Simplicity
Opening Text: Psalm 145
I. Exhortations
A. While we are able to distinguish God’s attributes we must always remember that in God all perfections harmonize; no one attribute is greater than another. For instance, God’s love isn’t greater than His righteousness.
B. “He is the one pure beam of perfect light that reveals itself to us through the prism of his revelation in his manifold perfections and beauties. Therefore, it follows that all God’s perfections are one in him.” -Herman Hoeksema
C. Because there is only One true God: there is only one true religion; only one way of salvation; only one worthy recipient of our worship.
D. “There is not a single name which adequately expresses God’s being, but there are many names, properties, ideas, dignities by means of which some characteristic of God is revealed to us.” -Herman Bavinck
E. “To have the knowledge of the true God is more than if we had mines of gold, rocks of diamonds, islands of spices; especially if God has savingly revealed himself to us; if he has given us eyes to see the light; if we so know God as to be known of him, to love him, and believe in him. Matt xi 25. We can never be thankful enough to God, that he has hid the knowledge of himself from the wise and prudent of the world, and has revealed it unto us.” -Thomas Watson
II. Defining our terms
A. “The simplicity of God considered not morally, but physically, is hisincommunicable attribute by which the divine nature is conceived by us not only as free from all composition and division, but also incapable of composition and division.” AND “Whatever in God is essential and absolute is God himself.” -Francis Turretin
B. God is not composed; His essence and His virtue are identical; God is His virtues; and His virtues are absolutely one in Him; God is pure perfection, Whose goodness is His very Essence, Whose very Being is virtue - Notes from Dogmatics 213: Theology with Prof. David J. Engelsma
C. “God is not composed who composed all things that they might be; nor is he such as those things are which were made by his word; since he is a simple substance in whom there is no quality nor any shadow of change, as James testifies.” -Athanasius
D. “The simplicity of God follows from some of His other perfections; from His Self- existence, which excludes the idea that something preceded Him, as in the case of compounds; and from His immutability, which could not be predicated of His nature, if it were made up of parts.” -Louis Berkhof
E. “God’s simplicity also signifies that God is not composed, that his essence and his virtues are identical, that he is his virtues, and that all his virtues are absolutely one in him.” -Herman Hoekesma
F. “The second thing God’s spiritual nature means is that he is noncorporeal...he has no extension in space, no weight, no mass, no bulk, no parts, no form, no taste, no smell. He is invisible (1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16) and, being one in essence and without parts, is indivisible (this last term denotes what some theologians refer to as his ‘“simplicity”).” -Dr. Robert L. Reymond
III. Defending our terms
A. Are there more gods than one? There is only one God (Deut 6:4; Eph 4:4-6; 1Tim 1:17)
B. In how many persons does this one God exist? In three persons (1Jn 5:1-12)
C. What are they? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Mt 28:19)
Athanasian Creed: “Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; Which faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither confounding the persons nor dividing the essence.” (verses 1-4)
D. What is God? God is a spirit, and has not a body like men (Deut 4:15-24; Lk 24:39; James 1:17)
E. Because there is only One true God... 1. There is only one true religion (Deut 4:32-40; James 1:26-27) 2. There is only one way of salvation (Is 49:1-7; Jn 14:1-6; Rom 1:16-17; 1Tim 2:5-6) 3. There is only one worthy recipient of our worship (Ex 34; Ps 99; Jn 4:19-24; Rev 19:10)
[Additional Scripture References: Ex 15:11; 20:3 Deut 6:4-15; 1Kings 8:60; 2Chr 7:1-3; The Book of Psalms; Prov 16:4; Is 45:5,21; Jer 10:10; Jn 1:1-9; 11:25-26; Acts 14:8-18; Rom 16:25-27; 1Cor 8:4-6; Gal 3:20; 1Th 1:9-10; 1Tim 6:11-16; Heb 13:20-21;1Pet 5:10; 1Jn 1:5; 4:8; Rev 4:11]
Questions to Consider and Discuss:
1) What connections do you recognize between the study of God’s simplicity and our earlier study on His Essence/Being?
2) How important is the truth of God’s simplicity to our studies of other attributes that will follow?
3) Are you noticing how often the Scripture references of one study are very similar to those of others? Why is this so?
4) How does the truth of God’s simplicity relate to the 2nd Commandment?
5) How does the truth of God’s simplicity guard against tri-theism and polytheism?
6) How is it possible that the One true God who is “incapable of composition and division” (Turretin, see II.A), “in whom there is no quality nor any shadow of change, as James testifies” (Athanasius, II.C) and who is “noncorporeal” and“indivisible” (Reymond, II.F), became Man and dwelt among us?
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