Post #31 The Doctrine of God - P4 Divine Impassibility, How An Impassible God Can Have Affections, And The Two Ways The Bible Talks About God

Introduction:

    For the last three posts, I've dwelled on the subject of God's constant emotional life, otherwise known as "the doctrine of Divine impassibility". In today's post, I want to further our discussion of Divine impassibility. First, we will look at an important distinction about God having affections and He being impassible. Then, we will revisit an area we've talked about before in this overall series, namely the two-fold way the Bible speaks of God, and how that can shed even more light on the doctrine of Divine impassibility. 

God's affections and impassibility

    How we understand the Bible's teaching on God's emotional expression is tied to how we understand His very nature. If God is immutable (i.e. unchangeable), and yet we posit that He can change His emotional response to somehow fit with circumstances, then we have an inherent contradition. Alternatively, if we propose that the Bible teaches God having some sort of change in His very being (whether limited omniscience, a limitation of power, or a limitation upon His presence), then by default we have to conclude God's emotions are as fickle as our own. 

    What I've noticed about objections to DDI is they assume Divine impassibility denies God any affections. I've read opposing viewpoints that think an impassible God is devoid of emotions, or that He is somehow detached from the plight of His creatures. As I've observed these discussions over the years, it has occurred to me (and no doubt others) that a distinction must be made between "affections" and "passions". As I'll explain below, classical, Trinitarian theism affirms God having affections, while denying Him having passions. 

What are affections? How do we distinguish "affections" from "passions"? Why can an impassible God have affections?

    As in any discussion, definitions are important. I get confirmation of this point from noting author James Dolezal's teachings on Divine impassibility. In his work, he gives a careful distinction between "passions" and "caring", noting that God can certainly care, even though He would not do so as a passible being. As a constantly caring God, Dolezal shows that Divine impassibility is what makes God's caring a constant reality.  

    At issue in this discussion is not about whether God has affections (which I'll define momentarily), but more to do with "how" those affections are expressed. 

    It is in terms "passibility" and "impassibility" that we talk about the manner in which God exercises His Divine affections (such as mercy, love, long-suffering, wrath, etc). So lets lay out some definitions.

    The first is what we call God's "affections". An affection is an older term that is synonymous with our term "emotion". An affection refers to how the deepest part of someone is stirred or inclined in preparation toward a specific act. 

    The second set of distinctions are words we ought to have become more familiar ("passiblility" and "impassibility"). These have to do with "how" or "in what way" the affections are stirred. For us creatures, our affections are activated when something happens to us is a "passive way" - i.e. "passible affections". 

    When I as a creature observe a moving scene in a film or hear a touching story from someone who is undergoing great difficulty, my affections are stirred to sorrow, get angry, or motivated to want to do something to allviate the pain. That describes human "passibility" and the accompanying affections. 

    God has given human beings passible affections that mimic His impassible affections. God constantly loves, shows mercy, is angry with sin, injustice, and unrighteousness. As God's image-bearers, we too express those affections, except in a passible way. We can get angry about injustice and show love and mercy when stirred to do so.  

    God's affections (such as mercy or justice) are constantly in motion as a result of His impassibility. In other words, God doesn't need to be moved to pity or mercy, since He is by nature always merciful. 

    God doesn't require an event or another creature to convince him or motivate him to anger over injustice, since He by nature is holy, and thus is always hating sin. Divine impassibility explains "how" God expresses the Divine affections which are His very nature (love, holiness, wrath, long-suffering, just, merciful, and so-forth). 

Keep in mind the two ways God is spoken of in the Bible

    Now that we have expounded a little on "affections" and the terms "passible" and "impassible", how can we understand the Bible's way of speaking of His emotions? 

    Let me remind the reader of the two ways the Bible speaks of God. He is spoken of "directly" in "being language" or what theologians refer to as God communicating Himself ontologically (the term "ontos" speaks of "being"). This first method used by the Bible means we will see God revealed "as He is". For example Malachi 3:6 "I the Lord do not change", or Hebrews 13:6 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever". 

    Then there is that second way Scripture speaks of God, namely in figurative or analogical language. Thus, God can be described as having arms, eyes, and feet, even though we know that He by nature is not some physical humanoid in the sky, but rather is non-physical or spirit by nature (see John 4:24). Instead, we understand such language is using human expressions (called  "anthropomorphisms") to convey how God is relating to His created world. 

    The figure of speech that uses human emotional expressions to convey God's relating to His creatures is what we call "anthropapathism". By nature, God is impassible, constant in His emotional life. In His relating to us, the Bible uses anthropapathism to show the change brought about in the creature's experience of God. The experiences of God's people in regards to how they perceive His emotional expressions are legitimate situations, viewed from their vantage point. 

    If we keep in mind the two-ways the Bible speaks of God, we will avoid faulty interpretations of His emotional expressions, just as we saw in understanding how He shows forth His will, actions, and attributes to accomodate our understanding versus the kind of unchanging, impassible God He truly is.

Closing thoughts for today

    We've attempted to shed further light on the meaning of Divine impassibility by distinguishing "affections" from the terms "passibility" and "impassibility". We noted that God and humans have affections. God expresses His affections impassibily or constantly. Human beings demonstrate their affections passibly or as occassions come upon them. 

    We then reviewed how the Bible speaks of God in two ways - directly revealing God as He is in His being or "ontologically" and indirectly through figures of speech or "analogically" when describing people's experiences of Him. By observing the Bible's two ways of talking about God, we avoid the mistake of viewing God as passible in His emotional life, and thus running into the error of introducing some sort of change in God. In the next post, we will see how the discussion of Divine emotional impassibility and human emotional passibility is relevant to understanding Jesus Christ as God and man at the cross.

Post #30 The Doctrine of God P3 Divine Impassibility And The Question About Divine Suffering

Introduction:

    Does God ever suffer? As we further explore the Biblical doctrine of Divine impassibility in our current series "The Doctrine of God", we will endeavor to answer this most practical question. But first, review. 

    In the two prior posts, I've written on God's unchanging emotional life, otherwise known as "The Doctrine of Divine Impassibility" (DDI). Readers who want to review those posts may look here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/12/post-28-doctrine-of-god-gods-constant.html and here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/12/post-29-doctrine-of-god-p2-introduction.html. 

    Divine impassibility is closely related to the doctrine of God's unchangeability or "immutability". In an illuminating quote, the 19th century Baptist theologian J.P. Boice summarizes God's immutability (and its related doctrine Divine impassibility) in chapter seven of his work "Abstracts of Systematic Theology",

"It (Divine immutability) is expressly taught by the Scriptures in the following as well as in other particulars. A few passages out of many are referred to in support of each."

    Boice's entire section speaks in detail of God's unchangeable nature with respect to His Divine life, nature, and will (interested readers may read the endnote at the end of today's post that features Boice's entire discussion.)1 To keep on point, I'll cite what Boice states concerning Divine impassibility. Boice continues under "point '(d)'" of His discussion....

"(d) His character is also said to be immutable, as for example his justice: Gen. 18:25; Job 8:3; Rom. 2:2; his mercy: Ex. 34:7; Deut. 4:31; Ps. 107:1; Lam. 3:22, 23; Mal. 3:6; his truth: Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29; Mic. 7:20; Rom. 3:3; 11:2, 29; 2 Tim. 2:13; Titus 1:2; his holiness: Job 34:10; Hab. 1:13; James 1:13; and his knowledge: Isa. 40:13, 14, 27, 28."  

    The reader will note I underlined J.P. Boice's mention of God's mercy and justice as emotional, impassible attributes in his discussion of Divine immutability. For here we will focus mainly on God's mercy and justice (with passing comments about God's love) as we make our way to the question about God's suffering. 

The unchanging mercy, justice, and love of God.

    These two attributes, along with God's love, are found at the cross. They also involve God's divine work and action in how brought about creation and redemption through the Son. The issue of Divine impassibility, suffering, mercy, and justice attempt to deal with whether a Divinely passible deity or the impassible God of Scripture is superior. 

Why a Divinely impassible God is superior to a passible deity when it comes to mercy, justice, and love.

    Divine mercy and justice are but a sample of God's emotional perfections. With God's unchanging justice, we have the expression of Divine wrath. Put another way, God always hates sin. In His omniscience, God always knew the Fall of Adam and Eve would occur. God's eternal justice would demand the punishment of the sin brought forth in history by the Fall. God as Trinity had eternally preplanned the cross as a consequence of the love of the Father for the Son in giving to Him redeemed sinners from the mass of fallen humanity (Acts 2:23-24; 4:27-28; 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2). The choice to send the Son to become incarnate was a consequence of the Father's unchanging, impassible mercy, shared with the Son and Spirit.

    Like mercy, God's justice has forever operated unvarying. God has always hated sin, since He knew it would begin in our world, and since it is opposite of His holy character. If God were passible, He would require provocation from something outside of Himself to act just. Also too, He would require something outside of Himself to convince Him to act mercifully. Consequently, the ground of redemption would no longer be the Triune Creator, but the creation (see Ephesians 1:11). This would result in a passible deity needing a "plan B" as a panic response to the Fall. As Adrian Rogers once preached, "The Trinity never has to hold an emergency session".  

    If Divine impassibility is denied, then God's justice and mercy would become potential emotions added to and subtracted from God. It would mean that at some point in eternity, God may not have had the level of opposition to sin He has now. If we deny God's Divine impassibility, and rather affirm God as "passible", then we have a God who is not constantly, immutably just, which is contrary to the Biblical revelation of the always just God (See Genesis 18:25; Psalm 89:14; Romans 3:26).

    The same problems plague a passible view of God's mercy. In Scripture, God's mercy is what issues from His very nature. We've argued in a prior post of God being by nature eternally merciful here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/12/post-27-doctrine-of-god-p2-gods.html. 

    God's mercy is extended to whomever He pleases (Romans 9:14-15). How does affirming Divine impassibility reveal that God's mercy is superior to us who are passible creatures? If God were a passible God, He would only show His mercy when moved upon by His creatures or their dire need. Whereas a constantly merciful God is always ready to show mercy upon those who undergo moral and spiritual humility as a consequence of contact and response to His Divine activity in their lives.

A God that could suffer by nature ends up being far less emotionally connected to our sufferings.

    To deny Divine impassibility makes for a deity that may had been indifferent to the plight of creatures whom He knew about in His natural knowledge of all possible histories, as well as our actual world known from His decree to create it. This surprising observation shows that contrary to those opposing Divine impassibility, it is the denial of the doctrine that makes for a lesser, emotionally connected God!

    When we look at what it means to suffer, the term "suffer" derives from the Latin verb "patior", whence our words "patient" and "passion". To suffer involves something happening to me for which I did not anticipate, have control, nor the emotional resources to react. 

    As passible creatures, we in this world undergo various forms of suffering (emotional, psychological, spiritual, and physical). This is why we can have "bad days". Bad days happen to passible, emotionally unprepared, and varying creatures such as ourselves.

    The Divinely impassible God of the Bible, on the otherhand, is always merciful, since mercy flows from the kind of God that He is (see Exodus 34:6; Lamentations 3:23-27; Romans 5:6; Titus 3:5-6). 

    Contrary to what many claim, the doctrine of Divine impassibility (DDI) does not weaken, but instead strengthens one's understanding of God's revelation of attributes such as mercy. For God, there is never such thing as a "bad day", since He is ever involved and ever knowing, always expressing the whole range of Divine emotions. 

    This is why God always has the appropriate emotion on hand to befit people and their situations. God is always "in-tune" with my sorrows, pain, and despair, since His eternal, emotional attributes are included in His omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence (see Psalm 139). 

Closing thought for today

    Divine impassibility affirms emotional excellence in God, meaning God doesn't just have mercy and justice, He is such by nature (See for instance Exodus 34:6; Psalm 136; 1 John 4:8,16). To say "God does not suffer" means His mercy, justice, love, and other emotions are not "put upon" or "made to respond", but instead are constant, always ongoing expressions. God's emotions flow from the kind of God He is. I close with a quote from author Barry Cooper commenting on Divine impassibility from a Ligonier podcast here https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/simply-put/impassibility#:~:text=Impassibility%20is%20the%20notion%20that%20God%20does%20not,inevitably%20from%20the%20fact%20that%20God%20is%20unchangeable.

"the fact that God cannot suffer or be swept away by changing passions means that He is able to rescue us."

    In the next post of this series, I'll deal with how Divine impassibility (Divinely constant emotions) and human passibility (human varying emotions) operated in the two natures of the incarnate Son of God when He went to the cross. 

Endnote:

1. "(a) They declare him to be unchangeable in duration and life: Gen. 21:33; Deut. 32:39, 40; Ps. 9:7; 55:19; 90:2; 102:12; Hab. 1:12; Rom. 16:26; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16.

(b) They affirm the unchangeableness of his nature: Ps. 104:31; Mal. 3:6; Rom. 1:23; James 1:17.

(c) They also assert that his will is without change: Job 23:13; Ps. 33:11; Prov. 19:21."

    

Post #29 The Doctrine of God - P2 An Introduction To Divine Impassibility (God's Constant, Unchanging Emotional Life): How Divine Impassibility Is Related To His Immutability

 

Introduction:

    In our last post for this series we introduced readers to the doctrine of Divine impassibility (DDI) here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/12/post-28-doctrine-of-god-gods-constant.html. When we talk of this attribute, theologian J.I. Packer helps us out,

"What was it supposed to mean? The historical answer is: Not impassivity, unconcern, and impersonal detachment in the face of the creation. Not inability or unwillingness to empathize with human pain and grief, either. It means simply that God’s experiences do not come upon him as ours come upon us." 

Packer then writes,

"His are foreknown, willed, and chosen by himself, and are not involuntary surprises forced on him from outside, apart from his own decision, in the way that ours regularly are."

    The reader will note that J.I.Packer alludes to the relationship between DDI (Doctrine of Divine Impassibility) and the question of whether or not God suffers along with us. I'll touch upon that particular issue in the next post. 

    What we will note from Packer's observations is how God is "not surprised" nor "caught off guard". In the previous post of this series, we noted how human beings as "passive" agents in the emotional sense have the potential to be affected and changed emotionally from the outside. 

    To put it colloquially, we are an "up-and-down" folk. God, on the other hand, is constant in His emotional life. For God, there is no such thing as a "bad day", since within His own being and eternal blessed existence, He knows all things that happen because of His decree. In such a decree, God's intuitive awareness of all there is and all there will be includes a constant, steady, appropriate emotional state. By not having "ups and downs" and not being "affected", this makes God's Divine impassibility a superior emotional-life, since we can trust that whatever happens in our world, our God always knows the appropriate response - since such emotional expressions are rooted in His goodness, Sovereignty, and wisdom. 

    In today's post, we want to understand how DDI is closely related to another doctrine which I've written about in this series - Divine immutability here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/08/post-10-doctrine-of-god-gods-attribute.html.  

God's unchangeability and His emotional impassibility

    God is unchanging in His being and attributes, which means He can never get better nor get worse. The Westminster Confession of Faith in its Article 2: "Of God and the Holy Trinity", paragraph 1, gives a summary definition of God with a list of attributes. The reader can note how God's Divine impassibility is listed next to Divine immutability,

"There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments; hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty."

    Scriptures such as Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 1:8-11 talk about Divine unchangeableness or immutability. It would seem that in the Malachi 3:6 passage, God's impassible or eternal love for His chosen people (Deuteronomy 7:7-8), Israel, whom He foreknew (Amos 3:3-4), was why He never "consumed them" as an outworking of His unchangeable character. Since it is the case that God does not change His nature and attributes, it follows that He would not vary when it comes to His emotional life. 

    Author Barry Cooper in the December 2021 issue of Ligonier "Tabletalk Magazine" notes on this very point,

"If you think about it, God’s impassibility flows inevitably from the fact that God is unchangeable. An unchanging God cannot, by definition, have passions, which in the technical language of theology are emotional states that can be affected or changed by external forces."

    We dealt in the last post with a few Scriptures that affirm the Biblical reality of Divine impassibility. It is important to bring out this point further, Why? Two reasons. 

    First, if it can be shown that God internally changes when acted upon by His creation, then DDI would lose its claim as a Biblical doctrine. 

    Secondly, we must understand how the Bible talks about God to see how the doctrines of Divine immutability and impassibility accurately express the Biblical doctrine of God. 

Clarifying the Biblical language of God changing His emotions

 

   Some people will claim that God changes His being and His emotions by noting the passages that describe God as "relenting" or "changing His mind". The conclusion typically drawn is that such a God does change. As the argument goes, since God changes, then He alters His emotions too. Consequently, as the argument would follow, DDI is an unbiblical doctrine. 

    My response to this is to note that often, such objections to DDI stem from unclear definitions of DDI (which I have attempted to clarify in the last post and at the beginning of this one). 

    Secondly, DDI has ample proof from Scripture when we note how the Bible uses two ways of talking about God. It is to this point I'll turn our attention.

So what does the Bible mean when it says "God changed His mind", even though it elsewhere describes God as unchanging?

1. Scripture does present God as unchanging in terms of His being while using figurative language when expressing His "changing His mind".

     Scripture says that on several occasions (for instance in the book of Jonah), that Jonah is talking to God in chapter three of His prophecy. Jonah said something to the effect: "I knew that you were a God who would change your mind".  Jonah had been told by God to proclaim throughout the city of Nineveh in three days God was going to judge them. Then, the King of Nineveh decreed a time of repentance where everyone was to dress in sackcloth and sit on ashes (a customary ancient form of mourning) and cry out to God for repentance. 

    Jonah notes in Jonah 4:1-2 that God changed His mind.  So, some people have asked: "well, how can that be the case?" We read, for instance, in Numbers 23:19 

"God is not a man that he should change his mind nor son of man that he should repent". 

      Yet, there in the book of Jonah, we see God changing his mind.  Although God is by nature unchanging, we see instances in scripture where we see him described as changing his mind that is referring to God from the standpoint of the creatures. What is going on then? 

2. God, in Scripture, uses two different methods of expressing His nature and identity.

      Scripture talks of God in two ways. There are those verses that speaks of God as He is in and of Himself - namely, He's unchanging. Then, there are those verses in which God adapts the revelation of Himself in forms of figurative language to bridge understanding to His people (older writers liken this to a parent speaking baby-talk to their child).

      As to the first sort of way scripture refers to God, we turn to James 1:17, which says - 

"every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of heavenly lights with whom there is no variation nor shifting of shadow." 

      So, with respect to God from God's perspective, there is no change within Him. His emotions are constant. They are "always-on", so-to-speak. God's emotional life is unvarying. Romans 2:4 says this: 

"do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance". 

      So, we understand that it is God's intention to change people and to change their lives. So whenever we read in scripture those places where God is described as "changing his mind", that is, figurative language used in scripture to ascribe changeable human-like emotions to God (called "anthropopathism", or "human-like emotions"). God does this in revealing Himself  by adapting the revelation of Himself to people so that they can relate to Him. 

       The author A.W. Tozer puts it this way, more-or-less:

"that whenever we read of God changing his mind that means there's been a change in the moral situation of the person. So, for example, a person who perhaps all their lives was in rebellion against God and opposition against God hears the Gospel. The Spirit of God does His work in them and now they're responding by faith to Jesus Christ. What has taken place? Has there been a change in God? No. God's always angry at sin and He hates it. God is always gracious and merciful towards those who repent. So what's changed? It's not God. Instead, its the person that's changed." 

3. God has an emotional-life without the frailties and sin we typically have because of what kind of God He is by nature. 

     Sometimes I have been asked: how is it that God can have an emotional life and yet we have emotions? First of all, we've been made in the image of God.  We read in Genesis 1:26 where God says: "Let Us make man in our image in our likeness." 

    And so when God made human beings, He included in His design of human beings that they were to have emotions. Moreover, they were to have a creaturely emotions that were expressive of their Creator.  Of course, when man fell into sin, that meant that the entire nature of man's being (emotionally, psychologically, intellectually) was affected by sin. 

    We as human beings have "passible" emotions, subject to change. As sinful creatures, those changeable emotions are tainted by sin. Although God has communicated emotions to us, His image bearers, the one feature He did not communicate is that trait of "impassibility". 

    Thus, God's emotional life derives from within Himself. He as a Holy God cannot sin, nor can He even look at it (Habakkuk 1:13). Therefore, God's impassible emotional life means He is always joyful about what is good, since He is good. He always approves what is holy, since He is holy. He always hates what is sinful, since He is not sinful. God's emotions flow from the kind of God He is, unchanging, constant, without beginning and without end. This gets us to the heart of what we are talking about in regards to the doctrine of Divine impassibility (DDI). 

Closing thoughts

        So, emotions in of themselves are not sinful.  Rather, they are expressed in connection with the nature of the one that expresses them. For God, God has emotions that are expressed without sin because He is God, that by nature, cannot sin (see Habakkuk 1:13; Titus 1:2; James 1:17; 1 John 1:5-7).  

    We express emotions and they are subject to change. We respond to the changes of circumstances.  Just because God has emotions, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are sinful. As a final thought, Scripture certainly bears out that God has an emotional life, even though it is different from our own."

    

    In our next post we will deal with the question of whether God suffers, and how Christ in His two natures can aid us in seeing the importance of affirming the doctrine of Divine impassibility. 

Considering The Importance Of The Incarnation As We Get Ready To Celebrate December 25th

 

Introduction:

    Next to God's act of creation and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, no miracle is more central to the Christian faith than the incarnation of the Son of God. In today's post, we want to define, reflect, and gain appreciation for the doctrine of the incarnation of the Son of God.

A study on the word "incarnation".

    The term itself is composed of two Latin words: "in" and "carnos". To take the latter term first, "carnos" refers to "flesh". When I was in grade school, they would sometimes serve what was called "chilli con carne" (chili with meat). If we talk about the animal kingdom, we will refer to some animals as "carnivors" (literally "flesh eaters"). As for the prefix "in", much like our English preposition "in", refers to coming to be "in" something. 

    Therefore, whenever we talk about the miracle of the incarnation, it refers to the Son of God coming into the world to become "in-the-flesh" (older theologians would sometimes call the incarnation by another term, "the enmanning"of the Son of God). 

Unpacking the theological meaning of the incarnation.

    The Baptist Confession 1689, chapter 8, paragraph 2, gives the following explanation of the doctrine of the incarnation,

"The Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very and eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one substance and equal with Him who made the world, who upholds and governs all things He has made, did, when the fullness of time was complete, take upon Him man's nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities of it, yet without sin."

   Benjamin Keach produced a catechism in 1693 that, through a series of questions and answers, taught foundational truths of the Christian faith. Keach rooted his catechism in the Baptist Confession of 1689 quoted above. In question #25 of his catechism, Keach noted about Christ's incarnation as follows,

Question: "How did Christ, being the Son of God become man?"

Answer: "Christ the Son of God became man by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul; being conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin."

    In light of these two historic documents,we can offer the following summary: The Son, being truly God, joined to himself true humanity, with all its qualities, minus sin. 

Major Biblical passages that speak of the incarnation

Key Old Testament texts on the incarnation

    As I think on the various Biblical passages that lead to the doctrine of the incarnation, the place to begin is Genesis 3:15, 

"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” 

Theologians refer to this text as the "protoevangelium" (the first mention of the Gospel). The ages-long battle between the two "seeds" is taken to refer strictly to Satan and Christ, and then more broadly to the battle of the ages between unbelievers swayed by this world and followers of Jesus who look forward to the world to come. The epic battle predicted in Genesis 3:15 would reach the point of Christ's defeat of Satan at the cross and empty tomb. In what will be the final battle of Armegeddon predicted in Revelation 13-19, Christ will slay Satan's man (thus the ultimate expression of "the seed of the serpent", "Anti-Christ", by the breath of His mouth at His second coming (see also 2 Thessalonians 2:8). 

    Whenever reference is made to "seed"', a close synonym is the term "descendant". So, even in the first mention of the Gospel, we already find a hint of God utilizing a human bloodline (hence in the phrase "her seed") to bring about salvation. 

    Another Old Testament text that predicted Christ's incarnation is Isaiah 7:14, 

"Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." 

    Isaiah wrote these words over 700 years before Christ came onto the scene. In Matthew and Luke's infancy narratives concerning Jesus, they both cite Isaiah 7:14 to express how the Holy Spirit would miraculously bring about the humanity of Christ in the virgin's womb (see Matthew 1:20-23 and Luke 1:35). 

    Then a final Old Testament text worthy of mention is Micah 5:2-3 

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. 3 Therefore He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child. Then the remainder of His brethren will return to the sons of Israel." 

    What makes Micah's prophecy so important is that we not only see the Messiah's place of birth (Bethlehem); but also He being truly God and truly man. 

Key New Testament texts on the incarnation

    Again, to remind ourselves of our summary definition of the incarnation,  "the Son, being truly God, joined to himself true humanity, with all its qualities, minus sin", we turn our attention to some New Testament examples. The above Old Testament texts affirm the promise of incarnation. What follows are New Testament texts which explain the fact of Christ's incarnation. 

    We begin by first considering the Gospel accounts. Matthew 1:20b-21, 

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 

Luke 1:35,

"The angel answered and said to her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God.'" 

John 1:14,

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

    From these three passages,  we are told "that" the incarnation took place in time and in space. hat we're not told is "how exactly" the Holy Spirit miraculously joined the humanity of Christ to His Person (what theologians call "the hypostatic union", that is, the uniting of the Person of the Son to a human nature, who already was and still remained truly God by nature).  

    The remainder of the New Testament passages on the incarnation are found in the New Testament letters or "epistles".  Paul writes in Colossians 2:9,

"For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form." 

The same author pens the following words in Philippians 2:8, 

"Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." 

The same Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 3:16a 

“By common confession, great is the mystery of godliness: He who was revealed in the flesh.” 

Either Paul himself or one of his associates noted in Hebrews 10:5b, 

“Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, 'Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me.”' 

The Apostle Peter stated in 1 Peter 2:22,

“who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.” 

    One more text is worthy of mention, since it connects back to Genesis 3:15, namely the words of the Apostle John in Revelation 12:5 

"And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne." 

    In striking brevity, John the Apostle records how Christ in His incarnation and virgin birth came the first time, ascended into Heaven, and is returning to set up His Kingdom here on earth. Note in the wider context of Revelation 12 how Satan battles to prevent the arrival of the Son of God into history - and fails. Note also how Satan will once again try to thwart the Son's return to set up His kingdom - and fail. 

Applying the importance of the incarnation as we prepare to celebrate December 25

    The incarnation of the Son of God is the focal point of this Christmas season. The truth of the incarnation, established by Scripture, has been confessed by Bible-believing churches throughout the ages, as seen in the following excerpt from the historic Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 A.D.,

"I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man."

  Christ's coming into our world was necessary to provide salvation and the foundation for the Christian life. Followers of Jesus look forward to His soon return. 

    For unbelievers, the incarnation of Jesus Christ makes history and humanity accountable to repent and believe the Gospel message about Him. Truth by its very nature demands a response.  Author Kevin Zuber in his book, "The Essential Scriptures: A Handbook of Biblical Texts For Key Doctrines", notes this on page 132:

"The only reason to include such a doctrine so contrary to nature and experience is that this was the truth about His birth." 

    The reality of Christ's incarnation is what made possible two other historic events to which everyone is accountable to respond by faith - His crucifxion for our sins and His rising from the dead. To paraphrase one notable thinker: "if it is even possible that God exists, and if this God created all that we know out of nothing, then events such as the raising of a dead man to life" (and we could easily include the incarnation) "is mere child's play." Taking time to focus on the incarnation enables us to focus on the true meaning of the season. I close with a familiar Christmas carol,

"O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, O come let us adore Him, Christ - The LORD."

Post #28 The Doctrine of God - God's Constant Unchanging Emotional Life: An Introduction To The Doctrine of Divine Impassibility (DDI)

Introduction:

    In our series on "The Doctrine of God", we've considered attributes of God that pertain to His emotional life. We looked, for instance, at God's wrath here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/10/post-20-doctrine-of-god-attribute-of.html. We also look at other attributes that express God's emotional life, such as love here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/10/post-21-doctrine-of-god-p1-attribute-of.html and here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/11/post-22-doctrine-of-god-p2-attribute-of.html. Then most recently, we began exploring God's attribute of mercy, starting here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/12/post-26-doctrine-of-god-p1-gods.html. and here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/12/post-27-doctrine-of-god-p2-gods.html

    When we look at God's wrath, love, mercy, as well as other emotional attributes, are we to understand God's emotional life as a bigger version of our own? What is His emotional life like? Does God have an emotional life? Is God devoid of emotions altogether, with things like "mercy", "love", and "wrath" mere words that have no connection to Him? These questions represent inquiries that abound when getting into conversations about a doctrine that addresses God's emotional life - The Doctrine of Divine Impassibility (DDI for short). 

    I'll let the reader know that the doctrine of Divine impassibility (DDI from here forward), has been unliked for the last century or so. Part of this is due to the term "impassible" itself. Also, the opposition stems from major shifts in rejecting the classical historic Christian doctrine of God that asserts God's unchangeability in His nature, attributes, and emotional life. Some perceive "impassibility" as meaning God is emotionless, situated in Heaven as an aloof, "rock-like" God.  

    For the reader's sake, let me say that "impassibility" does not mean "no emotions". Rather, the term "impassible" is denying a certain way of expression emotions. The first step to better understanding "DDI" is in seeing how God's emotional life differs from our own. I'll briefly expound those differences, and then conclude with some Scriptural examples.

How God's impassible or constant emotional life differs from our passible or changing emotional life

    We as human beings are "passible" or have "passions", that is, the sort of emotional life that is affected by things other than ourselves. Author Samuel Renihan in the May 2022 edition of "Tabletalk Magazine" gives a helpful illustration of human passions or "passible" emotions. He writes,

"A long-standing and beloved tradition of church life is a potluck or fellowship meal. Food abounds, and everyone enjoys the bountiful feast. When you walk by the food and desserts with your plate, you choose certain items and pass others by. Why is that? Why do you choose some but not others? The truth is that each of the foods or desserts that you see before you is operating on you, exerting an influence on you, and affecting you. How so? You perceive each item as good or bad, and then you are drawn to the good and repulsed by the bad. When you move to take the good and move away from taking the bad, you have been changed, moved, and affected by those foods and your perception of them. This is the life of a passible creature." 

Renihan then observes,

"To be passible means that you are capable of being acted on by an outside influence. You are capable of being the patient of an agent."

 

    Human beings, in their emotional life, are prone to "ups and downs" due to being affected from the outside. But what about God? Unlike ourselves, God's emotional life derives from who He is as God, rather than being manipulated, coerced, or changed by something that is outside of Himself. 

    The term "impassible" has that Latin "im" prefix that negates the word with which its associated. Thus, God is not "passive" or "subject to have His emotions sway with whatever is going on" to use colloquial terminology. We can note further that the Latin verb "patior"(the root behind "passion") also is the same root for our English word "patient" (note the "pat" root that is related to the Latin verb "patior"). When we use the word "patient" in a medical context, it is someone who has things being done to them by a doctor. If I use the term "patient" to reference my emotions, I am meaning that I am waiting and controlling myself so as not to be affect by someone else. These sorts of uses describe us a beings with "passions". 

    These observations are vital when explaining the teaching of DDI, since the doctrine teaches that God cannot be coerced or manipulated like human beings in their emotions. God's emotions are always active, never passive. God's emotions are always constant, reflecting His unchanging, immutable nature. 

    We note of course that God's emotional attributes are "communicable", meaning He shares them with us. However, to say God's emotions are communicable does not mean they are identical. Think of God's mercy for example. God is always merciful. Renihan writes again in this respect,

"But God’s mercy is not a passion. God helps the helpless from the infinite fullness of His own goodness, not from sincere movement or emotional manipulation. Therefore, the helpless can always call on God, knowing that He is not merciful but mercy itself. God is not moved to mercy; He is mercy. Let us worship and adore our God and say, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22–23)."

Scriptural examples of the Doctrine of Divine Impassibility (DDI)

    DDI is a consequence of considering the other attributes of God (most notably His Divine changelessness or immutability) and is directly provable from Biblical texts that assert God's emotional life as an expression of His being. In the next post I'll deal with the matter of how DDI relates to God's Divine immutability or changelessness. What I want to do now is close out with Scriptures that highlight DDI in action.

1. God is always, impassibly, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness. 

Exodus 34:6 “The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth". This most common description of God in the Old Testament ties God's emotional life to His personal covenant name - Yahweh or LORD. This covenant name speaks of He being "the unchanging, self-existent one". Hence, the emotional attributes of "compassion", "long-suffering" or "slow to anger", and "love" or "loving-kindness" are constant, unvarying, unchanging.

2. God is impassible or unchanging in His love. 

      Psalm 136, on twenty-six occassions, asserts, "For His lovingkindness is everlasting." What is amazing about Psalm 136 is that God remains constantly this way regardless of the circumstances. In 1 John 4:8 plainly states, "God is love". In God, His attribute of love has no beginning. If we say God is changeable in His emotions, then it would follow there are moments in God where He is not loving by nature and essence. This point is most clear in the internal relationship between the Persons of the Trinity. In John 3:35 and John 5:20, we are told that "the Father loves the Son". Is there ever a time that the Father did not love the Son? In God, the love between the Father and the Son has had no end, no beginning, no diminishment, and no alteration. 

3. Acts 14:15 "And saying, O men, why do ye these things? We are even

men subject to the like passions that ye be, and preach unto you, that ye should turn from these vain idols unto the living God, which made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that in them are."

(Geneva Bible, 1560 edition). 

    I bring up this final passage due to how classical, historic Christianity in documents such as the Westminster Confession of Faith and Baptist Confession of 1689 have used this text as a major proof text for DDI. How? The underlined word above in the Geneva Bible 1560 edition (as well as the KJV and older English translations) describe Paul and his hearers as those sharing in the same "passible" or changing nature. The Liddell, Scott, Jones Greek Lexicon, 9th edition, rightly notes about the underlying Greek word translated "like-passions", "like, of the same quality or kind of desires being affected in the same way, as another." 

    Most modern translations render this word as "like nature", indicating that Paul and his listeners are of a contrary nature to the God whom He is pointing them, namely, "the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein."  

    Thus are some examples of Bible passages that affirm the truth of the Doctrine of Divine Impassibility (DDI). 

Post # 27 The Doctrine of God - P2 God's Attribute Of Mercy: Distinctions And Applications

Introduction:

    In our last post, we began consideration of God's mercy here http://www.growingchristianresources.com/2023/12/post-26-doctrine-of-god-p1-gods.html. We offered definitions and reflections on the richness of this attribute.  Theologian Wayne Grudem comments on God's mercy, "God’s mercy means God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress." Certainly the mercy of God expresses the goodness of God toward those who don't deserve and who did nothing to merit such a bestowal of goodness. In today's post we continue our exploration of God's mercy, noting distinctions of it in the Bible, as well as applications.

God's mercy is what He chooses to bestow, not what He has to show.

    In the Bible, mercy is a choice God makes to withhold judgment and take pity on the distressed, on someone, or something. If mercy were obligatory for God, then it would not be mercy, but rather "justice", or "righteousness". God as God must uphold His glory, since His glory expresses all that He is in His attributes and being. Mercy, on the otherhand, is what God chooses to grant to the undeserving. Paul brings this out in Titus 3:5, 

"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit."

    I often think of the illustration R.C. Sproul used in his teaching on mercy. He once drew a circle on the chalkboard, called "mercy". Then, He drew another circle on the board, called "justice". He then noted that God deals with us in one of two ways - "mercy" or "justice". God, as he rightly points out, is never "unjust" (compare Genesis 18:21). We know from Scriptures that God's throne is established on justice (Psalm 89:14). Mercy is a form of "non-justice", since it is dispensed not out of obligation, but by God's choice to do so. Sproul then notes that anything outside those two circles spells "injustice", which as we've already noted, is impossible for God.   

Distinctions of God's mercy

    God's mercy is so rich, so wonderful, so comforting. We could draw out several distinctions and shades that Scripture presents to us about this attribute of God. As I study God's Word, I find at least four subheadings that summarize for us God's mercy.

1. God's elective mercy.

2. God's saving mercy.

3. God's providential mercy.

4. God's tender mercies. 

    I'll define each of these, and then give representative Scriptures. 

1. God's elective mercy.

    We find that "God's purpose of grace" in Sovereign election is rooted in His mercy. Some 100 times we find reference to Divine election in the Bible, whether corporate election (the nation of Israel, Deuteronomy 7:7-9), Messianic election (concerning Jesus Christ, Isaiah 49:5-6), or individual election unto salvation (Romans 8:29-30; Ephesians 1:4-5). All three sorts have God's mercy as their motivation. 

    The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 alludes to this point in its fifth article,

"Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners. It is consistent with the free agency of man, and comprehends all the means in connection with the end. It is the glorious display of God’s sovereign goodness, and is infinitely wise, holy, and unchangeable."

    All sinners deserve justice (Romans 3:23). Due to Adam's sin, all of us inherited his sin, his guilt, and condemnation due to he being their representative before God in the Garden of Eden (Romans 5:18a). Its not judgment that ought to shock us, but God's mercy! 

    God's elective mercy teaches that He chose, before time began, specific persons out of all humanity because of His mercy (John 1:13; Romans 9:14-15; Ephesians 1:4-5; 2 Tim 1:9). He chose Israel out of all the nations, for the sake of His mercy (Deuteronomy 7:7-9; Romans 11). God chose the human bloodline leading from Adam to Noah to Shem to Abraham to David to the virgin Mary. He singled out that bloodline, as opposed to all others, to bring forth the eternal Son in true humanity, and thus to reveal His mercy. This first mercy of God ought to cause humility, thankfulness, and dependance on God. 

2. God's saving mercy.

    God's saving mercy flows as a mighty stream from His eternal mercy described by His elective mercy. We must emphasize that the Gospel of Jesus' finished work on the cross is to be communicated indiscriminately to all individuals, without exception. God's elective mercy reminds us of why anyone would believe on Jesus Christ. God's saving mercy is extended to all people, urging each of them to repent and to believe the Gospel. In the Biblical record, there is no conflict between the two expressions of mercy. 

    God's mercy, flowing from the cross, touches all human beings historically as an established fact of God's well-meant offer of mercy and forgiveness to them (Romans 15:9; 1 Peter 2:10). God's mercy is also shone into the hearts of sinners that, upon their awakening, respond freely to the saving mercy personally brought to them (John 16:8-12; 1 Peter 1:3). The only reason anyone responds to the Gospel is due to God's mercy (Titus 3:5). This is where sinners are urged to cry out to God "be merciful to me, a sinner". 

3. God's Providential mercies.

    This third sub-division of God's mercy pertains to those mercies He bestows indiscrimately on all people - whether believer or unbeliever. Psalm 145:3 reminds us of how God displays His mercy "over all His works" - whether works of redemption in the lives of saints or in providence for all people. No one can claim they never had contact or some sort of hint that God was a merciful God. The entirety of Psalm 107 gives detailed example of how God bestows general, providential mercy on those is distress, in rebellion, in prison, and other type of difficulties. Jesus Himself teaches about God's common grace, or what we are refering to here as God's "providential mercy" (Matthew 5:45, compare Paul's words recorded in Acts 14:17). 

4. God's tender mercies.

    This fourth category of mercy is reserved for believers. Psalm 103:4 and its New Testament counterpart in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 enshrine this particular expression of God's mercy to the redeemed. Such mercy supports, sustain, encourages, uplifts, energizes, and refocuses the people of God in times where they are overwhelmed, weak in faith, and discouraged. The phrase "sure mercies of David" or "mercies of David" is a catch-phrase to point us toward such tender mercies (2 Chronicles 6:42; Isaiah 55:3; Acts 13:34). Jeremiah captures the definitive description of tender mercies in Lamentations 3:22-24,

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him."

    God's mercy is certainly an attribute worthy of our focus, praise, and thanksgiving. 

Post # 26 The Doctrine of God - P1 God's Attribute Of Mercy - Its Definition And Richness

 

Introduction:

    In our study through the attributes of God, we've looked at what are called "incommunicable" and "communicable" attributes. The latter of these are those perfections which God shares or "communicates" to His creatures.  Among the communicable attributes are a subdivision of what we could term "moral attributes". 

    Perfections such as love, faithfulness, and goodness are examples of communicable, moral attributes. Such moral perfections highlight for us the moral character of God. In today's post, we are interested in considering one of my favorite attributes of God - mercy. 

What is meant by God's mercy?

    Theologian Wayne Grudem comments on God's mercy, "God’s mercy means God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress." Certainly, the mercy of God expresses the goodness of God toward those who don't deserve it and who did nothing to merit such a bestowal of goodness. This writer and you the reader fit under that categories of "undeserving" and "unable to merit" God's mercy. We read for instance in Exodus 33:19 of God's promise to Moses' request to show him His glory,

"And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” 

    The reader can note that the underlying Hebrew words translated "gracious" is the same word elsewhere translated "mercy". At this point, it may prove useful to distinguish between God's compassion and mercy. We've noted in past posts how each of God's attributes gives us "all of God", meaning each is a true and entire expression of His Divine being. To have one attribute entails having access to all the others. 

    Mercy and compassion do have much overlap, so we won't press their distinction too far. Mercy is God witholding from us what we do deserve. Grace is God giving to us what we don't deserve. In noting those distinctions, we find that God's compassionate love, expressed in grace and mercy, is what underlies their commonality to one another. Baptist theologian J.P. Boice in his "Abstract of Systematic Theology" notes the distinction. He first writes of God's compassion, 

"The third form of love is the love of compassion. This corresponds to our idea of pity. It is benevolent disposition to those who are suffering or in distress.
This also may be exercised towards the guilty or the innocent, if it be possible to suppose that guilt and suffering are separable."

Boice then focuses on mercy,

"A fourth form of the love of God corresponds to what we call mercy.

This can be exercised only toward sinners. Its very nature contemplates guilt in its objects. It consists, not only in the desire not to inflict the punishment due to sin, and the neglect and refusal to do so, but in the actual pardon of the offender."

    In the Bible, we find a close connection between God's compassion and mercy, making them at times virtually indistinguishable. If we consider mercy as God withholding what we do deserve, then compassion is God showing Divine pity as a consequence of His mercy. The Hebrew Old Testament uses the same word to render our English "compassion" and "mercy". 

    We saw above the NASB translation of the underlying Hebrew text of Exodus 33:19. As the Holy Spirit led Paul to write what he wrote under Divine inspiration, He would use the Greek translation or Septuagint translation of Exodus 33:19 to capture the nuance of God's mercy in Romans 9:14,

"or He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'”

The infinite richness of God's mercy

    As mentioned already, the common way mercy is defined, which I still find helpful and soothing, is this, "mercy is God not giving us what we deserve". Thomas Watson, that great 17th century Puritan author, notes the following about the superabundance (i.e. "richness") of God's mercy,

"The Lord has treasures of mercy in store, and therefore is said to be ‘plenteous in mercy’ (Psa 86: 5), and ‘rich in mercy’ (Eph 2: 4). The vial of God’s wrath drops only, but the fountain of his mercy runs. The sun is not so full of light as God is of love."

Watson goes on,

"God has mercy of all dimensions. He has depth of mercy, it reaches as low as sinners; and height of mercy, it reaches above the clouds. God has mercies for all seasons; mercies for the night, he gives sleep; nay, sometimes he gives a song in the night (Psalm 42:8). He has also mercies for the morning. His compassions ‘are new every morning.’ (Lamentations 3:23)."

    Twentieth century author A.W. Tozer writes of God's mercy in his classic book, "Knowledge of the Holy", page 64, reminds us that God's mercy, like all of His attributes, is an eternal perfection, 

"If we could remember that the divine mercy is not a temporary mood but an
attribute of God’s eternal being, we would no longer fear that it will someday cease to be."

Tozer then completes his thought,

"Mercy never began to be, but from eternity was; so it will never cease to be. It will never be more since it is itself infinite; and it will never be less because the infinite cannot suffer diminution. Nothing that has occurred or will occur in heaven or earth or hell can change the tender mercies of our God. Forever His mercy stands, a boundless, 

overwhelming immensity of divine pity and compassion."

More next time....