Great Bible Doctrines

The Doctrine of God

God

The creator and sustainer of theuniverse who has provided humankind with a revelation of Himself through the natural world and through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Four Major Subdivisions

Exists

Attributes

Sovereignty

Trinity

# 1 EXISTS: The Bible on God The Bible does not seek to prove the

existence of God; it simply affirms His existence

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ”

Gen 1:1

Proof or Evidence?

Some things can be proven logically through deductive reasoning All Southern Presidents were/are

Baptists. Jimmy Carter was a Southern President. Therefore, Jimmy Carter is a Baptist.

Or A = B B = C Therefore, A = C

Proof or Evidence?

God cannot be proven by deduction

Inductive reasoning relies on evidence and probability

There is a great deal of evidence, not just for the existence of a god, but for the God of the Bible.

General revelation: what you can see

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1 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

Special revelation: what you must be told or shown

Some things you can know about me; other you must be told

We can know very little about God’s person apart from His word, His special revelation.

Special revelation: what you must be told or shown

He did reveal Himself in other special circumstances like dreams, and ultimately, in the form of Jesus Christ

Although there are external writings about Christ, He is revealed as God Himself in the Bible. We need God’s word for any real information about Him

#2 AttributesNatural Omnipotence Omniscience Omnipresence Spirit Changeless

Moral: God’s character Holy: separate, exalted Love: self-giving nature Justice: consequences are applied

equally Righteous: always does right Truth: natural, physical, or

religious Wisdom: always doing best thing

in the best way at the best time

#3 Sovereignty

All things are under God’s rule & control

Nothing happens without His direction & permission

Ephesians 1:11

also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,

Isaiah 46:11

…Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass.I have planned it, surely I will do it.

Daniel 4:35

All the peoples of the earth    are regarded as nothing.He does as he pleases    with the powers of heaven    and the peoples of the earth.No one can hold back his hand    or say to him: “What have you done?”

Psalm 115:3

Our God is in heaven;    he does whatever pleases him.

Psalm 22:28

for dominion belongs to the LORD    and he rules over the nations.

Salvation

God's sovereignty in salvation means that He saves whom He will, and those whom He saves owe nothing to anything in or of themselves. They are saved because God graciously chose them in eternity and regenerated and called them in history. They cannot even take credit for their faith because it is the gift that He Himself sovereignly bestows.

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace [undeserved kindness] you have been saved, through faith—and this [faith]* is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works [you didn’t do it]*, so that no one can boast.

*the additions are mine

#4 Trinity

There is only one God “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God,

the LORD is one.” Deut 6:4

But He exists in three distinct persons

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Cor. 13-14

God the Father

Fatherhood is inherent in His very being

God is not called Father by comparison to mankind

Rather family and fatherhood among men is called such by comparison to God.

Galatians 4:4-7

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.

 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”  So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

Jesus, the Son

"No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.“

Matt. 11:27

John 1: 1-3, 14 (the Word =Jesus)In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Daniel 7:13-14

“I kept looking in the night visions,And behold, with the clouds of heavenOne like a Son of Man was coming,And He came up to the Ancient of Days [God the Father]And was presented before Him.

Daniel 7:13-14

And to Him was given dominion,Glory and a kingdom,That all the peoples, nations and men of every languageMight serve Him.His dominion is an everlasting dominionWhich will not pass away;And His kingdom is oneWhich will not be destroyed.”

The Holy Spirit

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper [the Holy Spirit] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

John 16:7

Acts 5: 3-4

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?...You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

Back to the Bible

In order for these arguments to hold, we must assume the truth of the Bible, the inspired word of God

Great Bible DoctrinesThe Doctrine of God

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