The Doctrine of GOD : God the Father.

Notes from Louis Berkhof’s Summary of Christian Doctrine Pp. 43-44

1. The Name, “Father”, is frequently applied in Scripture to the Triune God, as the Creator of all things.

1Co 8:5  For though there are those who are called gods, whether in Heaven or in earth (as there are many gods and many lords),

1Co 8:6  but there is to us only one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by Him.

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.

b. He is also called “the Father of Israel”.

Deu 32:6  Do you thus give back to Jehovah, Oh foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father who bought you? Has He not made you and established you?

Isa 63:16  For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us, and Israel does not acknowledge us. You, O Jehovah, are our Father, our Redeemer; Your name is from everlasting.

c. He is the Father of all believers.

Mat 5:45  so that you may become sons of your Father in Heaven. For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mat 6:6  But you, when you pray, enter into your room. And shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.

Mat 6:9  Therefore pray in this way: Our Father, who is in Heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Mat 6:10  Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread;

Mat 6:14  For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you;

Mat 6:15  but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Rom 8:15  For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry, Abba, Father!

John Gill says,   “ but ye have received the spirit of adoption,” by which is designed not a spirit of charity, or love, or inherent grace: adoption is not owing to inherent grace, or is any part of it: regeneration and adoption differ; adoption makes men the children of God, regeneration makes them appear to be so by giving them the nature of children; adoption is not a work of grace in us, but an act of grace without us, having its complete being in the mind of God; it is antecedent to a work of grace, inherent grace is a consequence of it, though no man knows, or has the comfort of his adoption, until he believes: rather a filial child like spirit, such a spirit as becomes the children of God is here meant; a spirit of freedom with God, of reverence of him, and of love of him, and of obedience to him; springing from filial affection and without mercenary views; a meek, harmless, and inoffensive spirit. Though it seems best of all to understand by it the Holy Spirit of God, who is distinguished from the spirit of believers, Rom_8:16, and is called "the Spirit of his Son" in a parallel place, Gal_4:6, and stands opposed here to a spirit of bondage, and may be so called because as a spirit of grace he flows from adoption; and is the discoverer, applier, witness, and ratifier of the blessing of adoption; and is the pledge, earnest, or seal of the future adoption or eternal inheritance: now the Spirit is received as such from the Father and the Son into the hearts of believers, by the means of the Gospel, in order to make known their adoption to them, which is an instance of grace, and ought to be acknowledged; for

we cry Abba, Father: by the help of the spirit of adoption; we, the saints under the Gospel dispensation, in opposition to the legal one, under which they had not that freedom; "cry" which denotes an internal vehemency and affection of soul, and an outward calling upon God, as a Father, with confidence; "Abba, Father, Father" is the explanation of the word "Abba", and which is added for explanation sake, and to express the vehemency of the affection, and the freedom and liberty which belongs to children: the words in the original are, the one a Syriac word in use with the Jews, the other a Greek one, and denotes that there is but one Father of Jews and Gentiles. The word "Abba" signifies "my Father",....... John Gill

d. In a deeper sense it is applied to only the Third Person of the Trinity. This expresses His Relationship to the Second Person of the Trinity.

Joh 1:14  And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and of truth.

Joh 1:18  No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Joh 8:54  Jesus answered, If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say that He is your God.

Joh 14:12  Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes on Me, the works that I do he shall do also, and greater works than these he shall do, because I go to My Father.

Joh 14:13  And whatever you may ask in My name, that I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

This is the Original Fatherhood, of which all earthly fatherhood is but a very faint reflexion.

The Distinctive character if the FATHER is that He generates the Son from all eternity.

He planned: Redemption before the Foundation of the World, The Creation of the Universe, and Providence. He represents the Trinity in the Counsel of Redemption.

My Summary of Christian Doctrine: The Trinity Second Part.

The Trinity Second Part.Those who deny This Doctrine of the Scriptures.

This doctrine was denied by the Socinians in the Days of the Reformation.

Michael Servetus was a 16th century Spanish theologian, physician, cartographer, and Renaissance humanist. He was a polymath versed in many sciences: mathematics, astronomy and meteorology, geography, human anatomy, medicine and pharmacology, as well as jurisprudence, translation, poetry and the scholarly study of the Bible in its original languages. The writings of Servetus laid the foundations for the Socinian movement

http://www.socinian.org/

Socinianism (pronunciation: /səˈsɪniːənizm/) is a system of Christian doctrine named for Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), which was developed among the Polish Brethren in the Minor Reformed Church of Poland during the 16th and 17th centuries and embraced by the Unitarian Church of Transylvania.

The Trinity is also denied by the Unitarians and Modernists of our day.

Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement named for the affirmation that God is one entity, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism, which defines God as three persons in one being.[1] Unitarians maintain that Jesus of Nazareth is in some sense the "son" of God (as all humans are children of the Creator), but that he is not the one God himself. [2] They may believe that he was inspired by God in his moral teachings and can be considered a saviour,[3] but all Unitarians perceive Christ as human rather than divine. Unitarianism is also known for the rejection of several other Western Christian doctrines,[4] including the soteriological doctrines of original sin and predestination,[5][6] and, in more recent history, biblical in-errancy.[7] Unitarians in previous centuries accepted the doctrine of punishment in an eternal hell, but few do today. Wikipedia.com

Modernism refers to theological opinions expressed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but with influence reaching into the 21st century, which are characterized by a break with the past. Catholic modernists form an amorphous group. The term "modernist" appears in Pope Pius X's 1907 encyclical Pascendi dominici gregis.[1] Modernists, and what are now termed "Neo-Modernists", generally do not openly use this label in describing themselves. Traditionalist Catholics, however, continue to use the term.

Modernists came to prominence in French and British intellectual circles and, to a lesser extent, in Italy.[2] The Modernist movement was influenced by Protestant theologians and clergy, starting with the Tübingen school in the mid-19th century. Some modernists, however, such as George Tyrrell, would disagree with this; Tyrrell saw himself as loyal to the unity of the Church, and disliked liberal A rationalistic approach to the Bible. The rationalism that was characteristic of the Enlightenment took a proto-materialistic view of miracles and of the historicity of biblical narratives. This approach sought to interpret the Bible by focusing on the text itself as a prelude to considering what the Church Fathers had traditionally taught about it. This method was readily accepted by Protestants and Anglicans. It was the natural consequence of Martin Luther’s sola scriptura doctrine,[citation needed] which asserts that Scripture is the highest authority, and that it can be relied on alone in all things pertaining to salvation and the Christian life.

Secularism and other Enlightenment ideals. The ideal of secularism can be briefly stated as follows: the best course of action in politics and other civic fields is that which flows from a common understanding of the Good by various groups and religions. By implication, Church and State should be separated and the laws of the latter, for example that forbidding murder, should cover only the common ground of thought systems held by various religious groups. From the secularists’ point of view it was possible to distinguish between political ideas and structures that were religious and those that were not, but Catholic theologians in the mainstream argued, following St. Thomas Aquinas, that such a distinction was not possible: All aspects of society were to be organized with the final goal of Heaven in mind. However, the humanist model which had been in the forefront of intellectual thought since the Renaissance and the scientific revolution was directly opposed to the Thomist view. Wikipedia.com]

The Arian Controversy.

The Arian controversy was in reality a series of controversies, related to Christology, that arose between Arius, a priest and theologian, and Bishop Athanasius, a Church Father. The most important of these controversies concerned the substantial relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ. These disagreements divided the Church into two opposing theological factions for over 55 years, from the time before the Council of Nicaea in 325 until after the Council of Constantinople in 381. There was no formal schism; the matter remained an internal conflict of the Church. Wikipedia.com

This is the doctrine espoused by the Jehovah's Witnesses saying that Jesus Christ is not divine but just a man.

Those who reject the Trinity such as the Unitarians or Modernists of our own day, If they refer to the trinity at all, they represent it as consisting of the father, the man Christ Jesus, and the divine influence  which is called the Spirit of God.  L.B. P. 43

My Summary of Christian Doctrine: The Doctrine of God: The Trinity. [First Part]

Notes From Summary of Christian Doctrine By Louis Berkhof.

Verses to memorize :Luk 4:17  And there was handed to Him the book of the Prophet Isaiah, and, opening the book, He found the place where it was written,

Luk 4:18  "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS ANOINTED ME TO PROCLAIM GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO ANNOUNCE RELEASE TO THE PRISONERS OF WAR AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND: TO SEND AWAY FREE THOSE WHOM TYRANNY HAS CRUSHED,

Luk 4:19  TO PROCLAIM THE YEAR OF ACCEPTANCE WITH THE LORD."

Jesus reading the Scroll in the Synagogue at Nazereth

Mat 28:19  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations; baptize them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;

2Co 13:14  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all.

For Further Study.

1. In what sense can we speak of the general Fatherhood of God? see1 Cor 8:6; Eph 3:14-15; Heb 12:9; James 1:1 compare Numbers 16 : 22
2. Can you prove the Deity of the Incarnate Son? John 1:1; Jn 20:28; Phil 2:6; Titus 2:13; Jerm. 23:5-6; Isaiah 9:6; John 1:3 Rev. 1:8; Col 1:17; John 14:1; 2 Cor 13:14
3. How do the following passages prove the personality of the Holy Spirit? Gen 1:2; 6:3; Luke 12:12; John 14:26; 15:26; 16:8; Acts 8 :29;Romans :11; 1 Cor 2:10-11
4. What  works are ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the following: Ps 33:6; 104:30; Ex 28:3; 2 Peter 1:21; 1 Cor 3:16; 12:4

1 The Statement of the Doctrine of the Trinity.

The Bible teaches us that God is one.[Monotheism]. It also teaches that He exists in Three Persons called the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.These are not three persons in the ordinary sense of the words. Not  three individuals, but rather three forms in which the Divine Being exists. They can relate to each other. the father speaks to the Son and vice versa. They both send forth the Holy Spirit into the world.

The real mystery of the trinity consists in this that each one of the Persons possess the whole of the Divine essence, and that they have no existence outside of and apart from the Three Persons.

2. Scriptural Proof for the Trinity.

The OT contains some indications of more than one Person in the Godhead.

1. God speaks of Himself in the plural which is not just the Royal Plural used in some cultures.Gen 1:26  And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creepers creeping on the earth. Gen 1:27  And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female.
   

2. The Angel of Jehovah is presented as a divine Person. Gen 16: 7-13; 18:1-21; 19:1-22
3. The Spirit is spoken of as a distinct person. Isa 48:16  Come near to Me, hear this; I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From its being, I was there; and now the Lord Jehovah, and His Spirit, has sent Me. Isa 63:10  But they rebelled, and troubled His Holy Spirit; therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them.
4. There are some passages where Messiah is speaking and mentions two other Persons. Is.48:16; Isa 61:6  But you will be named the priests of Jehovah; it will be said of you, Ministers of our God; you will eat the riches of the nations, and you will revel in their glory. Isa 63:9  In all their affliction He was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them; and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old.
5. Isa 63:10  But they rebelled, and troubled His Holy Spirit; therefore He was turned to be their enemy, and He fought against them.

The New Testament give clearer Proofs.

The Strongest proof is found in the facts of Redemption: The father sends the Son into the World and the Son send the Holy Spirit.

There are several passages in which the three Persons are  expressly mentioned such as the Great Commision.

Mat 28:19  Therefore go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

John Gill “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; by the authority of these three divine persons, who all appeared, and testified their approbation of the administration of this ordinance, at the baptism of Christ: and as they are to be invocated in it, so the persons baptized not only profess faith in each divine person, but are devoted to their service, and worship, and are laid under obligation to obedience to them, Hence a confirmation of the doctrine of the Trinity, there are three persons, but one name, but one God, into which believers are baptized; and a proof of the true deity both of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; and that Christ, as the Son of God, is God; since baptism is administered equally in the name of all three, as a religious ordinance, a part of divine instituted worship, which would never be in the name of a creature. This is the first, and indeed the only, place in which the Trinity of persons is expressed in this order, and in the selfsame words.”

Note also the Apostolic Blessing : 2Co 13:14  May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

The Three Persons are present at the Baptism of Christ by John the Baptist. Luk 3:21  And it happened in the baptizing of all the people, Jesus also being baptized, and praying, and the heaven was opened.

Luk 3:22  And the Holy Spirit came down in a bodily shape, like a dove on Him. And a voice came from Heaven, which said, You are My Son, the Beloved; I am delighted in You.

Compare 1Co 12:4  But there are differences of gifts, but the same Spirit.

1Co 12:5  And there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.

1Co 12:6  And there are differences of workings, but it is the same God working all things in all.

My Summary of Christian Doctrine h. The Sovereignty of God.

Questions to research: 1. Do the secret and the revealed will of God ever conflict?

2. Does God’s Omnipotence imply that he can do everything?

3. Give Instances in which the Bible Identifies God and His attributes. Jer 23:6; Hebrews 12 :29; 1 John 1 :5; 4:16

Resume of Notes from Summary of Christian Doctrine by Louis Berkhof.

To learn by Heart

Eph 1:11  in whom also we have been chosen to an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His own will,

Rev 4:11  O Lord, You are worthy to receive glory and honour and power, because You created all things, and for Your will they are and were created.

The Sovereignty of God.

This may be considered from two different points of view, namely, His Sovereign Will, and His Sovereign Power.

1. The Sovereign Will of God,

is represented in Scripture as the Final Cause of all things. See Eph 1:11; and Rev 4:11 above.

It is customary to distinguish between the Secret Will and the revealed Will of God according to 

Deut 29:29  The secret things belong to Jehovah our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our sons forever, so that we may do all the words of this Law.  

The former is the Will of God’s Decree, which is hidden in God, and can only be known from its effects, and the second is the Will of His Precepts which is revealed in the law and in the Gospel. God’s Will concerning His Creatures is absolutely free.

Job 11:10  If He passes through and shuts up, or gathers together, then who can turn Him back?

Psa 115:3  But our God is in Heaven; He has done all that He has pleased.

Pro 21:1  As streams of waters, the king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah; He turns it wherever He desires.

Mat 20:15  Have I not a right to do what I choose with my own property? Or are you envious because I am generous?'

Rom 9:15  No, indeed; the solution is found in His words to Moses, "WHEREVER I SHOW MERCY IT SHALL BE NOTHING BUT MERCY, AND WHEREVER I SHOW COMPASSION IT SHALL BE SIMPLY COMPASSION."

Rom 9:16  And from this we learn that everything is dependent not on man's will or endeavour, but upon God who has mercy. For the Scripture said to Pharaoh,

Rom 9:17  "IT IS FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE THAT I HAVE LIFTED YOU SO HIGH--THAT I MAY MAKE MANIFEST IN YOU MY POWER, AND THAT MY NAME MAY BE PROCLAIMED FAR AND WIDE IN ALL THE EARTH."

Rom 9:18  This is a proof that wherever He chooses He shows mercy, and wherever he chooses He hardens the heart.

The sinful deeds of man are also under the control of His Sovereign Will.

Joseph said to His brothers Gen 50:20  But as for you, you thought evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save a great many people alive.

Act 2:22  Men, Israelites, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by powerful works, and wonders and miracles, which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know,

Act 2:23  this One given to you by the before-determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and by lawless hands, crucifying Him, you put Him to death;

Act 2:24  whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

God’s Omnipotence.[His Sovereign Power]

God’s power to execute His Will is called His Omnipotence (All Power) This does not mean that God can do everything. There are some things that God cannot do. He cannot lie, sin, deny Himself.

Num 23:19  God is not a man that He should lie, neither the son of man that He should repent. Has He said, and shall He not do it? Or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good?

1Sa 15:28  And Samuel said to him, Jehovah has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.

1Sa 15:29  And also the Glory of Israel will not lie nor repent, for He is not a man that He should repent.

Heb 6:17  In this way desiring to declare more fully to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, God interposed by an oath,

Heb 6:18  so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us,

Jas 1:13  Let no one being tempted say, I am tempted from God. For God is not tempted by evils, and He tempts no one.

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.

God's Sovereign Power or Omnipotence means, by the mere exercise of His Will, He can bring to pass anything that he has decided to accomplish, and that, if He so desired, He could do even more than that.

Gen 18:14  Is anything too hard for Jehovah? At the time appointed I will return again, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.

Jer 32:27  Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?

Mat 3:7  But seeing many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

Mat 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance;

Mat 3:9  and do not think to say within yourselves, We have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

Mat 26:53  Do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He shall presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?