Bible Doctrines I

Section 1:

THE DOCTRINE OF
SCRIPTURES
“Thy Word is Truth.”
Bible Doctrines I
Introduction to Bible Doctrines (Systematic Theology)
L E S S O N O N E

[1] Course name:

Doctrine: This word simply means teaching. Thus, this class concerns the great teachings found in
God’s Word, the Bible. Studying Bible doctrines means studying systematic theology.
[2] What is theology?
[a] Basic Definition: “The study or science of God” (Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 21).
[b] Expanded definition: “Theology is the science of God and his relationship to man and the
world” (B.B. Warfield; Henry Clarence Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, 2)
[c] Even more expanded definition: “[T]hat discipline which strives to give a coherent statement
of the doctrines of the Christian faith, based primarily upon the Scriptures, placed in the
context of culture in general, worded in a contemporary idiom, and related to issues of life”
(Erickson, 21).
[d] Summary: Specifically, theology means “study of God;” generally, theology can refer to
Christian doctrines.
[3] Why “systematic”?
In handling a particular Bible doctrine, systematic theology draws from all of Scriptures. After
gathering data from the Scriptures, systematic theology organizes or systematizes them into
categories. [Illus. The doctrine of Holy Spirit = ministry, characteristic/attributes, etc.]

The Process of Systematic Theology

1. Gather passages. 2. Extract truths/principles from each passage. 3. Organize into categories.

Passages on the Truths of Passages about the Organized/systematized

Holy Spirit Holy Spirit presentation of the Bible’s
teaching on the Holy Spirit
1. Acts 5:3-4
1. Acts 5:3-4 (He is God.)
2. John 16:8 I. His Person/Characteristics
2. John 16:8 (He convicts.) A. Acts 5:3-4 (He is God)
3. John 14:16
3. John 14:16 (He will continue B. Matt.28:19 (He is equal
4. Matt.28:19
the work of Christ) with the Father and the
5. II Pet. 1:19-21 4. Matt.28:19 (He is equal with Son)
6. Titus 3:5 the Father and the Son) C. Heb. 9:14 (He is eternal)
7. Heb. 9:14 5. II Pet. 1:19-21 (He guided the
II. His Works
Bible writers)
A. John 16:18 (He convicts)
6. Titus 3:5 (He regenerates.) B. John 14:16 (He will
7. Heb. 9:14 (He is eternal.) continue the work of
Christ)
C. II Pet. 1:19-21 (He guided
the Bible writers)
D. Titus 3:5 (He regenerates)

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[4] Why Study Theology?
[a] Wrong conceptions: Studying theology is dry and impractical. Theology is detrimental to
spiritual life: “Doctrine divides; all we need to know is this— ‘Do you love Jesus?’”
[b] Remember our definition of theology: “The science of God and his relationship to man and
the world.” God is the most important subject matter! Because God is the center of theology,
doctrine is central to man’s life. Through it we know and properly relate with God. Theology
presents the “real” reality, instructing us on how to live truly, properly. [Thus, this is one the
most relevant classes that you could ever take because it brings you face to face with what is
real. The world is in such a mess because its focus is not on God, but on man-humanistic.]
[c] Challenge: Do you want to know God better? Think more accurately about Him? Relate to
Him as closely as possible? Have an enhanced ability to teach others? Give yourself wholly to
the study of Bible doctrines. Welcome to Bible Doctrines 1.
[d] Objection: “I am not a theologian! I am just an ordinary Christian.”
[e] Answer to objection: Someone has said that everyone who knows God is a theologian. A more
accurate statement is that all men are theologians! The issue is not whether you have a
theology or not; the issue is what kind of theology you have: correct or wrong.
[f] Theology and Preachers/Teachers
[i] “The study of systematic theology is the most indispensable preparation for the preacher”
(Warfield on P. Kamibayashiyama’s notes on Introduction to Systematic Theology).
[ii] Grasping truth is essential to giving truth. Students must “learn to know truth before they
can think of presenting it…They acquire a love for the proclaiming of the truth for the
salvation of souls through a loving, comprehensive, absorbing study of the truth which
saves souls” (Professor Flint on P. Kamibayashiyama)
[iii]“It is through the truth by which souls are saved. The preacher must proclaim the truth.
Thus, it is his fundamental duty to be possessed by the truth” (Warfield on P.
Kamibayashiyama). Our desire is not merely head knowledge for the exam, but convictions
for life and ministry.
[g] Challenge: Some in the past have twisted (purposely or inadvertently) the message of the
Scriptures (2 Pet. 3:16). As we study doctrines, let us make it our goal to let Scriptures speak
and determine our theology. In cases where our theology does not match the Bible’s, let us be
willing to change. Be resolved that we will never force the Scriptures to say what we want.

[5] The Nature of Systematic Theology

[a] The Greek philosopher Aristotle states that theology is “the queen of the sciences;” God is its
subject.
[b] Systematic Theology: the doctrines have been arranged into an orderly system.

[6] The Role of Systematic Theology: The development of Systematic Theology and its relationship
with the other branches of theology
[a] Exegetical Theology: What does God’s Word mean?
[i] Textual Criticism or Lower Criticism (“Criticism”—evaluation)
[ii] Biblical Introduction or Higher Criticism (Background, Canonicity, audience, occasion,
date)
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[iii] Hermeneutics: study of the rules that govern proper interpretation of the biblical text
(interpret poetry, narrative, epistle, prophecy, etc.)
[iv] Example: “The Word was made flesh…” (Jn.1:14) [“Who is the Word? What is the
meaning of flesh?]

Building on exegetical theology is …

[b] Biblical Theology: What has God revealed in His Word? What did God say?
[i] E.g., what does Romans teach and what does it teach about sin (Wide-angle lens. See it
all together.)
[ii] Once you have examined all these small portions, you see what it all means together.
[iii] Example: “The Word was made flesh” means, “the Son of God became man.”
[iv] Biblical Theology limits itself to the statements that God has revealed.
[c] Systematic Theology: What is true about God?
[*} There is more truth about God than the Scripture contains.
◼ The Bible does include all the truth we need to know for life & godliness.
[i] It builds on Biblical theology
[ii] It organizes truth into categories.
[iii] It draws conclusions. [e.g. Trinity]
[iv] Argumentation/objection: Someone may ask, “Should not we stop short of drawing
conclusions that the Bible does not make?” “Isn’t it wrong to make a conclusion that the
Bible itself does not make?”
[v] Answer to argumentation/objection: But these conclusions may be:
[1] Necessary: God may be expecting us to draw these conclusions!
Illustration: Christ and the Sadducees (Mark 12:18-27)
[2] Good & right:
Illustration: “Would my baby go to heaven?”
[3] Speculative & useless:
Illustrations: Origin of soul; “how many angels can stand on the head of a pin?”
They may be correct, but not enough evidence, and it does not matter anyway!
[4] Wrong: misleading people from the truth into error
Illustrations: Jesus was God’s instrument to save us. Jesus can never be equal
with the Father (JWs). Limited atonement (1 John 2:2; Heb. 2:9)
Application: We must realize that we could also draw wrong conclusions. Be
careful.

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BIBLICAL THEOLOGY AND SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY

Biblical Theology Systematic Theology

Simple Complex

Historical in Character Topical in Character

Scripture alone Biblical Theology + conclusions

“What did God say?” “What is true about God?”

[d] Historical Theology: What have people thought about God in the past?
[i] A critical survey of previous attempts to state theology (Especially interesting in the early
centuries).
[ii] Two ways: 1] What did they believe about God during this period of time?
Or 2] what did they think about a certain doctrine through the centuries? More
comprehensive
[iii] Does not interpret the Scripture directly, but reflects and records what people think about
certain doctrines of Scriptures
[e] Practical Theology: How should people respond to God today? (How does theology apply to
life?)
[i] Seeks to apply the knowledge of God to human needs to bring people into conformity to
Him.
[ii] Subsets:
[1] Pastoral theology
[2] Homiletics: science of preparation & presentation of God’s Word in a public format
How best to do that? Characteristics
[3] Missions
[4] Ethics
Pastoral Theology
Systematic Theology
Biblical Theology
Exegetical Theology

[7] The Value of Systematic Theology

[a] Teaching Truth: It makes the study of God’s Word available to people in capsule form.
[b] Refuting Error: It equips believers to identify and refute false teachers. (I Tim. 4:16)
• False teaching can be systematic (INC).
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• What is our weapon against error?( Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath
been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the
gainsayers.)
• ST will help us to help those being led into error (I Timothy 4:16 Take heed unto
thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save
thyself, and them that hear thee.)
[8] Dangers of Systematic Theology
[a] The “system” becomes a substitute for the Bible.
[i] Because the system is simpler and easier to study (laziness)
[ii] Because the system resolves the difficulties (no paradoxes)
[ii] Because a system is held by strong personalities (convincing, gifted theologians)
• Note that the values of ST are its dangers. (e.g., Fire provides heat and light. E.g.,
Automobile’s speed)
• How do you get the value & avoid the danger? Careful control. Check against Scripture.
[b] Theological Drift: What is the focus of study?
[i] When the system becomes the key object of study (Some Bible schools teach a system.)
[ii] Conclusions are based on previous conclusions. (see diagram below)
[iii] The system (or the conclusion based on previous conclusions) drifts from Scripture
[iv] Illustration: Scriptural truth #1: God used Mary to bring Christ to the world; Scriptural
truth #2: Jesus is God; Conclusion #1: Mary is the mother of God; Conclusion #2 may
be: Mary can intercede for us (Other example: God elected people for salvation; Christ
only died for the elect; we must not extend public invitation to accept Jesus OR soul
winning and missions are irrelevant; Mary gave birth to Christ; she has a part in our
redemption; she can help us now)

Truth/”System” of truth DIAGRAM: Theological Drift

BIBLE
Conclusion

Conclusion

Conflict

[9] Limitations of Theology (This will help us to realize that we cannot see as clearly.) (Strong, pp. 34-36)
[a] Finiteness of Human Understanding
• Sometimes we encounter mysteries beyond our comprehension
• There is no way we can get an infinite God compressed in our finite brain.
• Job 11:7-8 Searching for God is not fruitless, but we are limited.
• Rom. 9-11 concludes w/ this exaltation of God, in 11:33-34
• John 16:12, after 3 years of intense training.
• Psa. 119:18, for our encouragement; he prayed.
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[b] Imperfect state of science
[i] There are truths that, taken by themselves, are comprehensible. But when they are placed
alongside by other seemingly contradictory truths, we cannot comprehend.
[ii] There are some truths that are so big that we cannot hold both at the same time and
understand them. E.g., God is one. God exists in three persons.
[iii] Realize the problem is with us, not with God. Just because we cannot understand, it does
not mean that it is illogical.
[c] Inadequacy of (human) language
• Every science is dependent upon language to communicate its statements.
• He does not tell us everything He knows because our language is inadequate.
[d] Incompleteness of our knowledge of Scripture.
[e] Silence of written revelation
[*] Scripture tells us much more than we’ll understand. But there is more!
[f] Lack of Spiritual discernment
Our continued sinfulness effectively serves to be a hindrance/cloud to our spiritual condition at
that moment. Sin affects our ability to understand. Even with sin confessed, we still our
hindered by our sin nature.

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Existence of God1
L E S S O N T W O

The Goal of Bible Doctrines I: “To show that God exists and that God has spoken.
I. The belief in the existence of God is intuitive (“instinctive”).

*** “A belief is intuitive if it is universal and necessary” (25).

A. Belief in the existence of God is universal.
1. God made His existence known through His creation (Rom. 1:18-21).
a. In v. 18 the wrath of God is revealed. Why?
b. First part of the answer: because people (Gentiles) knew about God (v.19, [ESV—“For
what can be known is plain to them”; NSAB--“evident to them ). How?
c. “God hath shewed it unto them” HOW?
d. Explanation in v.20 [“from” = since] Creation manifests God’s attributes (particularly
His great power and Deity) SAY POINT – God made His existence known through His
creation.
e. Illustration: Isaac Newton: “Thumb marks are enough proofs that God exists.”
f. Bridge: What is the result of man’s awareness of God’s existence? “So that they are
without excuse.” Without excuse for what?—The wrath of God. How does the
awareness of God’s existence makes mankind inexcusable to God’s wrath? ANSWER:
Because of what they did to that awareness of God (v.21)
2. Paul uses man’s awareness of God’s existence as a basis of God’s judgment (Rom 1:21).
3. Religion is universal.
a. Religion involves “awareness of the supernatural” (26)
b. Illus. Every katutubo tribe in the Philippines has their own religion or belief in a
supreme being (“Bathala”)
c. ARGUMENTATION: I thought the Bible states that “no one seeks after God”?
(Rom.3:11). The false worship going on in the mountains; the idolatry in the city; are
not indications that man seeks after God; Actually it is the opposite (cf. vv.21, 23)—
proof of rejection of God. IT ONLY TESTIFIES TO THEIR AWARENESS OF GOD’S
EXISTENCE
B. Belief in the existence of God is “necessary.”
Thiessen explains, “It is necessary in the sense that we cannot deny his existence without doing
violence to the very laws of our nature. If we deny it, the denial is forced and can only be
temporary” (26)
a. It is part of us. By default we believe in God’s existence.
b. Illus. Compass (removal of outside influence brings one back to the affirmation of
God’s existence)

1 Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 25-31.
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C. Objections:
1. Belief in the existence of God is not intuitive because the idea of God’s existence is only a
product of man’s (advance) thinking.
a. Man does not have to think hard to arrive at the existence of God. On the contrary,
“Man is constrained to accept it” (ibid).
b. Higher education tends to bring man to denial, not acceptance of God’s existence.
(“[b]oth agnosticism and atheism are found more frequently among the so-called
educated than the uneducated, who have no training in reasoning [26-27).
2. Belief in the existence of God is not intuitive because possibly, man got this idea from
“earlier revelations of God” (Written, oral???)
a. Groups of people around the world worship a deity, even though they do not have
an access to God’s revelation.
b. God’s law is written on the heart of man (Rom.2:14-16).
II. The existence of God is assumed by Scriptures.
A. The Bible did not begin with an argument for God’s existence (cf. Gen. 1:1).
B. Specifically, the biblical writers “wrote with certitude concerning the existence of God to
readers who were likewise assured of his existence” (27).
III. The belief in the existence of God is corroborated (supported, confirmed) by arguments.
*Thiessen’s reminder: the arguments are cumulative evidence. Standing alone, an argument is
inadequate as an evidence; together, these arguments are “sufficient to bind conscience and compel
belief” (ibid)
A. The cosmological argument.
1. Argument stated (ibid):
Thiessen’s employment of syllogism
a. Major premise: “‘Everything begun must have an adequate cause.’”
b. Minor premise: “The universe was begun.”
c. Conclusion: “The universe must have an adequate cause for its production.”
2. Scripture support: Hebrews 3:4—“For every house is built by someone, but the builder of
all things is God.”
3. The universe had a beginning because it is not eternal.
a. Changes in astronomy
b. Changes in geology
c. Law of entropy (2nd Law of thermodynamics)
i. Universe is deteriorating
ii. Deterioration = not self-sustaining = had beginning
4. Weakness/challenge: “‘If every existing thing has an adequate cause, this also applies to
God’” (28).
5. Contributions (ibid)
a. “The first cause was outside the universe.”
b. “The first cause was intelligent.”
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B. The teleological argument
1. Argument sated (ibid)
a. Major premise: “Order and useful arrangement in a system imply intelligence and
purpose in the organizing cause.”
b. Minor premise: “The universe is characterized by order and useful arrangement.”
c. Conclusion: “The universe has an intelligent and free cause.”
2. Scripture supports:
a. Psalm 19:1—“The heavens declare the glory of God…”
b. Psalm 94:9—“He that planted the ear, shall he not hear…” Romans 1:18-23
3. Objection #1: It is possible to have “order and useful arrangement without design, that
things may be due to the operation of law or chance” (29).
4. Answer to objection #1: The laws of nature presuppose a lawgiver and sustainer.
5. Objection #2: Man has useless organs.
6. Answer to objection #2: Modern science discovered functions for some of the so called
“useless organs.” Inability to determine the function of an organ does not necessarily
make that particular part of the body useless.
7. Contributions of the teleological argument
a. Not only that “the first cause is intelligent and free;”
b. “The first cause is [also] outside of the universe (extramundane).
c. “The first cause is [also] incomprehensibly great.”
8. Limitation: This argument “proves that a great and intelligent architect fashioned the
word, but it does not prove that he was God” (ibid).
C. The ontological argument
1. Argument stated: All men are aware of the existence of God; the intuitive belief in
God’s existence is proof that God exists (30).
2. One theologian explains, “This argument ‘argues that we have an idea of God. This idea
of God is infinitely greater than man himself. Hence, it cannot have its origin in man. It
can only have its origin in God Himself” (Hoeksema in Thiessen, ibid).
3. Limitation: standing alone, this argument is an inadequate proof of God’s existence.
4. Contribution: that the designer, who is outside of creation, is infinite and perfect. (This
is the universal conception of God by men.)
D. The moral argument (conscience)
1. Argument stated: “Conscience recognizes the existence of a great lawgiver and the
certainty of the punishment of all violations of is law” (31). Conscience involves…
a. “sense of obligation, of what is right and wrong,
b. undeniable feeling of responsibility to do what is right (found in all religions)
c. and a sense of self-condemnation” when evil is committed (30)

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2. Contribution: Because moral laws (conscience) are not from men, therefore “there is a
holy will that imposes this law and a punitive power that will execute the threats of our
moral nature” (31). In other words, “conscience recognizes the existence of a great
lawgiver and the certainty of the punishment of all violations of his law” (31).
E. The argument form congruity
1. Argument stated:
a. Simply stated, belief in the existence of God is in line with (consistent with; in
harmony with) what is true about man and the universe.
b. Thiessen’s words: “[T]he belief in the existence of God best explains the facts of
our moral, mental, and religious nature, as well as the facts of the material universe;
therefore, God exists” (ibid).
2. Contribution: “[T]he belief in the existence of God best explains the facts” concerning
man and the universe (ibid). unlike non-Christian worldviews (atheism, agnosticism,
pantheism)
3. Thiessen’s atom illustration
a. No one can directly observe the particles that make up an atom. Without the atom it
is hard to explain what particle does; in fact, without the atom, we will not know
that those particles exist.
b. Without acknowledging the existence of God, men’s mental, moral, and religious
nature, and the existence of the universe itself will be hard to explain (innate)

F. Summary
1. Contribution of cosmological arguments: necessity of the first cause that is an
extramundane and an intelligent being.
2. Contribution of teleological argument: necessity of a great designer that is outside the
universe and “incomprehensibly great” (29).
3. Contribution of ontological argument: that the designer, who is outside of creation, is
infinite and perfect.
4. Contribution of moral argument: “conscience recognizes the existence of a great
lawgiver and the certainty of the punishment of all violations of his law” (31).
5. Contribution argument from congruity: “[T]he belief in the existence of God best
explains the facts” concerning man and the universe (ibid)

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Non-Christian Worldviews
L E S S O N T H R E E

OVERVIEW
❖ Atheistic View: No God
❖ Agnostic View: Can’t have knowledge of God
❖ Pantheistic View: All is God
❖ Polytheistic View: Many gods
❖ Dualistic View: Two gods
❖ Deistic View: Absentee God
I. The Atheistic View: “No God” (Google—17,600,000 hits) (2011-71, 500,000)
A. Broad definition: “[F]ailure to recognize the only true God” (32).
*This definition renders all religions other than true Christianity as atheistic.
B. Narrow definition: three types of atheism
1. Practical atheism: regardless of one’s profession, a practical atheist lives as if there is no
God.
2. Dogmatic atheism: self-confessed, outspoken atheist.
a. Definition from Atheist Foundation of Australia—“Atheism is the acceptance that
there is no credible scientific or factually reliable evidence for the existence of god,
gods, or the supernatural” (www.atheistfoundation.org.au)

3. Virtual atheism: a virtual atheist either “holds to certain

principles that are inconsistent with belief in God” (Naturalist,
evolutionist) or defines God in a way that destroys the very
essence of the term “God.”
C. Refutation (ibid)
1. Atheism is an unsatisfactory position: leaves one with
inward emptiness. (no answer to the need of forgiveness; no
fellowship with God; no real peace and genuine happiness)
2. Atheism is an unstable position: leaves one wrestling
against his/her intuitive knowledge of God’s existence.
3. Atheism is an arrogant position: “[I]t really pretends to be
omniscient” (33).

II. The Agnostic View: “Can’t have knowledge of God”

A. Basic tenet (belief): It is impossible to truly know God (His existence, nature, and creation).
B. Agnosticism applied to science: Positivism
1. “Positivism” refers to “non-metaphysical …philosophy” (www.marxist.org).
2. “Metaphysical” refers “to a reality beyond what is perceptible to the senses” (Merriam-
Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary).
3. “If you cannot observe it, if you cannot verify it with experience, then it cannot be true.”

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4. The idea of God cannot be subject to examination; therefore, the idea of God cannot be
true, or at least cannot be truly known.
C. Agnosticism applied to philosophy and theology: Pragmatism
1. Assumption #1: Special revelation and man’s reason are not enough to lead us to reality.
2. Example: “Does God really exist or is atheism correct? Agnostic answer: “You can’t
really know for sure.”
3. Assumption #2: Even though you can’t really know what is true, you have to choose one
that you will hold; it will be harmful for you if you don’t. Choose what “yields the best
result” (Thiessen, 34).
4. An agnostic may believe in the existence of God but not for the same reasons why we
believers believe in God’s existence. They believe in God’s existence because it yields
more benefit to them than believing that there is no God.
5. Although an agnostic may hold that God exists, he does not care whether others do not.
His thinking is, “I believe in God, you do not; that is ok. Because what’s ‘good’ for me
may not be good for you.”
D. Refutation
1. Agnosticism is unsatisfactory:
a. It is spiritually unsatisfactory because it leaves one with inward emptiness.
b. It is intellectually unsatisfactory because it promotes “adoption of tentative views
as working hypotheses” (34).
2. Agnosticism is unstable: no reality!
3. “Agnosticism often displays false humility”: God provided enough evidences of His
existence (ibid).
III. The Pantheistic View: “All is God”
A. Basic tenet: “Everything is part of ‘one eternal and self-existent being. It regards God as one
with the natural universe. God is all; all is God’” (34).
B. Distinction between Pantheism and Christianity: the issue of God’s transcendence and
immanence (He is above His creation)
Pantheism believes in a “common originating cause of principle” (36); Christianity also
believes in the “originating cause” but distinguishes that originating cause (God) from things
created.
C. Leading types of pantheism (Diversity within pantheism)
1. Materialistic pantheism
a. Matter: “substance of which a physical object is composed…material substance
that occupies space and has mass”
b. Basic tenet: “holds that matter is the cause of all life and mind.”
c. This presupposes that matter is eternal and life just happened (no life giver).
d. God is equal to nature or the entire universe.
2. Hylozo'ism and Panpsychism
a. Two terms refer to the same theory.
b. Basic tenet: “every particle of matter has, besides its physical properties (‘atoms’),
a principle of life (‘little souls’)” (35).
c. God is “the soul of the world” (ibid).
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3. Neutralism
a. Basic tenet: Mind (what you think) and matter (what you see, touch) do not represent
reality (what is true) (ibid); mind and matter are only “appearances or aspects” of one
substance (“neutral stuff”) (ibid).
b. God is this one substance.
4. Idealism: Basic tenet: reality as the product of “the individual mind or of the infinite mind”
(ibid).
5. Philosophical mysticism: Basic tenet: no distinction between man and his world (man is not
like the world but essentially the same as the world): “God is all; all is God.”
D. Refutation: Pantheism blurs the distinction between God and His creation.
1. Pantheism distorts the true nature of God: God becomes a part of His creation.
2. Pantheism distorts the true nature of man: man becomes a part of God.
3. Pantheism “make[s] all rational religion impossible” (37): who’s going to worship who???

IV. The Polytheistic View: “Many gods”

A. Example: “Popular Hinduism is idolatrous with 200 million holy cows and a pantheon of 33
million gods” (Patrick Johnston, Operation World [Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co.,
1993], 274).
B. “Monotheism was the original religion of mankind” (38).
C. “The first departure from monotheism seems to have been in the direction of nature worship”
(ibid).
D. Key passage and biblical ideas that refute? Deut 6:5; Isa 45:5, 6, 21
E. Application: Praise the Lord for His grace! Indeed it is amazing! Read Baptist Centennial, p.1.

V. The Dualistic View: “Two gods”

A. Basic tenet: “[T]here are two distinct and irreducible substances of principles” (ibid).
B. Example: Eternal coexistence of good and evil.
C. Example: Gnostics at the beginning of church history: teaching on the supreme God (good
God) and a demiurge (evil God).
1. Application: There was a time when there was no evil (First two chapters of the Bible);
There will be a time when evil will be no more (Last two chapters of the Bible)
VI. The Deistic View: “Absentee God”
A. Basic tenet: After creating the universe and the natural laws that governs it, God abandoned
His creation; man is left to himself.
B. Thus, “Deism denies special revelation, miracles, and providence” (40). Because these
involves divine intervention
C. Refutation
1. Deism neglected what Pantheism overemphasized: God’s immanence.
2. God’s miracles and providence are real (Lolo Jose).
3. “Deists obtain much of their religious dogma form the Bible” (ibid).
4. Key passage and Biblical ideas? Colossians 1:17—“And He (the Son) is before all
things, and by him all things consist.”
5. The existence of the Bible disproves the notion of an absentee God.
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Bible Doctrines I
The Scriptures: The Embodiment of God’s Revelation2
L E S S O N F O U R

Introduction: So evidence shows God exists, but how do we know more about Him? Where did He
reveal Himself? RC – Church, Pope; Us – Scriptures alone!
 “Embodiment:” God revealed Himself in a special way. That special revelation is the Scriptures.
“Do you want to know, see, or possess God’s revelation? Here’s the Bible. The Scriptures do not
simply contain God’s revelation; it is, in its entirety, God’s revelation.
 Lesson’s purpose: Through series of arguments, our purpose for this lesson is to assert that God has
revealed Himself in written form, and that that written revelation is the Holy Scriptures.
I. The A Priori Argument
A. Has three parts: two declarations and one conclusion
B. First part (first declaration): Man is in great need:
1. A sinner helplessly condemned
a. Condemned
b. Bent away from God (Isa. 53:6—“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way”)
c. Ignorant of God (His plan of salvation, purposes)
i. 1 Peter 1:14—“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to
the former lusts in your ignorance:”)
ii. Ephesians 1:18—“Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness of their heart:”
d. Blinded (of his true condition before God—Eph. 1:18—“Blindness of their heart”)
e. Unable (Romans 5:6—“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ
died for the ungodly.”)
2. In need of God’s revelation: In order for man to be redeemed, rescued from his helpless
condition, God must communicate to man (General revelation is not enough).
3. Summary: Man’s condition necessitates God’s special revelation (“infallible instruction
concerning …his eternal welfare” p.43).
C. Second part: (second declaration): God has great attributes
1. He is omniscient; therefore He knows our needs.
2. He is holy; therefore He cannot simply forgive us without dealing with our sins.
3. He is loving and kind; therefore “[H]e may be moved” to devise man’s salvation. He’s
sovereign
4. He is omnipotent; therefore He can reveal Himself in written revelation.
D. Third part (the conclusion): Because of man’s great need and God’s great attributes, one may
“expect a revelation from God” (p.43). (ILLUS. Church in great need and a rich giver)
E. Contribution: Belief in a written divine revelation—belief that the Bible is the embodiment of
God’s revelation—is reasonable.

2 Ibid, 43-49.
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Bible Doctrines I
F. Limitation: argues only the possibility or probability, not the actuality, of a written divine
revelation.
1. Because of man’s need, God COULD be moved to save man.
2. Remember that our condemned condition is deserved. God can still maintain all His
great attributes had He chosen not to communicate with man after the Fall.
II. The Argument from Analogy
A. “Analogy:”
1. A good synonym for the word “analogy” is “similarity.”
2. An analogy is comparing two different things, with special attention given on their
similarity.
3. Illustrations: “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our
transgressions from us”—Psalm 103:12.
B. This argument has two parts.
C. First part: Man has the ability to communicate effectively.
1. Effective communication: clearly understood
2. Man communicates especially when there is a need to do so.
3. Even animals have some form of communication. (Forms of animal communication by
http://ilil.essortment.com/communicationan_oay.htm)
a. Visual: expansion of cobra’s skin to signal attack
b. Sounds: “cricket rubs its front legs against each other to warn an opponent” (when
threaten?)
***If beings (man) are communicators by nature, certainly it is not unthinkable for God, the
Creator, to directly communicate with man.
D. Second part: There are evident signs of reparative goodness in nature and evidences of God’s
forbearance “in the life of individuals and nations” (p.44).
***If God provides “healing of many ills in the plant and animal world and [shows] that he
deals patiently and benevolently with mankind in general, [then it] proves that he does come to
the help of his needy creatures” (ibid). God is merciful; therefore, it is not unthinkable for God
to provide a revelation that will meet the greatest need of man.
1. Examples of reparative goodness: “healing of limbs, cure of diseases” (ibid)
2. Example of God’s forbearance: “delay of judgment” (ibid)
E. Contribution: Strengthens the possibility of God’s direct revelation to meet man’s need.
F. Limitation: Although it strengthens the possibility of divine revelation, this argument does not
prove that God’s revelation is found or “embodied” in written form.
III. The Argument from the Indestructibility of the Bible
A. The Bible stood the test of time.
1. Very few books continue to remain for a thousand years.
2. The Pentateuch, authored by Moses, was written in 15th century B.C. The first five
books of our Bible survived for more than 3 thousand years.
B. The Bible stood the test of time in spite of great “persecution and opposition” (p.45)
1. The royal edict of Diocletian in A.D. 303: confiscate and burn Scriptures

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a. Thinking that he succeeded: “He caused a medal to be struck with the inscription,
‘The Christian religion is destroyed and the worship of the gods restored’” (ibid).
b. In A.D. 313, Emperor Constantine officially tolerated Christianity in the Empire.
2. The hatred of the French infidel Voltaire: in 1750 predicted the obliteration of
Christianity within 100 years3
a. Geneva Bible Society later bought Voltaire’s house and used it for printing Bibles.
b. “Later [Voltaire’s house] became the Paris headquarters for the British and Foreign
Bible Society.”
3. The Anglican Church and William Tyndale
a. The Anglican Church (State Church of England) forbids Bible translation in
English.
b. Tyndale finished translating the N.T. in A.D. 1525.
C. Contribution: A divine revelation intended for all men will certainly remain; the Scripture
displays this characteristic; believing that the Bible is the embodiment of God’s revelation is
reasonable.
IV. The Argument from the Character of the Bible
A. The contents of the Bible
1. Its conception of God
2. Its conception of mankind (fall, salvation, and destiny)
B. The unity of the Bible
1. It was written by about 40 human authors.
2. It was written “over a period of about 1,600 years” (p.46). (People think differently 100
years ago [Example: “who is God” question]. Sometime people change how they view
things IN THEIR LIFE TIME!)
3. “It has one doctrinal system, one moral standard (OT God, bad; NT good = destruction
of the Canaanites), one plan of salvation …” (Ibid).
4. It has no real contradiction.
a. “I frankly find it difficult to believe that it was God’s will that every Canaanite
…be slaughtered. Since the Bible clearly says that this was God’s will, I must
conclude that the Bible writers in this case were mistaken.”[ Stephen T Davis, The
Debate About the Bible. Philadelphia (Westminster Press, 1977), 97]
b. Must have a correct understanding of who God is and who the Canaanites were
i. Utter wickedness of the Canaanites: child sacrifice; sexual perversion
ii. Great threat to Israel’s purity: Incident at Baal Peor
iii. Absolute holiness of God: must judge sin; waited for over 400 years (Gen
15:16)

c. The extermination of the Canaanites establishes the coherent morality of the Bible.
C. Contribution: The great contents and unity of the Scripture testify to the supernatural nature of
the Bible; the Bible is God’s revelation inscripturated.

3 http://www.horizonsnet.org/sermons/oc02.html.
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V. The Argument from the Influence of the Bible
A. Thiessen points out the broad, positive influence of the Scripture: “in art (Illus. painting
biblical subjects), architecture (Illus. Churches), literature (Illus. Pilgrims Progress) …music,”
and even in politics and social issues (Illus. Slavery, John Newton) (p.47).
B. Thiessen briefly mentions (what I think to be) the greatest “influence” the Bible has. God’s
Word is a means of God’s regenerating work in man.
1. James 1:18 Of his own will begat he us with (“by” or “through”) the word of truth, that
we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures
2. 1 Peter 1:23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
3. God’s regenerating work through the Word is not only an influence but a miracle!
Perhaps the greatest miracle is not the parting of the mighty Red Sea, nor the restoration
of the eyes dead from birth; the greatest miracle is the alteration, nay, the recreation of
man’s sinful to become truly dependent, submissive, and loving God! (Illus. John
Newton)
4. The Bible provides the most accurate assessment of our sin problem: it is the only book
that tells us who we really are before God (Hebrews).
5. The Bible reveals the only remedy for our sin problem: it is the only book that points us
to God’s provision of salvation.
C. Contribution: The supernatural effects of the Bible attest that it embodies God’s revelation.
VI. The Argument from the Fulfilled Prophecy
A. “Only God can reveal the future” (ibid).
B. Bible writers were guided by God the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21—“For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.”
C. This argument is most compelling to a skeptic. An unbeliever can verify the fulfillment of
prophecy, not only in the Bible, but, in most cases, in secular history as well.
D. Some examples:
1. Prophecy of Israel’s captivity and the events associated with it (Deut. 28:15ff.).
a. Example: severe poverty: Deuteronomy 28:56-57 6 The tender and delicate
woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the
ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of
her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 And toward her young
one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall
bear: for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and straitness,
wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.
b. Fulfillment: Lamentations 4:10 The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their
own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.
c. Time difference: Deuteronomy (c.1400 B.C.); Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.)

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2. The naming of Cyrus
a. Prophecy: Isaiah 44:28 That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform
all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple,
Thy foundation shall be laid.
b. Fulfillment: Ezra 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of
the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the
spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his
kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying…
c. Time difference: Isaiah’s ministry (Begins at 740 B.C.); Cyrus decree (536 B.C.)
d. Critics answer by postulating that this section of Isaiah was written by another
person (Hence the term, “Deutero-Isaiah”).
3. Daniel 11
4. The location of Messiah’s birth
a. Prophecy: Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be
ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
b. Fulfillment: Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the
days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem.
c. Time difference: Micah’s ministry (about the same time as Isaiah); Christ’s birth
(5B.C.-A.D 10)
E. Contribution: Only God can tell the future. The fulfillment of Bible prophecies demonstrates
that indeed it is the embodiment of God’ special revelation.
VII. The Claims of the Scriptures Themselves
A. “Is it valid to include this as one of the arguments for the discussion in hand?”
B. Old Testament claims: Statements like, “The Lord spoke…” and “Thus saith the Lord,” occur
more than 3,800 times in the OT.
C. New Testament claims:
1. If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the
things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord (1 Corinthians 14:37).
2. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (“Theopneustos” = “God-breathed”) (2
Tim. 3:16)
3. Writers were guided by God the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21)
20
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21 For the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were
moved by the Holy Ghost.

4. Peter categorizes Paul’s writings as part of Scripture (2 Peter 3:15-16)

15
And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul
also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they
that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction.
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Right and Wrong Views of Scripture
L E S S O N F I V E

Introduction:
 Religions outside “Christianity” certainly have different views regarding the Bible.
 Within “Christianity” itself, however, diversity concerning bibliology also exists. We will consider
the four views of Scriptures within “Christianity:” [1] Liberal view; [2] Neo-Orthodox view; [3]
New Evangelical view; [4] Conservative view.
I. The Liberal View
A. Basic bibliological tenet: “[It] is the theological position which rejects any or all the Bible as
the absolute Word of God, [and] denies the supernatural elements of the Bible…”4 In other
words, “The Bible is not God’s Word.”
1. “So we used to think of inspiration as a procedure which produced a book guaranteed in
all its parts against error, and containing from beginning to end a unanimous system of
truth. No well-instructed mind, I think, can hold that now”5 (emphasis mine).
2. Commenting on the Bible’s teaching concerning the nature of Christ (fully God and fully
man), a modernist writes, “To the logical mind, it sounds like distilled nonsense”6
(emphasis mine).
B. Seeks to de-mythologize the Bible “The quest for the real Jesus” Basic tenet: The Jesus that
one finds in the Bible (particularly in the Gospels) is very different from the real, historical Jesus;
the real Jesus was “nonmiraculous,” a belief that is typical to Liberal theology.
C. Final authority: The human mind
1. It fails to account the depravity of man. Heart is deceitful (Jer. 17:9); “lean not on your
own understanding” (Prov. 3:5); characteristic of an unsaved life—“corrupt, according
to the deceitful lust” (Eph. 4:22)
2. A former liberal wrote, “The real basis for all the errors of Liberalism is its erroneous
estimate of human nature.”7
3. Custer—“Since these men have repudiated the Person as well as the Word of the Lord
Jesus Christ, it is ironic that they still claim the name ‘Christian.’”8

II. The Neo-Orthodox View

A. Neo-Orthodoxy: “was supposed to represent a return to Biblical orthodoxy and a repudiation
of liberalism…” (Cairns, 242). It reacts against Liberalism’s subjectivism and was meant to
be recognized as “The theology of the Word.” (ibid).
B. Basic bibliological tenet: “Parts of the Bible may become9 or may contain God’s Word”—
“There’s a hidden, personal word if you let God speak to you”
1. Neo-Orthodoxy is also identified as “Crisis theology.”

4 Taken from Fundamentalism and Its Foes: Recent Trends in Religion by David O. Beale (Bob Jones University, 1987).
5 H.E. Fosdick, The Modern Use of the Bible, p.30.
6 Henry P. Van Dusen, The Vindication of Liberal Theology, p.32.
7 Reinhold Neibuhr, Reflections on the End of an Era, p.48.
8 Steward Custer, Does Inspiration Demand Inerrancy? p.73.
9 Alan Cairn, Dictionary of Theological Terms (Belfast: Ambassador-Emerald, 1998), p.243.

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2. The historicity of the Bible is not an issue. (Illus. “[T]he fall is not something which
occurred at a definite point of time in history. It is something which happens in every
man. In other words, neo-orthodoxy professes that the truth of the gospel can only be
understood existentially, which is really just another way of saying, ‘They are real to me,
and their concrete history is beside the point’” (Cairns, 243).
3. The Bible is likened to a preacher’s sermon—a witness10 to God’s Word, but not God’s
Word itself.
4. A Neo-Orthodox writes, “Sometimes I think Paul is wrong, and I have ventured to say
so. In the main, what he says seems to me to be profoundly true.”11
C. Final authority: The human mind
1. “[I]t rests upon the philosophy of existentialism.”12
“The philosophy that there are no absolute values outside of man himself…” (Cairns,
142)
***No one can impose absolute values (“this is right, that is wrong”) to anyone—
“What’s right for you may not be right for me.”
***”[H]uman judgment and not the Word of God is the determining factor in what is to
be believed” (ibid, 143).
2. Ironically, neo-orthodox defenders call it, “The act of self-surrender,” while really all it
is letting the mind decide what is right and what is wrong (ibid).

REVIEW
I. Liberal view of the Bible: The Bible is not God’s Word.
II. Neo-Orthodox view of the Bible: The Bible may become or may contain God’s Word.

III. The New Evangelical View

A. Reasons New evangelical emergence (ibid, 248-249) (What prompted their appearance in
present Christianity?—Mid the past century)
1. Desire to emphasize scholarship
2. Desire to abandon separation [accusation - no love if we separate] – “Love that
compromise the truth is not love”. “Love rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoices in the
truth”[ I Cor. 13:6]
3. Desire to accommodate science [Scripture must adjust.]
4. Desire to be involved in social gospel [Address problems of society = work with other
groups]
B. Closest to Fundamentalism:
1. Differences are not so much about doctrines, as much as their attitude towards
ecclesiastical separation and their desire to be accepted in the scholarly world.

10 Karl Barth, a leading proponent of neo-orthodoxy, writes concerning the Bible, “It witnesses to a revelation from God, but that does not
mean that God’s revelation is now before us in any kind of inherent quality of being divinely revealed. The Bible is not a book of oracles; it
is not an instrument of direct impartation. It is really witness” (Church Dogmatics, Vol. I, Part 2, p.507).
11 C.H. Dodd, Epistle of Paul to the Romans, xxxv.
12 Taken from Fundamentalism and Its Foes: Recent Trends in Religion by David O. Beale (Bob Jones University, 1987).

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2. However, there are doctrinal differences between new evangelicalism and
fundamentalism. One of these differences is in the area of bibliology.
C. Basic bibliological tenet: “The Bible is God’s Word, but…”
1. Perhaps the main issue in new evangelicalism’s bibliology is the issue of inerrancy.
2. Inerrancy is “that characteristic of Scripture which renders it without mistake and therefore
infallible, not just in religious matters, but also in matters of historic and scientific fact”
(Custer, 10).
a. Desires #1 & 3 clash with the doctrine of inerrancy (e.g., issue of origin)
b. The new evangelical solution is letter “D.”
D. The view of “modified inerrancy” is held within new evangelicalism (Cairns, 249).
1. Modified inerrancy maintains that the Bible is inerrant in what it teaches (e.g., the fall of
man) but not on how it teaches (e.g., serpent talking to Eve).
2. The inevitable result is limited infallibility: the Bible is the perfect guide only in
“matters of faith and practice” (ibid) or regarding salvific matters.
3. The inevitable problem: “If the Scripture is unreliable in its historical declarations and
inaccurate when it touches science, what is the guarantee that it is trustworthy when it
speaks about the way of salvation?”
E. New evangelicals give the benefit of the doubt to science, rather than the Scriptures (Custer,
83).

Bernar Ramm, a noted proponent of new evangelicalism states, “If the differences between the
sciences and the Bible were to grow to a very large number and were of the most serious
nature, it would be questionable if we could retain faith in the Scriptures.”13

“There is a contradiction between the Bible and modern science. Maybe we should re-
interpret our Bible so that it would agree with science.” Better-“There is a contradiction
between what the Bible says and what science says; science is wrong and must adjust to the
Scriptures.

F. Final authority: combination of God’s Word and modern science

REVIEW
I. Liberal view of the Bible: The Bible is not God’s Word.
II. Neo-Orthodox view of the Bible: The Bible may become or may contain God’s Word.
III. New Evangelical view of the Bible: The Bible is God’s Word, but…

IV. The Strict Conservative View

A. Basic bibliological tenet: The Bible is God’s Word (Not a witness to God’s Word; Not only
contains God’s Words; The Scriptures are the very Words of God inscripturated!).
B. Expanded bibliological tenet: “[T]he Scriptures, the 66 books of the Old and New Testament,
in their original form [are] plenarily and verbally inspired, [and] without error.”

13 Bernard Ramm, Special Revelation and the Word of God, p.64.

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1. Inspired: God’s work on both the Bible writers and the Bible words. God the Holy Spirit
guided14 all the Bible writers, so that these men wrote exactly the very Words of God
Himself15
Strictly speaking, inspiration applies only to the words. Men were not breathed out, but
words. WHAT IS THE STRICT DEFINITION OF INSPIRATION? All the Words in the
Bible are from God.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

“For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Peter 1:21).

2. Plenary: the whole Scripture is God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:16).

3. Verbally: every word in the autographs is from God.
“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

“He evidently refers to the fact that the apostles were themselves under the direction of
the Holy Spirit, in the words and doctrines which they imparted; and this passage is a
full proof that they laid claim to divine inspiration. It is further observable that he says,
that this was done in such “words” as the Holy Spirit taught, referring not to the
doctrines or subjects merely, but to the manner of expressing them. It is evident here that
he lays claim to an inspiration in regard to the words which he used, or to the manner of
his stating the doctrines of revelation” (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Electronic
Version [E-Sword]).

“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”(Matthew 5:18).

**** “Jot”—yod, smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

**** “Title”—stroke of a letter (e.g., the slash in Q)

4. Without error: inerrant (Why do we believe on this? The Bible teaches it! The Lord Jesus
teaches it!—John 17:17—“..Thy Word is truth.” [not half truth; partially true; most of
words are true; only in matters that concerns salvation; as long as science can prove it])
C. Applications: Because the Bible is God’s Word…
1. Our hopes are anchored on the promises of God Himself! (Many people died because
they would not deny the teachings of this Book. It’s worth it! [Revelation martyrs])
a. Sure of the love of God for us
b. Sure of eternal salvation—“He that believeth on the Son hath life!” glorification—
“We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed!”

14 Thiessen, 65.
15 Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology. 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 225.
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c. He’ll never leave us, nor forsake us; casting all your cares, he cares…; grace is
sufficient…
2. Obeying the Scripture is obeying God Himself.
a. Christ puts it this way, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15)
b. Disobeying scriptural mandates is tantamount to disobeying God.
c. One cannot say that He is willing to obey God and continues to live a life
disobedient to the Word (Illus. “Lord, show me your will!”)
d. Your obedience to the Word will absolutely bring delight to the Lord.
e. Your relationship with the Word is a sure indication of the condition of your
relationship with God.
3. Do not take it for granted; value it. (Illus. Love letter)
a. Read it with reverence, with the expectation that God will speak to you.
b. It must be more important than sleeping for thirty more minutes.
c. It must be more important than even acing the quiz for that day.
d. When was the last time you became excited because you are about to read the
Bible?

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The Genuineness of the Books of the Bible
L E S S O N S I X

I. The Issue of the Genuineness of Bible Books

A. Genuineness of the books of the Bible means that they are “actual” or “true.”
B. Books of the Bible are actual or true in the sense that these books are actually or truly written
1. by the persons who claim to write them (e.g., Minor Prophets)
2. by the persons whom ancient tradition has assigned as writers (Chronicles)
3. in the time that ancient tradition has assigned as the period of the books’ writing
(Hebrews) [AD60]
C. When a book is not genuine, it is a forged or a spurious work.
D. Because the Scripture is the embodiment of God’s revelation, it is expected that the books in it
are genuine. [God is not a deceiver.]
II. The Proofs of the Genuineness of the Old Testament Books:
A. Genuineness of the books of the Law
1. Generally assigned to Moses
2. Challenge to Mosaic authorship: The Documentary Hypothesis (JEDP)
a. Not written by Moses, nor by a single author
b. Written and/or arranged by many redactors: editors, compilers
c. Written over a long period of time
d. One writer prefers to identify God as “Yahweh” or “Jehovah” = hence, the J
document
e. One writer prefers to identify God as “Elohim” = hence, the “E” document
f. One writer adds “priestly materials” = hence, the “P” document
g. In the time of king Josiah, a person sympathetic to the king’s reforms wrote
Deuteronomy (621 B.C.)
h. Finally, the final form of the Law appeared in the time of Ezra
3. Proofs of Mosaic authorship
a. Moses had access to information concerning the earlier events in the Pentateuch.
i. People can write and read “as far back as the time of Hammurabi” (51)
ii. It is possible that Abraham kept records in cuneiform
iii. Oral tradition is possible as well as direct revelation from God; maybe
combination
b. The Pentateuch itself represents Moses as its author.
i. God’s command to write (Exo.17:14; 34:27)
ii. Moses’ obedience to that command
Exo. 24:4 And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the
morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve
tribes of Israel.

Num. 33:2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the
commandment of the LORD: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.

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Deut. 31:9 And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi,
which bare the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

Deut. 31:24 And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of
this law in a book, until they were finished,
c. Other OT books acknowledge Mosaic authorship of the Law (Josh. 8:31; 23:6; 2
Kings 14:6; 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Chron. 23:18; Dan. 9:11; Neh. 13:1).
i. Neh. 13:1—“The Book of Moses”
ii. Jos 8:31 As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as
it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which
no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the
LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings.
iii. 2Ki 23:25 And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the
LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according
to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.
d. The Lord Jesus acknowledges Mosaic authorship of the Law (John 7:19; 5:46-47)

“Did not Moses give you the law…” (7:19)

“For had you believe Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye
believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” (5:46-47)

i. “Moses” regarded as synonymous to a written work (Luke 16:29; 24:27)

ii. “[A]scribes various teaching in the Pentateuch to Moses” (Matt. 8:4 [From
Leviticus 13 & 14]; 19:7 [Deut. 24]; Mark 7:10 [Exo. 20]; 12:26 [Exo. 3])
(p.51)

e. Other NT writers acknowledge Mosaic authorship of the Law (Acts 13:39; 1 Cor.
9:9; Heb. 10:28; John 1:45)

“Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the
law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45)
i. “Moses” regarded as synonymous to a written work (Acts 15:21; 2 Cor. 3:15)
“But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart” (2 Cor. 3:15)
ii. “[A]scribes various teaching in the Pentateuch to Moses” (Matt. 8:4 [From
Leviticus 13 & 14]; 19:7 [Deut. 24]; Mark 7:10 [Exo. 20]; 12:26 [Exo. 3])
(p.51)
f. Internal evidences point to Moses as the author (as opposed to multiple authors)
i. The author as an eyewitness of the events recorded
***Exact number of fountains and palm trees at Elim (Ex 15:27)

*** Appearance and taste of manna (Num. 11:7-8)—Moses knew that manna will
not fall on Canaan—for New generation
ii. The author’s thorough acquaintance with Egypt and his “Extra-Palestinian
viewpoint”
*** Conformity to Eighteenth Dynasty Egyptian usage turns out to be strong
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Bible Doctrines I
evidence of an authentic Mosaic date of composition (referring King by Pharoah
…refraining from mentioning his personal name); in latter period (10th cent),
names of Kings of Egypt, without title, began to be seen (1 Kings 11:40—Shishak)

*** Geography of Palestine: comparatively unknown// When describing Palestine,

author compared it to an Egyptian place (Gen 13:10) (readers also unfamiliar to
Palestine)

***“In general, the author of the Pentateuch seems to regard Palestine as a new
comparatively unknown territory into which the Israelites are going to enter at a
future time” 122 (Archer)
iii. The author’s apparent desert environment
***“Tent” –can’t be post-exilic (implies nomad usage)
***Central location of the Temple and 12 twelve tribes on each sides appropriate
during the time of Moses
***Scapegoat (Lev 16:10)
***Sanitary instructions (Deut 23:12-13)
***Exact order of march (Num 10:14-20); presupposes large group and
migration
iv. The books of the Law are unified and progressive.
B. Genuineness of the books of the Prophets
1. The former prophets
a. Joshua: assigned to Joshua
b. Judges: assigned to Samuel (Time frame: after Joshua’s death and before Davidic
ascension)
c. 1 Samuel 1-24: assigned to Samuel
d. 1 Samuel 25-2 Samuel 24: assigned to Gad and Nathan
e. 1 & 2 Kings: ascribed to Jeremiah or to one of his contemporaries
2. The latter prophets
a. Isaiah: assigned to Isaiah (1:1)
i. Genuineness is heavily attacked because of its prophetic elements (naming
of Cyrus, Ch. 44:28-45:1, etc)
ii. Answers to Criticism
*** God’s title as the Holy One of Israel is found throughout the book

*** At least 40-50 sentences or phrases appear in both “Isaiah I & II”

*** “The most formidable difficulty” according to Archer: The author’s name (of
Isaiah II) was not preserved. Essential to the Jews’ reception of authority

*** Jesus and other NT authors attribute to Isaiah even what critics identified as
Isaiah II (Matt. 8:17 [Isa. 53:4]; Luke 4:17 [Isa. 61:1]; John 12:38-41 [Isa. 53:1;
6:10]).
b. Jeremiah: assigned to Jeremiah (51:60—“So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil
that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written against
Babylon”)
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Bible Doctrines I
c. Ezekiel: assigned to Ezekiel (24:2; 43:11)
d. Minor prophets
i. Critics generally accept the genuineness of these short books. Not highly
prophetic
ii. Conservatives accept as genuine the assertions found in each initial verse of
these books. The word of the Lord came to Joel, Hosea…; The book of the
vision of Nahum; vision of Obadiah; the words of Amos;
C. Genuineness of the books of Kethubim
1. Poetic books
a. Psalms: most are assigned to various authors, some are anonymous
b. Proverbs: generally assigned to Solomon
c. Job: assigned to Job or Solomon
2. Megilloth
a. Song of Solomon: assigned to Solomon
b. Ruth: assigned to Samuel
c. Lamentations: assigned to Jeremiah (similarity of content)
d. Ecclesiastes: assigned to Solomon
e. Esther: assigned to Mordecai or to a contemporary Jew in Persia
3. Non-Prophetical Historical books
a. Daniel: assigned to Daniel
i. Critics assign a late date of 168-165 B.C. To them, a different person, not the
Daniel of the 6th century, wrote the book. Daniel contains prophecies that
were fulfilled prior to the dates that critics assigned = Daniel as merely
pretending to be prophetic.
ii. The Lord attributed the writing to the Daniel (Matt. 24:15)
b. Ezra: assigned to Ezra (First person…)
c. Nehemiah: assigned to Nehemiah
d. Chronicles: assigned to Ezra.

REVIEW
I. The Issue of Genuineness of the Books of the Bible
II. The Proofs of the Genuineness of the Old Testament Books
III. The Proofs of the Genuineness of the New Testament Books

III. The Proofs of the Genuineness of the New Testament Books

A. The genuineness of the four Gospels and Acts
1. Synoptics are generally accepted as written by the persons, whose names are attached to
the gospels.
2. Critics challenged John the Beloved’s authorship of the fourth gospel.
a. The Gospel of John emphasizes the deity of Jesus.
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Bible Doctrines I
b. Critics believe that the teaching on Jesus’ deity was a later addition to Christianity.
c. A critic gives a later date of A.D. 160. John the beloved cannot possibly live by this
time
d. The discovery of a manuscript written in early second century effectively disproves
the late date theory, while strengthening the traditional view of Johannine
authorship of the fourth Gospel
3. Acts: assigned to Luke
B. Pauline Epistles
1. Generally accepted as Paul’s writings
2. Objection to Pauline authorship of the Pastoral letters are insufficient. (difference in
style)
C. General Epistles
1. Hebrew: assigned to many authors (Paul, Apollos, etc) or as anonymous; assigned dates
are A.D. 67 and 69.
2. James and Jude: assigned to the Lord’s brothers.
3. 1 & 2 Peter: assigned to Peter the apostle
a. Petrine authorship of the second epistle is questioned because of style differences.
b. Peter’s employment of an amanuensis and the different subject matters of the two
epistles may explain the differences.
4. Three Epistles of John and Revelation: assigned to John (same problem and solution
with Peterine Epistles)

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Bible Doctrines I
The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture16
L E S S O N S E V E N

Introduction:
 Bibliology has many facets; the study of the Bible includes the authority, preservation, manuscripts,
translations, inerrancy, credibility, perspicuity (understandability), and profitability of the Scriptures.
 The foundation for all the doctrines above and the reason for studying the Scripture is the doctrine of
the inspiration of the Bible. The authority of the Bible is an inescapable consequence of the doctrine
of inspiration.
o If the doctrine of inspiration is true (and it is), then the Bible is not merely a human work;
then it is the very Words of God Himself! Then it is not to be ignored; then I have to
recognize that it has full authority over my life.
I. Two key Scripture passages on Inspiration
A. 2 Timothy 3:16
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
1. “All Scripture”—The Greek adjective pas (pa/j) normally means “every” when it is
modifying a noun without an article.17 Thus, inspiration extends to each book of our
Bible.
2. “given by inspiration of God”—one word in the original (qeo,pneustoj(
theopneustos, “God-breathed”). The Scripture is what God breathed out. Therefore, the
Bible has divine origin.
3. “is…”—the copulas are supplied by the translators. In Greek, sometimes linking verbs
are not expressed but understood (example: “the man, good”).
a. Some insert the copula (“is”) after theopneustos = “All scripture given by
inspiration of God is also profitable …” — The extent of inspiration is not clearly
addressed, but a recognition of a body of writing that has divine origin is obvious.
b. Some insert the copula after scripture: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable …” — The Scripture’s extent of inspiration and divine source are
clearly addressed.
c. Perhaps the second option is better.18 Almost all English versions follow the second
rendering.
4. Contributions of 2 Timothy 3:16 to bibliology:
a. Teaches the origin of the Scripture: God
b. Teaches the extent of inspiration: All Scripture

16 This lesson is heavily based on P. Kamibayashiyama’s lecture, The Doctrine of Scripture Overview.
17 Bob Jones University Greek Faculty, A Handbook for New Testament Greek (Greenville: BJU Press, 1997), 87.
18 NET bible note on 2 Timothy 3:16—“Inspired by God. Some have connected this adjective in a different way and translated it as ‘every

inspired scripture is also useful.’ But this violates the parallelism of the two adjectives in the sentence, and the arrangement of words makes
clear that both should be taken as predicate adjectives: ‘every scripture is inspired…and useful.’”
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Bible Doctrines I
B. 2 Peter 1:20-21
20
“Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 21For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.”
1. “Prophecy”— the Greek word profhtei,a has some connection to divine revelation
(includes foretelling and forth-telling). Thus, “prophecy of the Scripture” refers to
God’s written revelation embodied in the Scripture.
a. On profhtei,a Thayer writes,
“[It is a] discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of
God, whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, or comforting the
afflicted, or revealing things hidden; especially by foretelling future events”
(Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament)
b. On profhtei,a BDAG19 states,
“[T]he utterance of one who interprets divine will or purpose.”
2. “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation…”
a. The literal translation is “all prophecy of scripture of one’s own interpretation is
not.” (Illus. “I like all of you not”)
b. “is”— from gi,nomai (ginomai), which means “to come into being or
existence.”20
c. “It is an idiom used to make a firm denial concerning all that belongs to the subject
negated”21 (Illus. “I like all of you not”)
d. Point of v.20: The origin of the Scripture is ultimately not man (human thinking).
3. Verse 21 is explanatory (Notice the conjunction “for” [gar( gar]). Peter’s explanation
in this verse establishes or supports his assertion in verse 20—“The origin of the
Scripture is ultimately not man.” How does Peter establish what he said in v.20?
4. Peter establishes his declaration in verse 20 by explaining the true origin of the scripture.
a. Negatively, prophecy came not at any time by human will; the ultimate motive
behind the Scripture’s composition was never of man.
b. Positively, the human writers of scripture were “moved” (KJV) or “carried along”
(ESV, NET) by the Holy Spirit.
c. “moved” – from fe,rw (phero), which can have the meaning, “to cause to follow
a certain course in direction or conduct …” (BDAG). In Acts 27:15 &17, the same
Greek verb is used to describe a wind’s moving a ship by filling its sail.
d. The Spirit’s “moving” of the Bible writers points us to the method of inspiration.
The guidance or superintendence by God the Holy Spirit guarantees the inerrancy
of the Bible. How could a critic claim that the Bible is full of error when it was no
less than God the Holy Spirit guided the human writers of the Bible? Dr. Custer is
absolutely right when he states that inspiration demands inerrancy.

19 BDAG (Bauer, Arndt, Danker, Gingrich) Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third
Edition (Chicago: University Press, © 2000).
20 D. Edmond Hiebert, Second Peter and Jude (Greenville: Unusual Publications, 1989), 81
21 Ibid.

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Bible Doctrines I
e. Although v.21 shows the general method of inspiration, this verse does not give the
specific process of the Spirit’s guidance on the holy writers. [Remember that the
personality of Bible writers is reflected in their writings.] Although specific details
of the Spirit’s “moving” are not delineated, the fact of the Spirit’s guidance
demands that the final product be free from all errors.
5. Contribution of 2 Peter 1:21 & 22 to bibliology
a. Emphatically denies the human origin of the Bible (not of private interpretation,
came not at anytime by the will of man)
b. Provides a window to the method of the inspiration—the Holy Spirit’s guidance on
the Bible writers.
II. Definition of Inspiration
A. Two excellent definitions:
1. “Inspiration is the supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit on the Biblical writers so that
their writings are divinely trustworthy and authoritative.”

2. “Inspiration is that inexplicable power which the divine Spirit put forth of old on the
authors of Holy Scripture, in order to their guidance even in the employment of the
words they used, and to preserve them alike from all error and from all omission.”
B. Common Elements of these Definitions:
1. Agent/Actor: the Holy Spirit
2. Action: “supernatural influence” or “inexplicable power on”
3. Persons He acted upon: “Biblical writers” or “authors of Scripture”
4. Result: “writings Divinely authoritative” or “words preserved from all error”

III. Various Aspects of Inspiration

***Because of wrong views of inspiration throughout church history (and still existing today),
fundamental believers have stated their belief on inspiration like this:
We believe the 66 books of Scripture, in their original form, to be plenarily and verbally
inspired, without error.

“The 66 books of Scripture”

1. How do we know that there are only 66 books in the Bible? Why not 65 or 67?
Questions like this belong to the issue of canonicity.
2. Canonicity defines what is the Scripture
a. Comes from the Greek kanon, which literally means, a “measuring rod” (Theissen,
59).
b. Figuratively refers to a “rule or standard” (ibid)
3. Canonical books are book which have been measured (examined) and recognized as
inspired by God.
4. The canonical process simply recognized which books are divinely inspired; the process
of canonicity does not make a book inspired. A Bible book becomes part of the Scripture
the very moment it was being written.

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Bible Doctrines I
5. The Old Testament canon includes 39 books (How were these books recognized as
inspired?)
a. Ezra, the last OT writer, in the 5th century B.C. collected the inspired Scripture.
b. The result was these 39 books in three divisions: Law, Prophets, and Writings.22
c. Christ placed his stamp of approval on the O.T. canon in Luke 24:44. Christ did not
include the apocrypha (written last 2 cent. B.C. & 1ST cent. AD)
6. The New Testament canon includes 27 books. (How were these books recognized as
inspired?)
a. By the end of 2nd century, early Christians considered only 27 books as making up
the New Testament (the same 27 we have).
b. This principle of universal recognition by all Christians is seen in John 10: 27—
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (Illus. As child
can recognize the voice of his parent in a crowd, so a Christian can recognize the
Word of God.)
c. The close of the canon: “Why limit the canon to the time of the apostles?”
i. John 16:13 & John 14:26 were promised to the Apostles (last apostle died in
100 A.D.).
“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:
for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he
speak: and he will shew you things to come” (John 16:13).

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26).

ii. Revelation 22:18, 19 also support the fact of canon closed.

“For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this
book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the
plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from
the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the
book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in
this book.”

We believe the 66 books of Scripture, in their original form, to be

plenarily and verbally inspired, without error.

22 The earliest extant (proof) of the tripartite division of the OT is found in the prologue to the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus written in
Hebrew by Jesus ben Sirach at approximately 190 B.C. Josephus of Jerusalem, who lived between A.D. 37-95, includes in his writing the
tripartite division of the OT and limits the canon to 22 books. (Gleason Archer, Survey of Old Testament Introduction [Chicago: Moody
Press, ?], chapter 5).
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Bible Doctrines I
B. “in their original form”
1. This statement points to the extent of inspiration. differentiates from preservation and
manuscripts
a. Recognizing that the supernatural work of inspiration was through those “holy men
of God” and resulted in those original Hebrew or Greek writings.

b. Although none of these original documents exist today, God has amazingly
preserved His inspired Word in many Hebrew/Greek manuscripts (copies).
i. Expected question: “Is my Bible then inspired since it has been established
that inspiration only extends to the autographs?

ii. Possible answer: The translation authority is proportionate to its

truthfulness or accuracy in rendering the original.

C. “Plenarily”—refers to full inspiration Every part of Scripture is completely inspired. Some

say that only parts or certain topics are inspired. But 2 Tim. 3:16 says "all"

D. “Verbally” – Even the very words chosen by the biblical writers in Hebrew and Greek are of
Divine choice.
1. Matthew 5:18
“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no
wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

2. 1 Corinthians 2:13
“Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

E. “without error” – Inerrancy, even in matters of science and history

IV. The Bible is God’s Word: Applications

A. Whenever it is being read or taught, we must show respect and expect to hear from God.(Other
religion/tribal will do everything, even sacrifice their own children to get the attention of their
God, to hear their God communicate with them) (purposely sleeping during church service).

B. The Bible has all the right to tell us what to do and what not to do in all aspects of our lives
(relationships, thoughts, music, service to God, etc.).

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Bible Doctrines I
The Credibility and Inerrancy of Scripture23
L E S S O N E I G H T

Introduction:
 Just like the absolute authority of the Bible, the Scripture’s credibility and inerrancy are inevitable
consequences of the doctrine of inspiration.
 Because God is the author of the Scripture, the Bible is credible.

I. The Credibility of the Scripture

A. Definition of the credibility of the Scripture
1. Credibility means the trustworthiness or believability of a statement because of its
truthfulness. When we ask: Is it credible? we are asking whether it is a truthful record
of what really happened or if there are non-truths?
2. Credibility of the Bible means that the Scripture is reliable on what it presents to us as
facts; it is truthful in its declarations. (Example: “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord …Above it stood the seraphims—Isaiah 6:1 = there was really a king named
Uzziah; on his death Isaiah saw God, Seraphims are real )
3. Credibility includes the idea of authenticity, which refers to an accurate record of what
really happened.
B. Proofs of the Credibility of the Old Testament ("Is the O.T. trustworthy / truthful?")
1. Lord Jesus Christ Himself accepted the O.T. as credible
a. Matthew 5:17-18 (He came not to abrogate but to fulfill; Law = OT; its declaration
stands)
17
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled
b. Luke 24:27, 44 (Its declarations about me are true-assumes it [also for hearers])
27
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the
scriptures the things concerning himself.
44
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with
you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the
prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
c. John 10:35 …The Scripture cannot be broken [shown to be in error-NET]
2. Christ referred to many teachings and accounts of the O.T. as true.
a. Creation of man (Mark 10:6)
b. The flood (Matthew 24:37-38)
c. Sodom and Gomorrah (Luke 17:28-29)
d. Jonah in the belly of the great fish (Matthew 12:39f.)
3. Archaeology provides confirmation to the truthfulness of biblical account
("Archaeology" = study of excavated objects from ancient times)

23 This lesson is heavily based on P. Kamibayashiyama’s lecture, The Doctrine of Scripture Overview.
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Bible Doctrines I
a. Before the modern study of history and archaeology, many O.T. facts were questioned.
(Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, regarded as fiction; existence of Hittites; OT details about
history and custom of Israel and other ancient civilizations)
b. Archaeological studies and findings established the truthfulness of the Bible. (Belshazzar
and Darius were real people who ruled empires; The Hittites were discovered to have been
a powerful people at the very time indicated in the Bible; The O.T. descriptions of life in
and customs in Israel, Egypt, Babylonia, etc. have been shown to be correct by modern
archaeology.)
4. Fulfilled prophecy confirms the OT’s credibility.
C. Proofs of the Credibility of the New Testament: The writers of the N.T. were qualified to give
trustworthy testimony. (Is the NT accurate, trustworthy? Credible?)
1. All were eyewitnesses or close companions to eyewitnesses.
a. Matthew, John, Peter (apostles); James & Jude (half-brothers of Christ)
b. Mark (Peter's interpreter); Luke (Paul's companion)
c. Paul (Christ taught him directly)
2. The NT writings demonstrate the NT writers were honest men.
a. Moral character of the writings: They wrote concerning the importance of
truthfulness.
b. Testimony of the writers: Their stand for Christ put them in danger and hurt their
social standing and material prosperity. (Some books written from prison.). They
were men committed to truth.
3. The N.T. writings harmonize with one another. They all agree.
a. Details of the four gospels fit together.
b. History of Acts agrees perfectly with Paul’s epistles.
c. Doctrines all agree.
4. The historical facts in N.T. writings agree with history.
a. The census when Quirinius was governor of Syria
b. Acts of Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, of Herod Agrippa, etc.
* All these facts agree with secular history.
D. Conclusions
1. Conclusion #1: Both the Old & New Testaments are completely truthful records of what
actually happened.
The LORD really did pass over and not kill the homes with the blood of a sacrificed lamb in
Exodus 12. Isaiah really did see the LORD high and lifted up in Isaiah 6. The unsaved man in
Luke 16 did really go to hell. Christ really did rise from the dead as it says in the Gospels. These
things really happened. Everything in the Bible really happened The prophecies and Revelation
will really happen.
2. Conclusion #2: I can completely believe in what the Bible says. It is worthy of my trust.
a. In what it says about the only way to heaven (Jn. 14:6; Acts 4:12)
b. In every promise God makes. (Rom. 10:13; Jeremiah 33:3; Matthew 6:33)
c. In every thing it says about how I am to live. (Ecc. 12:13-14; Joshua 1:8 )
d. About how to raise my children, about what are the priorities of life, about trials (Rom
8:28), etc.
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Bible Doctrines I
II. Inerrancy of the Scripture
A. Definition:
“Inerrancy is that characteristic of Scripture which renders it without mistake and therefore
infallible, not just in religious matters, but also in matters of historic and scientific fact.”24

Simply stated, inerrancy of the Bible means that the Bible is without error.

B. Current issue
1. Inerrancy is an important issue because many evangelical Christians are now questioning
it.
a. e.g., some neo-evangelicals, some Southern Baptists, etc.

b. Many new evangelicals believe that the Bible may contain some errors, even in the
original manuscripts.

c. They believe in what is called "partial inspiration" –The Bible is inspired in matters
of faith and practice, but not in history or science.

d. Bernard Ramm, a noted proponent of new evangelicalism states, “If the differences
between the sciences and the Bible were to grow to a very large number and were
of the most serious nature, it would be questionable if we could retain faith in the
Scriptures.”25

2. The inevitable problem: “If the Scripture is unreliable in its historical declarations and
inaccurate when it touches science, what is the guarantee that it is trustworthy when it
speaks about the way of salvation?”

C. Contrast: other books that claim divine origin contain errors

1. God’s Word must be without error
2. Example #1: Errors in the book of Mormons
a. Alma 7:10

“And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers
…” (Emphasis, mine).

b. Halemoz/Helaman 14:20, 27

“But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that
day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto
you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land,
even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he
shall rise again from the dead.”

3. Example #2: Error in the Apocrypha: Judith 1:1

“In the twelfth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, who reigned in Nineve, the great city”

24 Steward Custer, Does Inspiration Demand Inerrancy? p.73.

25 Bernard Ramm, Special Revelation and the Word of God, p.64.
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Bible Doctrines I
4. Arguments for inerrancy of the Bible
a. Christ believed in it
i. John 17:17 - “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth”

ii. Matt. 5:18 - “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or
one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled”

iii. John 10:35 - “the Scripture cannot be broken”

iv. Matt. 24:35 - “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not
pass away.”

v. Luke 24:44 - “all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of
Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning
me.”
b. The character of God demands inerrancy: It is unthinkable that a holy, perfect God
would produce a Bible that contains error.
c. Archaeology may confirm the inerrancy of the Bible, but the doctrine of inerrancy
does not solely rely on the confirmation of archaeology to prove its veracity.26
i. It is imprecise, not that predictable (unlike other sciences, e.g., chemistry).
ii. “The body of information …is pathetically small, and what is available is
always subject to interpretation.”
D. Objections to inerrancy:
1. The alleged “errors” pointed out by people are not really errors at all.
a. What if the alleged discrepancy has no solution yet?
b. The doctrine of inspiration demands it
2. Generally, there are four categories of alleged “errors.”
a. Scientific error: “four corners of the earth” -- Bible speaks in terms man can
understand - Language of appearance (Illus. “Sun will rise…”)
b. Historical Error: How could Christ be born when Quirinius (Cyrenius) was
governor in 16-12 BC? He was governor two times (16-12 B.C. and 6-4 B.C.);
Christ was born during his second term.
c. Quotation Error: In Romans 10:6-8, Paul does not correctly quote Deut. 30:12-14?
But Paul did not intend to quote this verbatim. Paul is so saturated with Word of
God that he uses Scriptural language to express his thoughts.
d. Moral Error: God commanded Israel to exterminate the Canaanites. Biblically
informed view concerning God and the Canaanites, and the influence of the
remaining Canaanites in Israel’s subsequent history justify God’s command.

26 Adapted from a class lecture of Randy Jaeggli, Old Testament Introduction, Bob Jones University.
38
Bible Doctrines I
The Preservation and Manuscripts of Scripture27
L E S S O N N I N E
Introduction:
 Today there is much confusion and debate over translations of the Scripture. Some would elevate
the KJV to a status equal to the original writings of the Scripture.
 This and other issues would be clarified by understanding the difference between the doctrine of the
inspiration of Scripture and the doctrine of its preservation.
 Lesson summary: While the doctrine of inspiration concerns the coming into existence of God’s
written revelation, the doctrine of preservation deals with the preservation of what has already been
revealed by God.
I. The Nature of Inspiration
A. The Scripture’s inspiration extends to the original Hebrew and Greek documents written by
Bible authors.
1. “Inspiration is a supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit on the Biblical writers so that
their writings are divinely trustworthy and authoritative” (emphasis added).
2. “Inspiration is that inexplicable power which the divine Spirit put forth of old on the
authors of Holy Scripture, in order to their guidance even in the employment of the
words they used, and to preserve them alike from all error and from all omission”
(emphases added).
3. “We believe the 66 books of Scripture, in their original form, to be plenarily and
verbally inspired, without error” (emphases added).

B. The Spirit’s inspiration/superintendence was on the “holy men of God” who wrote and that the
guidance of the Holy Spirit resulted in those original Hebrew (and Aramaic) and Greek
Scriptures.
C. Inspiration concerns the coming into existence (the “breathing out”) of God’s written
revelation.
D. In true Christianity, there is an agreement that the canon is closed (i.e., No more written
revelations are expected to come into existence). Therefore, it is also expected that God’s
superintending work of inspiration given to biblical writers is never more to be repeated. There
is no need; the canon is closed.
II. The Nature of Preservation
A. The original documents do not exist today.
B. God has preserved His Word in thousands of copies and despite fervent attempts to destroy it.
C. Excellent statement of the doctrine of preservation
Preservation is “the protection of something from loss, destruction, or decay. In connection
with the Bible it should not be thought of as a renewed or continuing process of inspiration,
but as God’s guarantee that His Word will never be destroyed, that it will be providentially
protected as His written revelation to a dying human race, and that its power to bring men to
faith will never be diminished.”28

This lesson is heavily based on P. Kamibayashiyama’s lecture, The Doctrine of Scripture Overview.
27

James B. William and The Committee on the Bible’s Text and Translation, From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man (Greenville:
28

Ambassador-Emerald International, 1999), 229.

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Bible Doctrines I
D. Based on the definition above, preservation is not “a renewed or continuing process of
inspiration.”
1. Some misunderstand preservation to be a second work of inspiration.
2. These are those who believe that God has preserved His Word inerrantly in a translation
like the KJV.
3. But there is no perfect translation, nor could there be, considering the human weaknesses
of copyists and of translators. Spurgeon writes,
“I do not hesitate to say that I believe that there is no mistake whatever in the original
Holy Scriptures from beginning to end. There may be, and there are, mistakes of
translation; for translations are not inspired.”29
E. Based on the definition above, preservation is “God’s guarantee that His Word will”
1. “never be destroyed”
2. be “providentially protected
3. “never be diminished [in] its power” (Even in Tagalog!)
F. Key Scripture passages on preservation
1. Matthew 5:18—“For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”
2. Matthew 24:35—“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
3. John 10:35—“ If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the
scripture cannot be broken;”
G. While Inspiration concerns the coming into existence of God’s written revelation, the doctrine
of preservation deals with the preservation of what has already been revealed by God.

III. The Method of Preservation: (not through ongoing inspiration)Providential preservation

through manuscripts
A. God has preserved His Word in thousands of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts (e.g., Dead Sea
Scrolls).
B. The autographs (original documents written by the Biblical authors) are inspired and inerrant.
C. Key statement: Manuscripts (copies of the originals) retain the quality of inspiration and
inerrancy to the degree that they accurately represent the originals.

IV. Facts About Manuscripts

A. No two manuscripts are identical.
1. Can one still hold on the preservation of the Scripture in spite of variations?
2. Yes! These thousands of manuscripts are nearly unanimous (99.9% the same)
B. The variants (.1% differences) are usually insignificant and never change any doctrine. 30
“[Some of these variants] seem to have been introduced by scribes attempting to
… make a text more acceptable to the reader. But the vast majority of variants
are caused by unintentional errors of sight, hearing (if one scribe were verbally
dictating to another), writing, and memory. These are often easily recognized,
29 Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, XXXV, p. 329.
30The following quotes are from, “Let’s Meet the Manuscripts,” by Mark Minnick in From the Mind of God to the Mind of Man.
40
Bible Doctrines I
as when a word or an entire line is repeated, or when a very common scriptural
expression is transposed (‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘Christ Jesus’ in 1 Cor. 6:11) or when
various vowels or diphthongs (combinations of vowels) that sounded alike were
mistaken for another [e.g., ‘have’ in Rom. 5:1: ecomen or ecwmen]” (69-70).

“But doesn’t the existence of those variants undermine our confidence that we
have the very words that God inspired? No! The fact is that because we
know of them and are careful to preserve the readings of every one of them,
not one word of God’s Word has been lost to us. And in the cases where we
may not be sure which variant most accurately repeats the original wording,
not one doctrine is affected. Not one truth is compromised. Every doctrine
and truth of God’s Word is taught in so many other places, in synonymous or
verbatim wording, that no variant obscures it. Every technical edition of the
Greek New Testament … includes those very readings which are in question,
[either in the text or in the critical apparatus]” (96, 86).
HANKINS: Variations: mainly spelling or word order difference. It affects 40
lines of the 20,000 lines//contains 400 words (out of 138,000 plus NT words).
It is not that we don’t have the information. It’s just making a decision about
the one half of 1%! “Problem is not scarcity—not that we are missing any of
them—the challenge is that we have a lot of them!”

V. Three Extreme Positions on the KJV

A. KJV only advocates: Five groups31 within KJV Onlyism (The last three positions are extreme)
1. “You pick your version. I like the King James Version best.”
2. “The manuscripts used in translation of KJV are the better manuscripts.”
3. “Only the Textus Receptus should be used in translating the NT in other languages.” (TR
was published in 1633).
4. “The KJV is the only inspired, inerrant Bible we have.”
5. “The KJV can correct Hebrew and Greek MSS because God inspired KJV 1611
translators.”
B. KJV discreditors
1. This extreme group claims the KJV has “grave defects [that] are so many and so
serious.”
2. They also overlook the way God has used the KJV with such blessing.

VI. Facts Regarding the KJV

A. The KJV translators themselves understand their version to be merely a translation from copies
of the original documents. Only the original documents were considered to be plenarily and
verbally inspired and inerrant.
“We affirm and avow, that the very meanest [lowest in quality] translation
of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession … containeth the
word of God, nay is the Word of God: as the King’s speech which he
uttered in Parliament, being translated into French, Dutch, Italian, and
Latin, is still the King’s speech, though it be not interpreted by every

31 James White, The King James Only Controversy.

41
Bible Doctrines I
translator with the like grace, nor peradventure so fitly for phrase, nor so
expressly for sense, everywhere…” (“The Translators to the Reader,”
Authorized Version [Cambridge Edition], p. xix)
B. The KJV has undergone revisions in 1612 (late 1611?), 1613, 1616, 1629, 1638, 1659, 1701,
1762, and 1769 (our present edition revised by Benjamin Blayney).
C. “It is estimated that about 90% of the KJV is indebted to Tyndale’s version and those versions
that continued his legacy (especially the Geneva [Bible] and Bishops’ [Bible]).” (“The
Making of the King James Version,” J. Mincy in From the Mind, p. 134.)

CONCLUSION
1. God has wonderfully preserved His inspired, inerrant Word in the nearly unanimous text of
thousands of Hebrew and Greek manuscripts.
2. The one one-thousandth fraction of variation among manuscripts makes no difference in the teaching
of Scripture.
3. Whatever version faithfully translates the reading of the Hebrew OT or Greek NT is the Word of
God.
4. Instead of fundamental believers focusing on the KJV issue, let us focus on seeking to understand
what God has said from a faithful translation that is clear to us. Then let us trust it and obey.

42
Bible Doctrines I
The Perspicuity and Profitability of Scripture32
L E S S O N T E N
Introduction:
 Certain important subjects regarding the doctrine of the Scripture have already been discussed:
o The Key Doctrine: Inspiration – the reason why the Bible is more than a human book.
o Because it is the inspired Word of God, it has the right to tell us how to live: Authority
o The doctrine of the Scripture’s trustworthiness: Credibility
o The doctrine of the Scripture’s perfection: Inerrancy (even in matters of history & science)
o God’s promise to protect His Word to be His continuing revelation to man: Preservation
 This lesson bridges the doctrine of the Bible and the studying of the Bible.

I. Definitions
A. Perspicuity: It means that the Bible is clear and understandable. Understandability.
B. Profitable: It means that the Bible can help us spiritually and in every area of our lives.
II. The Perspicuity of Scripture
A. It teaches that the Scripture can be understood by any believer.
B. Some religions, in different periods of time, did not acknowledge this doctrine (e.g., Prereformation
history; Philippine history).
C. The understandability of the Bible rests upon two foundational truths. (Test)
1. The contents of the Scripture are clear.
2. The believer is indwelt by the Spirit.
D. First foundational truth: The contents of the Scripture are clear.
1. “God gave the Scriptures not to obscure the truth but to make it manifest.”33
2. Some key verses:
a. Acts 17:10-12 [Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received
the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so];
b. Proverbs 2:1-6 [receive, treasure, incline your ear];
c. Psalm 119:66 [“teach me”—pattern prayer: available to all who ask]
d. (cf. Psalm 19:7-8)
3. Three hermeneutical principles: [Hermeneutics is the science of biblical interpretation.]
a. Interpret literally.
b. Interpret in one way only.
c. Interpret according to the simplest and clearest meaning.
4. It does not mean that there are no difficult concepts or truth to grasp in the Word. Some
principles are not readily understood using a superficial reading. There are mysteries in the
Bible. Peter conceded that some of Paul’s writing were hard to be understood (2 Pet. 3:16). Paul
even mentioned about the “deep things of God” (1 Cor. 2:10). How can we reach the deep things
of God? Answer—the 2nd foundational truth.

32 This lesson is heavily based on P. Kamibayashiyama’s lecture, The Doctrine of Scripture Overview.
33 Steward Custer, Tools for Preaching and Teaching (Greenville: BJU Press), 35.
43
Bible Doctrines I
5. It does not mean that one can adequately understand it in whatever heart condition he/she is in
(Illus. parable of the soils); it also does not negate the validity of the spiritual gift of teaching.
E. Second foundational truth: The believer is indwelt by the Spirit (1 Cor. 2:10-16; cf. Ps. 119:18).Esp.
v.12-- 1 Corinthians 2:12 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is
of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
1. Application: Encourage new believers; believers who do not have or lack basic education.

III. The Profitability of Scripture

A. The Superiority of the Scripture’s Profitability (2 Peter 1:16-21)
1. “more sure” than being an eyewitness to something (v. 16).
2. “more sure” than hearing something ourselves (v. 18).

B. The Areas of the Scripture’s Profitability (2 Timothy 3:16)

1. for Doctrine: It tells us what is right.
2. for Reproof: It tells us what is wrong.
3. for Correction: It tells us how to make something right.
4. for Instruction in Righteousness: It tells us how to keep right.

C. Application: Do you really believe that this book can change your life? That the Bible is God’s
instrument in renewing your mind? You answer this question by your life, not just by your lips. Will you
spend time with the Word if you were not required to?

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BJMBC: Bible Doctrines I

Section 2:

THE DOCTRINE OF GOD

“He who comes to God must believe that He is.”

A biblical understanding of the universe begins with the

only one who transcends it—God Himself. This includes
God’s existence, His perfections, the Trinity,
His works, and understanding evil.
Bible Doctrines I
Introduction to Theology Proper
Lesson 11
Introduction:
 Theology proper is the study of the doctrine of God Himself.
 It has already been established that theology is important. But exactly how important is theology,
that is, the knowledge of God, to our everyday life as believers?

I. Proverbs 2:1-5: Your knowledge of God greatly affects how you relate to Him.

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; 2 So that thou incline
thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; 3 Yea, if thou criest after
knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; 4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest
for her as for hid treasures; 5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the
knowledge of God.
A. Knowing God is closely related to fearing God
1. To fear God is to pay Him the highest respect. Some calls it as “reverential awe.”
2. Those who do not fear/respect God do not really know Him.
3. Those who claim to know God, but do not fear Him, do not really know Him.
a. (Titus 1:16—“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him,
being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate”).
b. Illus. Christian who profess to know God’s holiness but lives a sinful lifestyle
i. It is ok as long as I will not go further/take the next step of sin.
ii. It is ok, God knows that I am weak.
c. Illus. A Christian who believes that God is good and will provide his/her needs but
worries and stop serving God.
i. Yes, but I have to pay my bills soon.
ii. Yes, but I do not see any way I could provide for this need.

B. Knowing God requires an earnest pursuit of Him in His Word.

1. Notice the “ifs”: “hide/treasure, criest, liftest up thy voice, seek as silver, searchest as hid
treasure”
2. Application:
a. Your knowledge of God will not grow apart from the Word (Being “busy” in the
ministry is never a substitute for your daily Bible reading and prayer).
b. God reveals Himself in the Word to those who are passionate to know Him (cf. 2
Pet.2:2—Desire the Word that ye may grow thereby).
c. Taking doctrines classes is not a guarantee that you will truly know God.
d. What are you pursuing? Studying is not an end, but a means to an end—more
knowledge of God.

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Bible Doctrines I
II. Jeremiah 9:23-24—Knowing God is the most important pursuit in life.
23
¶ Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man
glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this,
that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness,
judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

*** The context is God’s impending judgment.

*** Glory means, “to boast” with the idea of “dependence, trust, reliance”
*** In the time of God’s judgment, wisdom, might, and riches will mean nothing. It is those who
know God will have confidence in time of judgment.
***Application: [1] What is our confidence in time of God’s judgment other than our relationship
with God; [2] What are the things that you consider in this life as worth having? Is your knowledge
of God part of your list? Is it on the top of your list.

III. Hosea 6:6—Knowing God is more important than merely giving or doing things to or for
Him.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

*** Does not mean that God did not really institute the sacrificial system.
*** This is a very strong form of comparison (cf. Luke 14:26—“hating mother and father”—not a
command to hate relatives, but to love God above all)
*** “Burnt offerings” are outward rituals that should flow from one’s knowledge of God.
*** Application: Are you too busy on doing things for God that you do not have time to know Him
more? Your priority is wrong.

IV. Colossians 1:9-10: Growing in the knowledge of God is part of a life that brings much
pleasure to God.
9
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that
ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 That
ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and
increasing in the knowledge of God;

A. Growing in the knowledge of God is part of a life that brings much pleasure to God.
1. Our ability to please God depends much on our knowledge of Him.
2. Illustration: Buying a gift for someone.
3. Application: We must not be content on our current knowledge of God. Illustration—
lifetime is not enough to know a person; it is foolish for us to assume that we will fully
know Him by taking doctrines classes.
B. Growing in the knowledge of God is associated with fruitfulness in every good works.
1. Illustration: Paul in 2 Cor. 5:14—“Love of Christ constrains/controls us”
2. Illustration: Christ’s command to love one’s enemies (Matt. 5:44)—The Father as the
illustration: “he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on
the just and on the unjust.”
3. Illustration: Great commission: “Go …I am with you” (Matt. 28:19-20). (Illus. Lo)

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4. Illustration: The command, “Be ye holy, for I am holy.”
5. Application: Much of our discouragement in the ministry can be attributed to our lack of
knowledge of God. (Illus. Church problem: opposition: too complicated—God is
sovereign and will answer our prayers)

V. Second Peter 1:234—Grace and peace come in the knowledge of God.

A. Grace is twofold
1. God’s goodness and favor shown to undeserving man (do you still need that?) (E.g.,
Rom. 3:24, 5:20; Eph. 1:6-7, 2:5, 7, 8)
2. Strength or ability divinely imparted to man (E.g., 2 Cor. 12:9; 1 Cor. 3:10; Rom. 12:3; 1
Pt. 4:10-11)
B. Peace is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew concept shalom—with the connotation of well-
being.
1. It is not so much about the cessation of conflict, though that is true between us and
God—in Christ, the conflict has ceased (this is what we call “peace with God”).
2. Well-being is not even so much about health and prosperity, for “there is such a thing as
being well in spiritual dimensions that transcend material and physical circumstances”
(Leedy).
3. This spiritual sense of peace as well-being is implied by the means or source that Peter
identifies—it comes…
C. Applications:
1. Knowing God may have no impact on our material or physical condition (or even a
negative impact), but it is the fountainhead of peace when it comes to our spiritual
condition—of well-being, security, confidence, rest, regardless of our material or
physical condition (this is what we call the “peace of God”).
2. Knowing God and Christ is the key, the gate in the dike that opens the flow of these
benefits from their source to our benefit and enjoyment of them.
3. The more you know about, and know, God and Christ, the more filled with grace and
peace your life will be.
4. Grace and peace do not come to believers automatically, like ice from an ice-maker.
They come through our possession and pursuit and practice of a knowledge of God.

34
Much of point V is from class lecture notes on 2 Peter by Layton Talbert, p.10.
48
Bible Doctrines I
The Essence of God35
Lesson 12
Introduction:
 God is a complex being and, consequently, has many attributes of qualities.
 Different categorizations of God’s attributes have been offered. Normally, suggested categories are
divided into two. Some examples are [1] natural attributes and moral attributes; [2] “the greatness of
God and the goodness of God;”36 [3] “God’s incommunicable and communicable attributes.”37 This
lesson follows the textbook’s division: “the essence of God and the attributes of God.”38
 Distinction between God’s essence and His attributes: Studying the essence of God answers the
question, “What is God?” Studying the attributes of God answers the question, “What is God like?”
 This lesson focuses on God’s essence: God is a spiritual, self-existent, immense, and eternal being.

I. God is a spirit.
A. God is a spirit means that He is a spiritual substance (John 4:24).
1. In Greek, the word “spirit” is anarthrous (used without an article) and is positioned
before “God.”
2. This form and position focus on the nature, not on the person, of God;39 in other words,
the verse “describes” what (nature) God is, not who (person) God is.
B. God is a spirit means that He is immaterial (Luke 24:39).
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and
bones, as ye see me have
1. Being immaterial is not equal to being unreal; God is real, but immaterial.
2. The Lord Jesus defines a spirit as not having “flesh and bones.”
3. The Lord implies that a spirit is intangible. (“Touch me, I am not a spirit”)
4. God alludes to His immateriality as the rationale for not worshiping Him through
material things (Deut. 4:15-19; cf. Exo. 20:4).
Deuteronomy 4:15-19 15 ¶ Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of
similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 Lest ye
corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or
female, 17 The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in
the air, 18 The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the
waters beneath the earth: 19 And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun,
and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and
serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

5. Biblical statements that represent God as having bodily parts (e.g., 1 Kings 8:29) are best
recognized as anthropomorphisms, which are “attempts to express the truth about God
through human analogies.”40 (Eyes = God sees us)
C. God is a spirit means that He is invisible.
1. The Scripture unambiguously/clearly teaches God’s invisibility.
a. John states that “no man (lit., “no one”) hath seen God at any time” (John 1:18)

35
Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979),
75-79. Citations (page numbers) are from Thiessen, unless specified otherwise.
36
Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology. 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 289.
37
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, 200), 156.
38
Thiessen, 75.
39
Vincent’s Word Studies in E-Sword © 2000-2007.
40
Erickson , 268.
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Bible Doctrines I
b. Paul plainly describes God as “invisible.”
i. Col. 1:15—“…the image of the invisible God”
ii. 1 Tim. 1:17—“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
God…”
iii. 1 Tim. 6:16—“…Whom no one hath seen, nor can see”
c. The author of Hebrews states that Moses “endured, as seeing him who is invisible”
(11:27)
2. Biblical instances where God “appeared in physical form …should be understood as
theophanies, or temporary manifestations of God”41 (e.g., Gen. 32:30).
3. Though “no one has ever seen God at any time,” the redeemed ones have a future hope
of beholding the very face of God (Rev. 22:4).
D. God is a spirit implies that He is alive.
1. The Scripture describes God as “the living God” (Josh. 3:10; 1 Sam. 17:26; Ps. 84:2;
Matt. 16:16; 1 Tim. 3:15; Rev. 7:2)
2. Certain names of God denote that He is alive42
His name “I am” (Exo. 3:14): “I AM comes from the Hebrew root (hyh) which has the
basic idea of “to be or to exist”—it has the idea of “to be present”. Some alternative
translations: “I am present is what I am”43 and “I am He who exist.” This word is related to the
personal name of God in the Old Testament “Yahweh,” which has the same basic idea.
3. God lives independently of others.
a. He has life in Himself (John 5:26) “…the Father hath life in himself …”
b. He does not need anyone or anything in order for Him to continue existing (Acts
17:25)—“Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing,
seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things”
4. The living God is often times contrasted with idols or false gods (Ps. 115-3-9; Acts
14:15; 1 Thess. 1:9).
Psalm 115:3-9 3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 5 They have mouths,
but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6 They have ears, but they hear not:
noses have they, but they smell not: 7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have
they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. 8 They that make them
are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them. 9 O Israel, trust thou in the
LORD: he is their help and their shield.
E. God is a spirit implies that He is a person.
1. Spirituality implies personality.
a. There is no such thing as spirituality without personality (think of the spiritual beings
that you know: angels & man)
b. Erickson disagrees with the idea that spirituality necessarily implies personality
(pp.268-267). However, the examples that he cites are in reality non-existence (e.g.,
impersonal deities of Eastern religion.)
2. The analogy between the spirituality of God and man proves that God is a person.
a. “Since the human spirit is personal, the Divine spirit must be personal as well” (p.77).

41
Ibid.
Ibid. (so is point “3”).
42
43
R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, (Chicago:
Moody Press, 1980).
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Bible Doctrines I
b. If God, who is the creator of man, is impersonal, that would render Him as inferior to
man (ibid).
3. God’s bearing of a name proves that He is a person (Exo. 3:14).44
4. God’s communication with men (persons) proves that He is a person (Gen. 3).
5. God’s possession of psychological or mental characteristics of a person proves that He is a
person.
a. He has sensibility or feelings (Gen. 6:6; Ps. 103:8-14; John 3:16).
b. He has intellect (Gen. 18:19; Exo. 3:7; Acts 15:18)
c. He has volition or will. (Gen. 3:15; Ps. 115:3; John 6:38)
6. God’s possession of qualities and relations of personality proves that He is a person.
a. He speaks (Gen. 1:3); He sees (Gen. 11:5).
b. He hears (Ps. 94:9); He grieves (Gen. 6:6).
c. He can be angry (Deut. 1:37), jealous (Exo. 20:5), and compassionate (Ps. 111:4)
d. He is “the creator (Acts 14:15), upholder (Neh. 9:6), ruler (Ps. 75:7; Dan. 4:32), and
sustainer (Ps. 104:27-30; Matt. 6:26-30) of all things” (p.77).
7. God, existing in three persons, is also one personal being; we have one God in three
distinct Persons.
Thiessen write, “The existence of three distinct persons in the Godhead results in the self-consciousness
and self-determination of the one God; but there is also the elf-consciousness and self-determination of
each of the three persons” (p.78). God is one personal being, existing in three Persons.
8. Applications:
a. Treat God as a person: fulfill your promises
b. Acknowledge His presence in your life (illus. You will not cheat if you know your
teacher watches you.)
II. God is Self-Existent.
A. Some of the details of this Divine essence are covered under letter “D” above.
B. God is never dependent on anyone or anything for His existence.
C. Thomas Aquinas refers to God as the “first cause; himself uncaused.”
D. “God’s self-existence is not grounded in his will, but in his nature” (p.78).
III. God is Immense.
A. God’s immensity refers to His being infinite or being illimitable in relation to space (ibid).
B. The Scripture clearly teaches God’s immensity.
1. I Kings 8:27 (2 Chron.2:6) —“The heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee”
2. Isaiah 66:1 —“The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool”
3. Jeremiah 23:24 —“Do not I fill heaven and earth? Saith the Lord”
4. Acts 17:24ff. “God…made the world and all things therein…is Lord of heaven and earth”
C. God’s immensity is related to his spirituality.45
D. Erickson states that “God cannot be localized at a particular point;” “God is the one who
brought space (and time) into being” (p.273). In Thiessen’s wording, God is “above space” (p.

44
“The Hebrews considered the name an embodiment of the person bearing it” (Walter Eichrodt, Theology of the Old
Testament [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1967], vol. 2, pp.40-45—quoted in Erickson, 269. The proceeding point is also from
Erickson, p.270.
45
Ibid., 273.
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Bible Doctrines I
78). We all agree that God’s creation is vast (universe). The immensity of the universe attest to
the greater immensity of God. It is hard for finite beings like us to fully comprehend God’s
immensity, because we do not know how to exist outside of space—we are limited by space
(Ibid).
E. Another aspect by Erickson: “There is no place where [God] cannot be found” (p.273).
F. It seems that God’s immensity is the fountainhead of God’s omnipresence.
G. Applications:
1. You are secured wherever you God. Indeed, God is with us always!
2. You can ask and avail of God’s help wherever you are.
3. You will never be alone.
IV. God is Eternal.
A. God’s eternality refers to His being infinite or illimitable in relation to time (p.78).
1. Example of being limited by time: do not clearly see the past; do not know the future;
cannot be in the present, past, or future at the same time.
2. “God is free from all succession of time” (p.79).
3. “He sees the past and the future as vividly as he sees the present” (ibid).
B. Thiessen’s succinct definition captures the sense of eternality: “He is without beginning or
end, he is free from all succession of time, and he is the cause of time” (p.78).
C. The Scripture clearly teaches God’s eternality.
1. Genesis 21:33—He is identified as “the everlasting God”
2. Psalm 90:2—“Even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God”
3. Psalm 102:27—“Thy years shall have no end”
4. Isaiah 57:15—He “inhabits eternity” (May refer to the eternal kingship of God-NET) and
“from everlasting” (Hab. 1:12)
D. God’s eternality is unique; Paul refers to God as, “Who alone hath immortality.” We often say
that man has a soul that will spend eternity either in God’s presence or in hell. Although
man’s soul will live forever, it had a beginning. God does not only have a beginning; He
cannot have it. He is not limited by time. As Thiessen states, “God is free from all succession
of time” (p.79). This does not mean that God does not understand the concept of time.
E. If God’s immensity is related to God’s spirituality, God’s eternality is associated with God’s
self-existence (ibid). He exists by virtue of His nature, not because of his will (illus. Fish able
to live under water but not above? Because it is fish. By design, their habitat is underwater.)
F. Applications:
1. God is able to take care of our loved ones when we die.
2. God’s promises will never lose their power (the one who promised them ever lives)
3. “The fact that God created time reminds us of his lordship over it and our obligation to
use it for his glory” (Grudem, 266).

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Bible Doctrines I
The Attributes of God46
Lesson 13
Introduction:

 Distinction between God’s essence and His attributes: Studying the essence of God answers the
question, “what is God?” Studying the attributes of God answers the question, “What is God like?”
 God’s attributes are inherent in the essence of God.47 The attributes of God are consequences of His
essence. Clear example: God’s omnipresence is related to His immensity (not being bounded by
space, into one location only at a given time). Thiessen uses the same verses to both immensity and
omnipresence.
 This lesson focuses on God’s attributes. The God’s attributes are here divided into two categories.
[1] God’s non-moral attributes: Divine qualities that do not involve morality.
[a] Omnipresence [c] Omnipotence
[b] Omniscience [c] Immutability
[2] God’s moral attributes: Divine qualities that involve morality.
[a] Holiness [c] Goodness
[b] Righteousness and Justice [d] Truth

I. God’s Non-Moral Attributes48

A. Omnipresence: “God is present everywhere at once” (p.80).
1. Scripture references to God’s immensity apply to God’s omnipresence.
2. Perhaps the clearest biblical reference to this attribute is Psalm 139:7-10
7
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8 If
I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art
there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the
sea; 10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
3. Biblical concept of prayer presupposes God’s omnipresence.
4. Statements similar to Psalm 46:1 (“God is …a very present help in trouble”) presupposes
God’s omniscience (cf. Psalm 145:18; Matthew 28:20).
5. God’s omnipresence is a source of comfort to God’s obedient people, but a source of alarm
for those who are rebelling against Him.
6. There are no such things as “hidden sins.” Living in the light of God’s omnipresence
should radically change our lives.
B. Omniscience: “God is infinite in knowledge” (p.81).
1. God’s omnipresence supports His omniscience (Ibid).
2. Key verses on God’s omniscience
a. Isa. 46:10—God knows the future.
“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that

46
Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979),
79-88. Citations (page numbers) are from Thiessen, unless specified otherwise.
47
Thiessen, attempting to show the relationship between God’s essence and attributes, writes, “The attributes of God, in
distinction from the substance or essence of God, are the qualities that inhere in the substance and constitute an analytical and
closer description of it” (p.79).
48
Erickson places this category under the “attributes of greatness” (Christian Theology. 2nd ed. [Grand Rapids: Baker Books,
1998], 267ff.
53
Bible Doctrines I
are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my
pleasure”49
b. Psalm 147:5—God’s understanding is beyond measure.
“Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”
c. Hebrews 4:13—God thoroughly knows all His creation.
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do”
d. Matthew 10:30—God knows the number of our hair.
“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered”
e. Psalm 139:1-6—God thoroughly knows each man.
“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my
downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou
compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it
altogether. 5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.”
3. The scope of God’s knowledge is infinite (see Theissen, p.81).
a. Himself (Matt. 11:27; 1 Cor. 2:11)
b. Things actually existing
c. Knows all things possible (probabilities)
d. The future
4. In the latter part of the 20th century, the traditional doctrine of God’s omniscience was
challenge by a new theological position called “Open Theism.”
a. Basic tenet: God does not know the future.
b. Motive: Harmonize God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility
c. Expanded tenet: God does not know the future because the future depends on man’s
choice. God gave man the real freedom to choose. Thus, the future is not yet
determined, because God does not know the choices that man will make.
d. Refutation: Psalm 139:1-6
i. “Thou understandst my thoughts afar off”
ii. “For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether”

5. Because God is omniscient, He knows all the facts. Because God knows all the facts, He
always knows what the best course of action is. Therefore, we must trust in Him and
obey His word, even though at times we foolishly think that our way is better than
God’s.
C. Omnipotence: “God is all powerful and able to do whatever He wills” (p.82).
1. Key passages
a. Genesis 17:1—He is almighty (cf. Revelation 4:8).
“And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to
Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be
thou perfect.”

49
Thiessen carefully delineated the distinction between knowing the future and “causing” the future. He writes,
“Omniscience should not be confused with causation …The knowledge of the future is not itself causative” (pp.81-82).
However, Isaiah 46:10 seems to indicate a very close connection between God’s knowledge of the future and His acts in the
future. It seems that the verse has the following tone: “I will know that future because I will cause it to happen.”
54
Bible Doctrines I
b. Matthew 19:26—To God all things are possible.
“But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, ‘With men this is impossible;
but with God all things are possible.’”

c. Jeremiah 32:17—Nothing is too difficult for God.

“Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy
great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:”

2. “God can do everything that is in harmony with his perfections.” Because of

this, “[t]here are some things which God cannot do because they are
contrary to His nature as God” (ibid).
a. God cannot look with favor on iniquity (Hab. 1:13).
b. God cannot deny himself (2 Tim. 2:13).
c. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18).
d. God cannot sin (James 1:13).
3. “The possession of omnipotence does not demand the exercise of his
power, certainly not the exercise of all his power” (ibid).
D. Immutability: “God is unchangeable in his essence, attributes, consciousness, and
will” (p.83).
1. God cannot change for the better or for the worse because He is a perfect
being.
2. Key verses
a. James 1:17
“The Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning.”
b. Psalm 102:26-27—Unchangeable character
“They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like
a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
27
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.”
c. Malachi 3:6—Unchangeable character
“For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed.”
d. Hebrews 1:12—Unchangeable character
“And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but
thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail”
e. Psalm 33:11—Unchangeable counsels
“he counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all
generations.”
f. 1 Kings 8:56—Unchangeable promises (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:20)
“Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel,
according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his
good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.”

g. Psalm 103:17—Unchangeable love and mercy

“But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them
that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;”
h. Genesis 18:25—Unchangeable justice
“That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the

55
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wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from
thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
3. Because God is unchanging, therefore He is dependable.50
4. Because God is unchanging, we worship and serve the same God of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
5. Biblical expressions that portray God as changing His mind or “repenting”
may refer to
a. The employment of anthropomorphisms and anthropopathisms.51
b. “[N]ew stages in the working out of God’s plan.”52
c. “[C]hanges of orientation resulting from man’s move into a different
relationship with God.”53

II. God’s Moral Attributes

A. Holiness: “God is totally separate54 from His Creation and Sin”
1. God is totally separate from His creation. This refers to God’s uniqueness.55
a. God’s title as “The Most High God” captures the sense of God’s distinction and
exaltation over His creation. This title occurs about 40x in the Old Testament.
b. Key verses
i. Exodus 15:11
“Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in
holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders”
ii. Isaiah 57:15
“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy;
I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite
ones.”
c. Since God is the highest of all beings
i. He must be the priority of our lives.
ii. He deserves only the best that we can possibly give.
2. God is totally separate from sin. This refers to God being “allergic to sin and evil.”
a. Key Verses
i. 1 Peter 1:16—His holiness as the basis for ours.
“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy”

50
“He will be the same tomorrow as he is today. He will act as he has promised. He will fulfil (sic.) his commitments. The
believer can rely upon that (Lam.3:22-23; 1 John 1:9)” (Erickson, 279).
51
“They are simply description of God’s actions and feelings in human terms, and from a human perspective. Included
here are representation of God as experiencing pain or regret” (ibid.).
52
“An example of this is the offering of salvation to the Gentiles. While a part of God’s original plan, it represented a
rather sharp break with what had preceded” (ibid.).
53
“God did not change when Adam sinned; rather, man had moved into God’s disfavor. This works the other way as well.
Take the case of Nineveh. God said, ‘Forty days and Nineveh will be destroyed, unless they repent.’ Nineveh repented and
was spared. It was man that had changed, not God’s plan” (ibid.).
54
The Hebrew word for “holy” (vd,q o) also describes certain inanimate objects (Exo. 3:1-5 [holy ground]; 26:33
[holy place, rooms]; 30:37, 38 [holy anointing oil]). The use of vd,qo with inanimate objects suggests that the basic
meaning of holiness is being set-apart or separated. Erickson writes, “The Hebrew word for ‘holy’…means ‘marked of’ or
‘withdrawn from common, ordinary use.’ The verb from which it is derived suggests ‘to cut off’ or ‘to separate’” (284).
55
Ibid.
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Bible Doctrines I

ii. Habakkuk 1:13—Cannot favorably look on sin

“Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:
wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue
when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?”
iii. James 1:13—Does not tempt and cannot be tempted with sin
“Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be
tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man”
iv. Job 34:12
“Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment”
b. God calls those who belong to Him to have the same abhorrence to sin.
i. Psalm 97:10—“Ye that love the LORD, hate evil.”
ii. 1 Peter 1:16—“Be ye Holy.”
iii. 2 Timothy 2:19—“Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from
iniquity.”
iv. Matthew 5:48—“Be perfect as the Father is perfect.”
v. 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1—“Be separate and touch not the unclean thing.”
B. Righteousness and Justice: “God will always do what is right.”
1. On the distinction between righteousness and justice, Erickson writes,
“[God’s righteousness] is God’s personal or individual righteousness. His
justice is his official righteousness, his requirement that other moral agents
adhere to the standards as well. God is, in other words, like a judge who as a
private individual adheres to the law of society, and in his official capacity
administers that same law, applying it to others.”
2. These two attributes are applications of God’s holiness “to his relationship to other
beings” (p.85; Erickson, p.286).
3. Key Verses
a. Genesis 18:25
“That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and
that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all
the earth do right?”
b. Jeremiah 9:24
“…I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the
earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”
c. Psalm 89:14 “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth
shall go before thy face”
4. Applications of God’s righteousness and justice include
a. Rewarding obedience56 (Deut. 7:9-13; 2 Chron. 6:15; Ps. 58:11; Matt. 25:21; Rom.
2:7; Heb. 11:26)
b. Punishing disobedience (Gen. 2:17; Exo. 34:7; Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 1:32; 2:8f.; 2
Thess. 1:8; Rev. 16:5-7)
5. Because God is righteous and just,
a. He will never, ever mistreat us.

Thiessen is right when he states, “Remunerative justice (i.e., God’s giving of rewards to those who obey) is based
56

on divine love, not on strict merit” (p.85). We, as His creation, are obligated to obey God. God does not have to promise
rewards in order to “earn” a right to be obeyed. God can maintain His righteousness and justice, had He chose not to reward
obedience. God is not obligated to reward us for our obedience, but the fact that He does testifies to God’s abundant love to
His creatures.
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Bible Doctrines I
b. no circumstance in this life must lead us to doubt His justice.
c. hell is reasonable.
d. Everyone needs the Christ in order to be saved. (Whom God hath set forth to be the
propitiation for our sins)
C. Goodness: “God is loving, benevolent, merciful, and gracious being.”
*** Thiessen states that “goodness” is a fitting summary of the many characteristics of God.57
This statement is warranted by the Scripture. Summarizing God’s qualities by the word
goodness has precedent in both the Old and New Testaments.
*** In Exodus 33:18, Moses entreated God to show him His glory. In response, Yahweh
promised the passing of His goodness before His servant (v.19). Exodus 34:6ff. contains the
actual granting of Moses’ request. The passing of God’s goodness is the proclamation of
God’s mercy, grace, longsuffering, goodness, truth, and righteousness (vv.6-7).
*** In Romans 2:4, Paul summarizes God’s forbearance and longsuffering as God’s goodness.
*** Thiessen limits the goodness of God to four characteristics: God’s love, benevolence,
mercy, and grace.
1. The love of God
a. John, in his first epistle, declares that “God is love” (4:8, 16). Certainly, the idea
that God loves (what He does) is implied in the statement. However, it seems that
the expression, “God is love,” places more emphasis, not on what God does (His
action), but on what God is (His nature). “God is love” suggests that love (or to
love) is fundamental to God’s nature. Therefore,…
i. To doubt God’s love to you is ironic, unbiblical, and sinful.
ii. In God, we can find the real meaning and the purest expressions of love; The
world has no right to tell us the definition and the proper expressions of
love (administering the rod is unloving; to rebuke sin is unloving;
toleration is loving) Considering how God defines and expresses His love
leads us to the right view of love (Biblical love).
b. Defining love through God’s love
i. Love is primarily not a mere feeling but action (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.).
ii. Love is primarily expressed in acts of giving.58
* John 3:16 “For God so loved the word, that He gave…”
* Gal. 2:20 “…the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me”
* 1 John 3:16 “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life
for us…”
* 1 John 4:9 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God
sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
* John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends” (cf. Romans 5:8)
* Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
iii. Love is others oriented, not self-oriented; it is self-sacrificing. Erickson
defines God’s love as “an unselfish interest in us for our sake” (p.292)

“In the larger sense of the term, the goodness of God includes all the qualities that answer to the conception of an
57

ideal personage; that is, it includes such qualities as God’s holiness, righteousness, and truth, as well as his love,
benevolence, mercy, and grace” (p.85).
58
“In general, God’s love may be thought of as his eternal giving or sharing of himself” (Erickson, 292).
58
Bible Doctrines I
c. Creation (e.g., man) is not necessary in order for God to express His love. Thiessen
points out that “God’s love finds its primary objects in the several persons of the
trinity” (p.86).59
d. God’s love for us is beyond knowledge (Ephesians 3:19).
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth60 knowledge,61 that ye might be filled with
all the fullness of God.
The Love of God
(Frederick M. Lehman)
The love of God is greater far When years of time shall pass away, Could we with ink the ocean fill,
Than tongue or pen can ever tell; And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall, And were the skies of parchment made,
It goes beyond the highest star, When men, who here refuse to pray, Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And reaches to the lowest hell; On rocks and hills and mountains call, And every man a scribe by trade,
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God’s love so sure, shall still endure, To write the love of God above,
God gave His Son to win; All measureless and strong; Would drain the ocean dry.
His erring child He reconciled, Redeeming grace to Adam’s race— Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
And pardoned from his sin. Refrain
The saints’ and angels’ song. Though stretched from sky to sky.
O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints’ and angels’ song.

2. The benevolence of God

a. Benevolence refers to
i. A “disposition to do good”62
ii. It is “a basic dimension of God’s love …the concern of God for the welfare
of those whom he loves. He unselfishly seeks our ultimate welfare.”63
iii. Benevolence refers to God’s bountiful, tender, and kind dealings with His
creation.64
b. The greatness of God’s benevolence is evident because of the fact that God is self-
existent. God does good things to us, not because He needs us; He deals so with us
because God has a benevolent nature. Erickson states it clearly: “[God] is

59
“A such, love has always been present among the members of the Trinity. Jesus said, ‘But I do as the Father has
commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father’ (John 14:31). Matthew 3:17 reports that a voice from
heaven said of Jesus, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” The triunity of God means that there has been
an eternal exercise of God’s love, even before there were any created beings” (Erickson, 292).
60
From u`perba,llw (huperballo), which literally means, “to cast beyond.” BDAG defines it as “to attain a degree that
extraordinarily exceeds a point on a scale of extent.”
61
“There “seems” to be a slight contradiction here in expressing a wish to know what cannot be known, or in a desire that
they should understand that which cannot be understood. But it is the language of a man whose heart was full to overflowing.
He had a deep sense of the love of Christ, and he expressed a wish that they should understand it. Suddenly he has such an
apprehension of it, that he says it is indeed infinite. No one can attain to a full view of it. It had no limit. It was unlike
anything which had ever been evinced before. It was love which led the Son of God to become incarnate; to leave the
heavens: to be a man of sorrows; to be reviled and persecuted; to be put to death in the most shameful manner - on a cross.
Who could understand that? Where else had there been anything like that? What was there with which to compare it? What
was there by which it could be illustrated? And how could it be fully understood Yet “something” of it might be seen, known,
felt; and the apostle desired that as far as possible they should understand that great love which the Lord Jesus had manifested
for a dying world” (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, Electronic copy, Esword)
62
Merriam Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary, Electronic version
63
Erickson, p.292.
64
Thiessen, p.86.
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Bible Doctrines I
concerned with our good for our own sake, not for what he can get out of us. God
does not need us. He is all-powerful, all-sufficient” (p.293).
c. God’s benevolence to man is very evident even at the very beginning of man’s
existence. (God created man last—everything was ready; placed man on the Garden of
Eden; allows intimate fellowship with Him; provided a suitable partner to Adam;
continues to communicate even after the fall; promised the redemption of man)
d. Key verses:
i. Psalm 145:9, 15f.—God is the ultimate source of all provisions in life.
“The Lord is good to all …The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them
their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of
every living thing.”
ii. Matthew 6:25-34—God is benevolent to His children.
iii. Matthew 5:45 (cf.Acts 14:17)—God is benevolent to everyman.
“[F]or he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain
on the just and on the unjust”
“Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us
rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness”
iv. Matthew 6:26, 28, 30—“God cares for and provides for” even “subhuman
creation”65
“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather
into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them …Consider the lilies of the
field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin …God so clothe the grass
of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven…,”
v. James 1:17—God is the fountainhead of every good things and experiences
in our lives.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the
Father of lights”

e. Perhaps God’s provision of salvation is the greatest evidence of God’s benevolence

to mankind. God did not only provide for the possibility of salvation; He
continuously seeks sinners to save them (Luke 15).
f. A good exercise! Ten proofs of God’s benevolence in your life; ten reason why you
should love Him with all of your being; why you should serve Him faithfully.
3. The mercy of God
a. “God’s mercy is his goodness manifested towards those who are in misery or
distress.”66 It is God’s “tenderhearted, loving compassion for his people. It is his
tenderness of heart toward the needy.”67
i. One of the Greek words used in the New Testament to refer to mercy is the
adjective oivkti,rmwn (oiktrmon), which pertains “to being concerned
about another’s unfortunate state or misery” (BDAG).
ii. Another Greek word behind our English “mercy” is evlee,w (ele-e-o),
which means, “to be greatly concerned about someone in need” (ibid.).

65
Erickson (p.294).
66
Thiessen, p.86.
67
Erickson, p.295.
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b. Key verses
i. Psalm 103:13—God is merciful towards His children.
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.”
ii. Ephesians 2:4—God is rich in mercy to us, who were “by nature children of
wrath” (deserving of God’s indignation)
iii. James 5:11—God is merciful even in times of great sufferings.
“Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of
Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender
mercy.”
iv. 1 Peter 1:3—God’s mercy is great.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his
abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead,”
c. Case studies68
i. God’s response to Israel’s bondage in Egypt (Exodus 3:7f.)
ii. Jesus’ reaction to man’s physical and spiritual needs (Mark 1:41; Matt. 9:36)

d. Thiessen is right in insisting on the freeness of God’s mercy. In other words, God
is never obligated to show mercy. He shows mercy to whom He wants to. The Key
passage for this truth Exodus 33:19 (cf. Romans 9:15-18).
“And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name
of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew
mercy on whom I will shew mercy.”
e. God’s provision of salvation is perhaps the greatest display of God’s mercy
(Romans 12:1). Paul summarized His soteriology, which he expounded in chs. 1-
11, in three words: “mercies of God.” Believers, who are not using their lives for
God’s glory, have probably loss sight of God’s great mercy towards them.
4. The grace of God
a. It refers to “God’s goodness manifested toward the ill-deserving.”69
b. This means that “God deals with his people not on the basis of their merit or
worthiness, what they deserve, but simply according to their need.”70
c. Like God’s mercy, God’s grace is also free. Grace does not depend on anything
that man can do. Obligating God to show grace as a response to man’s effort
destroys the very essence of grace—it is not of works, it is undeserved favor
(Romans 11:6).
“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it
be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
d. Key verses
i. Exodus 34:6—God’s grace is part of His glorious nature.
“And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD
God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,”
ii. Ephesians 2:8-9—Salvation is not possible without God being gracious to
us. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

68
Ibid., p.296.
69
Theissen, p.87.
70
Erickson p.294.
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iii. Psalm 103:10—Relationship (no one can abide with him) with God is not
possible without God being gracious to us.
“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our
iniquities.”
iv. Ephesians 1:6—God saved us so that His grace would be magnified.
“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved”
e. Thiessen lists certain manifestations of God’s grace (p.87).
i. God’s forbearance and long-suffering delay of punishment of sin (Exo. 34:6;
Rom. 2:4; 3:25; 9:22; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 3:9, 15)
ii. Salvation (1 John 2:2)
iii. The Word of God (Hosea 8:12)
iv. Convicting ministry of the Spirit (John 16:8-11)
v. Influence of God’s people (Matt. 5:13ff.)
vi. God’s common grace (Titus 2:11)

REVIEW
[1] God’s non-moral attributes: Divine qualities that do not involve morality.
[a] Omnipresence [c] Omnipotence
[b] Omniscience [d] Immutability
[2] God’s moral attributes: Divine qualities that involve morality.
[a] Holiness [c] Goodness
[b] Righteousness and Justice [d] Truth

D. Truth: “God is a genuine, veracious, and faithful being.”71

1. God’s Genuiness: This simply means that God is “a real God” (p.289)
a. Genuineness refers to what God is.
b. Jeremiah 10:10—God is a real being unlike the idols.
“But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath
the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.”
c. John 17:3—There is only one being in the category of being God.
“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent.”
d. 1 John 5:20—Christ is identified as the true God.
“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we
may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ.
This is the true God, and eternal life”
e. Other references include 1 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 3:7; 6:10
f. Application: The God that the Scripture reveals is a real being.
2. God’s Veracity: This means that “God represents things as they really are” (p.290).
a. Veracity refers to what God says.
b. John 17:17—God’s revelation is truth.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth”

71
Erickson discusses God’s truthfulness into three parts: Genuineness, veracity, and faithfulness (pp.289-292).
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c. Titus 1:2—God can never lie (cf. Heb. 6:18).
“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;”
3. God’s faithfulness: This means that He proves Himself as true.
a. Faithfulness refers to what God does. Thus, God’s faithfulness “is a function of his
unlimited power and capability” (p.291).
b. Numbers 23:19—God will perform what He has promised to do.
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath
he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
c. 1 Peter 4:19—He is a faithful Creator
“Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their
souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator”
d. Other references: 1 Cor. 1:9; 2 Cor. 1:18-22; and 2 Tim. 2:13; 1 Tess. 5:24
e. God “could never commit himself to do something of which he would eventually
prove incapable” (ibid.).

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The Unity and Trinity of God72
Lesson 14
Introduction:
 The unity of God is inherent in the discussion of the Trinity of God. The unity of God will be treated
in the discussion of the Trinity of God.
 The doctrine of the Trinity, as one theologian rightly states, is one of the most important doctrines of
the Christian faith.”73 This is so largely because this particular doctrine concerns the identity and the
true nature of God. Also, one’s view of the Trinity greatly affects one’s understanding of Christ74
and the Holy Spirit.
 The doctrine of the Trinity is not explicitly stated in the Bible, nor does the word “Trinity” itself
occurs in the Scripture. “So, do you believe on the Trinity? If so, why?”
 The doctrine of the Trinity is a fruit of systematic Theology;75 the Trinitarian doctrine is a
conclusion based on three clear teachings of the Scripture.76
o [1] There is only one God.
o [2] Three Persons are recognized as fully God.
o [3] The three Persons recognized as God are distinct from one another.

I. There is Only One God (The unity of God).

A. Old Testament teachings
1. Deuteronomy 6:4—Yahweh is unique.77
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:”78
2. Isaiah 45:22—There is none like God (cf. 45:5, 18, 21; Deut. 4:35, 39; 32:39; I Kings
8:60)
“Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
B. New Testament teachings
1. Mark 12:29—Jesus confirms Deuteronomy 6:4
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our
God is one Lord:
2. 1 Corinthians 8:4-6—Idols are not real gods.
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we

72
Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company,
1979), 79-88. Citations (page numbers) are from Thiessen, unless specified otherwise.
73
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1994), 226.
74
Millard Erickson, Christian Theology. 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 322.
75
“[F]ormulating a position on the Trinity is a genuine exercise in systematic theology” (Ibid.).
76
This approach is akin to Grudem’s. His order is as follows: [1] God is three persons; [2] Each person is fully God;
[3] There is one God (231).
77
“This weighty text contains far more than a mere declaration of the unity of God as against polytheism; or of the
sole authority of the revelation that He had made to Israel as against other pretended manifestations of His will and attributes.
It asserts that the Lord God of Israel is absolutely God, and none other. He, and He alone, is Jehovah (Yahweh) the absolute,
uncaused God; the One who had, by His election of them, made Himself known to Israel” (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible,
from E-Sword).
78
New English Translation Bible presents the following translation options. “(1) One option is to translate: ‘The
LORD is our God, the LORD alone’ (cf. NAB, NRSV, NLT). This would be an affirmation that the Lord was the sole object
of their devotion. This interpretation finds support from the appeals to loyalty that follow (vv. 5, 14). (2) Another option is to
translate: ‘The LORD is our God, the LORD is unique.’ In this case the text would be affirming the people's allegiance to the
Lord, as well as the Lord's superiority to all other gods. It would also imply that he is the only one worthy of their worship.
Support for this view comes from parallel texts such as Deut 7:9 and 10:17, as well as the use of ‘one’ in Song 6:8–9, where
the starstruck lover declares that his beloved is unique (literally, ‘one,’ that is, ‘one of a kind’) when compared to all other
women”(The NET Bible, Version 1.0 - Copyright © 2004,2005 Biblical Studies Foundation.).
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know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. 5 For though
there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords
many,) 6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and
one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
3. John 17:3—There is only one true God.
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent.
4. 1 Timothy 1:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus
5. James 2:19—Demons acknowledge that there is only one God.
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

C. God’s condemnation of idolatry (Exo. 20:3) and demand of total devotion (Deut. 6:4-5) imply
the uniqueness or “oneness” 79 of God. Application: He deserves undivided love and devotion
(v.5)
D. Thiessen states that the oneness of God, or His unity means, “[T]hat there is but one God and
that the divine nature is undivided and indivisible” (89).

II. Three Persons are recognized as fully God (The “Deity of the Three”)
A. Deity of the Father
This is rarely challenged. Some of the verses in I-B points to the deity of the Father.
B. Deity of the Son
1. He was identified as God.
a. Isaiah 9:6—Prophesied to come as the mighty God.
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his
shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
b. John 1:1—The Son (Word) has divine essence.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God80

c. John 20:2781 –Directly addressed as God.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

79
Term borrowed from Erickson, 323.
Some cults translate “God” as “a god.” They appeal to the fact that “God” in Greek has no article. However, in
80

Greek the absence of an article does not necessarily denote indefiniteness. The Greek word “God” appears without an article
four other times in the same chapter, but with a clear reference to God (vv.6, 12, 13, 18) (Grudem, 234-235).
81
“Here Thomas calls Jesus ‘my God.’ The narrative shows that both John in writing his gospel and Jesus himself
approved of what Thomas has said and encourage everyone who hears about Thomas to believe the same things that Thomas
did. Jesus immediately responds to Thomas, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not
seen and yet believe’ (John 20:29). As far as John is concerned, this is the dramatic high point of the gospel, for he
immediately tells the reader—in the very next verse—that this was the reason he wrote it: [“]…these are written that you may
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name[”] (John 20:30-31). Jesus
speaks of those who will not see him and will yet believe, and John immediately tells the reader that he recorded the events
written in this gospel in order that they may believe in just this way, imitating Thomas in his confession of faith. In other
words, the entire gospel is written to persuade people to imitate Thomas, who sincerely called Jesus, ‘My Lord and my God’”
(Grudem, 235).
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d. Hebrews 1:3—The Son is the exact representation82 of God’s being/nature83.
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image 84of his person, and
upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat
down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
e. Hebrews 1:8—The Son is addressed by the Father as God.
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of
righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
f. Philippians 2:6—The Son has the same nature as the Father and therefore is equal
with the Father.
Who, being in the form85 of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
g. 2 Peter 1:1—Peter acknowledged His deity86 (cf. Titus 2:13)
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
h. 1 John 5:20—He is the true God
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we
may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This
is the true God, and eternal life.
2. Possesses attributes exclusive to God
a. Eternality (Micah 5:2; John 1:1; Heb. 11:11-12)
b. Omnipresence (Matt. 18:20; 28:20; John 3:13; Eph. 1:23)
c. Omniscience (Matt. 11:27; John 16:30; 21:17; Col. 2:3)
d. Omnipotence (Matt. 28:18; Heb. 1:3; Isa. 6:9)
e. Immutability (Heb. 1:12; 13:8)
3. Performs works exclusive to God
a. Creating (John 1:3; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:10)
b. Sustaining (Col. 1:17; Heb. 1:3)
4. Is identified with the OT. Jehovah87

82
“Express image” comes from one Greek word, carakth,r (charakter), which originally refers to “a mark or
impression placed on an object” (BDAG). Images in coins are examples of such “marks.” An image in a coin is an exact
representation of the “pattern” or die used to form that mark on the coin. The point of the verse is that the Son is the exact
representation of God’s “person” or nature.
83
“Person” (u`po,stasij, hupostasis) refers to “the essential or basic structure/nature or an entity” (BDAG).
84
Other renderings of “express image” (carakth.r th/j u`posta,sewj) are “exact imprint of his nature”
(ESV); “exact representation of His nature” (NASB); “exact representation of his essence” (NET).
85
From the Greek word morfh,. Erickson comments, “This term in classical Greek as well as in biblical Greek
means ‘the set of characteristics which constitutes a thing what it is.’ It denotes the genuine nature of a thing. The word
morfh, contrasts with sch/ma, which is also generally translated ‘form,’ but in the sense of shape or superficial
appearance rather than substance” (325). Homer Kent seconds, “The term morphe denotes the outward manifestation that
corresponds to the essence, in contrast to the noun schema (2:7), which refers to the outward appearance, which may be
temporary” (Philippians in Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Electronic version, Zondervan Corporation, 2002).
86
Some identify “God” as referring to the Father, not the Son. To this Grudem writes, “Both verses [, Titus 2:13 & 2
Peter 1:1,] have the same Greek construction, in which one definite article governs two nouns joined by the Greek word for
and (kai). In all cases where this construction is found the two nouns are viewed as unified in some way, and often they are
two separate names for the same person or thing. Especially significant is 2 Peter 1:1, for exactly the same construction is
used by Peter there other times in this book to speak of “Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:11, 2:20; 3:18). In
these three other verses, the Greek wording is exactly the same in every detail except that the word Lord (kyrios) is used
instead of the word God (theos). If these other three instances are all translated ‘Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,’ as they
are in all major translation, then consistency in translation would seem to require the translation of 2 Peter 1:1 as ‘Our God
and Savior Jesus Christ,’ again referring to Christ as God” (236, ft. note 15).
87
See Thiessen for the full list of example (pp.93-95).
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a. He had a forerunner, Isa. 40:3; Mat. 3:3
b. Isaiah saw Him (Isa. 6:1-4; John 12:41)
5. Had names that imply deity
a. Immanuel (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:22ff.)
b. The Word (Logos) (John 1:1)
c. The Son of Man (Matt. 26:63f.; cf. Dan. 7:13)
d. Lord (Rom. 10:9, 13; John 20:28)
e. The Son of God (John 5:17-18, 22-23)
6. He accepted worship (Matt. 14:33; 28:9; Luke 5:8; 1 Cor. 1:2)
7. His own consciousness and claim proves that He is God (see Thiessen, p.96).
C. Deity of the Holy Spirit
1. Personality of the Spirit88
The deity of the Holy Spirit is difficult to establish if He is not recognized as a person.
Hence, the personality of the Spirit will be first treated.
a. He has personal characteristics
i. Intelligence:
Isaiah 11:2 the Spirit of wisdom
John 14:26; shall teach you all things; bring to remembrance
John 15:26; Spirit of truth
Rom 8:27 He makes intercession for us
ii. Emotion: Ephesians 4:30 Grieve not (Is 63:10)
iii. Will: I Corinthians 12:11 Divides/designates gifts
iv. Love: Romans 15:30 love of the Spirit
b. He is associated with other persons
i. Christ and His disciples: John 16:13-14-He will glorify the Son and guide the
Apostles into all truth
ii. The Jerusalem council: Acts 15:28 It seemed good to the Holy Ghost not to
lay upon the gentile believers greater burden of following Jewish laws
iii. The Father and Son: Matthew 28:19 Disciples will be baptized in the name
of the three Persons of the Trinity
c. He is distinct from His own power (Try substituting power to Spirit)
i. Luke 4:14, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit”
ii. Romans 15:13, “…abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost”
iii. I Corinthians 2:4, “…in demonstration of the Spirit and of power”
d. He performs personal actions
i. Reproving: John 16:8 He will reprove of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment.

88
From notes on The Holy Spirit, Gary Reimers.
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ii. Speaking:
Acts 8:29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near…
Acts 13:2 the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul
iii. Teaching:
Luke 12:12 The Holy Spirit will teach you that same hour
Neh 9:20 Thou gavest thy good Spirit to instruct them
I Cor 2:13) We speak which the Holy Spirit teacheth
iv. Directing:
Acts 16:6-7 Forbidden by the Spirit; Spirit suffered them not
Rom 8:14 Led by the Spirit
v. Interceding: Romans 8:26 Makes intercession for us
e. He can be sinned against
i. Blasphemed: Matthew 12:31 but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall
not be forgiven unto men.
ii. Lied to: Acts 5:3 why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost,
iii. Resisted: Acts 7:51 ye do always resist the Holy Ghost:
iv. Insulted: Hebrews 10:29 and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace

f. He is designated as the counselor or comforter89

2. The deity of the Holy Spirit
a. He is identified as God
i. Holy Spirit and God are used interchangeably: Acts 5:3-4
But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to
keep back part of the price of the land? 4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and
after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in
thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

ii. His presence in a local church renders it the temple of God: I Corinthians
3:16-17
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17
If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy,
which temple ye are

iii. His indwelling a believer renders him a temple of God: I Corinthians 6:19
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which
ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

b. He performs divine works

i. Creation:
Genesis 1:2 And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Job 26:13—By His Spirit He hath garnished the heavens
Job 33:4—The Spirit of God hath made me; breath of the Almighty hath given me life
Psalm 104:30—Thou sendest forth Thy Spirit and they are created
ii. Inspiration:
II Peter 1:19-21 but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
II Tim 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God
Other passages: Acts 1:16; 28:25)

The word is “commonly used to speak of a person who helps or gives comfort or counsel to another person or
89

persons, but is used of the Holy Spirit in John’s gospel (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7)” (Grudem, 232).
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iii. Continuing Christ’s ministry as another Paraclete of the same kind: John
14:16—And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another
Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever
iv. Conviction of sin: John 16:8—When He is come, He will reprove the world
of sin, righteousness, and judgment
v. Regeneration:
John 3:5-6—Born of the water (Spirit) and of the spirit (spirit of man)
Titus 3:5—by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy
Spirit
c. He possesses attributes exclusive to God
i. Omnipotence:
Romans 15:19: Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of
God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully
preached the gospel of Christ.
Luke 1:35—And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
I Cor 12:11—But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to
every man severally as he will.
ii. Omniscience:
Isaiah 40:13-14--13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his
counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed
him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and
shewed to him the way of understanding?
John 16:13 (cf. 14:26)— Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will
guide you into all truth:
I Cor 2:10-11—He searcheth all things, the deep things of God …the things of
God knoweth no man except the Spirit
I John 5:6—It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
iii. Omnipresence: Psalm 139:7-8— 7Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or
whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8If I ascend up into heaven, thou
art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
iv. Eternality: Hebrews 9:14—“eternal Spirit”
d. He is associated with the Father and Son in apparent equality
i. At the baptism of Christ: Matthew 3:16-17—descending like a dove
ii. In conquest over Satan: Matthew 12:28—I [Christ] cast out devils by the
Spirit—then kingdom of God comes
iii. In the apostolic blessing: II Corinthians 13:14—Grace of Christ, communion
of the Spirit, love of God
iv. In salvation: I Peter 1:2—Elect-God’s foreknowledge; sanctification by the
Spirit; sprinkled by Christ’s blood
v. In sanctification: Ephesians 3:14-16 (Jude 20-21)—Strengthened with might
by Him// “praying in the Holy Ghost

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D. Conclusions based on the two clear scriptural teachings above
1. The recognition of three persons as fully God does not mean that there are three
Gods. The first clear scriptural teaching—there is only one God—forbids us from
concluding that there are more than one God. Thus, to conclude that there are many
Gods is a serious doctrinal error.
2. Denying the deity of the Son and the Holy Spirit is a serious doctrinal error.90
3. There is one God existing in three persons.91
a. This conclusion is beyond human understanding.
b. This conclusion is drawn from biblical revelation, not from human speculation
(90).
c. Some people in the past were not content in simply affirming this conclusion; they
sought to harmonize/reconcile the fact that there is only one God with the fact that
there are three persons recognized as fully God.
d. Some offer the solution that claims to do justice with both the “oneness” of God
and the “deity of the three Persons.” The solution is that the three Persons revealed
in our Bible as fully God were really different manifestations or modes of the one
true God. Thus, God was likened to a man, who can have three (or more) “modes”
of life: a man can be a husband to her wife, a father to his children, and a
grandfather to his grandchildren. In essence, some offered that the Father is the
same as the Son and the Holy Spirit. Is this a biblical solution? The third clear
scriptural truth dismisses proposed solution.

90
Arianism is a doctrinal error that “[d]enies the [f]ull [d]eity of the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Grudem, 243). The
term comes from the name of its main proponent, Arius, Bishop of Alexandria (died in A.D. 336). Arianism was condemned
at the Council of Nicea in A.D. 325. The sum of this error is that the Son and the Holy Spirit are not fully God. The focus,
however, was more on the relationship between the Father and the Son. The two sides of the issue were distinguished by one
Greek vowel (iota). Because of the biblical references to the Son as “only begotten” and “first-born,” Arius concluded that
the Son was a created being. Because of this Arius believed that the Son cannot be fully God. Thus, Arius maintained that the
Son has a nature similar (Greek homoiousios) to the Father’s. Opposing Arius, the majority of God’s people held that the Son
has a nature same (Greek homoousios) as the Father’s (ibid., 244).
The terms “only-begotten” and “first-born” do not imply that the Son was a created being. “Only-begotten” comes
from a Greek word (monogeneis), which pertains “to being only one of its kind or class.” Hence it means, “unique (in kind)”
(BDAG). The examples cited on the New English Translation are helpful: “Although this word is often translated ‘only
begotten,’ such a translation is misleading, since in English it appears to express a metaphysical relationship. The word in
Greek was used of an only child (a son [Luke 7:12, 9:38] or a daughter [Luke 8:42]). It was also used of something unique
(only one of its kind) such as the mythological Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2). From here it passes easily to a description of Isaac
(Heb 11:17 and Josephus, Ant. 1.13.1 [1.222]) who was not Abraham's only son, but was one-of-a-kind because he was the
child of the promise. Thus the word means ‘one-of-a-kind’ and is reserved for Jesus in the Johannine literature of the NT.
While all Christians are children of God (te,kna qeou/, tekna theou), Jesus is God’s Son in a unique, one-of-a-kind
sense. The word is used in this way in all its uses in the Gospel of John (1:14, 1:18, 3:16, and 3:18).”
On “first-born” Grudem comments, “[It] is better understood to mean that Christ has the rights or privileges of the
‘first-born’—that is, according to biblical usage and custom, the right of leadership and authority in the family for one’s
generation. (Note Heb. 12:16 where Esau is said to have sold his ‘first-born status’ or ‘birthright’—the Greek word
prototokia is cognate to the term prototokos, ‘first-born’ in Col. 1:15) So Colossians 1:15 means that Christ has the privileges
of authority and rule, the privileges belonging to the ‘first-born,’ but with respect to the whole creation” (243-244). The rights
and privileges sense of “first-born” is demonstrated when Yahweh states that He will make David His first-born (Psalm
89:27), in spite of the fact that David was the seventh son of Jesse (1 Chron. 2:13).
91
“But it should also be said that Scripture does not ask us to believe in a contradiction. A contradiction would be
‘There is one God and there is not one God,’ or ‘God is three persons and God is not three persons,’ or even (which is similar
to the previous statement) ‘God is three persons and God is one person.’ But to say that ‘God is three persons and there is one
God’ is not a contradiction” (Ibid., 256).
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Bible Doctrines I
The Doctrine of the Trinity
I. There is only one God.
II. Three Persons are recognized as fully God.
A. The Deity of the Father
B. The Deity of the Son
1. He was identified as God
2. He posses attributes exclusive to
God
3. He performs works exclusive to
God
4. He is identified with the OT
Jehovah
5. He had names that imply deity
6. He accepted worship
7. He consciously claimed deity
C. The Deity of the Holy Spirit
1. He is a person
2. He is identified as God
3. He performs divine works
4. He possess attributes exclusive to
God
5. He is associated with the Father
and Son in apparent equality
III. The three Persons recognized as God
are distinct from one another with
apparent equality.

III. The three Persons recognized as God are distinct from one another with apparent equality.92
A. Distinction among the Persons of the Trinity
1. The three are distinct from one another; Key verses (The three “B.C.s”)93
a. Baptism of Christ (Matthew 3:16-17)
And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the
heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and
lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased.
b. Baptism formula in the Commission of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20)
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
c. Benediction to the Corinthian church (2 Corinthians 13:14)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy
Ghost, be with you all. Amen.
2. Distinction between the Father and the Son (The Father is not the Son)94
a. John 1:1—The Son was with95 God.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God

92
The following discussion effectively refutes the “modalistic” solution (also known as Sabellianism, from the name
of a proponent of the similar concept of Modalism). Grudem defines Modalism as the teaching “that God is not really three
distinct persons, but only one person who appears to people in different ‘modes’ at different times. Or example, in the Old
Testament God appeared as ‘Father.’ Throughout the Gospels, this same divine person appeared as ‘the Son of God’ as seen
in the human life and ministry of Jesus. After Pentecost, this same person then revealed himself as the ‘Spirit’ active in the
church” (242). The biblical record unanimously maintains the distinction among the Persons of the Trinity.
93
Another passage is 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 [Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are
differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which
worketh all in all.]. The use of this passage to support Trinity, however, is based on this recognition: “New Testament authors
generally use the name ‘God’ (Gk. theos) to refer to God the Father and the name ‘Lord’ (Gk. kyrios) to refer to God the Son
…” (Ibid., 230).
94
Ibid., 231-232.
95
The Greek is pro,j (pros), which “is used of close proximity” (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New
Testament (Abridged and Revised Thayer Lexicon) by Joseph Henry Thayer, Copyright © 1988-1997 by the Online Bible
Foundation and Woodside Fellowship of Ontario, Canada.). Erickson adds, “Here also we find the idea that while the Son is
distinct from the Father, yet there is fellowship between them, for the preposition pro,j does not connote merely physical
proximity to the Father, but an intimacy of fellowship as well” (332).
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Bible Doctrines I
b. 1 John 2:1—The Son is our Advocate with the Father
My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
c. John 17:24—The Father has given glory to the Son (The fact that Christ was
talking to the Father…)
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they
may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation
of the world
d. Hebrews 7:25—We draw near to the Father through96 the Son
Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth to make intercession for them.
3. Distinction between the Father and the Spirit (The Father is not the Spirit)
a. John 14:26—The Father sent the Spirit
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have
said unto you
b. Romans 8:27—The Spirit intercedes for us to the Father
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of God
4. Distinction between the Son and the Spirit (The Son is not the Spirit): John 16:7—The
Son’s departure meant the arrival of the Holy Spirit
Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you
5. Old Testament hints on the distinction of persons within the Godhead
a. Use of plural pronouns in referring to God (90)
i. Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
ii. Genesis 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to
know good and evil:
iii. Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who
will go for us?
b. Use of plural verbs to refer to God’s actions
i. Genesis 1:2697 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
ii. Genesis 11:6-7 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all
one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from
them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound
their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

96
If the Son is the same as the Father, this verse will not make perfect sense. It will then be like coming to the
President through the President herself.
97
“What do the plural verb (‘let us’) and the plural pronoun (‘our’) mean? Some have suggested they are plurals of
majesty, a form of speech asking would use in saying, for example, ‘We are pleased to grant your request.’ However, in Old
Testament Hebrew there are no other examples of a monarch using plural verbs or plural pronouns of himself in such a
‘plural of majesty,’ so this suggestion has no evidence to support it. Another suggestion is that God is here speaking to
angels. But angels did participate in the creation of man, nor was man created in the image and likeness of angels, so this
suggestion is not convincing. The best explanation is that already in the first chapter of Genesis we have an indication of a
plurality of persons in God himself” (Grudem, 227). “The plural ‘We’ was regarded by the fathers and earlier theologians
almost unanimously as indicative of the Trinity” (Keil and Delietzsch, Old Testament Commentaries [Grand Rapids:
Associated Publishers and Authors, n.d.], 1:48.
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Bible Doctrines I
c. References to God/Lord “distinguished from another person who is also said to be
God”98
i. Psalm 45:6-7 (cf. Heb. 1:8) Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre
of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. 7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest
wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness
above thy fellows
ii. Psalm 110:1 (cf. Malachi 3:1; Matthew 22:41-46)
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool.
iii. Hosea 1:7
But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the LORD
their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by horses,
nor by horsemen.
d. The Angel of Yahweh (The LORD)
i. He is called “God or Yahweh” in the following passages (Gen. 16:13; Ex. 3:2-6;
23:20-22; Num. 22:35, 38; Judges 2:1-2; 6:11, 14).
ii. Grudem points out that the Hebrew word for “angel” basically means
“messenger.” Thus, the very title implies that He is distinct from the sender
(229).
B. The apparent equality among the Persons of the Trinity99
1. Baptism formula in the Commission of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20)
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
a. “Name” is singular.
b. “[T]here is no suggestion of inferiority or subordination” (Erickson, 329). Barnes
comments,
“The union of these three names in the form of baptism proves that the Son and Holy Spirit are
equal with the Father. Nothing would be more absurd or blasphemous than to unite the name of a creature
- a man or an angel - with the name of the ever-living God in this solemn rite.100 If Jesus was a mere man
or an angel, as is held by many who deny his divinity, and if the Holy Spirit was a mere “attribute” of
God, then it would have been the height of absurdity to use a form like this, or to direct the apostles to
baptize people under them. How absurd would be the direction - nay, how blasphemous - to have said,
“Baptize them unto God, and unto Paul, and unto the “wisdom or power” of God!” Can we believe that
our Saviour would have given a direction so absurd as this? Yet, unless he himself is divine, and the Holy

98
Grudem, 227.
99
I John 5:7 ( “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these
three are one.” ) is a clear statement of the Trinity, but the integrity of the reading is doubtful. Grudem writes, “The problem
with this translation is that it is based on a very small number of unreliable Greek manuscripts, the earliest of which comes
form the fourteenth century A.D. No modern translation includes this KJV reading, but all omit it, as do the vast majority of
Greek manuscripts from all major text traditions, including several very reliable manuscripts form the fourth and fifth century
A.D., and also including quotations by church fathers such as Irenaeus (d. ca. A.D. 202), Clement of Alexandria (d. ca. A.D.
212), Tertullian (died after A.D. 220), and the great defender of the Trinity, Athanasius (d. A.D. 373)” (231).
100
“1 Tim. 5:21 should not be seen as a counter example to this claim, for there Paul is simply warning Timothy in
the presence of a host of heavenly witnesses, both divine and angelic, who he knows are watching Timothy’s conduct. This is
similar to the mention of God and Christ and the angels of heaven and the ‘spirits of just men made perfect’ in Heb. 12:22-
24, where a great heavenly assembly is mentioned. I Tim. 5:21 should therefore be seen as significantly different form the
trinitarian passages mentioned above, since those passages speak of uniquely divine activities, such as distributing gifts to
every Christian (1 Cor. 12:4-6) or having the name into which all believers are baptized (Matt. 28:19)” (Ibid., 237).
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Bible Doctrines I
Spirit is divine, Jesus gave a direction substantially the same as this. The form of baptism, therefore, has
been always regarded as an unbreakable argument for the doctrine of the Trinity, or that the Son and Holy
Spirit are equal with the Father” (Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, from E-Sword).
2. Benediction to the Corinthian church (2 Corinthians 13:14)
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost,
be with you all. Amen.
3. Administration of spiritual gifts to the church (1 Corinthians 12:4-6)101
Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of
administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same
God which worketh all in all.
C. Conclusion based on the three clear scriptural teachings above (Statemetn of the doctrine of
the Trinity): There is only one God existing in three distinct, co-equal Persons.
1. Grudem’s definition:
“God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is
fully God, and there is one God” (226).
2. Thiessen’s definition:
“In Christian theology, the term ‘trinity’ means that there are three eternal distinction in
the one divine essence, known respectively as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (90)
3. Athanasian Creed quoted in Thiessen (ibid.)
“We worship one God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in unity; we distinguish among the
persons, but we do not divide the substance …The entire three persons are coeternal and
coequal with one another, so that …we worship compete unity in Trinity and Trinity in
unity”
CONCLUSION: Although standing in three clear biblical teachings, the doctrine of the Trinity is not
easy to understand, in fact it is “incomprehensible.”102 Clearly the problem is not with God’s revelation
but with our finite, limited minds. The doctrine of the Trinity attests to the infiniteness of our God.
There are things about our God that we will never know. However, we must not doubt God’s greatness
or intentions because of the things we do not know about Him. Let us worship Him and bow our hearts
in full adoration and submission because of the things He allowed us to know about Him.

Erickson lists Bible passages that show “very close relationship among the three persons” of the Trinity: Luke
101

1:35; Matt. 12:28; Acts 2:33, 38; Gal. 4:6; Rom. 15:16; 2 Cor. 1:21-22; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; Eph. 3:14-19; Jude 20-21; John
14:26; 16:13-15; 20:21-22 (330-331).
102
Erickson, 338.
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Bible Doctrines I
The Decrees of God
Lesson 15
Introduction:
 After studying the person of God, it is appropriate to study the works of God. However, before
studying the works of God, logically prior to this is the study of His decrees.
 God’s decrees refer to God’s plan103, which include His decision to do what He has done (His
works).
 Caution: The study of the decrees of God usually degenerates to a debate over the order of His
decisions regarding the salvation of man (e.g., “Did God decide104 to create man and then to save
man or vice versa?”). That issue is really of no consequence and its associated debate—election and
foreknowledge—more properly belongs in the study of soteriology.
I. The Definition of God’s Decrees
A. The decrees of God are God’s eternal plan based on His most wise counsel whereby He, for
His own glory, enacts either directly or permissively all that comes to pass.
B. “[God’s] eternal decision rendering certain all things which shall come to pass”105
C. “The decrees of God are the eternal plans of God whereby, before the creation of the world, he
determined to bring about everything that happens”106
D. “God’s eternal purpose …or purposes, based on his most wise and holy counsel, whereby he
freely and unchangeably, for his own glory, ordained either efficaciously or permissively all
that comes to pass.”107
II. The Seven Key Related Truths of God’s Decrees
A. Made from Eternity108
1. The phrase “from the foundation of the world” often times occur in the New Testament
in connection to man’s redemption and the things associated with it (Eph. 1:4; Heb. 4:3;
1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8; cf. Matt. 25:34).

103
Erickson uses plan for decrees because of the following reasons: “First, [the word plan] stresses the unity of
God’s intention together with the resultant consistency and coherence of his actions. Second, it emphasizes what God does,
that is, what he wills, rather than what man must do or what happens to man as a consequence of God’s will. Third, it
emphasizes the intelligent dimension of God’s decisions. They are not arbitrary or haphazard” (Christian Theology. 2nd ed.
[Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998], 346).
104
There are three main views to this issue:
[1] Supralapsarian order of God’s decrees: “God decreed [a] to save certain men and reprobate others, [b] to create both,
[c] to permit the fall of both, [d] to send Christ to redeem the elect, and [e] to send the Holy Spirit to apply this redemption to
the elect.”
[2] Sublapsarian order: [a] “to create man, [b] to permit the fall, [c] to elect some of the fallen to be saved and leave others
as they are, [d] to provide a redeemier for the elect, and [e] to send the Spirit to apply this redemption to the elect.”
[3] Variation of sublapsarian view: [a] “to create man, [b] to permit the fall, [c] to provide in Christ redemption sufficient
for all, [d] to elect some to salvation and leave others as they are, and [e] to send the Spirit to secure the acceptance of
redemption on the part of the elect” (Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology [Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979], 104-105).
105
Erickson, 236.
106
Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1994), 332.
107
Thiessen, 100.
108
“God’s plan is from all eternity. We have noted that the psalmist spoke of God’s having planned all of our days
before there were any of them (Ps. 139:16), and that Isaiah spoke of God’s having ‘planned it long ago’ (22:11). Paul in
Ephesians indicates that God ‘chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world; (1:4), and later in the same letter Paul
speaks of ‘eternal purpose which [God] has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (3:11)” (Erickson, 351).
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Bible Doctrines I
2. God’s display of wisdom through the church was “according [God’s] eternal purpose”
(Ephesians 3:11).
3. The events of the universe are not a surprise to God (Illus. The director of a play knows
the unfolding of each scene/act; audience can be surprised; he cannot.)
4. This is perhaps the main reason why God is able to foretell the future.
B. Based on God’s wisdom and holiness
1. The events of the universe are not the result of God’s arbitrary will (random with no
reason).
2. The events of the universe are the outworking of a definite purpose and plan of God.
3. We must not evaluate the character of God based on what we see. Instead, we must
evaluate what we see based on what we know about God. (“God is not fair” attitude
[born in a Muslim country, where the gospel is rare])
C. Free acts of God
1. God did not plan based on any external persuasion/influence.
2. God’s attributes (particularly holiness and omniscience/wisdom), characteristics inherent
in God, regulate certain aspects109 of His decrees.110 (His dealings with man)
3. God “is not obligate to purpose anything ad extra, but purposes unconstrainedly…”111
4. He had no counselor (Isaiah 40:13-14).
5. Example: The plan of salvation was according to “the good pleasure of [God’s] will”
(Ephesians 1:5).
D. Are efficacious (Will come to pass because God is omnipotent)
1. Isaiah 14:24, 26-27
The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as
I have purposed, so shall it stand …This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth:
and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27 For the LORD of hosts hath
purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
2. Psalm 33:11
The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations
E. Their ultimate goal is God’s glory.
1. The purpose of creation is God’s glory: (Colossians 1:16)
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were
created by him, and for him (cf. Rev. 4:11)
2. The purpose of salvation is God’s glory: (Ephesians 1:5-6)
5
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to
the good pleasure of his will, 6 To the praise of the glory of his grace…

3. Not primarily the happiness of His creation, nor the holiness of His creation

“[A]lthough God’s decisions and actions are quite consistent with his nature, they are not constrained by his
109

nature …He had to act in a loving and holy fashion in whatever he did, but he was not required to create” (ibid., 352)
110
Thiessen, 100.
111
Ibid.
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Bible Doctrines I
F. Are two kinds
1. Efficacious (God causes things to happen)
2. Permissive (God permits things to happen [e.g., sin])
G. Cover everything that happens
1. Isaiah 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are
not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
2. Example: The phrase “It rained” is not found in the Old Testament. The Hebrews
believed that God commands rain to fall.112
III. Key Verses on God’s Decrees or Plan113
A. Isaiah 14:24, 26-27
The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have
purposed, so shall it stand … This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the
hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall
disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
B. Ephesians 1:11
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will
C. Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.
D. Ephesians 3:11
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

112
Erickson, 348.
113
For specific examples of God’s decrees, see Thiessen (104ff.).
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Bible Doctrines I
God’s Work of Creation
Lesson 16
Introduction:
 Although many believers endeavor to demonstrate that the biblical account of creation (Genesis 1-2) is
consistent with true science, nonetheless, the Scripture specifically states that, when it comes to the origin of
the universe, the real issue is faith, that is, believing what God has already revealed in the Word (Hebrews
11:3— “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God…)
 Because of the foregoing statement, any inquiry on the matters of origin (of the universe) must begin with
God’s revelation.
I. Key Verses on God’s Work of Creation
A. Genesis 1:1—Creating is the very first work of God we see in the Bible (cf. chs.1-2).
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
B. Psalm 33:6, 9—God created the world by His word.
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth … For
he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
C. John 1:3, Col. 1:16—God made everything that belongs under the category of created.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).
For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether
they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him
(Colossians 1:16)
D. Revelation 4:11—Because God is the Creator, He has the right to judge His creation.114
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for
thy pleasure they are and were created.
E. Other verses that identify God as “The creator of heaven and earth” (Acts 4:24; 14:15; 17:24-25;
cf. Isa.45:18; Rev. 10:6)
F. Applications:
1. The universe is not eternal.
2. Any explanation of origins that removes God “in the picture” must be rejected.
3. God has the supreme right over all creation; He also has a claim over the lives of the
unbelievers by virtue of creation.
4. Believers have more reason to fully submit to the lordship of God, because we are His,
not only by virtue of creation, but also by virtue of redemption.
II. Creation is a Work of the Trinity
A. The Father: initiates creation (Hebrews 1:2—“He made the worlds”)
B. The Son: the “active agent carrying out the plans and direction of the Father”115 [Heb. 1:2--
“By whom (the Son) also He (the Father) made the worlds”]
1. John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
2. Colossians. 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things
were created by him, and for him:
C. The Holy Spirit: participation is evident, but the “specific activity” is not clearly delineated
by the Scripture

114
The function of the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation is to show that, being the Creator, God has all the
rights to administer the unprecedented outpouring of divine wrath revealed in chapters 6-19.
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Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing Co., 1994), 266.
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1. Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters
2. Job 33:4 The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life
3. Psa. 104:30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth
III. The Relationship of the Creation with God
A. Creation is distinct from God (God is transcendence):
1. This is an aspect of God’s holiness (the “otherness” of God).
2. The word use to describe God’s greatness over His creation is the word transcendent.
3. Pantheism116 is wrong.
B. Creation is dependent on God (God is immanent):
1. God sustains what He has created.
a. Colossians 1:17—And he is before all things, and by him all things consist
b. Hebrews 1:3— Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
person, and upholding all things by the word of his power…
2. The word use to describe God’s involvement with His creation is the word immanent.
II. God’s Ultimate Purpose for Creation
A. To Display His glory
1. Psalm 19:1-2 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
2. Psalm 8:1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory
above the heavens.
3. Applications:
a. Because we are part of God’s creation, our lives must reflect the glorious nature of
our God.
b. Those who are in the field of medicine, geology, and the likes are privileged by
God to take a closer look at His glorious nature.
B. To receive glory
1. Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for
thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created
2. Applications:
a. Any discipline (field of study) related to the universe that turns you away from
glorifying God more and more is not worth pursuing and is most probably false.
b. God’s majestic creation is not only for us enjoy; it is also, more so, for us to ponder
upon, because it is a lens where we can behold the glorious nature of God.

“Pantheism denies several essential aspects of God’s character. If the whole universe is God, then God has no
116

distinct personality. God is no longer unchanging, because as the universe changes, God also changes. Moreover, God is no
longer holy, because the evil in the universe is also part of God” (Ibid, 268).
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God’s Preservation and Providence
Lesson 17
Introduction:
 God’s preservation and providence relate to God’s works in His creation.
 God’s preservation and providence are aspects of God’s sovereignty, which refers to God’s absolute
authority and control over His creation.
 God’s preservation refers to God’s act of sustaining/maintaining what He has created; God’s
providence refers to God’s act of directing what He has created in order to fulfill His purpose.
I. God’s Preservation of His Creation (Key Verses)
A. Colossians 1:17—The Son holds together the entire creation.
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
1. “All things”—Practically refer to all that belongs to the category of being created (cf.
v.16).
2. “Consist”—From a Greek word (suni,sthmi( sunisteimi) which may mean, “[T]o
come to be in the condition of coherence.” Thus, the idea is to “continue, endure, exist, [or]
hold together.” 117
3. Grudem writes, “[I]f Christ were to cease his continuing activity of sustaining all things in
the universe, then all except the triune God would instantly cease to exist. Such teaching is
also affirmed by Paul when he says, ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts
17:28)” (316).
4. Grudem continues, “One aspect of God’s providential preservation is the fact that he
continues to give us breath each moment … (Job. 34:14-15; cf. Ps. 104:29)” (ibid.).
5. Application: How can we boast against God?! Even our very breath is from Him.
B. Hebrews 1:3—God is causing to continue all things by His word.
Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by
the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high;
“Upholding”—Form a Greek word (fe,rw, phero) which may mean, “[T]o cause to
continue in a state or condition, sustain” (BDAG). The tense of the verb is present, and
therefore teaches that even at this very moment, God is “upholding” all things created.
C. Other verses include Psalm 36:6; 37:28; 104:29; 66:9; Acts 17:28.
II. God’s Providence over His Creation
A. Definition: God, by continuous activity, makes all event work out His purposes. God is in
control of everything.
B. Proofs of God’s providence
1. Providence (God’s control) over physical universe (Psalm 147)
a. Verse 8: Clouds, rain, and grass (cf. Ps. 104:14)

117
BDAG - Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, Third Edition. ©
2000 The University of Chicago Press. Revised and edited by Frederick William Danker based on the Walter Bauer's
Griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch zu den Schriften des Neuen Testaments und für frühchristlichen Literatur, sixth edition, ed.
Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland, with Viktor Reichmann and on previous English Editions by W.F.Arndt, F.W.Gingrich, and
F.W.Danker. This edition is an electronic version of the print edition published by the University of Chicago Press.
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b. Verse 9: Beast and birds
c. Verse 14: Crops
d. Verses 16-18: Snow
e. Verse 18: Wind and water
f. Application: Believers must never minimize God’s concern over their lives—“Are
ye not much better than they?”
2. Providence (God’s control) over the nations
a. Psalm 22:28—All kingdoms are under God’s control.
For the kingdom is the LORD'S: and he is the governor among the nations
b. Daniel 4:25—God decides who rules over the kingdoms of men.
That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and
they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and
seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of
men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.
c. Romans 13:1—All earthly authorities are delegated by God.
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers
that be are ordained of God
d. Acts 17:26—God has already determined the boundaries of individuals.
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and
hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation
3. Providence over individual people
a. Birth and lot in life
i. Jeremiah 1:5— Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest
forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations
ii. Isaiah 45:5— I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded
thee, though thou hast not known me.
iii. Esther 4:14— For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there
enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy
father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom
for such a time as this?

b. Success and failures of men

i. Psalm 75:6-7— For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west,
nor from the south. 7 But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up
another
ii. Proverbs 16:9; 21:1— A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth
his steps (v.9). The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water:
he turneth it whithersoever he will (v.1).
c. Over the circumstance of His people (Romans 8:28)
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose.

d. Over the sinful acts of men (God is in control over sins): They can occur only by
His permission, and He overrules them for good (Example: Joseph, Genesis 50:20).

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C. Purpose of Providence
1. Happiness of creature (Acts 14:17)
Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from
heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
2. Mental and moral development (Impact of Christianity to civilizations)
3. Salvation and Preparation of saints
4. Glory of God (Isaiah 48:11)
For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted?
and I will not give my glory unto another

III. Means Employed Exercise of God’s Providence (What does God use to work all things to
accomplish His purpose?)
A. Outward means
1. Laws of nature
2. Miracles
3. Angels
4. Uttering His Word
B. Inward means
1. The Word in our heart
2. Reason
3. Persuasion
4. Inclination of heart
5. Prompting of the Holy Spirit
CONCLUSION:
Acknowledging God’s acts of preservation and providence is liberating! There is absolutely no
reason for us, believers, to worry about what tomorrow may bring. Our lives are in the total care and
control of our great and good God. Therefore we are secured every moment.
God Will Take Care of You
(Civilla D. Martin)
Be not dismayed whate’er betide, Nothing you ask will be denied,
God will take care of you; God will take care of you.
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you. No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Refrain Lean, weary one, upon His breast,
God will take care of you, God will take care of you.
Through every day, over all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,

God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you.
All you may need He will provide,
God will take care of you;

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APPENDIX ONE
Excursus on “The Word Preserved”118
I. Preliminary facts
A. There are over 5,000 mss to date.
B. The NT was written between AD 40-100.

II. The existing NT manuscripts are more than sufficient in number; the earliest among them is
dated 40yrs from the time of the writing of its corresponding autograph.

What if tomorrow we lose all our NT mss?

III. One can reconstruct the entire NT mss from the Church Fathers’ writings that contain
quotations from the NT mss.
A. Justin Martyr—330
B. Irenaus –1,819
C. Poimen of Alexandria – 2,406
D. Origen of Alexandria—17,922
E. Tertullian—7,258
F. Hypolitus of Rome—1,378
G. Eusebius of Caesarea—5,176

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From a sermon delivered by Steve Hankins. http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=72709842191.
Bible Doctrines I
What if tomorrow we lose all the writings of the Church Fathers?

IV. One can back-translate the entire NT mss from the ancient translations of the Greek NT (1st – 4th
Centuries)

Translation of the Greek NT in Syrian, Latin, Coptic, Ethiopian, Armenian, Gothic, and Gregorian

What if tomorrow we lose all those ancient translations of the NT?

V. Modern translations attest to God’s preservation of God’s Word

A. 1800 = 52 languages

B. 1970 = 1,431 languages

C. 1985 = 1,616 languages

D. 1990 = 1,928 languages

E. 1995 = 2,062 languages

F. 1996 = 2,167 languages

G. 2007 = 4,663
1. There are 6,900 languages

2. The remaining = 1% of world population

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Appendix Two
Excursus on “Objections to the Doctrine of God’s Omnipresence”

I. ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DOCTRINE OF GOD’S OMNIPRESENCE

A. First argument: “If God is everywhere, then it means that He is also in hell. Is not hell the place where
man becomes totally separated from God?”
1. Answer#1: The Bible explicitly teaches that there is no place where man can hide himself from the
presence of God (Psalm 139:7ff).
2. Answer#2: Since hell is part of God’s creation (Matt. 25:41), one can say that God is in there, BUT
not in the same sense as His presence is with His children; God’s presence is there in hell to judge
and not to bless (Matt. 10:28).
a. Matthew 25:41—“Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels”
b. Matthew 10:28 –“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
B. Second argument: “If God is everywhere, then it means that He is also in places that are associated with
sin. For instance, He will be in places associated with immorality. God is absolutely holy and therefore
cannot abide in sinful places.
1. Answer#1: There is no place where man can flee from the presence of God (Psalm 139:7ff.).
2. Answer#2: God fills the heavens and the earth (Jeremiah 23:23-24).
3. Answer#3: God’s presence in places associated with sin is not the same sense as His presence with
those who love Him. God’s presence is everywhere but in different senses, in different places. God
is not there to bless.
4. Answer#4: God’s presence in places associated with sin does not mean that He participates in sin
or that He approves the sinful activity in that place.
5. Possible objection: “But we wisely advise Christians to avoid sinful places like bars even though
they have no plans of participating in the sins around them. The mere presence of a Christian in
certain places can render his/her testimony questionable. If we justify God’s presence in sinful
places with answer#4, are we not unwarrantedly granting God a moral leeway that is not applicable
to man? “Kapag sa Kaniya pwede, kapag sa atin hindi?”
6. Answer#5: God cannot be tempted with sin (James 1:13). Not merely hard but impossible!
C. Third argument: “The Bible seems to teach that there are places where God is not present.”
1. Acts 17:24—“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and
earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”
A similar passage is…
Acts 7:48-49—“Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the
prophet, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the
Lord: or what is the place of my rest?”
a. Answer#1: But God has said that He dwells in the Tabernacle. He also dwells in the Temple.
i. Exodus 25:8—“And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.”
ii. Deuteronomy 12:11—“Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall
choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you;
your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave offering of your hand,
and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the LORD”
b. Answer#2: Acts 17:24 and Acts 7:48-49 teach that, since God has created all things, therefore,
unlike idols, He cannot be confined to a single location.
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2. 2 Kings 5:15—“And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood
before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now
therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.”
a. Answer#1: Naaman simply acknowledged that the different gods that were recognized by the
Gentile nations were not real. Yahweh, the God of Israel, is the only true God.
b. Answer#2: Jeremiah 23:24 clearly states that God fills the heaven and the earth.
3. 2 Chronicles 15:3—“Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a
teaching priest, and without law.”
a. Answer#1: The statement does not refer to God’s presence in Israel but to the spiritual
condition of His people. Israel were worshipping false gods during the time of the Judges
(14:2-4; cf. Judges 21:25).
b. Possible follow-up argument: “Why then verse two states that ‘the LORD is with you, while
ye be with Him’? This suggests that God’s presence is not with His people whenever they turn
away from Him.”
c. Answer#2: In spite of the sins of Israel, God’s presence still abided with them, BUT in a
different sense.
i. God’s presence remained with His people in spite of their sins, but He was there not to
bless but to judge. The Bible clearly states that it was God who vexed/troubled the tribes
of Israel when they turned their backs to God (2 Chron. 15:5-6; Judges 2:11-15).
ii. God’s presence abides even in the midst of sinful people in order to judge them (Amos
9:1-4).
“I saw the Lord standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts
may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword:
he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. 2
Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven,
thence will I bring them down: 3 And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will
search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea,
thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: 4 And though they go into captivity
before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine
eyes upon them for evil, and not for good.
4. James 3:14-16—“But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against
the truth. 15 This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. 16 For where
envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
a. Answer#1: The subject is the source of “bitter envying and strife” and not the presence of
God.
b. Answer#2: God’s non-authorship of “bitter envying and strife” does not logically bar His
presence from the places where such heart attitudes situate.
c. Answer#3: God’s presence in the midst of envying and selfish people does not make Him the
cause of envy and selfishness.

II. IMPLICATIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF THE DOCTRINE OF GOD’S OMNIPRESENCE

A. There is no place in the entire universe where God is never found.
B. God can bless and judge anywhere.
C. Every service that we do for God, we perform it in His very presence; every sin that we commit, we do
them in the very presence of God. There are no unnoticed service and hidden sins to God.
D. It is impossible for God to be late in extending His care towards His own (Psalm 46:1).
God’s seemingly delayed actions are intentional and have a purpose springing out of the sovereign, wise, and
loving heart of God.

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