Mar 24
10
Catechetical Sermon
What Is God? (Part 3)
Baptist Catechism 7
Pastor Joe Anady
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Baptist Catechism 7
Q. 7. What is God?
A. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. (John 4:24; Ps. 147:5; Ps. 90:2; James 1:17; Rev. 4:8; Ps. 89:14; Exod. 34:6,7; 1 Tim. 1:17)
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Introduction
We are returning once again to Baptist Catechism 7. Truth be told, we could linger over this question and answer for a very long time, for it is prompting us to think and talk about God, and never will we cease to marvel over his greatness and his glory.
This is the third sermon on Baptist Catechism 7. Please allow me to remind you of a few things.
Firstly, the question is, What is God? This is a question about the nature of God. What it is he? We have learned that “God is a spirit…” He is not a physical being. He is invisible. He does not have a body. He is not composed of parts. He is simple.
Secondly, before we started to consider God’s attributes we learned that a better word to use is “perfections”. With God, his attributes, or characteristics, are perfections. For example, God is not merely loving, he is love.
Thirdly, in the previous sermon, I also warned that though we can know God truly, we cannot know him exhaustively. A finite mind cannot contain the infinite One. God knows himself exhaustively, and he has revealed himself to us truly, but to us, he remains incomprehensible.
Fourthly, as we began to consider God’s perfections, I warned of the danger of speaking about God’s perfections like this. It can give the impression that God is composed of many parts – that he is a collection of his many wonderful attributes or perfections. No, we must maintain that God is simple. Everything in God is God. For example, we may say that God’s love is his justice. In him, they are not distinguished. But if we wish to think and talk about God, we must consider his perfections one at a time because of our limited capacities.
Fifthly, I suggested some categories to place God’s perfections in that might help us to understand them. I’d like to expand upon that a little today.
One, may I suggest that the first three perfections of God mentioned by our catechism can be classified as incommunicable perfections. The word incommunicable signals that God in no way shares these attributes with man. God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and man is not. In fact, we are finite, created beings who undergo constant change. These attributes are utterly unique to God. They are incommunicable. But the seven perfections mentioned next are different. We may classify these as communicable attributes. They are God’s being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. You and I are beings, and we may be more or less wise, powerful, holy, just, good, and true. We share these attributes in common with God – he shares them with us – and so we call them communicable attributes. When it comes this this class of attributes, the thing that distinguishes us from God, is that God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth, whereas we are limited and ever-changing.
Two, I would like to reiterate a distinction that I introduced in the previous sermon but correct something. When it comes to the seven communicable attributes that are listed, I do believe they can be divided into two categories with holiness functioning as a hinge. Last Sunday I referred to the first three perfections as “essential” perfections. A better term would be “absolute”. These belong to God absolutely. They are his being, wisdom, and power. I referred to the last three perfections as relative. Why? Because we cannot conceive of them apart from the existence of a creature to whom God relates. They are his justice, goodness, and truth. God is perfectly just, good, and true… to his creatures. And so, we refer to these perfections as relative. I do believe that God’s holiness is mentioned right in the middle of this list for a reason. God is perfectly pure and holy, absolutely and in his essence, and therefore, he is always perfectly pure and holy in relation to us. Stated differently, God always does what is just, good, and true, because he is perfectly holy in his being, wisdom, and power. God’s justice, goodness, and truth are rooted in his holiness.
Three, there is one more way that we could classify these perfections of God, and that is by putting them into the categories of natural and moral. Naturally, God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, and power. This is his nature. Considered from a moral viewpoint, he is holy, just, good, and true.
We considered God’s being, wisdom, and power last Sunday. Let us now move on to consider God’s relative or moral perfections. As we do, we should keep in mind that these are all communicable.
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God Is Infinite, Eternal, And Unchangeable In Holiness
Firstly, God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his holiness.
I could be wrong, but I suspect that the holiness of God is given the central place in this list so that it might function as the hinge upon which the groupings of the absolute and relative perfections of God swing. God is holy in essence, and therefore God is holy in his dealings with man.
To be holy is to be pure. God is pure. This is the perfection of God that the Apostle John was highlighting when he wrote, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5, ESV).
To be holy is also to be set apart. God is holy in that he is not like us. Moses praised God for his holiness when he sang, “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11, ESV). The answer is, no one is like God. He is holy. He is pure, unique, and set apart.
The angels in heaven know that God is holy. Listen to Revelation 4:8: “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (Revelation 4:8, ESV). The angels give praise to the Triune God day and night and they praise him confessing him to be, holy, holy, holy.
The one who is pure and holy will always do what is right, pure, and holy, and that is what our catechism will emphasize next. God is holy in himself, and he is holy in all that he does.
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God Is Infinite, Eternal, And Unchangeable In Justice
Secondly, our catechism teaches that God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his justice.
To be just is to do what is right. God is just. His decrees are just. His actions are just. When we say that God is just, we also mean that he will perfectly punish evil and reward the good.
This truth should cause all sinners to tremble. It is easy to point at others – those who have done you wrong – or particularly bad men, like Hitler. But do not forget that we have all sinned against God. We all stand guilty before him. Will God simply pardon the guilty? If he did, he would not be just. What would you think of a human judge who simply pardoned criminals? You would say, that judge is unjust! And so too, God would be unjust if he simply overlooked our sin. It is under the category of the perfect justice of God that we may speak of his wrath. God will pour out his wrath upon all sinners on the day of judgment, and he will do so with perfect justice (see Hebrews 9:23, 1 Peter 2:23, Revelation 19:2, 20:11-15).
So is there hope for us? Yes, it is found at the cross of Christ. Jesus’ death on the cross had a lot to do with God’s justice. God does not forgive sinners by simply overlooking or ignoring their sins. No, he forgives sinners and remains just because Christ paid the penalty for their sins on the cross. Romans 3 is very important. It has a lot to say about sin and salvation through faith in Christ. After the Apostle Paul talks about the sacrifice that Christ made as a proposition, he remarks, “It was to show [God’s] righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26, ESV). So, how does God justify the ungodly and remain just? It was by laying the sins of his elect on Christ on the cross so that atonement for their sins could be made.
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God Is Infinite, Eternal, And Unchangeable In Goodness
Thirdly, God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his goodness.
God is good. It is under the category of God’s goodness that we may speak of his love, mercy, grace, and kindness.
1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:16, ESV).
Psalm 106:1 says, “Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!” (Psalm 106:1, ESV).
God is good. He shows mercy and grace to whomever he will. Listen to Exodus 33:18-19. Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, “‘Please show me your glory.’ And he said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:18–19, ESV).
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God Is Infinite, Eternal, And Unchangeable In Truth
Fourthly, and lastly, God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his truth.
When we say that God is true we mean that he speaks the truth. More than this, we mean that he is true to his word. God will always keep his promises. It is important to know what God has promised, therefore. It is also important to know that God is true, or we might say, faithful.
Psalm 117:2 speaks of God, saying, “For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 117:2, ESV)
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Conclusion
There is so much more that we could say in response to the question, What is God? The answer provided by our catechism is a very good start. It is a firm foundation to build upon. God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.
