I believe in one God, the
Father Almighty, the maker of all things, visible and invisible. Regarding the greatness of God, I believe that God is spirit, and He is not composed of
matter and does not possess a physical nature.
He does not have the
limitations involved with a physical body. I base this belief based on what Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is spirit and his worshippers must
worship him in spirit and in truth.” I also believe that He is not destructible
since He is not of material nature. I believe that He is not restricted by
geographical location, and He cannot be contained or controlled by human beings.
Regarding His personality, I believe that God is personal and is an
individual being with self-consciousness
and capable of feeling, choosing, and having a reciprocal relationship
with other personal and social beings. God is to be treated as a being and not an object or force to be used or manipulated. God is an end in himself and
not a means to an end. I also believe that God is characterized by life as it
is affirmed in Scripture in several different ways. His very name, “I am”
(Exodus 3:14), indicates that He is a living God. Scripture does not argue for
His existence but affirms it or merely assumes it. I also believe that God’s life
is different from other living beings. While all other beings have
their life in God, He does not derive his life from any external source. The
continuation of his existence does not depend on anything outside of himself.
I
believe that God is uncaused and not self-caused. I affirm that God is infinite, which means God is unlimited, but He is unlimitable. The infinity
of God refers to his immensity and omnipresence. I also believe that God is
infinite in relation to time, and He was before time began. He is timeless, and, He does
not grow or develop, and there are no variations in His nature at different
points within His existence. I also believe that His understanding is
immeasurable, and we are completely transparent before God, and He sees and knows
completely. His infinity also refers to his attribute of omnipotence. By this, I
believe that God is able to do all things that are proper objects of his power.
I also believe that God is constant
and unchanging. This means that there is no quantitative change in God, and
He cannot increase in anything because He is already perfection. He cannot
decrease because that would cause Him to change His nature. I also believe that
there is no qualitative change happening in God. The character of God never
undergoes modification, and He does not change His mind.
Erickson, Christian Theology, 300.
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