Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine

by Wayne Grudem

how the holiness and justice of God can ever be reconciled with his willingness to forgive sins is a mystery that has never been solved by any religion apart from the Bible.

Note that the Bible is listed as the religion here.

Matthew 4:4: But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

“Teach Me, O Lord, Your Way of Truth”

The Four Characteristics of Scripture: (4) Sufficiency Is the Bible enough for knowing what God wants us to think or do?

Are we to look for other words from God in addition to those we have in Scripture? The doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture addresses this question.

the sufficiency of Scripture means that Scripture contains all the words of God we need for salvation, for trusting him perfectly, and for obeying him perfectly.

enables us to focus our search for God’s words to us on the Bible alone and saves us from the endless task of searching through all the writings of Christians throughout history, all the teachings of the church, or all the subjective feelings and impressions that come to our minds from day to day2

This is the Reformation doctrine of sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”).

This does not mean that the Bible answers all the questions that we might think up, for “The secret things belong to the LORD our God” (Deut. 29:29).

Christian Scientists similarly claim to believe the Bible, but in practice they hold the book Science and Health with a Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy above Scripture in authority.

Only the commands of the Bible have universal applicability to all Christians (see Rom. 14:1–12).

We Should Consider Nothing to Be Sin That Is Not Forbidden by Scripture (Either Explicitly or by Implication)

Some Christian leaders and some churches in previous generations required people to follow specific rules such as not attending movie theaters, not dancing, or not using playing cards.

One clear example of such an addition to the commands of Scripture is found in the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church to “artificial” methods of birth control, a policy that finds no valid support in Scripture. Widespread disobedience, alienation, and false guilt have been the result.

We Should Consider Nothing to Be Required of Us That Is Not Commanded in Scripture

What are some of the doctrinal or moral questions you are wondering about?

Psalm 119:1: Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!

“How Firm a Foundation”

This is not meant to imply that subjective impressions of God’s will are useless or that they should be ignored. That would suggest almost a deistic view of God’s (non)involvement in the lives of his children and a rather mechanical, impersonal view of guidance. God can and indeed does use subjective impressions of his will to remind and encourage us and often to prompt our thoughts in the right direction in many rapid decisions that we make throughout the day—

such subjective impressions can only remind us of moral commands that are already in Scripture or bring to mind facts that we (in theory at least) could have known or did know otherwise or give wise guidance regarding a specific situation;

PART 2 The Doctrine of God

The Existence of God

First, all people have an inner sense of God. Second, we believe the evidence that is found in Scripture and in nature.

TRADITIONAL “PROOFS” FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

The cosmological argument considers

The teleological argument

The ontological argument

The moral argument

The value of these proofs, then, lies chiefly in overcoming some of the intellectual objections of unbelievers.

Romans 1:18–20: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

Some people deny that they have an inner sense of God. But their awareness of God will often make itself evident in a time of personal crisis, when deep-seated convictions of the heart show themselves in outward words and deeds.

The Knowability of God Can we really know God? How much of God can we know?

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie” (Rom. 1:18, 21, 25). Therefore, we need Scripture if we are to interpret natural revelation rightly.

Psalm 145:1–3: I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.

The Character of God: “Incommunicable” Attributes

the incommunicable attributes of God (that is, those attributes that God does not share or “communicate” to others) and the communicable attributes of God (those God shares or “communicates” with us).

His wisdom is to some extent shared with us, but it is never fully shared with us. Similarly, we can share God’s knowledge in part, yet we shall never share it fully, for God’s thoughts are higher than ours

We can imitate God’s love and share in that attribute to some degree, but we will never be infinitely loving as God is.

God is unchangeable, while we change. But we do not change completely, for there are some aspects of our characters that remain largely unchanged:

caution us not to take any one of these descriptions by itself and isolate it from its immediate context or from the rest of what Scripture says about God.4 If we did that, we would run the risk of misunderstanding or of having an imbalanced or inadequate picture of who God is.

God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify him and bring him joy.

For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you; for the world and its fullness are mine. (Ps. 50:10–12)

God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations.5 This attribute of God is also called God’s immutability.

Every creature is continually becoming. It is changeable, constantly striving, seeks rest and satisfaction, and finds this rest in God,

Hence, in Scripture God is often called the Rock.

Does God Sometimes Change His Mind?

places in Scripture where God said he would judge his people and then because of prayer or the people’s repentance (or both) God relented and did not bring judgment as he had said he would.

This is just saying that God responds differently to different situations.

When a situation changes (such as when people repent or pray or both) God often in Scripture changes his present attitude toward the specific situation. But God’s long-term purposes never change.

God’s being cannot be changed or harmed by anything outside of himself.8 When God does feel grief or sorrow over the sinfulness of people he created, this sorrow does not surprise him, nor is it forced on him by external circumstances somehow outside his control, but it is his genuine response to events that he ordained would come to pass. In this sense, God is impassible.