Welcome to another episode of the Know and Do podcast, where we train people to know God deeply and do what brings Him the most glory. This episode is part of our study on Baptist Beliefs—or if you're feeling fancy, systematic theology. We're diving into what Baptists believe about God, guided by the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 (BF&M 2000).

You can check out the full document here: https://bfm.sbc.net/bfm2000/

The BF&M 2000 states: "There is one and only one living and true God. He is an intelligent, spiritual, and personal Being, the Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, and Ruler of the universe. God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections. God is all-powerful and all-knowing; and His perfect knowledge extends to all things, past, present, and future, including the future decisions of His free creatures. To Him we owe the highest love, reverence, and obedience. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, with distinct personal attributes, but without division of nature, essence, or being.”

Tonight, we’re talking about God—who He is and why it matters. Let’s get started!

God is . . .

I. One, living, and true 

·      One

o  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” — Deuteronomy 6:4–5

o  “See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.” — Deuteronomy 32:39

·      Living

o  "But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.” — Jeremiah 10:10

o  “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: “I am has sent me to you.”’” — Exodus 3:14

o  “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” — Hebrews 11:6

·      True

o  “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” — John 17:17

o  “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” — John 14:6

o  “ in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began” — Titus 1:2

II. Omni-perfect

Omnipotent

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” — Hebrews 1:3

“But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”— Matthew 19:26

Omnipresent

“If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! ”—Psalm 139:8

Omniscient

“Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” — Psalm 147:5

III. Apart from us and present with us

·      Apart from us —incommunicable attributes (mostly)

o  Aseity — (he is other) “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” — John 5:26

o  Self-sufficient — “nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”—Acts 17:25

o  Self-existent — “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: “I am has sent me to you.”’” — Exodus 3:14

Infinite —“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” — 1 Kings 8:27

Eternal— “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” — Psalm 90:2

o  Holy — “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” — Revelation 4:8

Immutable/Impassable — “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” — James 1:17

o  Impeccable — (incapable of sin) “so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.” — Hebrews 6:18

o  Incomprehensible —“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”— Isaiah 40:28

o  Incorporeal —“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”— John 4:24

o  Righteous—“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”— Romans 1:17

o  Sovereign—“declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose” — Isaiah 46:10

o  Transcendent —(exists outside of time/space) “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ’I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’” —Isaiah 57:15

o  Wrathful —“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”— John 3:36

·      Present with us —communicable attributes (mostly)

o  Immanent — “. . . In him we live and move and have our being . . .” — Acts 17:28

o  Good/kind — “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” — Romans 11:22

o  Gracious —“The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”—Exodus 34:5–6

o  Jealous —“You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” — Exodus 20:5–6

o  Love —“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. . . So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”— 1 John 4:8, 16

IV. Triune

·      Three persons

o  Father is God

• Matthew 6:26–30 finds Jesus using the terms “Father” and “God” interchangeably.

o  Son is God

• “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” — Hebrews 1:3

• “Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.’”— John 20:28–29

o  Holy Spirit is God

• “But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit. . . You have not lied to man but to God.’” — Acts 5:3–4

o  The three distinct from one another

• “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’” — Matthew 3:16–17

·      Perfect Unity

o  “Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” — Genesis 1:26 (see also 3:22; 11:7; Is. 6:8)

o  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” — Matthew 28:19

o  “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” — 2 Corinthians 1:21–22

V. Worthy of absolute worship.

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