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.

The Baptist Faith and Message: II. God (Part 2)

IIb. “God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience.”

In revealing His name to Moses, God chose to use “I AM.” That name expresses the infinity of His existence, for God always was, is, and always will be. Because God “is,” everything that He is also is infinite. This statement singles out His holiness, an attribute that tells us why sin cannot endure in His presence. Since God is infinitely holy, all sin is an infinite offense against His very person. This has implications for some of the doctrines we will see later in this statement of faith.

Although this article doesn’t spell out all of God’s attributes, it does state that all of them are infinite perfections. We see here a statement about God’s power and knowledge. The theological terms we use for these are “omnipotence” (all-powerful) and “omniscience” (all-knowing).  Since He possesses these infinite attributes, God knows all things in all times. We don’t know exactly how God interacts with time; He created it, and stands outside of what we call “history,” yet He also chooses to act in that history. I like the way this article presents both sides of the ongoing debate over God’s sovereignty and human will, by stating what I believe is the Biblical teaching that our decisions are free, yet God knows from all eternity exactly what those decisions are.

There are many others attributes of God that are not listed in this article. In my next post, I will list and define some of these attributes. What is said here is that whatever God is and whatever He is like, He is the perfect expression of that attribute. He has always been and always will be who and what He is. Some contemporary theologians suggest that God changes along with His creation, and that He interacts with humanity so that we progress together to the ultimate goal of the universe. The Bible, however, presents us with an eternal, unchanging God, giving us grounds to trust that He will always be who He is when we come to Him, and that He will be faithful to His word.

Because God is infinite in holiness, power, and knowledge (not to mention everything we’ll look at later), He is not only worthy of our praise, but is owed our praise. One day every creature will indeed bow their knee to Him (Philippians 2:10-11), but it is the duty of every one to honor and glorify their Creator. It is also our duty to obey God. I am teaching on Psalm 119 at my church right now, and throughout that psalm we see the benefits of reading, knowing, studying, and obeying the Word of God. We are free to choose to disobey, however, but all disobedience is not only breaking God’s law, but rejecting our relationship to our Creator.

Certainly we understand that we don’t always obey God perfectly, and that growing to be like Christ is a lifelong process. As we get to know God better, and more fully understand who He is and what He is like, we should find it easier to give Him the honor and obedience He is due. Looking at our lives, we need to evaluate if we are learning to know God better, loving Him more, and honoring and obeying Him more consistently. Our knee should bow willingly, not under compulsion, as we see the infinite perfection of our God.

The simplicity of God (a complex subject)

I like to listen to theological podcasts while I work out at the gym. (You need something to make 40 minutes on a stationary bike seem like fun.) One topic that came up in a couple of the podcasts I used this week was the simplicity of God. It isn't something we often talk about, unless you happen to be in a theology class. Preachers (including me) don't allude to it much. Yet it may be one aspect of God that helps us poke through some of the tough questions raised about God and His work.

While we use the term "simple" almost as a put-down, in theology it is something that God possesses that is distinctive from His creation. In a nutshell, simplicity means that God is a single unified being, not a being made up of many parts. So all the attributes of God-His omnipotence, omniscience, love, holiness, etc.- are not parts of God, but are all entirely essential to Him. Now to us, this seems a whole lot more like "complex" than "simple." We don't really have a mental capacity for grasping this as finite creatures. But it underscores an important truth that no one attribute of God is more "essential" than another.

One of the reasons the simplicity of God may be neglected is that it is very tough to pin it down without risking making God seems like an impersonal mass of attributes. We do sometimes fall into the trap of thinking of God as what He is rather than who He is. Personality and personal attributes are also a part of His simplicity, however. You can't make God out to be some kind of cosmic impersonal power, or treat Him as if He was a single attribute such as love, without doing violence to the reality revealed to us in Scripture.

If this all sounds like a lot to digest, it is. I'm not trying to pretend that I have a full grasp on this topic, or that I ever will. (At this point in my life I'm quite comfortable with the knowledge that as a finite creature there are just some things I'll never fully comprehend, even in heaven.) What is important about it is how it helps us sort through some theological questions by rejecting arguments that are built on an understanding of God as somehow having some "essential" attribute that takes priority over others.

For example, one of the arguments for universalism, the doctrine that all people will be saved, is built on the love of God as His essential nature. Love triumphs over holiness, righteousness, or anything else, so all people must be saved or somehow God is thwarted. But if the love of God is no more essential than any other attribute, we need to consider how the balanced nature of God would deal with salvation. (It's also possible to go the other way, to make holiness trump love in a way that pushes the love of God aside or stunts it, which leads to other problems.)

We need to make sure that we do our best to understand God as thoroughly as possible, and to analyze what is said about God with the knowledge (however imperfect) that He is everything He says He is equally. Will this solve all or theological problems? No. But it will help us become clearer and more exact in our study and understanding of God and His Word, and keep us from making God less than He really is.