The Doctrine of God (Theology) - Part 2

A.    The Incommunicable Attributes of God – By this we mean that these attributes are specific to God and not man. 

    1.     Independence – God’s independence is defined as follows:  God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify God and bring Him joy. This attribute is sometimes called God’s self-existence or God’s aseity (from the Latin words a se, which mean “from himself”).

        ²⁴ "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵ neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things; (Act 17:24-25 NAS)

        ¹¹ "Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine. (Job 41:11 NAS)

Some have entertained the thought that God created humanity because He was lonely and needed fellowship with other persons. If this were true, it would mean that God would not be completely independent of creation. 

        ⁵ "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. (Joh 17:5 NAS)

        ²⁴ "Father, I desire that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me; for Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world. (Joh 17:24 NAS)

Truly, the three Persons of the Godhead were independent and in perfect unity in all eternity past without mankind or the rest of creation.

    2.     Unchangeableness – We can define the unchangeableness of God as follows: God is unchanging in His being, perfections, purposes and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and He acts and feels differently in response to different situations. This attribute of God’s is also called immutability.

        ²⁵ "Of old Thou didst found the earth; And the heavens are the work of Thy hands. ²⁶ "Even they will perish, but Thou dost endure; And all of them will wear out like a garment; Like clothing Thou wilt change them, and they will be changed. ²⁷ "But Thou art the same, And Thy years will not come to an end. (Psa 102:25-27 NAS)

        ⁶ "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed. (Mal 3:6 NAS)

        ¹⁷ Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow. (Jam 1:17 NAS)

        ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever. (Heb 13:8 NAS)

Thus, God is immutable. He does not change.

    A.    Does God Sometimes Change His Mind?  Even as we talk about God being unchanging in His purposes, we may wonder about instances in Scripture where God said He would judge His people and then, because of prayer or the people’s repentance (or both), God relented and did not bring judgment as He said He would.

        ⁹ And the LORD said to Moses, "I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. ¹⁰ "Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them, and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation." ¹¹ Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, "O LORD, why doth Thine anger burn against Thy people whom Thou hast brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ¹² "Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, 'With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth '? Turn from Thy burning anger and change Thy mind about doing harm to Thy people. ¹³ "Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants to whom Thou didst swear by Thyself, and didst say to them, 'I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" ¹⁴ So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people. (Exo 32:9-14 NAS)

Didn’t God’s purpose change in this situation? We must understand that this instance and many others in Scripture (Isaiah 38:1-6; Jonah 3:4,10; Genesis 6:6; 1 Samuel 15:10; etc.), express God’s true attitude or intention to act with respect to the situation as it exists at that moment.  If the situation changes, then God’s attitude or expression will also change. God responds differently to different situations, but He does not change.

One more example:

        ⁵ Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ⁶ And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. (Gen 6:5-6 NAS)

God is grieved in His heart because of the present state of man’s sinfulness instead of the state of perfect sinlessness in which they were created. This is an expression of God’s present displeasure toward man’s sinfulness.

    3.     Eternity – God’s eternity may be defined as follows: God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in His own being, and He sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time. This doctrine is also referred to as God’s infinity. This doctrine is related to God’s immutability (unchangeableness) because since God is unchangeable, time cannot change God. Time has no effect on God’s being, purposes, or promises.  God never learns new things or forgets things. He is eternal and has perfect knowledge of all that is (past, present, and future).

        A Prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. ² Before the mountains were born, Or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God. ³ Thou dost turn man back into dust, And dost say, "Return, O children of men." ⁴ For a thousand years in Thy sight Are like yesterday when it passes by, Or as a watch in the night. (Psa 90:1-4 NAS)

²⁶ "Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him; The number of His years is unsearchable. (Job 36:26 NAS)

Consider the enormity of this truth. The God in Whom we trust sees the creation of the universe, the ministry of His only Son upon the earth, this very moment that we are here together, the final judgment of man, and eternity with perfect clarity because it is all present before Him right now.

        ⁹ "Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, ¹⁰ Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, 'My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure'; (Isa 46:9-10 NAS)

    4.     Omnipresence – Just as God is unlimited or infinite with respect to time, God is also unlimited with respect to space. God’s omnipresence may be defined 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.

King David beautifully describes the omniscience of God in Psalm 139.

        ⁷ Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or where can I flee from Thy presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, Thou art there. ⁹ If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, ¹⁰ Even there Thy hand will lead me, And Thy right hand will lay hold of me. (Psa 139:7-10 NAS)

    A.    God Does Not Have Spatial Dimensions. Even though God’s whole being is present in every part of space, or at every point in space, it is necessary to note that God cannot be contained by any space.

        ²⁷ "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain Thee, how much less this house which I have built! (1Ki 8:27 NAS)

        ¹Thus says the LORD, "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? (Isa 66:1 NAS)

We must guard against thinking that God extends infinitely far in all directions so that He himself exists infinitely in a sort of infinite, unending space. Nor should we think that God is somehow a bigger area surrounding the space of the universe as we know it. These ideas continue to think of God in spatial terms as if He were simply an extremely large being. God does not have size or spatial dimensions. God exists without size or dimensions in space.

    B.    God Can Be Present to Punish, Sustain, or Bless.  The idea of God’s omnipresence can often trouble people when they think of God being present in Hell.  Isn’t Hell the opposite of the presence of God?  We can resolve our difficulty in understanding when we that God is present in different ways in different places.

        1.     Sometimes God is present to punish. A terrifying passage in Amos vividly portrays this presence of God in judgment.

        ¹I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and He said, "Smite the capitals so that the thresholds will shake, And break them on the heads of them all! Then I will slay the rest of them with the sword; They will not have a fugitive who will flee, Or a refugee who will escape. ² "Though they dig into Sheol, From there shall My hand take them; And though they ascend to heaven, From there will I bring them down. ³ "And though they hide on the summit of Carmel, I will search them out and take them from there; And though they conceal themselves from My sight on the floor of the sea, From there I will command the serpent and it will bite them. ⁴ "And though they go into captivity before their enemies, From there I will command the sword  (Amos 9:1-4 NAS)

Sometimes God is present to sustain.

        ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Col 1:16-17 NAS)

        ³ And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power . . . (Heb 1:3 NAS)

But at most other times, God is present to bless.

        ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, ⁴ and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." (Rev 21:3-4 NAS)

Thus, God is omnipresent to punish sinners, to sustain His creation, and to bless His people.

    5.     Unity – The unity of God can be defined as follows: God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times. Whenever Scripture speaks of the attributes of God it never singles out one attribute as more important than all the rest. The Word of God tells us that “God is light” (1 John 1:5) and then a little later tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). There is no indication to say that one part of God is love and another part of God is light, or that God is partly love and partly light. Rather, it is God himself  Who is light and it is God himself Who is also love.

        ⁶ Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; (Exo 34:6 NAS)

But we should not think of God as some kind of collection of His many attributes. Neither is God added to by these attributes.  God is self-existent and His attributes flow out from His whole being. Thus, when we speak of the unity of God, we should seek to know and love Him as himself in all of the ways that He has revealed himself in His Word.

    B.    The Communicable Attributes of God – This is a long list of the attributes of God that are either true of us or are to be imitated in our lives as we follow Jesus Christ. We will classify these attributes into five basic categories:  attributes describing God’s being, mental attributes, moral attributes, attributes of purpose, and finally some summary attributes.

        1.     Spirituality (Attribute of Being) – People have often asked if God is material in His form (other than Jesus Christ in His Incarnation), or if He is made of some other form of matter, or if God is pure energy, or is He in some sense pure thought? The answer to all of these queries is no. God is spirit (John 4:24).

Again, God’s being cannot be thought of in terms of spatial parameters because He has none.  God even forbids anyone from thinking of Him in terms of being similar to anything else in creation.

        ⁴"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ⁵ "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, (Exo 20:4-5 NAS)

God’s essence, His mode of being, is different from anything that He has created.  At this point we can define God’s spirituality as follows: God’s spirituality means that God exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses, and is more excellent in His perfections than any other kind of existence.

At this point we may wonder why this attribute is listed as a communicable attribute. It is because even though God’s spirituality is very different from ours, He has given each of us a spirit that we might worship Him,

        ²⁴ "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (Joh 4:24 NAS)

that we might unite with Him,

        ¹⁷ But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. (1Co 6:17 NAS)

and to our spirits God’s Spirit bears witness that we are His children.

        ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, (Rom 8:16 NAS)

    2.     Knowledge (Mental Attribute) – This may also be referred to as omniscience.  We may define God’s knowledge as follows: God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act. This knowledge of God means that even though He is infinite, God knows himself completely.

The above definition says that God knows “all things actual” meaning all things that exist and all things that happen.

        ¹³And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. (Heb 4:13 NAS)

        ²⁴ "For He looks to the ends of the earth, And sees everything under the heavens. (Job 28:24 NAS)

The above definition also states that God knows all  things possible. Jesus also speaks of what would have happened if certain circumstances had occurred.

        ²¹"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. (Mat 11:21 NAS)

        ²³"And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You shall descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. (Mat 11:23 NAS)

Whether actual or possible, whether past, present, or future, God knows all things. This is indeed an amazing truth.

What if someone objects by protesting that God promises to remember our sins no more (Isaiah 43:25)? Isn’t this an example of God not having complete knowledge? No. A better way to understand this is that God, having complete knowledge of our sin but having forgiven us in Jesus Christ, will never again allow His knowledge of our sin to play any part in the way that He relates to us.  Thus, God is omniscient and still remembers our sin no more.

How then is knowledge a communicable attribute of God?  God gives us, even as finite beings, the ability to have knowledge of Him as revealed through His Word, as well as knowledge of the creation and our relationship to Him as sinners and as children of God. So, knowledge is a communicable attribute.

    3.     Wisdom (Mental Attribute) – We can define the wisdom of God as follows: God’s wisdom means that God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals. In other words, because of His wisdom, God always chooses and does what is best. The cross is the supreme example of this truth.

        ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (1Co 1:21 NAS)

The greatest of the world’s wisdom cannot attain to the wisdom of God.

²⁷ but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

Only God has true wisdom and so man’s wisdom is nothing before God.

²⁹ that no man should boast before God.

How is the wisdom of God a communicable attribute to men?  The wisdom of God allows us to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ that we might be redeemed, be made righteous, and be sanctified for the glory of the Lord.

³⁰ But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, ³¹ that, just as it is written, "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord." (1Co 1:30-31 NAS)

    4.     Truthfulness (Mental Attribute) – God’s truthfulness means that He is the true God and that all His knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth. Another word for God’s truthfulness is veracity.

Since God is the only true God, all other gods are false.

        ¹⁰ But the LORD is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth quakes, And the nations cannot endure His indignation. ¹¹ Thus you shall say to them, "The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens." (Jer 10:10-11 NAS)

It is in truth that God reveals that He himself is the only way of salvation.

        ³"And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. (Joh 17:3 NAS)

        ²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1Jo 5:20 NAS)

The very words of God are truth. His words are reliable.

        ¹⁹ "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? (Num 23:19 NAS)

How is God’s truthfulness a communicable attribute? We should imitate God’s truthfulness.

        ¹⁶ "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exo 20:16 NAS)

        ⁵ A righteous man hates falsehood . . .” (Pro 13:5 NAS)

        ¹⁷ 'Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,' declares the LORD." (Zec 8:17 NAS)

(Source:  Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Zondervan. Grand Rapids. 2000. 1291 pp. $30.99) 

The Doctrine of God (Theology) - Part 1

I. The Doctrine of God (Theology)

  A. The Existence of God: How Do We Know that God Exists?

    1. Humanity’s Inner Sense of God – All people have an inner sense that God exists, that they are His creatures, and that He is their Creator. Of the wicked, Scripture has this to say about their rejection of this truth:

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. (Rom 1:18-19 NAS)

The denial of God’s existence is the willful act of a fool.

“The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. (Psa 14:1; 53:1 NAS)

For the Christian, this inner sense of God takes on a clear and distinct understanding. Christians begin to see God as their heavenly Father.

“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’" (Rom 8:15 NAS)

The Holy Spirit bears witness with the Christian that he or she is a child of God.

”The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,” (Rom 8:16 NAS)

Christians come to know that Jesus Christ is living within them.

“so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,” (Eph 3:17 NAS)

“to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col 1:27 NAS)

  B. Believing the Evidence in Scripture and Nature

    1. Beginning with the book of Genesis, Scripture does not present the existence of God as something that needs to be proven. Instead, Scripture assumes that God exists throughout the entire canon.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen 1:1 NAS)

Thus, at the very beginning of the written Word of God, we find not a list of convincing proofs that there is a God, but rather we are told what God has done. Closely connected with this biblical presupposition, Scripture also declares that the existence of God is evident through nature.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Rom 1:20 NAS)

“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” (Psa 19:1 NAS)

The beauty of a snowflake, the complexity of the human eye, the navigational abilities of a simple honey bee, and a million other evidences in nature (creation) all point to the fact that God the Creator exists. Anyone denying this truth is either wrongly evaluating the evidence or intentionally denying the existence of God.

  C. Traditional Proofs for the Existence of God – The traditional “proofs” for the existence of God have been constructed by Christian (and some non-Christian) philosophers throughout history. They are attempts to analyze the evidence for the existence of God, especially from nature, in extremely careful and logically precise ways, in order to convince people that it is not rational to reject the idea of God’s existence.

Most of the traditional proofs for the existence of God can be classified in four major types of arguments:

    1. The Cosmological Argument considers the fact that every known thing in the universe has a cause. Therefore, the universe itself must also have a cause, and the cause of such a great universe can only be God.

    2. The Teleological Argument is really a subcategory of the Cosmological Argument. It focuses on the evidence, harmony, order, and design in the universe, and argues that its design gives evidence of an intelligent purpose (the Greek word telos means “end” or “goal” or “purpose”). Since the universe appears to be designed with a purpose, there must be an intelligent and purposeful God who created it to function this way.

    3. The Ontological Argument begins with the idea of God, who is defined as a being (ont is the Greek stem for “being”) “greater than which nothing can be imagined.” It then argues that the characteristic of existence must belong to such a Being since it is greater to exist than not to exist.

    4. The Moral Argument begins from man’s sense of right and wrong, and for the need for justice to be done. It argues that there must be a God who is the source of all that is right and good and who will one day mete out justice to all people.

These four types of arguments are used to overcome to intellectual objections to the existence of God held by unbelievers. These arguments cannot bring people to saving faith, but they can provide intellectual evidence for something that they have already been persuaded of from their own inner sense of God and from the testimony of Scripture and nature.

  D. The Knowability of God – Can we really know God? How much of God can we know?

    1. The Necessity for God to Reveal Himself to Us – If we are to know God at all, it is necessary for Him to make himself known to us. Even when discovering God in nature, it is God’s revelation of himself through nature that enables us to know Him. This is general revelation.

With regard to the personal knowledge of God that comes in salvation, this idea is even more explicit.

"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. (Mat 11:27 NAS)

Thus, only God himself can give the special revelation of himself and the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross that leads to salvation. Apart from God’s special revelation of himself, sinful man will misinterpret the evidence of God’s existence found in nature.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, (Rom 1:18 NAS)

21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (Rom 1:21 NAS)

25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Rom 1:25 NAS)

    2. We Can Never Fully Understand God – Because God is infinite and we are finite, we can never fully understand God.

3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable. (Psa 145:3 NAS)

10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. (1Co 2:10-11 NAS)

9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:9 NAS)

In light of this truth, it is accurate to say that God is incomprehensible, that is, that we will never fully be able to comprehend everything about God. We may know of God’s love, or compassion, or wrath, or holiness, or patience, but we will never know everything about these attributes of God because He is an incomprehensible infinite God.

    3. Yet We Can Know God Truly – Even though we cannot know God exhaustively, that is, know all there is to know about God or about an attribute of God, we can know God truly. We can know God truly because all that Scripture tells us about God can be trusted as true.  

It is important to know that through Scripture, not only do we learn about the attributes of God, but we also come to know God himself.

23 Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; 24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. (Jer 9:23-24 NAS)

God is telling us here in His Word that the source of our joy and our sense of importance ought to come not from our own abilities or possessions, but from the fact that we know Him. According to Jesus, our eternal life hinges upon this reality.

3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. (Joh 17:3 NAS)

Thus, we do not have mere facts about God, but rather we know God unto salvation through the revelation of Jesus Christ. We know God truly as He has revealed himself to us.

(Source:  Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Zondervan. Grand Rapids. 2000. 1291 pp. $30.99) 

The New Testament Canon

III. The New Testament Canon

A.    The New Testament is comprised of the writings of the Christ’s Apostles as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.”  John 14:26

     "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you.”  John 16:13-14

B.   Those who held the office of Apostle in the early church claimed equality with the Old Testament prophets.  This authority allowed them to speak and write the very words of God.

1.  Peter encourages his readers to remember “the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.”  2 Peter 3:2

2.      To lie to the Apostles was equivalent to lying to the Holy Spirit and to God.

“But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself, with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he laid it at the apostles' feet.  But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’" Acts 5:1-4

C.     The New Testament itself affirms that it is Scripture.

1.      The Apostle Peter clearly affirms that Paul’s epistles are Scripture.

“. . . just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”  2 Peter 3:15-16

The word translated “Scripture” here is the Greek word graphe, a word that is used

fifty-one times in the New Testament and that refers to the Old Testament Scriptures in

every single instance.  Thus, the word used equates Old Testament writings and the

writings of Paul as Scripture.

2.      Paul also connects the New Testament and the Old Testament as Scripture.

            “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.  For the Scripture says, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages."1 Timothy 5:17-18

            The first reference Paul uses from Scripture is from Deuteronomy 25:4 while the second 

            is from Luke 10:7.  Thus, Paul is quoting Luke’s Gospel and recognizing it as Scripture.

D.    The Five Characteristics of Scripture

1.      The Authority of Scripture – By this we mean that all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.

a.     “All Scripture is inspired by God . . .” 2 Timothy 3:16

b.    “For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”  2 Peter 1:21

c.     “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet”  Matthew 1:22

d.    “If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment.”  1 Corinthians 14:37

e.       These verses, and many others, attribute the source of the Scriptures to God.  He spoke His very words through human agents who spoke and wrote God’s words down as God intended us to receive them.  Therefore, the Scripture is absolutely authoritative as God’s words to us collected as God purposed in the closed canon of Scripture.

2.      The Inerrancy of Scripture – By this we mean that Scripture in the original manuscripts does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact.

a.     This definition does not mean that the Bible tells us every fact there is to know about any one subject, but it affirms that what the Bible does say about any subject is true.

b. “Every word of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”  Proverbs 30:5

c.   Though sin may taint the words of every man who speaks, God may speak through the agency of men without any error whatsoever because He is God.

d.  "God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent;” Numbers 23:19

e.  The Bible can be inerrant and still speak in the ordinary language of everyday speech.

3.  The Clarity of Scripture – By this we mean that the Holy Spirit wrote the Old and New Testaments through men in such a way that they may be understood by ordinary believers.  Everything needed for our salvation and our Christian life and growth are very clearly set forth in Scripture.

a.   Anyone who studies the Bible must admit that some parts of it are easy to understand while other parts seem puzzling.  Faithful study brings clarity.

b.      “. . . just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.”  2 Peter 3:15-16

c.    The primary reason for misunderstanding Scripture is poor hermeneutical method. Without proper study technique (Observation, Interpretation, and Application), it is impossible to rightly interpret the Word of God.  

4.    The Necessity of Scripture – By this we mean that the Bible is necessary for knowing the Gospel, for maintaining spiritual life, and for knowing God’s will. 

a.  "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” Deuteronomy 29:29

b.  “How blessed are those whose way is blameless, Who walk in the law of the LORD.”  Psalm 119:1

c.    Scripture is not necessary to know that God exists, nor to know something of God’s character or moral laws.

d.  “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”  Romans 1:20

5.    The Sufficiency of Scripture – By this we mean that Scripture contains all the words of God intended His people to have at each stage of redemptive history, and that it now contains all the words of God we need for salvation, for trusting Him perfectly, and for obeying Him perfectly.

a.  This definition means that God considers His Word to be enough for us to live in holy obedience before Him.

b.   “and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;  so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”  2 Timothy 3:15-17

c.       The Sufficiency of Scripture should:

1.    encourage us to search out God’s Word to know what He says about every doctrine and area of life.

2.      caution us that we are to add nothing to nor take away from Scripture, and that no other writing is of equal value to the Word of God.

3.   declare to us that God does not require us to believe anything about Himself or His redemptive work that is not found in Scripture.

4.    demonstrate to us that no modern revelations from God are to be place on the same level as the authority of Scripture.

5.  remind us that our doctrinal and ethical teaching should emphasize what Scripture emphasizes and teaches.

(Source: Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Zondervan. Grand Rapids. 2000. 1291 pp. $30.99)

The Doctrine of the Word of God and the Old Testament Canon

I.  The Doctrine of the Word of God (Bibliology)

  A.    Definition:  The Canon of Scripture – The word “canon” means “measuring rod.”  In this context then the biblical canon is the complete list of books that belong in the Bible.

    1.      We must not underestimate the importance of this doctrine.  The Words of Scripture are the Words that nourish our spiritual lives.  Therefore, we can echo the words of Moses to the nation of Israel in reference to the Words of God’s law: 

 

“For it is no trifle for you, but it is your life, and thereby you shall live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess” Deuteronomy 32:47.

    2.  To add or subtract from the Word of God would either prevent God’s people from fully obeying Him, or would require of God’s people that which God has not commanded.  Therefore, the precise determination of the extent of the canon is of the utmost importance.

“You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it; that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”  Deuteronomy 4:2.

II. The Old Testament Canon

  A.  The earliest collection of words from God is the Ten Commandments.  

“When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.”  Exodus 31:18

“Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides; they were written on one side and the other.”  Exodus 32:15

  B.     Other Old Testament prophets also added to the canon as instructed by God.

     1.      Joshua

“And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God . . .” Joshua 24:26

    2.      Samuel

“Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the LORD . . .” 1 Samuel 10:25

    3.      Jehu

“Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first to last, behold, they are written in the annals of Jehu the son of Hanani, which is recorded in the Book of  the Kings of Israel.” 2 Chronicles 20:34

    4.      Jeremiah

"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book.”  Jeremiah 30:2

Many more Old Testament prophets were used by God to write His words to His people, and this list is by no means exhaustive.

  C.     The Close of the Old Testament Canon

    1.  The Old Testament canon continued to grow as God spoke through His prophets.  If we date Haggai to 520 B.C., Zechariah to 518 B.C. – with some material added about 480 B.C., and Malachi around 435 B.C., we know that this period coincided with the last books of the Old Testament:  Ezra, Nehemiah, and Ester.

    2.  Jesus and the New Testament authors quote the Old Testament Scriptures as divinely authoritative 295 times, but not once do they cite any statement from the Apocrypha, or any other writings, as having divine authority.  Thus, the New Testament writers agreed that the Old Testament canon, no more and no less, was to be taken as God’s very words.

  D.    What the Old Testament Canon is Not

    1.  The books that comprise the Apocrypha, a collection of Jewish historical books, have never been considered Scripture by the Jews.  The Roman Catholic Church includes the Apocrypha in its Bible.  The Apocrypha includes these non-canonical books:  1 and 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, The Rest of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch (including the Epistle of Jeremiah), the Song of the Three Holy Children, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, the Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 and 2 Maccabees. 

    2.  These books were not included in Hebrew Scripture, but were included in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

    3.  The Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible by Jerome included the Apocrypha, but Jerome himself stated that these books were not “books of the canon,” but merely “books of the church” that provided historical background on the Jewish people.

    4.  At the Council of Trent in 1546 the Roman Catholic Church officially adopted the Apocrypha as part of its Bible.  These books include teaching on prayers for the dead, and justification by faith plus works rather than by faith alone, and other teaching that contradicts Scripture.  In so doing, the RCC upholds that the tradition of the church has the same authority as the Bible.  This teaching was prevalent in the church until the Reformation.  This continues to be their belief today.

 

(Source: Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Zondervan. Grand Rapids. 2000. 1291 pp. $30.99)