1999 issue 3 - the perfections of god - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1999 Issue 3 - The Perfections of God - Counsel of Chalcedon

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What do the

Scriptures

make known

o f

God? The

Scriptures make

known

what

God is the persons

in the

Godhead

His de

crees, and the execution of

His

decrees.-

Larger

Cat

echism Q. 6

What

is God? God is a

Spirit in and o f Himself

infinite ill being glOl y,

blessedness

and

perfec

tion; all-sufficient

eternal

unchangeable

incompre

hensible

every

where

present almighty

know

ing

all

things most wise,

most

holy

most

just

believe

anything. The

Marxists learned

this

long

ago.

In regions

such

as

Central America and South

Africa, they began their

revolutions, not with

guns

and bullets,

but with the

pulpits, altering the

people's

understanding

of

God.

Their ideological

weapon

is

Liberation

Theology,

the

covert rede

fining of Christian terms

with Marxist content.

Our views of God will

shape our views of poli

tics,

human

nature,

family

II. THE SOURCE OF OUR

KNOWLEDGE OF

GOD:

THE HOLY BIBLE

One

of

the

basic prin

ciples of Christianity is

that

the God who

really

is

there has revealed Himself

in creation,

Psalm 19;in

the

Bible, II

Timothy

3:16;

and in Jesus Christ, He

brews 1:1-4.

n

the Bible

as

the

written

Word

and in

Christ, the

living

Word,

God has

revealed

what He

is like and what He de

sires of

us. In

the Bible,

we can obtain

a

true and

most

merciful and

gracious long-suffer

ing and abundant in

goodness and truth.

Larger

Catechism Q.7

The erfect ions

accurate view of

God,

because

the

Bible is God's verbal

description of His

own character and

will. f our under-

o f od

Rev oe Morecrafi: III

I THE VITAL

IMPORTANCE OF

WHAT WE BELIEVE

ABOUT

GOD

What difference

does

it

make

what we believe

about

God,

just

as

long

as

we believe

in

Him?

I t

makes all the difference in

the world Our under

standing of

God

is founda

tional

to

our

understand

ing

of everything and

anything else. The fear

of

the

Lord is the

be

ginning of

wisdom,

and

knowledge

of the Holy

One

is

understanding,

Proverbs

9:10.

f

we

are

mistaken in our views of

God,

we

will

be off-track

in our views of ourselves,

the Bible, life and

the

universe. Moreover, i f a

person can be dissuaded

from a true understanding

of God,

he

can be

led

to

life, art, agriculture,

law,

economics,

ecology,

theol

ogy, and everything else.

Therefore,

it is of vital

importance as

to

what we

believe

about

God. The

question

then

arises:

Where

can

we obtain a

true and

accurate

under

standing of the one, true

God

as

He really

is?

Where

has God revealed

His character and will

so

we

may

know Him? Ol;:>vi-

ously,

this

is

a question of

critical

importance

be

cause,

i f our

views of God

are

not in

accord

with

God's actual

being

and

character, with God's

views of Himself,

then

whatever we

believe

is

meaningless

for we believe

in an

empty, impotent,

mute idol,

a figment

of

our own imagination.

standing

of God is

out

of accord with the

Bible, then we are mis

taken in

our

understand

ing of God. We must,

then, readjust our thinking

according

to

the revealed

truths about God in the

Bible, because the God of

the

Bible

really is

there

and He

is

not silent. Ac

cording

to the

first

three

commandments of Exodus

20, God cares greatly what

we

think

about

Him and

how we understand Him.

He forbids us

with

the

threat

of

punishment,

i f

we think of

Him

or wor

ship Him in any

other way

than what He has

re

vealed. He

is

as He has

revealed Himself to be.

He is God

and

besides

Him

there

are no other

gods,

Isaiah

45:5.

Throughout

this

cen-

April/May,

1999 - THE COUNSEL of

Chalcedon

-

21


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tury, America has

been in

the process of changing

gods. This was also true

of Israel

in

Jeremiah's

days. He wrote: Has a

nation changed gods,

when they

were not

gods?

But My

people

have changed their

glory for that which

does

not

profit. Be

appal led, 0 heavens, at

this, and shudder,

be

very desolate , ' declares

the

Lord. For

My

people have committed

two evils: they have

forsaken

Me, the foun

tain of l iving waters, to

hew

for themselves

cis terns , broken

cis

terns,

that can hold no

water,

Jeremiah 2:9-13.

Jehovah

considered

this

idolatrous

crime

enor

mous, incredulous

and

unparalleled in history.

Israel changed

gods

And

they changed gods by:

1). Turning

from Jehovah

and worshiping

man-made

gods; 2). Trusting

in man

made

gods

and man-made

political

alliances

for

security, although no

idol

can protect

or provide

for

our deepest needs; and

3). Turning from

Jehovah's revelation of

His character and His will

for their

lives in

His law

to man-made laws. Be

cause

the source of

law

for

any

society is the god of

that

society, to change

sources

of law is to change

gods. However, when one

leaves Jehovah, the foun

tain of l iving

waters,

the source and sustenance

of life and prosperity, and

turns to false gods, those

gods, like dry,

broken

cisterns, will

always

fail

him.

God

takes

all idolatry

seriously In fact,

God

hates

idolatry

He de

stroys

all

idols

and

all

those

who worship

them,

unless they repent, be

cause

He will

not share

His

glory with another.

In

holy anger

Jehovah

destroyed Judah, Jeremiah

5:19, Egypt, Jeremiah

47:25, and Babylon,

Jer

emiah

51:47,

because their

understanding

of

God was

different from

God's

revelation of Himself and

they refused to submit to

that revelation. In I Kings

20:28,

we

read that God

allowed Israel

to

destroy

the Syrians simply because

of their faulty

doctrine

of

God--Then

a

man of

God came

near and

spoke

to

the

king

of

Israel

and

said, 'Thus

says

the

Lord,

Because

the

Syrians have

said,

The

Lord

is a god

of

the mountains,

but He

is

not

a

god

of

the

valleys' therefore I

will

give

all

this great mul

t i tude

into your hand,

and you shall

know

that I

am

the Lord. '

When

a

society changes

gods,

and

turns

from

the

living God in Christ to

an

idol,

that

society dies

spiritually, ethically, po

litically,

economically,

agriculturally,

and

in

every other way. The

Twentieth Century is

proof

of

that fact. The

22 - THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon -

April/May,

1999

past ninety years have

been the bloodiest era

in

the

history

of

the world.

During that

period in

which nation after nation

has turned

from

the

God

of

the Bible to idols, more

people

have

died,

as

a

result

of

the

anti-Chris

tian, humanistic revolution

away

from God

to idols,

than in all the rest of

history put together.

Since

the Bolshevik Revo

lution in the early part of

this century, over 150

million

people

have

died,

and

are

still dying, as

in

southern Africa, as a result

of the

spread

of idolatrous

Marxism, i e. collectivistic

humanism with

total

po

litical

power. In the

United

States, since

the

Roe v. Wade decision

of

the

Supreme Court

in

1973

legalizing abortion,

more

than 40 million babies

have been

brutally mur

dered in

abortion

with

the

full approval of the civil

government

and

of most

Americans.

t

does

matter

what

you

believe about God "There

is a way that seems right

to a man, but

the end

thereof

is the way of

death,"

Proverbs 14:12. In

Proverbs 8:36, God

says,

All

those who hate

Me

love death." Therefore,

more

than anything else, i f

America is to

survive

the

future, we must pray that

God

would

graciously

grant

to us a mighty dis

play

of

Himself

in

our

hearts and minds

so that

we will

confess

with Israel


3/4

of old: "Jehovah,

He

is

God Jehovah, He

is

God "

Our

constant

prayer must

be that of

Elijah: 0

Lord,

the

God

of Abraham, Isaac

and

Israel,

today,

let

i t be

known

tha t Thou art

God

in

Israel

(or

America) ....

Answer

me, LORD, answer

me, that this

people

may

know tha t

Thou,

LORD, art God,

and

tha t

Thou has

turned

their

heart

back

again,"

I

Kings 18:36-39.

The Bible is

a

book

about

God. t is

God's'

book

about

God-who

He

is,

what He

is

like,

what

His plans

are and

how

He

is

executing

those

plans,

what is on His

mind,

what

He

is

doing

in

this world,

and what His will

is

for

us. Or as our Larger

Catechism

says,

"The

Scriptures make

known

what

God is,

the persons

in the Godhead, the de

crees and the execution of

His

decrees."

When the

Bible speaks

of God, it is not talking

merely

about the word,

"God," or the idea,

"God." t

is

talking about

the

reality

of

the God who

really is there. t

is talk

ing

about Someone

who

actually

lives. On the

other hand, when

a

non

Christian man

speaks

of

God, he

is

not saying

the

same thing the

Bible is

saying. f the

non-Chris

tian bases

what

he be

lieves about God on

his

own

experience,

he is

saying,

"God

is what I

FEEL

him

to

be " f he

bases what he

believes

on

his own reason, he

is

saying, "God is what

I

THINK him to be " But,

in both

instances,

when

the unbeliever speaks of

God, he is really saying,

"Man " with

a

loud voice,

beca

use

his

god

is

only

an

extension of

himself,

a

figment of his imagination.

He creates his god in his

own image.

The

Christian

says

that the God Who is

there,

the Creator of the

universe, is

as

the Bible

reveals Him,

because

the

Bible

is His self-revela

tion.

The

Larger

Catechism

speaks of

God

as in nd

o

Himself infinite

in -

ING. Question

7.

When

we speak of

the

"Being" of

God

we

are

simply saying

that

God

IS.

"He

IS

in the

most absolute and ultimate

sense of existence. With

Him

there is no

becoming.

He

IS

necessarily and

eternally. He alone

IS

in

this way.

He

did not

begin

to be.

He

always

has been and

IS. His

existence

is of

Himself.

He

is

of

Himself

existent

and

of Himself sufficient.

All other

beings ultimately

have

their

existence as

the

result of

creation. They

have

become. Only

God

has

not

become,

but

has

always been.

This is what

He asserted

in

Exodus

3:14,

I

AM that

I

AM. t

is

from the verb

to be'

that

the

tetragram

(YHWH), [Yahweh],

is

derived.

Whenever this

name is used

of

God i t

refers to His eternal exist

ence.

There is no

more

ultimate

truth

about God

than this, God

IS.

God is

absolute,

ultimate, inde

pendent and unoriginated

Being.

The

Scripture

asserts the uniqueness of

His Being:

I am the

first

and

the last ; and beside

Me

there

is

none

else,

Isaiah 44:6.... When

we

speak

of the Being of

God,

therefore, we are

speaking

of

someone

who

is

unique

in

His

Being.

He

alone

is

self-contained and

self

sufficient."

-

Morton

Smith,

SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY,

Vol.

I,

pg.

125

I I I THE CREATOR

CREATURE

DISTINCTION

Basic

to Biblical

Chris

tianity

and

to

a proper

view

of

life

in this world

is the distinction

between

the

Creator and

His

cre

ation, between Uncreated

Reality, (God), and created

reality,

(the

universe in

cluding human beings).

This distinction preserves

the

major difference be

tween truth

and

error,

light and

darkness, Chris

tianity and all other reli

gions. "Christians

strive

to

see

everything in

light

of crea tion'

s

dependence

on God while

the

non

Christian tries to

deny

creation's dependence. As

strongly

as

it may be

denied by some

non-Chris

tians, in

one

way or an

other, every

person

who

has

not trusted in

Christ

April /May,

1999 -

THE COUNSEL of

Chalcedon - 23


4/4

for salvation fails

to

ac

count

for the

Creator

creature distinction and

somehow puts God

and

His creation in mutual

dependence

on

each other

and ascribes

to

creation a

degree

of independence.

With all the diversity

of

opinion

among non-Chris

tians, this is one uniting

factor: the Creator-crea

ture

distinction is de

nied."

-

Richard

1. Pratt,

Jr.,

EVERY THOUGHT

CAPTIVE, pgs.

12-13.

After

pointing

out the

absolute

dependence of

all

angels

and

men

upon

God,

James H. Thornwell

writes:

"But how

differ

ent with God He leans

upon nothing. He lives no

borrowed

life. He

asks no

leave

to be. He

is

because

He

is.

His

throne is stable

as

eternity.

- Strike

out

all the creatures,

and

He

still

is ...glorious,

holy,

majestic

and

blessed

as

when the morning stars

sang

together and

the

sons

of

God shouted for joy.

The

universe has

added

nothing

to

His bliss and

can subtract nothing from

His

fullness." - THE COL

LECTED WRITINGS OF

JAMES HENLEY

THORNWELL, Vol. I p.

203.

The distance between

God and man is

infinite.

God

made man from dust,

and

He

made dust from

nothing "He who is

conscious

of his

insignifi

cance before his

Maker,

and in comparison with his

Maker, is thereby exalted

to

a height that can

be

reached in no other way.

We see

this

in the act

of

worship. When we

adore

the

infinite Jehovah, and

give

Him the glory

that

is

due unto

His

name,

our

whole mood

and

temper is

lowly.

And we are in our

right place. We ought to

lie low at the footstool of

the Eternal. And having

done

this; having

wor

shipped the King eternal,

immortal and

invisible; we

are

exalted in

the very

act.

Our feeble, finite, created

nature

is never

clothed

with

such

dignity,

as when

we are showing reverence

to

our

Sovereign." - source

unknown.

Because God

is there,

He must

always

be ac

knowledged as being

there, or we will think and

act as fools; for all men

know

that He is there,

Romans 1:18f. He must

always be

taken into

ac

count in

everything.

He

is

the

greatest and

loftiest

Being

Who

can fill our

thoughts

and

affections;

therefore,

He should

be in

all

of them.

But, what is

this Creator like? What

are we

to

believe about

Him?

What

has

He

told

us

about Himself

in the

Bible?

Our

Larger

Cat

echism,

reflecting

the

self

revelation of God in the

Bible

answers

these

ques

tions:

"God is a Spirit, in

and of Himself, infinite in

being,

glory, blessedness,

and

perfection, all-suffi

cient,

eternal, unchange

able, incomprehensible,

4

- THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon - April/May 1999

every where present,

almighty, knowing

all

things,

most

wise, most

holy,

most just, most

mer

ciful

and gracious, long

suffering,

and

abundant

in

goodness and truth."

But

as we

study

this

confession

of faith

in

God

we

must keep in mind that

"it

is

impossible for any

one

to

give a

perfect de

scription of

God; since He

is incomprehensible. No

words can fully

express,

or set forth, His perfec

tions.

- But though

God

cannot be perfectly de

scribed,

yet

there

is some

thing

of Him

which we

may know, and ought to

make

the

matter

of

our

study

and diligent

inquir

ies.

When His glory is set

forth

in

Scripture,

we are

not

to look upon

the

ex

pressions made use of, as

words without any

ideas

affixed

to

them...

-

When

we

thus order

our

thoughts concerning

the

great God,

though we are

far from comprehending

His

infinite

perfections,

yet

our

conceptions are

not to be concluded

erro

neous, when directed by

His Word." - Thomas

Ridgeley, COMMENTARY

ON

THE LARGER CAT

ECHISM,

Vol. I

pg.

79f.

1999 issue 3 - the perfections of god - counsel of chalcedon

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