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 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)

Theories of Inspiration

Theories of Inspiration (Bibliology)

1.  Definition:  Inspiration means that the Holy Spirit influenced the writers of Scripture in such a way that rendered their writings an accurate record of the revelation of God as He intended.

 

        a.  The Intuition Theory – makes inspiration largely a high degree of insight by the writers of Scripture.  Thus, the inspiration of Scripture is almost like an artistic ability possessed by the writer.  This view is largely held by left-wing liberalism.

        b.  The Illumination Theory – maintains that there is an influence of the Holy Spirit upon the writers of Scripture, but involves only a heightening of their normal ability.  There is no special revelation of truth or guidance in what is written, but rather an increased sensitivity to discover truth.

        c.  The Dynamic Theory – emphasizes a combination of divine and human influences upon the process of inspiration and the writing of the Bible.  The Spirit of God works by directing the writer to the thoughts or concepts and allowing the writer’s own distinctive personality to come into play in the choice of words and expressions.

        d.  The Verbal Plenary Theory – insists that the Holy Spirit’s influence extends beyond the direction of thoughts to the selection of words used to convey the message.  The work of the Holy Spirit is so intense that each word is the exact word that God wanted used at that point to express the message while still allowing the distinctives of the individual writers to come through in the Scripture.  This view represents a conservative orthodoxy.

        e.  The Dictation Theory – teaches that God actually dictated the Bible to the writers with no regard to the writers’ individual style or personality.

 

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

The Doctrine of the Word of God

The Doctrine of the Word of God (Bibliology)

A.     Definition:  “The Word of God” is a phrase used in Scripture to denote several different meanings.  It is important for us to distinguish between these biblical uses as we begin our study of this doctrine.

     1.      The Word of God as a Person:  Jesus Christ

          a.       The Apostle John sees the risen Lord Jesus in Heaven and says, “He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.”  Revelation 19:13, NASB.

          b.      Similarly, the opening of John’s Gospel we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  John 1:1, NASB.  It is clear that John is speaking of Jesus Christ because in John 1:14 the apostle states, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”

          c.       While this usage of calling Jesus “the Word” is not common in Scripture, it does indicate that among the members of the Trinity, it is God the Son Who in His Person and His Word has the role of communicating the character of God to man.

     2.      The Word of God as Speech by God Through Personal Address

          a.       Examples of God speaking directly to people on earth are found in Scripture.

          b.      God’s instruction to Adam demonstrates this personal address: 

“The LORD God commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’"  Genesis 2:16-17

          c.       At the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, God spoke from Heaven:

“And behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.’"  Matthew 3:17

     3.      The Word of God as Speech by God Through Human Lips

          a.       Frequently in Scripture, God raises up prophets through whom He speaks.  Although these are human words, spoken by people in their familiar languages, the absolute authority of these words, and their truthfulness, is in no way diminished.  Their words are God’s Words.

          b.      Moses speaking as God’s prophet is a perfect example of God speaking through human lips.

“I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.  It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.”  Deuteronomy 18:18-20

          c.       God made a similar statement to the prophet Jeremiah.

“Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”  Jeremiah 1:9

          d.      Thus, God’s words spoken through human lips were to be considered just as authoritative as if it were given through personal address.

     4.      The Word of God as Written Record

          a.       In addition to these other forms of God’s Word, we also find in Scripture several instances in which God’s Words were put in written form.

          b.      We find an example of this in the giving of the ten commandments to Moses:

“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

          c.       Moses was also used later by God to write His holy law:

“It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, that Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, ‘Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.’”  Deuteronomy 31:24-26

          d.      It should be noted that these words are still considered to be God’s Word even though they were written down mostly by men and in normal, human language.  They are authoritative and absolutely true.  To disobey these words is to disobey God Himself.

     5.      The Word of God as Scripture.

          a.       Our study will focus upon the Bible because it is the only form of God’s Word that is available to us for consistent examination. 

          b.      The other forms of God’s Word are not suitable for us to study because . . .

 1.      We cannot hear God’s words of decree and thus cannot study them directly.

             2.      We cannot speak with the Word made flesh in His bodily form because He, Jesus, has ascended to Heaven. 

             3.      God’s words of personal address are uncommon even in Scripture.

             4.      God’s words spoken through human lips ceased to be given when the New Testament canon was completed so this form is also insufficient as a direction for study.

          c.       Therefore, only the Bible is sufficient and profitable to withstand such rigorous, systematic, and academic scrutiny.

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!  But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1-2
 
"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.”  Joshua 1:8

 

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;” 2 Timothy 3:16

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

Important Terms from this section: Bibliology, Written Record, Personal Address, Word of God, Decree

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