Grace Institute: Systematic Theology: Theology Proper: God is Absolute

Theology Proper Grace Institute for Biblical Leadership Winter 2006

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IV. God Is Absolute

A. Scripture

The Israelites are ready to enter the Promised Land. For forty years the nation has wandered in the wilderness waiting for the last of a generation to die before they could enter the land promised to them by God. As this new generation gathers, their leader Moses stands and presents them with the law, the covenant, between them and God. At the heart of this covenant is a statement of faith regarding the character and nature of God.

(Deuteronomy 6:4) "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!

This statement has become the core of Judaism. It is the foundational creed of the Jewish faith. Jesus affirmed this statement of faith as having preeminence:

(Mark 12:28-29 NASB) One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, "What commandment is the foremost of all?" (29) Jesus answered, "The foremost is, 'HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD;

B. Definition

1. To Be Unified ("Sovereignty")

God's oneness does not merely mean that there is only one God. It declares that God has unity in His character. All His characteristics work in complete harmony with each other. This complete unity of his character places Him in absolute control of absolutely all things. Nothing, therefore, can have any measure of control over Him. [1]

Another term for this is sovereignty. Sovereignty is not just authority and power. Sovereignty is God's absoluteness, God's unity all wrapped up as oneness.

Another way to think of this is to put Moses proclamation in the cultural context of the wandering Hebrews. Monotheism was the anomaly in that day. Each culture had a pantheon of gods that were defined as the god of this or the god of that. But Yahweh, the God of Abraham is one. He is not the god of this or that. He is the God of all things. He is one. He is sovereign.

2. To be unchanging ("immutable")

God's oneness means he does not change. He does not grow or develop. God is as He is, as He was, and as He always will be. Change becomes impossible for someone who exists outside of time. But even beyond that, there is nothing in God's character to change. If He is holy, He can't become more holy. If He could become more perfect, that would mean He was less than perfect. God must be, by nature then, immutable.

3. To be Consistent with Himself ("truth")

God's oneness means He is consistent with himself. He is always true to His character and always communicates consistently with His character. He is the ultimate reality. Therefore, all that He is, does and says is true. Truth, in fact, is defined as that which is consistent with God's ultimate reality.

C. Open Theism Debate

There are certain scriptures that seem to indicate that God does indeed change, particularly in reference to His reaction to human repentance. In Genesis 6:6-7, God states that he regrets having made humanity. In 1 Samuel 15:35, God regrets having made Saul the King of Israel. As people decide to follow or not follow after God, it appears that God himself changes. After the Israelites worshipped the golden calf, the scriptures say:

(Exodus 32:14 NASB) So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.

For some theologians, this is not merely a figure of speech or an anthropomorphism. They believe that indeed God does change, that God is not immutable. In fact, in order for humanity to truly have free will, God must be open to respond to the free will choices of people.

This viewpoint is known as Open Theism , and has been promoted by such evangelical theologians as Clark Pinnock, John Sanders and Gregory Boyd. There has been much debate in the last decade amongst evangelical theologians on this issue, with most evangelical scholars have rejected this teaching. However, there has been a tremendous amount of discussion regarding this new idea.

Open theism states that God does not necessarily know how humans will respond to His revelation. God experiences the events of His world and specifically the responses of people as they happen. God is said to still be omniscient, in that He knows all the possible responses. Furthermore, God remains all-powerful and could control those responses. However, in respect for human free will He chooses to let things unfold.

This teaching challenges not only the immutable nature of God, but also his transcendence. If the open theist is correct, then God does not exist outside of time, but is subject to time itself. This would make God part of and subject to the material world. In so being, God ceases to be God as classically defined by Christian theology.

The passages declaring God's repentance can simply be explained as an accommodation to our understanding so that we can understand God's justice and His mercy. Using these passages to challenge the unified, unchanging nature of God is to pull it out of context and to ignore the stronger biblical evidence affirming the unchanging, omniscient and eternal nature of God.

D. Our Response

After Moses declares the statement of faith, He dictates the response to God's oneness. If God is one, being sovereign, unchanging, and true, then our response should be wholehearted devotion to Him.

(Deuteronomy 6:5-6) You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

Put yourself back in the mindset of the people hearing this from Moses. These people are being told that there is one God, not a number of gods. You don't need to have divided loyalties. You don't need to please Yahweh and another god. You don't need to sacrifice to the god of rain to get good crops, and then sacrifice to the god of war to ensure victory over your enemies. There is only one sovereign God. You can wholeheartedly follow him.

While we may outwardly subscribe to monotheism in our culture today, the call to love God with all our heart, soul, and strength remains. If God is sovereign, I don't have to be divided about my pursuit. I need not worry about money, status, influence, or even mere survival. God is one. He is sovereign. He never changes. He is in control. My response can be to trust Him with all aspects of life.

Footnotes

1. Patrick Taylor, from a lecture given to the Grace Institute, February 1, 1996.

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