Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 2)

Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter 2

Of God, and of the Holy Trinity (Part 2)

II. God has all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He has made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting His own glory in, by, unto, and upon them. He is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; and has most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever Himself pleases. In His sight all things are open and manifest, His knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to Him contingent, or uncertain. He is most holy in all His counsels, in all His works, and in all His commands. To Him is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience He is pleased to require of them.

God is the source of life, glory, goodness, and blessedness. Life originates with Him. He alone is due glory (i.e., honor). He is the fountain of blessing. This statement locates all that is good in God; any manifestation of good/blessedness must be derivative.

This section speaks of God’s independence (i.e., He is complete self-sufficient. He is in need of nothing/no one). He is the origin and sustainer of all but needs nothing Himself. It is difficult for us to grasp this concept. Imagine that there was a time when only God was. Nothing else had been created. no angels, space, planets, stars, or people. While He needs nothing, His creatures need Him for the air they breathe, the food they eat, the health they enjoy, the intelligence they use, etc. It’s amazing how much we boast of our “independence” and “rights” when we are not free from the care of others from the day we are conceived until the day we die!

The Bible teaches God is complete within Himself. His worthiness does not increase or decrease according to how sinners respond. He always was and always will be what He is. Because God is the source/sustainer of all things, it is logical that He has sovereign dominion over all things. He is free to use what He has made according to His own purposes. He is not subject to our ideas of fairness, equity, or justice. Our ideas are only perversions of true fairness, equity and justice if they differ with God’s character and word.

Naturally, the God described thus far has exhaustive knowledge of everything. There are no such things as “the unknown,” “accidents,” “surprises” or “new knowledge” as far as God is concerned. It was just stated that this God has sovereign dominion over all. He can’t be sovereign and subject to learning.

All that God is/does is holy (i.e., morally and spiritually pure). In fact, He is the standard by which all else is measured. Since God is what He is, it is reasonable for creatures to pay homage to the Creator. Note that the Divines don’t leave this matter up to the creatures. God specifies what He requires of us. our duty is to give it.

III. In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost: the Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding. the Son is eternally begotten of the Father. the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.

Here, the doctrine of the Trinity is stated: “in the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity…” The statement itself sounds so clinical and straightforward. however, this is one of the most mysterious teachings of Scripture and, we might add, one of the most awe-inspiring. The Christian doctrine of the Trinity states there is unity and diversity in the Godhead. The phrase, “three in one” has become well-known. There is unity in that God has one substance, power and eternity. The properties of the Godhead are mutual. There is diversity, however, seen in the identification of three “persons” in this Godhead. They each share the same substance, power, eternity, etc. The implications of the doctrine of the Trinity go far beyond what we propose to do in this study. Let it be said, however, that this doctrine is unique. It is a doctrine derived from the revelation of this Three-in-One God.

The writers identify the three persons of the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. It is important that we understand a few things: we are not talking about three gods that sometimes function as one. We are not talking about one God with three “faces” or “modes” of existence. The Bible is clear regarding three distinct Persons within the one Godhead. The fact that this is beyond our understanding does not nullify what Scripture teaches.

The last statement in this section explains the relationship of the three members of the Godhead to one another: the Father “begat” the Son, the Son proceeds from the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.