We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
Introduction: Theology is the study of God and everything related to God. Therefore, the study of God—his nature, essence, and being— is appropriately called theology proper. Our knowledge of God is the basis of every other form of knowledge. There is then no greater pursuit, no object more worthy of our attention than God. True knowledge of God brings meaning to life and a proper understanding of oneself. In his classic book, Knowing God, the late J.I. Packer articulates beautifully how true knowledge of God infuses life with meaning.
“What makes life worthwhile is having a big enough object, something which catches our imagination and lays hold of our allegiance; and this the Christian has in a way that no other person has. For what higher, more exalted, and more compelling goal can there be than to know God?”
With such great an object, it is good to be aware of our limitations, proceed cautiously, and be ruled by Scripture in everything said. We are finite creatures seeking to understand an infinite being whom we can never exhaust or comprehend. As finite creatures, we should submit ourselves to the authority of Holy Scripture and be guided by the church’s tradition.
The ecumenical creeds such as the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, Athanasian Creed, and Chalcedonian Definition are invaluable resources toward this end because they were formed to articulate a biblical and orthodox understanding of God in response to heretical teaching. The importance of studying and knowing God is too important to pursue alone as if no one has pursued to know God rightly before us!
Jake Stone is right when he observes, “Baptists have never shied away from using and incorporating these creeds as seen in many documents produced in the 17th and 18th centuries. Many confessions and catechisms either use language from creeds explicitly or recommend the creeds. A failure to uphold these orthodox views can cause massive error or spiritual destruction.”
The New Hampshire Confession of Faith stands in this tradition. Its article, “Of the true God,” albeit a more brief, succinct statement, confesses to believe in the one true living God as confessed in the creeds and historic Baptist confessions of the past.
In an effort to understand the article well, it will be helpful to study under three major headings: God’s being and name, God’s character and glory, God’s triunity, and work of redemption.
I.) God’s Being and Name
We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of Heaven and earth
Our first confession is that there is only one true and living God, there is one, and only one, living and true God. The Bible acknowledges that other gods are worshipped by the nations, but these gods are powerless, deaf, and mute; often, they are mere creations made of stone or wood.
The belief that God is one is most clearly articulated in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord (YHWH) our God, the Lord (YHWH) is one. 5 You shall love the Lord (YHWH) your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might (Dt 6:4–5)
Since there is one and only one true God, every person must come to the realization that it is this God to whom we are accountable and no other. In the words of my friend Jake Stone, “There is not a ‘pick the God’ that best suits your needs options. You will have to reckon with this God…”
Unlike the idols worshiped by nations, the one and only true God lives.
The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation (Ps 18:46)
14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth (1 Ti 3:14–15)
Everything about Christian life is only possible because the God we confesses lives. Eternal life is granted to us through faith because the God who lives grants it to us (John 5:21, 26). We can trust that God hears us in prayer because he lives. We pray, “Our Father in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9) because God is there and because he lives. Our desires and affections yearn for God (Psalm 42:1-2) because he lives. No one in their right mind yearns to commune with an inanimate object. The Christian life is only possible because God lives.
God’s being is not physical but spiritual. In the words of the confession, God is an infinite, intelligent Spirit. Jesus appeals to God’s spiritual nature in John 4:24, God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (Jn 4:24)
This means that God does not have a body, nor can God be faithfully represented by any image created by man. This is why God prohibits making such images (Exodus 20:4). References in Scripture to God’s hand, God walking, God’s face, etc, are anthropomorphisms. An anthropomorphism is a literary device employing human imagery to teach us about God and his works.
The confession goes on to identify God’s name as JEHOVAH. This is a rendering of the divine name YHWH as revealed in Exodus 3:14.
14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you (Ex 3:14)
The revealing of God’s name is the revelation of his being. When God says that his name is” I AM Who I AM,” he is teaching us that he is self-existent and not dependent in any way on anything outside of himself for his being and attributes. In the New Testament, we learn that the divine name is shared by the three persons of the Trinity.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Mt 28:18–19)
Although the statement, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is JEHOVAH, is brief, key doctrines regarding God’s perfections can be taken from it. Unfortunately, we will have to keep these definitions brief.
Divine Aseity- This is the doctrine stated above in relation to God’s name. The Latin phrase a se means “from himself.” God has life in himself and does not derive his being or attributes from any source outside of himself. In the words of Ross Inman and Stephen Pressley, “…there is nothing behind or in back of God that explains that God is, what God is, or what God does.”
26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. (Jn 5:26)
Divine Simplicity- In Christian theology, simplicity does not mean that God is simplistic and easy to understand. Divine simplicity is a way of expressing that God’s being is not made up of parts. God’s attributes are essential to who God is. James P. Boyce explains simplicity really well.
“In ascribing simplicity to God, therefore, we declare that his nature is so purely or simply one as not to be compounded of separate substances. As matter and spirit, or even of the same substance, in different forms, or of a substance with separable attributes; and we assert that even his attributes are one with his essence and that he is not only essentially spiritual, but also essentially wise, and good, and holy, and just, and true, and almighty, and omnipotent.”
Divine Immutability- God’s nature is incapable of underdoing any change whatsoever, For I the Lord do not change (Mal 3:6). Even when the Son of God assumes human flesh in the incarnation, God’s nature remains unchanged. Jesus Christ is one person with two natures that are united but never confused, mixed, or changed.
Divine Eternity- As an infinite Spirit, God’s nature and attributes are eternal. There was simply never a time when God was not, nor will there ever be a time when God will not be. There was never a time God gained something he did not have, nor will there be a time he loses something he has.
20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. (Ro 1:20)
Divine Impassibility – This is perhaps the hardest perfection to articulate well. In short, it means that God cannot be acted upon in any way that causes change to his being. The older confessions referred to God as, “without passions.” Inman and Presley again are helpful, “In classical thought, roughly, a passion is a received or caused state of being that brings about an intrinsic change in the recipient and causes them to be in a way that they were not before, normally for the worse.”
II.) God’s Character and Glory
inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love
God’s glorious holiness means that he is worthy of all adoration and praise.
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? (Ex 15:11)
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Is 6:3)
God’s glory and holiness mean that all who belong to him are to be holy unto his glory.
14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pe 1:13–16)
God is worthy of our full devotion, worship, and life.
III.) God’s Triunity and Work of Redemption
that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
The God that we confess is God, the Holy Trinity. We do not believe in three gods, nor do we believe that God is one person. We believe that God is one, eternally Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The word “trinity” does not appear in the Bible but is certainly a biblical doctrine.
16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:16–17)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19)
26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me (Jn 15:26)
4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone (1 Co 12:4–6)
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Co 13:14)
The confessions state that these three persons are equal in every divine perfection. There is no difference in dignity, majesty, or honor between the persons of the trinity because the Father, Son, and Spirit are the one and same God.
Next, the confession makes a statement about God’s work of redemption and executing distinct and harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.
In other words, although some works may be attributed to one person of the trinity, all of God’s works are all of God’s work. The one God, Father, Son, and Spirit never work apart from one another. For example, the Father is often referred to as the creator (Gen. 1:1), but the Father created through the Son (Col. 1, Heb. 1) and in the Spirit (Gen. 1:2).
It was the Son of God alone who became incarnate and died on the cross, but this work of redemption was the single act of the Triune God. The Father sent the Son, and the Spirit brought about the miraculous conception and remained with Jesus throughout his ministry.
It is not uncommon to hear someone say that the Father planned salvation, the Son purchased salvation, and the Spirit applied salvation. This language is fine as long as we maintain that all these works are inseparable and in perfect harmony with one another. The will of the Father is the will of the Son and the Spirit because the Father, Son, and Spirit are the one and same God.
Ephesians 1:3-6, 13-14 beautifully captures the Trinitarian, harmonious work of redemption.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Eph 1:3–6)
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Eph 1:13–14)
If God is one and yet three, how do we properly distinguish between the persons without sacrificing the unity of the one God?
The persons of the Trinity are only properly distinguished by their names and eternal relations of origin.
The Father is unbegotten
The Son is eternally begotten of the Father
The Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son
This is, of course, a marvelous mystery, but it is how God has revealed himself to us. Think about how we encounter the persons of the Trinity in the history of redemption. The Father sends the Son (John 3:16), and the Spirit is sent from the Father and the Son (John 14-16). These missions of the Son and the Spirit reveal the nature of God! The Son is sent from the Father because the Son is eternally from the Father. The Spirit is sent from the Father and the Son because the Spirit is eternally from the Father and the Son.
Application
- Worship the one true God in corporate worship. Life in the church would be very Trinitarian. Each week, it should be clear that we worship God, the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- Praise the one true God for salvation. Meditate on passages like Ephesians 1:3-6, 13-14. These verses give us so much to praise God for as it relates to the trinitarian nature of salvation.
- Pray to the one true God in the name of Jesus and in the power of the Spirit. God is gracious and hears us, but there is an edifying order to pray as Jesus teaches us. We pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus, and with the power of the Spirit.
- Contemplate the one true God. You were created to know God and his works. You were created to know him intimately and truly. Spending time contemplating God’s nature and works is not a waste of time. It is the reason you exist.
Nathaniel R. Martin 