There is nothing that happens in the world that takes God by surprise. When our first parents rebelled against God by eating the fruit, God had a plan already in place to send Jesus to fix the resulting mess.
How many persons are in the one God?
The importance of a proper understanding of the trinity is highlighted when we think of love as a characteristic of God. Love implies an other to love. God did not create humanity because without us, he would not have been able to demonstrate love.
Is there more than one God?
Christianity believes (because the Bible declares) that there is only one God. And as we learned yesterday in Question 4, there are specific things to be believed about that one God as revealed in the Bible.
What is God?
But Jesus, on many occasions, showed them that they missed the point. Holiness is not attained through rule keeping. Holiness is more about heart and attitude than about external action. Rule keeping cannot change my heart. Legalism always results in failure. That is the bad news.
What does the Bible primarily teach?
The very real question I have to ask myself is whether I am willing to submit to what God has revealed to me. Am I willing to acknowledge him as creator and sustainer? Am I willing to be obedient to how he has revealed I should act?
The authority that God has given
Question 2 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What authority from God directs us how to glorify and enjoy Him?”
The Primary Purpose of Man
But the good news is that Jesus came to restore the relationship. And with the restoration of the relationship comes renewed purpose in life. For those who are in Christ, their primary purpose (even though we often forget it) is to bring glory to God, which was man’s purpose in the first place.
107 Days with the Westminster Divines
As part of ongoing training for the elders at my church, we have been reviewing the Westminster Confession of Faith along with the larger and shorter catechisms produced by the Westminster Divines. I have found the shorter catechism, in particular, very helpful as I study through (and try to memorize) the answers to the 107 […]
A great reminder about Bible reading
If I approach the text with humility and self-denial the result will be much different than if I approach it with a sense of superiority and judgment.