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03. The triune God.
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03. The triune God.
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03. The triune God51. Who is the triune God?
God is a spiritual, perfect, and completely independent being. He is eternal, without beginning and
without end. The one God is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
When we talk about “the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”, we are not referring to three different
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gods, but rather three persons who are the one God.
The Trinity of God: see Questions 61. et seq., 198.
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52. What characteristics of God do we know?
Human beings are incapable of fully describing God. However, we know some of God’s
characteristics: He is the One God (the only God), the Holy One, The Almighty, the Eternal, the
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Loving One, the Gracious One, the Righteous One, and the Perfect One.
53. What does it mean when we say: “God is the One God”?
There is only one God. Belief in the One God is a fundamental profession of the Old and New
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Testaments, and is thus also fundamental to the Christian faith.
‘Monotheism’ is the designation for the doctrine that there is only a single God. Monotheistic religions
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include, for example, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
“Thus says the Lord, the King of I srael, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am
the Last; besides Me there is no God.’” Isaiah 44: 6
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one...” Mark 12: 29
54. What does it mean to say: “God is the Holy One”?
,Holiness is part of God’s nature, being, and activity. Holiness incorporates majesty, inviolability, and
separateness from the profane. God’s word and will are likewise holy.
The holiness of God sanctifies the place where He reveals Himself.
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!” Isaiah 6: 3
55. What does it mean when we say: “God is the Almighty”?
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God can do all things. Nothing is impossible for Him. God’s will and activity cannot be limited by
anyone. The creation clearly demonstrates that God is almighty. All things have been created through
His word alone. He has created everything that exists— including everything that we human beings
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can see, and everything that we cannot see—from nothing. It will also be through His omnipotence
that the new creation will come into being. God’s omnipotence also includes His omniscience and
omnipresence.
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New creation: see Question 581.
“But He said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God’.” Luke 18: 27
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are
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seen were not made of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11: 3
56. What does it mean to say: “God is the Eternal”?
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God is without beginning and without end. There are no chronological limitations for Him. God is the
Creator of time and is Lord over it.
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from
everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” Psalm 90: 2
57. What does it mean when we say: “God is the Loving One”?
Already in the old covenant, God revealed Himself as the Loving One by electing the people of Israel
and liberating them from captivity in Egypt. He revealed Himself to all mankind as the Loving One by
,sending His Son for the salvation of all human beings. Apostle John wrote: “And we have known and
believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God
in him” (1 John 4: 16).
“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.”
Jeremiah 31: 3
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
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not perish but have everlasting life.”
John 3: 16
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58. What does it mean when we say: “God is the Gracious One”?
God turns to mankind in mercy, grace, patience, and kindness (cf. Psalm 103: 8). That God is
gracious is demonstrated first and foremost by the fact that He accepts human beings, who are
entangled in sin, and forgives sin. Also included here is the fact that God became human in Jesus
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Christ.
No one can earn the grace of God. It is a gift.
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59. What does it mean to say that “God is the Righteous One”?
Everything that God does is right. He makes no mistakes. “His work is perfect; for all His ways are
justice” (Deuteronomy 32: 4). Human beings can depend on God’s righteousness and reliability: “He
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who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5: 24).
Another expression of God’s righteousness are His laws, for example, that human beings reap what
they sow (cf. Galatians 6: 7), and that the wages of sin is death (cf. Romans 6: 23).
However, God’s grace stands above everything else. This too is part of His righteousness. Through
Jesus Christ, sinners—who have only earned punishment— can receive grace. As a result, God will
no longer hold their sins and transgressions against them.
“The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgements endures forever.”
Psalm 119: 160
, “Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgements.”
Revelation 16: 7
“[They are] justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 3: 24
60. What does it mean to say: “God is the Perfect One”?
God’s works are good and His ways are right. He does not act on the basis of any external
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necessities or constraints, but solely on the basis of His own perfect will. God is completely free in His
decisions.
God’s perfection incorporates truth. With God there is no lie, deception, or uncertainty, nor is there
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any difference between His will and His actions. Human beings can experience the perfection of God
in Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ was the only one on earth who was perfect, that is, without sin,
without error, in word or deed.
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“As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.”
Psalm 18: 30
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61. What does it mean when we talk about the “triune God”?
When we talk about the “triune God”, we mean that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the
one God. Here we are not referring to three gods, but rather one God in three persons.
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62. Why do Christians believe that God is triune?
Both the Old and New Testaments contain many references to the trinity of God. It is on the basis of
these biblical attestations that Christians believe in the triune God.
63. What references to the triune God are there in the Old Testament?
The first such reference to the trinity of God is found in Genesis 1: 26: “Let Us make man in Our
image, according to Our likeness.” The use of the plural “Let Us” is a reference to the activity of God
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