subject to no process of development, or of self-evolution. His knowledge and power can never be greater or less. He can never be wiser or holier, or more righteous or more merciful than He ever has been and ever must be. He is no less immutable in His plans and purposes. (James 1:17; Num 23:19; Mal 3:6; Ps 33:11; Proc 19:21; Is 14:24; Is 46:9-10). One objection to His absolute immutability are the Scriptures in which anthropomorphic language is in use, i.e. Language that gives human characteristics to God so that we can understand Him (God repented that he ever made the Israelites). This language is not literal, but anthropomorphic. Were it literal, it would imply that God changed his mind, therefore nullifying His immutability. Thus, this type language is very important to understand and not mis-interpret. Other exemplary texts are as follows: Gen 6:6; 1 Sam 15:10; Jonah 3:10, and etc.

3. Eternity

The infinitude of God relative to space is his immensity or omnipresence- which we will discuss below. That infinitude relative to duration is His eternity which we will now discuss. As he is free from all limitations of space, so He is exalted above all the limitations of time. With Him there is no distinction between the past, present and future; all things are equally and always present to him. With him duration is an eternal now. This is the scriptural view of His eternity. (Ps 90:2; Ps 102:25-27; Is 62:15; Is 44:6; Ps. 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8; Heb 13:8; Rev 1:4; etc) He is called the eternal or everlasting God; who only hath immortality. The primary revelation of Himself to His covenant people was as the “I AM.”

4. Omnipresence

The second form of God’s infinitude is His omnipresence. It goes hand-in-hand with the previous point. God is not only unlimited in time, he is unlimited in space. The definition of omnipresence is as follows: God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places. Deut 10:14 gives evidence to God’s lordship over space.

5. Unity

Figure 1

The doctrine of unity is defined as follows: God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times. This doctrine has also been referred to as simplicity, meaning that less than common meaning of “not complex” or “not composed of parts.” But, this word has now been dumbed down to refer to an object as “easily understood,” which is not the meaning of this doctrine, hence the alternate, better name of unity. The Bible speaks of God as one Being, but having multiple attributes all being equal to each other. Therefore, we should not think of God as various attributes added together as in Figure 1. Rather, we should think of God’s whole being including every attribute: he is entirely loving, entirely merciful, entirely just, etc. Every attribute of God we find in Scripture is true of His entire or whole Being (Figure 2). So, why does the Scripture break up this thatch-work of God into single attributes? Probably because we can only handle one at a time! We need to see God in phases, but never apart from the full picture of His total character. 

Figure 2

Blogging for His glory, Adam Setser