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)