The Fundamentals of Our Faith, What We Believe

The Fundamentals of Our Faith; What We Believe Sermon Series “We Believe in the Holy Spirit” Miscellaneous Verses

The Fundamentals of Our Faith;

What We Believe Sermon Series

“We Believe in the Holy Spirit”

Miscellaneous Verses

Introduction

Gloves are an amazing thing. They can pick things up. Then, I drop it on a hymn book or Bible and tell it to pick up the book. When it doesn’t move, I apologize for its failure and assure them that I’ve seen it pick up books before. I suggest it might be too heavy, so I move to a smaller book. When it still doesn’t work, I move to a piece of paper.

I need to put the glove on my hand. I then suggest that I neglected something important. A glove can’t pick anything up without a hand inside it. We can’t do anything significant unless the Holy Spirit is inside us. Just as the glove can do things with my hand inside it that it cannot do by itself, so we need the Holy Spirit.

And yet, so many believers try: to deal with their sin problems without calling upon the Holy Spirit; to handle their personal problems without getting guidance from the Holy Spirit; and to serve God without getting power from the Holy Spirit. We are going to look at the vital role that the Holy Spirit plays in the believer’s life, and why we should include Him in our daily walk with the Lord.

Prayer

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

The Holy Spirit helped create the universe and man in Genesis 1:2 “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” and Job said, “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.”

The Spirit equipped individuals for service. He gave power to judges and warriors as in Judges 14:6 “Then the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him [Sampson], and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat.” “The Spirit came upon people for a particular purpose in this manner, but they did not necessarily transform their moral character unless they called out for it.”[1]

He gave wisdom and skill for particular jobs, including those of a nonspiritual nature. Bezaleel was filled with the Spirit to work gold, silver, and bronze for the tabernacle (Ex. 31:2-5).

The HS inspired the prophets. When they spoke they would often say, “This is what the Lord says.” They would also attribute their message to the Spirit such as Ezekiel 2:2 “And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, “Son of man, . . .”

The HS moved people toward moral living. David committed adultery and murder and he repented and pleaded with God to create a new heart within him. David pleaded with God not to remove His Spirit from him, Psalm 143:10; “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!” and 139:23-24 “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!”

The Spirit foretold the coming of the Messiah. “The references that anticipate Jesus are of two kinds. There are those that prophesied a direct indwelling of the Spirit in one messianic figure. Other prophecies contained a more general message, telling about the new covenant people of God, with the Spirit given to all people of all classes.”[2]

Scripture suggests the HS caused men to grow more and more conscious of their inner need for God’s help if they were to serve the Lord and be morally pure. In the latter parts of the OT, some scholars detect an awareness, on the part of believers, that the human government of Israel would never succeed in achieving the purpose of Jehovah, and that in time, the Spirit would be given to all God’s people, not only to the people of Israel.[3]

The Holy Spirit’s Work in the Life of the Believer

The gift of the Holy Spirit was increasingly unfolded in Jesus’ lifetime on earth. He was conceived by the HS and born of Him (Luke 1:35). Jesus was led by the Spirit (Matthew 4:1). He was anointed for His ministry by the Spirit in a special way at His baptism (Matt. 3:13-17). He offered Himself as a sacrifice through the Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), and He was raised from the dead by the power of the Spirit (Romans 1:4). He gave commandments to the apostles, and through them to the church, by the Spirit (Acts 1:2).

Then, following His death and resurrection, Jesus gave His disciples His last instructions in Acts 1:4-5, “And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

At Pentecost approximately 120 were gathered in Jerusalem for prayer, suddenly a violent wind came from heaven as did tongues of fire. Acts 2:1-14 “When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” This event marked the time when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in any person that places their faith in Christ – immediately at the moment of salvation.

Of the three persons of the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – the Holy Spirit is vitally and intimately involved in our initial salvation, and the ongoing development as a Christian. The Holy Spirit is as much a person as God the Father and God the Son. He is not an impersonal “it” or ghost.[4]

Jesus has completed what was required to accomplish salvation for humanity – through His death, burial, and resurrection. He ascended into heaven, and His present ministry is praying for us. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to apply salvation to believers:

Conviction: causing us to see sin and to desire righteousness, leading us to receive Christ as our Savior (John 16:8). Without the unveiling of sin by the HS, we would not believe we are really sinning. Whenever a person comes to a sense of his own sinfulness, whether by the preached word, written, or personally spoken word, the Spirit of God has been at work.

Regeneration: causing our old, dead spirit to be born again, so that we are now spiritually alive (Titus 3:5)

Indwelling: coming to live within us to help us live out our new life (1 Cor. 6:19-20). The Spirit’s work is to reveal what the holiness of God desires for us. Through Jesus’ death He gives us His righteousness; He makes us sensitive to anything that goes against God’s revealed righteousness.

Baptism: placing us, spiritually, in the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13).

Sealing: marking us as God’s own possession and guaranteeing our eternal salvation (Eph. 1:13-14).[5]

The Holy Spirit is called, in the New Testament, our paraklete. This is a combination of two words, para – beside, alongside, and kaleo – to call, invite, or summons. Therefore, the meaning is “to call or summon someone to come to your side to help.”[6]

As our paraklete, the Holy Spirit does a number of things. He:

- Helps us have inner assurance of salvation (Rom. 8:16)
- Helps us understand the Bible (1 Cor. 2:9-10, 13)
- Helps us understand God’s ways (Eph. 1:17-18)
- Helps us in our prayers (Romans 8:26-27)
- Helps our strength in faith and obedience (Eph. 3:16-19)
- Helps guide us (Romans 8:14).[7]

Our Relationship With The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit lives within the Christian as described as 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” Therefore, the HS is not only a person (with emotions, feelings, an expressed will, etc.), He is deity.

He is eternal, (Heb. 9:14), omnipresent (Psalm 139:7), He is the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2) qnd the “Spirit of truth” (John 16:13). The Holy Spirit may be grieved by our actions (Eph. 4:30) and sinned against by unforgivable blasphemy (Mark 3:29).

In Ephesians 5:18 the apostle Paul says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, . . .” This is a command, and the language points to an ongoing action to be taken (not just a one time act). “debauchery” – expresses the idea of an abandoned, debauched life.”[8] The Christian life should be an ongoing process of being filled by the Holy Spirit.

In the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15) the son wasted the inheritance given to him by his father. An while he was wanting the food he was feeding to the pigs he was employed to feed, “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!” The sons thoughts were finally cleared of greed, alcohol, lust, entitlement – all gone, all that remained was a desire to go home.

Paul is saying take whatever that hidden inward desire is that a person may be seeking in alcohol, find that instead in God, allow the Spirit to fill you. In the prodigal son story we see the father make a statement twice, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’”

The Holy Spirit guides believers away from death and into life. He is a guide, not a tyrant – you have the choice to be filled or not. He leads us away from a debauched (or abandoned) life to a purposeful and full life.

Galatians 5:16-18 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

In Galatians 5 Paul used four distinct verbs to designate the Spirit-controlled life of the believer, all of which are roughly equivalent in meaning: to walk in the Spirit (v. 16), to be led by the Spirit (v. 18), to live by the Spirit (v. 25a), and to keep in step with the Spirit (v. 25b).”[9] They must continue to walk with God as they did when they received Christ.

“In this verse the emphasis is on the spiritual inability in which man lives, if he has only the law. He is defenseless against the flesh.”[10] In order to overcome the flesh, we should be led by the Holy Spirit.

Instead of giving over to our flesh which impairs our ability to do wise things, clouds our thoughts, and pulls us away from holy living – the Spirit will lead us toward a life pleasing to the Lord.

Spiritual Gifts

Paul describes the church as the body of Christ. All believers are joined into one body, stressing its unity, even as the physical body works as one. In this context Christians are given spiritual gifts.

The Holy Spirit gives believers spiritual gifts – this is a God-given ability for ministry to others, for the good of the church body as a whole. Each believer in Christ has received at least one spiritual gift. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”[11]

Spiritual gifts can be broken down into three major categories. First, there are “office” gifts which are given to those who serve the church at large in a specific capacity; apostle, prophet, evangelist, or pastor/teacher (Eph. 4:11-12).

The second category of spiritual gifts are “service” gifts, which are non-miraculous gifts that correspond to ministries that all of us should do, but some individuals are gifted for greater impact in those areas.

The third category are the “special” gifts, which are miraculous or supernatural gifts that appear to be given for the purpose not only of meeting a need of the moment but also for validating the message of Christianity to those who have not previously received the message (1 Cor. 12:4-11).

Spiritual Fruit

When the Spirit does His work in the believer there will be change and evidence of His presence in their lives – Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

_______________________________

[1] Little, 86.

[2] Little, 87.

[3] Little, 87.

[4] Paul E. Little, Know What You Believe, A Practical Discussion of the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith (Colorado Springs, Colorado; Cook Publications, 1999) 83.

[5] Max Anders, New Christian’s Handbook, Everything New Believers Need to Know (Nashville, Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999) 58.

[6] Anders, 59.

[7] Ibid.

[8] W. Robertson Nicoll, The Expositor’s Greek Testament, Volume III (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967) 363.

[9] Timothy George, The New American Commentary, Galatians (Nashville, Tennessee; Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1994) 386.

[10] Herman N. Ridderbos, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia (Grand Rapids, Michigan; WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1984) 204.

[11] 1 Corinthians 12:11

The Fundamentals of Our Faith; What We Believe Sermon Series “We Believe in Jesus” Miscellaneous Verses

The Fundamentals of Our Faith;

What We Believe Sermon Series

“We Believe in Jesus”

Miscellaneous Verses

Introduction

We must continue to affirm the uniqueness and finality of Jesus Christ. For he is unique in his incarnation (the one and only God-man), unique in his atonement (only he has died for the sins of the world), and unique in his resurrection (only he has conquered death). And since in no other person but Jesus of Nazareth did God first become human (in his birth), then bear our sins (in his death), and then triumph over death (in his resurrection), he is uniquely competent to save sinners. Nobody else possesses his qualifications.

So we may talk about Alexander the Great, Charles the Great and Napoleon the Great, but not Jesus the Great. He is not the Great—he is the Only. There is nobody like him. He has no rival and no successor.[1]

Prayer

Fulfilled Prophecies

“Jesus is the second member of the trinity, and is described to us as the Son of God, who existed before the creation of the world, participated in creation, and became a human (Jesus of Nazareth), was given birth by a virgin, coming to earth to do the will of God the Father. He lived without sin, died for our sins, was bodily resurrected, ascended into heaven and will come again someday to judge sin and establish permanent righteousness on earth.”[2]

1 Corinthians 15:1-5 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.”

This passage says, “according to the Scriptures” – there is prophecy after prophecy that predicted Jesus’ arrival, and with very specific detail show Him to have fulfilled them. Some biblical scholars hold that there are close to 300 prophecies of the Messiah in the Bible. In we pull only eight and “The prospect that anyone would satisfy those eight prophecies was just 1 in 10¹⁷. In Science Speaks, he described it like this:

“Let us try to visualize this chance. If you mark one of ten tickets, and place all of the tickets in a hat, and thoroughly stir them, and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10¹⁷silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state.

“Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom.”

The God-Man

As God in eternity, He existed before taking on human flesh and becoming human, yet He did not give up any of His divinity – yet he took on being human completely. He was fully God and fully man at the same time.[3] One God, three persons.

In Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

Remember last week we said that God is immutable (unchanging) – So Jesus as God does not change. Jesus did not cease to be God when he took on “the form of a servant,” so he was fully human (he grew tired, slept, was thirsty and hungry, expressed emotions, etc.) yet fully God at the same time.

The theological term we use here is kenosis or “emptied himself,” so this involves a voluntary nonuse of his divinity – Nonuse does not mean subtraction. For example, there are things that as the God-Man Jesus chose not to know (when He was coming back, parousia).

Also, there is apart of his kenosis that involves covering Jesus’ preincarnate glory. If we go to the transfiguration of Jesus in Mark 9:2-8 “And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.

But while fully God, Jesus was also fully man. “If Jesus had not been a man, he could not have died in our place and paid the penalty that was due to us.”[4] Hebrews 2:16-17 says, “For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest pin the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

Propitiation; “the sacrifice that is an acceptable substitute for us.” The root meaning of this word is “to make the face of someone sweet or pleasant,”[5] There has been an offense, what then is required to make things right again. We have offended God due to our sin, what must be done to propitiate the relationship? Justice demands death, the penalty for our sin is death. “Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect” Jesus had to be fully man, so that He could settle the offense of sin against God.

The Virgin Birth

Jesus became human in a very special way. His birth was a result of a miraculous conception. “In the womb of the virgin Mary, Jesus was supernaturally conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Luke 1:35 tells us what happened, “And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” Jesus did not have an earthly biological father, Mary conceived as a virgin.

Why is the virgin birth important?

1) “It shows that salvation ultimately must come from the Lord.”[6] Salvation will never have come from human self-effort, God had to step in and do something.

2) “It makes possible Christ’s true humanity without inherited sin.” Everyone inherits a corrupted sin nature from Adam, but because Jesus did not have a human father that was somehow interrupted. What About Mary’s inherited sin nature? Luke 1:35 “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” In some miraculous way, the Holy Spirit kept the sin nature from passing on the Jesus.

3) “The virgin birth made possible the uniting of full deity and full humanity in one person. This was the means God used to send his Son (John 3:16; Galatians 4:4) into the world as a man.”[7]

Savior of the World

Jesus lived a sinless life, “He had to be sinless or else His death on our behalf would have been worthless. Since ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23), meaning eternal spiritual and physical death, if Jesus had sinned He would Himself have suffered eternal separation and physical death. His death on the cross, then, could have done nothing for us. But because He was sinless, He did not deserve to die; and because He was God, His death could count for ours.”[8]

“Adam served as our representative in the Garden of Eden, and through his disobedience God counted us guilty as well. In a similar way, Jesus was our representative and obeyed for us where Adam had disobeyed and failed.”[9]

There is a parallel between Jesus’ temptation (Luke 4:1-13) and the time of testing for Adam and Eve in the garden (Gen. 2:15-3:7). Paul also discusses this parallel between Adam and Christ in Romans 5:18-19 “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for fall men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” This is why Paul calls Jesus the “last Adam.” There are no other Saviors coming, He is the ultimate and final sacrifice.

Humanity is separated from God because of sin, and unless one believes in Jesus, committing your life to Him, he or she will be separated from God forever. John 1:1, 12 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, the gave the right to become children of God,”

His Teachings Were Astonishing

Jesus taught us, that nothing is more important than your soul, and what you do with it. Matthew 16:26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?” Our greatest need is to do something about our sin – we need to be saved. Through Jesus we see that God is willing, because of His love for us, to give His one and only Son to be the payment that is required for our sin.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus came to this reality (remember God is transcendent) and suffered as a man and died, so that His creation may be rid of sin.

Before we move on from Jesus’ teaching, I think it is helpful to look at a quote from C.S. Lewis,

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”[10]

Jesus claimed deity for Himself in a way quite clear to His listeners. He said on one occasion, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). His decisive expression of deity led to his crucifixion” John 19:7 “The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”[11]

The high priest expressly asked Jesus in Matthew 26:63-65 “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need?” In His claiming to be the Son of God, he said he had the authority to forgive sin, that He would come in future judgment, and that He had the authority to raise the dad.

His Actions Were Miraculous

To prove He was who He said He was, he did miracles. “Jesus performed miracles not to amaze or entertain people. He healed people out of a sense of compassion. He wept before raising Lazarus from the dead. Also, He performed miracles in order to help people believe what He was saying. For example, He claimed to be the light of the world, and then gave sight to a blind man. He claimed to be the bread of life, and He fed five thousand people with a few loaves. He claimed to the resurrection and the life, and He raised Lazarus from the dead.”[12]

“Jesus demonstrated for all to see and hear the attributes which belong to God alone. He claimed omnipotence (all power) with the words, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). During His life He demonstrated power over nature by stilling the stormy waves (Mark 4:39) and turning water into wine (John 2:7-11).”[13]

His Continued Ministry For Humanity

When Jesus ascended into heaven He sat down at the right hand of the Father, indicating that His earthly task was completed successfully. Now, He intercedes for us in prayer. Romans 8:34 “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

Also, Romans 8:24 says, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Do You Know This Jesus Today? Have you accepted His gift of His life as a substitute for your sin – His sinless life for yours? He wants you to give your life to him today – won’t you do it.

______________________________

[2] Max Anders, New Christian’s Handbook, Everything New Believers Need to Know (Nashville, Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999) 24.

[3] Shortly after Jesus’ death some claimed that Jesus did not truly have a human body; He only seemed human. That was rejected at the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451. (Anders, 25)

[4] Grudem, 236.

[5] George Arthur Buttrick, Dictionary Editor, The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, An Illustrated Encyclopedia (Nashville, Tennessee; Abingdon Press, 1962) 920.

[6] Wayne Grudem, Bible Doctrine, Essential Teachings of the Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1999) 230.

[7] Grudem, 230.

[8] Anders, 28.

[9] Grudem, 235.

[10] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/6979-i-am-trying-here-to-prevent-anyone-saying-the-really

[11] Paul Little, Know What You Believe, A Practical Discussion of the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith (Colorado Springs, Colorado; Cook Communications, 1999) 42.

[12] Anders, 42.

[13] Little, 43.

The Fundamentals of Our Faith; What We Believe Sermon Series “We Believe in God” Miscellaneous Verses

The Fundamentals of Our Faith;

What We Believe Sermon Series

“We Believe in God”

Miscellaneous Verses

At the conclusion of our worship service today I am going to stick around in the sanctuary for about 10-15 minutes to answer any questions that you may have regarding the topic of God and “what we believe” on that subject.

Introduction

Why have a sermon series on beliefs and doctrine? Because the church is united or divided over what it believes. Unity promotes love among a church, and it is much easier to understand the mission and direction of the church when there is unity behind beliefs.

There are some beliefs that we should part ways over, and there are some doctrines that while important are not worth leaving fellowship over. Not all doctrine is the same and of the same importance, so where do we draw the line on when to leave a denomination, or a church, or is this the right church for me to join? Your first question should not be about a children’s or student ministry, but “what does this church hold to as being doctrine?”

Gavin Ortland in his book, Finding the Right Hills to Die On gives four major categories that I think will be helpful for us as we negotiate through the various Christian beliefs over the next few weeks:

First-rank doctrines are essential to the gospel itself. An example would be, the Trinity.
Second-rank doctrines are urgent for the health and practice of the church such that they frequently cause Christians to separate at the level of local church, denomination, and/or ministry. An example would be mode of baptism.
Third-rank doctrines are important to Christian theology, but not enough to justify separation or division among Christians. An example would be the millennium.
Fourth-rank doctrines are unimportant to our gospel witness and ministry collaboration.[1] An example would be, how many angels are there?

So we, are going to cover doctrines that are mainly at the first-rank level, and some second rank-level.

Our topic today is God, next week is Jesus. The only way to accurately understand anything about God is for Him to reveal Himself to us. God has revealed Himself to us in two ways; His Word and in Nature (which includes our conscience). Romans 1:20 “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

Prayer

How Do We Know God Exists?[2]

First, the Bible assumes God’s existence and therefore does not seek to prove His existence. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created . . .” But, we can briefly cover some arguments”

Universal Religion. Everywhere you go on the planet, throughout human history, mankind has worshiped something and created a belief system. There is a instinctive recognition that something is bigger than they are. However, for mankind to get the religion right, God has to step in and reveal some things about Himself.

Cosmological Argument. Hebrews 3:4 “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.” Everything has an origin, a beginning, so does the universe and all of creation. There must be an original source.

Teleological Argument. “order and useful arrangement in a system imply intelligence and purpose in the organizing cause.” Psalm 19:1 “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above1 proclaims his handiwork.” If one finds a gold pocket watch in the forest, they assume that there is a maker of the watch.

What Is God Like?

We are going to break down the characteristics of God into two categories: those which He shares with humanity, and those which He does not share with humanity.

Ways We Are Like God[3]

God is Holy – the word holy means set apart from sin to righteousness. It is God’s righteous nature that defines sin. God does not sin, therefore anything like God is not sin. He does not live up to a standard, He is the standard of right and wrong, sin and righteousness.

We have the ability to be like God in the way in which we choose to live our lives, but that holy living is only possible through our relationship with Christ. 1 Peter 1:16 “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

God is Loving – God’s love is displayed in all His works from the beginning of the Old Testament to the end of the New Testament. The New Testament uses three different words for love. One is a brotherly love, one is a romantic love, and the word for love used to describe God is agape.

An agape love, “is the exercise of one’s will for the good of another. God has committed his will for the good of humanity.”[4] 1 John 4:8 “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” God is love was ultimately expressed and personified in the life of Jesus, and especially in his three year ministry.

God is Just – Justice is when we apply consequences to a person’s actions according to a fixed standard, without regard to favoritism, or any other intervening thing. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Since all have sinned the wages of sin is death, it is justice for people to be judged because they have sinned.

God is Merciful – this is a characteristic of God that guides Him to provide a way of escape when we deserve judgement. We deserve to die, but God sent Jesus to earth to die for us. God’s justice and His mercy combine to provide a way to be saved from the consequences of our sin.

Titus 3:5-7 “he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

God is Good – God’s goodness means that, in the end, all will be well, even though some things between now and then may be difficult. Deuteronomy 8:16 “who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.” When we understand God infinitely more intelligent and powerful than us – it would be terrifying if He were evil, or corrupt. Imagine spending eternity with God if he were not good.

God is Spirit – God has revealed Himself to humanity as being a person, with personality, emotions, etc. John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Even though we cannot see God the Father, the part of us that is spirit can communicate with His spirit.

Ways We Are Not Like God

God is Eternal – Timeless, God never had a beginning, and will never have end. He has always existed. Psalm 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”

God is Immutable – God is unchanging; He has and will never change. He can never be wiser, more holy, more just, more merciful, more truthful – not less. His paths and purposes do not change. James wrote He is, “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17).

Malachi 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change;” Often times it feels like God may be for us in a moment, and then against us in another. But remember, God does not change, and it is often we who have changed in our relationship with God.

In the book of Jonah, The Bible speaks of God “changing His mind.” God was aware of the city’s sin and sent a prophet to tell the city of Ninevah that they needed to turn from their sins or they were going to be destroyed. God saw how they repented, and “He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened (Jonah 3:10). It was not God who changed, the people repented.

Some people wrongly suggest that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and anger, while the New Testament portrays God in Christ as love and gentleness. The God of the OT repeatedly had mercy on the Israelites and saved them from their own perversions.

This same God in Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the people killed the prophets and would not turn to the Lord (Matt. 23:37). Jesus taught often about heaven, hell, and eternal judgement – God’s justice and love are knit together throughout the entire Bible.

God is Transcendent yet Immanent – God is above and separate from the rest of creation. He is self-existing, he needs nothing. He has life in himself, and is the source of all life. He created gravity, but it does not affect Him – he is above creation and it’s laws. While He does not choose to alter then very often, He can if He desires (i.e. miracles).

While God is separate from creation, He is still close to it. We see again and again in the Bible where God desires to have a relationship with humanity. Isa. 57:15 “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”

But he is not so close to creation, that He is in it (pantheism) or indistinguishable from the universe. He has also revealed Himself to us as a loving Father, and we are His precious children. Therefore, communication is also possible, and we are told that God desires to talk with His children.

Each of the three characteristics begins with the word “omni,” meaning unlimited.

God is Omnipresent – He is everywhere at the same time. There is no where a person can go to escape Him, but also, no matter where you go, he is there with you. Psalm 139:7-10 “Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.”

God is Omniscient – God knows everything, both actual and possible.

God is Omnipotent – all powerful. God can do anything He chooses to do. Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” The omnipotence of God has self-imposed intrinsic limitations. He is limited by His moral character. So, while nothing is impossible with God, Hebrews 6:18 tells us that “it is impossible for God to lie.”

His omnipotence applies to inherent possibilities, not inherent impossibilities. If someone were to ask, “Is it possible for God to make anything too heavy for Himself to lift? If not, how can we say He is omnipotent?”

From God’s omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience – He created what we see and understand as all that exists. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” We are not told how He did it, only that the creation that we experience is from Him.

Theologians use the term ex nihilo, based on two words; ex, out of, and nihilo, nothing – God created all that exists from nothing. It did not exist, and then it existed as a result of God desiring it to be. From creation itself, we can see that as a Creator, God has immense intelligence, and unimaginable power. We cannot even grasp the size of the cosmos, let alone the specifics of how it came to be, or fully understand how it works.

We can also see, based on creation, that God is capable of holding it all together. From the smallest particle, to whole galaxies we are dependent on His grace and benevolence.

God is Triune – The word trinity does not appear in the Bible, but when we look at the Bible in its entirety this fact is inescapable. At Jesus’ baptism we see all three members of the trinity, Mark 1:10 “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

The Son of God appearing as the Savior of the world, the Father sends His Son, and the Holy Spirit guiding people to respond to Jesus as the Savior – all three present and active. God is one in his essential being, but his divine essence exists in three persons.

Conclusion

Why should we hold to and defend a proper doctrine of God (the first and second rank doctrines?) Because without them the gospel is either vulnerable or incomplete. Without a sound and accurate doctrine, we don’t understand our need for salvation. nor do we have a means of salvation.

Our theology and biblical doctrine also act as a filter that catches false teachings, anti-biblical worldviews, so if he are not rooted in these things, Ephesians 4:14 “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” Without a solid understanding of what the Bible teaches, we are exposed to every false teaching that the world throws at us.

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[1] Gavin Ortlund, Finding the Right Hills to Die On, The Case for Theological Triage (Wheaton, Illinois; Crossway Publishing, 2020) 19.

[2] Henry Clarence Thiessen, Lectures In Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1979) 27.

[3] Max Anders, New Christian’s Handbook, Everything New Believers Need to Know (Nashville, Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999) 1.

[4] Paul E. Little, Know What You Believe, A Practical Discussion of the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith (Colorado Springs, Colorado; Cook Comminications, 1999) 25.