condensed theology lecture 12

8/6/2019 Condensed Theology Lecture 12

1/43

Condensed Theology

A Primer in Systematic Theology


2/43

Theology Proper:

The Doctrine of God

What does the Bible teach about

God?


3/43

Where Were Going

Ten lectures covering four subjects:

The existence of God

The attributes of God God as Trinity

Gods works of creation & providence


4/43

The Attributes of God

What Is God Like?


5/43

General Categories of the

Attributes


6/43

General Categories

1. Communicable The communicable

attributes of God are

those characteristicsof God that arepeculiar to him butwhich he shares withhumanity

If the attribute can beconverted to acommand, it iscommunicable

2. Incommunicable The incommunicable

attributes of God are

those characteristicsof God that arepeculiar to him butwhich he does notshare with humanity

If the attribute cannotbe converted to acommand, it isincommunicable


7/43

The Incommunicable

Attributes of God

Qualities of God Peculiar to

Himself that He Does Not Sharewith Us


8/43

Review of the Incommunicable

Attributes (thus far) Eternality

Immutability

Omniscience

Omnipotence

Omnipresence

Spirituality

Simplicity Invisibility

Independence


9/43

Two More Incommunicable

Attributes Glory

Will


10/43

The Glory of God


11/43

Gods Glory

1. The honor that God is due

2. The created, visible manifestation of the excellence ofGod

3. A descriptive term for what God is in his essentialbeing or nature: the sheer intrinsic Godness of God.1

4. Number 3 above explains why the term glory is oftensubstituted for a specific attribute of God, which canonly be supplied by the context

1Robert L Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998), 166.


12/43

Gods Glory: The Honor He Is Due

Isa 43:7: Everyone who is called by Myname, And whom I have created for My

glory, Whom I have formed, even whom Ihave made.

Used in this sense, the glory of God is notproperly an attribute of Godit describes

the honor that should be given to him byevery created thing in the universe


13/43

Gods Glory: The Visible

Manifestation of Gods Excellence This is the created brightness that surrounds

the Lord when he reveals himself to hiscreatures

Luke 2:9: And an angel of the Lord suddenlystood before them, and the glory of the Lordshone around them; and they were terriblyfrightened.

Rev 21:23: And the city has no need of the sunor of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of Godhas illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

This is not properly an attribute, but atheophany


14/43

Gods Glory: A Descriptive Term for

What God Is in His Essential Nature When the Bible speaks of Gods glory, it

refers to what God is in his essential being

1 Sam 15:29: Also the Glory of Israel will notlie or change His mind; for He is not a manthat He should change His mind.

This is why the term glory is often

substituted for one or more attributes ofGod, depending on the context


15/43

Gods Glory: A Summary Attribute

Exod 33:18-19, 22: Then Moses said, I prayYou, show me Your glory! And He said, IMyself will make all My goodness pass before

you, and will proclaim the name of the LORDbefore you; and I will be gracious to whom I willbe gracious, and will show compassion onwhom I will show compassion.22and it will

come about, while My glory is passing by, that Iwill put you in the cleft of the rock and cover youwith My hand until I have passed by.


16/43


Ps 19:1: The heavens are telling of theglory of God; And their expanse isdeclaring the work of His hands.

Isa 6:3: And one called out to anotherand said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORDof hosts, The whole earth is full of Hisglory.

Rom 3:23: for all have sinned and fallshort of the glory of God.


17/43


Eph 1:6: to the praise of the glory of His grace,which He freely bestowed on us in theBeloved.

Eph 1:12: to the end that we who were the firstto hope in Christ would be to the praise of Hisglory.

Eph 1:14: who is given as a pledge of our

inheritance, with a view to the redemption ofGod's own possession, to the praise of Hisglory.


18/43

The Will of God


19/43

The Will of God: Communicable or

Incommunicable? In many ways, remember, we could ask this

question of all the attributes

But there are some that are more difficult to

categorize than others

Gods will refers to his indestructible and sovereignchoice for his own existence and governance of theuniversethis is not shared with the creature

Gods will refers to his commands, desires, wishes,and wantsthis is something that is shared with thecreature


20/43


Incommunicable? In many ways, remember we could ask

this question of all the attributes

But there are some that are more difficultto categorize than others Since Gods will cannot be converted into a

command like, for example, Gods love, wemight say that it is incommunicable

On the other hand, since we are commandedto possess certain desires, we might say thatit is communicable


21/43


Incommunicable? I have chosen to categorize the will of God

as an incommunicable attribute becausethe one God has only one will and thereare aspects of that singular will that arediscussed in Scripture that cannot beshared with the creature

This will become clear as we proceed


22/43

The Will of God: The Ultimate

Determiner Eph 1:11: also we have obtained an

inheritance, having been predestinedaccording to His purpose who works allthings after the counsel of His will.


23/43


Determiner In creation: Worthy are You, our Lord and our

God, to receive glory and honor and power; forYou created all things, and because of Your will

they existed, and were created (Rev 4:11). In redemption: For truly in this city there were

gathered together against Your holy servantJesus, whom You anointed, both Herod andPontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and thepeoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand andYour purpose predestined to occur (Acts 4:27-28).


24/43


Determiner In government: and you

[Nebuchadnezzar] will be driven awayfrom mankind, and your dwelling place willbewith the beasts of the field. You will begiven grass to eat like cattle, and sevenperiods of time will pass over you until you

recognize that the Most High is ruler overthe realm of mankind and bestows it onwhomever He wishes (Dan 4:32).


25/43


Determiner Of suffering:

1 Pet 3:17: For it is better, if God should will itso, that you suffer for doing what is rightrather than for doing what is wrong.

1 Pet 4:19: Therefore, those also who sufferaccording to the will of God shall entrust theirsouls to a faithful Creator in doing what isright.


26/43


Determiner For all our lives: Come now, you who say,

Today or tomorrow we will go to such andsuch a city, and spend a year there and

engage in business and make a profit. Yetyou do not know what your life will be liketomorrow. You are just a vapor thatappears for a little while and then vanishes

away. Instead, you ought to say, If theLord wills, we will live and also do this orthat (Jas 4:13-15).


27/43

Aspects of the Will of God


28/43

The Will of God: Aspects

In the biblical record, there are distinctionsmade within the will of God

Necessary and Free Will

Secret and Revealed Will


29/43

The Will of God: Necessary and

Free Gods necessary will is what the Lord must

will in order to be God;

That is, it is what he must will according tohis own nature

Put negatively, God cannot choose to beanything other than he is

Exod 3:14: God said to Moses, "I AM WHO IAM"; and He said, "Thus you shall say to thesons of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"


30/43

The Will of God: Necessary and

Free Gods free will is what he decided to will,

but according to his nature was notrequired to will it

Put negatively, there are some things Godhas chosen to do and chooses to do thathe did not have to choose to do

Creation cf. Acts 17:25

Redemption cf. Eph 1:5


31/43

The Will of God: Secret and

Revealed Deut 29:29: The secret things belong to

the LORD our God, but the thingsrevealed belong to us and to our sonsforever, that we may observe all the wordsof this law.


32/43


Revealed The secret will of God is what God has

willed but keeps to himself

It is sometimes called his will of decreeJas 4:15: Instead, you ought to say, "If the

Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that."

1 Cor 4:19: But I will come to you soon, if the

Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the wordsof those who are arrogant but their power.


33/43


Revealed The secret will of God is what God has

willed but keeps to himself

Gen 50:20: As for you, you meant evil againstme, but God meant it for good in order tobring about this present result, to preservemany people alive.


34/43


Revealed The secret will of God is what God has willed but

keeps to himself

Matt 11:25-26: At that time Jesus said, I praise You,

Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You havehidden these things from the wise and intelligent andhave revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for thisway was well-pleasing in Your sight.

Rom 9:18: So then He has mercy on whom He

desires, and He hardens whom He desires.


35/43


Revealed The revealed will of God is the desire,

command, precept, or prophecy heexpresses to his creatures

Matt 6:10b: Your will be done, On earth as itis in heaven.

Matt 7:21: Not everyone who says to Me,

Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,but he who does the will of My Father who isin heaven will enter.


36/43




Eph 5:17: So then do not be foolish, butunderstand what the will of the Lord is.

1 Thess 4:3: For this is the will of God, your

sanctification; that is, that you abstain fromsexual immorality.


37/43




1 John 5:14: This is the confidence which wehave before Him, that, if we ask anythingaccording to His will, He hears us.


38/43

The Indestructible Will of God


39/43

The Will of God: Indestructible

God is not contingent

His (secret) will cannot be thwarted by any

creaturePs 115:3: But our God is in the heavens; He

does whatever He pleases.

Prov 21:1: The king's heart is like channels of

water in the hand of the LORD; He turns itwherever He wishes.


40/43

The Will of God: Indestructible

God is not contingent

His (secret) will cannot be thwarted by any

creatureDan 4:35: All the inhabitants of the earth are

accounted as nothing, But He does accordingto His will in the host of heaven And among

the inhabitants of earth; And no one can wardoff His hand Or say to Him, What have Youdone?


41/43

Conclusion

For purposes of teaching, we havedivided the attributes of God into twocategories: communicable andincommunicable

This lecture addressed two more ofGods incommunicable attributes: his

glory and his will.


42/43

Conclusion

Gods glory refers to what God is in hisessential beingit is God in the sum of hisattributes

Gods will is his ability to determine realityas he sees fit


43/43

Conclusion

We have chosen to include Gods will inthe category of Gods incommunicableattributes because Gods will is singularand his singular will has aspects thatcannot be owned by the creature

condensed theology lecture 12

Documents