Category Archives: God

The Omnipotence of God

The teaching of the Bible is that God is omnipotent. For instance, the Bible says, “The Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Rev. 19:6). The word “Omnipotent” comes from the Greek word παντοκράτωρ, meaning the “all-ruling, or absolute and universal sovereign.” This word is also translated as “almighty” (II Cor. 6:18; Rev. 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 16:14; 19:15; 21:22). God is totally sovereign over His creation. He is all-powerful. In the Old Testament, God is El Shaddai, the Almighty. God has all power and might. But what does this mean exactly?

The truly magnificent power of God can be shown in the many expressions of that power in Scripture. The most obvious example is the creation. God merely spoke the universe (all matter, space, time) into existence. God said, “Let it be,” and it was (Gen. 1 passim; Psalm 18:5). When we consider what modern science tells us about the size of the universe and the nature of our world, it truly boggles the mind that all this could come into existence merely at God’s command. I suggest you go to YouTube and do a search on the size of the universe to fully understand the extent of this power. Furthermore, He upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb. 1:3). He never tires but has endless energy because the Creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not, neither is He weary (Is. 40:28).

Just as God created the universe and holds it all together still, He will also bring it to a conclusion one day. All the dead that have ever lived will be brought back to life in the resurrection. Every molecule, every atom, every thought, everything that makes up all people will be brought back and reassembled at the resurrection when all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and come forth – they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation (John 5:28-29). Such is God’s power. And just as easily as He created all things, so all things will be dissolved (II Pet. 3:8-12).

In the Old Testament, God’s power is manifested in so many ways. God destroyed the earth with a universal flood (Gen. 6-9). He confounded the speech of man and scattered man abroad over the face of the earth (Gen. 11). He enabled Abram and Sarai to have a son even though they were past the age of childbearing (Gen. 21; Rom. 4:17-22). He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain with fire and brimstone from heaven (Gen. 19). Jacob wrestled with the Angel of the Lord (Gen. 32). God sent dreams to Pharaoh, and Joseph was allowed to interpret them (Gen. 40). God delivered the children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage with ten mighty plagues (Ex. 7-11). He parted the Red Sea so that the children of Israel walked through on dry ground and destroyed the Egyptian army by collapsing the walls of water that stood on either side of them (Ex. 14). Likewise, He parted the Jordan so that the children of Israel could pass over to the promised land (Josh. 3-4). He caused the sun and moon to stand still (Josh. 10). Many were raised from the dead (e.g., I Kings 17). Oil was miraculously multiplied (II Kings 4). Elijah departed in a chariot of fire (II Kings 2). And on and on the list could go.

In the New Testament, God’s power is demonstrated in the miraculous, virgin birth of the Son of God (Is. 7:14; Matt. 1). God sent a star to show the way to where Jesus was born (Matt. 2). John’s birth was beyond the childbearing years of Elizabeth and Zacharias (Luke 1). The miracles which Jesus performed showed that He had power over nature (striking the fig tree dead, turning water into wine, walking on water, and calming the storm), over healing the sick (restoring a withered arm, restoring vision and hearing and speech, healing palsy, and various other diseases), over casting out demons, and over life and death (raising the dead). Of course, the greatest of these miracles is His own resurrection, proving His claim to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God (Rom. 1:4).

Of course, the Bible goes further than just showing examples of His power. The Bible makes specific claims about the power of God. God is girded with power (Psalm 65:6). God’s power is not just limited to what we can imagine, for He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). His power is eternal (Rom. 1:20), and in Jehovah is everlasting strength (Is. 26:4). God can do whatever pleases Him (as it is consistent with His own nature – Psalm 115:3). What He says will be done; it will be accomplished as He pleases (Is. 55:11). All other power is dependent on His power, for there is no power but of God and the powers that be are ordained of God (Romans 13:1). He does whatever He wills, and no one can stop Him (Dan. 4:35).

But the Scriptures are even more explicit. God asked this rhetorical question of Abraham: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Gen. 18:14). The answer is clear and obvious: Nothing is too hard for the Lord. There is no limit to His power. He asked Jeremiah the same question (Jer. 32:27), and Jeremiah expressly states that there is nothing too hard for the Lord (Jer. 32:17). The synoptic Gospel accounts all affirm God’s omnipotence. Jesus expressly stated that with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:6; Mark 10:27), while Luke expresses it from the negative: “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). God is omnipotent, all-powerful (Rev. 19:6).

We must point out that God is not merely more powerful than all others; He is all-powerful. It’s not the case that He can do merely many great things that others cannot do, but that there is no end to His power. His power is limitless. Just as His knowledge is limitless, His power is without limit. The difference between omniscience and omnipotence is only that omniscience must always be exercised to be knowledge (you can’t know something but not know it), while omnipotence does not have to be exercised to be power. For instance, a man may be able to power lift three hundred pounds, but he doesn’t always have to be lifting three hundred pounds to have that power. But a man cannot know “X” and then not know it and still be said to have that knowledge.

The God of the Bible is truly all-powerful. He is omnipotent. Next installment, we will discuss some questions that are raised by some with regard to the omnipotence of God.

Eric L. Padgett

Omniscience of God

The Scriptures are very clear that God’s knowledge is not limited. This fact is expressed in a number of ways. The different facets of God’s particular knowledge are described in some detail throughout scripture. For instance, God knows the number of hairs on our head (Matt. 10:30; Luke 12: 7). He knows when a sparrow falls to the earth or is sold. He remembers them all (Luke 12:6; Matt. 10:29). He knows all the fowls of the mountain and the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10,11). God knows the number of the stars and calls them all by name (Psalm 147:4). God knows all our deeds and thoughts because we will be judged by those things in the Day of Judgment (Rev. 20:12-15). He knows our best kept secrets (Rom. 2:16).

David describes God’s intimate knowledge of every human being:

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them (Psalm 139:1-16).

The Scriptures especially make note of the fact that while man can only judge by the outward appearance, God knows the very heart of man. “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart” (I Samuel 16:7). Again, “I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins” (Jer. 17:10). And again, “Thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men” (I Kings 8:39). There is no thought that we can hide from God. “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13).

Job said at the conclusion of his interview with the Lord that “no thought can be withholden from Thee” (Job. 42:2). No thought is beyond God’s knowledge. There is not a single thing that God does not already know. God looks to the end of the earth and sees under the whole heaven (Job 28:24). While men are limited in their knowledge to the here and now in a very limited scope with which their lives come into contact, and, maybe, a few things about the past, God sees all time (our past, present and future) more clearly than we see what is presently before us. John affirmed by inspiration, “God knows all things” ( I John 3:20). He knows all things because He is everywhere, in some sense (Jer. 23:24).

This means, first of all, that God knows the truth value of every precisely stated proposition. God knows the truth value of the statement that “Eric L. Padgett (me) was born with six fingers.” It’s impossible for God to know this is true because it is false. God only knows the truth. But this should not be considered a limitation on God’s knowledge for He knows the truth value of the statement is false. It would be a limitation of God to say that He knows something as true when, indeed, it was false. So, God knows the truth value of every precisely stated proposition and God knows all propositions and there are endless propositions.

It is also the case that God does not have to learn the truth value of any given proposition. God knows immediately and ultimately every thing. God’s mind is infinite in its grasp. It does not need to learn or come up to speed on anything. There is no “Aha! moment” for God. Nothing surprises Him, nothing catches Him off guard. As Isaiah teaches (40:13,14) “Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?” These are rhetorical questions and the answer is obvious: No one has taught God. He needs no teacher. He already knows.

Finally, God’s omniscience also means that His knowledge knows no bounds. There is not a limited body of knowledge that God knows or has grasped. His knowledge is limitless, endless. He is infinite in every attribute, including His knowledge. Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering (Job 26:6). God’s knowledge extends to the height of heaven and to the depths of hell (Psalm 139:8). There is no searching of His understanding (Is. 40:28). “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). God’s understanding is simply infinite (Psalm 147:5)!

It is simply impossible for finite minds such as ours to grasp infinite Mind and Knowledge. David was correct when he said, “It is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.” (Psalm 139:6). While we may not be able to comprehend it, we can at least appreciate it and be humbled by it.

Eric L. Padgett

Why Isn’t Belief Universal?

Some people may ask, If the existence of God is so manifest, why do so many people not believe in Him? If the glory of God is declared by the very heavens, why isn’t belief in God equally universal? If no one is going to be able to claim ignorance at the judgment, then how are they able to claim ignorance now? At first, these may seem like legitimate questions. But let’s consider a couple of points in response.

First, the Bible teaches that God created man with free will. God gave a command, but said there are consequences to disobeying those commands. That implies that man has the ability to disobey God’s commands. Indeed, there has to be the ability for man to reject God, or man is nothing more than a robot. A robot will do whatever you command it to do, but a robot doesn’t love or care or empathize, a robot just does as it is programmed. Not even artificial intelligence can supply the emotional basis needed.

I asked ChatGPT: Is ChatGPT or any other ai sentient?


ChatGPT said: “No, neither ChatGPT nor any other AI is sentient. AI, including me, operates based on algorithms, data, and statistical models. While I can generate human-like responses, understand context, and even mimic emotions, I don’t have consciousness, self-awareness, feelings, or independent thought. Sentience requires subjective experience and self-awareness, which AI does not have. AI can process and analyze information efficiently, but it doesn’t ‘understand’ or ‘feel’ in the way humans do.”

Then I asked, “Maybe ChatGPT just isn’t as advanced as other ai?” It responded this way:

“Even the most advanced AI today, including cutting-edge models beyond ChatGPT, are not sentient. AI can simulate intelligence and conversation very convincingly, but at the end of the day, it’s still just a complex system of pattern recognition, probability, and computation.

No AI—whether from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, or any other research lab—has true self-awareness, emotions, or independent thought. AI can analyze and predict based on data, but it doesn’t experience anything.

That being said, AI is advancing rapidly, and discussions about artificial general intelligence (AGI) and consciousness in machines are ongoing. But as of now, no AI is anywhere close to actual sentience.”

I would argue that regardless of the time given, or the computational power available, or imaginative algorithms employed, no ai could ever reach sentience or free will because its not a matter of quantity but of quality. No amount of inanimate matter will ever achieve animate status just by adding more inanimate matter. No amount of non-sentient computing power could ever reach sentience just by adding more non-sentient computing power. Its not a matter of quantity but quality.

So man has free will, something neither a computer nor algorithm can ever have. One of the reasons men can reject the evidence for God, is because man was created with the ability to chose based on his own, volitional interests.

In the second place, just because a thing is obvious, doesn’t mean everyone wants it to be true or that everyone will fall in line with the truth. People often have ulterior motives for their actions, sometimes motives that they don’t even fully understand. On the other hand, sometimes people are fully aware of their reasons for denying the obvious.

A person who is given bad news might not want to accept it. A person who is given good news might not accept it, at first. The Psalmist said, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us” (Psalm 2:1-3). These verses depict man consciously trying to break away from the bonds that tie him to God, only it’s a vain and futile attempt. The Psalm was fulfilled violently and particularly in the rejection and crucifixion of Christ by the Jews and Gentiles (Acts 4:23-30). There is no clearer example of men rejecting God than in the rejection of Messiah.

The truth is, it comes down to a person’s heart. If a person is not honest with themselves, they will allow themselves to believe anything they want. The Lord’s parable of the sower teaches us that truth itself is not enough. If truth is seen as a seed, truth requires good soil before it can bring forth fruit. The good soil for truth is an honest and good heart. Many people do not have an honest and good heart and, for various reasons, the truth produces no fruit in them. The evidence of God’s existence, though obvious to all, requires an honest and good heart to admit it is true.

The following is a short list of quotes from men who did not believe in God and admitted that they didn’t want to believe and acknowledged that their rejection of God was influenced by personal, moral, or existential concerns rather than purely intellectual reasoning.

“I had motives for not wanting the world to have a meaning; and consequently assumed that it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics. He is also concerned to prove that there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do. For myself, as no doubt for most of my friends, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom. The supporters of this system claimed that it embodied the meaning – the Christian meaning, they insisted – of the world. There was one admirably simple method of confuting these people and justifying ourselves in our erotic revolt: we would deny that the world had any meaning whatever.”

–Aldous Huxley, Ends and Means

“We desired liberation; and we had a suspicion that the things to which we wanted to be liberated had no meaning. Still, we wanted to be free to do as we pleased.” – Aldous Huxley (another relevant passage from Ends and Means)

Again, he links his disbelief to a desire for personal freedom.

“The sense of spiritual relief which comes from rejecting the idea of God as a superhuman being is enormous.” – Julian Huxley (Aldous Huxley’s brother, biologist and humanist)

Like his brother, Julian Huxley saw disbelief as a form of liberation from religious and moral constraints.

“We deny God; in denying God we deny accountability: only by doing that do we redeem the world.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Nietzsche saw belief in God as tied to moral accountability, and rejecting God meant rejecting imposed moral structures.

“I want atheism to be true… It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and naturally hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.” – Thomas Nagel (philosopher and atheist)

Nagel openly admitted that his atheism was not just about reason but also about personal preference.

And so many people reject God simply because they don’t want there to be a God. They don’t want to be burdened by any moral constraints. They don’t want to be responsible to God. They don’t want there to be a moral accountability that reaches into eternity.

There are many other reasons people reject the idea of God but it is clear that just because the evidence for the existence of God is available, it does not mean that all men will acknowledge it. But whether or not we accept it, it is still true and all men will eventually acknowledge it (Phil. 2:11; Rev. 2012-15). That is why the fool has said in his heart there is no God (Psalm 19:1).

Eric L. Padgett

God. Where To Begin?

God.

Where do you begin a discussion about God? Where does it end? No matter what the topic or where you start, you will never be able to exhaust it as it relates to God because He is infinite in all of His attributes. Pick any attribute of God and you can only exhaust your own limited knowledge of the subject, never the extent of God’s nature. So no matter what is said or written, it is never, really enough. But there is no subject with such depth, with such weight, no subject that more piques the interests the inquisitive, human mind, than the subject of the infinite, omniscient, omnipotent Most, High God that inhabits eternity! That is why I want to talk about God.

The first thing I would point out is that there is no man, woman or child, no nation, country or tribe, no culture, creed or community, no tongue, dialect or speech that cannot know that God exists. The Psalmist plainly said:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Psalm 19:1).

Observe that this text doesn’t say that the Bible says that the heavens declare God’s glory (though that is true, as well), it says that the heavens tell us this. When an honest, thoughtful and unbiased mind looks at the heavens, it is compelled to consider that this wondrous universe is the product of design and causation. I urge you to go check out one of the many videos on Youtube regarding the immensity of the universe and ask yourself if it is reasonable to believe that this “just happened.” The fact of the universe compels us to believe in a Creator. One could look inwardly and know the same thing, as well (cf. Psalm139:14). No matter the scale, the arguments from Causation, Design and Morality cannot be successfully denied or refuted. There are logical, formal arguments for these three important ideas, but we’ll leave these to another time.

Next, the inspired Psalmist says:

“Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalm 19:2-4).

Every day the heavens declare the glory of God in an unuttered speech that can be understood by every sound, human mind and night after night the knowledge of the glory of God is shown the world over under every starry sky. Every human speech and language understands this powerful declaration and every tribe and community hears and understand this unspoken tongue. These words declaring God’s glory have gone out through all the earth unto the ends of the world. No one can stop their ears to the message and no one can so close his eyes as to not see the glory of God. The sun and the moon and the stars all sing forth the praises of the Almighty (Psalm 148:3,4). Even ancient Pythagoras spoke of the “music of the spheres” and Maltbie D. Babcock captured the idea in his Hymn, This Is My Father’s World.

“This is my Father’s world,
And to my list’ning ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world:
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas—
His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world:
The birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white,
Declare their Maker’s praise.”

Again, the Psalmist said:

“In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof “ (Psalm 19:5,6).

The whole universe over, the glory of God is shown. No place escapes this universal declaration of His existence, power and praise.

Now, the apostle Paul added that, that “which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath shown it unto them” (Rom. 1:19). The “them” are those who receive the “wrath of God” because they do not obey Him. He says that they are without excuse (v. 20) because God hath shown certain things to them. What things has God shown them and us? “Even His eternal power and Godhead”(Rom. 1:20). Thus, Paul says that we may know these five things from the declaration of the heavens: 1) that there is a God, 2) that God is a Person, 3) that God is eternal, 4) that God is powerful, and 5) that there are certain attributes that make up His character, His Godhead (Godhood).

We can add to this list two other important attributes, namely that 1) Nature is an intentional witness to a Creator and 2) that that Creator is good. Paul said to the Lystrans,“Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17). Again, Paul did not say that this was learned from written revelation, though that is also true. Rather, Paul said the rain and fruitful seasons and food and gladness themselves were a witness to the fact that there is a God and He is good. It was intentionally designed to be a witness to Himself.

This in no way should suggest to us that the witness of Nature is all we need to know about God. It only reveals the vaguest of outlines of His Majesty. But it is enough to cause us to seek Him further because He is not far from every one of us (Acts 17:27). It is enough to remove every excuse from every individual attempting to justify their rejection of His existence and sovereignty. No man will be able to raise his fist at God at judgment and justifiably say, “But I didn’t know…” The revelation of God in nature should drive our inquiring minds to come to know this Creator more intimately so that we can understand who we are and what we may become.

This is as good a place as any to stop for the moment in our inquiry into the Divine. But it will be only a momentary pause.

Eric L. Padgett

“O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, Consider all the worlds, Thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, Thy power throughout the universe displayed. When through the woods, and forest glades I wander, And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees. When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur, And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee, How great Thou art, how great Thou art.”

The Name of God

A name is both a very personal and a very powerful thing. If you don’t think so, call someone a Judas, a Benedict Arnold or a Jezebel and see what happens. In the Bible, names were not only descriptive of the character of a person, but they were sometimes prophetic. Abram’s name, for instance, was changed to Abraham because he became the father of many nations (cf. Gen. 17:5). The second Person of the Godhead became a man and took the name Jesus, because He would save His people from their sins (Matt. 1:21). Names mean things and meanings are important. If a man’s name is important, what about God’s name?

When God spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they did not know God by His name “Jehovah.” God told Moses, “And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them” (Exodus 6:3). Jehovah means “self existing one.” Earlier, Moses had asked God at the burning bush, when the Lord called him to lead His people, what will I say when they ask “What is His name? What shall I say unto them?” (Ex. 3:13). “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” (Exodus 3:14).

I Am that I Am expresses the idea that God exists because He exists. His existence is not dependent upon an outside influence, as is ours. God has always been and will always be. From everlasting to everlasting He is God (Micah 5:2; Psalm 90:2). “And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God” (Genesis 21:33). “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding” (Isaiah 40:28). The high and lofty One inhabits eternity (Is. 57:15). He is eternal (Deut. 33:27; Rom. 1:20; I Tim. 1:17).

Both the name Jehovah and the expression “I Am” have relevance to Jesus. When John quoted Isaiah 6, regarding the Holy God (Isaiah 6:3), he applied that quote to Jesus. He wrote, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him” (John 12:41). John was writing of Jesus in this context. But the passage in Isaiah spoke of the LORD, or Jehovah. So in this text Jesus is equated with Jehovah of the Old Testament.

Again, when the guards came to the garden to take Jesus, He identified Himself. He said “I am” (John 18:5). “As soon then as he had said unto them, I am he, they went backward, and fell to the ground” (John 18:6). His self-identification with I Am, was so powerful, it drove all those present, including the intimidating Temple Guard, back to the ground. In this account Jesus identifies Himself with the Great I Am of the Old Testament. It is a powerful name.

And it is a holy name. It is set apart from all names. Holy, Holy, Holy is the Jehovah of Hosts (Isaiah 6:3). His name is not to be profaned (Lev. 18:21; 19:12; 20:3; 21:6) or taken in vain (Ex. 20:7; Deut. 5:11). The priests were not to profane the worship of God because they were to minister in the name of the Lord (Lev. 21:23; 22:2; Deut. 18:5; 21:5). Holy and Reverend is His name (Psalm 111:9). As Christians, we are called by the name of the Lord and are not to bring shame to that name (Acts 17:11; I Pet. 4:12-16).

A name stands for the person behind it. One can either have a good name (Prov 22:1) or a bad name (Deut. 22:14). The Lord proclaimed His own name before Moses (Ex. 33:19). In proclaiming His name, he proclaimed His goodness and holiness.

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. 8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped (Exodus 34:5-8).

The name of God is not to be taken lightly. God will not hold him guiltless that takes His name of vain (Ex. 20:7).

Eric L. Padgett

No God? No Morals.

No subject of any magnitude can be intelligently addressed that first does not, at some level, acknowledge that God exists. The world we live in has to be explained for us to understand it and anything else in it. But that explanation cannot be advanced until the primary question of origins is answered. If one proceeds in any endeavor based upon faulty assumptions, the end result will be skewed and could, in fact, be very harmful. For instance, if a doctor assumes your dizzines is the result of an inner ear infection instead of a stroke, the results could be disastrous for you. Basic, underlying assumptions, then, are obviously very important.

Fortunately, the answer to the question about ultimate origins is actually very simple in that it can only have one of two answers. Either God does exist or He does not. But setting aside for the moment the actual arguments for His existence, it is important to understand the implications of either of those propositions. Both propositions imply very different, alternative worldviews.

If God does not exist, then certain things follow. First, if God does not exist, then all questions of morality are subjective. By “subjective” I mean that there would be no objective truth–that is, realities external to the mind–to be discovered only personal positions to be advocated. When Israel did not acknowledge the law of God during the period of the Judges, it is said that “every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6; 21:25). This is so basic a truth, a first-truth, if you will, that it hardly demands any defense.

Yet some have attempted to deny the force of this truth by saying that even if there were no external, objective moral standard given by God, that we could all agree on what we consider to be right and wrong and that that agreed upon view would then constitute the “objective” standard by which we are to decide all moral issues. However, even if everyone in the world were to agree on a particular view, that view has the potential of changing over time through the changing of the individual opinions of the people who make up the deciding group, in this case the world.

But clearly, no standard could be considered objective in any real sense of that term–i.e., existing in reality, external to the mind of the thinker–that is liable to change based upon the mere whims of fancy or opinions of vast multitudes of disparate peoples.

In addition to this point, it would also have to be true that whatever view was decided upon as the standard for morality for all people would have to stand the test of broad practical application across a broad spectrum of people. These alleged accepted “moral” principles would have to be quite distinct from the kinds of laws we find in the legal codes of the many coutries of the world. These laws are all localized and fitted to the particular population to which they apply and without notable acception, all of them continue to grow in size and volume.

But moral principles would have to necessarily transcend these local statutes. But man has not shown the slightest indication that he is capable of fashioning a principle that is both universal in nature and also comprehensive in scope. That makes the word of God so much more incredibly wondrous when you consider that within the pages of God’s word, the little book we call the Bible which we can hold in one hand, we find principles that have guided all mankind all over the globe throughout the centuries since it’s creation. These principles have never been improved upon. What is more, it is not a mere coincidence that whenever man tries to develop principles to govern man’s moral decisions they very often resemble what we already know to be true from the Bible. That is because it is not in man to direct his own steps and he must plagerise God’s word to have a semblence of credibility.

It is clear that if God does not exist then there is no objective standard of right and wrong and anything that we might call immoral or evil would only be so in name, not in reality. If God does not exist, then everything that we would call vile could also be called good. Child molestation? Only a preference. Rape? Only a choice. Torture? Just someone’s idea of a fun.

No one in complete or even partial possession of their faculties believes these previous, final, few statements are true. We know that morality lies not in the uncertain and unstable opinions of man but in the immutable counsel and omniscient mind of God. That part of the mind of God that we need to know for our life in this world and for our salvation is revealed to us in His inerrant, plenary, word revelation to us in what we call THE BOOK, the Bible. If God does exist and He has communicated to us through not only the created world but also His Word, then that fact underlies and is the true foundation of all knowledge.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).

Eric L. Padgett

God’s Foreknowledge and Man’s Free Will

The basic question this study will attempt to very briefly and incompletely answer is “Does God’s foreknowledge preclude man’s free will?” Some say it does. They see a dilemma between the two concepts. Others argue that God’s foreknowledge and man’s free will are perfectly compatible.

First of all, the Bible clearly teaches man has free will. Many scriptures could be adduced which demonstrate that man has the freedom to either obey or disregard God’s will. For instance, Joshua charged the children of Israel, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve” (Josh. 24:15). Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). Upon hearing Jesus’ teaching, “the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him” (Luke 7:30). On and on the list could go. Each example shows that man has a real choice of various and sundry options.

Those who argue that God’s foreknowledge does preclude man’s free will argue that if God knows what is going to happen in the future, then nothing else can happen but what He knows. If nothing else can happen, then man cannot be truly free but must do what God already knows. If we could do something other than what God already knows, the argument goes, then God would be wrong and, thus, not omniscient and, thus, not God. In order to get around this alleged dilemma some argue that God limits His knowledge of some future events. By limiting His knowledge, they argue, this allows man to exercise free will.

However, the Bible just as clearly teaches that God is omniscient. The Bible teaches that God’s knowledge is infinite (Psalm 147:5). God knows the secrets of men and the thoughts of their hearts (Psalms 44:21; 94:11). The thrust of Psalms 139 is that there is nothing that God does not know. Job finally was made to understand that no thought can be withheld from God (Job 42:2). There is no searching of God’s understanding (Is. 40:28). God knows what things we have need of even before we ask (Matt. 6:8). He searches all hearts and understands all imaginations of the thoughts (I Chron. 28:9). The Lord asks, “Can any hide himself that I cannot see?” (Jer. 23:24). He knows all of His works from the beginning of the world (Acts 15:18). And God even declares “the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isa. 46:10).

How, then, can this seeming paradox between God’s foreknowledge and man’s free will be harmonized? Consider the following.

First, it helps to understand God’s relationship to history. God is not part of the time line of human history waiting to see what unfolds. From the scriptures above, God clearly stands outside of time, above time as it were, looking down on our history. At any one moment, we see but a very thin, incomplete slice of time and space from our finite, fallible human perspective. But God sees everything, everywhere that happens at all times. Because God sits on this lofty perch, He can see the choices that people are making in the future just as He can clearly see the choices made by people of the past, and just as He can clearly see the choices made be people of the present time.

To be clear, it is not that He is forcing these choices, but He observes the choices of free will agents. In other words, the problem with the Limited-Knowledge Position is that it assumes that which it is trying to prove–namely, that if God foreknows a thing, then there is no free will. This can be seen when one understands that the event happens not “no matter what I do,” but precisely because it is what I decided to do! In other words, it happens not because God foreknows it, but God foreknows it because it is what happened!

Second, if knowing what happens in the future precludes man’s free will, then why doesn’t knowing what happened in the past preclude man’s free will also? I ate a cheeseburger today. I know this. Does that mean now that I had no choice in it? That I could have done nothing else? It is true that now I could make no other choice, because I have already eaten the cheeseburger, that time is passed. But God sees the future just as we see the past. For God to know what I will do in the future no more precludes my free will tomorrow than my knowing the past precludes my free will yesterday!

Finally, the case for God’s limited knowledge must overcome an extremely formidable obstacle–-the scriptures. Not only is God’s word replete with refined statements on the extent of God’s knowledge, it is also filled with examples of God’s foreknowledge of events and choices of men which in no way limited man’s free will actions.

In concluding, let me mention just one example. It was God’s will that all in Noah’s day repent of their sins. Inspiration tells us that God was longsuffering and waited in the days of Noah (I Pet. 3:20). Noah preached for 120 years to bring man to repentance (Gen. 6:3; II Pet. 2:5). Yet in God’s foreknowledge, He had Noah build an ark that would only hold Noah and his family (or at least a very few people) and two of every kind of animals. God said “the end of all flesh is come before me” (Gen. 6:13). God foreknew that everyone else would reject the truth. While God sent Noah preaching righteousness to the world that then was, He had Noah build an ark that would not accommodate every person in the world. If God could not have known or limited His knowledge of the future moral choices of all the individuals in the world, then, for all God knew, every individual may have repented.

So much more could be said, but to summarize: The Bible teaches that God is omniscient and it also teaches that man has free will. These two concepts are not contrary one to the other.

Eric L. Padgett

The High Calling Of God

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:13-14)

Many people today claim that they are called of God by some mysterious, inner voice which only they can discern. For instance, one website states, “When I was younger, I just knew God wanted to do something special with my life…To feel called by God is to serve God by loving people.” Another website asks “How can you know whether God is calling you to conversion? Begin by asking yourself what, if anything, is changing in your outlook toward life, especially in the way you think.” Those who think they are called of God in this mysterious way fail to understand how the Bible teaches God calls individuals.

The Bible very plainly teaches that God calls not just some of us but all of us. It is a universal call. This call comes not through some “feeling” or “life change,” but through the gospel of Christ (II Thess. 2:14) and the gospel is to be preached to everyone (Mark 16:15,16). Therefore all men are amenable to the gospel of Christ, not just some, and all men everywhere receive this divine call (Acts 17:30,31). This call is not mysterious but clear and clearly defined in the word of God (Matt. 11:28-30).

This call is described as the “high calling of God.” This word translated “high” means “upward or on the top.” It is translated “brim” in John 2:7. The water pots were to be filled to the brim, to the very top. Everywhere else it is translated “above.” We are to set our affections on things above, for instance, and not on things on the earth (Col. 3:1,2). When something is described as “high” it means it is at the apex or the zenith. There is nothing higher or more important or more special. The gospel call is certainly the most important call there is. To respond to God’s invitation of salvation is the most important thing one can do in life.

It is a high calling because it comes from God. If some important person were to call upon us to do something, we would not hesitate to do it. We would be honored that they thought to call upon us. And yet, there is no one more important than God. But when He calls, so many either shun Him or begrudgingly respond to His call. It seems many value more a mere mortal request above that of a divine one. But because this call comes from the throne of God, it is, indeed, both a heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1) and a holy calling (II Tim. 1:9).

We should never mistake our own conscience for God’s voice. Our conscience can be defiled (Tit. 1:15) or seared (I Tim. 4:2) or evil (Heb. 10:22). God’s voice does not come mysteriously, in some better-felt-than-told experience. God’s voice is objectively written down for us and all to see, read and hear. We do not have to guess at what God wants us to do; we just need to read and understand it (II Tim. 2:15).

May we press toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Eric L. Padgett

Good Change, Bad Change

Change! Everything nowadays seems to change. I guess this has always been true. The leaves change, seasons change, fashion changes, individual people change, looks change, technology changes, tastes change, moods change, landscapes change, cities change. Even slick politicians promise us “Change!” The list could go on. But change for change’s sake is not a good thing in most instances. All change is not good. There are some things that should not change and that don’t change.

For instance, God does not change. “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:2). Yes, people may change over time, because they are less than perfect. But God, being perfect, cannot change, lest He be less than perfect. Nor does Jesus Christ change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8). It is good that God does not change because this provides stability for us in our lives and world.

God’s word does not change. Heaven and earth will pass away before God’s word ever changes (Matt. 2:35) and even then there is not a chance of it changing because it, too, is perfect. “The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psalm 12:6,7). The law of the Lord is perfect and therefore does not change (Psalm 19:7). Truth does not change.

Morality and right and wrong do not change. Some people think that what was moral in the first century is no longer moral, that there is no objective, moral standard of right and wrong. But since God provides the standard through His word of what is right and wrong, and since neither God nor His word changes, then moralty and right and wrong do not change. What was morally wrong two thousand years ago, even six thousand years ago, is still wrong today and will always be wrong. The Psalmist declared, “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth” (Psalm 119:142; cf. Psalm 119:60).

Furthermore, the Lord’s church does not change. The same church that was established by the Lord on the first Pentecost after the Lord’s resurrection (Acts 2; Matt. 16:16-19) is the very same church which will be translated into heaven without spot or blemish (Eph. 5:27). There are many who try to change her, who try to lower her standards, who try to make something of her she was never intended to be, but the Lord’s church remains the same because the gates of hell cannot prevail against her (Matt. 16:19).

All these things do not change. Some men want to change them, some men try to change them, but God’s will resists those feeble attempts. Those who try to change them, however, who try to add to or take away from them, will meet with unwelcomed and unbearable reprisal (Rev. 22:18,19).

What does need to change is the heart of man. The heart of every man needs to be set free from an evil conscience (Heb. 10:22). Men want life their own way on their own terms, but the way of man is not in himself (Jer. 10:23). It is man that left God and, thus, needs to be reconciled unto Him, not the other way around (II Cor. 5:19ff). This is good change, when men turn back to God. We need more of this kind of change.

Eric L. Padgett

Show Us The Father

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18).

The Creator of all things is not visible to the corporeal eye (Col. 1:15; Heb. 11:27). No time in human history has any mere mortal man seen God as He is, having never seen His shape nor heard His voice (I John 4:12; John 5:37). God has manifested Himself to man in various ways, as when Moses saw God’s “back parts,” (for no man can see His face and live–Ex. 33:20-23), or when He appeared to Abraham on the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18:1-19:1), or when He appeared to the prophets (i.e., Is. 6:1-13). But God Himself, as God, has never been seen by merely mortal eyes.

And yet, men have seen God in a way that is perhaps just as clear. The Lord said, when asked by Philip “Shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us” (John 14:8), “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (John 14:9). This statement of Jesus cannot mean that The Son and the Father were numerically identical for on other occasions the Father spoke from heaven while the Son was on the earth (Matt. 3:13-17). Nor does it mean that Jesus’ physical body is what the Father looked like, for God is a spirit (John 4:24) and a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39).

The Bible teaches that Jesus “hath declared Him” (John 1:18). Jesus is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Heb. 1:3). Just as the sunshine reveals the sun, so does Jesus reveal the Father. Jesus said “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him” (Matthew 11:27). “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19). “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30).

In everything Jesus did, He acted as would the Father (John 8:28). Just as the Old Testament was written for our learning (Rom. 15:4), the Gospel Record reveals to us, not only the historical account of Jesus of Nazareth, but they afford us a look into the divine nature itself. How do I know the love of God (John 3:16)? By looking at how Jesus loved. Jesus said “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). How do I know the purity of God (Hab. 1:13)? I can see it in the sinlessness of Jesus (Heb. 4:15). How do I know the power of God (Ps. 147:5)? I can see it in the miracles of Jesus (Mark 4:41; John 3:1,2). All that can be known of God can be seen in Jesus (John 10:30)

Jesus reveals the Father in both His actions and His words. “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me” (John 6:45). To hear Jesus is to hear the Father! To hear and follow the Son of God is to be able to partake of that divine nature which Jesus manifested to us. Peter said “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (II Peter 1:3-4). Through the knowledge of Him we can fellowship, participate in, the divine nature!

How sublime a thought. Our mortal eyes may have never seen the Father, but we know Him nevertheless. Not only do we know Him, but we partake of His divine nature. We become one with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ, and through this the world may be led to believe in Jesus (John 17:21).

Eric L. Padgett