THE DOCTRINE OF GOD

The Doctrine of God consists of what the Bible tells us about God, to the exclusion of all opinion and conjecture. Through Scripture God has revealed Himself as our Creator, Redeemer, Sanctifier and Judge. Some of what He has revealed has to do with His nature, some with His attributes, but there is much more. The important thing to remember in learning what He has revealed is to stick to what God has said in His Word without twisting His words to make them fit our ideas.

GOD IS A SPIRIT

John 4:24  God is a Spirit: and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Luke 24:39  Look at my hands and my feet, and see that it is really me: handle me, and see; for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me have.

John 1:18  No man has seen God at any time; but the only begotten of God, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed him.

Genesis 18:1-3 And the LORD appeared to Abraham in the plains of Mamre: as he sat in the tent door during the heat of the day; And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself toward the ground, And said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, I pray you, do not pass by your servant:

[Comment: John 4:24 tells us that God is a Spirit. Luke 24:39 tells us that “a spirit” does not have “flesh and bones,” so we know that flesh and bones are not part of God’s nature. And, John 1:18 tells us that no man has seen God at any time. Therefore, when God appeared to Abraham, what Abraham saw was not God Himself, but a visual form that God chose to use. Because the Bible does not explain that appearance, we should never add to Scripture by making up explanations, or interpret any part of it to contradict the first three passages that I quoted, or any other passage of Scripture.]

GOD IS OUR CREATOR

Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything that is in them, and rested on the seventh day:

GOD IS OUR REDEEMER

Psalm 78:35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the most high God was their redeemer.

Isaiah 48:17 The LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, says; I am the LORD your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way that you should go.

GOD IS OUR SANCTIFIER

Philippians 2:13 It is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Galatians 5:16-17 Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.  For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and they are opposed to each other: so that you cannot do the things that you would.

GOD IS ETERNAL

Psalm 90:1-2 Lord, you have been our refuge in every generation. Before you brought the mountains into existence, or formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

GOD IS PRESENT EVERYWHERE

Jeremiah 23:24 Can anyone hide himself in a secret place where I will not see him? asks the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? asks the LORD.

Psalm 139: 7-13 Where can I go to escape your spirit? or where can I flee to escape your presence? If I go up into heaven, you are there: if I make the grave my bed, behold, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and stay at the most distant parts of the sea; Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness will hide me; and the light around me will become night. Even the dark does not hide things from you; but the night shines as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to you. For you have created my inner being: you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

GOD IS HOLY

Leviticus 19:2 Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy.

1Peter 1:16  It is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, even as your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

GOD IS ALL POWERFUL

Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be perfect.

Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them, and said to them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

GOD DOES NOT CHANGE

Malachi 3:6 For I am the LORD, I do not change; that is why you sons of Jacob have not been destroyed.

GOD IS ALL KNOWING

Psalm 139:1-4 O LORD, you have searched me, and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up, you understand my thoughts from far away. You watch over my travels and my rest, and know all my ways. Before there is a word on my tongue, O LORD, you know all about it.

GOD IS JUST

Deuteronomy 32:4 All his ways are just: a God of truth without iniquity, just and right is He.

Isaiah 45:21 There is no other God besides me; a just God and a Savior; there is none besides me.

GOD IS FAITHFUL

2Timothy 2:13 If we do not believe, he remains faithful: for he cannot deny himself.

1Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

GOD IS MERCIFUL

Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to everyone: and shows compassion on everything he made.

Exodus 34:6-7 The LORD God, Jahweh, is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet who will by no means overlook sin;

GOD IS LOVE

1John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.

GOD IS OUR JUDGE

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 Let us hear the conclusion of the entire matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring everything that is done into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

Hebrews 10:30-31 We know him who said, Vengeance belongs to me, I will repay, says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

GOD IS TRIUNE

1- Through the words, “Don’t we all have one father? Hasn’t one God created us,” the Bible gives us the doctrine that the Father is God (Malachi 2:10) [See also Mathew 5:16, 45, 48.]

 2- Through the words, “We are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and eternal life,” the Bible gives us the doctrine that the Son is God (1John 5:20).

          3- Through the words, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Ghost… you have not lied to men, but to God,” the Bible gives us the doctrine that the Holy Ghost is God (Acts 5:3-4).

          4- Through the words, “There is one God; and there is none other but he,” the Bible gives us the doctrine that there is only one God (Mark 12:32).

CONCLUSION

While I could add many other passages, they would only repeat and enlarge upon what has been said. However, I do want to stress the fact that a true disciple of Christ will accept everything that the Bible says about God, without trying to make it conform to the mind of man (John 8:30-31). In contrast, cults will interpret some Bible passages to contradict others, while rejecting and explaining away any that do not conform to their own ideas (1John 4:6).

Gary Ray Branscome