Introduction
When we pray, worship, or speak God’s name, do we truly know to whom we are speaking? The doctrine of God isn’t just theological theory—it’s the bedrock foundation that upholds every promise we cling to, every prayer we whisper, and every hope we hold. Understanding who God is transforms how we live each day and where we turn in our deepest struggles.
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Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Doctrine of God, confession of faith, true religion, 10 Commandments, God-centered life, immutable character, covenants, promises, salvation, eternal life, Beatific Vision, biblical manhood, eschatology, Holy Spirit, truth.
SPEAKERS
Dr Sam Renihan, Pastor Cam Porter, Pastor Jim Butler
The Foundation of True Religion
Pastor Cam Porter 00:07
Just the importance of the doctrine of God, a question related to that. So let’s close with that one. Okay, so both of you brothers are speaking at the conference this weekend, the Confessing The Faith conference. The conference is on the topic of the doctrine of God, coordinating with chapter two of the confession of faith. So this question has to do with what is the importance of the doctrine of God to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr Sam Renihan 00:42
Every time that we use God’s name or speak to him or worship Him and read about him, whom are we describing to whom are we speaking? We need to be sure. I mean, we we are a religion. In fact, we are the one true religion that worships the one true God. And so the doctrine of God, by by nature, by definition, is necessarily of utmost importance to us as Christians, as believers.
Living God-Centered Lives
And if you think about the 10 Commandments, they start out with God, God alone, God in the worshiping, God in the way that he who has ordained the sanctity of his name, he’s saying, I the Lord. I am God. And there is, I am the Lord. I am God. There is no other. And so we ought to have such a God centered life. Why do I do what I do every day, because I’m I should be, because I’m seeking to obey Him. So the doctrine of God is establishing my very reason for being alive and doing what I do, and the way that I speak to him, and what I think when I read about him in the Word of God.
Comfort in God’s Unchanging Character
It’s practical in those ways. It’s also practical for my own heart, because when I am struggling or sad or anxious and so on, to whom can I go? And Peter says, Cast your cares on Him, because He cares for you, knowing that, knowing that God cares for me, and what that means and the certainty of his being is an encouragement to me.
Paul, the writer to the Hebrews, whose name is Paul, he says that, why did God swear an oath to Abraham in Genesis 15, God had promised in Genesis 12, I will multiply your descendants, give them in the land of Canaan, from them will come a descendant who blesses the nations he promised it. And God’s God, if He promises, that’s good enough. Abram, in Genesis 15, wants a little more. And so the writer to the Hebrew, says that God desired to show more convincingly to Abram the immutable character of his purpose. His purpose was already immutable. God’s promise was enough in Genesis 12, but God is so gracious, so kind, so patient with his people, that he wants us to know all the more to be shown more convincingly just how much and how certainly he will fulfill his promises. So he makes covenants with us.
The Rock-Solid Foundation of Our Faith
But the point I’m saying is that knowing the immutability of his purpose, knowing that he will do what He has said he will do, is important to to our faith. Abraham believes because God has shown him more convincingly the unshakable character of his promise, and and so for us, when we study the doctrine of God, and it’s all about, God will not change. God cannot change. God does not change. And, and all that the doctrine of God is, he is pure, being itself, being he is, all that he is. And everything we say about the doctrine of God, it all comes to us eventually as and that’s why he will fulfill his promises, and that’s why you can trust Him when He says, Believe on my son and you will be saved. And that’s why we believe him when he says, I will remember your sins no more.
When he promises, indeed covenants with us, I will remember your sins no more. How do I know that tomorrow he’s not going to say but you know that one time you did do that thing. You know, as spouses, we forgive each other, but we still sometimes bring those things up. I mean, I would never do that, of course, but we even with, even with the most sincere forgiveness, sometimes we use other sins against them. How do I know that God’s not going to change his mind on me, because there’s a lot of sin that he could say, but you did do that. How do I trust that when he says, I will remember it no more. It’s gone. It’s separated as far as the east is from the west. Once and for all, I’ve been washed clean by the blood of Jesus, the doctrine of God. Holds all of that up. It’s the only thing. It’s the rock. It’s the foundation.
The most trustworthy thing is the thing that rests upon nothing else for its stability. The foundation of all foundations is the most trustworthy. If you’re on a bridge, you only are trusting the pillars that are on some kind of base, that are rooted, you hope, in some deep way in the river beneath you. There’s some big bridges around here in Vancouver. You’re trusting the foundations. But what if, for some reason, a sinkhole appeared below the foundations of the pillar. There’s a foundation under the foundation of the bridge. What if that suddenly erodes into some cavernous hollow below it. Uh, oh. But if there’s a foundation with no foundation, it’s the most trustworthy, and that’s God whose subsistence is in and of himself, who is I am, that I am, and all that he says he will do, and no one can change his mind or ask him, What are you doing?
God’s Love Shown in His Covenants
And so the doctrine of God holds up the promises. It sustains the promises of God. In my heart, God’s purpose was immutable, whether he covenanted with Abram or not, but he loves us so much that He will show us more convincingly the immutable character of his purpose. And studying the doctrine of God as an exercise should ultimately result in being an exercise that reassures our hearts. It assures us and reassures us that because he does not change, therefore we will not be consumed, and that his mercies truly are new every morning. How can I trust that every morning his mercies are new, when my mercies are new every morning? You know, everyone has a coffee cup. Don’t talk to me until I’ve had my coffee, that type of coffee cup. How do we know that God’s not a grumpy morning person? You know that His mercies are new every morning? Well, because he is mercy itself, he’s the helper and the helpless, and he always will be Amen.
The God of Truth and Eternal Life
Pastor Jim Butler 06:53
And it’s truth. You know. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. The psalmist says of God, the Lord, God of truth. Jesus says, of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth. If you know, we’ve talked about a lot of questions today, all good questions, by the way, whoever is responding to Wim and submitting fgbc questions, very good. These are great things. You know, we do want to know what biblical manhood is. We do want to know what the end times are going to be like. We do want to know all good things, but we want to know God Jesus, in John 17 three says this is eternal life, that they may know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent so you know not that we don’t want to know what biblical manhood is, or that we don’t want to know about eschatology or last things, but we should really want to know about the Father Son and Holy Spirit, who this God is.
It’s common when people get into Calvinism or reform the Reformed faith. It’s just, you know, they talk a lot about salvation, soteriology and well, we should. It’s a great subject and topic, but it’s also good to ponder the who of our salvation. You know, what has the what of salvation was wrought out by the who of salvation, Father, Son and Spirit. And I think you know, as the church gets that in her head and mind and heart, it just yields much comfort and much encouragement to add
Salvation as Means to Enjoying God Forever
Dr Sam Renihan 08:20
To that, you said the what and the who of salvation, the end of salvation, because we often think of salvation as an end in itself, but it’s actually a means to an end. The end is not me receiving salvation. That’s a preparatory work, that’s preparing me. God is is purifying me and making me holy and righteous in His Son, so that for another end to the end, that I might enjoy him forever, that beatific vision that we will enjoy if, if knowing God is eternal life, the Beatific Vision, then to begin to Know him now, how could that not fill our hearts with with joy and satisfaction? You know, nothing in this world will satisfy like God will because He’s the source and sum of all good. So to study the doctrine of God is not simply to to, you know, say the right things in the right order. It’s to begin to know in a more deep and wonderful way, the God whom we shall enjoy forever, and salvation is the means to that end of enjoying God forever, and we look forward to that day.
09:29
Amen, amen. Amen.
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