by Theology Proper
Definition – The Study of the Character of God. It is central to the rest of theology and supplies the framework within which one’s theology is constructed, life is lived, and ministry is conducted.[1] Some theologies picture a God who is constantly changing and do not seem to match the vision of Hebrews 13:8, which pictures Christ as the same “yesterday and today and forever.”[2] This is an example of why there are reasons to Study God.
Reason – There are many reasons to study theology proper. To obey the Great Commandment, a disciple must build a strong relationship with God and build an understanding of Him. Maturing in faith is another benefit of understanding who God is and how to be an imitator of Jesus Christ.
Divine Transcendence and Immanence – Transcendence refers to the idea that God is outside of space and time. He is unreachable. Immanence refers to the idea that God is with us and active. He is not distant and unreachable. Grenz and Olson explain, “The God who addresses us from beyond-from the then-and-there is the God who is with us in the present in the here-and-now. . .this truth lies at the heart of . . .balancing of the divine immanence with the divine transcendence.”[3]
Divine Trinity – The Trinity is the truth that God is one essence and three persons – The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Sproul states, “When the church declared that God is one essence, it was saying that God is not partly in one place and partly in another. God is only one being.”[4]
The Mystery of God – There is no single illustration of God that encompasses everything He is. When efforts are made, they are normally explanations of what He is not. Theologians state that He is “incomprehensible”. God is invisible to the naked human eye. We do not totally understand or know everything about Him. There will always be an element of mystery regarding God.[5]
Revelation (General and Special) – What we know about God is only what He has chosen to reveal. His self-revelation is consistent with his full nature but it is not an exhaustive revelation.[6] Sproul states, “It is not as if God has run away and failed to disclose anything about Himself. On the contrary, there is also what Luther referred to as the Deus revelatus, that part of God that He has revealed.”[7] There are two types of revelation, general and specific.
–>General – The Word of God states, “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.” (Rom 1:19) Poythress states, “This revelation of God through the created world is called general revelation, because it comes to all human beings.”[8]
–>Special – There are specific circumstances that God gives special revelation. They might be at specific times and places and include theophanies, miracles, or verbal revelation that was written down and has become Scripture.[9]
Incomprehensibility – God is incomprehensible to humans. This does not mean we cannot know anything about God, but our knowledge of Him will be limited. We can never, not even in heaven, have thorough knowledge of Him nor be able to comprehend all that He is.[10] Erickson states, “we do not mean that there is an unknown being or essence beyond or behind his attributes. Rather, we mean that we do not know his qualities or his nature completely and exhaustively.”[11]
Divine Attributes
Definition – Essential dimensions of God’s nature that have objective characteristics of His nature that are inseparable from His being or essence.[12] These attributes are qualities of the entire Godhead that are permanent and cannot be gained or lost. There are some items we are not referring to and those are His acts, such as creating, guiding, and preserving, nor to his corresponding roles of Creator, Guide, Preserver.[13]
Categories Overview (Incommunicable and Communicable) – There are various methods to categorize these attributes and this study will use the Reformed theologians’ categories of incommunicable, those that are not transferable from God, and communicable, those that are partially transferable to from God to human creatures.[14] Sproul explains, “The distinction between God’s communicable and incommunicable attributes is important because it helps us come to a clear understanding of the difference between God and any creature. No creature can ever possess an incommunicable attribute of almighty God.”[15]
Incommunicable Attributes
Definition – Attributes that cannot be transferred and cannot be found in humans.[16] These attributes are what separate the awesomeness of God from everything else.
- Aseity – aka self-existence. God is not dependent on anything else as He has the power of being in and of Himself.[17] God is set apart from any “cause and effect” principle.[18] Sproul states, “God cannot die.”[19]
- Eternality – God is eternal, and humans are not. God can give eternal life going forward but anything that has a beginning in time is, by definition, not eternal.[20]
- Worthy of Praise – Because of God’s incommunicable attributes, God is the only Being worthy of glory, honor, and praise.[21]
- Infinity – God is infinite, and humans are not.
- Omnipresence – God is everywhere simultaneously, and humans are not.[22]Omniscience – God has complete knowledge of the past, present, and future.
- Omnipotence – God has unlimited power and ability to do anything, including miracles, that are consistent with His nature.
- Immutability – God is the same today as He was yesterday and will be tomorrow. This includes His love, grace, justice, and mercy.
- Sovereignty – God is the only Being in authority over everything.
Communicable Attributes
Definition – Attributes that can be transferred and can partially be found in humans.[23] None of the attributes can be fully transferred and none of the attributes will make a human God.
- Love – John states, “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16, NIV). Jesus said, “the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31). Erickson states, “God’s love may be thought of as his eternal giving or sharing of himself.”[24] There are many dimensions of God’s love which are (1) benevolence, (2) grace, (3) mercy, and (4) persistence.[25]
- Justice and Righteousness – These are two different, inseparable attributes that explain why God always operates justly and never does anything that is unjust.[26] Sproul states, “the concept of justice is linked with the idea of righteousness, and it is based on the internal character of God. The fact that God is just means that He always acts according to righteousness.”[27]
- –>Justice and Non-Justice – “There are two universal categories: justice and non-justice. Everything outside the circle of justice is in the category of non-justice, but there are different kinds of non-justice. The mercy of God is outside the circle of justice and is a kind of non-justice. Also in this category is injustice. Injustice is evil; an act of injustice violates the principles of righteousness.”[28]
- Wisdom –Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon are all considered Wisdom Literature within the Old Testament.[29] James 1:5 says that wisdom is something that God gives freely to His people when asked.
- Holiness – Sproul explains, “The Holy Spirit works in us and through us to bring us into conformity with the image of Christ, that we might fulfill the mandate for holiness that God has imposed upon us.”[30] Regardless of how close we are conformed to the image of Jesus, will not be divine beings.[31]
Call for Personal Discipleship
The Call for Personal Discipleship – To be a follower of Jesus Christ, a Disciple must surrender to Him and make every attempt to imitate Him through the leadership of the Holy Spirit. “the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do” (John 14:12). This requires sanctification, and more broadly, spiritual formation. Johnson states, “Paul calls this the “obedience of faith” (Rom 1:5), and he argues that it reflects God’s plan for us, because we were “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (Eph. 2:10).”[32] Most of the communicable attributes need to be prioritized and be part of a disciple’s daily life. They include:
- Worthy of Praise – Adoration for God should be part of every prayer. Sproul states, “The One who is supreme deserves the obedience and the worship of those whom He has made.”[33]
- Love – The Great Commission and the New Commission from Jesus commands all disciples to love. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph. 5:1–2). To understand Biblical love, refer to 1 Corinthians 13.
- Justice and Righteousness – “To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” (Prov. 21:3), “Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.” (Psalm 106:3). Both of these are commands that disciples should continually emulate.
- Wisdom – Asking for wisdom needs to be a normal request from a disciple whenever faced with a difficult situation or in need of answers, knowledge, or direction. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Prov. 9:10)
- Holiness – “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44; 1 Peter 1:16). Sproul explains, “When we are grafted into Christ, we are renewed inwardly by the Holy Spirit. The third person of the Trinity is called ‘holy’ in part because His primary task in the Trinitarian work of redemption is to apply the work of Christ to us.”[34] God’s holiness is an example of His greatness and His transcendence[35]
Reflection
Reflection – There are a lot of changes a disciple must make to be a follower of Christ. Sproul states, “Is it going to be distress, peril, the sword, persecution, suffering, sickness, or human hostility? Paul is saying that no matter what we have to endure in this world as Christians, nothing has the power to sever the relationship we have to a loving and sovereign providence.”[36]
- Each disciple takes a turn to openly reflect on those attributes that stood out for him or her.
- Have the team establish what an optimal level of maturity would be for each communicable attribute. This will be used when each disciple creates a gap analysis of where he or she is currently and what optimal would look like.
- Discuss how the incommunicable attributes prove the wonder of God. Each disciple should select and integrate one of them into his or her daily prayer when doing an adoration to God.
- Each disciple privately reviews each attribute and identifies his or her current maturity level against an optimal level that would be considered part of the daily lifestyle. Identify what scores are high and what scores are low. Understand and identify what is needed to fill the gaps between current state and optimal state.
Action Plan
Each Disciple creates a five-week plan where one or two attributes are integrated each week into the disciple’s daily lifestyle. The intent is to ensure that a disciples life is transformed to closely align with being a follower of Christ. The plan can be in paper form or electronic as each disciple has a preference on how to organize and manage their lifestyle through technology.
Each disciple exchanges his or her action plan with another disciple to be an accountability coach. Johnson states, “we build up the church by participating in its mission. Christ lived and died in the world for the sake of the world, and the community that lives with him, shares his knowledge and exists as his body must do the same” [37]
The pair of disciples who exchanged action plans, establish weekly phone calls to review progress, hold each other accountable, pray for each other, and encourage each other.
Integrate Worship and Prayer
- Include action plan completion and transformation of self in daily prayer.
- Ensure at least 15 Minutes of prayer is dedicated to each attribute being integrated into daily lifestyle.
Conclusion
Each disciple openly reflects with the team on content and action plan.
Establish follow-up calls with each Disciple to understand progress, provide feedback, give encouragement, and agree on next steps.
Closing prayer that asks for maturity in the body of Christ with the new lessons learned and being integrated into each disciple’s lifestyle.
Bibliography
Erickson, Millard J. Christian Theology. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013.
Grenz, Stanley J., and Roger E. Olson. 20th-Century Theology : God and the World in a Transitional Age. InterVarsity Press, 1993. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=4662000.
Halton, Charles. A Human-Shaped God : Theology of an Embodied God. Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2021. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=6768406.
Johnson, Keith L. Theology as Discipleship. InterVarsity Press Academic, 2015.
Poythress, Vern S. Theophany : A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing. Crossway, 2018. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=6232620.
Sproul, R. C. What Can We Know about God?. First edition., vol. 27. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust: A Division of Ligonier Ministries, 2017.
[1] Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 234.
[2] Charles Halton, A Human-Shaped God : Theology of an Embodied God, (Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, 2021), 14. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=6768406.
[3] Stanley J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson, 20th-Century Theology : God and the World in a Transitional Age (InterVarsity Press, 1993), 315. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=4662000.
[4] R. C. Sproul, What Can We Know about God?, First edition., vol. 27, The Crucial Questions Series (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust: A Division of Ligonier Ministries, 2017), 26.
[5] Erickson, Christian Theology, 237.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Sproul, What Can, 50–51.
[8] Vern S. Poythress, Theophany : A Biblical Theology of God’s Appearing (Crossway, 2018), 84. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/liberty/detail.action?docID=6232620.
[9] Ibid., 85.
[10] Sproul, What Can, 5.
[11] Erickson, Christian Theology, 237.
[12] Erickson, Christian Theology, 237.
[13]Ibid., 236.
[14] Ibid., 237.
[15] Sproul, What Can, 33.
[16] Erickson, Christian Theology, 237.
[17] Sproul, What Can, 34.
[18] Ibid., 35.
[19] Ibid., 36.
[20] Sproul, What Can, 36.
[21] Ibid., 37.
[22] Erickson, Christian Theology, 237.
[23] Erickson, Christian Theology, 237.
[24] Ibid., 262.
[25] Ibid.
[26] Sproul, What Can, 43.
[27] Ibid.
[28] Sproul, What Can, 44.
[29] Ibid., 46.
[30] Ibid., 41.
[31] Ibid., 41.
[32] Keith L. Johnson, Theology as Discipleship (InterVarsity Press Academic, 2015), 162.
[33] Sproul, What Can, 37.
[34] Ibid., 41.
[35] Ibid., 40.
[36] Sproul, What Can, 63.
[37] Johnson, Theology, 175.