In our previous look at the Wesminster Confession of Faith we completed the first chapter “Of the Holy Scriptures” with highlighting how Scripture is to be the supreme judge in matters of religious controversy. This week we commence the second chapter of the confession which is entitled “Of God and of the Holy Trinity”.
I. There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute, working all things according to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will, for His own glory, most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him; and withal most just and terrible in His judgments; hating all sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty.
In this first part of the chapter we are presented with a number of truths. Firstly we are presented with the fact that there is only one true and living God. The framers of the Confession spend no time proving the existence of God. God is, and it is the fool who denies his existence (Psalm 14:1). Besides, His works and Word testify to Him most clearly as the framers of the Confession discussed in chapter 1.
Next, we are presented with the attributes of God. Theologians often draw a distinction between incommunicable and communicable attributes. Those which are incommunicable are attributes of God alone (such as eternity or immutability) and those which are communicable are attributes that his creatures can share to a lesser degree, such as being and wisdom. We won’t explore all of them, but a smattering will suffice for today’s post.
God is described by the framers as infinite in being and perfection. What does this mean? His existence is free from any limitations. Unlike us, He is everywhere present fully. He is a ‘most pure spirit’, which as the catechism puts it means ‘he has not a body like men’. He is invisible, which is why Russian cosmonauts shouldn’t be surprised they don’t find him in space. His being is pure spirit and when described in Scripture as having a strong arm or eyes, we are merely being given metaphors to help us understand Him. So as a spirit, we can say He is invisible and has no body or parts. But what does it mean that He has no passions? Does it mean that God is emotionless? Clearly the Scriptures do not support this picture of God. We see God rightly expressing compassion, love, wrath and forgiveness. A great little discussion on this term is found here. Essentially what is meant is that “God is not passive, not acted upon or overruled by any other power or influence.”
Listed next are some of his attributes. Immutable means God is unchanging. Change would suggest becoming better or worse and clearly, this cannot apply to the God of the Scriptures. In Him “there is no variation or shadow due to change“(James 1:17). Incomprehensible means that God is not like us. We cannot comprehend him apart from his gracious revelation of himself to us, and even in that, He condescends to the level of our finite understanding. Almighty is what we sometimes describe as omnipotent. God is not constrained and can do as He pleases. Most holy reminds me of the throne room scene in Isaiah’s vision where the seraphim are proclaiming God’s holiness over and over. This highlights his infinite purity and utter transcendence.
The phrase ‘working things to the counsel of His own immutable and most righteous will, for His own glory‘ reminds us again that God is almighty. He has a will which is righteous and not tainted by sin, and he works all things (yes that means all, even the bad and even the insignificant) so that his perfect will is done and glory is brought to His name.
Towards the end of this first section, we are reminded of God’s love, grace, mercy, patience (long-suffering) and his willingness to forgive sin and reward those who diligently seek Him, but conversely, his just judgment and hatred of sin. He will by no means clear the guilty, which is precisely why His Son Christ had to bear our guilt. These words ought to be a reminder to all to diligently seek God through His son Christ to find forgiveness and his grace and mercy.