Understanding Faith, Truth, and the Nature of God

I think the issue this generation has is a profound disconnect for many robust concept of truth, of objective truth. And for this generation it feels liberating to be without the shackles of some construction that is probably power motivated. And what seems to be so tragic is the lack of realization that it is the objective truth primarily of who God is that will give you satisfaction and coherence and meaning in life. [00:01:06]

James 2 is really looking primarily at Abraham. And in the story of Abraham, you see there are two key events that James is referring to. And it's quite important to note even the chapter numbers. The first event is Genesis 15. The second is Genesis 22. Now, James references Genesis 15 when he quotes Genesis 15:6, "And Abraham believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness." [00:04:02]

James says is that that obedience is proving the lively, real nature of the faith that he had in Genesis 15, showing that while it is faith alone that justifies, that faith will always produce works of obedience. Now, what those works are can vary to a huge degree, but James' point is that in these works you are proving your faith, you're manifesting what is already there. [00:05:56]

The creeds and confessions. When we talk about creeds we are really talking about shorter documents, particularly the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed are the best known statements from earlier in the church. The confessions are generally later documents from particularly the time of the Reformation and later that are really seeking to flesh out the truths of the creeds. [00:14:26]

What confessions seek to do is really pull out some of the consequences that are necessary to pull out. So, while the Apostles' Creed, the necessary implication is justification by faith alone, the confessions of the faith then pull it out explicitly to say, "We need to say, therefore, justification by faith alone and not by our works." [00:16:29]

The classic analogies; let me give an example. One of the most famous would be the shamrock leaf, that God the Father, Son, and Spirit, three persons in one being, is rather like a shamrock leaf. We have three bits sticking out of one leaf, or H2O would be another classic one. There you have steam, water, ice, but it's all H2O. I would be highly wary of using such analogies. [00:21:26]

In the doctrine of the Trinity we see something infinitely more glorious, that we have an eternal Father eternally loving His Son, pouring out His Spirit on Him. And so, Jesus says in John 17:24, "Father, You loved Me before the foundation of the world." No analogy gives you that picture, but that biblical truth shows you that with the God who is Father, Son, and Spirit, the Father eternally loving the Son, therefore, we've got a God of whom we can say, "This God is love." [00:23:22]

We need to see that in Scripture there are two types of fear being spoken of, and you can see both sorts in Exodus 20:20 when Israel gets to Mount Sinai and they are terrified at all the thunder and the lightning and the trumpet blast. And Moses says, "Do not be afraid, for the Lord has come to test you that the fear of the Lord may be upon you." [00:25:46]

The fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom is a Spirit-imbued fear, who doesn't want to make us run away from the Lord. The Spirit's work is to draw us to Him. And there are a number of very striking verses in Scripture where— let's take Jeremiah 33 verses 8 and 9 for example֫— the Lord says that He will pour out so much blessing on Jerusalem that, He will do them so much good "that they will fear and tremble at all the good and prosperity I provide for them." [00:26:56]

The fear of the Lord we are commanded to and which is the beginning of wisdom is sharing Jesus' own filial, sonly adoration of His Father, which is so intense it causes Him to fearfully tremble in wonder at His Father. And that, Nathan, that is being most heavenly when we have that because you look at how the angels worship in heaven that they are said to fall on their faces trembling in wonder, to cover their eyes in worship. [00:29:45]

The way the Spirit changes us is by changing our very hearts internally, changing our desires by fixing our eyes on Christ so that we find we change from what we once loved, sin, to think, "O Christ is better than what I had once cherished. I want to live for Him. I want to be like Him." And when you understand that is how we change, then what you are seeking for is that deeper heart-level-affection change, not just the outside. [00:57:06]

The idea that when God says "us," that that might be a reference to the angels simply doesn't work with what the text is saying. It has been suggested by some theologians, but it doesn't work because the context is God's saying, "Let us make man in our image." But humans are not made in the image of God and angels, only in the image of God. [01:00:42]