God reveals Himself, in a general way, to all peoples through His creation.[i] God also reveals Himself in a special way to the patriarchs and the Israelite community in a special way.[ii] Revelation is special when God chooses to initiate a relationship with a person or persons. Before Christ, God chose to reveal Himself through the Mosaic law and the promise made to Adam and Eve. Mosaic law clearly defined the pathway to self-sanctification. Since no man could meet God’s righteous standards, God sent His only Son Jesus Christ to meet the requirements of the law. By meeting the requirements of the law, Christ defeated Satan’s stronghold of death over all humanity in fulfillment of God’s promise to Adam and Eve to crush the head of the serpent. Through Christ, God chose to reveal Himself to all humankind. The by-product of God’s self revelation of Himself formed the Bible
God’s self-revelation to both the Israelites and the Gentiles was recorded in the Bible. God Himself speaks directly through the words that were written by human authors who were inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit; therefore, the Bible is inerrant[iii] in both its content and message.[iv] Because the Bible is God’s word, scripture is authoritative in the lives of all people and profitable for the intrinsic development of all Christians so that they will be prepared to do good works.
In the scriptures, God reveals Himself as one God comprised of three Persons who are each fully God. The three Persons of the God-head are God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Bible attributes God’s incommunicable qualities to all three Persons; therefore, all three persons must be God. God’s incommunicable qualities include “independence, immutability, eternity, omnipresence, unity, and simplicity.”[v]
God also has communicable attributes which He shares with humanity. These include “spirituality, invisibility, omniscience, wisdom, veracity, goodness, righteousness, holiness, will, omnipotence, perfection, blessedness, and glory.”[vi] These attributes serve as a foundation for a relationship between God and people through Christ. For example, God’s holiness is relational as seen in the Trinity as well as His acts in human history.[vii]
From the beginning, God has been actively involved in His creation to accomplish His purposes.[viii] God’s activity within His creation, also known as His providence, involves His omnipotence, His omniscience, and His omnipresence. God’s omnipotence allows him to be able to accomplish His purposes through creation. His omniscience allows Him to have the knowledge of past, present, and future; furthermore, it gives Him the knowledge to work through the complex creation that He created. God’s omnipresence allows Him to oversee and work through the whole of creation to see that His will is accomplished.
On the sixth day of God’s creative work, God made a man from the dust of the earth and breathed in him the breath of life. Genesis 1:26 reads “let us make man”[ix] which reveals that a heavenly consultation took place between the members of the triune God concerning the making of man.[x] God made man in the His own image; therefore, man has the unique ability to reveal God from within God’s creation.
When God breathed life into man’s body, He gave him something more than physical nature; He gave him a spiritual nature.[xi] Seeing that man should not be alone, God formed a woman from the rib of man to complement the man as a “suitable helper.”[xii] Since the creation of woman happened after the creation of man, the woman receives the image of God from man. Before the fall of Adam and Eve, both man and woman enjoyed a right relationship with God since both were created sinless and guiltless.
God created man and woman to have a right relationship with Him and to know Him fully.[xiii] God gave humankind His image which gives each person significance apart from the physical world. God also gave humankind the responsibility to work, to reproduce themselves, and to oversee His creation. Since God created people, they are recipients of the gift(s) of God and are dependant on God for their sustenance.
Though God created people to be perfectly good and to enjoy full relationship with Himself, He gave them the ability to choose whether or not to continue in obedience and right relationship with Him. He placed a tree in the garden of Eden and told Adam and Eve not to eat its fruit on pain of death. But Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying God when tempted by Satan to exalt themselves above God and to rely on their own strength.[xiv] Because of their sin, God pronounced the sentence of death upon them and their descendants. In spite of the death sentence, God chose to preserve the life of Adam and Eve for some time in a “world between curse and promise.”[xv]
In His mercy, God promises victory to humanity by humanity over Satan, but He also promises that humanity will also be wounded in “the battle for the Word of God.”[xvi] God’s promise to Adam was to put humanity’s present state of death to death by the hand of Adam’s descendant.[xvii] While Adam (trapped by sin) thought that his death meant return to nothingness, God promised to swallow up death in victory through the resurrection of the dead. God’s decision to preserve life directs fallen humanity toward the future hope in Christ.
Because of Adam and Eve’s choice to sin against God, all people are born as sinners with a sinful nature and are totally incapable of choosing not to sin. When a child is born, he or she is utterly incapable to resist any temptation to sin. As possessors of a fallen nature, humans have no inherent goodness in their fallen nature apart from the goodness found within God’s image which they possess. Because of sin, people are conscious of their guilt and seek to make some form of sacrifice or compensation for it. But God does not accept sacrifices made by sinners who have no fellowship with Him. Therefore, God chose to renew fellowship with people by revealing Himself in the person of Christ.
Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit within Mary without any intimate union between Mary and Joseph or Mary and God; therefore, Mary was a virgin at the time of Jesus’ conception and birth. The virgin birth shows that mankind’s salvation is directly from God. Because Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit within the virgin Mary, He had both a human and a divine nature in one person.
Since Jesus possesses God’s nature, He was fully God and lived with before the creation of the world as an eternal being.[xviii] Jesus, who was fully God, not only possessed God’s glory, but also deserved God’s glory. However, Jesus never sought His own glory which was His because of His human nature.
By becoming a man, Jesus left His glorified situation and voluntarily assumed a state that involved suffering, service, and self-sacrifice.[xix] As a man, Christ acted in accordance with His God-nature by being a humble, willing servant.[xx] Jesus’ humanity was displayed fully by His unwillingness to seek equality with God.
The person of Christ is of profound significance to the doctrine of the atonement. Christ had to bear the full wrath of God upon Himself for the sins of humankind. Only God in the person of Christ could bear such a load. To put this another way, only an infinite being can endure infinite wrath in such a small time. To save humankind, Christ had to possess a human nature because only a human person could represent other people, and only a human person could pay for the sins of people. By bearing God’s full wrath as a man, Jesus broke the chains of the law and established a pathway through Himself that leads to a restored right relationship with God.
Jesus died on the cross because of the curse of the law (sin and death); thereby, He overcame the curse. Since the Law judged and condemned Christ, it overstepped its authority by pronouncing death upon God Himself.[xxi] Because Christ was fully God, the full sentence of death could not be carried out by the law; therefore, the power of the law was broken. Consequently, Jesus took the sting of death away from the law and robbed the law of its power over God’s holy people.[xxii]
During His earthly ministry, Jesus claimed the power to forgive sins which is a power solely possessed by God. By being able to forgive sins, Jesus has special authority unlike any other creature created by God. Jesus also claimed to be “Lord of the Sabbath.”[xxiii] Therefore, the letter of the Law is subordinate to Christ who is fully God because God is the author of the Law. By subordinating the Law beneath His person, Jesus proclaimed Himself as a way to the Father apart from the Law. This new pathway to God was built upon the person of Christ because His words, thoughts, and actions were holy and just in the eyes of God. During His life on earth, Jesus claimed to have a unique relationship with God by equating Himself with God by saying “before Abraham was born, I am!”[xxiv] While claiming complete unity or oneness with God, Jesus distinguishes Himself from God by claiming to be God’s son.[xxv] Jesus’ testimony about Himself revealed that He considered Himself to be the prophesied messiah.
As sinners, all people had fallen from their righteous relationship with God and were helplessly snared in Satan’s trap with no hope apart from Christ of ever returning to a right relationship with God.[xxvi] Since people could not make an acceptable sacrifice for their sins, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice to satisfy God’s wrath. Christ endured the wrath of God on the cross and canceled the effectiveness of sin against all that believe on His name.
The cross of Christ would have no significance apart from His resurrection by God.[xxvii] At the resurrection, Jesus shows His divinity through His victory over sin and death at the cross. The resurrection shows that Jesus had communion with God. By raising Christ from the dead, God proved that Jesus’ life, death, and teaching have divine significance and authority. Hence, all people now have reason to consider His life and teaching as authoritative.
After His resurrection, Christ ascended to heaven where God exalted Him as a man in glory and honor above all creation and above all humankind.[xxviii] God made Christ the heavenly mediator between Himself and all people. Because of His grace through Christ, people can approach God through the mediation of Christ and find mercy, not because of their works, but because of Jesus’ works while on earth and God’s work in exalting Him as Lord and Savior.
When Jesus died, He embodied in Himself the sins of people which carried with them God’s righteous judgement and condemnation. Believers are now called upon by God’s Holy Spirit to acknowledge “Christus pro me.”[xxix] Once saved by God through faith in Jesus, believers in Christ are no longer held in bondage by their sins and are able to have a righteous relationship with God.[xxx] All of God’s holy people (those made holy by God) are reconciled to God through Christ and become new creations who have the Holy Spirit indwelling their fallen flesh.[xxxi]
The reality of Christ’s death serving as the full payment for the sins of people is brought to light in the life of the believer by the Spirit of God. The presence of the Holy Spirit marks the coming of a new age. The Spirit testifies to the reality of the presence of the Kingdom of God within this present evil age. The Spirit signifies the “new creation of [a] new humanity.”[xxxii] Believers, filled with the Holy Spirit, become God’s holy people who share in the glory of Christ in this present age and the age to come.[xxxiii]
God’s Spirit enables the church to become the embodiment of Christ. As a gathered community, the church is empowered by the Spirit to do Christ’s work on earth and to represent Christ before all men.[xxxiv] When the gospel is preached, the Spirit works in the lives of the hearers and encourages a believing response. The Spirit enables the hearer to respond in faith and continues God’s saving work within the believer’s life.[xxxv] This saving work of the Spirit includes establishing God’s presence within the believer’s life and the church as well as bonding the church in unity and purpose.
Through the presence of the Church, Jesus continues to penetrate the world by being connected with the past and confirms the reality of His eternal presence which includes both present and the future. For the Christian, “Christ has come to him [or her], thus robbing the world of its own” and perpetuating His presence in this world.[xxxvi] Within the Church, the Christian has cut off all connections to the world and to the past.” The Christian now lives in the present which is also the future. In the present, the Christian is bombarded with all manner of temptations, yet he or she has overcome these temptations in Christ who conquered sin “for all time, unto the end.”[xxxvii] The faithful Christian overcomes by holding to the promises of God in Christ.
To become victorious over death in Christ, a person must have an understanding of the person and work of Christ, a recognition of one’s own sinfulness, and a trusting attitude toward God’s revelation in Christ. Upon conversion, the believer has received God’s gift and the corresponding benefits once and for all. From that point, the believer is justified before God for all eternity.[xxxviii]
The gift of salvation allows the recipient to become a child of God. As a child of God, the believer receives the gift of the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the believer that he or she has received adoption into the family of God by God through faith in Christ. As a child of God, the believer receives God’s forgiveness which includes the freedom to do anything. This freedom is governed by the Holy Spirit who leads God’s children into all truth and gathers them in the Church.
The Church is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ who established the Church through His sinless perfection, His death on the cross, His ascension into heaven, His exaltation as Lord of all creation, and His gift of the Holy Spirit to believers. The Church, as a spiritual body of believers in the promises of God, includes all believers before and after the coming of the Christ. As a gathered and visible body of believers, the Church originated at Pentecost. Afterwards, all believers had fellowship together because of the Holy Spirit brings unity to the gathered community.
As the Body of Christ, the Church is called upon to carry out Christ’s work on earth. This includes evangelizing the lost of all nations, discipling all believers, caring for the needs of the saints, ministering to people, and disciplining those believers who are not living in accordance with God’s Word. Those who make the choice to follow Christ can also expect to share in His sufferings and temptations. During the believer’s life in this fallen world, the believer’s faith remains firm because of his or her hope in God’s promise of eternal life to those who follow Christ.
Besides their hope in Christ, believers are also called to fellowship with each other. This fellowship, known as the Church, is universal in the sense that all believers belong to the kingdom of God, share the same Spirit, follow Christ, look forward to His return, and spread the gospel. The Church is also a local fellowship of believers who gather together for mutual support and a combined witness to the secular community.
To be a member of the Church, one must have been filled with the Holy Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit, one must put their faith in Christ. As a sign to the gathered community and the secular world, the new believer should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.[xxxix] Though the ordinance of baptism[xl] is not required for salvation, it does serve an important function of teaching the new believer of the reality of their new life in Christ. Baptism serves as a witness to all people of the faithful response made by the new believer to the gospel message.
Another ordinance that should be practiced by the Church is the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper serves a unifying, teaching, and healing function within the gathered community. During the Supper, believers are to remember Jesus, examine themselves in light of Him, thank Him for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and look forward to His promised return.
As a part of the Church community, each member has a priestly role to fill. Each member is gifted by the Holy Spirit and called to the ministry of the Church. While all believers are called to the ministry, God does call out some members for special roles (apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor/teacher) that involve the equipping of the saints and increased responsibility. God also calls some church members to be deacons who are to serve the saints and bear witness to Christ through the quality of their lives.[xli]
Within the Church, many decisions must be made regarding issues that are not strictly set forth by the Bible. For all issues regarding any change in Church leadership, the whole community should make the decision. All other important decisions should be made by the designated leaders who are chosen based upon their Christian example.
As a community called out of the world by God, the Church is separated from the state. Each believer is expected to remain loyal to their earthly authorities so long as that does not require them to transgress God’s Word. Though the State has no power over the Church, the Church does have a role to play in the secular world as long as Her members maintain their presence in this world. As a part of the world, the Church can and should bear witness to the lost world including the government, the schools, and any other public domains until the day of Christ’s return.
On that day, God promises in His word that humankind will once again “be called to utter the word of God.”[xlii] On this day of judgement and reconciliation, the Christian will be able to utter the word of God, but the non-Christian will be cut off from the word of God. The hope of all Christians is directed toward this day when God will dwell with humanity in the absence of sin and death. This hope in Christ and in the promises of God connects the Christian to the future and even allows the Christian to live in the future during the present. With childlike faith, the Christian trusts not in his or her own strength, but in Christ.
[i]. The doctrine of general revelation states that all humankind can see the revelation of God through His creation, regardless of whether or not they have come in contact with the special revelation of God through Christ. The unbeliever would be without excuse because he or she has rejected the very God to which the whole of creation testifies. In essence, the unbeliever is willfully denying God, both His work and His person. Because they do not have a right relationship with God, the status of unbelievers is eternal judgment, hell and damnation.
[ii]. Special revelation is God revealing Himself to people. Revelation is special when God chooses to initiate a relationship with a person or persons. Before Christ, God chose to reveal Himself to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob, and to the Israelite community through Moses. Through Christ, God chose to reveal Himself to all mankind.
[iii]. Donald K. McKim, Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), 142: Inerrancy is “the view that the Bible is written with full historical and scientific accuracy on all matters it affirms and thus is completely truthful.”
[iv]. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine (Leicester: Intervarsity Press, 1994), 91-92: The biblical inerrancy theory offers a strong foundation that everything that the Bible, it its original form, says is true. However, some considerations need to be offered for the strictness of biblical inerrancy. The first consideration is that the Bible can be less than truthful in a literal sense when it presents vantage points of the authors, especially in relation to “scientific or historical descriptions.” Grudem gives the example of ‘the rising of the sun’ as scientifically incorrect; however, this statement is inerrant from the viewpoint of the author. The second consideration is concerned with dissimilar quotations found in the Bible. Here, biblical inerrantists point to the cultural standard of simply quoting an adequate representation of the “content” of the original message. The final consideration is the roughness of some the Bible’s grammatical construction; however, bad grammar does not affect the truthfulness of the statement.
[v]. James L. Garrett, Systematic Theology: Biblical, Historical, and Evangelical (Grand Rapids: William B. Eermans Publishing Company, 1990), Vol. 1, 205.
[vi]. Ibid, 205.
[vii]. Because He is holy, God deals mercifully with men who sin against Him. God is not just a rigid lawmaker that demands absolute obedience; rather, He is a merciful God that wants to dwell with humanity. God’s holiness is directed to humanity. and His desire is to have a right relationship with them that is built on trust in Christ.
[viii]. Grudem, 315.
[ix]. Gen 1:26 NIV (New International Version).
[x]. Joseph S. Exell, The Preacher’s Complete Homiletic Commentary on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1978), 25.
[xi]. Ibid, 42.
[xii]. Gen 2:20 NIV (New International Version).
[xiii]. Exell, 27.
[xiv]. Sin is any act, thought, or feeling that is committed by person, wilful or not, which is in conflict with God and His Word. It is transgression and rebellion against God’s will caused by a lack of faith in God. In God’s eyes, sin is an abomination because it stains the original perfection that God gave humanity, it represents and leads people astray, and it causes people to worship false gods. Sin causes people to stumble, brings forth judgement, and causes shame.
[xv]. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall: A Theological Interpretation of Genesis 1-3, trans. by John C. Fletcher (London: SCM Press LTD, 1960), 85.
[xvi]. Ibid, 86.
[xvii]. John D. Godsey, The Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1960), 132: According to Godsey, Bonhoeffer views the serpent in the garden as merely a creature of God and not Satan himself. However, God’s creation had not been cursed prior to the fall of humanity because God had placed His creation under the authority of humanity. Satan either presented himself as the serpent or possessed the serpent. Godsey’s understanding of Bonhoeffer also breaks down when one considers Bonhoeffer’s discussion on the promise given to Adam. God says that humanity will crush the serpent’s head. Certainly, God is not talking about the snake. If that were so, God’s promise would have only a physical dimension and no eternal dimension.
[xviii]. Clifton J. Allen, 2 Corinthians – Philemon, In The Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), Vol. 11, 196.
[xix]. Ibid, 196.
[xx]. Richard R. Melick, Jr., Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, In The New American Commentary: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Scripture (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1991), Vol. 32, 101: Philippians 2:7 parallels the phrases “form of God” and “form of a servant” indicating the harmony between Jesus’ humanity and His glorified nature.
[xxi]. John De Gruchy, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Witness to Jesus Christ (London: Collins, 1988), 118-119: Because Jesus was fully man, He had to die as all people do. On the other hand, Jesus the God-man chose to face that death without appealing to His divine right to live. He faced the humiliation of death so that its sting could be taken away.
[xxii]. Jesus’ death was substitutionary in that He died in our place. The New Testament presents Christ’s death as a ransom for the sins of all people. Christ died to free people from the penalty of their sin against God. Instead of allowing people to face God’s wrath, Jesus faced that wrath on the cross. On the cross, Jesus did for people what people could not do for themselves.
[xxiii]. Luke 6:5 NIV (New International Version).
[xxiv]. John 8:58 NIV (New International Version).
[xxv]. John 10:38 NIV (New International Version): “The Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
[xxvi]. James L. Garrett, Systematic Theology: Biblical, Historical, and Evangelical, 2nd ed. (North Richland Hills, Texas: BIBAL Press, 2001), Vol. 2, 50: Basil of Caesarea argues that the sacrifice of any other human other than Christ would not have persuaded Satan to release his hold on humanity. But God was not paying off humankind’s debt to Satan by allowing His Son to suffer and die on the cross. Rather, God paid humankind’s debt to Himself and freed believers in Christ from their obligation to repay their own debt.
[xxvii]. The cross and the resurrection symbolize God’s relationship with all people through Christ. Christ came to the earth and, as a man, lived like all people do except He did not sin. Jesus even identified with people in His death. The cross finalized Jesus relationship with humanity. But if that were it, then Jesus would only have had a relationship with humanity. Therefore, it was necessary for God to raise Jesus from the dead so that God could identify with Jesus. In this way, Jesus became the pathway between God and man.
[xxviii]. Garrett, Vol. 2, 126: The resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Christ by God can not be separated because all three were necessary components in the glorification of Christ.
[xxix]. John A. Phillips, Christ for Us in the Theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1967), 114.
[xxx]. When people respond in faith to the message of the cross, God covers over their sins. From that point on, He no longer holds their sins against them. When God looks upon believers, He simply sees Christ. With sin out of the way because of the forgiveness that comes through faith in Christ, believers are able to have a right relationship with God.
[xxxi]. The saving work of Jesus Christ was universal because God’s created a way by which all people might be saved. If Jesus did not die for the sins of all people, then He would not be the representative of all people before God. Since Jesus did in fact die for the sins of both the believer and the non-believer, He is now the Lord of all people. Therefore, all people must come to Him if they are to be saved from the second death. Even though Jesus’ death is applicable to the sins of all people, not all people will be saved from their sin. God calls upon the individual person to accept Christ’s atonement for his or her sins. The person who does not accept Christ decides to bear full responsible for his or her sins contrary to the will of God at work through Christ. Christ’s sacrificial death is intended by God to be universal; people’s decisions for or against Christ render His death to be particular or limited in application.
[xxxii]. Wm. David Kirkpatrick, The Church: God’s Enduring Gift.
[xxxiii]. The holiness of God is also present within the Church as the covenant community. This community is perfected by the presence of the Holy Spirit. This community has been reconciled to God, and God Himself takes on the task of defeating the sin within the community. The community evidences its holiness through its confession of the Trinity and the redeeming work of Christ. This holiness is visible through Gospel proclamation, confession of sin and faith, public witness, and prayer. Within the holy community, each member is holy because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. A Christian’s holiness is expressed in self-denial and commitment to follow Christ.
[xxxiv]. By uniting God’s people under the headship of Christ, the Spirit empowers the church to have a living relationship with Christ and to know God’s will. When the Spirit is present in a community of people, the living presence of Christ will be visible to the world.
[xxxv]. God’s gift of salvation produces true repentance and true faith in the believer’s mind and heart. Because of God’s freely-given grace, He initiates an inward change within the human being. Afterward, the recipient responds by turning to God in repentance and faith. Thus, a relationship with God through the trusting response of human beings in the person and work of Christ is formed. Through the believer’s relationship with Christ, he or she is justified by faith in Christ and not by works. As a gift from God, this saving and justifying faith is based solely upon the death and resurrection of Christ.
[xxxvi]. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, trans. Chr. Kaiser Verlag Munchen (New York: The MacMillan Company, 1959), 233.
[xxxvii]. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Temptation, trans. by Kathleen Downham (London: SCM Press LTD, 1960), 47.
[xxxviii]. Justification is a gift whereby God declares the unrighteous to be righteous through faith in Christ. Hence, the believer enjoys a right relationship with God. which is also referred as a new life in Christ. This new life (spiritual rebirth) takes places in the mind and heart of faithful respondent to God’s grace. This new life entails re-creation of original created person into the likeness of Christ through the redemptive work of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. This work of the Holy Spirit is an event in the life of the believer in the sense that the believer enjoys all the benefits that are made manifest in Christ; however, this work is also a process done continually in the believer’s life as long as the believer’s fallen flesh remains.
[xxxix]. Baptism should occur only after the believer has made a conscious decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Though infant baptism may be practiced to affirm the gathered community’s responsibility to bear witness to the child, it does not serve a salvific role not is it a substitute for believer’s baptism.
[xl]. The ordinance of Baptism can be practiced by sprinkling, affusion, or immersion so long as the intent of the symbolism is to bear witness to the new believer’s identification with death and resurrection of Christ. Even though multiple modes of baptism can be used, The Bible speaks only about baptism by immersion. Therefore, immersion should be practiced if at all possible.
[xli]. Both men and women can serve as deacons in the Church. The Bible allows for women deacons by mentioning deaconesses. Women can not, however, serve as pastors unless unusual circumstances prevail. Such circumstances include the lack of willing and able men or a special call by God.
[xlii]. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, 300.