Romans 8:22-25 "For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it."
Introduction:
In the last post we considered the following question: "Did God Know That Adam And Eve Were Going To Sin? If So, Why Did He Create Them?" After considering some scriptures and briefly expounding Romans 8:18-25, we arrived at the following answer: God did know that the fall was going to happen, and yet remained Sovereign.
In today's post we want to flesh out further a response to this question by noting five Biblical concepts that can aid us in navigating through what can be deep waters on this subject.
Key Ideas Can Aid In Understanding How God Could Create The World While Knowing The Fall Would Occur
Both scripture and the history of Christian thought aids us in fleshing out how God could include the fall in His ultimate purposes and plans for creation. The following terms and ideas help us discuss these matters.
a. God is Good
Throughout the centuries, theologians have rightly noted that God is not the author of evil and sin. Habakkuk 1:13 states - "Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor.
Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up
Those more righteous than they?" God is a Holy God - meaning that He is by nature good in all He does and is (Exodus 33:17-18; 34:6-7; Psalm 136; Matthew 7:11; 19:17; James 1:17). God's goodness is necessarily good, meaning that God cannot be anything else other than the Good God.
b. God is Sovereign
Psalm 103:19 states most plainly the fact of God's Sovereignty, as well as the definition of the term "sovereignty": "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all." 1 Timothy 6:15 sets God's Sovereignty in the center of a redounding series of praises: "which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords." God's sovereignty has to do with His will and declaration of whatsoever will come to pass as informed by His omniscience and fore-ordination. Included in God's Sovereign plan are the activities of free-moral agents, whether good or sinful (see Isaiah 45:7; Acts 2:23-24; 4:27-28); the rising and falling of godly and ungodly nations and kings (2 Samuel 7:13-16; Psalm 110; Daniel 4:35; John 19:10-11) and the overall guidance of the course of history (Acts 14:17; Acts 17:24-25). The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 reminds us:
"God is all powerful and all knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures."
And once more:
"God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise."
c. God's Permissive Will
Whenever Christian thinkers discuss God's will, they are referring to God's overall decision-making and decreeing process for how He will carry-out His intentions, plans and desires. Ephesians 1:11 states - "also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will". Within God's will there are important distinctions. There is what we call God's unrevealed will and revealed will (Deuteronomy 29:29), which respectively refer to what God has chosen to not reveal to us and what He has chosen to make know to us by His Word and the Lord Jesus Christ. The third distinction is that of God's permissive will. James 4:15 states on this topic of God's permissive will: "Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”
This important sub-heading of God's "permissive-will" includes God's choice to use secondary causes (like physical laws, historical events) and free-will agents (such as angels, demons, human beings) that carry out His purposes. God's permissive will is an important concept to keep in mind when discussing matters of salvation or the problem of evil and suffering. Theologian Michael Horton notes:
"Thus, God only permissively decrees evil in such a way that the same decree simultaneously determines the triumph of God's just and gracious purposes in Jesus Christ."
This concept of "permissive will" is vital to grasping what God "wills to permit" in terms of the choices made by free-moral agents, since such choices and actions done by human beings are part-and-parcel of His overall purpose.
d. Human Responsibility Or Free-will
We have looked at God's Goodness, Sovereignty and God's Permissive Will as key concepts in navigating through this question about His creation of the world despite the fact He knew that the fall would occur. Human free-will or responsibility is taught in the scripture along with the notion of God's Sovereignty. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 notes:
"....and His (God's) perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures."
and once more:
"By his free choice man sinned against God and brought sin into the human race."
The idea of God decreeing history and man being a free-moral agent are not contradictory notions. The Bible teaches both and both are presented in scripture. Various models drawn up by theologians and Christian philosophers attempt to explain "how God's Sovereignty and man's free will and both function in the same world without cancelling out one another.
We know for example that God is the one who works in bringing the sinner to their senses with the result of a genuine response to the Gospel - or what is called regeneration in saving faith (see John 3:3-5; James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23). Yet we find in these chapters that unless the sinner trusts in Christ with genuine faith and repentance, there can be no application of His saving benefits won for them on the cross (John 3:16; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9).
We do know one thing for sure: man's free will operates upon that person's greatest desire and their nature. The will of a person is not neutral. Whatever a person deems to be the greatest good in their mind and in accords to their nature, the human-will follows suit. Thus, human beings freely reject God and knowingly so, since by nature, the sinner freely chooses to prefer sin over Christ and the Gospel, resulting in their blameworthiness (Acts 13:46; 18:6; 1 John 2:19).
Conversely, for those sinners responding to the Gospel do so as a result of God's grace, the Spirit's working in their hearts and their efforts of resisting the Spirit's promptings stopped by their own accord, with the full credit going to God for their salvation (Acts 16:14; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Titus 3:4-5).
Therefore when it comes to the matter of evil, all evil is chosen by the creature, whether Satan (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28; John 8:56); demons or Adam and his descendants. The matter of evil coming into our world is due to the creature concluding that creation, even good and unspoiled creation (including themselves) is preferable to God. God's will, with respect to His free-will creatures choosing to sin, is His permissive will. As theologian A.A Hodge notes:
"In the case of every free act of a moral agent, the act shall be perfectly spontaneous and free on the part of the agent."
e. God's Morally Sufficient Reasons
When we consider God's goodness, sovereignty and permissive will, we find that in discussion about these attributes, the notion of God's morally sufficient reasons comes into view. This concept of God's "morally-sufficient reasons" is crucial when discussing how it could be that He permits evil and suffering while being Sovereign. In scripture we can note four such morally-sufficient reasons:
a. The greater good for His glory. John 9:5; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
b. Character development. James 1:3-4
c. Opportunities where people can respond to the Gospel. Acts 8:1ff
d. Development of faith. 1 Peter 1:6-7
Helpful illustrations, such as cardiologist performing open-heart surgery by "breaking" the ribs to access a diseased heart or the case in which parents allow little-ones learning to walk to fall on their bottoms to encourage them to get up and try to walk can show the plausibility of "morally sufficient reasons" in real-life.
Conclusions for today
We introduced the reader to five key theological ideas that are derived from scripture and careful reflection on how to discuss God's creation of a world that included the fall, evil and human responsibility. Those five concepts were:
1. God is good
2. God is Sovereign
3. God's Permissive Will
4. Man's free-will or responsibility
5. God's Morally Sufficient Reasons
In the next post, we are going to attempt to put everything discussed in today's post and last post into a proposed model that summarizes this important but difficult discussion.
Romans 8:18-20 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope."
Introduction:
It always amazes me the range of questions people ask me from time to time. Some of the most penetrating questions derive from children. One young lady in our church recently asked me the question about whether God knew about the fall of Adam and Eve before He created them. Her concern was that if God knew such a fact, why then did He create Adam and Eve? Such questions touch upon a much discussed topic among thinkers that we call “the problem of pain” or “the problem of evil and suffering”. In today’s post, we want to see what scripture has to say to us about this question and the relationship between God’s plans and purposes for creating a world that included free-will beings such as ourselves, His allowance for evil in our world and His plan for bring about a solution to it.
God did know that the fall was going to happen, and yet remained Sovereign
In Romans 8:18-25, we find what is perhaps the clearest statement in scripture regarding the relationship between God's Sovereignty, the reality of evil in our world and His purposes for allowing such. Romans 8:18 begins with a blanket statement from Paul regarding his approach to this issue: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us."
Paul does not skirt the issue of evil and suffering, but rather indicates that it is included in God's purposes. We then see this statement in Romans 8:19-20 "For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope."
The reader can note the underlined portion of Romans 8:20. When I first read what Paul writes in Romans 8:20 (namely: "because of Him who subjected it, in hope"), I found the clause to be quite startling. God is depicted as somehow including not just the possibility, but the actuality of the intrusion and entrance of sin into our world. With that fact acknowledged, God's willing of our world and His choice to permit evil and suffering as so perpetrated by free-moral agents takes nothing away from the fact that God is Sovereign. Psalm 103:19 defines for us God's Sovereignty: "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all."
In the next post, we will introduce the reader to some terms that can aid us in walking through the Bible's revelation of God's Sovereignty, the reality of evil and the reality of human responsibility.
The Bible never dodges this subject of the fall, pain and suffering and God's Sovereignty in the midst of it all. Romans 8:22-23 describes the presence of evil and suffering in our world as "groaning" and "pain": "For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body."
Conclusions for today:
In short, God did know that in His purposes and plans for creating our world, the realities of evil, suffering and human responsibility would be included.1
Endnotes:
1. To deny God's omniscience and decision to permit such details leads to a disastrous alternative: that evil and suffering were accidents, and that the cross of Christ was God's "plan-b" as it were. Thus, God's choice (or decree) to create this version of history included the fall, the cross of Christ and those persons who would choose Him by grace and those who would freely reject Him by by-passing God's overtures of grace to them.
God's omniscience is defined as His knowledge of all the information contents of true statements and sentences that describe a given version of reality (also called "propositions"). For example, if I would choose to eat cereal for breakfast or a pop-tart, either choice could be freely made by me. God in His omniscience, and particularly His natural knowledge, knew before-hand every possible history, including those in which I eat cereal or a pop-tart. If I eat the cereal, then God already knew I would do so, and thus I would be the one eating it.
However, if I decide on a pop-tart instead, again God knew what I would do, since my eating a pop-tart can be true or my eating cereal can be true. Either way, God knew all the possibilities, brought into being the particular version of history He wanted to before it happened, and included my ability to choose in the carrying forth of His ultimate ends.
This aspect of God's omniscience, whereby He knew of every possible version of history or "world" is what theologians call God's "natural knowledge" (see Psalm 139:1-6; Psalm 145; Romans 11:33-36). God's "knowledge" of the future can be best described as part of the concepts He possessed in His mind from all eternity. As God knew of the future before it happened, He then made a decision or a decree to bring about that version of history that was most feasible and suitable in accomplishing His most-wise ends (what theologians call God's "free-knowledge"). God's free-knowledge, whereby He freely-chose to create this version of history, including the detail of human beings endowed with freedom of the will, means that His Sovereign decree does in no-way eliminate what are genuine human choices.
Leviticus 23:15-16 "And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord
Acts 2:1-2 "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting."
Introduction: What Is Pentecost?
Happy Pentecost Sunday! Christians the world over celebrate today in commemoration of the event of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. The New Testament records that the Holy Spirit came in power and presence, birthing forth the early church some 50 days after Jesus Christ's resurrection. Pentecost Sunday occurs 50 days after Easter (hence the reason for the name "pentecost", "penta" = "50"), and is the focus of today's blog.
Let the reader note that Pentecost, though pointing primarily to the day in which the Holy Spirit came in power and glory to empower Christ's church, was not originally a New Testament holiday. Back in the Old Testament, during the days of Moses, God revealed to the Jews seven "festivals" or "feasts". The middle festival on the Jewish Calendar was referred to by various names: "Shavu'ot", "Feast of Weeks", and of course "Pentecost". As you will see in a moment, Pentecost has great significance for the Christian in understanding the wider scope of redemption revealed in the Bible.
Nine Reasons Why Pentecost Is Important
Below I am going to list reasons why Pentecost is so important for Christian's as we see in both the Old and New Testament Scriptures.
1. Pentecost's Purpose: Harvest
It was to occur 50 days after the bringing forth of the first fruit of the barley harvest, the day which would become Jesus' resurrection of the dead. The Jews had two harvest seasons: spring harvest for Barley and Summer Harvest for the Wheat crop. Among other images, wheat symbolizes the harvest of souls in salvation. (Matthew 3, 12 and 13) We know from Acts 2 that 3,000 souls were saved on the day the Holy Spirit came - a mighty harvest indeed! (Acts 2:41)
2. Priority of God's Word
The very first festival revealed to the Jews was that of Passover, commemorating God's deliverance of them out of Egypt. (Exodus 12-15) Fifty days after their crossing the Red Sea, God delivered the Law or Torah on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19-20. Through the centuries the Jews came to connect their celebration of that fiftieth day not only for the purpose of God's revealed festival of Pentecost, but also the revelation of His Law or Torah to them. A significant parallel connects the very first Pentecost with the one in Acts: namely at the time of the Law's revelation, 3,000 souls died (compare Exodus 32:28). However in the New Testament Pentecost in Acts 2, 3,000 souls were saved!
3. Prophecy is fulfilled
Peter preached on the day of Pentecost the explanation behind the Spirit's arrival. In Acts 2:17-21 Peter quotes verbatim Joel 2:28-31, a prophecy written almost 800 years before the events in Acts.
4. Promise fulfilled
Jesus had promised His disciples in John 14 and 16 that He would not leave them comfortless. Once He ascended in to Heaven, the promise was made that the Father and He would send the Holy Spirit in His name. Jesus kept His promise to both His disciples and us, thus another significant truth about Pentecost.
5. Person of the Holy Spirit
Let's not forget of course the chief purpose and goal of Pentecost: The coming of the Holy Spirit as a Permanent and Abiding Person in Christ's church Who is at work in this world. He is God the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity. In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit worked on the outside and would come upon people at periodic times. In this New Covenant age, the Holy Spirit works from the inside-out in Christians and is the Permanent Resident of the church and individual saints (1 Corinthians 2:12; 3:6). In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit pointed saints forward to God's Promise of salvation yet to come. In this present age the Holy Spirit since Pentecost points people back to the Person of salvation - Jesus Christ, and by the scriptures explains and applies Christ's finished work to all who convicted by Him believes.
6. Proof that Jesus raised from the dead and is Ascended
Pentecost, as John Piper notes, is the reason we know anything about Easter. The fact that the Holy Spirit came is proof that Jesus did indeed raise from the dead and that He made it to heaven to be at the Father's right hand. Pentecost and it's outcome is proof positive that Christ is ascended and that the Gospel is undoubtedly true.
7. Preview of things to come
The seventh significant purpose or reason for Pentecost in the scripture lies in the fact that the Spirit came to give His people a preview. Throughout the 224 prophecies that pertain to Christ's return and the coming Kingdom, we are told about a New Heavens and new Earth where there will be no curse. In Acts 2, we see evidence of God reversing, on a local level, the curse of the languages He pronounced originally in Genesis 11:1-10 at Babel.
Throughout Acts 10 and 19, this miracle would be repeated. Pentecost tongues was a miracle insofar as 17 different language groups got to hear the Gospel all at once from men who had never been trained in them.1
For a brief span of hours, the Spirit so gifted the Apostles to share Christ with nationalities gathered at Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. Another curse that was reversed and gave a foretaste of things to come is the fact that the Spirit returned to the Lord's temple. Ezekiel the Prophet saw the Spirit of God leave the temple in Ezekiel 9-10. However the Spirit came back to inhabit a new temple of flesh and blood, the church.
We know that when Christ comes back, Israel will be restored and she will be indwelt by the Spirit of God. (Zechariah 12-14; Romans 11:25-26) Previews such as these are granted to us as a result of Pentecost.
8. Person of Christ
Jesus Christ in His pre-Pentecost state concerning His humanity was limited to being in one place and at one time. Whenever the Spirit came, though Christ was in Heaven, still retaining a glorified humanity, yet by His Divine nature shared together with the Spirit, we can on an experiential level be ministered to by Jesus through the Holy Spirit.
To illustrate, I can watch and experience events half-way around the world by way of television. Though those events and people are localized from the origin of the signal, yet by way of the signal beamed to my satellite dish, I can experience them. Likewise the Holy Spirit, sharing in the same Divine nature with the Divine Son of God, brings the Person of Christ to us, Who touching His humanity is localized in Heaven at the Father's right hand. This post-Pentecost Jesus is thus able to minister globally and universally to each of his people by the Holy Spirit's ministry.
9. Partition between Old and New Testaments
When did the Old Testament or Covenant come to an end, and when did the New Testament era or Covenant begin? Acts 2 is the international dateline of the Bible. Though from a literary standpoint our New Testaments begin at Matthew, yet from a chronological standpoint, Pentecost in Acts 2 is the official beginning of the church age. Now mind you, it would take 30 years on either side of Pentecost before the transition from Old to New Covenant was complete. Jesus' entry into time by His virgin birth 30 years before Pentecost signaled the beginning of the end of the Old Testament economy. Likewise by the end of Acts 2, some 30 years after Pentecost, the New Testament church age was well underway and in full swing.
Closing thoughts:
May you dear friend have a wonderful Lord's day and remember: fifty days after Easter is Pentecost Sunday. My hope is that through these thoughts from scripture, we can gain an ever richer view of all the Lord has done for us by the sending of His Holy Spirit, Who points us to Jesus.
Endnotes________________________
1. I don't believe the gift of tongues spoken of in the Bible has anything to do with a private prayer language or ecstatic utterance. Rather the gift of tongues was given at Pentecost for the purpose of evangelizing people groups whose language had not been previously learned, rather than for private edification.
I have some dear friends who will advocate the prayer language position from passages such as 1 Corinthians 12 and 14. However the context of those two chapters actually undercuts the private prayer language position, since the Apostle Paul is urging his readers to seek the greater gifts that will "edify the body".
Oftentimes, modern tongue speakers will claim that their abilities bring personal edification, an outcome that is opposite of what Paul was teaching in the Corinthian letters. Whatever may be claimed about the modern day phenomenon called tongues, I don't personally think the phenomena called "tongues" matches the gift of tongues recorded here in the New Testament.
Isaiah 44:6-9 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
‘I am the first and I am the last,
And there is no God besides Me.
7 ‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming And the events that are going to take place. 8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’”
Introduction:
The last few posts have been dedicated to unpacking the Biblical, theological and life-practical applications of God's necessary existence. God's necessary existence describes in what way God exists. To be a necessarily existing being means that it is impossible for such a being not to exist. The closest illustrations we may have of necessarily existing things are ententies such as numbers, laws of logic and moral standards. Such things might exist in God's mind as part of His Divine character. All other beings and things in our universe exist contingently, meaning that their existence is based upon something or someone outside of themselves. A contingent being or thing could had been different or could not had existed at all; whereas with God, He cannot be different than what He already is and as already noted, He must exist. For further reflection on these ideas, I invite the reader to review back through the last couple of postings.
In today's post I want to close out our series on God's necessary existence by seeing how this truth of God factors into how one does Christian apologetics and evangelism. Christian apologetics refers to the defense and communication of the Christian faith to opponents and curious questioners. With respect to evangelism, apologetics functions as a plow in turning-up the evangelistic soil so that the evangelistic endeavor can plant the seeds of the Gospel. God's necessary existence has factored into one of the most profound arguments for His existence ever devised.
Why is there something rather than nothing? Introducing the Theistic Argument from God's Necessity
The seventeenth century genius G.W. Leibnitz raised a question that represents one of the oldest question in the history of human thought: "why is there something rather than nothing?" In raising this question, Leibnitz crafted the following argument that serves to explain the type of cause behind the existence of the universe:
Premise #1: Anything that exists is an explanation for its existence whether by necessity of its nature or external cause.
Premise #2: The universe has an explanation for its existence, which is God
Premise #3: The universe exists
Premise #4: Therefore the universe has an explanation for its existence
Premise #5: Therefore, the explanation for the universe’s existence is God
Thankfully there is a video available online that visualizes and explains this argument here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPCzEP0oD7I&t=6s
Considering some questions about this argument and possible responses raised by critics
Now when we look over this argument, some questions might be raised which can in turn be given satisfactory responses.
1. Why is the first premise not susceptible to the objection that some truths may have no explanation for their truth?
To say that the universe is all there is begs the question: Why does the universe exist? As the first premise states, anything that exists has an explanation for its existence, whether it is necessary or contingent (that is, dependent on something or someone outside of itself).
2. Explain why the typical atheist is himself committed to the truth of the second premise.
Premise #2 is logically equivalent to the Atheistic assertion that: if the universe has an explanation for its existence, then atheism is not true, and thus theism is true.
3. Why is the second premise quite plausible in its own right?
The cause must be greater than the effect, and other than its effect. Hence, A timeless, spaceless, non-physical mind that is eternal and necessary chose to create a time-bound, space-time reality that is physical, non-animate and contingent.
4. What response can be made to someone who claims that perhaps the universe exists by a necessity of its own nature?
A necessarily existing object cannot be differently configured or exist otherwise than what it is. A contingent object could be otherwise than what it is. Our universe could be different, since the constants for instance operate regardless of the universe’s physical properties. Hence the universe cannot be necessarily existing.
Why is this argument important for Christian apologetics and evangelism?
The argument from God's necessary existence does something that no other theistic argument can do: provide an explanation for why the particular cause of the universe must be a necessarily existing, all-powerful, timeless, spaceless, un-embodied mind (i.e God). This argument also explains why the universe cannot be eternal or necessary, but instead finite and contingent or dependent upon God for its existence. The eternality of the universe or even other proposed scenarios for the cause of the universe, such as the so-called "multiverse" or the universe simply being its own cause are shown quite implausible, since none of those causes are "necessarily existing causes".
Closing thoughts:
I know these notions can get us deep in the weeds, but they are worth considering, since in our apologetics and evangelism, we are proclaiming the One true living God worthy of worship who has been decisively revealed through Jesus Christ. Consequently, Jesus himself as God in human flesh is the One Person who both exists necessarily by virtue of His deity (Colossians 1:13-16; Hebrews 1:1-14; 13:8) and contingently by virtue of His humanity (Matthew 1:21; Luke 1:35; Philippians 2:5-11; Hebrews 2:18). As a final thought, I would encourage readers to visit the website: reasonablefaith.org and check out the apologetic resources that explain further what we have looked at this post.
Romans 11:36 "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen."
Introduction:
Over the last couple of posts, we have been exploring the notion of God's necessary existence. We aim today to put some Bible underneath all that has been said in the last couple of posts. James Pedigru Boice was a major Baptist theologian of the 19th century who wrote an influential theological volume used to train pastors called: "Abstract Of Systematic Theology". What Boice has to say about God's necessary existence is understandable and profound:
"How do we know that God must be such, if there is a God? In whatever way we know this, we know at least that much of God that he must be the Absolute, the Infinite, the Unconditioned. Even before we are supposed to know that he exists, therefore, we know this much of the nature which must be his, and upon the first evidence of his existence have the right to attribute to him all that is therein contained. The characteristics thus ascribed to him, reveal him, therefore, to us, as an infinite existence, without other limitations than are found in his own nature, or essence, who, as Absolute, cannot be dependent, but must be the source and Sovereign of all else."
Coming to a better understanding of God's Necessary Existence: Key Biblical Texts
Whenever we speak of God "necessarily existing", we are referring to the fact the God in and of Himself exists without any outside help, aid or supplement. God is God with or without the universe, planets and people. Theologian Wayne Grudem summarizes God's Necessary Existence on page 162 of his "Systematic Theology":
It is not just that we exist and God has always existed; it is also that God necessarily exists in an infinitely, better, stronger and ore excellent way."
Grudem then concludes his discussion on God's necessary existence:
"All else can pass away in an instant; he necessarily exists forever".
God's necessary existence means that He must exist and thus, "cannot not exist". A tree can or cannot exist. The universe can or cannot exist. However, God, by definition, cannot fail to exist since in order for anything to begin to exist, He must exist. Some important scriptures remind us of this fundamental truth of God as necessarily existing:
1. Psalm 90:2 states - "Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and the world, from eternity to eternity, You are God."
2. The Apostle Paul contrasts the pagan deities worshiped by the Greek and Roman philosophers of his day to the God of Biblical revelation in Acts 17:24-26 "The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation."
3. Concerning the Divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ as the pre-existing "Word", the apostle John presents Him as sharing in the necessary existence of deity with the Father, as seen in John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
4. Romans 11:36 plainly states on this subject of God's necessary existence: "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." Apart from God, nothing would exist nor could anything be sustained.
As mentioned earlier in this post, other key texts, such as Psalm 102, Hebrews 1:4-13 and other passages assert this unique quality of God's existence as that of necessary existence.
Closing thoughts and applications:
If God did not exist, we would not exist. God's necessary existence is as much an applicable truth as it is a rich truth for our meditation. By nature, God's necessary existence implies He being the standard for objective or universal moral values and duties. If God did not exist, we would have no standards of "right" and "wrong". Ethical decision making would not be possible and we would not be around to make such decision if God's existence was "contingent" or "dependent" on something outside of Himself. If God did not exist, there would be no salvation. Think about it, the New Testament's insistence upon Jesus possessing this Divine quality of necessary existence means He is God revealed in human flesh. Unless the Son of God necessarily existed with respect to His divine nature, then salvation would not be possible. Such reflections and applications ought to cause us to praise God for the fact that He necessarily exists. This quality is what sets God apart from everything else and worthy of our worship.
Psalm 8:1-4 "O Lord, our Lord,
How majestic is Your name in all the earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! 2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength because of Your adversaries, to make the enemy and the revengeful cease. 3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?"
Introduction:
In the last post we introduced the reader to the concept of God's necessary existence. The Bible affirms God's necessary existence in general without hardly going into exquisit detail. God's eternality, omnipotence, omniscience and so forth sets Him apart from all other fraudulent conceptions of other deities in all other religions. In these series of posts, we are affirming the fact that not only does the God of the Bible exists, but that He exists necessarily. This idea of "necessary existence" means that it is impossible for God not to exist, since without Him we would have no universe, no morality, no meaning and no life! As we noted already, the Bible does not go into fine detail as to how God necessarily exists. Nevertheless, we often find God contrasted with His creation and human beings, going the route of affirming what God "is-not" (for example, God is "not-finite" but "infinite" - Psalm 147:5). In today's post we are going to contrast human beings and creation with God to hopefully bring further clarity to this idea of His necessary existence.
Contrasting Our Existence To God's Necessary Existence
As noted earlier, when we attempt to meditate on God's being and nature, we consider what God is not or by way of negation (called by theologians "via negativa" or "by way of negation"). By noting our particular situation and state of existence, we can contrast what is not the case with God in order to grasp what can be said about Him. A quick example of what I'm referring to is when we speak of God as being of an "infinite" nature. Unlike all other things and people - which are finite or inscribed within the limitations of creaturely existence (i.e "finite"), God by nature, revelation in the scriptures (see Psalm 147:5) and by definition is not finite - hence, "infinite".
Whatever we have left over from stating what God "is not", we can then discuss what God "is" by way of revelation, then by reason and finally by reflection.
Whenever we think a little bit about our own existence, a simple question can be raised: "could I had been born with different color hair, have a different height or have other different qualities?" The short answer to this question would be: "yes". Another question we could ask about our own existence would be: "is it necessary for me to exist in order for the world to carry-on as it always has? The short answer to this second question would be: "no". We may not like to think about it, but it is not necessary for us to exist in order for the world and the universe to continue on in this present moment and into the future. History could had been otherwise with or without us.
As human beings, when we speak of our reliance upon things outside of ourselves to maintain our existence or the fact we could had been different than what we are at this moment, we are referring to what thinkers call: "contingency".
This fundamental property of "contingency" is shared by all created entities: from planets to people, from galaxies to germs. Anything that is "contingent" is described as having been at one point not in existence (i.e having a beginning and thus a cause for its existence) and relying upon things outside of itself.
It is also possible for us to have different qualities and properties than what we actually have, since as human beings, we are subject to changes both internally and externally. Even though we as human beings are alive, we still require other factors to sustain our existence: air, food, a suitable environment, a planet, a solar system that supports a suitable cosmic environment for our planet to continue its orbit, a main-sequence star that adequately warms our planet and so-forth. Such reflection on our "contingent" existence helps us to see the opposite type of existence that God alone possesses: namely, "necessary existence".
Closing thoughts
Today we introduced the reader to a second important concept that describes the way in which we exist, the universe exists and all-other created things exist - namely, contingency. A contingent being does not have to exist and could had been different. Contingent beings and things require a necessary being or cause to originate them and to sustain them. Reflections such as these will aid us as we further pursue understanding God's necessary existence. In the next post, we will consider some key Biblical texts that affirm this vital truth of God's necessary existence.
Exodus 3:14 "God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Introduction:
A child learns from an early age to depend on their parents. Everything that the child needs derives from either the parents or other people. Even when children grow into adulthood, though many people would like to think they are "on their own", no man is ultimately an island unto themselves. The trait of "self-sufficiency" can only be applied to one being - God Himself. As we begin reflecting on God's existence, I'd like us to think about the manner in which God exists. Over the course of today's post and perhaps the next couple of postings, we are going to look at a feature of God's existence that is unique to Him: namely, God's necessary existence.
God's Necessary Existence
To begin our thinking about this topic, let's ask ourselves the following question: "if God did not exist, would it matter?" How one answers this question gets to the heart of this important topic of God's necessary existence. In this post, we will contend that God's existence as a necessary being means that He must exist. The important ramifications and further reflections on this truth will be fleshed out below.
The Bible Asserts God's Necessary Existence
Exodus 3:14 records God's self-revelation of His name, nature and character as the God of Israel and thus the God of creation and redemption. By asserting Himself with the Hebrew verb translated: "to be", God is proclaiming His uniqueness as the self-existing God responsible for the existence and sustaining of everything else in the created order (see Genesis 1:1; Psalm 33:6; 102; Isaiah 43:10-11; Romans 11:36; Hebrews 1:4-13). Theologian J.I. Packer notes the following about God's necessary existence in his book: "Concise Theology":
"Children sometimes ask, “Who made God?” The clearest answer is that God never needed to be made, because he was always there. He exists in a different way from us: we, his creatures, exist in a dependent, derived, finite, fragile way, but our Maker exists in an eternal, self-sustaining, necessary way—necessary, that is, in the sense that God does not have it in him to go out of existence."
Author, philosopher and theologian Norman Geisler discusses the necessary existence of God in terms of answering the question: "who made God?" in the book: "Who made God? And Answers To Over 100 Other Tough Questions To Faith", page 23, with the following response:
"Who made God? No one did. He was not made. He has always existed. Only things that had a beginning-like the world-need a maker. God had no beginning, so God did not need to be made."
Closing Thoughts
Today I wanted to introduce the reader to this important concept of God's existence, namely, that God exists necessarily. We noted that it is impossible for God not to exist, since without God, there would be no universe nor any other set of objective standards (such a morality, logic and so forth). My aim in the next post will be to flesh this out further by contrasting God's necessary existence to our own.
1 Timothy 4:13-16 "Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you."
Introduction:
Over the last few posts, we have explored key attributes or characteristics of the Bible. In what author Kevin DeYoung suggests, the following acrostic "S.C.A.N" captures the four main attributes of our study: sufficiency, clarity, authority and necessity. My hope is that this short study has introduced you to some rich concepts and has helped you to have a higher regard for the precious Book of God.
We have looked thus far at three attributes of scripture: Sufficiency, Clarity and Authority. The final attribute of scripture we will consider is that of its necessity.
Gaining A Better Understanding Of The Bible's Necessity
Whenever one goes to purchase a car, there is “standard” equipment and then “options”. Pinstripes, chrome and a certain type of feature in the car’s audio doesn’t make the car go faster or go period. However, if the car didn’t come with tires, a motor and a transmission, then one would not have a working automobile! Such standard equipment is “necessary” for the car to operate.
For many of us who are Christ-followers, we surely ought to know from this study that the Bible is “necessary” for the Christian’s life’s beginning and continuance. Yet, how often do we treat the Bible as an “option” rather than as “standard equipment”?
Author Kevin DeYoung describes the necessity of scripture as follows:
“We need the revelation of God to know God, and the only sure, saving, final, perfect revelation of God is found in scripture.”
Imagine what would happen if the Bible had never been revealed? People would never know about the Gospel, how to get to Heaven, anything about Jesus, the meaning of life and the specifics about the God that created this world and all it contains. Centuries ago it was said that science explains how the heavens go, whilst the Bible explains how to get to heaven. The Bible is necessary for understanding this life. The Holy Spirit converts the souls of sinners who respond by faith through the Bible being taught, preached or explained (1 Peter 1:23; James 1:18). We could go on, but it ought to be patently clear that the Bible’s sufficiency, clarity and authority leads to this final attribute of its necessity.
Closing thoughts and applications
As we close out this study, I want to leave the reader with life-practical points that demonstrate the necessity of scripture and by implication, include the other three attributes of scripture expressed in this study. The Bible’s sufficiency, clarity and authority are needed to:
1. Battle sin. Psalm 119:9-11
2. Live for God. Joshua 1:8; 24:15; Psalm 1:1-2; 2 Timothy 3:17
3. Think clearly. Hebrews 4:12
4. Believe rightly. 1 Corinthians 2:10-13
5. To do church correctly. 1 Timothy 4:13-16
6. To preach effectively. 2 Tim. 4:1-5
7. Share the Gospel. Romans 10:8-17
Sources Cited In The Last Four Postings
Baptist Faith & Message 2000. Available at: http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfm2000.asp
DeYoung, Kevin. Taking God At His Word: Why The Bible Is Knowable, Necessary, and Enough, And What It Means For You And Me. Crossway. 2014
Grudem, Wayne. Systematic Theology. Zondervan. 1994
Ryrie, Charles. "The Importance Of Inerrancy". Biblotheca Sacra. Volume 120. Page 137ff
2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work."
Introduction:
We've noted in the last two posts how the four main attributes of scripture (sufficiency, clarity, authority and necessity) rise and fall together. To state it another way: one cannot assert the sufficiency of scripture and yet deny its clarity, authority and necessity. When we affirm one of these qualities, we affirm all of them. In today's post we want to consider the Bible's authority.
A Brief Exposition On The Bible's Authority
We’ve looked at the Bible’s sufficiency and clarity, but what about its authority? Author Wayne Grudem gives the following definition of “authority”:
“The authority of scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of scripture is to disobey God.”
Kevin DeYoung, in his book: “Taking God At His Word” uses the term: “final word” on page 78 to designate the role of scripture in his chapter on the Bible being the final authority.
When we designate the Bible is our final authority, are we excluding all other forms of authority (such as pastors, church congregations, science, government, etc)? not at all! All other authorities are important and function to provide guidance, protection and accountability. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 notes about the Bible’s authority:
“the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.”
When we talk of the Bible's authority, two very important doctrines must be mention: inerrancy and infallbility. Biblical inerrancy is another way of saying that the Bible is "totally true" in all it says, containing not one error in its words as originally given. The latter term "infallibility" refers to how the scriptures are never wrong, or, put another way: "always lead to a correct knowledge and understanding of God and everything else. The late theologian Dr. Charles Ryrie comments on this link in his article: "The Importance Of Inerrancy", in volume 120 of Bibliotheca Sacra:
"Both the authority of Christ and the authority of the Scriptures depend on the inerrancy of the Scriptures, for statements that are not completely true cannot be absolutely authoritative. Furthermore, parts of the Bible cannot be true and thus authoritative while other parts are not. It is not a book that is authoritative only in matters of “faith and practice.”
What Jesus Said About Biblical Authority
The best Person to look to in understanding the Bible’s authority is none other than Jesus Himself. In almost 30 spots in the four Gospels, we find Jesus using the phrase “it is written” in His quotations of the Old Testament. This little phrase was distinctly used by Jesus to highlight the Old Testament as God’s words in contrast to when He referenced the Jewish teachers, wherein He would say: “you have heard it said”. One of the names we use for the Bible, “scripture”, which derives from a Latin term “scriptura” meaning “that which is written” and undoubtedly reflects the attitude Jesus had toward the Bible being God’s written, authoritative revelation to us.
Closing thoughts:
The Bible’s authority is unique authority, in that it alone has sway over the conscience and it alone is the final court of appeals when it comes to weighing not only matters of life but also in getting ready for the life to come. Some great scriptures that unfold further the meaning of the Bible’s authority are: Matthew 5:18; 24:35; Luke 16:17; Psalm 119:89,160; Isaiah 40:8; 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and 2 Peter 1:3-4.
Psalm 19:7-8 "The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes."
Introduction:
In yesterday's post we briefly considered the sufficiency of the Bible for everyday life, spiritual life and the life to come. We meditated upon this important trait or attribute of the Bible, noting that it occupies four main attributes expounded by various Bible teachers: sufficiency, clarity, authority and necessity. In today's post we want to consider the second of these important attributes, namely the Bible's clarity.
Clarity of the Bible
The clarity of the Bible is perhaps the most attacked attribute of scripture in the 21st century. Skeptics often will accuse the Old Testament of portraying a mean, vengeful God and the New Testament presenting the God of love. Such accusations make the Bible out to be a fragmented book that is unclear when it comes to presenting the full-treatment of God's revelation.
A quick caveat from church history will reveal that indictments about the Bible's inconsistency and lack of clarity are not new. In the second century we find similar accusations from a heretic named “Marcion” who rejected all of the Bible except portions of Luke and some of Paul’s letters. Is the Bible unclear and fragmented in its revelation of God? Not at all! In addition to the Bible’s sufficiency, we must also affirm its clarity or by the older term used by some: “perspicuity”, to grasp why such attacks are unwarranted. Author Kevin DeYoung offers the following definition:
“the perspicuity of Scripture upholds the notion that ordinary people using ordinary means can accurately understand enough of what must be known, believed and observed for them to be faithful Christians.”
Does clarity lead us to conclude that every verse of scripture is going to be easy to understand? No. We must compare harder to understand portions to those portions of scripture that speak more clearly. The Apostle Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:16 of how some of Paul’s letters were hard to understand and yet Peter affirmed that one’s Christian understanding could be clearly enlightened by the “great and precious promises” of the Bible in 2 Peter 1:3-4.
Closing thoughts:
Thankfully, the Christian is not left to their own devices to figure out the meaning of the Bible. The Holy Spirit has been sent to aid, guide and instruct our hearts and minds as we read and study the scriptures through His ministry called “illumination” (see 1 Corinthians 2:10-13; 1 John 2:20,27). Great passages that speak further on this attribute of clarity are: Psalm 19:7-8; Habakkuk 2:2; Psalm 119:104; Psalm 119:89,160; Isaiah 40:8; Proverbs 6:23; John 16:12-14; 1 Corinthians 2:13 and 1 John 2:20,27.
