Some thoughts on God's omnipotence

Romans 11:36 "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen."

Introduction:
The last couple of posts have introduced the reader to God's attributes of omniscience and omnipresence. In those introductions we have also taken time to consider what we mean when we speak of God's attributes. It must be underscored once again that God is the sum of all His attributes. In saying such a thing, if I speak for instance of God being omniscient, I necessarily assume and include His other equally infinite characteristics. In other words, within the "ray" if you will of God's omniscience I also glimpse shining forth within and from His essence His other qualities. 

Such attributes function as His energies that lead the worshiper to know of but to never comprehend God in His essence. Although this blogger doesn't subscribe to everything taught within the branch of Christendom known as the "Eastern Orthodox" church, yet there are nuggets that one can find in their writings. The contemporary Eastern Orthodox theologian, Bishop Kallistos Ware, writes concerning God's essence and energies: "By the essence of God is meant His otherness, by the energies His nearness. Because God is mystery beyond our understanding, we shall never know His essence or inner being, either in this life or the age to come. If we knew the Divine essence, it would follow that we knew God in the same way as He knows himself; and this we cannot never do, since He is Creator and we are created. But, while God's inner essence is forever beyond our comprehension, his energies, grace, life and power fill the whole universe, and are directly accessible to us." Certain scriptural passages bear out the truth spoken of by the Bishop (Jude 1:24-25)

Indeed to know God and yet not comprehend Him in all His fullness of Being or essence sets the inaccessible boundary of distinction between God and His creation. Thankfully, scripture reveals that such a boundary, though ever distinguishing God from us, nonetheless was crossed by God in the Person of the Son by way of His incarnation. If God had not come in the Person of Jesus, then in one respect, we would know God only by His energies mentioned above. For the Christian, God is truly known by the incarnation of the Son in Jesus of Nazareth. 

God is not some remote object that would leave us at best in some sort of odd agnosticism, whereby we would know there is a God and yet could never say whether or not we can ever know anything about Him. Yet, as Bishop Ware notes in his same book: "Jesus Christ is our window into the Divine realm, showing us what God is. "No one has ever seen God; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has made Him known to us." 

Today's post aims to introduce the reader to the third major attribute of God mentioned in Psalm 139: God's omnipotence.

God is Omnipotent. Psalm 139:13-16

In the nature of the consistent portrait of God revealed in the Bible, we find that in talking about the plurality of His identity, we once again are brought back to the oneness of His being. All the pronouns for "you" in these verses are singular, demonstrating that the Psalmist here is talking about One God. This One God is all powerful (also called "Omnipotent"). God in His omnipotence has the ability to penetrate time, space and to orchestrate all things. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit share this ability equally and without division.

A.W Tozer in his seminal book: "The Knowledge of the Holy" writes concerning God's omnipotence: "Sovereignty and omnipotence must go together. Once cannot exist without the other. To reign, God must have power, and to reign sovereignly, He must have all power. And that is what omnipotence means, having all power." 

As we consider God's omnipotence spelled out in Psalm 139:13-16, we can note the following:

a. God demonstrates His omnipotence in the realm of life. Psalm 139:13-16a.
The mystery of life's origin demands a supernatural, rather than a natural origin. Only an omnipotent Creator could act in and through the secondary means of human reproduction to ignite human conscience, intelligence and personality. God's omnipotence also extends down into the atomic and sub-atomic realms (Colossians 1:13-16). The interactions between sub-atomic particles and the complex quantum mechanical laws and equations to explain such phenomena testify to the far-reaching power of Almighty God. God's omnipotence reaches the mid-sized created realm of human beings as well as the sub-atomic realm of the very small. 

b. God's omnipotence extends over the vast stretches of the universe and history. Psalm 139:16b
The Psalmist writes in Psalm 139:16b 
"And in Your book were all writtenThe days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them." God's omnipotence extends over the vast stretches of the cosmos. Time and space itself lie under His Providence. To govern time is to govern space and henceforth all that lies within the universe, humanity, life and all things. God and God alone wields such influence. For the Psalmist to acknowledge God's omniscience with respect to His knowledge of the future is to acknowledge His omnipotence and omnipresence as well. The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 notes: "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."  

Closing thoughts
In bringing the true practical meaning of this attribute home to the Christian, Tozer writes: "Omnipotence is not a name given to the sum of all power, but an attribute of a personal God whom we Christians believe to be the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and of all who believe on Him to eternal life. The worshiping man finds this knowledge as source of wonderful strength for his inner life. His faith rises to take the great leap upward into the fellowship of Him who can do whatever He wills to do, for whom nothing is hard or difficult because He possesses power absolute." God's omnipotence is only bounded by God's nature. We must recall that God cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:18) nor be wrong (John 17:17) nor ever be unfaithful to His people (Hebrews 13:5), which is why on pains of His nature we assert the infallibility and inerrancy of the scriptures as He originally revealed. Nothing in the created realm limits God. He and He alone is God. Let us then worship Him today that is the One, omnipotent Creator, Redeemer and Ruler of the universe. 

Focusing a little bit more on God's attributes and His omnipresence

Psalm 139:7-12 Where can I go from Your Spirit?Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, 10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You."Introduction
Yesterday we considered some introductory thoughts to God's omniscience. We also considered what we mean when we speak of God's attributes. An attribute, as we saw from G.W.T Shedd in his systematic theology, refers to the activity and function of God's very essence or being. To bring a little more clarity to our understanding of attributes, the Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, page 492, speaks of attributes and their relationship to any object or person as: "essential qualities that belong or inhere in it." If our understanding runs short in grasping what we mean when we talk of God's attributes, the analogy of the sun to its rays may aid in picturing this relationship. God cannot be God without His attributes. God's attributes or characteristics are what He is. 

Oftentimes theologians will distinguish God's absolute or eternal attributes (omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence) from what are His moral attributes (holiness, justice, goodness). Another distinction that if often-times made has to do in how we know God in His relationship to us. There are those attributes of God that totally place Him in a category all by Himself. Those attributes (like omniscience, self-sufficiency) are unique to God and thus are "incommunicable". Other attributes which describe us in measure and God in full measure are what we call "communicable attributes". 

Now why this discussion on attributes? Because in Psalm 139 we see God and all of His major attributes on display. We looked yesterday at God's omniscience. Today we want to consider, in an introductory sense, God's omnipresence or the fact that He is everywhere present. It is hoped that our discussion of attributes will aid us in the chief point of these posts - namely in focusing our attention on the greatness of God. 

God is everywhere or omnispresent. Psalm 139:7-12

God is without a doubt One God. Here in Psalm 139:7-12 we are given insight into the fact that God in regards to identity is not just One Person but Three Persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). In other words, God is "One what and three who's). The Person called here in Psalm 139 "God" (the New Testament uniformly refers to this First Person as "The Father") is distinct from a Personage called in Psalm 139:7 "Your Spirit".  The truth of God's plural identity is likened unto a faint outline in the Old Testament and presented in full vivid color in the New Testament. 

Why bring up the Trinity? because God's ability to be everywhere present (i.e omnipresence) requires the teaching of the Trinity to ensure we don't mix up the distinction the Bible holds between the Creator and His creation. The Father in Heaven is able to affect everything everywhere because He is sharing the same infinite nature with the Spirit Who represents His presence both in Heaven and on earth.

Psalm 139:7 has the Psalmist posing this question: "Where can I go from Your Spirit?Or where can I flee from Your presence?" The remainder of Psalm 139:8-12 then mentions supposed places that would be impossible to access - and yet are nothing for God. Whenever we think we are inaccessible, God is ever able to get to us. His presence permeates all of creation and yet He is distinct from it. As the Father in Heaven, the Spirit here on earth and the Son functioning as the Mediator between the Father and man, we find the totality of God within and truly expressed in and each of the Persons of the Trinity. 

Now why is this applicable to you and me? To know that God is omnipresent means I am never alone. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I may very well walk through dark seasons, yet God ever sees me as clearly as in those seasons where everything is smooth and light. Considering God's attributes and such qualities as His omnipresence causes us to rise above the smog of circumstances and to see them as He sees them. So much more could be said, however, let us for now just praise God for the fact He is omnipresent.

Some introductory thoughts about God's omniscience

Psalm 139:1-4 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. 3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

What kind of God God is

Today's post features one of the most magnificent Psalms in the Book of Psalms - Psalm 139. Psalm 139 depicts God as He is with respect to His very essence and being. Today's post is not about presenting a bunch of information. Instead, the goal is to show the reader from this Psalm what kind of God God is and to demonstrate what there is to know about God from this Psalm, so as to affect transformation and thus exaltation. 

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 contains the following descriptions of the being and essence of God: "God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. 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." 

God's essence and attributes: a quick introduction
When we see how God is "infinite in holiness and all other perfections", we are getting into the matter of what are called God's attributes. God's attributes speak to those characteristics and properties of God that define Him as God. William G.T Shedd, in the first volume of his Systematic Theology, defines an attribute as "modes either of the relation, or of the operation of the divine essence".  To illustrate, we can think of the rays of the sun as likened unto attributes, and the sun itself as an analogy of the essence of God. Just as one cannot look directly at the sun, one too cannot directly see nor experience the essence of God. However, the rays of the sun are expressions of the sun and by their energies, warmth, growth, life and such are witnessed. The rays of the sun constitute and are entailed in what we mean when we speak of the sun. God's attributes (by analogy), can be conceived of in the same manner. Older theologians sometimes speak of God's "essence" and "energies". 

So much more of course could be said on this topic of God and His attributes. However, we for now will restrict our discussion to what we find out about God in Psalm 139, particularly Psalm 139:1-6. Today we will consider God as the One Lord that knows everything (i.e omniscient). 

God knows everything. Psalm 139:1-6

As we mentioned before, God is the sum of all His attributes - with omniscience (God's eternal property of knowing all things) being the eternal energy that expresses His state of intelligence and cognition. The most wonderful thing about getting to know God is to find out that He knows me, through and through. Before I was ever born, God knew about me in His mind. Every person born into this world in a general sense is shown in scripture to have had a particular ordained time of birth and time of death. (Psalm 90; Hebrews 9:27) 

In a specific sense, God in His mind knew before hand every believer and saw them as already complete in Christ (Ephesians 1:1-4; Romans 8:29-31). Having in His omniscience seen every child of God in Christ in eternity, God decided to love them on the basis of His own decision to love them (Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Ephesians 1:4-5)! God's omniscience truly governs His decrees. By virtue of what God knows about the past, present and future - God so acts in accordance to what He knows and wills (Job 42:2; Daniel 4:35; Romans 11:33-36). As the BFM 2000 states: "His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures."

As the Psalmist says, there is more about God's knowledge that we do not comprehend than we do comprehend. (compare Romans 11:33-36). However, Biblical teachings on such truths reminds us to "let God be God" and "to keep silent on those areas wherein He does not speak" and "to worship Him Who knows all things." Within Psalm 139:1-6 we discover that God knows...

a. the words one will speak before they speak them

b. knows the internal ruminations of the heart.

c. knows how we would respond in situations and even in possible situations that may or may not occur

d. knows the future as well as the present

As the Psalmist rounds out his discussion on God's omniscience, He notes in Psalm 139:6 - "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;It is too high, I cannot attain to it." The Hebrew word translated "wonderful" speaks of something that is beyond one's grasp. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) translates this verse in the following manner: "This extraordinary knowledge is beyond me. It is lofty; I am unable to reach it."

As we raise our thoughts to God today - let's praise Him for His omniscience. 

Exploring a seven-fold description of God's nature

Isaiah 40:9 Get yourself up on a high mountain,O Zion, bearer of good news,
Lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!”

Introduction:

Today's post is going to focus attention upon the seven-fold description of God's nature as given in the Baptist Faith & Message 2000. From the onset it must be recognized that any knowledge we derive about God's essence and being must be checked against scripture. The Bible is the ultimate rule and standard of faith and practice. Doctrinal statements, confessions and historic Christian creed represent Christian reflection on the primary source documents of faith which are the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. 

The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 represents what one would find in other reliable doctrinal statements such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Apostles Creed and Nicene Creeds and other historic, conservative, Bible believing statements. Readers can access online the entire document of the BFM 2000 at www.sbc.net. Below I will lay out the second sentence contained in the BFM 2000 article on "God", followed by a brief exposition of the seven statements pertaining to God's nature. Relevant scriptures will  be included so as to round out the necessary Biblical foundation for each term.   

1. The BFM 2000 statement regarding God's nature

"He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe."

2. The seven-fold description of God's nature

-Intelligent. God is an immaterial mind that stands in causal relation to the universe (Genesis 1:1-2; Psalm 33:6; 1 Corinthians 8:6-7). God's intelligence covers all knowledge of true facts concerning the created order past, present and future (Psalm 139:1-6; 147:5; Romans 11:33-36). 

-Spiritual. God's very essence is that of immaterial, not material. Unlike paganism, which asserts a mixture of immateriality and materiality or Mormonism, which conceives of a host of greater and lesser material-like deities stretching back through eternity, the Bible alone asserts the complete immateriality or spirituality of God. Jesus asserted such in John 4:24. Imagery such as fire and wind are used to convey the fact that God is not material, but immaterial, not compose of parts. Hence, God as ultimate, ultimate reality is spiritual and intelligent.

-Personal. This third description of the Divine nature of God speaks to the fact that this One God is endowed with freedom of the will, intentionality, emotions and of course intellect. Both Isaiah (Isaiah 41:21-25) and the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 8:1-6) contrast the mute, impersonal, lifeless idols worshipped by fallen man with the Personal God of Divine revelation. With respect to God's Triune identity, it would be correct to say that God is truly "inter-personal", since as One essence expressed and lived out in, through and by the Three Persons of the Trinity: Father, Son and Spirit, God's Personality is underscored. Sometimes it is asked how an infinite being life God could produce a finite universe if He, being the infinite cause of all things, should had produced an infinite effect. The answer to this lies in God being Personal. As God possess His own will, He could choose in eternity when to bring about the universe and all of its contents (Ephesians 1:11). Scripture asserts that God as the Personal Being holds together what He has made (Daniel 4:35). Jesus Christ, as the incarnation and full-revelation of God, is ascribed the same description as it pertains to His deity (Colossians 1:13-16).

-Creator, Redeemer, Preserver and Ruler of the Universe

These last four descriptions really outline the plot-line of scripture with respect to God's dominating presence. We've seen how God is the Creator of all things. Genesis 1-2 details how God alone is the Creator of all things. As Redeemer, God came to Adam and Eve after their fall in Genesis 3. From Genesis 3-Revelation 22 we find out that God in the Persons of the Father, Son and Spirit had planned from all eternity to redeem fallen human beings who so touched and opened by His grace would believe, repent and be saved. God as Redeemer chose to create a world including the cross. 

As Preserver, God sustains the whole created order, history and humanity by act of His ongoing Providence. The Father sustains such by His will (Ephesians 1:11); the Son does so by the Word of His power in concert with the Father (Colossians 1:13-16) and the Spirit animates all things by His uncreated, life-giving power that He shares with the Father and the Spirit (Psalm 104). 

Then finally, as Ruler of the universe, this covers God's ruling activity from before creation through the specifics of the Kingship of Jesus Christ to what will be the bringing about of the New Heavens and Earth (Psalm 90; 1 Corinthians 15:23-28).

Closing thoughts

Today we only sketched what is undoubtedly the incomprehensible nature of God. It is hoped that this exploration of the seven-fold description given in the BFM 2000 will cause all of us to know God in a deeper and richer way. 

Some brief thoughts on Jesus' cleansing power - John 2:13-25

John 2:12-25 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; 16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house aplace of business.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?” 21 But He was speaking of the temple of His body. 22 So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. 23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, observing His signs which He was doing.24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

Introduction

Today's post features Jesus' cleansing of the temple at the beginning of his earthly ministry. Why is this episode included in John's Gospel? When we look at the wider context, this action follows on the heels of Jesus' miracle of turning water into wine at Cana (John 2:1-12). In that miracle, Jesus reveals Himself as the Mediator of the New Covenant. By Jesus' actions and words, the indicator was that the New Covenant age had dawned through His Person and work. The cleansing of the temple adds onto this emphasis by underscoring how Jesus had come to be the "New Temple". By His incarnation, Jesus was and is God in human flesh. He had come to bring cleansing, which the Old Covenant system could not do with respect to the conscience and the human heart (see Hebrews 9:11-15). 

Today's post presents an outline of the key points we find in Jesus casting out of the money changers in John 2:13-25. This blogger takes the historic route of interpretation that suggests that Jesus' had cleansed the temple at the beginning of his ministry and then at the end. Such bookends details for us how Jesus saw His relationship to His people and the system which He came to replace and thus fulfill.

As we consider this text, we can note how Jesus’ cleansing power can cleanse three things:

1. Cleanses away barriers to God. John 2:12-17

a. Jesus’ first cleansing of the temple gave time for repentance. Both in this cleansing and the second one recorded in the other three Gospels, we find the timing to be "near the Passover". As the Lamb of God, Jesus' actions was intentional in both instances, since He came to fulfill every festival and prophecy made about His first coming.

b. Jesus second cleansing of temple indicated time was up (Mt 21:1-17; Mk 11:15-17; Lk 19:45-47). Jesus had presented Himself as King of Israel, only to be rejected. His indictment on the temple and the cursing of the fig tree signaled that, at least for the time being, Israel would be temporarily set aside. Other scriptures indicate that the day will come when Jesus returns to restore Israel. The Old Covenant and its way of doing things was coming to a close. The New Covenant age through Jesus Christ was getting under way. These are among the rich meanings behind Jesus' actions, as well as getting us ready for what would be His pending crucifixion.

c. The alphabetic barriers that get between us and God: Apathy, Busyness, Carelessness, Distraction. Sadly, not only were these four things present in the temple precincts of Jesus' day, but all too often we find such in our churches and individual Christian lives. Jesus is the believers holiness, righteousness and sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30).

2. Cleanses away sin. John 2:18-22

a. Jesus begins and ends His earthly ministry by pointing to His mission: the cross/resurrection.

b. As we noted earlier, the two times we see Jesus cleansing the temple in the four Gospels function as bookends for highlighting how He saw Himself in relationship to the temple. In this first cleansing of John's Gospel, Jesus comes as the Servant of the Lord, the Lamb of God, cleaning out His Father's house. In the latter cleansing of the other three Gospels, Jesus comes as King to clean out His house.

3. Cleanses the human heart. John 2:23-25

a. Jesus knew hearts & could cleanse hearts, as only God could (1 Sam 16:7; Isaiah 1:18; Lk 16:15).

b. Jesus' words, actions and miracles combine together to provide a full profile of Him as the Son of God, God in human flesh.

Applications:

1. Jesus’ cleansing away of barriers and sin makes way for a clean heart to know Him better.

2. Notice how many times Jesus predicted His death/resurrection (Mt 12:39-40; 16:21; 17:9; 20:17-19; 26:61; 27:40; Mk 8:31; 10:32-34; Lk 9:22; John 2:18-22). Take each day this week to think about what Jesus did for you on the cross.

How can you know that the God of Christianity is true and real

John 17:3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

Introduction:

Author A.W Tozer has written books on the subject of knowing and experiencing God on a personal level. In his classic work “The pursuit of God”, he comments: “A spiritual kingdom lies all about us, enclosing us, embracing us, altogether within reach of our inner selves, waiting for us to recognize it. God Himself is here waiting our response to His presence. This eternal world will come alive to us the moment we begin to reckon upon this reality.”

Oftentimes in discussions with non-Christians throughout the years, the one question that would occasionally surface would be: "how do you know that what you believe is true?" I'm sure that if every Christian was honest, there have been those times in their life where such questions as "how do I know this is real" rise in the mind during times of great struggle. It is important for people to realize that the reality of the God of Christian theism counts as genuine knowledge. To put it another way: the God of the Bible, revealed in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth is both knowable and makes Himself known to those so touched and open to His grace. Today's post will aim to explain two ways you can know that the God of Christianity is true and real. 

We can know that the God of Christianity is real by way of the authenticating witness of the Holy Spirit

Apologist Dr. William Lane Craig distinguishes between "knowing" Christianity to be true and "showing" Christianity to be true. Today's post has to do with the first of these: namely "knowing". It has been suggested by great Christian thinkers like Alvin Platinga that knowing God counts as a form of what he calls "properly-basic" knowledge. Such knowledge is genuine knowledge of certain facts that has justification and good reasons behind it apart from argument and evidence. For example, one cannot "prove" that the external world exists outside of one's mind apart from appealing to the external world. 

Such knowledge is "properly basic" and thus, for the one who has healthy-functioning mental faculties, they are warranted in their belief that the external world is real. Other examples such as "knowledge of other minds" or knowledge that the food in my stomach and all reality around me had not popped into being five minutes ago with the appearance of age cannot be "proven" by science. Nevertheless, to say one would not be warranted in holding to such beliefs would be at best unreasonable. 

This blogger would suggest that personal knowledge of God counts among what would be a form of "properly basic knowledge". In other words, many Christians know God personally without and apart from the many theistic arguments and evidences for His existence.  Indeed, such a fact doesn't lessen the value of such arguments. Instead, we must realize that that the capability of knowing God personally functions as a first-line of warrant or "true knowledge" of God. All of ways of arriving at knowledge about God, such as arguments and evidences, function as secondary forms of warrant or grounds for knowing that we know that the God of Christianity is real. 

Scriptures that testify to the Holy Spirit's delivery of first-hand knowledge of God

Certain Biblical passages reveal how a Christian possesses true knowledge of God by the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit, bearing witness to the Gospel’s great truths (John 14:16-17; 16:8-12; Col 2:2; 1 Thess 1:5; 1 Cor 2:10-13; 1 John 2:20,27) and the Christian's own personal identity in Jesus Christ (Romans 5:5; 8:14-16; Galatians 4:6) delivers first-hand knowledge of God. The proper basicality of God’s existence is witnessed in both general revelation and special revelation.

Explaining what the self-authenticating witness of the Holy Spirit looks like in a person's life

So, what does this self-authenticating work of the Spirit look-like and act-like? How can it be described or compared to what often-times could be fraudulent experiences that claim to experience God in other religions (i.e the Mormon's "warming in the bosom")? Dr. William Lane Craig has described this self-authenticating work of the Holy Spirit in delivering true knowledge of God in the following manner:

1. The experience of the Holy Spirit is unmistakable or verifiable to the one who has it. Sin can quench such an experience, and continual exercise in spiritual disciplines such as prayer and Bible reading serve to heighten this awareness.

2. This authenticating witness of the Spirit occurs apart from arguments & evidence

3. This authenticating work does not function as a premise in a religious argument, since it is an immediate experience of God in the Christian's life.

4. In certain contexts (like church services), responses to certain truths indicate that the person is genuinely experiencing God by the Holy Spirit.

5. Such an experience of the Spirit's authenticating work provides personal assurance and genuine knowledge that the God of Christianity exists

6. Arguments and objections that attempt to overthrow the Christian's faith are overwhelmed by this authenticating witness of the Spirit for the Christian who gives themselves regularly to fellowship, prayer and the scriptures. 

Closing thoughts

We have considered today how you can know that the God of Christianity is true and real. Theistic arguments and evidences for God's existence, though valuable and useful in making the case for the Christian worldview, function in a secondary role for providing warrant or reasonable foundations for why we believe Christianity to be true. Such arguments serve to "show Christianity to be true". Today's post aimed to answer the question as to how one can know that the God of Christianity is real. We considered the self-authenticating ministry of the Holy Spirit to provide the first-line of warrant or justification for demonstrating how we "know-that-we-know" that God is real. Relevant scriptures and a six-point description of what such an experience looks like were provided. It is hoped that this post has sharpened our thinking and deepened our hearts in understanding how you and I can know God on a personal level. 

P2 - Why knowing God is the most important thing - further and final reflections

1 John 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

Introduction:
In yesterday's post we began considering why knowing God is the most important thing. We zeroed in on how knowing God answers the common purposes for both salvation and life in general. In reading the first three questions contained in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, each answer given highlights the priority of knowing God:

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?

A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.

Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

A. The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.


This series of questions and answers represent what truly lies at the heart of Christianity: namely the need to know God. As author J.I. Packer notes: "The question is not whether we are good at theology, or 'balanced' (horrible, self-conscious word!) in our approach to problems in Christian living; the question is....that we have known God; and because we have known God the unpleasantness we have had, or the pleasantness we have not had, though being Christians does not matter to us? If we really knew God, this is what we would be saying, and if we are not saying it, that is a sign we need to face ourselves more sharply with the difference between knowing God and merely knowing about Him."

Today's post will continue and conclude our reflections upon why knowing God is the most important thing in salvation and in life by noting this theme in both the Old and New Testament scriptures.

The emphasis of knowing God in the Old Testament
In the Old Testament, knowing God represented the center and circumference of spiritual life. Take Moses for example. It wasn't enough for him to just know about God or to observe Him from a distance. Natural knowledge can at best know about God. Morally religious people can marvel at the trappings of religion without marveling at the God which they represent. Do you and I want to know God? Or are we just satisfied to stand as it were from a distance? We see these contrasting stances in Exodus 33:10-15 "Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent.11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp,his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. 12 Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people!’ But You Yourself have not let me know whom You will send with me. Moreover, You have said, ‘I have known you by name, and you have also found favor in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then he said to Him, “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here."


The emphasis of knowing God in the New Testament
The New Testament speaks to this same fundamental truth. The Apostle Paul expresses the need to know God in Jesus Christ in Philippians 3:8-11 "More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead."

Conclusion: May we ever make it our aim to know God
As a Christian, I know my main aim is to know God. Yet there are times I waver in that conviction. Why? A.W Tozer notes in his book, The Pursuit of God , page 52: "But the very ransomed children of God themselves; why do they know so little of that habitual conscious communion with God which the scriptures seem to offer? The answer is our chronic unbelief. Faith enables our spiritual sense to function." Knowing God is all at once a growing reality for the Christian who at the same time must grow in his attendance to it by prayer, Bible reading and fellowship with God's people. May we make it our aim to know God and desire to know how we can desire more to know Him. God, and the knowledge of Him, defines the purpose of life and spiritual life found in Jesus Christ.