It begins by explaining God. Now the titles were not in the original document written by Guido; they were added later for the purpose of categorizing them. Here is Article 1: "The Only God"
We all believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being, whom we call God--eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty, completely wise, just and good, and the overflowing source of all good.
There are many ways in today's world that people try to describe God.
"I think God is like a watchmaker; who made the world, then stepped aside to let it run on its own"
"I think God is like a man doing a puppet show and humans are the puppets; allowed only to go where he says we can go"
"I think God is like.....[fill in the blank]"
But you see, when someone begins a sentence like this, "I think God is like...", you can be certain that this person probably doesn't have the slightest clue to what God is like. This may sound a bit harsh, but it is so true because the only way we can know God is through the general and special revelation; therefore if we say anything outside of that realm; it would be and should be rendered false or 'made up' by our own imagination. Therefore, this would lead us to creating a mental image of God that isn't even true; a form of idolatry that pervades the church and the world alike today.
And Guido de Bres begins the Confession by describing God using Biblical terms. The first half of the article is as Plantinga says "reminds us of several features of the whole Confession" while the second half of the article names 10 attributes of God.
The first half can be broken up phrase by phrase:
"We all" reminds us of the plurality or the communal aspect to which Guido is writing to; the persecutors--King Phillip II and armies and from whom he is writing, namely the Christians being persecuted.
"believe with the heart and confess with the mouth"
This is a paraphrase of Romans 10:9 "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
Believing in our heart is being committed to the absolute core of who we are that God is really God and God is really who He says He is as revealed in the His Word. And this belief must be confessed as de Bres mentions also. Both of these are key for the Christian; we must not only believe, but also confess. For if we confess God to those around us in our daily lives; then surely Jesus will confess us on judgment day (Luke 12:8-9). What an astounding truth!
"that there is a single"
This is fighting against the belief that Christians are polytheistic--believing in more than one supreme being. We do believe in the Trinity--Father, Son and Holy Spirit--but we believe that they are one (more on the Trinity on Article 8 and 9). To say that God is a "single" being comes from Scripture, the following illustrate this:
Deuteronomy 6:4 "Here, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one."
Isaiah 44:6-8 "This is what the LORD says--Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare it and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come--yes, let him foretell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."
James 2:19 "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder."
1 Corinthians 8:4 "So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and there is no God but one."
1 Timothy 2:5 "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..."
By naming God as a "single" being or naming Him as "one" is naming God as unified being. This, in fact, as Dr. Doug Felch (Theology Professor at Kuyper College, Grand Rapids, MI) says, "this is the one great pillar on which the whole Christian faith is built." If God is not one; our faith is false and if God isn't a single being; our faith is false.
"and simple"
This is a tough description to figure out. What does it mean that God is a 'simple being'? Well, this is a technical theological term; it isn't the term that we think of when we think of 'simple'. This refers to, once again, the oneness of God against the heresy that God is made up of parts. The texts above prove this also as well as many more text from the Bible.
"spiritual being"
In John 4:24 Jesus states that "God is spirit" and Paul does also in Galatians 3:20. To confess and believe that God is a spiritual being as Guido does; it affirms that God is immaterial, thus meaning that he has no body and no extensions in space.
"whom we call God"
God here doesn't necessarily refer to God the Father, God the Son or God the Holy Spirit; rather it refers to the essence of divinity possessed by all three members of the Trinity as Plantinga states.
Moving on to the second half of this article; we find that Guido not only believes in a God, but also what we believe God to be which is derived from Scripture. There are a number of attributes given to God due to the revelation of Himself to us through His Word; however Guido only mentions 10 of them. But there is one thing that we must note before we dive into the meaning of these attributes. The way these attributes and Being relate to one another is that these attributes are essential to who God is; while humans on the other hand possess certain attributes. For example; God is love and if He would cease to exist loving; then God wouldn't be God anymore. If we cease to love people; then we would still be human. Not so the case with God. If ceases to be who He says He is; then He ceases to be God.
1. Eternal
What does it mean that God is eternal? The dictionary says that 'eternal' is an adjective meaning, "lasting or existing forever; without end or beginning." Therefore, Guido is saying that God exists outside of time; He has always existed and will always exist; there is no beginning or end to God. This is difficult for some to understand because God transcends time and is not subject to the limitations that time offers. Time is part of the created order of things; God didn't create the world in time or at a particular time; God created the world with time. Because of this, God has no past or future; all things are eternally present to Him. Thus God does not dwell in time, time dwells in God.
Text from the Bible to support this are as follows:
Genesis 21:33 "Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called upon the name of the LORD, the Eternal God."
Psalm 29:10 "The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever."
Psalm 90:2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."
Isaiah 40:28 "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth..."
The importance of God being eternal is that it helps explain the eternal generation of the Son--Jesus Christ. The Son is eternally generated from the Father; the Son is not temporally begotten, there was a time when the Son wasn't of the Father. The Son was never made.
The importance of God being eternal also helps us understand our relationship to God. For God is a faithful God and nothing that happens takes God by surprise; He is our eternal dwelling place. God isn't in a hurry to deal with things because He deals with eternity; this teaches humanity in relationship with Him patience and comfort to know that all things are in God's control.
2. Incomprehensible
God is incomprehensible meaning that God cannot fully be known. He is above all created things; therefore He cannot be fully known. He can be known; and this knowledge comes from the ways which He reveals Himself through His Word and through His Word only (more on this in Article 2).
Some texts from the Bible to support this:
1 Kings 8:27 [Solomon's Prayer] "But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!"
Romans 11:33-34 "Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and His paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?"
This is important for us as humans because sometimes we think that we have God "all figured out". We thinkt that we know the ways that He will act and the things that He will do at certain times of life. However, we cannot know the mind of the Lord and no one can counsel God for His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. Therefore, we should not assume that we know how God will act or what God will do for when we get the slightest hint of thinking this way--we too will be foolishly ashamed of our misjudgment.
3. Invisible
When we speak of God being invisible, we speak of God not being seen to the human eye; not visible to what we think God is.
Some Scripture from God's Word to support this are the following:
Romans 1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen,being understood from what has been made so taht men are without excuse."
This is important for God's relationship to us, human beings, because no one has seen God; therefore no one knows what He is like; therefore the moment we try to "make God up in our mind" proves to be false; since we have not known who He is or what He is like.
4. Unchangeable
God being unchangeable means for God to not change His essence. God does not change who He is for then He would cease to be God. He doesn't mutate; He is forever the same and is therefore void of all change in His being, perfections, purposes and promises.
Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"
1 Samuel 15:29 "The Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind."
Malachi 3:6 "I the LORD do not change."
James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."
What a comfort to know that the God who rules the universe and has created all things does not change! He is constant and never differs from Himself; He remains Himself without change!
5. Infinite
This attribute of God is closely related to eternal. Infinity of God is the perfection of His nature by which everything belongs to His being or character there is no limit. God is not limited by the world that He has made.
Some texts to support this:
Psalm 139:7-10 "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast."
Psalm 145:3 "Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom!"
This is important for understanding God because it helps us realize that God is not like us. Infinity is hard to comprehend; however, because God is infinite, it allows Him to be personal. God can deal with us as if we were the only one alive! If you don't understand the infinity of God; then how can you understand prayer?
6. Almighty
By naming God as 'almighty' Guido is pointing to the mighty and great power of God that is in control of everything that He has created. God's power is not limited by anything that has been created; His power is greater than anything created.
Genesis 17:1 "When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless."
Psalm 104 [whole thing]
What a comfort again to know that all that is created is of a lesser power to God. God controls all things by His might for nothing is out of His control.
7. Completely Wise
If God is eternal, infinite and almighty; then how can He not be completely wise? He knows all things and will know all things; nothing that happens takes God by surprise.
Job 12:13 "To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding our His."
Again, a comfort to know that God is seeing all things and knows how to handle all situations that happen here on earth; nothing is surprising for our great God!
8. Just
This is an attribute that many people have a hard time with mainly I think anyways, they don't understand what "just or justice" actually is. It is getting what someone deserves. If you kill someone, you deserve jail/prison time. If you break a rule at home, you deserve a punishment, etc. However, many people view God's justice as something that makes God angry--it is known by some as "God's angry side." I have heard it said, "When God gets angry, we need to explain that someone, therefore we call it 'justice' and think that it is just who God is and we don't have to worry about what this anger really means"
Deuteronomy 32:4 "He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He." [This is from the Song of Moses]
Isaiah 61:8 "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity."
And for God's justice; men have ridden on mopeds 8,603.1 miles circumnavigating the United States of America to promote God's justice in the land for those being human trafficked and for those who are doing the human trafficking. If you don't believe me, go to YouTube and type in "Moped Justice Mission" and there are two videos. Or click here to read the blog about the trip.
9. Good and the Overflowing Source of All Good
There have been many debates over what the meaning of "good" is in theological circles. However, what I want to mention here is remember the context that Guide de Bres is writing this in....he is getting persecuted as well as other Christians. And he is writing this to the one who is persecuting him. Guido is basically saying, "No matter what you do to me; I still believe that God is good and He is the overflowing source of all good." WOW!
Now that is some incredible faith.
So from this list of attributes, though it isn't complete, there is a great picture of a marvelous and wonderful God whom we should stand in awe of; thanking Him for all He has given us and remembering His care for our lives--because this simple, eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, unchangeable, infinite, almighty, completely wise, just and good and the overflowing source of all good God--is personally in touch with us and all of creation. He cares for all that He has created.
Praise the Lord!
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