Chapter 2
Of God and of the Holy Trinity
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THE LORD OUR GOD is but one only
living, and true God;1 whose subsistence is in
and of Himself,2
infinite in being and perfections,
whose essence cannot be comprehended
by any but Himself;3 a most pure
spirit,4
invisible, without body, parts or
passions, who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the light which no man
can approach unto,5 who is immutable,
immense,7
eternal,8
incomprehensible, almighty,9 every way infinite, most
holy,10 most
wise, most free, most absolute,
working all things according to the
counsel of His own immutable and most
righteous will,11
for His own glory,12 most loving, gracious,
merciful, long-suffering, abundant in
goodness and truth, forgiving
iniquity, transgression and sin, the
rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him,13 and withal
most just, and terrible in His
judgements,14
hating all sin,15
and will by no means clear the
guilty.16
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God, having all life,17 glory,18 goodness,19 blessedness, in and of
Himself, is alone in, and unto
Himself all-sufficient, not standing
in need of any creature which He hath
made, nor deriving any glory from
them,20 but only
manifesting His own glory in, by,
unto, and upon them, He is the alone
fountain of all being of whom,
through whom, and to whom are all
things,21 and He
hath most sovereign dominion over all
creatures, to do by them, for them,
or upon them, whatsoever Himself
pleaseth;22 in
His sight all things are open and
manifest,23 His
knowledge is infinite, infallible,
and independent upon the creature, so
as nothing is to Him contingent or
uncertain,24 He
is most holy in all His counsels, in
all His works,25
and in all His commands; to Him is
due from angels and men, whatsoever
worship,26
service, or obedience, as creatures
they owe unto the Creator, and
whatever He is further pleased to
require of them.
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In this divine and infinite Being
there are three subsistences, the
Father, the Word (or Son), and Holy
Spirit,27 of one
substance, power and eternity, each
having the whole divine essence, yet
the essence undivided;28 the Father is of none
neither begotten nor proceeding, the
Son is eternally begotten of the
Father,29 the
Holy Spirit proceeding from the
Father and the Son,30 all infinite, without
beginning, therefore but one God, who
is not to be divided in nature and
being, but distinguished by several
peculiar, relative properties, and
personal relations which doctrine of
the Trinity is the foundation of all
our communion with God, and
comfortable dependence on Him.
Footnotes:
1. 1Co 8:4,6;
Dt 6:4.
2. Jer 10:10;
Isa 48:12.
3. Ex
3:14.
4. Jn
4:24.
5. 1Ti 1:17;
Dt 4:15-16.
6. Mal
3:6.
7. 1Ki 8:27;
Jer 23:23.
8. Ps
90:2.
9. Ge
17:1.
10. Isa
6:3.
11. Ps
115:3; Isa 46:10.
12. Pr 16:4;
Ro 11:36.
13. Ex
34:6-7; Heb 11:6.
14. Ne
9:32-33.
15. Ps
5:5-6.
16. Ex 34:7;
Na 1:2-3.
17. Jn
5:26.
18. Ps
148:13.
19. Ps
119:68.
20. Job
22:2-3.
21. Ro
11:34-36.
22. Da
4:25,34-35.
23. Heb
4:13.
24. Eze
11:5; Ac 15:18.
25. Ps
145:17.
26. Rev
5:12-14.
27. 1Jn 5:7;
Mt 28:19; 2Co 13:14.
28. Ex 3:14;
Jn 14:11; 1Co 8:6.
29. Jn
1:14,18. 30. Jn 15:26; Gal 4:6.
©1998 Limerick Free
Baptist Church
|
Free Baptist Church of Limerick