THE DOCTRINE OF GOD 1252022 Doctrine of God

THE DOCTRINE OF GOD 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 1

THE COVENANT GOD 1/25/2022 Creation Doctrine of God 2

THE COVENANT GOD • Transcendent • Distant • Creator-creature Distinction • Man is image of GOD • In Adam, covenant keeper becomes covenant breaker 1/25/2022 • Personal • Immanent • Creator-creature Relationship • Man is IMAGE of God • In Christ, the covenant breaker becomes again the covenant keeper Doctrine of God 3

THE COVENANT GOD and the Non-Christian Dilemma Either: Divinize Man The inevitability Of One Circle Thinking Or: Humanize God 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 4

THEISTIC PROOFS Block-House Methodology GOD Universal Consent Moral Cosmological Teleological 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God Ontological 5

THEISTIC PROOFS Moral Universal Consent Ontological Teleological A REFORMED APPROACH Cosmological PROOFS ARE CONFIRMATORY AUTHORITY OF THE WORD 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 6

KNOWING GOD • In Theology proper, we employ the same methodology we use in Theology in general – Our approach is Covenantal • We begin with the Biblical affirmation of Godthat is our a-priori • All our knowledge of God is the result of his free self-disclosure • We do not begin with experience or any philosophical a-priori 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 7

THE TRIUNE GOD • THERE IS ONE GOD • THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT EACH IS A DISTINCT PERSON 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 8

THERE IS ONE GOD • Deuteronomy 4: 35, 39, “The Lord is God, beside him there is no other” • Deuteronomy 6: 4, “the Lord is one” • Isaiah 44: 6, “apart from me there is no God”; 45: 21, 24 • John 17: 3, “the only true God” • I Timothy 2: 5, “one God” 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 9

THE FATHER IS GOD • Malachi 2: 10, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? ” • Matthew 6: 1 -9, “your Father in heaven” • John 1: 14, 18, “who came from the Father” • Romans 1: 7, 15: 6, “Grace and peace. . . from God our Father” • I Corinthians 15: 24, “hands over the kingdom to God the Father” • Hebrews 1: 1 -6, “I will be his Father” 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 10

THE SON IS GOD • Isaiah 9: 6, “He will be called. . . Mighty God” • Micah 5: 2, “whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” • John 1: 1, 18, “and the Word was God” • John 20: 28, “My Lord and My God” • Romans 9: 5, “Christ, who is God over all” • Titus 2: 13, “our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” • Hebrews 1: 8, “your throne, O God, will last forever” • I John 5: 20, “He (Jesus Christ) is the true God and eternal life” 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 11

THE HOLY SPIRIT IS GOD • • Genesis 1: 2, “the Spirit of God hovered over the waters” Judges 3: 10, “the Spirit of the Lord came upon him” Isaiah 63: 10, “they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit” Romans 8: 9, “the Spirit of God lives in you” Ephesians 4: 30, “do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” Hebrews 9: 14, “Christ, who through the eternal Spirit” Psalm 139: 7, “where can I go from your Spirit” I Corinthians 2: 10, “God has revealed it to us by his Spirit” • I Corinthians 12: 4 -6, “same Spirit. . . Lord. . . God” 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 12

RELATIONSHIPS • The Father is God, is not the Son, is not the Holy Spirit • The Son is God, is not the Father, is not the Holy Spirit • The Holy Spirit is God, is not the Father, is not the Son 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 13

RELATIONSHIPS • The Father is not begotten neither proceeds from any, but from eternity begets the Son and together with the Son from eternity breathes forth the Holy Spirit. • The Son is eternally begotten of the Father and proceeds from none, but with the Father eternally breathes forth the Holy Spirit. • The Holy Spirit is not begotten, but eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son. 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 14

FATHER, SON, HOLY SPIRIT EACH IS A DISTINCT PERSON • • Matthew 1: 20, 21, announcement to Joseph Matthew 3: 16, baptism; 17: 5, Transfiguration Matthew 28: 19, Great Commission John 3: 34, the one whom God sent. . . for God gives the Spirit • John 15: 26, when the counselor comes whom I will send to you from the Father; cf. 16: 5 ff • John 20: 21, 22, Father sent me; receive Spirit 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 15

FATHER, SON, HOLY SPIRIT EACH IS A DISTINCT PERSON • Acts 1: 9, 2: 4, Ascension-Pentecost • Romans 8: 14 -17, Spirit testifies we are God’s children. . . heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ • I Corinthians 12: 3, by Spirit, say Jesus is Lord • Hebrews 9: 14, blood of Christ offered to God by eternal Spirit 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 16

ETERNAL GENERATION • Eternal Generation refers to the relationship between the Father and the Son • It affirms a necessary relation- not an act of God’s free will • It is an eternal and spiritual relation, which had no beginning, no division of parts, and is continual and ongoing • This affirmation is only in reference to the person of the Son (theos ek theou); as to his deity, he is autotheos (God himself) 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 17

ETERNAL GENERATION • We must affirm that the Son, as God, is his own source of divinity, and that the communication from the Father to the Son is an eternal communication of personal subsistence which we call generation or filiation. As to the mode of this generation, Scripture offers no clues and we should avoid any temptation to speculate. 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 18

ETERNAL PROCESSION • Eternal Procession refers to the relationship between the Father/the Son and the Holy Spirit • It affirms a necessary relation- not an act of God’s free will • It is an eternal and spiritual relation, which had no beginning, no division of parts, and is continual and ongoing • This affirmation is only in reference to the person of the Holy Spirit; as to his deity, he is autotheos 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 19

ETERNAL PROCESSION: The “Filioque” • Latin, “and from the Son” • In the Eastern Church, the formula says that the Spirit proceeds from the Father through the Sonthere is a fear of subordinating the Spirit to the Son • In the Western Church, the formula says that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son- there is a greater fear of subordinating the Son to the Father • This is countered by affirming the coordinate activity of Father and Son in breathing out the Spirit 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 20

THE TRIUNE GOD Not a Biblical construct, but a theological construct that is necessary to account for all the data. Truly, a Mystery! 1/25/2022 Doctrine of God 21