Belgic Confession, Article I: There is Only One God

[Carl Gobelman]

We all believe with the heart and confess with the mouth that there is one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God; and that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good. (BC, Article I)

We live in what Michael Horton, in his book Christless Christianity, calls a post-Christian culture. In other words, the idea that America is a 'Christian' nation is no longer true. Despite what statistics say (depending on which source you cite, over 80% of Americans claim to be Christian), America is not a Christian nation. In fact I would even go so far as to say that America was never a 'Christian' nation. The 'faith' of the Founding Fathers was something more akin to Deism than Christianity. In essence, Deism is the belief in a Supreme Being, God, who created all things, but is not intimately involved in the 'day-to-day' details of life on earth; i.e., a deist would acknowledge the transcendence of God, but deny his immanence. To be sure that while many of the governing principles included in the U.S. Constitution can trace their origin to Biblical principles, the Founders were intentional about creating an environment of religious freedom, not a distinctly Christian nation.

America has gone through periods of greater or lesser religious awareness. There was the first Great Awakening that occurred in the early 18^th century with the preaching of Jonathon Edwards, George Whitefield and others. America has gone through seasons of revival, but the current climate is ruled by the philosophy of post-modernism. Essentially, post-modernism is reaction against modernism, which was the prevailing mindset during the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. Modernism heralded the progress of human achievement and the primacy of human reason. Two world wars later and the 'bloom was off the rose' of modernism. Post-modernism stepped in to fill the void. If there is a word to capture the core of post-modernity, it would be relativism. The following quote from D.A. Carson highlights this thought:

"Modernism is often pictured as pursuing truth, absolutism, linear thinking, rationalism, certainty, the cerebral as opposed to the effective -- which in turn breeds arrogance, and inflexibility, the lust to be right, the desire to control. Postmodernism, by contrast, recognizes how much of what we 'know' is shaped by the culture in which we live, is controlled by emotions and aesthetics and heritage, and in fact can only be intelligently held as part of a common tradition, without overbearing claims to be true or right."[1]

The point of all this is to show that in a post-Christian culture we can no longer assume that people have a working understanding of who, or what, God is, much less possessing a working understanding of Scripture. There might have been a time 60, 50 or even 40 years ago when most Americans had a basic understanding of Biblical concepts, but not anymore. The pervasive relativism of post-modernity has eroded that Biblical framework and replaced it with the latest philosophical fad.

This relativism has crept into the church as well. Dr. Horton argues that even 'conservative, evangelical' churches have bought into this phenomenon. As I have argued elsewhere, the teaching of doctrine is all but non-existent, and the Biblical literacy of our churches is in sad shape. This is why my view of church has been shifting of late. Doctrine needs to be taught! Furthermore, the historic creeds and confessions of the Protestant Reformation now become valuable tools in the teaching of doctrine to the church. Not only do these confessions state where one stands regarding certain teachings, but they help articulate what we believe and why we believe it.

Beginning with this article, we will look at the historic creeds and confessions of the Reformation; starting with the Belgic Confession. This confession, in 37 'articles,' is one of the finest summaries of Biblical doctrine from the Protestant Reformation. The first article of the Belgic Confession begins with God-his existence and his attributes.

We all believe with the heart and confess with the mouth that there is one only simple and spiritual Being, which we call God. The first article of the Christian faith is the existence of God. As with the Bible itself, there is no attempt to 'prove' the existence of God. The very first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) introduces us to the eternal, Creator God and asserts his existence as a matter of fact. This, of course, flies in the face of our post-Christian, post-modern culture. It is anything but a matter of fact that God exists. Regarding the existence of God, there are five basic camps that everyone falls into:

1. Theism - A theist believes in a transcendent, Creator God who also is closely involved with his creation.
2. Atheism - An atheist believes matter-of-factly that there is no God.
3. Agnosticism - An agnostic believes that the existence of God is ultimately unknowable; there is not enough evidence to say one way or the other.
4. Deism - As mentioned earlier, a deist is one who believes in a transcendent, Creator God, but denies that God is closely involved with his creation.
5. Pantheism - A pantheist believes that all creation emanates from God and is part of God; i.e., God is in everything and everything is in God.

Americans can fall into all five camps, though the vast majority would be either theists or deists.

What the first article of the Belgic Confession is asserting is that in order to be a Christian, one must believe in the existence of God (Hebrews 11:6). It is the primary article of our faith. Without this first point, the rest of Christianity falls in on itself. Not only do we believe in the existence of God, but we must believe certain facts about God. First and foremost, we believe in only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4). Christianity is strictly monotheistic. We are not pantheistic like the ancient pagan civilizations (e.g., Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans). Nor are we monotheistic in the sense that we have our God and you have yours. We are monotheistic in the sense that the God of Christianity is the only God that exists (Isaiah 46:8-9).

Furthermore, the one God that we believe in is a spiritual Being. This means that God, in his essence, is an immaterial Being. Unlike human beings, who are comprised of body and soul (or body, soul and spirit), God is not constrained by the physical realm. He is a spiritual Being (John 4:24) and can be present anywhere and everywhere at once. In a word, God is omnipresent. The Bible does record theophanies, in which God physically manifests himself to mankind (e.g., to Abraham in Genesis 18), but God is essentially a spiritual Being.

And that He is eternal, incomprehensible, invisible, immutable, infinite, almighty, perfectly wise, just, good, and the overflowing fountain of all good. The balance of the first article is a list a sample of some of God's attributes. Again, it must be understood that this is how God reveals himself in his word; we must believe in God as he has revealed himself in Scripture.

God is eternal! Moses wrote, "Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God" (Psalm 90:1-2). To say 'God is eternal' means to say that God has no beginning or ending. God is uncreated. He is necessary being. This is a hard concept for finite minds to grasp. According to British philosopher, John Stuart Mill, the 'folly' of an uncreated God was the turning point in his rejecting Christianity. If God made me, Mill wondered, then who made God? The answer is "no one made God because God is eternal."

God is incomprehensible. Isaiah prophesied, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). There are two reasons why God is incomprehensible. First there is the gap between the finite (us) and the infinite (God). Second there is the reality of our fallen state. Our default position is contrary to God, and therefore we do not naturally conform to God's ways.

God is invisible. Part and parcel with being a spiritual Being is the fact that God is invisible. The Apostle John said that "no can see God" (John 1:18) and the Apostle Paul says of Jesus that he is "the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). The spiritual cannot be perceived with the physical senses. As mentioned earlier, there have been recorded theophanies, but God is essentially invisible.

God is immutable. The prophet Malachi proclaimed to the children of Israel, "For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed" (Malachi 3:6). Immutability is precisely that attribute of God which declares his unchanging nature. God is not capricious like we are. We change our minds all the time; God is unchanging in his being, purposes and promises. Some may argue that God's inability to change marks some kind of deficiency in his character. However, quite the opposite is true. God doesn't change because he is perfect in every way. His knowledge and wisdom are perfect which means his plans and purposes are perfect because they are based on a perfect knowledge of all things. Our purposes and plans change because our knowledge is incomplete, so we adjust as our knowledge changes.

Another thing on God's immutability: Some Biblical passages describe God as "changing his mind" (e.g., Jonah 3:10). The question needs to be asked: Did God change his mind, or did the situation change, thereby prompting a different response from God? The example cited comes from the book of Jonah. God told Jonah to pronounce his intention to destroy the city of Nineveh along with its inhabitants. When Jonah eventually gets to preach his 'one-line' sermon (after being diverted by a short stay in a large fish), the Ninevites repent and God stays his judgment. The Bible describes God as "relenting." However, where was the actual change? Was in the mind and purposes of God, or was it in the hearts and minds of the Ninevites? The Ninevites were the ones who repented; their repentance prompted a different response from God, but God didn't change in his being, purposes or promises.

God is infinite. When King Solomon built the temple, he uttered these words, "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). When we say that God is infinite, we are speaking about that aspect of his being by which he is free from all limitations. As Berkhof says, "It [the infinity of the divine Being] should not be understood in a quantitative, but in a qualitative sense; it qualifies all of the communicable attributes of God."[2] For example, to say that God is infinitely wise isn't to say that he is just wiser than any of us, but that his wisdom is infinitely superior to ours in every sense of the word.

God is almighty. Job stated, "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). When we say that God is almighty, we are speaking of his omnipotence. God's omnipotence is his ability to accomplish everything that he wills and purposes to do. God is not frustrated or thwarted when it comes to his will because he has the power to carry it out. God's omnipotence is part of what Berkhof calls God's attributes of sovereignty. God, as sovereign, not only wills that event occur, but also has the power to fulfill his sovereign will. Without omnipotence, God would not be sovereign.

God is perfectly wise. Paul writes to the Romans, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" (Romans 11:33). Wisdom is essentially the application of knowledge to a given end. God being perfectly wise always and perfectly chooses the best means possible to achieve a given end. Whereas the wisdom a human being gains is accumulated throughout the course of his or her life, God's wisdom is inherent within him. He never had to grow in wisdom through trial and error. It is in his essential nature to be perfectly wise.

God is just. Moses sang of God that he was "The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4). God will always do what is right. He will always execute perfect justice because he is fair and equitable. God is the perfect Judge and administrator of justice; no one will be able to accuse God of acting unjustly. This, of course, has tremendous implications during the final judgment at the end of the age.

God is good, and the overflowing fountain of all good. When Moses asked God to show him his glory, God told Moses, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The Lord.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy" (Exodus 33:19). At which point, God hid Moses within the cleft of the rock and passed before him proclaiming his name, "The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness" (Exodus 34:6). The goodness of God is a broad term encompassing all of his beneficent attributes as outlined above (e.g., mercy, grace, patience, steadfast love and faithfulness). God is not only inherently good, but is also the standard by which anything can be called 'good.' As James writes, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17).

The preceding is just a partial list of God's attributes which is by no means exhaustive. Furthermore, these attributes are not to be understood as 'parts' of God. For example, God is part love, part goodness, part omnipotent, etc. They are all perfectly harmonized and unified within the divine essence. The divine attributes modify and support one another.

The important thing to remember is that as an article of Christian faith, this is the God we affirm and believe in. If we deny the God portrayed in this article of faith, then we are not worshipping the Christian God; and are therefore guilty of idolatry. Article II of the Belgic Confession will teach us how anything about this God we worship and adore. Until then, Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!!!

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[1] Carson, D. A., Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan), 2005, p. 27. [2] Berkhof, Louis. Systematic Theology, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans), 1938, p. 60