2-Minute Theology - TRINITY BIBLE CHURCH

The Names of God: Part 1 - Elohim

8/8/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Names Of God: Part 1 - Elohim

The Hebrew title Elohim (ʾĕlōhîm) is translated as God in English 2,310 times.

For who is God (ʾĕlōhîm), but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God (ʾĕlōhîm), - Psalm 18:31

Elohim means the Mighty One, the Great One, or the Exalted One. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament states that the term “ʾĕlōhîm comes from ʾĕlōah as a unique development of the Hebrew Scriptures and represents chiefly the plurality of persons in the Trinity of the godhead.”1

The title Elohim is used in relation to God’s sovereignty.

…Who is called the God (ʾĕlōhîm) of all the earth. - Isaiah 54:5
Behold, I am the Lord, the God (ʾĕlōhîm) of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me? - Jeremiah 32:27
Then the king said to me, What would you request? So I prayed to the God (ʾĕlōhîm) of heaven. - Nehemiah 2:4

Elohim is also used in relation to God's work of Creation.

In the beginning God (ʾĕlōhîm) created the heavens and the earth - Genesis 1:1
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God (ʾĕlōhîm) who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), I am the Lord, and there is none else. - Isaiah 45:18
He said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God (ʾĕlōhîm) of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. - Jonah 1:9

The title Elohim is also associated with God’s judgment.

And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God (ʾĕlōhîm) Himself is judge. - Psalm 50:6
And men will say, Surely there is a reward for the righteous; Surely there is a God (ʾĕlōhîm) who judges on earth! - Psalm 58:11

ENDNOTES:

Jack B. Scott, “93 אלה,” ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 41.

The Anthropological Argument for God's Existence

8/8/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Anthropological Argument For God’s Existence

A third argument for God’s existence is the Anthropological Argument or Moral Argument. It argues that humanity’s recognition of morality cannot be attributed to any evolutionary process.

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, - Romans 2:14-15

Lewis Chafer states, “There are... moral features in man’s constitution which may be traced back to find their origin in God … A blind force … could never produce a man with intellect, sensibility, will, conscience, and inherent belief in a Creator.”1 That pagans, without having God’s written Law, value and practice the moral standards of God’s Law demonstrates an innate knowledge of God’s Law. Such knowledge did not evolve. Instead, God placed it within the conscience of humanity at Creation.

Another way to express the Moral Argument is by presenting two premises and drawing a conclusion.

Premise 1: If God does not exists, then objective moral values do not exists (i.e., laws require a law-giver).
Premise 2: Objective moral values do exist.
Conclusion: Since objective moral values exist, God exists.

Such an argument presents a conundrum for atheists. Atheists condemn rape and child abuse as immoral. That they deed these actions immoral requires that objective moral values exists. Since objective moral values exists, God exists.

ENDNOTES:

Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, 8 vols. (Dallas: Dallas Seminary, 1947) 1:155, 157.

The Teleological Argument for God's Existence

8/5/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Teleological Argument For God’s Existence

A second argument for God’s existence is known as the Teleological Argument. It argues for the existence of God based on the arrangement and intelligence displayed in the universe. Henry Theissen states that, “Order and useful arrangement in a system imply intelligence and purpose in the organizing cause.”1 Thus, by looking around at creation one sees evidence for God.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. - Psalm 19:1-2

The classic illustration of the Teleological Argument is the ‘Watchmaker Analogy’. William Paley states, “[S]uppose I found a watch upon the ground, [...] when we come to inspect the watch, we perceive […] that its every parts are framed and put together for a purpose e.g. that they are so formed and adjusted as to produce motion, and that motion so regulated as to point out the hour of the day; that, if the different parts had been differently shaped from what they are, [...] or placed after any other manner, or in any order than that in which they are placed, [then] no motion at all would have been carried on in the machine ...”2

Consider two examples of arrangement and intelligence in the created realm. The sun is ninety-three million miles from the earth. At that distance, it provides a climate which sustains life. A little farther from or closer to the earth and life on earth would not exist. The moon is two hundred and forty-thousand miles from the earth. At that distance, it creates the tides of the sea. The tides clean the shorelines, keep the ocean current circulating, and prevent the ocean from stagnation. These are but two examples of arrangement and intelligence in the universe that give evidence to God’s existence.

ENDNOTES:

Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, revised by Vernon D. Doerksen (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), p. 28.
William Paley, Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity (Boston: Gould and Lincoln, 1862), 5.

The Cosmological Argument for God's Existence

8/5/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Cosmological Argument For God’s Existence

The first argument for God’s existence is the Cosmological Argument. It is built on the Law of Causation which states, “Everything which exists in the world must have an adequate cause; and if this is so, the universe must also have an adequate cause, that is a cause which is indefinitely great.1 […] “Everything which has a beginning has a cause.”2

The Law of Causation requires that everything which exists have an indefinitely greater cause. In other words, something larger than the universe must exist, which in turn created the universe. The Scripture states that God created the universe.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. - Genesis 1:1

The phrase, ‘the heavens and the earth’ is a Hebraic figure of speech which refers to the universe. This is known as a merism in which two opposite ideas are joined together into a single, all inclusive concept.

That Causation is a Law necessitates the need for a lawgiver. The Scripture states that the Law of Causation is a God-ordained law.

For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. - Hebrews 3:4

The one who builds all things is none other than God. God is the only cause, and there are no others.

…I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me. - Isaiah 44:6
I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God… - Isaiah 45:5

Consider the sun. Its diameter is one hundred and nine times that of the earth. The sun’s volume is 1.3 million times the earth’s volume and 330,000 times the mass. The sun puts out 3.86 × 1026 watts of power requiring four million tonnes of matter to be converted every second into energy. If the sun is this large and powerful, how much larger and powerful is the God who created it?

ENDNOTES:

Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1938), 26.
W.T. Stace, A Critical History of Greek Philosophy (London: MacMillan and Co., 1934), 6.

God's Existence: A First Truth

8/1/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · God’s Existence - A First Truth

Scripture begins with God -- in the beginning, God (cf. Genesis 1:1). It provides no origin narrative. The Bible simply states that God exists and then outlines how God created the universe. That Scripture begins with God’s existence is known as a first truth. A first truth is a truth that is not proved or debated but held as foundational to all other truths. Augustus Strong states that “A first truth is a knowledge which, though developed upon occasion of observation and reflection, is not derived from observation and reflection.”1

A first truth is established by three tests. The first test is the universality of the truth. Universality does not mean that everyone accepts the truth, but that everyone displays a belief in a deity on some level. That the vast majority of humanity, separated by time and space, recognize the existence of a deity or deities demonstrates the universality of God’s existence as a first truth.

The second test is the coherence of the truth. In other words, while someone can deny the existence of a truth, they cannot disprove the truth. If someone claims that God does not exist, they must be prepared to explain why. However, for an individual to have sufficient evidence to deny God’s existence would require them to be everywhere (i.e., omnipresent) and all-knowing (i.e., omniscient). If they were omnipresent and omniscient, they themselves would be God. To deny the truth of God’s existence is indefensible.

The third test is the logic of the truth. For a truth to be logical, it must be argued according to the rules of formal argumentation. There are three arguments to demonstrate the logic behind the truth of God’s existence. Those arguments are cosmological, teleological, and anthropological.

ENDNOTES:

Augustus Hopkins Strong, Systematic Theology (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1907), 54.

Defining God

8/1/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · Defining God

Many attempt to define God according to their expectations of who or what God should or could be. As such, God has been defined as the eternal mind, the first ground of all being, and the absolute substance. Any attempt to define God according to manmade ideas or expectations is fallacious at best.

The Westminster Larger Catechism states that, “God is a Spirit, in and of himself infinite in being, glory, blessedness, and perfection; all-sufficient, eternal, unchangeable, incomprehensible, every where present, almighty, knowing all things, most wise, most holy, most just, most merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”1

Louis Berkhof states that God is, “…absolute, unchangeable and infinite in His knowledge and wisdom, His goodness and love, His grace and mercy, His righteousness and holiness.”2

Scripture says that eternal life is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent.

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. - John 17:3

Furthermore, God is a spirit and no one has seen the Father at any time.

God is spirit… - John 4:24
No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. - 1 John 4:12

However, Jesus has seen the Father.

Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. - John 6:46

In fact, He is the exact image of God.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. - Colossians 1:15

Jesus told the disciples that, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Therefore, search what the Scripture says about Jesus, and God will be defined.

ENDNOTES:

The Westminster Larger Catechism: With Scripture Proofs. (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996).
L. Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans publishing co., 1938), 56.

The Illumination of Scripture

7/29/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Illumination Of Scripture

The doctrine of illumination refers to “the ministry of the Holy Spirit whereby He enlightens those who are in a right relationship with Him to comprehend the written Word of God.” First, illumination is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Jesus prophesied that the Holy Spirit would teach truth to all believers.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. - John 14:26

Second, illumination is only available to believers, who are in a right relationship with God.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. […] If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. - 1 John 1:8, 10

Third, the truth, which the Holy Spirit enables the believer to understand, is God’s Word.

Sanctify them in the truth: Your word is truth. - John 17:17

Illumination is necessary for two reasons. One, the Bible is a book unlike any other human book, God wrote it. Human thinking alone is insufficient to perceived spiritual truths.

For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. - 1 Corinthians 2:11

Two, human thinking is not only insufficient, but it is also unregenerate.

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. - 1 Corinthians 2:14

Unless the Holy Spirit regenerates an individual, he or she may learn Bible facts, but they will never know the truth contained within its pages.

The Formation of Scripture: Part Two

7/29/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Formation Of Scripture - Part Two

As other Scriptures were penned after the Torah, they too were viewed as divine and placed beside the Ark of the Lord.

Then Samuel told the people the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book and placed it before the Lord. - 1 Samuel 10:25

Over the next several centuries, various prophets, priests, and appointed scribes recorded, assembled, and copied the Scriptures.

Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. - 1 Kings 14:19
So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. - 1 Chronicles 9:1
Now the acts of King David, from first to last, are written in the chronicles of Samuel the seer, in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet and in the chronicles of Gad the seer, - 1 Chronicles 29:29
Now, the acts of Asa from first to last, behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. - 2 Chronicles 16:11
These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed. - Proverbs 25:1

The books of Nathan and Gad were assimilated into what is commonly known as 1 and 2 Samuel. Daniel referenced a collection of sacred writings, which he referred to as the books or scrolls.

In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. - Daniel 9:2

The New Testament autographs were kept by the churches to whom they were written. In fact, most of the New Testament autographs were still in existence in the second century AD. According to Tertullian, “Come now, you who would indulge a better curiosity, if you would apply it to the business of your salvation, run over to the apostolic churches […] in which [the apostles] own authentic writings are read…”1

ENDNOTES:

Tertullian, “The Prescription against Heretics,” in Latin Christianity: Its Founder, Tertullian, ed. Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe, trans. Peter Holmes, vol. 3, The Ante-Nicene Fathers (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1885), 260.

The Formation Of Scripture: Part One

7/25/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Formation Of Scripture - Part One

As God spoke the Law to Moses, he recorded it on clay tablets and papyrus scrolls.

And he wrote upon the tablets (lûaḥ) the words of the covenant, - Exodus 34:28b
And it came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book (sēper), - Deuteronomy 31:24

In these passages, tablets translates the term lûaḥ (i.e., clay tablet) and book translates the term sēper (i.e., a scroll). The clay tablets were written before the papyrus scrolls. Thus, the tablet is the autograph, and the scroll is the apograph. This two-fold method of near simultaneous inscription demonstrates that an apograph existed which was an exact facsimile of the autograph. When finished, the papyrus scroll was placed beside the Ark of the Covenant.

It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, […] The Lord saying, Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you. - Deuteronomy 31:9, 24, 26

The placement of the Torah besides the Ark shows that it was finished. Also, by placing it beside the Ark, in the Holy of Holies, limited access to a select few and protected it from alteration. Protecting the Torah from alteration was significant for two primary reasons. One, the Torah was the standard or canon by which all other sacred writings were tested. Two, the Torah was the standard by which the kings and the nation were evaluated and judged (cf. 2 Kings 21:8, 10-13). If the Torah were in a continuous state of flux, it would lose its authority to be God’s standard.

The Harmony and Unity of Scripture

7/25/2020

TBC Glassboro Sermons and More · The Harmony And Unity Of Scripture

The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books (or forty-nine scrolls), written by forty different authors, over 1,600 years, yet there is not one contradiction. Choose any other subject matter, gather sixty-six books, by forty authors, spread over 1,600 years, on the chosen topic, and it will result in contradictions.

The Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. The largest portion of the Bible was written in Hebrew and the smallest portion in Aramaic. While much of the Bible was written in Israel, it was also penned in Babylon, Arabia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The human writers were kings, priests, prophets, soldiers, statesmen, shepherds, fisherman, a tax collector, a doctor, a tent-maker, and a farmer.

God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, - Hebrews 1:1-2a

The many portions refer to the various genres of the Bible: historical, legal, wisdom, psalms, prophecy, apocalyptic, gospel, and epistles.

The various occupations of the human authors account for the various literary genres of the Bible. The many ways refer to the various processes by which God communicated to man: dreams, visions, theophanies, angels, and prophets. Despite the diversity of languages, locations, authors, occupations, and genres, the Scripture is unique in its harmony and unity.