The Baptist Faith and Message: IIA. God the Father (Part 1)

“God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise.”

The doctrine of the Trinity tells us that each of the persons of the Trinity work together, but also that each has specific areas for which they have freely chosen to be responsible. We must be careful about drawing some of these lines too firmly, for there is what we might see as overlap between these responsibilities. Theologians use the term “economy” to describe the relation between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

God the Father is the primary mover in creation and providence. While both the Son and the Holy Spirit have roles in this, the Bible depicts the Father as the prime mover and initiator. The entire universe, our own world, and every creature is the product of God’s creation. The early chapters of Genesis describe God’s creative word, and throughout both the Old and New Testaments we see many references to God as the Creator and the world and humanity as His creation. We see in Romans 1 that creation serves as a visible evidence of the reality of God.

God did not simply create the universe and leave it to run on its own. He also watches over His creation, sustaining it and both keeping watch over it and intervening in the flow of history. We call this care “providence.” This general care is provided for all, both those who follow God and those who do not. Providence is the product of the grace of God, given to humanity to show us His love and compassion.

The flow of history, particularly human history, is also cared for by God. The Father knows every event that happens. We must not think of this as God moving through time with us. As part of His creation, God created time, so He isn’t bound by what we perceive as the movement of time. This is another one of those teachings that we, as humans, can’t fully grasp since we are ourselves “stuck” in time. It does remind us that God is beyond our human comprehension, and that He is greater than anything we can comprehend or control.

God’s creation, providence, and oversight of history are enabled by His attributes. We looked at some of the attributes of God in a previous post. Here in this article His power, knowledge, love, and wisdom are mentioned. These affect the specific works of the Father mentioned here. It is important for us to remember that the attributes of God are not just theological constructs, but elements of His person that help us understand who He is and how is able to do all that He does.

Knowing that God is the initiator of creation, watches over us with providential care, and is involved in the flow of our history should provide comfort for us, since this shows us we are not alone in the universe. It also serves as a caution for us, since it reminds us that God sees and knows everything we do, say, and think. The power of God, revealed through His creation and care, keeps and sustains us through our lives.

Explore the Bible: Acts 5:35-39

Luke introduces us in this passage to Gamaliel, the great rabbi who flourished around the time of Jesus and the early church. Gamaliel had a reputation for piety and was recognized as one of the ablest teachers of the Law in his day. He was a grandson of Hillel, one of the two great rabbis (along with Shammai) whose opinions framed much Jewish theological debate. The respect in which he was held is seen in this passage, as the Sadducees stop the proceedings, send the apostles out of the room, and listen as he speaks. His advice about the apostles is followed, although with the addition of a severe flogging.

Some scholars have questioned the historicity of this passage. They present two basic objections. The first is questioning how Luke could have gained knowledge of these proceedings, given that the apostles were not present. It is not difficult to see how Luke could have gotten information about this, however, First, it is possible that Saul (later Paul), a student of Gamliel, was present at this time. He may even have been a member of the Sanhedrin, since he speaks in Acts 26:10 of casting a vote to condemn Christians. Even if Paul was not there, in Acts 6:7 we are told a large number of priests became Christians, and among them may well have been someone who was either present at this trial or who heard the story of it from someone who was. Luke was a careful researcher, so presuming he had a source for this account is entirely in line with what we know of his work.

The second, more serious, issue is Gamliel’s use of the examples of Theudas and Judas. Josephus mentions an uprising led by Theudas in about AD 46 in his Antiquities (XX.5.1). This would be well after the time Gamaliel gave the speech recorded here in Acts 5. In Josephus’ account, the sons of Judas are mentioned as creating trouble after Theudas’ revolt, so some scholars believe Luke misread what Josephus wrote and had Gamaliel commit an anachronism by speaking of a revolt that had not yet occurred.

The difficulty with that interpretation is that Josephus’ Antiquities was not published until AD 94.  Luke was probably written around AD 62 (since Paul is still in prison in Rome at then end of the book), more than 30 years earlier. Even most liberal critical scholars date Luke to around 80-90, still too early for him to have read Josephus.

The most likely solution to this issue is that Gamaliel refers to an otherwise unknown Theudas, who led a revolt around the time of the death of Herod the Great. There were many disturbances during this time, and we know the names of only a few who led revolts. Theudas was not an uncommon name in the early first century, so it could well be that Gamaliel knew something we have lost. While this solution is not absolutely certain, it makes more sense than assuming Luke used a book he couldn’t have read.

One other question about this passage that is sometimes raised is how a tolerant and patient man like Gamaliel could have been the teacher of the zealous persecutor Saul. Yet teachers today know that their students don’t always accept everything they are taught, but often make up their own minds based on information or ideas they have gained elsewhere. We will see Gamaliel’s student confront Christians in a much more hostile way (if he was present at this trial, I’m sure he approved of the flogging). Yet it is the violent Saul rather than the peaceful Gamaliel who will become one of God’s great instruments in the spread of the Gospel throughout the Roman world.

Explore the Bible: Acts 4:32-37

Squeezed in between the account of the onset of persecution and the story of Ananias and Sapphira is this short description of life in the early church. Given that many of early Christiands living in Jerusalem were not from the city or its environs, there was a need to find a way to take care of their physical needs. The powerful work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts, minds, and lives of the believers led them to treat each other as extended family. (It is possible, though not stated here, that some who followed Jesus may have become ostracized from their more traditionally Jewish families.) The members of the fledgling church took care of each other by sharing what they had with those who had need.

This picture of the early church is often used to promote a political system. Some say the church pioneered a form of communism; others call it socialism. In truth, it is neither of these, nor any other political system. This passage describes the voluntary sharing of wealth with fellow believers who had needs under the influence of the Holy Spirit due to a commitment to the teaching of the apostles about Jesus. There is no government involvement here, not even a church government. There is not only no hint of coercion, which is required by a political system, we don’t even read of a suggestion by the apostles or anyone else that this be done. It was apparently a spontaneous reaction to the joy found in coming to Jesus through the preaching of the gospel,

While this isn’t something that was forced, the example of the early Christians should serve to show us the kind of generosity believers ought to be known for. Nothing that we own belongs to us in any ultimate sense. Everything we own is a gift from God, and we need to see it that way. Christians should not have to wait for a secular government or a church body to tell us to share what we have with others and to have compassion on those in need.

One generous giver is highlighted in these verses. Joseph, who had been born in Cyprus and was from the tribe of Levi, now resided in Jerusalem or its vicinity. He was wealthy enough to own land, and well-known enough that the disciples gave him another name: Barnabas, the “son of encouragement.” As we will see later in the book of Acts, he was a man who was highly respected and who had the ability to see the best in other people. Here Barnabas brings the proceeds of his land sale to the apostles and gives it to them completely and freely for use in the care of those in need. There was no requirement that he sell the field, nor that he give everything he received for the field to the church. This was an act of compassion, love, and grace by one who had been touched by Christ.

It may seem like just a passing mention, but this passage sets up the encounter between Peter and Ananias and Sapphira. It is the display of generosity by Barnabas (and, presumably, others like him) that tempts Ananias and Sapphira to gain credit for themselves by pretending to do the same thing. Again, they were under no compulsion to sell their land, nor did they have to give all of it to the apostles. Yet the desire to be seen to be as spiritual as Barnabas led them to misrepresent themselves before Peter and the church, and to attempt to lie even to the Holy Spirit.

Both Barnabas and Ananias and Sapphira served as examples to the early church. As we live our own Christian lives out before others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should watch carefully what kind of example we set. Not only is God watching all that we do, but often others are as well. We might even be the example someone who is new to the faith is looking at to see how someone who claims to be a Christian lives. While we won’t be perfect in this life, we can seek to be sons and daughters of encouragement for those around us by living out grace, compassion, and truth every day.

The Baptist Faith and Message: II. God (Part 4)

“The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.”

If you asked most Christians, maybe even most people who have heard of Christianity, what the single most difficult teaching to understand is, you’d probably get an overwhelming consensus that it is the doctrine of the Trinity. The statement of the doctrine is simple, and this article gives it in a clear and concise form. What is hard to understand is what it means to worship one God who is three distinct Persons but only one essence. Was human beings, we have no mental category for such an idea.

The doctrine of the Trinity has been such a vexing issue for some throughout the history of the church that it has led to many teachings that deny its reality. Some think the three Persons are just different modes of God revealing Himself, not fully distinct persons. Others teach that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are actually subordinate gods, not one in essence with the Father. Still others simply deny the doctrine altogether, and believe that Jesus was a man adopted by God as the Son and that the Holy Spirit is just the power of God in action. Each of these ideas come from attempts to grasp the doctrine of God and of the Trinity in a way that makes sense to humanity.

The divine Trinity stands in contrast to the teachings about God or the gods in other religions. Judaism and Islam teach the absolute unity of God; they do not see any way that God can be “divided” into three Persons and still be one God. Religions like Hinduism have no problem with the concept of more than one god, but each of these gods is a fully separate and distinct essence as well as person. Many Eastern religions have a very impersonal conception of the ultimate One, which may emanate in a number of distinct forms in our current world, but which will ultimately reclaim its absolute oneness. None of these religions can accept the Christian formulation of the Trinity.

Many point out that the term “Trinity” is not found in the Bible, and they are right. However, the concept is found in a number of passages (such as Matthew 3: 16-17; 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Peter 1:2). There is a sense in which the doctrine could be said to have developed from the understanding of the apostles and the Biblical writers, who understood the Jewish concept of God yet accepted both Jesus and the Holy Spirit as God. The lack of a specific term does not make a doctrine unbiblical; other terms not found in the Bible, such as inerrancy, sacrament/ordinance, omnipotence, and omniscience, are also used by theologians to describe Biblical teachings.

As a seminary student, I searched, studied, and thought hard and often of how to understand the Trinity and explain it to people. As an older minister now, I am not only comfortable with the idea of mysteriousness of the Trinity, but I actually have come to believe that it is necessary that God be beyond our human understanding in order for Him to be God. If we could grasp the essence of God, that would make Him like us, only with more power. We would believe God to be the ultimate expression of everything we as humans hope to be, but not as someone far beyond our conception. In a real sense, only a God who is beyond our human understanding is worthy of acceptance as God.

The fact that God is beyond our ability to fully grasp does not mean that God is totally inexplicable or impossible to understand at any level. The Bible gives us His own revelation of Himself, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity is, of course, something we can state and believe, drawing from the teaching of Scripture, even if we can’t figure out just exactly how all of that works. (I’ll even go further for myself-I don’t believe that we’ll ever fully grasp the essence of God, even in Heaven, and that’s a good thing.) We are called on to believe in God as He is revealed in His Word, and to have faith that goes beyond what we as limited, finite humans can grasp with our limited, finite minds.

The doctrine of the Trinity is truly a mystery taught to us in Scripture, but that very teaching reveals a God who is beyond us and worthy of our worship. At the same time, as we will see, the Bible teaches us that this immense, infinite God is also involved in our world and in our lives, and wants us to be a part of His eternal family. Far from being a hindrance to our faith, the doctrine of the Trinity should encourage us that our God is indeed One worthy of our faith, our praise, and our obedience.

Explore the Bible: Acts 3:1-2

Chapters 3 and 4 of Acts center on a miracle performed in the name of Jesus in the Temple. We don’t know exactly how long after the events of Acts 2 this took place, but the impression left by the Biblical account is that it wasn’t long after Pentecost. This is particularly true if the number 5000 mentioned in 4:4 is the total number of believers, rather than a new group of 5000. (I lean toward the first interpretation, for reasons I won’t expand on here.) Thus, it comes at a time when the city of Jerusalem is still widely aware of the events of Jesus’ crucifixion and people are beginning to hear that this Jesus is still alive. Many have believed, but God also used miracles to bring opportunities to preach the Gospel and to validate the message of the apostles.

One question raised about this miracle is exactly where it took place. It was definitely in the Temple precincts, but the specifics given in the text aren’t as obvious to us as we might like. Luke tells us that the lame beggar was carried to the “Beautiful Gate” of the Temple. However, no gate had as its given name “Beautiful.” The name was probably a popular nickname for one of the gates of the Temple. Knowing which gate Luke meant gives us some insight into both the possible audience for the miracle and how the events following the lame man’s healing flowed.

The prime candidate for the “Beautiful Gate” is the gate that led from the outer Court of the Gentiles to the Court of Women, which was the beginning of the actual sacred space of the Temple. Gentiles were not allowed to progress beyond this gate, and warning signs were posted threatening death to any who dared. This was the Nicanor Gate, which was unusual in that it was covered with Corinthians bronze instead of gold or silver. While scholars aren’t certain, this is likely the gate Josephus refers to in “The Jewish War” as being more valuable than the other gates covered in silver or bronze (5.5.3). If this were the case, it must have been a beautiful gate indeed, and to have earned that designation from those who attended at the Temple. It would also explain why the lame man chose that location to beg; if it was at the entrance to the Temple proper, he would encounter many Jews going in to worship who might be more inclined to bestow alms on a poor man as a good deed.

If this was the gate, the narrative flow would look like this:

1) Peter and John, entering the Temple from the Court of the Gentiles, see the beggar there and heal him in the name of Jesus.

2) The man joins Peter and John in entering the Temple, where they would have participated in the afternoon prayers. For the lame man, this might have been his first time to go into the actual Temple.

3) As they left, the people, who recognized the man and had seen him enter the Temple praising God, crowd around Peter, John, and the man in one of the exterior porticos, Solomon’s Colonnade. As this crowd gathers, Peter begins to preach.

4) Given that they were still within the outer courts of the Temple, word would spread to someone who would report to the priests, who sent our representatives to stop Peter’s sermon, which was accomplished by arresting Peter and John.

While this is not the only possible solution to the location of the healing of the lame man, it does make sense and provide a reasonable flow of events. If Peter was preaching in Solomon’s Colonnade, a significant crowd could have gathered, resulting in another large response to the Gospel message. The church continued to grow, but now began to face serious opposition from the leaders of the Temple. This account also shows us the Spirit-filled boldness of Peter, which should inspire us to be bold as we face opposition to the Gospel in our own witness.

NOTE: There is a nice schematic plan of Herod’s Temple on the Bible History Online web site. 

The Baptist Faith and Message: II. God (Part 3)

While the Baptist Faith and Message does not cover all of the attributes of God, I think it is good to take a look at a list of many of His attributes. Theologians don’t agree on the exact list of divine attributes, but these are some that occur on most lists, although they may be called by another name. The attributes of God are also broken into categories differently by theologians. Some divide them between “communicable” (attributes that can be shared by some degree with humans) and “incommunicable” (attributes that apply to God alone); others distinguish between God’s “natural” (referring to those that describe His essential nature) and “moral” (those that describe His interpersonal nature) attributes. For this post, I’m just going to list some attributes, without breaking them into categories. This isn’t an exhaustive list, just a mention of some significant attributes. The verses discussed also do not provide an extensive list of passages supporting each attribute, but a representative sample.

Some of the attributes of God besides holiness, omnipotence, and omniscience (covered in the previous post) are:

Self-existence: God’s existence does not depend on anyone or anything other than Himself. The name I AM suggests this fundamental eternal existence.

Immensity: God is beyond the confines of the universe. In 2 Chronicles 6:18 Solomon recognizes that nothing can contain God.

Eternity: God always was, is, and will be. He is not bound by time, since He is the Creator of time. Romans 1:20 speaks to the way creation reveals His eternal nature.

Immutability: God does not change in His essential nature. While He may choose to carry out His plans in a variety of ways, who He is truly is remains the same. This immutability ensures that God is faithful to Himself and His purposes (Malachi 3:6).

Righteousness: God always upholds the right over the wrong. Even in planning our salvation, the righteousness of God was maintained through the sacrifice of Jesus (Romans 10:1-13).

Love: God has eternally existed in a relationship of love (which we will look at later in this series), and everything He does is done in love (1 John 4:7-10).

Truth: God Himself is the standard of what is true. In Isaiah 45:18-19 He declares that He speaks the truth and declares what is right.

Each of these attributes could use an entire post for itself. (You can find entire books devoted to some of these!) This brief look just gives us a glimpse of who and what God is. We will see some of these attributes again as we continue our look in future posts at what the Baptist Faith and Message says about God.