NATURE OF GOD – Who, of What Sort, and What Character is Almighty God?

Does it matter what we believe about the nature of God? Why or why not? Can someone be saved while believing that God is other than what God is? (ie: not believing that Jesus is God, believing that the Holy Spirit is merely the divine breath of God)

Two strands for evaluation:

What does the Bible say?

What does the material universe indicate or necessitate concerning the nature of the God which created?

God is either:

The Biblical God is either:

FROM THE BIBLE

GOD IS ONE, NOT MANY

God declares that there is only one ‘real’ God, which is YHWH. The prophets and apostles declare that there is only one God:

The Shema: “Hear oh Israel, YHWH your Elohim is one YHWH.” Deut 6

Note that “elohim” is plural, not singular, while YHWH is a numberless noun, derived from the verb “to be” (hayah) In other words, Israel’s God was a plural “elohim” – a plural divinity or power, that was only one “is that is” – or self-existent. When the language is allowed to stand as it is written, in the Shema, God declares that God as a plurality is a single self-existent entity, and throughout Scripture declares to be the only self-existent.

Some argue that God used the ‘royal plural’, but God was also referred to as “El”, which is singular, and Eloah, also singular. Additionally, while God made reference to “us/we” several times, most frequently Whoever was speaking used singular pronouns in reference to deity rather than plural, removing any basis for the argument that the members of God would use a royal plural noun in reference to Themselves.

The Biblical God – which word is not a name, but a role descriptor – is a single “what” comprised of three separate “Who”, of which all three are comparable in nature but unique in identity.

Deut. 4:35     To you it was revealed, so that you might know that YHWH is God, and no one else besides Him.”

2 Sam. 22:32        For who is God except YHWH? And who is a rock except our God?”

Is. 43:10         You are My witnesses, says YHWH; and My servant whom I have chosen; that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed; nor shall any be after Me.”

Is. 44:6           So says YHWH, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, YHWH of Hosts: I am the First, and I am the Last; and there is no God except Me.” (“his” may refer to YHWH, or to Israel)

Joh 17:3         And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

1 Cor 8:4        Then concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God except one.”

Eph 4: 6         …one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”

1Ti 2:5             … for there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus …”

Jas 2:19          You believe that God is one; you do well. The demons also believe, and tremble.”

GOD IS SEPARATE FROM ALL OTHER THINGS, INCLUDING HUMANITY

Nu 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 hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?

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

Isa 40:28          Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary? There is no searching of His understanding.

Ge 1:1               In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth …. God created …. every living creature that moves …. God created man…” God must be separate from everything if God created everything other than God.

Isa 42:5             Thus says God the LORD, Who created the heavens, and stretched them out; Who spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; Who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk in it …

Col 1:16            For by Him were all things created, in heaven, and in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him, and He is before all things, and by him all things consist. Invisible includes energies, spirits, atoms, gases, etc.

Re 4:11             Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Re 10:6             And swore by Him Who lives for ever and ever, Who created heaven, and the things in it, and the earth, and the things in it, and the sea, and the things in it, that there should be time no longer:

GOD IS PERSONAL AND LIVING, NOT A CONCEPT, FORCE, OR OTHER NON-PERSONAL QUANTITY

God speaks, plans, loves, hates, angers, punishes, rewards, reasons, acts, creates. God has emotions and ideas, entertains options, considers moral propositions, and invites relationship with human beings. None of these are possible to an idea, an abstract force, or any other thing lacking identity and self-awareness. (the abundance of Scripture references are too easily found to require a list)

God’s “name” is YHWH – I am that I am, or “existing that existing”. God is the self-existent, the sole independent “beingness”. This presents two necessary points of understanding:

1. God “is”; God exists as a quantity rather than a concept or abstraction of the human mind or ‘universal mind’.
2. God is not dependent upon any other thing or being in order for God to “be”. Whereas matter and energy are dependant – neither can be gained or lost apart from an outside influence. With the understanding that the “universe” refers to the sum of all matter + energy + time (space is the location of matter + energy), the universe is a closed system; no other material exists apart from the universe, which means that there is no source available prior to creation of the universe from which God could have ‘come into existence’. God declared Themselves to be self-existent – They are that They are, without reference to any other thing or being. Since it is impossible for any material thing to be self-existent, and nothing else existed from which God could have emanated prior to the existence of the universe, God must necessarily be a living, independent quantity in order to “be” at all.

When Moses was at the bush, he heard a voice, which he answered. When Moses answered the ‘voice’ which he heard, the “voice” responded back to Moses in the context of what Moses said. In order for Moses to have received a relevant and comprehensible response to anything he had said, a being had to have heard, comprehended, analyzed, considered, and engaged Moses’ words. Therefore the voice must have come from a someone rather than a something, capable of rational thought and evaluation of both communication and concept. The Being did not require to learn the meaning of Moses’ words in order to respond, like a dog or horse, and because Moses’ question was abstract – “who are you?” – the Being had also to comprehend language that could not be associated with an object or experience, as when we train a pet. This comprehension existed prior to Moses’ encounter, which means that the Being had to already have been exposed to both language and self-awareness, and to have had at least a comparable degree of all abilities of thought and comprehension as Moses himself.

God Which spoke to Moses spoke; God saw, heard, has come, will bring, and will send. God told Moses what was not already known, future things which an ordinary person could never know, much less a non-rational being or inanimate object. One can only know the future if one is capable of knowing what has not been; in consideration of all the possible future circumstances and events, an human being is only capable of theorizing about possible futures to the extend of their knowledge of the options and variables contributing to those options. We can imagine, but we cannot know  with certainty because there are variables over which we have no control and we cannot see the events and circumstances before they exist in real time. For God to be able to tell the future with certainty, God must either be able to control absolutely the circumstances and events, or be able to see what has yet to come before it occurs. Neither of these abilities is available to a non-rational being, much less an inanimate object or abstract concept. God must, therefore, be living, rational, and independent of the environment and circumstances in the universe.

Jer 10:10       But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king …”

Ho 1:10          Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.”

Mt 16:16       And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Re 7:2             And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God …”

MEMBERS OF THE GODHEAD ARE INDIVIDUAL IDENTITIES

John 10:30      I and my Father are one.” (esmen – “we are” – plural form of verb to be, showing two distinct persons. Interestingly, hen is the neuter form of “one”. Both “the Father” and Jesus Himself are masculine so the masculine form of the modifier could have been used. (“I” has no gender)

John 17:3         “And this is everlasting life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”

Eph 2:18           “… for through [Jesus] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

Eph 3:14, 16-17          “… to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ …. that He would grant you …. to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith …. “

Ga 1:1               Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Eph 6:23           Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

2Pe 1:17           For [Jesus] received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Is 48:9-17         *the Speaker ‘was’ and ‘spoke’ from the beginning, and ‘has now’ been sent by YHWH and His Spirit. The speaker is YHWH, and He Who sent Him is also somehow YHWH.

Is 50:1-11         *Thus says YHWH …. I clothe the heavens with blackness …. most sovereign YHWH gives Me the tongue of the learned, to know to speak a timely word to the faint. He shall arouse in the morning; in the morning He shall arouse to Me an ear to hear as the taught (ones). My Lord YHWH opens to me (an) ear, and I do not rebel; (My) back I turned not away. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those plucking out; My face I hid not from shame and spitting.”

The Speaker is identified as YHWH, and the Speaker refers to another individual as YHWH, so the name YHWH applies to two distinct Individuals. Also, the Individual Who gives His “back to smiters and His face to those who pluck out”, Who submitted to “shame and spitting”, and Whom YHWH shall justify and help, is the same Speaker Who proclaims that He “clothe(s) the heavens with blackness”, Who drains a sea with a rebuke, and Whose arm is capable of saving.

John 16:7         Jesus had to leave in order for the Holy Spirit to be sent

Mt 26:36, Jn 17     Jesus prayed to the Father – he would not pray to Himself

John 14: 16      The Holy Spirit is referred to as “another comforter” by Jesus therefore cannot be the same as Jesus

THERE ARE THREE AND ONLY THREE MEMBERS OF THE GODHEAD

Mt 28:19       Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…’”

Jn 14:26            But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Eph 2:18        … for through [Jesus] we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”

Eph 1:17        … the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him…”

Eph 4:30, 32      … grieve not the Holy Spirit of God … even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you…”

Eph 5:18, 20      … be filled with the Spirit …. giving thanks always for everything, to God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…”

God the Father:

1 Cor. 8:6      “but to us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we by Him.”

Eph. 1:3         “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies with Christ,”

1 Pet. 1:3      “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, He according to His great mercy having regenerated us to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

Jn 6:27           Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Jesus Christ, God the Son:

There are so many extra-biblical references to the historical existence of Jesus Christ, such that anyone who argues against His literal existence, apart from any discussion of His true identity, is uneducated, ignorant, or trying to cause a disruption.

Ezek 34:11       For thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Indeed I myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd…so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them…” (Jn 10:11: Jesus = good Shepherd; Lk 19:10:  Jesus seeks and saves; Mt 19:17: only God is good.)

Ps 110:1           The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.”

Micah 5:2        …the One to be ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting (literally “from the days of eternity”)….”

Mt 23:34          Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city…”

Jn 3:13              No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

Jn 6:41,45,46    I am the bread which came down from heaven”

Jn 8:23-4          And He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are from this world; I am not from this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.”

Jn 8:58              Jesus said to them ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM’”

Jn 5:23              …that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He who honours not the Son honours not the Father Who sent Him.”

Jn 5: 17            But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father works till now, and I work.’  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”

  Jesus continually said and did things that His hearers recognized as His claim to be ‘equal with God’. This is why the Jews were willing and chose blasphemy as the excuse for His execution.

Jn 20:28            And Thomas answered and said unto him, ‘My Lord and my God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed! Happy are those having not seen, yet believed.’”

1 Tim 3:16        God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed upon in the world, received up in glory.”

Acts 20:28       Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which He has purchased with His own blood.”

1Jn 1:2              …that eternal life which was with the Father” identified as the one they saw, touched and listened to, which was Jesus Christ.

Heb 1:6,8-12  angels worship Jesus

Heb 1: 8,10     But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom …. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands…’”

Heb 13:8          … Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

Rev 5:9-10; 12-13        angels in heaven worship “the Lamb”, who is Jesus

Is 9, Jn 1:1       Jesus is God, “mighty God”; Deut 10:17 & Jer 32:18 – YHWH is “mighty God”. There cannot be two “mighty God’s”, so Jesus and YHWH must be the same identity.

Rev 1, 3, 21     Jesus is “the first and the last”, “the beginning and the ending”, the Lord God almighty, who lives and was dead, and lives forevermore.

God the Holy Spirit:

– is a Person rather than a force or God’s “breath”:

Lu 12:10    And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but unto him that blasphemes against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.’”  The word “blaspheme” means “vilify”; you cannot paint as villain a concept or inanimate object.

Ac 5:3        But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost …. you have not lied to men, but to God.’”

1Pe 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven;

– has thoughts & emotions:

Eph 4:30      And grieve not the holy Spirit of God…’”

– performs independent, conscious actions:

Mr 13:11     But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what you shall speak, neither premeditate, but whatever shall be given you in that hour, that speak, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Ghost.’”

Lu 12:12      For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.’”

Jn 14:26       But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Ac 13:2        As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, ‘Separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’”

Ac 13:4        So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost …

Ac 20:28      Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers,

Ac 21:11      And when he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Ghost…’”

Ro 15:13      Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.  The Holy Spirit possesses and exercises power; this makes no sense if the Holy Ghost is the power.

Ro 15:16      … that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.

1Co 2:13      …which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Ghost teaches;

Tit 3:5           Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

Heb 9:8       … the Holy Ghost this signifying…”

2Pe 1:21      For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

Person. can be lied to Acts 5:3, is a helper Jn. 14.26, sets apart Acts 13:2, “wills” 1 Cor. 21:11, knows future Acts 21:11, testifies Jn. 15:26, teaches Jn. 14:26, prays Rom. 8:26, calls Acts 13:2, grieves Eph. 4:30, feels hurt Is. 63:10, can be outraged Heb. 10:29, blasphemed Mark 3:29

Deity: Holy Spirit called God Acts 5. God (Is. 44:24) creates Heavens & Earth, so does HS (Job. 33:4, Ps. 104:30). Jews put God (Ex. 17:2) to the test, HS (Heb. 3:9). God (Jer. 31:33) puts law on men’s hearts, HS does (Heb. 10:16). HS is eternal Heb. 9:14. Omnipresent Ps 139:7. Omniscient 2 Cor. 2:10-11.

PHILOSOPHICAL / LOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS CONCERNING THE NATURE AND IDENTITY OF GOD

God’s name is YHWH – I am that I am, or existing that existing. God is the self-existent, the sole independent “being-ness”. This presents two necessary points of understanding:

1. God “is”; God exists as a quantity rather than a concept or abstraction of the human mind or ‘universal mind’.
2. God is not dependent upon any other thing or being in order for God to “be”, whereas matter and energy are dependant – neither can be gained or lost apart from an outside influence. With the understanding that the “universe” refers to the sum of all matter + energy + time (space is the relationship between matter & energy), the universe is a closed system; no other material exists apart from the universe, which means that there is no source available prior to creation of the universe from which God could have ‘come into existence’. God declared God to be self-existent – each member is that each member is, without reference to any other thing or being. Since it is impossible for any material thing to be self-existent, and nothing else existed from which God could have emanated prior to the existence of the universe, God must necessarily be a living, independent quantity in order to “be” at all.

When Moses was at the bush, he heard a voice, which he answered. When Moses answered the ‘voice’ which he heard, the “voice” responded back to Moses in the context of what Moses said. In order for Moses to have received a relevant and comprehensible response to anything he had said, a being must have heard, comprehended, analyzed, considered, and engaged Moses’ words. Therefore the voice must have come from a someone rather than a something, capable of rational thought and evaluation of both communication and concept. The Being did not require to learn the meaning of Moses’ words in order to respond, like a dog or horse, and because Moses’ question was abstract – “Who are you?” – the Being had also to comprehend language that could not be associated with an object or experience, as when we train a pet. This comprehension existed prior to Moses’ encounter, which means that the Being had to already have been exposed to both language and self-awareness, and to have had at least a comparable degree of all abilities of thought and comprehension as Moses himself.

God Which spoke to Moses spoke; God saw, heard, has come, will bring, and will send. God told Moses what was not already known, future things which an ordinary person could never know, much less a non-rational being or inanimate object. One can only know the future if one is capable of knowing what has not been; in consideration of all the possible future circumstances and events, an human being is only capable of theorizing about possible futures to the extent of their knowledge of the options and the variables contributing to those options. We can imagine, but we cannot know with certainty because there are variables over which we have no control and we cannot see the events and circumstances before they exist in real time. For God to be able to tell the future with certainty, God must either be able to control absolutely the circumstances and events, or be able to see what has yet to come before it occurs. Neither of these abilities is available to a non-rational being, much less an inanimate object or abstract concept. God must, therefore, be living, rational, and independent of the environment and circumstances in the universe.

The universe is made of multiple independent yet interdependent systems, each of which functions fully and properly on its own, as well as within the greater whole (universe). This systemic order, interdependence, and unity indicates a single Creator, rather than multiple contesting deities, each building or ordering their own corner of reality. The deities of the polytheistic religions are capricious and combative; each vies with the others for supremacy and makes allegiances to overthrow one or more others, and breaks those allegiances when they want to defeat their prior ally. We see neither object nor process in the whole of creation reflective of the stories written in the religions of these competing ‘gods’, but a perfect harmony both within and between systems, that evidences a single, purposed Creator.

Additionally, the order and beauty inherent in the universe, and its majesty and tremendous power, reflect a benevolent Creator with positive thoughts and emotions toward the members of the created systems. That the bodies of living things are designed to be highly useful in virtually any environment and to heal themselves of both injury and illness, reflects a Creator invested in its creation and purposed toward our good. Not only are these qualities totally absent among the plethora of pagan ‘gods’, they cannot exist in non-living quantities (concept, energy, force).

The LORD causes things to happen that the natural world prevents: creation of everything from nothing, a stick turns into a snake, water stands up in walls on BOTH sides of the flow, sun ceases its movement in the sky, permanently damaged body-parts are made whole, dead people are raised before the eyes of people who knew the person to be dead. God must be both separate from and superior to the material reality, in order to operate in contradiction to its established function.

Isaiah 1:4      Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.”

“The Holy One of Israel” is “the LORD” (YHWH). We know this refers to the same God mentioned throughout the prior Scriptures. God is capable of being “provoked” and of feeling anger. These qualities are not available to concepts, to ‘energy’, or to inanimate objects, but exclusively to beings, to quantities possessing personality. (For the purpose of this line of reasoning, a quantity possessing personality would include all animate living beings.)

YHWH must be living and animate (as opposed to plants which are living but inanimate).

The universal call of the God of the Bible is to faith: Believe God and believe in God (Hebrews 11:6). An inanimate object cannot call, but also cannot be entrusted with personal or eternal matters because it has no ability to purpose, determine, or effect any outcome. While the deities of the religions call for allegiance and ‘faith’ after a sort, they demonstrate their unworthiness to trust through lying and causing harm for amusement, according to their myths, which means that any call to ‘faith’ is a call to being fooled.

Whereas the pagan gods demand performance of many deeds for the possibility – not confirmation – of acceptance by them, which only results in their not always causing harm, the God of the Bible calls men to faith, in order to do us permanent good, and only effects ill consequences in punishment of wrong-doing. (This does not discuss the negative consequences of one person’s actions on other people or things, nor the cumulative negative consequences of sin in the world in general.) God’s purpose for God’s people is good, whereas the purpose of the people in the pagan religions is the amusement of the deities, whether or not at the cost or harm to the people themselves.

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