Carl wrote:
>
> The following is a ****tion of noted Bible scholar and imminent Christian
> theologian John Gill's larger work entitled "A Body Of Doctrinal
Divinity."
> This lesson centers on the distinct personality and deity of God the
Father.
>
> May God bless,
> Carl
> my website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
> my blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
>
> ---
>
> Of The Distinct Personality, And Deity Of The Father
Distinctly devoid of showing itself !
> by John Gill
>
> Though what has been already observed, clearly shows there is a
distinction
> of Persons in the Godhead, and wherein that distinction lies; yet other
> things may be added, which will serve to illustrate and confirm it; and
> which will be produced, not as making it, but as making it more clearly
to
> appear. A person is by some[1] defined, "An individual that subsists, is
> living, intelligent, is not sustained by another, nor is a part of
another;"
> and which is true of each of the three Persons, Father, Son, and Spirit.
I
> shall begin with the personality of the Father; the word "Person" is
> expressly used of him in Hebrews 1:3 where Christ his Son, by whom he
made
> the worlds, is called, "the express image of his person": the word
> upostasiv, here used, is translated "substance" in Hebrews 11:1 and some
> would have it so rendered here; and some of the Latin writers did use
the
> word "substantia, substance": but then they understood it, and made use
of
> it, just in the same sense as we do the word person; but finding it to
be an
> ambiguous word, and that it tended to lead men to imagine there were
three
> distinct divine Beings, they left it off, and chose the word person, as
less
> exceptionable; the Greek writers, and some even before the council of
Nice,
> took the word here used, in the same sense as we do, for "subsistence",
or
> person[2]; and so it is here rendered by many learned men, as Valla,
> Vatablus, Erasmus, Calvin, Beza, Piscator, Paneus, and others; in which
> translation we may safely acquiesce.
>
> The definition of a person agrees with the Father of Christ, as before
> observed. The Father of Christ is an individual, and so distinguishable
from
> the divine nature he is possessed of, in common with the Son and Spirit;
he
> subsists of himself, he does not owe his being to another, nor is he
upheld
> in it by another; nor is he possessed only of a part, but of the whole
> Deity; he is the living Father, has life in himself, and not from
another,
> (John 5:26, 6:57) and is intelligent, knows himself, his Son and Spirit,
and
> all things (Matthew 11:27).
>
> The personality of the Father may be concluded from those personal
actions
> which are ascribed to him; for besides begetting the Son, which is what
> distinguishes him from the other two persons, there are other acts which
> illustrate and confirm the distinction made, though they do not make it;
as,
>
> 1. The creation of all things is ascribed to him; he is said, as the
Father
> of Christ, to make the worlds by him his Son, and to create all things
by
> him; not as an instrument, but as a co-efficient cause (Heb. 1:2; Eph.
3:9).
>
> 2. The works of providence, as upholding and sustaining all creatures in
> their being, supplying them with all things necessary, governing the
world,
> ordering and disposing of all persons and things in it, are attributed
to
> him, in distinction from his Son, though in conjunction with him, "my
Father
> worketh hitherto, and I work" (John 5:17).
>
> 3. The mission of his Son into the world to be the Saviour of men, shows
his
> distinct personality from him, which is often said of him; now he that
> sends, and he that is sent, cannot be the same person, but must be
distinct;
> indeed the Spirit of God is said also to send Christ, as well as the
Father,
> (Isa. 48:16) but then, though the Son is sent by both, and the Spirit is
> sent both by the Father and the Son, yet the Father is never said to be
sent
> by either; he is always the sender, and never the sent.
>
> 4. The several distinct acts of grace towards the elect in Christ, will
> serve to evince the distinct personality of the Father. Men are said to
be
> elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, (1 Peter 1:2)
and
> are said to be chosen by him in Christ unto salvation, through
> sanctification of the Spirit, and therefore must be distinct from
Christ, in
> whom, and to whose salvation they are chosen; and from the Spirit,
through
> whose sanctification they are chosen to the obtaining of the glory of
> Christ, (Eph. 1:4; 2 Thess. 2:13, 14) planning the scheme of man's
salvation
> by Christ; reconciling, or forming the scheme of reconciliation in
Christ;
> consulting in the council of peace with him about it, are personal acts,
and
> distinguish him from Christ; making a covenant with his Son on account
of
> elect men, putting their persons into his hands, blessing them with all
> spiritual blessings in him, and giving grace to them in him before the
world
> was; as they are personal acts, so they show him to be distinct from his
> Son, with whom he covenanted, and whom he entrusted with the said
persons
> and things: his drawing them by the powerful influences of his grace in
> time, to come to Christ and believe in him, (John 6:44) promising and
giving
> the Spirit as a convincer, comforter, enlightener, and strengthener,
with
> many other things, serve to illustrate and confirm his distinct
personality.
> Now we call the Father the first person, not that he is so in order of
time
> or causality, and as if he was "fons Deitatis", the fountain of Deity,
as
> some good men have wrongly called him; for rather the Deity is the
fountain
> of the divine persons, from whence they arise together, and in which
they
> subsist, and in which they have no superiority and preeminence of one
> another; but as it is necessary to speak of them in some order, it seems
> most proper to place the Father first, whence we call him the first
person,
> and then the Son, and then the Spirit; in which order they are usually
put
> in scripture; though to show there is a perfect equality between them,
this
> order is sometimes inverted.
>
> That the Father of Christ, as he is a person, so a divine person, will
not
> be doubted; nor is his Deity called in question; and yet it may be
proper to
> say something of it, and establish it; which may be done, not only by
> observing that he is expressly and distinctly called God, (Rom. 15:6;
Gal.
> 1:1; Phil. 2:11) but this may be proved,
>
> 1. From his divine perfections: God necessarily exists, owes his being
to no
> other, subsists of himself, and is independent of any; such is the
Father of
> Christ, he "has life in himself" and of himself, and does not derive it
from
> another (John 5:26). God is from everlasting to everlasting, without
> beginning and end; so is the Father of Christ, he is he "which is, and
which
> was, and which is to come" (Rev. 1:4). God is immense and omnipresent,
> cannot be cir***scribed by space, he fills heaven and earth, and is
> contained in neither; such is the Father of Christ, of whom he often
speaks
> as in heaven, and yet with him on earth, and with all his people, at all
> times, and in all ages (John 14:23, 16:32). God is omniscient, knows all
> persons and things; and so does the Father of Christ, he knows the Son
in
> such sense as no other does, and knows that which neither the angels nor
the
> Son, as man, know, even the day and hour of judgment, (Matthew 11:27;
Mark
> 13:32; Acts 1:7; 2 Cor. 11:31). God is omnipotent, he can do all things;
and
> so can the Father of Christ, "Abba, Father", says Christ, "all things
are
> possible unto thee" (Mark 14:36; Matthew 19:26; John 10:29). Once more,
God
> is immutable, not subject to any change and variation; God, the Father
of
> Christ, is the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness nor
> shadow of turning, (James 1:17) he is unchangeable in his purposes and
> promises made in Christ, and in his love which is in Christ Jesus the
Lord.
> In short, there is no perfection in Deity but what God, the Father of
> Christ, is possessed of.
>
> 2. His Deity will appear from the works which are ascribed to him, and
which
> none but God could do; such as making the heaven, the earth and sea, and
all
> that in them are; and who as the maker of them is addressed by the
apostle,
> (Acts 4:24-27) and hence by Christ called Father, Lord of heaven and
earth,
> (Matthew 11:25) and the works of providence, before observed, are
ascribed
> to him, as sup****ting the world by his power, governing it by his
wisdom,
> and supplying it by his goodness, which none but God could do: (see
Matthew
> 6:26, 32) And his mighty acts of grace in quickening sinners dead in
sins,
> in doing which the same power is put forth as in raising Christ from the
> dead, (Eph. 2:1, 1:19) and in forgiving the sins of men, which none but
God
> can do, (Mark 2:7) and for which Christ prayed to his Father on the
behalf
> of his enemies, (Luke 23:34) to which may be added the resurrection of
the
> dead, which is purely a divine work, and requires almighty power. The
> resurrection of Christ is most frequently ascribed to him, and he will
raise
> the dead at the last day (1 Cor. 6:14). From these and from many other
> divine works, may the Deity of the Father be concluded, as well as,
>
> 3. From the wor****p due to him, and given to him. None but God is and
ought
> to be the object of religious wor****p and adoration; "Thou shalt wor****p
the
> Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve", (Matthew 4:10) now true
> wor****ppers of God "wor****p the Father in spirit and in truth, for the
> Father seeketh such to wor****p him", (John 4:23) and the Father of
Christ is
> frequently represented as the object of faith, hope, and love; to whom
> prayer is to be made, and to whom prayer was made both by Christ and his
> apostles; how often are grace and peace wished for from him in the
several
> epistles? and he stands first in the form of baptism, which is a solemn
act
> of divine and religious wor****p.
>
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ENDNOTES:
>
> [1] Vid. Wendelin. Christ. Theolog. l. 1. c. 2. p. 93, 94.
>
> [2] See my Doctrine of the Trinity, p. 93.
|
