Baptist Catechism: Question Seven

John 4:24
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Job 11:7-9
7  “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? 8  It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? 9  Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.

Psalm 110:2
2  The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies!

James 1:17
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Exodus 3:14
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”

Psalm 147:5
5  Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Revelation 4:8
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 15:4
4  Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Exodus 34:6
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,


Today we discuss, “What is God?” The 1695 Baptist catechism beautifully summarizes a much larger comprehensive section of the 1689 London Baptist Confession. Memorizing such a question and answer is so beneficial and helps us gain a confident foundation of who God is.
The catechism says, “A. God is a Spirit (John 4:24), infinite (Job 11:7, 8, 9), eternal (Ps. 110:2), and unchangeable (Jas. 1:17) in his being (Ex. 3:14), wisdom (Ps. 147:5), power (Rev. 4:8), holiness (Rev. 15:4), justice, goodness, and truth (Ex. 34:6).”

But this catechism summarizes chapter two, section 1 & 2.

1) The Lord our God is one, the only living and true God.1  He is self-existent2 and infinite in being and perfection. His essence cannot be understood by anyone but him.3  He is a perfectly pure spirit.4  He is invisible and has no body, parts, or changeable emotions.a He alone has immortality, dwelling in light that no one can approach.5  He is unchangeable,6 immense,b,7 eternal,8 incomprehensible, almighty,9 in every way infinite, absolutely holy,10 perfectly wise, wholly free, completely absolute. He works all things according to the counsel of his own unchangeable and completely righteous will11 for his own glory.12  He is most loving, gracious, merciful, and patient. He overflows with goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. He rewards those who seek him diligently.13  At the same time, he is perfectly just and terrifying in his judgments.14  He hates all sin15 and will certainly not clear the guilty.16

(a)passions
(b)transcends all space
11 Corinthians 8:4, 6; Deuteronomy 6:4. 2Jeremiah 10:10; Isaiah 48:12. 3Exodus 3:14. 4John 4:24. 51 Timothy 1:17; Deuteronomy 4:15, 16. 6Malachi 3:6. 71 Kings 8:27; Jeremiah 23:23. 8Psalm 90:2. 9Genesis 17:1. 10Isaiah 6:3. 11Psalm 115:3; Isaiah 46:10. 12Proverbs 16:4; Romans 11:36. 13Exodus 34:6, 7; Hebrews 11:6. 14Nehemiah 9:32, 33. 15Psalm 5:5, 6. 16Exodus 34:7; Nahum 1:2, 3.
 


2) God has all life,17 glory,18 goodness,19 and blessedness in and of himself; he alone is all-sufficient in himself. He does not need any creature he has made nor does he derive any glory from them.20  Instead, he demonstrates his own glory in them, by them, to them, and upon them. He alone is the source of all being, and everything is from him, through him, and to him.21  He has absolute sovereign rule over all creatures, to act through them, for them, or upon them as he pleases.22  In his sight everything is open and visible.23  His knowledge is infinite and infallible. It does not depend upon any creature, so for him nothing is contingent or uncertain.24  He is absolutely holy in all his plans, in all his works,25 and in all his commands. Angels and human beings owe to him all the worship,26 service, or obedience that creatures owe to the Creator and whatever else he is pleased to require of them.

17John 5:26. 18Psalm 148:13. 19Psalm 119:68. 20Job 22:2, 3. 21Romans 11:34–36. 22Daniel 4:25, 34, 35. 23Hebrews 4:13. 24Ezekiel 11:5; Acts 15:18. 25Psalm 145:17. 26Revelation 5:12–14.


These attributes and characteristics of God show his majesty and uniqueness. Each attribute could be each own post, but maybe in another series. As the catechism told us before, our existence revolves around Him. He creates us, He purposes us, and as we will learn later, He makes us humans in His image, after His own likeness. In this respect for this post, He gives us His communicable attributes. More on that in a later post within this series.

Take some time to dive deeper into these noted attributes of God. This is the God we serve and worship. He is the living and true God

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