These sections teach the following propositions :

1st. There is but one living and true God.

2d. This God is a free personal Spirit, without bodily parts or passions.

3d. He possesses all absolute perfections in and of himself.

4th. He possesses all relative perfections with respect to his creatures.

5th. He is self-existent and absolutely independent, the sole support, proprietor and sovereign disposer of all his creatures.

1st. There is but one living and true God.

There have been false gods innumerable, and the title god has been applied to angels (Ps. xcvii. 7), because of their spirituality and exalted excellence, and to magistrates (Ps. Ixxxii. 6), because of their authority; and Satan is called *Hhe god of this world" (2 Cor. iv. 4), because of his usurped dominion over the wicked. In opposition, therefore, to the claims of all false gods, and in exclusion of all figurative use of the term, it is affirmed that there is but one true God, one living God.

This affirmation includes two propositions : (a.) There is but one God. (b.) This one God is an absolute unit. Incapable of division.

That there is but one God is proved — (1) From the fact that every argument that establishes the being of God, suggests the existence of but one. There must be one first cause, but there is no evidence of more than one. There must be one designing intelligence and one moral governor, but neither the argument from design nor from conscience suggests more than one. (2.) The creation throughout its whole extent is one system presenting absolute unity of design, and hence evidently emanating from one designing intelligence. (3.) The same is true of the system of providential government. (4.) The sense of moral accountability innate in man witnesses to the unity of the source of all absolute authority. (5.) All the instincts and cultivated habits of reason lead us to refer the multiplicity of the phenomenal world backward and upward to a ground of absolute unity, which being infinite and absolute, necessarily excludes division and rivalry. (6.) The Scriptures constantly affirm this truth. Deut. vi. 4 ; 1 Cor. viii. 4.

The indivisible unity of this one God is proved by the same arguments. For an essential division in the one Godhead would in efi*ect constitute two Gods ; besides, the Scriptures teach us that the Christian Trinity is one undivided God : " I and my Father are one." John X. 30.

2d. This God is a free personal Spirit, without bodily parts or passions.

There is a very ancient prevalent and persistent mode of thought which pervades a great deal of our literature in the present day, which tends to compound God with the world, and to identify him with the laws of nature.

the ordc'i* and beauty of creation. In one way or another he is considered as sustaining to the phenomena ol nature the relation of soul to body, or of whole to parts, or of permanent substance to transient modes. Now all the arguments that establish the being of a God agree with the Scriptures in setting him forth as a personal spirit distinct from the world. fy By spirit we mean the subject to which the attributes of intelligence, feeling nnd ^"^'^^ K^lnng t^g qnfUrp prnpfrt,yj; Where these unite there is distinct personalityThe argument from design proves that the great first cause to whom the system of the universe is to be refprrpdj2nc;spc;fips bo^h inH^igencej benevoleuce and will in jelectin^ ends, and in choosing and adapting means to effect those ends. Therefore he is a personal spirit. The argument from the sense of moral accountability innate in all men proves that we are subject to a supreme Lawgiver, exterior and superior to the persons he governs, one who takes knowledge of us, and will hold us to a strict personal account. Therefore he is a personal spirit distinct from — though intimately associated with — the subjects he governs.

We know spirit by self-consciousness, and in affirming that God is a spirit we (1) affirm that he possesses in infinite perfection all those properties which belong to our spirits, (a) because the Scriptures affirm that we were created in his image, (6) because they attribute all these properties severally to him, (c) because our religious nature demands that we recognize them in him, (d) because their exercise is evidenced in his works of creation and providence, {e) because they were possessed by the divine nature in Christ. And (2) we deny that the

properties of matter, such as bodily parts and passions, belong to him. We make this denial, (a) because there is no evidence that he does possess any such properties, and, (6) because, from the very nature of matter and its affections, it is inconsistent with those infinite and absolute perfections which are of his essence, such as simplicity, unchangfeal)leness, unity, omnipresence, etc.

When the Scriptures, in condescension to our weakness, express the fact that God hears by saying that he has an ear, or that he exerts power by attributing to Jiim a hand, they evidently speak metaphorically, because in the case of men spiritual faculties are exercised through bodily organs. And when they speak of his repenting, of his being grieved or jealous, they use metaphorical language also, teaching us that he acts toward us as a man would when agitated by such passions. Such metaphors are characteristic rather of the Old than of the New Testament, and occur for the most part in highly rhetorical passages of the poetical and prophetical books,

3(1. He possesses all absolute perfections in and of himself.

4th. He possesses all relative perfections with respect to his creatures.

The attributes of God are the properties of his allperfect nature. Those are absolute which belong to God, considered in himself alone — as self-existence, immensity, eternity, intelligence, etc. Those are relative which characterize him in his relation to his creatures— as omnipresence, omniscience, etc. •

It is evident that we can know only such properties of God as he has condescended to reveal to us, and only

SO much of these as he has revealed. The question, then, is, What has God revealed to us of his perfections in his word ?

(1.) God is declared t^ ht^ infim'tp in ,his hpjnp^. Hencg he can exist under none of the limitations of time or space. He must be eternal and he must fill all immensity. These three, therefore, must be the common perfections of all the properties that belong to his essence. He is infinite, eternal, omnipresent in his being ; infinite, eternal, omnipresent in his wisdom, in his power, in his justice, etc. When God is said to be infinite in his knowledge or his power, we mean that he knows all things, and that he can effect all that he wills, without any limit. When we say that he is infinite in his truth, or his justice, or his goodness, we mean that he possesses these properties in absolute perfection.

(2.) His immensity. When we attribute this perfection to God, we mean that his essence fills all space. This cannot be effected through multiplication of his essence, since he is ever one and indivisible; nor through its extension or diffusion, like ether, through the interplanetary spaces, because it is pure spirit. The Spirit of God, like the spirit of a man, must be an absolute unit, without extension or dimensions. Therefore, the entire indivisible Godhead must^ in the totality of his being, be simultaneously present every rnorripnt, nf time, at every point of space. He is immense absolutely and from eternity. He has been omnipresent, in his essence and in all the properties thereof, ever since the creation, to every atom and element of which it consists. Although God is essentially equally omnipresent to all creatures at all times, yet, as he variously manifests

himself at different times and places to his intelligent creatures, so he is said to be peculiarly present to them under such conditions. Thus, God was present to Moses in the burning bush. Ex. iii. 2-6. And Christ promises to be in the midst of two or three met together in his name. Matt, xviii. 20.

(3.) pis eternity. By affirming that God is eternal, we mean that his duration has no limit and that his existence in infinite duration is absolutely perfect. He could have had no beginning, he can have no end, and in his existence there can be no succession of thoughts, feelings or purposes. There can be no increase to his knowledge, no change as to his purpose. Hence the past and the future must be as immediately and as immutably present with him as the present. Hence his existence is an ever-abiding, all-embracing present, which is always contemporaneous with the ever-flowing times of his creatures. His knowledge, which never can change, eternally recognizes his creatures and their actions in their several places in time, and his actions upon his creatures pass from him at the precise moments I)redetermined in his unchanging purpose.

Hence God is absolutely unchangeable in his being and in all the modes and states thereof. In his knowledge, his feelings, his purposes, and hence in his engagements to his creatures, he is the same yesterday, to-day and for ever. " The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations." Ps. xxxiii. 11.

(4.) The infinite intelligence of God,^ including omniscience and absolutely perfect wisdom, is clearly tauglit in Scripture. God's knowledge is infinite, not

only as to the range of objects it embraces, but also as to its perfection, (a.) We know things only asjhey stand related to our organs of perception, and only in their properties. God knows them immediately, in the light of his ON^n intelligence and in their essential nature. (6.) Wc know things successively as they are present to us, or as we pass inferentially from the known to the before unknown. God knows all things eternally by one direct, all-comprehensive intuition, (c.) Ouj: knowledge is dependent ; God's is independent. Ourg. is fragmentary : God's total and complete. Om-p is in ^eat measure transient : God's is permanent.

God knows himself, the depths of his own infinite and eternal being, the constitution of his nature, the ideas of his reason, the resources of his power, the purposes of his will. In knowing the resources of his power he knows all things possible. In knowing the immutable purposes of his will he knows all that has ^^'^^^. existed or that will exist, because of that purpose.

^;^ Wisdom presupposes knowledge, and is tliat excellent S^ ^ practical use which the absolutely perfect intelligence yj/' V'and will of God make of his infinite knowledge. It- is qT exercised in the election of ends, general and special, and in the selection of means in order to the accomplishment of those ends, and is illustrated gloriously in the perfect system of God's works of creation, providence and grace.

(5.) The omnipnfenfR of God is the infinite efflciency resident in and inseparable from the divine essence to effect whatsoever he wills without any limitation soever, except such as lies in the absolute and immutable perfections of hit owi nature. The power of God is both

unlimited in its range and infinitely perfect in its mode of action. (1.) We are oopscions that the powers inherent in our wills are very limitprl. Our wills can act directly only upon the course of our thoughts and a few bodily actions, and can only very imperfectly control these. The power inherent in God's will acts directly upon its objects, and effects absolutely and unconditionally all he intends. (2.) We work through means ; the effect often follows only remotely, and our action is conditioned by external circumstances. God acts immediately with or without means as he pleases. When he acts through means it is a condescension, because the means receive all their efficiency from his power, not his power from the means. And the power of God is absolutely independent of all that is exterior to his own all-perfect nature.

The power of God is the power of his all-perfect, selfexistent essence. He has absolutely unlimited power to do whatsoever his nature determines him to will. But this power cannot be directed against his nature. The ultimate principles of reason and of moral right and wrong are not products of the divine power, but are principles of the divine nature. God cannot change the nature of right and wrong, etc., because he did not make himself, and these have their determination in his own eternal perfections. He cannot act unwisely or unrighteously, not for want of the power as respects the act, but for want of will, since God is eternally, immutably and most freely and spontaneously wise and righteous.

God's omnipotence is illustrated, but never exhausted, in his works of creation and providence. God's power is exercised at his will, but there ever remains an infinite

reserve of possibility lying back of the actual exercise of power, since the Creator always infinitely transcends his creation.

(6.) The absolutely perfect goodness of (rod. The moral perfection of God is one absolutely perfect righteousness. Relatively to his creatures his infinite moral perfection always presents that aspect which his infinite wisdom decides to be appropriate to the case. He is not alternately merciful and just, nor partially merciful and partially just, but eternally and perfectly merciful and just. Both are right ; both are equally and spontaneously in his nature, and both are perfectly and freely harmonized by the infinite wisdom of that nature.

His p^oodness includes {a) Benevolence^ or goodness viewed as a disposition to promote the happiness of his sensitive creatures ; (6) Love, or goodness viewed as a disposition to promote the happiness of intelligent creatures, and to regard with complacency their excellences;

(c) Mfijxj^ or goodness exercised toward the miserable ;

(d) Grace, or goodness exercised toward the undeserving. The grace of God toward the undeserving evidently

rests upon his sovereign will (Matt. xi. 26 ; Rom. ix. 15), and can be assured to us only by means of a positive revelation. Neither reason nor conscience nor observation of nature can assure us« independently of his own special revelation, that he will be gracious to the guilty. Our duty is to forgive injuries; we as individuals have nothing to do with either forgiving or pardoning sin. That God's goodness is absolutely perfect and inexhaustible is proved from universal experience, as well as from Scripture. James iii. 17; v. 11. It is exercised, however, not in making the happiness of his

creatures ir.discriminately and unconditionally a chief end, but is regulated by his wisdom in order to the accomplishment of the supreme ends of his own glory and their excellence.

' (7.) God is absolutely true. This is a common property of all the divine perfections and actions. His knowledge is absolutely accurate ; his wisdom infallible ; his goodness and justice perfectly true to the standard of his own nature. In the exercise of all his properties God is always self-consistent. He is also always absolutely true to his creatures in all his communications, sincere in his promises and threatenings, and faithful in their fulfilment.

This lays the foundation for all rational confidence in the constitution of our own natures and in the order of the external world, as well as in a divinely-accredited, supernatural revelation. It guarantees the validity of the information of our senses, the truth of the intuitions of reason and conscience, the correctness of the inferences of the understanding, and the general credibility of human testimony, and pre-eminently the reliability of every word of the inspired Scriptures.

(8.) The infinite justice of God. This, viewed absolutely, is the all-perfect righteousness of God's being considered in himself. Viewed relatively, it is his infinitely righteous nature exercised, as the moral governor of his intelligent creatures, in the imposition of righteous laws, and in their righteous execution. It appears in the general administration of his government viewed as a whol i, and distributively in his dealing to individuals that treatment which righteously belongs to them, according to liis own covenants and their own deserts.

God is most willingly just, but his justice is no more an optional product of his will than is his self-existent being. It is an immutable principle of his divine constitution. He is ^^ of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity.^^ Heb. i. 13. " He cannot deny himself." 2 Tim. ii. 13. God does not make his demands just by willing them, but he wills them because they are just.

The infinite righteousness of his immutable being determines him to regard and to treat all sin as intrinsically hateful and deserving of punishment. The punishment of sin and its consequent discouragement is an obvious benefit to the subjects of his government in general. It is a revelation of righteousness in God, and a powerful stimulant to moral excellence in them. But God hates sin because it is intrinsically hateful, and punishes it because such punishment is intrinsically righteous. This is proved —

(a.) From the direct assertions of Scripture: "To me belongeth vengeance and recompensed' Deut. xxxii. 35. " According to their deeds, accordingly he will repayJ' Isa. lix. 18. "Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them which troubt^ you." 2 Thess. i. 6. " Knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death." Rom. i. 32.

(b.) The Scriptures teach that the vicarious suffering of the penalty due to his people by Christ as their substitute was absolutely necessary to enable God to continue just and at the same time the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Rom. iii. 26. " If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Gal.

ii. 21. "If there had been a law that could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." Gal. iii. 21. That is, if God could have in consistency with justice pardoned sinners without an expiation, *• verily" he would not have sacrificed his own Son "in vain."

I (c.) It is a universal judgment of awakened sinners that their sin deserves punishment and that immutable righteousness demands it. And this is the sentence universally pronounced by the moral sense of enlightened men with regard to all crime.

(c?.) The same changeless principle of righteousness was inculcated by all the divinely-appointed sacrifices of the Mosaic dispensation : " Almost all things by the law are purged with blood, and without the shedding of blood is no remission." Heb. ix. 22. It has also been illustrated in the sacrificial rites of all heathen nations, and in all human laws and penalties.

(9.) The infinite holiness of God. Sometimes this term is applied to God to express his perfect purity: " Sanctify yourselves and be ye holy, for I am holy." Lev. xi. 44. In that case it is an element of his perfect righteousness. " The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." Ps. cxlv. 17. Sonietimes it expresses his transcendently august and vener* able majesty, which is the result of all his harmonious and blended perfections in one perfection of absolute and infinite excellence. "And one cried to another, Holy ! holy ! holy ! is the Lord of Hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." Isa. vi. 3.

5th. God is self-existent and absolutely independent, the so e support, proprietor and sovereign disposer of

his creatures. Since God is eternal and the Creator out of nothing of all things that exist besides himself, it follows (a) that his own being must have the cause of its existence in itself — that is, that he is self-existent; (6) that he is absolutely independent in his being, purposes and actions of all other beings ; and (c) that all other beings of right belong to him, and in fact are absolutely dependent upon him in their being, and subject to him in their actions and destinies.

Tne sovereignty of God is his absolute right to govern and dispose of the work of his own hands according to his own good pleasure. This sovereignty restts not in his will abstractly, but in his adorable person. Hence it is an infinitely wise, righteous, benevolent and powerful sovereignty, unlimited by anything outside of his own perfections.

The grounds of his sovereignty are — (a) His infinite superiority. (6.) His absolute ownership of all things as created by him. (c.) The perpetual and absolute dependence of all things upon him for being, and of all intelligent creatures for blessedness. Dan. iv. 25, 35; Rev. iv. 11.

We are here taught, — First, That there is but one God. Secondly, That he is the only living and true God. Thirdly, That he is a most pure spirit. Fourthly, That he is possessed of all possible perfections.

1. The assertion, that there is but one God, does not mean that there is hut one divine person, for it is afterwards stated, that " in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons;" but it means that the Divine Being is numerically one in nature or essence. This is affirmed in opposition to the Polytheism of heathen nations, and to the heresy of the Tritheists, who hold that there are three distinct Godheads, or that one Godhead is divided into three distinct parts. The unity of the Divine Being might be discovered by the light of nature, for the same process of reasoning which leads to the idea of a God, leads also to the conclusion, that there can be no more Gods than one. There can be but one first cause, one self-existent, independent, omnipotent, infinite, and Supreme Being ; it is a contradiction to suppose otherwise. Hence,

though the nide unthinking mxiltitude among the Pagans adored gods many, and lords many, yet the wiser of their philosophers had their one supreme god; and their poets sung of one sovereign deity, whom they called the Father of gods and men. It is unquestionable, however, that the heathen world received a multiplicity of gods, and the philosophers contented themselves with empty speculations about the nature of the Deity; and, instead of instructing the vulgar in the unity of God, confirmed them in their error, by practically complying with the customs of their country. But divine revelation has firmly established the doctrine of God's unity. Jehovah solemnly declares, " I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me." — Deut. xxxii. 39. " Before me there was no god formed, neither shall there be after me." — Isa. xliii. 10. The inspired Avriters of the Old Testament have said of him, " The Lord he is God; there is none else besides him" (Deut. iv. 3.5} ; and, " Hear, O Israel : the Lord our God is one Lord." — Deut. vi, 4. Jesus adds his testimony to this great truth; he told the scribe that came to question him about his religion, " The first of %all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord;" and he spoke with high approbation of the answer returned to this, in which " the scribe said imto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth : for there is one God; and there is none other but he." — Mark xii. 29, 32. The Apostle Paul often inculcates the same truth : " We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one." — 1. Cor. viii. 4. "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." — 1. Tim. ii. 5.

2. It is asserted, that this God is the only living and true God. The name of God is, indeed, given in Scripture to various other beings, on account of some resemblance which, in some particular respect, they bear to God. Angels are called gods, on account of the excellence of their nature. — Ps. xcvii. 7. Magistrates are called gods, because, in the execution of their office, they act in God's name, and because we are bound to obey them. — Exod. xxii. 28. Moses was a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron was his prophet, because Aaron received the divine messages, which he caiTied to Pharaoh immediately from Moses; whereas other prophets received their messages to the people immediately from God himself. — Exod. vii. 1. Idols are called gods, because idolaters account them gods, and honour them as such. And Satan is called the god of this world, because he rules over the greater part of the world, and they are his servants, and

26 CONFESSION OP FAITH. [cHAP. II.

do his works, — 2 Cor. iv. 4. But, " though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, yet to us there is but one God," who is the only living and true God. He is styled the living God, in order to distinguish him from idols, which are altogether destitute of life. The opposition between the living God and dead idols the Psalmist states and illustrates in a manner the most convincing. — Ps. cxv. 3-7. He is styled the true God, in opposition to imaginary and fictitious gods. The heathen, besides worshipping dead idols, worshipped also living creatures. — Deut. xxxii. 17. These were only gods in their vain imagination, not in reality. They were called gods, but they w^ere not gods by nature. — Gal. iv. 8. Between the true God and all rival gods there is an infinite disparity.

3. It is asserted that this God is a most pure Spirit, — that is, he is an incorporeal, immaterial, invisible, and immortal Being, wdthout bodily parts or passions. " No man hath seen God at any time." He " dwelleth in light, which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see." He is described as " invisible, incorruptible, and immortal." The Confession affirms that God is a pure Spirit, according to the Scriptures, and in opposition to an ancient sect of heretics, who, understanding everything spoken of God in a literal sense, held that God has bodily parts and a human form. These heretics are called Antliropomorphites ; a name compounded of two Greek words, — the one signifying human, and the other, shape or form. That corporeal parts and bodily members, — such as eyes, ears, hands, and face, — are ascribed to God in the Scriptures is certain; but such language is used in accommodation to our capacities, and must be understood in a way suitable to a pure spirit. Were the great God to speak of his essence and perfections as he is in himself, instead of being informed, we w^ould be confounded. He, therefore, employs human properties and actions as emblems of his own spiritual perfections and acts. AVe become acquainted with persons and things by seeing them or hearing of them ; and to intimate the perfect knowledge which God has of his creatures, eyes and ears are ascribed to him. It is chiefly by our hands that we exert our bodily strength ; and hands are ascribed to God to denote his irresistible power. We look with an air of complacency and satisfaction on those whom we love ; and God's face denotes the manifestation of his favour. In the same manner must we explain the several 2mssions that are ascribed to God, — such as anger, fury, jealousy, revenge, bowels of mercy, &c. " Passion produces a vehemence of action ; so when there is, in the providences of

God, such a vehemence as, according to the manner of men, wonld imiDort a passion, then that passion is ascribed to God. When he punishes men for sin, he is said to be angry ; when he does that by severe and redoubled strokes, he is said to be full oifury and revenge ; when he punishes for idolatry, or any dishonour done to himself, he is said to be jealous ; when he changes the course of his proceedings, he is said to repent ; Avhen his dispensations of providence are very gentle, and his judgments come slowly from him, he is said to have bowels. And thus all the varieties of providence come to be expressed by all that variety of passions which, among men, might give occasion to such a variety of proceeding." *

4. It is asserted that this God is possessed of all possible perfections. The perfections of God are called his attributes, because they are ascribed to him as the essential properties of his nature. These attributes are variously, though imperfectly distinguished, in our ways of thinking about them. They have been called natural and moral, incommunicable and communicable attributes, — the latter is the most common distinction. Those attributes are called incommunicable, of which there is not the least resemblance to be found among creatures ; and those are called communicable, of which there is some faint, though very imperfect resemblance to be found among creatures. Without attempting to class the divine perfections under these two heads, we shall arrange the several parts of the description of God contained in the two sections now before us under the following particulars : —

1. God is infinite. To be infinite, according to the literal signification of the word, is to be unbounded, — unlimited. As applied to the other attributes of God, this term denotes their absolute perfection. He is infinite in his wisdom, power, holiness, &c. As these perfections must be considered afterwards, we only notice, at present, that God is infinite in his being, or essence. From this results his incomprehensibility, or that supereminent perfection which can be comprehended by none but himself. A perfect kuoAvledge of God is competent to none but himself, whose understanding is infinite. " Canst thou by searching find out God ? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection ?" — Job xi. 7. His infinity, as applied to his being, also includes his immensity and his omnipresence. Betwixt these a distinction may be drawn. His omnipresence has a relation to creatures actually existing, with every one of which he is intimately present ; but his immensity extends infinitely beyond the boundaries of all created substance. God fills all places at once — heaven, and * Burnet on the Thrty-Nine Articles, Art. i.

28 CONFESSION OP FAITH. CflAP. 11.

earth, and hell — with his essential presence. " Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off ? Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him ? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord."— Jer. xxiii. 23, 24.

2. God is self-existent and inde'pendent. He has all life, glory, and blessedness, in and of himself. His existence is necessary and nnderived ; for his name is, " I am that I am." — Exod, iii. 14. His glory and blessedness are likewise underived. His glory necessarily results from, or rather consists in, the absolute perfection of his OA\m nature, and his blessedness is all summed up in the possession and enjoyment of his own infinite excellencies. Being thus all-sufficient in and imto himself, he must be independent of any other being. He stands not in need of any creatures which he has made, nor can he derive any gloiy from them. Every other being receives its all from him, but he receives no advantage from any. " For his pleasure all things ai-e and were created ; but none can be profitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable to himself ; nor is it any gain to him that they make their ways perfect." — Rev. iv. 11 ; Job xxii. 2, 3.

3. God is the fountain of all being. As he has life in and of himself, so he is the author of that life which is in every living creature. " In him we live, and move, and have our being." All the life of the vegetative, animal, and rational world, the life of grace here, and the life of glory hereafter, are of him, and derived from him. " With him is the fountain of life," — of all sorts of life. " Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things." — Rom. xi. 36, From this it follows, that God has most sovereign dominion over all his creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth. He who is the first cause of all things, must also be the last end. As he gave being to all creatures, so he must have an absolute right to rule over tliem, and to dispose of them for tlie ends of his own glory. Hence we are told, that " his kingdom ruleth over all," and that " he doeth according to his will in the anny of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth : and none can stay his hand, or say xmto him, What doest thou?" — Ps. ciii. 19; Dan. iv. 35. But God has not only a right to exercise sovereign dominion over his creatures, he has also an indisputable claim to their service and obedience. This claim is likewise founded upon his giving them their being. They are not their own, but the Lord's ; him, therefore, they are bound to serve. Hence the Confession, with great propriety.

affirms, that to God " is due from angels and men, and every other creature, whatsoever Avorship, service, or obedience, he is pleased to require of them."

4. God is eternal. The word eternal is sometimes used, both in Scripture and in common language, in a restricted sense, for a long time, or for a period whose termination is to us unknown. Sometimes it denotes a duration which, though not without beginning, is without end. Thus angels and the souls of men are eternal ; for though they had a beginning, they will have no end. But eternity, in the strict and proper sense of the word, signifies a duration without beginning, without end, and without succession; and in this sense it is peculiar to the great God. The supposition that there was a period at which God began to be, is equally repugnant to reason and to revelation. He that created all things must have existed before any of them began to be ; and his existence being imderived, he can never cease to exist. The Scriptui-e plainly declares that he is without beginning : " Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." — Ps. xc. 2. It "o less plainly declares that he is without end : " The Lord shall endure for ever." — Ps. ix. 7. That he is without succession is no less explicitly declared : " One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." — 2 Pet. iii. 8. There is one passage in which an unbeginning, unending, and unsuccessive duration, is ascribed to God.— Ps. cii. 25-27. One of his glorious titles is, « The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity;" and he is styled, " The everlasting God, — the Father of eternity, — the First and the Last."

5. Grod is immutable. " With him is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." To this important truth reason and revelation give their united testimony. His immutability necessarily results from his absolute perfection. If he -were to change, it must be either to the better or to the worse. He cannot change to the better, for that would imply past imperfection ; he cannot change to the worse, for then he would cease to be perfect. He must, therefore, remain invariably the same. To the absolute immutability of God the Scripture gives numerous testimonies. — Numb, xxiii. 19; Ps. xxxiii. 11; Mai. iii. 6.

God is unchan'geable in his being. " I am that I am,'' is the name by which he made himself known to Moses, a name whiph conveys the idea not only of self-existence and independence, but also of immutability. He is unchangeable in

30 CONFESSION OF FAlXn. []ci] AP II.

his glory. Tlioiigli the manifestation of his glory may vary, yet he is, and ever was, infinitely glorious in himself; for his essential glory is neither capable of increase nor susceptible of diminution. He is unchangeable in his blessedness ; for as it consists in the enjoyment of himself, so it can neither be increased nor diminished b}^ anything that creatures can do for or against him. — Job xxxv. 5-7. He is unchangeable in his purposes and counsels. He proclaims with divine majesty, " My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure : I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass ; I have purposed it, I will also do it." — Isa. xlvi. 10, 11. He is unchangeable in his covenant, love, and promises to his people. — Isa. liv. 10. When, therefore, we read in Scripture of God's repenting, we must understand such language of an alteration of the outward dispensations of his providence. We are by no means to attribute to him any change of mind ; for, in this respect, it is impossible for God to change. " He is in one mind, and who can turn him ? " — Job xxiii. 13.

6. God is all-knowing. In his sight all things are open and manifest. He has a perfect knowledge of himself, and he only knows himself perfectly. He knows all things besides himself, Avhether they be past, present, or to come, in oiir way of measuring them by time. He knows all creatures, from the greatest to the least ; he knows all the actions of his creatures, whether secret or open ; all their Avords, thoughts, and intentions. Hence the Scripture declares, " The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." — Prov. xv. 3. " He is acquainted with all our ways, there is not a word in our tongue but he knoweth it altogether, and he understandeth our thought afar off." — Ps. cxxxix. 2-4. " Known iinto God are all his works fi'om the beginning of the world." — Acts xv. 18. Yea, he knows the most contingent events : the actions of free agents, and all events concerned in them, were always known with certainty to him ; so that, though they be contingent in their own nature, or ever so uncertain as to us, yet, in reality, nothing is to him contingent or uncertain. We cannot doubt this, when we consider the numerous prophecies, relating to things of this kind, that ha,ve received a most exact and circumstantial accomplishment, many ages after the proj)hecies were announced. It may be remarked, that God knows things, not by information, nor by reasoning and deduction, nor by succession of ideas, but by a single intuitive glance ; and he knov,'s them comprehensively, and infallibly.

7. God is most free and most absolute. " He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." — Eph. i. 11. His

will is infinitely free, and " he doth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." He has an absolute right to do whatsoever he pleaseth, and " none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou ?" —Dan. iv. 35.

8. God is infinitely tcise. The wisdom of God is that perfection of his nature by which he directs all things to their proper end — the end for w^hich he gave them being ; and this is his own glory : for as he is the most excellent Being, nothing can be so excellent an end as his own glory. How

I admirably is the wisdom of God displayed in creation! Whether we look upward to the heavens, or downward to the earth ; whether y^e survey the mineral, the vegetable, or the animal world, can we forbear to exclaim with the devout Psalmist, " O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom thou hast made them all." — Ps. civ. 24. When we consider the vast variety of creatures and things which God has produced from the same original matter, the fitness of everything for its intended purpose, the subserviency of one thing to a-nother, and the conspiring of all to a common end — how conspicuous is his wisdom ! Nor is the wisdom of God less apparent in the gorernment of the world, especially in effecting the most grand and glorious designs by weak and feeble means, and even by the bad dispositions of men — " making even the wrath of man to praise him, and restraining the remainder thereof." " O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God !" — Rom. xi. 33. But this perfection of God shines forth with the brightest lustre in the method of our redemption by Jesus Christ. Nothing less than wisdom truly divine could have devised a plan whereby " mercy and truth should meet together, and righteousness and peace should embrace each other." Here is " the hidden wisdom of God." Here " he has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence ; " and hence the publication of this contrivance is spoken of as a discovery of " the manifold wisdom of God." — Eph. iii. 10.

9. God is infinitely powerful, or almighty. The power of God is that perfection whereby he is able to effect all things that do not imply a contradiction, either to his own perfections, or to the nature of things themselves. " With God nothing shall be impossible," said the angel to the Virgin Mary. " With God all things are possible," said Jesus to his disciples. How great must be that power whicli produced the beautiful fabric of the univei-se out of nothing ! " By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." "For he spake,

32 CONFESSION OF FATTII. (^CHAP. tS

and it was done ; he commanded, and it stood fast." — Ps. xxxiii. 6, 9. His power is still exerted in the preservation of the world; for he upholds all creatures in their being and operations by the word of his power. It appears conspicuously in the moral government of the world — especially in restraining wicked men from their purposes ; for "he stilleth the noise of the waves, and the raging of the people." But it is most eminently displayed in the work of redemption by Jesus Christ ; in the formation of his human nature in the womb of the Virgin; in supporting his human nature under that load of wrath which was due to iis for our transgressions ; and in raising him from the dead. It is also displayed in the production of that wonderful change which takes place in the conversion of a sinner, which in Scripture is termed a new creation; in the preservation of believers in a state of grace; in enabling them to resist and overcome strong temptations, to perform arduous duties, and to bear heavy trials with patience and joyfulness ; and it will be signally manifested in raising up their bodies, glorious and immortal, at the last day.

It may be observed, that although there are some things which God cannot do, yet this implies no imperfection in his power. He cannot do what involves a contradiction ; for instance, he cannot make a thing to be, and not to be, at the same time ; he cannot do what is repugnant to his nature, or his essential perfections ; he cannot deny himself — he cannot lie — he cannot look upon sin — he caimot sleep, or suifer, or cease to exist. This, however, argues no defect of power, but arises from his absolute perfection.

10. God is infinitely holy. The holiness of God is the perfect rectitude of his nature, whereby he is absolutely free from all moral impurity, and, in all that he does, acts like himself, and for the advancement of his own honour ; delighting in what accords with, and abhorring what is contrary to, his nature and will. Holiness is, as it were, the lustre and glory of all the divine perfections ; hence God is styled " glorious in holiness." It is that perfection which those exalted spirits, who are best acquainted with the glories of the divine nature, dwell most upon in their songs of praise ; hence, the seraphim cry one to another, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." — Isa. vi. 3. God himself puts peculiar honour upon his holiness ; for he singles it out as that attribute by which he swears that he will accomplish whatever he hath spoken. — Ps. Ixxxix. 35, The holiness of God is manifest from the original condition of all rational creatures; for, when formed by him, they were perfectly holy. It has been awfully displayed in the judgments which God has executed upon sinners. The expulsion of the rebel angels from heaven, — the exclusion of man from paradise, as soon as he became a sinner,— the destruction of the old world by water, — the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah ; these, and innumerable other instances, the Scripture records of God's awful displeasure against sin. But nothing affords such a striking demonstration of God's hatred of sin as the sufferings and death of his own Son. God must be of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, since, when our guilt was transferred to his own Son, he spared him not. Could he have overlooked sin in any case, he would certainly have done it in the case of his dear Son. But, though he was the object of his Father's ineffable delight, and though he was personally innocent, yet, when he stood charged with the sins of his people, he could not be excused from suffering and dying. " It pleased the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief."— Isa. liii. 10. 11. God is infinitely jM5f. The justice of God is that perfection of his nature according to which he is infinitely righteous in himself, and just and equal in all his proceedings with regard to his creatures. " A God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." — Deut.xxxii. 4. God is just to himself, by acting in all things agreeably to his nature and perfections, and by maintaining his own rights and prerogatives. He is just to his creatures, by governing them in a way agreeably to their nature, according to a law which he has given them. God's justice has been variously distinguished, according to the various ways in which it is exercised. His legislative justice, is his giving righteous laws to his creatures, suited to their original abilities, commanding or forbidding such things as are fit for them to do or forbear. Hence, his law is said to be "holy, and just, and good." — Rom. vii. 12. His distributive justice, is his rendering to every one his due, according to law, without respect of persons. This, again, is distinguished by various names. There is remunerative justice, whereby God rewards the sincere, though imperfect obedience of those who are accepted in his sight as righteous, through the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to them, and received by faith. " Verily, there is a reward for the righteous." " God is not unrighteous, to forget their work and labour of love."- — Ps. Iviii. 11 ; Heb. vi. 10. But this reward is entirely of free grace, and not of debt. There is pmiitive justice, whereby God renders to the sinner the punishment due to his crimes. This is nothing else than God's distributive justice, as it regards punishment. It is sometimes called xindicalory c

.34 CONFESSION OF FAITH. QciIAI'. II.

justice, and sometimes avenging justice. This, we hold, v\ opposition to Socinians, is not an arbitrary eft'ect of the will of God, but an essential perfection of his nature ; and, therefore, upon the entrance of sin, its exercise was indispensably necessary. God must inflict the punishment due to sin, either upon the transgressor himself, or upon another as his surety. This appears from the holiness of God, which requires that he should demonstrate his aversion to sin by punishing it according to its demerit. It appears from the threatening of the law, taken in connection with the truth of of God. " In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," was the penalty annexed to the law, and the faithfulness of God is pledged for the execution of the sentence upon transgressors. This is confirmed by the testimony of conscience in all men, apprehending that punishment will overtake the transgressor ; hence, both barbarous and civilized nations have had recourse to sacrifices to appease the anger of the Deity. This appears, further, from God's inflicting remarkable judgments, even in this life, on sinning nations and individuals ; and especially from his executing punishment upon his own Soti, as the sui'ety of sinners. Christ having substituted himself in the place of sinners, justice exacted of him full satisfaction. And never did justice appear in such terrible majesty, as when God gave it the commission to awake, and smite the man that was his fellow. — Zech. xiii. 7. Then it was seen that God " can by no means clear the guilty," or allow sin to pass with impunity.

Several writers, of late, have attributed to God what they call public justice ; that is, justice which respects the groat general end of government, — the public good. But, we apprehend, there is no foundation, either in Scripture or reason, for supposing that this kind of justice has any place in the moral government of God. Such an idea proceeds upon the supposition that the divine government, so far as punishment is concerned, is completely analogous to human governments. There is, howevei-, a wide and obvious distinction between tl^.e procedure of human govei-nments and the procedure of the Most High.

12. God is infinitely good. Though all the perfections of God are his glory, yet tiiis is particularly so called ; for when Moses earnestly desired to behold the glory of Jehovah, the Lord said, " I will make all my goorbwi^x pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the J.,ord before thee." " And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Loud God, mci-ciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth," cS:c. — Exod. xxxiii. 18,

19, and xxxiv. 6. The goodness of God is distinguished by different names, according to the different aspects in which it is viewed, or the different objects about which it is exercised. When it relieves the miserable, it is called mercy ; when it confers favours on the undeserving, or on those who deserve nothing but what is evil, it is called grace ; when it supplies the wants of indigent beings, it is called hountij ; when it forbears to execute punishment upon, provoking rebels, it is called patience or Jongsvffering. The goodness of God is, therefore, a very comprehensive term ; it includes all the foi-ms of his kindness towards men, whether considered as creatures, as sinners, or as saints. But we may describe it generally as that property of the Divine Being which disposes him to communicate happiness to his creatures, as far as is consistent with his other perfections.

Innumerable are the instances in which God has manifested his goodness. What but goodness could pronrpt him to give being to so many creatures, when he stood in no need of them, being intinitely happy in the enjoyment of himself? What goodness does he display in iiphold ing innumerable creatures in existence, and in making am]de provision for their wants ? But the most astonishing display of this, as well as of all the other perfections of Deity, is in the redemption of sinners. In the contrivance of the plan, and in the execution of it from first to last, God appears good, in a manner and to a degree that astonishes the inhabitants both of earth and of heaven. The goodness of God, as manifested in this work, is usually expressed by the term love ; and the love herein displayed surpasses knowledge.— John iii. 16The goodness of God may be considered as absolute and relative, — as it is in himself, and as it is exercised toward his creatures. ^ — Ps. cxix. 68. It may also be considered as common aiid sioecial. Of his goodness, in the former view, his creatures promiscuously are partakers — Ps. xxxiii. 5, cxlv. 9. Of his goodness, in the latter view, his chosen people are partakers. — Ps. cvi. 5.

13. God is infinitely true and faithful. The truth of God is that perfection of his nature. whereby it is impossible for him not to fulfil whatever he hath spoken. He is " a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." Whatever God hath spoken, whether in a way of promise or of threatening, he will, sooner or later, infallibly accomplish, " It is impossible for God to lie." No difficulties can arise to render a performance of his word impracticable ; and he is not liable to a change of mind Numb, xxiii. 19. We may,

36 CONFESSION OF FAITH. QcHAP. If.

therefore, be confidently assured, that " there shall not fail one good word of all that the Lord our God hath spoken."

How blessed are they who, upon good grounds, can call this all-perfect Being their Father and their God ! How miserable those who live " without God in the world !" and what a " fearful thing" must it be to " fall into the hands of the living God !" That we may escape this misery, and possess the happiness of those " whose God is the Lord," let us unreservedly yield ourselves to God, through Christ, and take him to be our portion for ever. May the unfeigned language of every reader be, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee."