Baptist, What Do You Believe? #6

Article II, Section C: God the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Savior, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service. Genesis 1:2; Judges 14:6; Job 26:13; Psalms 51:11; 139:7ff.; Isaiah 61:1-3; Joel 2:28- 32; Matthew 1:18; 3:16; 4:1; 12:28-32; 28:19; Mark 1:10,12; Luke 1:35; 4:1,18-19; 11:13; 12:12; 24:49; John 4:24; 14:16-17,26; 15:26; 16:7-14; Acts 1:8; 2:1-4,38; 4:31; 5:3; 6:3; 7:55; 8:17,39; 10:44; 13:2; 15:28; 16:6; 19:1-6; Romans 8:9-11,14-16,26-27; 1 Corinthians 2:10-14; 3:16; 12:3-11,13; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 5:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:19; 1 Timothy 3:16; 4:1; 2 Timothy 1:14; 3:16; Hebrews 9:8,14; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 John 4:13; 5:6-7; Revelation 1:10; 22:17.

Introduction We Baptists know very little about the Holy Spirit, and yet it is not because of the lack of Scriputral material. The Scriptural references listed with this section on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit alone are witness to this fact. A quick word search of Holy Spirit turned up ninety-three passages, ninety of them from the New Testament. Add to that references to the Holy Sprit, like Spirit (Gen. 1:3; 6:12; Judges 14:19) and helper (John 14-16), and the references to the third person of the Trinity more than triples. So, why do we Baptists know so little about the Holy Spirit? I believe there are at least three possible reasons:

• With so much ostentatious hoopla that surrounds so much of what we call the Charismatic movement, I believe that Baptists want to stay as far away as possible from the so-called Spirit-filled stuff. Pastor Harris put it so well in a recent Wednesday-evening message on this subject when he said "Afraid of going out on a limb we refuse to get in the tree!"
• Another reason has to do with the nature of the Holy Spirit's work. What He does is not all that visible. When we talk of God the Father, we talk about His acts of creation. We can look all around us and see physically all that He has done. Throughout the pages of the Old testament we see the wrestling match between God and His chosen people, Israel (Gen. 32:28). We see His hand in the raising up and tearing down of empires. God the Son takes on flesh and blood and dwells among us. Jesus walked the dusty roads of Palestine teaching, preaching, and praying. He heals, drives out, and overturns. Most of all, we see the passion of our Savior, and we see Him raised again the third day. The work of the Holy Spirit is so different from that of the Father and the Son. He works in the Spiritual realm, largely unseen. He is much like the wind (John 3:8) You can't see the wind, but you can see its effects, if you pay attention. Look at the paragraph before us in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, and note the work He does: inspires, illumines, exalts, convicts, calls, regenerates, cultivates, comforts, bestows, seals, enlightens, and empowers. These are all things that cannot be directly seen, although, like the wind, you can see the effects of the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those whom He indwells.
• And finally, one big reason little is known about the Holy Spirit is because of the nature of His role. His job is not to proclaim or put forth Himself, but to show forth Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 15:26: "But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me." Paul echoes the same idea in 1 Corinthians 12:3, when he says that "no one can say "Jesus is Lord" except in the Holy Spirit." John also states that the Spirit of God will "confess that jesus Christ has come in the flesh." The third person of the Trinity takes a subordinate role in redemption. His job in this gospel age is to promote Jesus Christ.

Who is the Holy Spirit? Section C gives us just one brief sentence concerning who the Holy Spirit is: The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully divine. We can fall back on the main paragraph that deals with the doctrine of God as a whole and get a few more details. The last sentence there says that He is one with the Father and the Son, and with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being. If God is spirit (John 4:24), don't we mean the same person when speaking about the Spirit of God (Gen. 1:2)? That might be a possibility to consider except if it were not for the numerous times when the Father and Holy Spirit are mentioned together as distinct persons. In Genesis 1 verse one speaks of God in the beginning, and in verse two it is the Spirit of God that is hovering over the face of the waters. At Jesus' baptism God speaks from heaven, while at the same time the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a dove. At the great commission, Jesus commands His disciples to baptize disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Even though God is a spirit, and does not have a body like men, the Scriptures makes a distinction between the Father and the Holy Spirit. Here again is one of those mysteries that should make us marvel and worship rather than doubt. The Holy Spirit, just like the Father and the Son, is personal. He can be grieved (Ephesians 4:30), He can be blasphemed (Mark 3:29), and He can be lied to (Acts 5:3). If you drop down two verses to Acts 5:5, you notice that Peter, after first asking why Ananias had lied to the Holy Spirit, goes on to state that he has not lied to man, but to God. Here we have a firm affirmation to the deity of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of God, fully divine. Why is the Holy Spirit called the Holy Spirit? Why don't we call the Father and the Son holy? Why is there this adjectival addition to the third person of the Trinity? Is it because the Holy Spirit is more holy than the Father and the Son? By no means. This would violate the orthodox formula of the Trinity: one in essence, three in person. The three persons exist in one essential Godhead, all sharing the same attributes, no one person being more or less of anything than the other two. The main reason the Spirit of God is called the Holy Spirit, is because of the work He performs. Look again at the list of verbs above drawn from Section C: inspires, illumines, exalts, convicts, calls, regenerates, cultivates, comforts, bestows, seals, enlightens, and empowers. The Holy Spirit's primary work, at least in this gospel age, is to draw out lost sinners out of the world through regeneration. Once justified, the Holy Spirit moves on to work in us sanctification through things like illumination, bestowal, enlightenment, and empowerment. Both of these acts are separating us out of the world, making us fit for special use, making us servants of the King. What Does the Holy Spirit Do? Well, we have answered much of what the Holy Spirit does in the previous paragraph dealing with the whole concept of holiness. Before we conclude this brief look at the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, lets look at the Holy Spirit's part in the saving of lost souls.

• Conviction of sin: Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged (John 16:7-11). The gospel has no appeal to the lost sinner until he is aware of the desperate plight that he is in. Thanks be to God that He has sent His Spirit into the world to attend to His preached word, and convict men of sin and righteousness and judgment.
• Regeneration: Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:5-8) Born again? That is what regeneration is all about: being re- generated, born again, made all over again. (In the Greek and the Hebrew language there is just one word for the English words breath, wind, and spirit. The English rendering is determined by the context.) Again, all praise and glory be to God for this essential initial gift from the Holy Spirit to us poor retched sinners who were spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1, Colossians 2:13, Romans 8:7,8)

Conclusion: After the Holy Spirit convicts, calls, and regenerates us, He comes to dwell in us and provides all of the other things listed above, fitting us for service in the King's army. If you try to work your mind through all of this you won't really have time to ponder things like baptism in the Holy Spirit, or second blessings. There is already enough here to stand in amazed silence for the rest of our days. May we do so. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5 (On God the Holy Spirit)

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #5

God the Son This week we move on to the second section in Article II, concerning God the Son. If ever there is a need for doctrine in the Christian faith, it is at this very point. The faith we call Christianity finds its name from the very one who is its hub, its keystone, its very heart; from Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. It is a popular saying among many Christian circles, that doctrine divides. That is the main reason so many denominations, especially the newer ones, are very light on doctrine; they hate confrontation and division. They have adopted that famous line from Rodney King: "Can't we all just get along?" Yes, doctrine does divide. That is what it is intended to do. It divides true Christianity from false Christianity, or those belief systems that call themselves Christian. Many groups believe in Jesus, but just as we spoke a couple of weeks ago about the need to define which God, we also need to define which Jesus. The Jehovah's Witness and Mormons believe in Jesus, but they do not believe that He is God. Islam revers Jesus as one of the great prophets, but not as the only begotten Son of God. Controversies over who Jesus is have raged ever since He became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Jesus asked His disciples "Who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8:27) Battling heresy on a number of fronts, the Church nailed down a doctrine of the deity of Christ at the council of Nicea in 325, and the doctrine concerning the dual nature of Jesus at the council of Chalcedon in 451. The so-called Higher criticism in the 19th century, and the Jesus Seminar in the 20th century attempted to take away from, to diminish our Lord and Savior by discrediting the inerrancy of Scripture. Even in our day, Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code has sent shock waves throughout our culture, attempting to cast doubt on the reliable nature of the New Testament concerning the person and work of Jesus. I do not intend to go line by line through Section B, as I have in the other lessons, because the paragraph is pretty straightforward, reading very much like the historic confessions would read on God the Son. The Scripture cited with this section more than adequately cover the material found therein. The paragraph covers both the person and the work of Jesus Christ. In theological terms this is a division between Christology and Soteriology, or basically a division between who Jesus was, and what Jesus did. In a nutshell, this is the gospel. Article II, Section B. God the Son

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord. Genesis 18:1ff.; Psalms 2:7ff.; 110:1ff.; Isaiah 7:14; 53; Matthew 1:18-23; 3:17; 8:29; 11:27; 14:33; 16:16,27; 17:5; 27; 28:1-6,19; Mark 1:1; 3:11; Luke 1:35; 4:41; 22:70; 24:46; John 1:1-18,29; 10:30,38; 11:25-27; 12:44-50; 14:7-11; 16:15-16,28; 17:1-5, 21-22; 20:1-20,28; Acts 1:9; 2:22-24; 7:55-56; 9:4-5,20; Romans 1:3-4; 3:23-26; 5:6- 21; 8:1-3,34; 10:4; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 2:2; 8:6; 15:1-8,24-28; 2 Corinthians 5:19-21; 8:9; Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 1:20; 3:11; 4:7-10; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:13-22; 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; 3:16; Titus 2:13-14; Hebrews 1:1-3; 4:14-15; 7:14-28; 9:12-15,24-28; 12:2; 13:8; 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:22; 1 John 1:7- 9; 3:2; 4:14-15; 5:9; 2 John 7-9; Revelation 1:13-16; 5:9-14; 12:10-11; 13:8; 19:16.

Christology: Who is Jesus? Jesus is in a class by Himself. Look what the Section B says about who Jesus is:

Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. . . .taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind . . . . fully God, fully man, . . .

In these statements we see that Jesus was:

• Eternal God (John 5:18; 8:58) and the Son of God (John 10:36), and yet, at the same time. . .
• Real flesh and blood, not just in appearance, but in His very nature (1 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 2:14), and also. . .
• Jesus was not one part God and one part man, but fully God (Colossians 1:19), fully man (John 1:14; Philippians 2:7,8).

Jesus must be these things in order to be able to do what it is He came to do. Soteriology: What did Jesus do? This is so much more relevant a question than the trite quip "What would Jesus Do?". It is far more important to know, understand, and embrace with one's whole being what Jesus did do. Let's look at the remainder of Section B:

Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, . . . yet without sin. He honored the divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, . . . in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

There are three things that Jesus did while on earth that are essential to salvation:

• Jesus lived a sinless life (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus obeyed completely and perfectly God's holy law. He did for us what we could never do for ourselves: satisfy the demands of God's holy law.
• Jesus died the death of a criminal. He died in such way that signified that He was cursed of God (Galatians 3:13). He bore the wrath of God on the cross in our place.
• Three days later Jesus Christ rose from the dead (Acts 2:24). This signified God's satisfaction, that the price paid was sufficient to meet God's righteous justice.

It is all summed up in 2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. What a great transaction: our sins laid on Him on the cross; His righteousness (from those thirty-some-odd years of perfect obedience) laid on us who believe. This section on God the Son goes on to finish the story of Christ's work after His life, death/burial, and resurrection:

• Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9).
• Jesus is our One Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), effecting reconciliation between us and God (Ephesians 2:16).
• Jesus will come again some day to judge the world and consummate His redemptive work (2 Timothy 4:1).
• Jesus dwells in every believer (2 Corinthians 5:17).

There are so many other particulars that Jesus did that relate to this central message of the gospel: He crushed the head of the serpent, conquered death and hell, established His church, broken our bondage to slavery, vanquished our fear of death, and on the list goes; but all of these are subsumed under the topic of what Christ did in His person and work. The material found in this one paragraph on the doctrine of God the Son is enough to keep us occupied, and wondering, and praising God for the rest of our lives. Let us begin to do so.

Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 (An Introduction) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 (On the Doctrine of Scripture) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3 (On the Doctrine of God) Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4 (On God the Father)

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #4

Article II, Section A: God the Father Words for Review from Last Week: incomprehensible, deism, dualism, pantheism, polytheism, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, righteous Introduction In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, and as He does, he instructs them to refer to God as Our Father. In the gospels Jesus refers to God as Father more often than He does any other name or title for God. This paragraph dealing with the first person of the Trinity touches only on the issue of God as Father. To be sure there are many more facets and categories dealing with God, but this brief description is only concerned with God's governance or economy in time and space over what He has made. Other attributes of God will surface elsewhere in latter articles of this confession, where they will fit better. Article II, Section A. God the Father

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. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. Genesis 1:1; 2:7; Exodus 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Leviticus 22:2; Deuteronomy 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chronicles 29:10; Psalm 19:1-3; Isaiah 43:3,15; 64:8; Jeremiah 10:10; 17:13; Matthew 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mark 1:9-11; John 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Romans 8:14-15; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Galatians 4:6; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 11:6; 12:9; 1 Peter 1:17; 1 John 5:7.

God as Father reigns . . . God reigns and rules, but His reign is a fatherly reign. God's reign over His creation, especially over the sons of Adam, is not the cold, calculated reign of a monarch, but the reign of a father over a household. God is sovereign, no doubt, but His sovereignty is in context of His goodness. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! Luke 11:13 . . . with providential care over His universe, His creatures, Providence is a word you don't hear very much any more. In previous centuries in America Providence was commonly used as a name for God. From providence we get the word provide, which is made up of a root and a prefix. The prefix pro gives the meaning of forward or ahead. You see the idea in words like propeller, which pushes a boat forward. When you promote something, you are pushing something forward, setting it out in front, so that it can be seen better. The root of provide comes from the Latin word videre: to see. We see that root word in words like video, visible, and vision. When you put the root and the prefix together, you get to the heart of the meaning of provide. To provide for your family is to see future needs, and then plan accordingly. God's providential care is exactly like that. His seeing of future needs aren't just good guessing, wisdom, or insight. The eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing God of the universe sees and knows all things, past, present, and future. Those categories of time and space have no meaning in eternity. The Bible says that He sees the end from the beginning. Isaiah 46:10 One of the most touching stories found in the pages of the Old Testament is found in Genesis chapter 22, where God commands Abraham to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him up on mountain top in the land of Moriah. The key passage is found in verses 7 and 8 with an exchange between Abraham and his son: And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. And of course, you know the rest of the story. God did provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering. . . . and the flow of the stream of human history . . . Again, Isaiah 46:10 is a fitting verse: declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ God is in control of all matters in the universe, from the greatest to the smallest. His providence extends even to the flow of the stream of human history. . . . according to the purposes of His grace. First of all, God is a gracious God. He hasn't left us in our sins, He graciously has made a way to be reconciled to Him. Secondly, all of the flow of the stream of human history is according to His purpose, which is gracious. We cannot see the big picture, because we are not God, so, much of what we see seems to us not to be good. Why is there evil in the world? Why are there natural disasters that kill and injure "indiscriminately"? We have so many of these kind of questions. The short answer to the situation in general is all about sin. As transgressors of a just and holy God, we don't deserve even a fraction of the good we do receive. God could have consigned us all to Hell immediately as he did the angels who rebelled against Him (2 Peter 2:4). Paul's praise of God's grace in Ephesians 1 is a good place to begin to see the gracious purposes of our God and Father. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. Here is an echo from the opening paragraph of the article, namely a quartet of absolutes. God is not just the most powerful, most knowing, most living, most wise. When God finishes showing Job who He is in chapters 38 through 41, Job responds by saying "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." (Job 42:2) To get a small peek at what it means to be all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise, you should read these four chapters in Job. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. When God saves us He adopts us into His family. We enjoy all of the privileges of sonship.

• But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, John 1:12
• For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Romans 8:15-17
• . . . to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Galatians 4:5-7

He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men. Sometimes called common grace, God takes good care of all men, whether lost or saved. This bountiful common grace provides an opportunity to repent and believe. God reveals Himself as good to all mankind, by not giving us, as sinners, what we deserve on the spot.

• Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” Acts 14:17
• And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, Acts 17:26-30

Conclusion This brief paragraph on the first person of the Trinity is by no means exhaustive, but there is plenty here to get us started on the majesty and splendor of our great God. Next week we are on to the second section in Article II, God the Son. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1 Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2 Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3

Audio Resources: A great audio clip to get you fired up about the names of God is S. M. Lockridge's My King.

R. C. Sproul's audio series on The Names of God is an excellent survey of the meanings and significance of the names of God. You can order the CD Series from Ligonier Ministries, or you can listen to the streaming audio, which happens to have just finished airing, online from Ligonier's 30-day archive page (for the next few weeks from this post's posting).

Baptist, What Do You Believe? #3

Article II: The Doctrine of God Questions for Review from Article I: 1. Why is the Doctrine of Scripture Article I? 2. Why was the wording in this article changed in the 2000 statement? 3. Who wrote the Bible? 4. What is the purpose of the Bible? 5. Who is the central focus of the Bible? Introduction With the foundation of Article one firmly laid down, dealing with the doctrine of Holy Scripture, we are now ready to move on to Article two, concerning God. This is the best and most logical progression of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. In Article one, we have established that we have a sure and authoritative word, as we stated last week, in which we can confidently speak truth concerning our faith and practice as Baptists. Because Article one states that "The Holy Bible . . . is God's revelation of Himself to man.", and "All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.", it is just natural and right that Article two deal with the doctrine of God. Last week we dug deep and laid a "firm foundation". This week we climb to the pinnacle: the doctrine of God. In Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Which God? When we begin looking into Article two, we want to remember and be faithful to Article one. In other words, use God's Holy Scripture to describe and define God. The reason it is necessary to have a doctrine of God, especially in this day, is that many have used all sorts of sources other than the Bible to define their god. Perhaps most popular of all is the god each individual spins out of his own fallen, perverted head. The problem is best described in the introduction to a lecture my pastor gave back in October of 2005 on the doctrine of God:

"The vast majority of Americans say they believe in God. I have no reason to question that – in fact I think they do. The problem is, “Which God do they believe in?” Is it the God who has revealed himself in history and in the pages of the Bible or is it the god of Islam, Mormonism, Hinduism, New Age thinking, pantheism or paganism? Is it a god of one of the world’s religions or a designer god of their own making? Our culture is very spiritual."

We will cover only the opening paragraph this week, following each of the next three weeks with each person of the Trinity separately. Let's look now at the opening paragraph of Article 2. Article 2: The Doctrine of God There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. 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. 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. The Incomprehensibility of God This word incomprehensible doesn't mean we can't know anything about God. We just cannot know God exhaustively. If we could, then God wouldn't be very great, would He? The only reason we know anything about God is that He desires to be known by His creatures, and reveals Himself to them. There is, and always will be more to know about God. Even in heaven we will not know all there is to know about Him. What a thought to consider; that in heaven we will never stop learning about Him, never stop being amazed, never grow tired of worshiping, throughout all eternity. This concept of incomprehensibility is not stated explicitly in the article, but the profusion of the absolutes (infinite, perfections, all powerful, all knowing, perfect, highest, and eternal) greatly imply the idea. One God The opening statement, There is one and only one living and true God rules out many things:

• dualism: two equal and opposite powers in the universe are locked in eternal combat.
• pantheism: all things are god or contain god.
• polytheism: there are many gods.

There is only one God: Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 46:9. May The Force Be with You God is Intellegent, Spiritual, and Personal, not an impersonal force or source of energy. No, He doesn't have a body like men, but He is intellegent and personal, and yes, He is a He. God is Active. To say that God is Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the Universe, is to say that he has been active, and still is, and forever will be, concerning the universe and His created beings.

• In creation: He created all that is.
• In redemption: When man fell, God made a way to redeem men.
• In preservation: He preserves all of creation, before and after the fall. Without Gods hand on the universe it would all fly apart into oblivion.
• In governance: God is in charge of this universe, which means nothing happens by accident.

To say that God is Creator is also to say that He was not created. He is self-existent. God is the only being who has the power of being in and of Himself. All others have a derived being, a contingent being. When Moses asked God's name at the burning bush in Exodus 3:14, God told Moses "I am who I am." God never refers to Himself as "I was", or "I will be". Unlike all of God's creatures, who are constantly changing, God just IS. In other words, there is no change in God (James 1:17). He, like His Son, is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Infinity God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. What do these words mean?

• holy: God is other, separate, in a class by Himself. He is not like man, or any other created being.
• infinite: God's holiness has no boundaries, no beginning or end. That is why God is incomprehensible. No one can get his mind completely around it all.
• all other perfections: This is just a quick way of saying that infinite in holiness is just the first in a long list of God's perfections. God's other perfections include immutability, omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, righteousness, truthfulness, love, judgment, and wrath.

Open Theism 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. Because of the relatively new aberration of Open Theism, this sentence was added in the 2000 BF&M. It restates, more pointedly, what the previous sentence obviously implies by all other [infinite] perfections. Open Theism states that God does not know the future, but He is a good guesser. God's word clearly teaches otherwise: I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,' (Isaiah 46:9, 10) Our Duty To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. It goes without saying that God, as described in this brief article, deserves nothing less than our highest love, reverence, and obedience; even as the catechism begins with: The chief end of man is to glorify God and to love Him forever. This is not just our obligation, this is the reason we were made. The Trinity 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. This last sentence sets up the next three sub-articles, each one dealing with a separate person of the Trinity. The wording of this sentence draws heavily from the historical creeds and confessions of Christianity. It carefully maintains the unity of one God, while affirming the mysterious reality of the Trinity. In the next three weeks we will be looking more closely at the three persons of the Godhead. Previous Lessons: Baptist, What Do You Believe? #1: Introduction: Creeds and Confessions Baptist, What Do You Believe? #2: Article I: The Doctrine of Scriptures Acknowledgement: I would like to express my appreciation for the Wednesday evening teaching series by Pastor Rod Harris, on the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. He was kind enough to give me his entire set of study notes and other resources on this series entitled What Does it Mean to be Baptist?, delivered between October 5, 2005 and March 29, 2006. In my lessons I have drawn heavily from his notes, as well as the delivered messages.