1689:2.1 God and the Holy Trinity (Pt 2: The Infinite, Pure Spirit)

1. The Lord our God is one, the only living and true God.1  He is self-existent2 and infinite in being and perfection. His essence cannot be understood by anyone but him.3  He is a perfectly pure spirit.4  He is invisible and has no body, parts, or changeable emotions.a He alone has immortality, dwelling in light that no one can approach.5  He is unchangeable,6immense,b,7 eternal,8 incomprehensible, almighty,9 in every way infinite, absolutely holy,10 perfectly wise, wholly free, completely absolute. He works all things according to the counsel of his own unchangeable and completely righteous will11 for his own glory.12  He is most loving, gracious, merciful, and patient. He overflows with goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin. He rewards those who seek him diligently.13  At the same time, he is perfectly just and terrifying in his judgments.14  He hates all sin15 and will certainly not clear the guilty.16

apassions
btranscends all space
11 Corinthians 8:4, 6; Deuteronomy 6:4. 2Jeremiah 10:10; Isaiah 48:12. 3Exodus 3:14. 4John 4:24. 51 Timothy 1:17; Deuteronomy 4:15, 16. 6Malachi 3:6. 71 Kings 8:27; Jeremiah 23:23. 8Psalm 90:2. 9Genesis 17:1. 10Isaiah 6:3. 11Psalm 115:3; Isaiah 46:10. 12Proverbs 16:4; Romans 11:36. 13Exodus 34:6, 7; Hebrews 11:6. 14Nehemiah 9:32, 33. 15Psalm 5:5, 6. 16Exodus 34:7; Nahum 1:2, 3.

Commentary:

Last week we began to expound on the first two statements of this part of the Confession. This week we are going to spend a few moments looking at the next two statements:

and infinite in being and perfection. His essence cannot be understood by anyone but him.3

and

He is a perfectly pure spirit.4

Let's tackle both statements by looking at the Scriptures the framers used to prop them up: 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ” (Exodus 3:14) and 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24 NKJV).

So far, we are working through some incommunicable attributes of God. Our God is infinite. That means that He has no beginning. He is the beginning. He was never born. He was not brought into existence. He does not age. Therefore, He is neither old nor young. God has no end. He simply is. The Lord describes Himself to Moses as "I Am" and Matthew Henry sums up the significance of this beautifully yet succinctly:

 "This explains his name Jehovah, and signifies, (1.) That he is self-existent; he has his being of himself, and has no dependence upon any other: the greatest and best man in the world must say, By the grace of God I am what I am; but God says absolutely—and it is more than any creature, man or angel, can say—I am that I am. Being self-existent, he cannot but be self-sufficient, and therefore all-sufficient, and the inexhaustible fountain of being and bliss. (2.) That he is eternal and unchangeable, and always the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever; he will be what he will be and what he is; see Rev. 1:8 . (3.) That we cannot by searching find him out. This is such a name as checks all bold and curious enquiries concerning God, and in effect says, Ask not after myname, seeing it is secret,Jdg. 13:18 ; Prov. 30:4 . Do we ask what is God? Let it suffice us to know that he is what he is, what he ever was, and ever will be. How little a portion is heard of him!Job. 26:14 . (4.) That he is faithful and true to all his promises, unchangeable in his word as well as in his nature, and not a man that he should lie. Let Israel know this, I AM hath sent me unto you." (Matthew Henry)

In our next statement, we are reminded that our self-existent and inexhaustible God is a perfectly pure Spirit. Next week, I will devote more attention to this, but God is not made up of parts or passions (changeable emotions). We are the worship the great "I AM" not who we imagine Him to be. We do not approach this pure Spirit with our own human pre-conceived notions of who He is. His unchanging Word tells us who He is and we must submit our thoughts to it. Additionally, we worship this pure Spirit the way He prescribes. We do not approach Him flippantly- how we want. We approach Him reverently, through the blood of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I'll end with this statement by theologian Sam Waldron, and I pray it spurns you on to continue this study with me and helps you understand why I'm moving so slowly through this confession. Waldron says, "The religion of our day needs more of contemplating God and living with the conscious reality that this is the God with whom we have to do." [1] Please, dear reader, meditate on God and be in awe of the Great I Am.

[1] Sam Waldron, A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith (EP Books), 66.