Discernment Part 9    The Essentials pt.2    12-16-2001

If being a Christian involves believing the Gospel, and reaching the lost and building up the saints involves preaching the Gospel, obviously we have to know what the Gospel is.

We have to draw some boundaries that define it.  This is a monumentally important task, because if we draw the boundaries too broadly, there will be dire consequences.  And if we draw the lines to narrowly, there will also be dire consequences.

To know God you must approach the right God in the right way.

The True God

Jesus put it this way:
Jn 17:3  Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

In order to obtain eternal life, a person must know not just any god, but the only true God, and must know Jesus Christ. 

So what are the things about God that God Himself emphasizes?
Creator
First and foremost, God is Creator.  No truth about God is emphasized more than that.
Powerful
It is not enough for a person to believe in a god.  Unless he believes in a God who is active in the world, and who is all-powerful, he does not believe in the true God, and is lost.
Wise
Jer.10:7-14
7 there is no one like you. 
8 (the false gods) are all senseless and foolish…
10But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King.  When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.   11"Tell them this: `These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.'"   12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding. 14 (the false gods are) senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.

So God possess knowledge.  He has a mind and thoughts and knows things.  God is not an “it.”  The universe is not God.  God is a person.  He can think, and feel, and choose.  He is creative.

Everything we think of as being part of personhood, God not only possesses, but He is the ultimate, perfect standard of it.  

So new agers or eastern mystics who think of God as a force, or influence, or paradigm – or anything less than a person with a personality, volition, will, etc. – those people are lost.

They may love the god they believe in.  They may be more committed than we are.  They may help old women across the street.  They may even die for what they believe.  But the god they believe is not the true God, and so they are not saved.

So you have to believe that God has knowledge.  How much knowledge?  

Is it enough to believe there is an intelligent being out there somewhere – smarter than the average man – able to get a perfect score on the SAT?  Or is it necessary to believe He knows absolutely everything?

There is no question the Bible teaches He does know everything.
Job 37:16 him who is perfect in knowledge
1Jn 3:20 he knows everything.  

But is that one of the essential truths about God?  Yes, because if He doesn’t know something, that thing may be the very thing that would keep Him from being able to carry out His plan, and we have already established that believing He is able to carry out His plan is essential.

Is there a passage in Scripture that identifies God’s omniscience as not only true, but one of those truths that is an essential part of God’s being – something that sets the true God apart from all the false gods?  Yes.

Isa.46:9-10  I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.  (So God is speaking here about His uniqueness – ways in which He is different than the other gods)  10 I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. 

God’s knowledge of the future is an essential part of who He is.  And v.10 also links His foreknowledge with His ability to carry out His plan.

If you believe in an ignorant god you also believe in an impotent god, in which case you don’t’ believe in the true God.

The open theists say He knows everything that is possible to know, but the future can’t be known because it doesn’t exist.  But if that’s the case, how could the psalmist say all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be (Ps.139:16)?

If God doesn’t know the future then He isn’t in control, and prophecies turn into guesses, and he is no different than the false gods or human beings.

So a person doesn’t believe in the true God unless he believes in a God who is:
1.	Creator
2.	All-Poweful (omnipotent)
3.	All-knowing (omniscient)

Good (Perfect)
Not only is it essential to believe God is all-powerful (which includes being all-knowing), but it is also essential to believe God is perfectly good.  That is another concept that is not only emphasized heavily in Scripture’s presentation of God, but it appears in contexts in which God is being differentiated from false gods.

Ex.15:11 "Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you-- majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

If you believe God is Creator, omnipotent & omniscient, but that there are flaws in His character, you believe in a false god.

Remember the long list of the things God does (“…God, who…)?  Those several hundred statements describe the true God to us, and every last one of them describes some good thing.

He is not only a God who acts, but a God who acts perfectly, and who exhibits holiness in the way He acts.

God is perfect.  He is as good as it is possible to be in every way.  You can prove that just by logic – no other definition of God makes sense, because God is the supreme being, what higher standard could there be for judging Him than His own character?  

So by definition we know that God is perfect.  I believe that is an assumption of the Bible writers every time they mention God, including the places that describe the essentials.  

In Dt.32 Moses is praising the true God over against false gods.

Dt.32:16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.  17They sacrificed to demons, which are not God--gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your fathers did not fear.  18You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. 
   
So Moses is contrasting the true God with false gods.  What does he say about the true God?  The very first thing he says – the most fundamental point that describes the true God is v.4  

Dt.32:3 Oh, praise the greatness of our God!  4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. 

Who is the true God?  He is one who does no wrong.  Absolutely everything he does is right.  He is perfect.  Nothing about Him is anything less than perfect.

When the Bible writers write about some aspect of God’s being that is good, sometimes they use words that are also used of people.  Very often people in the Bible are called holy, good, righteous, just, loving, faithful, etc.

Clearly all those terms, when applied to people, are relative.  People are obviously not perfect in those ways.

But if they are relative, then relative to what standard?

There can be none other than God.  Therefore, those terms when applied to God must be absolute, and not relative.

Implicit in everything we have seen so far is the fact that there is only one true God.  A polytheist cannot be saved.  If you believe God has any competition at all as God, then you so completely misunderstand His nature, that you cannot be said to believe in the true God.

God’s claims to uniqueness are a crucial part of the way He presents Himself to us.  When He first disclosed His name to Moses, we remember the famous statement in Ex.3:14:

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
kai. ei=pen o` qeo.j pro.j Mwush/n evgw, eivmi o` w;n kai. ei=pen ou[twj evrei/j toi/j ui`oi/j Israhl o` w'n avpe,stalke,n me pro.j u`ma/j
hy<ßh.a,( laeêr'f.yI ynEåb.li ‘rm;ato hKoÜ rm,aYO©w: hy<+h.a,( rv<åa] hy<ßh.a,( hv,êmo-la, ‘~yhil{a/ rm,aYOÝw: `~k,(ylea] ynIx:ïl'v.
The LXX translates the Heb. “I am who I am” with “I am the one being.” 

The point is that God is self-existent.  He is defined not by anything outside of Himself.  He is the ultimate standard of being.  

He is the only one who posses the ability to exist in and of Himself.  He is the only being who is in no sense dependent.  

So in this way He is utterly unique.  That is why there can be no rival god.

This is the idea behind the several places where God reveals Himself with what seems to be an incomplete sentence.  
  
Dt. 32:39 "See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. 
i;dete i;dete o[ti evgw, eivmi kai. ouvk e;stin qeo.j plh.n evmou/ 
ynIôa] ydI_M'[i ~yhiÞl{a/ !yaeîw> aWhê ‘ynIa] ynIÜa] yKiä hT'ª[; ŸWaår> 

That would make sense if in the context he had already been talking about someone, and then he said, “I am He” meaning “I am the one being talked about above.”

But there is no antecedent in this context.  He just says, “I am He” out of the blue.  The meaning of that is something like, “I am the one and only ‘He’”  God is claiming to be the one and only true God.

He is the only god of any consequence – He is the only one in His category – the only one in His league.  

Isa.43:10  "You are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
ge,nesqe, moi ma,rturej kavgw. ma,rtuj le,gei ku,rioj o` qeo,j kai. o` pai/j o]n evxelexa,mhn i[na gnw/te kai. pisteu,shte kai. sunh/te o[ti evgw, eivmi e;mprosqe,n mou ouvk evge,neto a;lloj qeo.j kai. metV evme. ouvk e;stai
‘Wnybi’t'w> yliÛ Wnymi’a]t;w> W[d>Teû ![;m;äl. yTir>x"+B' rv<åa] yDIÞb.[;w> hw"ëhy>-~aun> ‘yd;[e ~T,Ûa; 
s `hy<)h.yI al{ï yr;Þx]a;w> laeê rc;Anæ-al{ ‘yn:p'l. aWhê ynIåa]-yKi(

Isa. 46:4  Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
e[wj gh,rouj evgw, eivmi kai. e[wj a'n kataghra,shte evgw, eivmi evgw. avne,comai u`mw/n evgw. evpoi,hsa kai. evgw. avnh,sw evgw. avnalh,myomai kai. sw,sw u`ma/j
lBoßs.a, ynIïa]w: aF'êa, ynIåa]w: ‘ytiyfi’[' ynIÜa] lBo+s.a, ynIåa] hb'ÞyXe-d[;w> aWhê ynIåa] ‘hn"q.zI-d[;w> 
`jLe(m;a]w:
Isa. 48:12  "Listen to me, O Jacob, Israel, whom I have called: I am he; I am the first and I am the last.
a;koue, mou Iakwb kai. Israhl o]n evgw. kalw/ evgw, eivmi prw/toj kai. evgw, eivmi eivj to.n aivw/na
yai_r'qom. laeÞr'f.yIw> bqoê[]y:) ‘yl;ae [m;Ûv. Isa. 48:12
`!Ar)x]a; ynIïa] @a:ß !AvêarI ynIåa] ‘aWh-ynIa]
In Jn.17:3 Jesus pointed out that to gain eternal life one must know the true God, and Jesus Christ whom God has sent.  

There is no knowledge of the true God outside of Christ.  

The Jews of Jesus’ time were in the Temple worshipping Yahweh, the God of the OT, and yet Jesus said, You do not know him  (Jn 7:28, 8:55, 15:21)

He explained why in the next chapter.
Jn 8:19 "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."

 Now the Christ has been revealed, He is the perfect test to tell if someone is worshipping the true God.  If a person claims to worship the true God but rejects Jesus, who is the exact representation of His being, and in Whom the entire godhead dwells bodily, that person is shown not to be worshipping the true God.  

It’s like if a person claims to be a huge Bronco fan, but when you actually get him into the stadium where the Broncos are playing, all he wants is for the opposing team to win.

Of if a person claims to be a disciple of Rembrandt, and that Rembrandt is the greatest artist to ever live, but then each time you show him and actual Rembrandt he says, “That is a terrible painting.”

It used to be hard to tell if a person was truly a worshipper of the true God.  But ever since God became a man and walked this earth it has become much easier, because if a person rejects Him, you know that person rejects the true God.

 That’s why Jesus said Jn 14:6-7  "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.

Acts Ac 4:12  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." 

Without a genuine, relational knowledge of Christ, a person can’t be saved.
Jesus

What all does a person have to believe about Jesus to be saved?  Jesus Himself made some strong statements about this:

Jn.8:21-26  Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come." 
Jesus contrasts His death with theirs.  “I’m going to die and go to a place you can’t go.  You are going to die in your sin.”
Dying in one’s sin is not explained.  It is an OT phrase, but it’s not explained in the OT either.
Morris: “It points to a horror that is all the more terrible for being unexplained.” 
Reaching the end of this life without having forgiveness – dying under the curse of all your sin – the thought of that is so staggering that it’s not even necessary to describe the horrors in store for such a person.

22This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, `Where I go, you cannot come'?" 
23	"You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I told you that you would die in your sins.

The NIV fails to translate therefore at the beginning of v.24.  “The reason I said a second ago that in contrast to Me, you would die in your sins, is because you are from earth.  You originated on earth.  This is your home.

But I’m different. I came here from heaven, and I have no sin.  So when I die, I will return to heaven, whereas you will just die in your sin.”

But then Jesus throws in an exception:
if you do not believe that I AM, you will indeed die in your sins." 

“There is a way out of dying in your sins, but you can’t know that way out if you refuse to believe that I AM.”

The NIV translators suggest a completion of Jesus’ incomplete sentence in brackets, because as Jesus left it, the sentence is very awkward.  

You will be doomed unless you believe that I am… that you are what?

There is no question Jesus is using the absolute use of the phrase “I am He’ to refer to Himself.

This isn’t the only time Jesus used the absolute use of “I am He” to refer to Himself.

Jn.8:28  So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am (He) and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.

Jn.8:58  "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am (He)!"

Jn.13:19  "I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He.

So these passages alone are all that are neccisary to completely prove Jesus’ claimed to be Almighty God – the one and only true God.

But He went a step further – not only did He claim to be God, but He said anyone who won’t believe that will die in his sins.

That places the deity of Christ squarely in the realm of an essential.

That means the Mormons & Jehovah’s Witnesses, as wonderful a people as they tend to be, cannot be saved as long as they hold to the official teaching of both groups that Jesus is a created being.

Distinct from the Father
	Even as Jesus is identifying Himself as the great I AM of the Old Testament, He also consistently presented Himself as being distinct from the Father.

John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
John 5:22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
John 5:23 He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
John 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

The Father and the Son are not the same person. The modalists, who deny the Trinity, believe that there are not three distinct persons in the Godhead – just one. So sometimes God is in Father mode, other times in Son mode, and other times in Spirit mode. But that does not fit with the way Jesus described Himself and the Father. They are two distinct persons, existing simultaneously as Father and Son. And the same is true of the Spirit. All three love one another, entrust things to one another, honor one another, speak to one another, and have authority and submission relationships. When Jesus spoke to the Father, He was not talking to Himself. 
Is it possible for a person to become a Christian before they learn the doctrines of the Trinity and how they fit together? I believe so. However if when they are presented with those truths from Scripture, where there is true saving faith, there will be enthusiastic acceptance of those truths. 

All that Jesus Claimed

Back to Jn.8.  After Jesus says you will die in your sin unless you believe I am He, the Jews responded by saying:
25"Who are you?" they asked. 
"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. 

That is an obscure phrase that is difficult to translate.  But Jesus seems to be saying that you have to believe all that He said about Himself.

That includes quite a bit.  He claimed to do miracles, He claimed to be the Messiah, He claimed to be without sin, He claimed to be pre-existent before His birth, He claimed to be from heaven, He claimed to be God’s unique Son, etc.

There really isn’t much about Jesus that you can be wrong about without being a heretic.  Just about everything we know about Him is in the category of essentials.

Interestingly, there is no place that sets forth the virgin birth as an essential.  In fact, the virgin birth is not really emphasized all that much in Scripture.  It’s never mentioned after it’s recorded in the Gospels.  

If someone did reject it, you would certainly want to know why.  If they reject it because they reject God’s ability to work miracles, or Jesus’ deity or sinlessness, then the person is lost.  

But the virgin birth itself is never singled out as an essential as far as I can tell.
  
And event that is singled out as an essential is the resurrection.  When Paul gives a bare bones summary of the Gospel in 1 Co.15:1-5 the resurrection was part of it:
Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures… 
  
That is essential for salvation. Ro.10:9 if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.