doctrine of god this is being posted as a general outline for your personal study of this doctrine the doctrine of god i the persons of the godhead of all of the doctrines of scripture this is the most important the bible is pre eminently a revelation of god therefore our first objective in studying the bible should be to know god i believe that the bible teaches that there are three persons in the godhead trinity god the father god the son the lord jesus christ and god the holy spirit i believe that they are individual persons who are one in nature meaning that they are identical in nature each possessing the same divine attributes they are also equally worthy of our worship our trust and our obedience cf matt cor john ii the attributes or characteristics of the godhead a god s nature is revealed in the name he has taken for himself jehovah he is the living god eternal and unchanging he is without beginning and without ending cf isa b god is a spirit cf john c god is love cf john as such he is gracious merciful good faithful patient and full of lovingkindness cf psa psa nahum d but god is also holy and righteous he is absolutely without sin in his nature and so is incapable of sinning in though word or action cf ex isa e god is omnipresent everywhere present at the same time in the completeness of his person omniscient all knowing knowing all things the end from the beginning infinitely wise omnipotent almighty sovereign with unlimited power over all creation god is infinite in his presence wisdom and power it is my conviction that the work of the lord in our day has become very man centered and that the people in our churches know very little about god i believe that the lord s work needs to be god centered and that the people of god need to understand that god is sovereign in all things in the affairs of nations in the lives of all people and in the carrying out of his purposes regarding salvation iii the works of the godhead a in creation all three persons of the godhead were active in creating and all three are active in sustaining creation and in ordering the course of human affairs for nations as well as individual people to the end of time cf gen john col heb b in salvation in order to understand salvation i believe that it is absolutely necessary to begin with god not with man all three persons of the godhead have been and are active in salvation god the father salvation originated with god the members of the godhead determined in eternity past that there would be salvation the conditions under which people could and would be saved and even who would be saved election to salvation is recognized in scripture as the work of god the father cf eph thess christ the son of god the lord jesus christ through his birth by the virgin mary came to the earth to accomplish two important works a he came as the final and complete revelation of god the father cf col heb b he came to provide salvation for all whom the father had chosen he did this by his death on the cross by his bodily resurrection and by his present intercessory work in heaven the work of salvation will be completed for us when the lord returns cf rom cor heb john the holy spirit as the author of scripture the theme of which is christ and his redemptive work the holy spirit is carrying out the redemptive plan of god in the following ways a he convicts of sin cf john b he regenerates known in the bible as the new birth cf john c he indwells each believer to fulfill the work of sanctification cf john d he seals every believer in christ thus making salvation secure cf eph e he baptizes every believer into the body of christ cf cor f he teaches every believer the truth of scripture cf john g he bestows spiritual gifts on the people of god for ministry cf cor h he restrains sin cf gal i he empowers for living and for service cf acts liane brown internet brownli ohsu edu portland oregon
