Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Chapter Two: Of God and the Holy Trinity

The Westminster Confession of Faith in Plain Language
1. Only one true God has ever lived. Nothing can limit him in any way. He is an invisible spirit being and does not have a body or body-parts like humans do. He does not even have feelings or emotions in the same way that humans do. He fills all space and time at once and can never change. He is so different from us that we are unable to grasp how different he is. He has all power and all wisdom. He is completely free of any sinfulness. He can do anything he wants at any time and it will be always be the right thing to do. In fact, he controls all things however he pleases, and whatever pleases him is absolutely good. What pleases him most is his own glory. And yet, everything he does is always full of love, graciousness, mercy, and patience toward human beings. He is full of goodness and truth. He forgives sinfulness and never turns away those who really want to know him. At the same time, he hates sin and will punish the guilty because he must always do the right thing when he judges people.

2. God is complete all by himself—his eternal existence, glory, goodness, and happiness are complete in himself. He does not need anything else to make him more complete, not even what he has created—including humans. He does not need his creation in order to get glory, but he instead uses his creation to display his glory. He is the ultimate source for everything and everything exists for him. He has absolute authority and control over everything. He can do whatever he wants for his creation and to his creation.

Nothing can ever be hidden from God. He knows everything perfectly. Nothing that human beings do ever surprises God because he knows everything they will ever do.

Everything that God wants, does, or commands is completely sinless. He deserves everything he asks of his creation. All his creatures—angels and humans included—owe him their worship, service, and obedience.

3. There is only one God, but that one God is made up of three perfectly united and equal persons. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have the exact same being, power, and timelessness. The Father does not come from any other person. The Son has always and always will come from the Father in a special and unique way. The Holy Spirit has always and always will come from both the Father and the Son.

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