I want to hear from Christians what some of the important things to know about God are, Just explain to me the properties and some stuff about God, because I am Interested I have a view of God that maybe different from others but I want to hear you talk about God and What you think is important stuff to know about your deity.
Dear Victor:
I made a more personal reply to you based off my Statement of Faith.
The first two points
(from My Statement of Faith) are the same, but the other points
(I added below) are different or new.
1. God:
(a) God is Triune
(The Lord our God is one God who exists as three persons: The Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost; This also known as the Trinity or the Godhead) (Note: You can check out my defense of the Trinity in this CF thread
here.).
(b) God is spirit
(Meaning at the core of God's essence: God is a spirit being: God is transcendent and beyond the physical universe).
(c) God is Holy
(God is Holy and divine; This means He is perfect, pure, without spot, blameless, and sacred).
(d) God is Omni-Righteous (or God is Love).
(For God is always loving, Good, Morally upright always; Even in His anger He loves).
(e) God is Omniscient (All knowing).
(f) God is Omnipotent
(Sovereign and all powerful; Doctrine of Immanence is implied in this).
(g) God is Omni-Present
(Capable of Being Present in all locations).
(h) God is Self Sufficient
(Aseity; Eternally: God does not need anything or anyone to survive or to be happy or complete).
(i) God is Immutable
(Unchanging; God's Spirit in essence and being will never change, nor will His good character).
(j) God is Light
(God can put forth actual physical light from His being) (In addition, God is a beacon of Light in a moral sense, too; For there is none good but God. Meaning, we are to let Christ's light shine thru us, and not our own light).
(k). God is Infinite
(As in relation to essence of His divine being or Spirit: God is not subject to physical limitations (like man)). (For with God, nothing is impossible).
2. Jesus Christ:
(a) Christ is God Almighty (Second person of the Godhead (the Living Word); To check out 160 reasons in Scripture on this point, see this post in the following CF thread
here).
(b) Christ is Eternal and uncreated.
(d) Christ is Typified many times in the Old Testament.
(e) Christ makes many pre-incarnate appearances in the Old Testament.
(f) Christ entered the flesh of Adam by way of a virgin named Mary.
(g) Christ suppressed His Omniscience
(h) Christ relied on the Holy Spirit to teach him the Scriptures as a child.
(i) Christ did many miracles by the Father.
(j) Christ also had divine power of His own during His Earthly ministry.
(k) Christ is worshiped as God.
(l) Christ Jesus is the name above all names
(m) Christ still has his physical body now and forever (this body is sort of like a temple or shell).
(n) Christ had risen from the grave whereby we will one day rise from the dead like Him, too.
(o) After Jesus told Mary to touch him not, Christ had then shortly ascended to the Heavenly Temple so as to be our mediator between God the Father and man (i.e. for Jesus is our Heavenly high priest).
(p) Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (Everything in our lives must be in done by him and through Him; For I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me).
3. God's Plan of Salvation for Us:
Initial Salvation:
(God's Grace through Faith in Jesus Christ):
(The “
Belief” Aspect of Faith):
(See: Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:3-5, Titus 3:5; Then see “Side Note” below):
(a) Believe the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
This is believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins, He was buried, He was risen three days later on our behalf for salvation.
(b) Admit that you have sinned against God (Luke 18:9-14) (Romans 3:23).
(c) Repent: This means to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:13) and seek forgiveness of your sins with Him (Luke 18:9-14). For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.
(d) Invite Jesus Christ to come into your life and to save you. For John 1:12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” Jeremiah said to God, “Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.” (Jeremiah 17:14).
Continued Salvation:
(Sanctification of the Spirit to Live a Holy Life):
(The “
Work of Faith” Aspect of Faith):
(See: James 2:17, James 2:19, James 2:24, 1 Thessalonians 1:3, 2 Thessalonians 1:11):
(a) Continue to trust in the gospel (the good news). For 1 Corinthians 15:1 (NKJV) says, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,”; However, this continued trust in the gospel of grace is not the kind that turns God's grace into a license for immorality (See: Jude 1:4) (Romans 6:1-2). For the gospel call (like a phone ringing) is... God has chosen us to salvation through “Sanctification of the Spirit” and a “belief of the truth.” (See: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). For God's grace teaches us to deny ungodliness and that we should live righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:11-12).
(b) “Sin not” (1 John 2:1), but if we do happen to stumble or fall into sin on rare occasion (without intending to sin), we repent or we go to our advocate Jesus Christ and confess our sins to Him in order to maintain forgiveness (1 John 2:1, 1 John 1:9). For if we live after the flesh, we will die (die spiritually), but if we put to death the misdeeds of the body (sin) by the Holy Spirit, we will live (live eternally) (Romans 8:13).
(c) Do good works (i.e. the work of faith): Meaning, bring forth fruits worthy of repentance (Luke 3:8). Luke 3:9 says, “And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Jesus said: “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:30). The apostle Paul says that one of the marks of vain deceivers is that they can deny God by a lack of works (i.e. they are every good reprobate) (Titus 1:16) (cf. Titus 1:10).
(d) Live a holy life according to commands given to us by Jesus and His followers in the New Testament. Believers do not seek to be justified by the Old Law given to Israel (i.e. the 613 Laws of Moses) as a whole or package deal. So Christians today do not have to keep the ceremonial Old Testament Laws like the Saturday Sabbath, the Passover, circumcision, and dietary laws, etc. (See: Colossians 2:14-17); Christians keep the Moral Law (laws that man knows to do good without having the Law - Romans 2:14). These are laws like: Do not murder, do not covet, do not steal, do not commit adultery, etc.; Christians cannot have the mindset that they can justify sin with the thinking they will be saved. Note: However, we are living in the last days according to 2 Timothy 3:1-9 and many have a form of godliness and they deny the power thereof. They are lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. Hebrews 12:14 says to follow after holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
By doing these things above in this life, you will have escaped the place of torments (hell), and escape the Lake of Fire (Which is the final punishment and destruction of the wicked). By being saved, you will have a relationship with God and know His love, joy, and peace that far surpasses anything that this sinful world can offer you. You will have the promise of being in His eternal kingdom where there is no more pain, suffering, death, or sorrow anymore.
However, Christianity at it's heart is about knowing God or the Lord Jesus Christ and the goodness He brings to our lives if we trust in His Word by faith.
Now, the way a person can truly have an assurance that they know the Lord is if they find they are keeping His commandments (1 John 2:3). For the person who says they know the Lord and they do not keep His commandments, they are a liar, and the truth is not in them (1 John 2:4). What truth is not in them? Jesus. For Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). For 1 John 5:12 says he that has the Son has life and he that does not have the Son does not have life.
4. The Bible:
(a) We first receive our faith by hearing the words of the Holy Bible.
For faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God (i.e. the Bible) (Romans 10:17).
(b) The Bible is inspired by God, and it is essential to the Christian life for doctrine, and instruction in righteousness. For 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” It is useful to take note that the Bible (Scripture) is profitable so that the man of God may be perfect unto all good works. This means nothing else (like church traditions, or another holy book besides the Bible) is needed because Scripture is sufficient to accomplish the goal in our being throughly furnished unto all good works.
(c) The Holy Bible is backed up by tons of evidences showing that it is of divine origin. Check out my blogger article
here to learn more.
5. Love:
(a) God is love (1 John 4:8) (Note: This is not a lustful love like that of a woman, but it is the kind of love that one can feel emotional about involving good feelings that lead to happiness, joy, and peace; But most importantly, the love of God is always the kind of love that is followed by loving actions; For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
(b) The two greatest commandments of God is based on love.
The 1st commandment is:
(1) “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29-30) (Note: Christians can be inward or spiritual Israelites - See: Romans 2:29).
The 2nd command is:
(2) “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Mark 12:31).
(c) Christians are given a new command by Jesus that is unique from the commands in the Old Testament. Christians are told by the Lord Jesus Christ: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-25).
I hope this helps, and may GOD bless you.
Side Note:
In Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:3-5, and Titus 3:5, Paul referred to “
Works ALONE Salvationism” (without God's grace); But this is not to be confused with the necessity of the “work of faith” that follows after being saved by God's grace.
Ephesians 2:8-9 is referring to Initial Salvation and or Foundational Salvation and it is not referring to the second work of God, or second phase in the salvation Process (Which is the Sanctification of the Spirit through a believer's life).
Ephesians 2:9 is referring to “
Man Directed Works Alone Salvationism” without God's grace. For they are the kind of works that a man would boast in himself in doing.
Ephesians 2:10 mentions a completely different kind of work than the work in Ephesians 2:9. Ephesians 2:10 is referring to “
God Directed Works Done Through the Believer.” It is the Work of God done through the believer AFTER they are saved by God's grace because these kind of works are the kind that a believer is created unto Christ Jesus to do and they are told that they
should walk in them. There is no boasting in one's own work in this kind of work because it is the Work of God done through the believer. So all praise, glory, and thanks go unto the Lord for these kind of works done in a believer's life.
Ephesians 2:8-9, Romans 4:3-5, and Titus 3:5, were written to combat the heresy of what I call, “
Circumcision Salvationism.” This was the false belief that was going around during that time that said that you had to first be initially saved by being circumcised (Instead of being saved by faith in Jesus Christ and His grace). This heresy is described to us in detail at the Jerusalem council in Acts of the Apostles 15:1, Acts of the Apostles 15:5, and Acts of the Apostles 15:24. Paul also attacked this heresy or false belief in Galatians 5:2. He also alluded to the problem of this belief in Galatians 2:3, Romans 3:1, and Romans 4:9-12, etc.; Unfortunately, most Christians do not appear to understand or accept this truth in Scripture, and they think that when Paul says that we are saved by God's grace through faith and not of works, they believe Paul is referring to all forms of works (even the works after one is saved by God's grace) when this is not the case. For Paul says that one of the marks of deceivers is that they can deny God by a lack of works (Titus 1:16). For to know God is eternal life (John 17:3).