· Theology Proper ·

Lecture Twenty:  The Incommunicable Attributes of God I

TH330 Systematic Theology I · Moody Bible Institute · Dr. Richard M. Weber

I.  The Organization of Attributes

A.  “Incommunicable Attributes”

- an attribute of God that doesn’t parallel our lives. One He doesn’t share with us.

B.  “Communicable Attributes”

-that we share with God…mercy, justice, love….

C.  The Limitations of Organization

If we talk about these, we cannot make these too rigid. We don’t have the knowledge that God has, and there are some elements that we cannot communicate. Omnipresence for example. We have “a presence” so we share a “little bit” of some things.

ALTERNATIVE CATAGORIES:

Example of greatness: Immutable, eternality.

Examples of goodness.

II.  The Incommunicable Attributes of God

A.  Aseity / Independence

“a se” from himself. (Latin term).

“God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify him and bring him joy.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 160)

1.  God Does Not Need Us or the Rest of Creation For Anything

a.  A Qualitative Difference Between God and All Created Things

i.  Creation Exists Contingently

It relies completely on God for existence. Complete dependence.

Rom 11:36.  “For from him and through him and to him are all things.”  (Cf. Ps 90:2; John 1:3; 1 Cor 8:6)

ii.  God Exists Necessarily

b.  The Self-Determination and Self-Sufficiency of God

i.  The Self-Determination of God

ii.  The Self-Sufficiency of God

Acts 17:24-25.  “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”

John 17:5, 24.  Jesus prays, “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.  … the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.”

2.  Creation Can Glorify God and Bring Him Joy

Isa 43:7.  “Everyone who is called by my name [was] created for my glory…”

Eph 1:11-12.  “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” (Cf. Isa 62:3-5; Zeph 3:17-18; Rev 4:11)

“God does not need us for anything, yet it is the amazing fact of our existence that he chooses to delight in us and to allow us to bring joy to his heart.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 162)

B.  Eternality

“God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time.”  (Grudem 168).

Transcendence

Immanence

1.  God is Timeless in His Own Being

Ps 90:2.  “Before the mountains were born or your brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God”

Job 36:26.  “How great is God – beyond our understanding!  The number of his years is past finding out.”

Rev 1:8.  “‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’” (cf 4:8)

2.  Evidence Supporting God’s Timelessness

a.  Evidence From Scripture

Gen 1:1.  “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”

John 1:3.  “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made”

Col 1:16.  “For by him all things were created:  things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”  (Cf. 1 Cor 8:6; Heb 1:2)

b.  Evidence From Reason

“[I]n God’s perspective, any extremely long period of time is as if it just happened.  And any very short period of time … seems to God to last forever:  it never ceases to be ‘present’ in his consciousness.  Thus, God sees and knows all events, past, present, and future with equal vividness.”  (Grudem, 170)

3.  God Sees Events in Time and Acts in Time

a.  Gal 4:4-5.  “But when the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”

b.  Acts 17:30-31.  “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed…”

c.  Prophecy

C.  Simplicity / Unity

1.  The Meaning of the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity

“God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 177)

Ex. 34:6-7.  “And [the Lord] passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassaionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.  Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

“God himself is a unity, a unified and completely integrated whole person who is infinitely perfect in all of these attributes.”  (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 180)

2.  The Significance of the Doctrine of Divine Simplicity