THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD

Most men who believe in God introduce the subject with an apology for their ignorance of Him. Both preachers and writers, almost without exception, make God quite incomprehensible and beyond human reason; yet, they can preach big sermons and write big books on a subject about which they know very little, and about which they claim no man can really know the truth. They seem to think that the best way to magnify God is to make Him a big mystery. This is one of the greatest errors of the Christian Church today.

There is no reasonable excuse for this ignorance of God or for such a conception of Him. The Bible contains over 20,000 references about Him, stating in almost infinite detail what He is like, what He can and cannot do, and what He has done and yet plans to do. We will thus magnify God best by believing and teaching everything the Bible says about Him. We can have a comprehensive knowledge of God from these many references if we will but believe what they say, and stop making everything God says about Himself a lie.

Men have spiritualized and changed so many statements about God in Scripture that they have nullified the true meaning of the Bible revelation of Him. We have failed to get a true, sane, simple knowledge of God in past centuries by that method of interpretation, so why not change our tactics and believe once and for all what the Bible says about Him and see if we will not have a better understanding of God? Why not believe what God says about Himself in the same literal sense in which we understand the same kind of language when used of other people? Why not believe that God means what He says about Himself? He should know more about Himself than any man. Would it not be easier to believe what He does say about Himself than to believe what He does not say? If God did not mean what He said of Himself, then why did He say such things? Why should it be the unpardonable sin to believe the Bible literally on this subject as we believe the Bible on other subjects? To believe literally what God said of Himself certainly makes better sense because it gives us a better, more “common sense” conception of God.

We have all been taught that God cannot be comprehended, and all the books on Bible doctrine make the subject of God vague and beyond the reach of all sane men. Such books are good in explaining away what the Bible says of God. For once we shall lay aside all such foolishness and take a stand with what the Bible plainly says. Such action certainly cannot make the subject any more mysterious. We cannot be wrong if we simply believe what God reveals about Himself. Since we have seen how to understand the Bible literally, we shall be wise in following this practice with every subject in the Bible, and not with just a few that we choose.

Men can understand all about the Lord's Supper, baptism, or any other subject from just a few passages, but when it comes to the subject of God, they cannot grasp an understanding of Him, even though there are thousands of passages on the subject. Such an attitude just does not make sense to us, so we propose to study God from a different standpoint. We shall believe what the Bible says and see for ourselves that the subject has been greatly misrepresented.

I. Definition of the Terms Used

1.       GOD. This word simply means “deity” or “divinity” and is a general term used of false gods as well as of the true God. The number of persons in the true deity cannot be determined by the word itself. Plain Scriptures on the subject must settle this question.

2.       GODHEAD. This term simply means “that which is divine.” It is used of Jesus in Col. 2:9, as having all the qualities of divinity in His manifestation of God to men. It is also used of all three persons in the deity in Rom. 1:20.

3.       ONE. The Hebrew word for “one” in such Scriptures as “one Lord” (Deut. 6:4-6) and “one God” (Mal. 2:10) is achad, “to unify,” “collect,” “be united in one,” “one in number.” It is used as “one in unity” many times: “they shall be one flesh” (Gen. 2:24); “the people is one” (Gen. 11:6). The Greek word for “one” in “one Lord” and “one God” in Mk. 12:29, 32 is heis, “to gather together in one” (Jn. 11:52) and “to be one in unity” (Jn. 10:30; 17:11, 21-23; 1 Jn. 5:7-8). The English word “one” also means “one in unity,” as can be seen in the above passages. Whether one in unity or one in number is the meaning in a particular passage must be determined by Scripture and not by the meaning of the word itself.

4.       IN. This word means “in union with” and when used of persons it does not mean “bodily entrance into,” except in the case of disembodied spirits, or demons. We read of God being in Christ (2 Cor. 5:19) and Christ being in God (Jn. 14:10-11, 20); of man being in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and Christ being in man (Rom. 8:10); of man being in the Spirit and the Spirit being in man (Rom. 8:9); and of Satan entering into man (Jn. 13:27); but it never means in these cases “bodily entrance into,” for all these persons have bodies and cannot get inside each other bodily. When Paul said of believers, “I have you in my heart” and “ye are in our hearts” (2 Cor. 7:3; Phil. 1:7), he could only mean “in union with,” not “bodily entrance into.” The Bible doctrine of interpenetration means “the union of two or more persons together for the same end.” Thus, persons can be one with each other to a common end without literally getting inside each other or without being one single person. Being one with and in each other does not depend on bodily contact, or the loss of either personality. Persons can be in each other and one with each other though there are thousands of miles between them bodily.

Men control each other to the extent of oneness with each other. So it is with God and Satan, who control men to the extent of union with them to the same end. Thus, when God dwelled in Christ and Christ dwelled in God, it did not mean they were one person or that they dwelt inside each other bodily. They were one in union—one to the same end, in the same sense that men and Christ, or men and men, dwell in each other. “He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:17).

5.       PERSON. A person is anyone who can act, think, and feel; anyone capable of self-consciousness and self-determination; any individual having legal rights and duties; a rational being with bodily presence, soul passions, and spirit faculties. In grammar it means one of three separate relations of three separate persons in discourse distinguished by certain pronouns: that of the speaker, or the first person; that of the one spoken to, or the second person; and that of the one spoken of, or the third person.

First, second, and third personal pronouns are used of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in speaking to and of each other, as we shall see in Lesson Twenty-seven. Personal singular and plural pronouns are also used, as we shall see.

God is a Real Person

(1)    Personal names are given Him (Gen. 1:1; Exod. 3:13-15; 6:3; Ps. 68:4), and His names are found over 19,000 times in Scripture.

(2)    Personal statements are made about God, as with other persons. See “Over 500 Scriptures Proving a Divine Trinity” in Lesson Twenty-seven.

(3)    Personal relationships are ascribed to God (2 Cor. 6:1; 13:14; 1 Jn. 1:3; 3:1; Rev. 21:3-7).

(4)    Personal plans are ascribed to Him (Lesson One).

(5)    A personal body, soul, and spirit are ascribed to Him (Point II, 7-9).

(6)    Personal works are ascribed to Him. Many personal acts are recorded in the first two chapters of the Bible.

(7)    Personal pronouns are used of all three persons of the divine Trinity, both singular and plural (Gen. 1:26; 3:22; 11:7; Isa. 6:8; Jn. 17:11-21). See Point I, Lesson Twenty-seven.

6.       INCARNATION. This means a person assuming a body which he takes as his very own, dwelling inside that body and not existing in any sense outside the body which he has taken to dwell in (Ps. 40:6-10; Heb. 10:5-10).

7.       FATHER AND SON. A father is one who has begotten or brought into existence a child. A son is the one who is begotten by a father. It requires two separate persons to be a father and a son. They could in no sense be one person, but could be one in unity, as any two persons can be.

8.       TRINITY. This means the union of three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one (unified) Godhead or divinity—so that all three persons are one in unity and eternal substance, but three separate and distinct persons as to individuality (1 Jn. 5:7-8; Dan. 7:9-14; Mt. 3:16-17; 28:19; Acts 7:56-59).

9.       BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, each angel and man, and every separate person in the universe has a personal body, soul, and spirit, which are separate and distinct from all others, as defined below.

(1)     The body of any being is the outward form or house in which his soul and spirit dwell (Gen. 2:7, 19; Jn. 5:28-29; Mt. 27:52; 1 Cor. 15:34-58; Jas. 2:26; 1 Thess. 5:23; Heb. 10:5-10). There are spiritual and natural bodies, or heavenly and earthly bodies, and both kinds are real (1 Cor. 15:40-49).

(2)     The soul is that invisible part of all living beings that feels—the seat of his affections, emotions, passions, and desires—that which gives him self-consciousness and makes him a sentient being (Lev. 23:43; 1 Sam. 22:2; 30:6; 2 Sam. 13:39; 2 Ki. 4:27; 23:3; Ps. 107:5, 9, 18, 26; Mk. 12:33; Mt. 26:38; Jn. 12:27; Heb. 4:12; 10:38).

(3)     The spirit is that invisible part of all living beings that knows—the seat of his intellect, mind, and will, and that which gives him self-determination and makes him a free moral agent and a rational being (1 Cor. 2:11; Mt. 26:41; Exod. 35:21; Job 38:8, 18; Prov. 20:27; Phil. 1:27; Heb. 4:12; Jas. 2:26; 1 Thess. 5:23).

The Bible teaches that unsaved men do not have God's Spirit in them (Rom. 8:9-16; 1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 1:22; 6:16-18; Gal. 3:2-5; 4:6; Eph. 1:13; 2 Tim. 1:7; 1 Jn. 4:4-6); that God's Spirit is not received until the new birth (Jn. 3:1-5; 14:17; Rom. 8:9-16); that there is a difference between the natural spirit of man and beasts (Eccl. 3:21); that there is a difference between breath and spirit (Job 34:15; Ps. 19:7; Lk. 12:19; 1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Cor. 7:1); and that each creature has a separate spirit which is not a part of God (Num. 16:22; 27:17; Eccl. 3:21; Ezek. 21:7; Dan. 2:1-3; Mal. 2:15-16; Prov. 16:2; 1 Cor. 2:10-12; 14:32; Heb. 12:9, 23; 1 Thess. 5:23). Try to substitute “breath” for “soul” and “spirit” in all the above passages and see for yourself how ridiculous such meaning is.

The Invisibility of God

When we use the word “invisible” we must not think of it altogether in the terms of substance, but mainly as distance—“beyond eyesight,” “beyond natural visibility.” God has been seen with the natural eyes many times, so His invisibility is not something beyond spiritual or physical possibility of manifestation or sight (Point II, 3, below). He will be seen by men in all eternity as we see each other now (Rev. 21:27; 22:4-5; Ezek. 43:7; 48:35; etc.). He can appear visible or invisible to natural eyes now; and when eyesight is adjusted to see spiritual things, then spiritual sight will be as simple and normal as natural sight is now. Angels and other spirit-beings have also been seen by natural eyes (Lesson Six, VI).

Our natural eyes are not adjusted now to see even some material things, as they will be in the day when God removes the covering of darkness and the vale that is now spread over all nations—a condition existing since the fall of man (Isa. 24:21-22; 25:7; 1 Cor. 13:12). Then, the light of the sun will be increased seven times, and the light of the moon will be as the present light of the sun (Isa. 24:23; 30:26). Even man's invisible soul and spirit, or the inner man, has been and can be seen (Lk. 16:19-31; Rev. 6:9-11). Therefore, it is possible for all spirits and spiritual things to be seen. Sin has blinded the natural sight of man so that now we see only as through a glass darkly (1 Cor. 13:12). No man, therefore, can say with scriptural authority that God consists of a kind of invisible substance which cannot be seen or touched by man. In fact, God will live among men in visible form forever (Rev. 21:3-7; 22:4-5).

II. True Interpretation of God as Spirit (Jn. 4:24)

If we can ever come to the knowledge of what spirit-beings are like, then we can begin to comprehend God as Spirit. There are hundreds of plain Scriptures that help us to gain such knowledge. Note the following facts in Scripture:

1.       The Bible declares that there are heavenly and earthly bodies and that there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:35-58). We learn from this passage that all things in creation have separate bodies from all others—bodies for grain, fish, birds, beasts, man and every living thing on earth—bodies for the sun, moon, stars, and all material things in the heavens—bodies for angels, cherubims, seraphims, and all spirit-beings in the spirit world. No exception is made here or anywhere in the Bible to the effect that God alone of all beings in the universe does not have a body.

When Jesus said, “a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Lk. 24:39), He certainly did not want to leave the impression that spirit-bodies were not real and tangible. He simply taught that spirit-bodies were not composed of earthly flesh and bone. He could not have meant that God does not have a real spirit-body, for He taught elsewhere that God had a voice and a shape (Jn. 5:37). He showed John in Rev. 4 and 5 that God had a body and could sit on a throne as well as anyone else. The Greek word for “shape” in Jn. 5:37 is eidos, meaning “form,” “appearance,” “shape,” “fashion,” or “sight,” and refers to outward form or what can be seen with the eyes, as is clear from Lk. 3:22; 9:29; 2 Cor. 5:7.

2.       Moses declared that man was made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27; 9:6). The Hebrew word for “image” is tselem, meaning “shape,” “shadow,” “resemblance,” “figure,” “bodily form,” as proven in all passages where it is used (Gen. 5:3; 9:6; Exod. 20:4; Lev. 26:1; Ps. 73:20; 106:19; Isa. 40:19-20; 44:9-17; 45:20; 48:5; Jer. 10:14; 51:17). The Hebrew word for “likeness” is demooth, meaning “model,” “shape,” “fashion,” “similitude,” and “bodily resemblance,” as proven in Gen. 5:1, 3; Isa. 40:18; Ezek. 1:5, 10, 13, 16, 22, 26, 28; 10:1, 10, 21-22. The Fenton translation of Gen. 1:26-27 reads, “Let us make men under our shadow, as our representatives . . . So God created men under his own shadow, creating them in the shadow of God.” Anything that has a shadow must be real.

Paul said that man was “the image and glory of God” (1 Cor. 11:7). The Greek word for “image” here is eikon, meaning “likeness,” “profile,” “statue,” and “bodily resemblance,” as proven in places where it is used (Mt. 22:20; Acts 19:35; Rom. 1:23; 8:29; 11:4; 1 Cor. 15:49; 2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15; Heb. 10:1; Rev. 13:14-15; 14:9-11; 15:2; 6:2; 19:20; 20:4).

There is no question about man being made in the moral and spiritual likeness of God, but none of the above passages refer to this idea. They refer to bodily form and shape. If man was made in the image and likeness of God bodily, then God must have a body, and an outward form and shape.

One might as well argue that image and likeness, when used of idols, mean moral and spiritual image and likeness, and not outward bodily shape, as to argue this about God; for the same Hebrew and Greek words are used in both cases, as seen in the references above. That it refers to what can be seen with the natural eyes is clear from the above passages as well as from Gen. 5:3; Isa. 40:19-20; 44:9-17; Ezek. 1:5-28; Acts 19:35; etc.

3.       Bible writers not only stated that God has a body, but they also testified that they have seen it with their natural eyes. Abraham made a dinner for God and two angels and they actually ate food (Gen. 18). Jacob had a physical wrestling match with God all night (Gen. 32:24-30). Moses talked with God face to face (Exod. 33:11-23). Seventy-four elders of Israel had a banquet with God in Sinai (Exod. 24:9-11). Joshua and all Israel saw God with a sword in His hand (Josh. 5:13-15). Gideon (Judg. 6:11-23), Manoah and wife (Judg. 13:3-23), David (1 Chron. 21:16-17), Job (Job 42:5), Isaiah (Isa. 6:1-13), Amos (Amos 9:1), and others saw God standing on the ground, sitting on thrones, and having bodily parts like man. Ezekiel saw God on a chariot and described Him as having an “appearance of a man” with loins and the upper and lower parts of a body like a man (Ezek. 1:26-28; 10:1, 20; 40:3). Daniel saw both God the Father and the Son of man as two separate beings at the same time and at the same place. God was on a throne and had on white clothes, and His hair was white. The Son of man also had a body, had clothes on, and had hair on his head (Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-6). Stephen saw both God and Christ at the same place with the same eyes (Acts 7:56-59). John saw God on a throne and Christ symbolized as a lamb and the Holy Spirit symbolized as lamps of fire and seven horns and eyes, all at the same time (Rev. 4:2-5; 5:1, 5-7).

4.       The Bible predicts that all the redeemed will see God's face (Greek, prosopon, “countenance,” “outward appearance,” “surface,” “person”), with their eyes (Rev. 7:9; 14:5; 21:3; 22:4-5). See the word “face” in Mt. 6:17; 18:10; 26:39, 67; Acts 6:15; 20:25, 38; 1 Cor. 13:12; Rev. 4:7; 6:16; 10:1; 20:11. The word is used in these passages of both God and man, so both must have a face. Are we going to call all these witnesses false just to be in harmony with modern interpreters who never once saw God? Would it not be best to take the word of men who saw God and who know what they are talking about than to take the word of men who know nothing of God and who claim that God cannot be comprehended?

Modern writers of doctrine books about God assert that no man can understand God; that no man has ever seen God; and that God has no body with parts and passions to be seen. I quote only from prominent men who have had a wide ministry in our large denominations. We personally admire these men for their great work, but this does not lessen the fact that they are wrong on this most important subject of God. It shows the modern trend to make God too mystical to understand. One writer says, “It is clearly revealed in Scripture that God is one being constituted by three persons. We give this complex Person the name Trinity . . . It would be folly to seek to explain this startling revelation . . . We can only say that we believe it because we do not comprehend it . . . The doctrine of the Trinity bewilders the most astute and is frankly beyond the comprehension of the most learned.”

We quote from books on the great doctrines of the Bible that are widely used: “God as a spirit is incorporeal, invisible reality; has no body or parts like human beings; nothing of a material or bodily nature . . . God cannot be seen with the material eyes; nothing on earth to resemble Him; without parts, without body, without passions . . . God cannot be comprehended by the senses, but by the soul; and is above sensuous perceptions . . . The image of God consists only in intellectual and moral likeness; when God is spoken of as having hands, feet, eyes, hair, and other bodily parts, these are figures of speech and mere human expressions trying to convey some idea of God.”

Such statements are foolish and unscriptural, to say the least. It is no wonder that these men cannot comprehend the Trinity of God as they declare. They make such ridiculous propositions about God that it is impossible to comprehend them. If we will take the Bible instead of these statements we can comprehend God. The Bible does not say that God is one person constituted of three persons. This could never be, but God can be three distinct persons as separate and distinct as any three persons we know of in this life. This is comprehensible but the other is not, for there can be no such thing as three persons in one person. It is no wonder that such an idea cannot be explained. It is folly. God Himself could not comprehend it or explain it in this way, for this is not the way He has explained it, nor is this the way He asks us to understand it.

Neither does the Bible say that the bodily parts of God are figures of speech or mere human expressions trying to convey some idea of God, or that they do away with the reality of God's body. All figures of speech emphasize and make as real or more real the ideas they express than if literal language were used. There can be no true figure of speech to convey an idea unless the idea conveyed is real, so if God's bodily parts are mere figures they are true figures of the real bodily parts of God. Since we do not have God's authority that He is a spiritual nothing, and since we only have the word of man, let us forget the doctrine of the unreality of God and let us believe the Bible literally about God as we do about other subjects.

Such statements as those quoted above directly conflict with the Bible. God can be seen and has been seen with natural eyes. God does have a tangible body that can be handled and that can do all things any other body can do. God does have bodily parts and passions, as we shall see below. God can be comprehended by the senses, for the senses constitute the soul. God does consist of more than intellectual and moral likeness. The expressions which tell us that God has bodily parts are real and literal, not figurative, as will be seen below.

5.       The Bible teaches that angels, seraphims, cherubims, and all spirit-beings have bodies, souls, and spirits like man, as we shall see in the next two lessons. Here we may state that angels have been seen with the eyes. They have always appeared as men in real spirit-bodies. They have bodily parts and can do all things that men can do. They can wage physical combat. They can be bound by chains and confined to material places. They have feelings and passions. They drive horses, keep gates, and do many things, as we shall see in Lesson Six. If they are spirit-beings and have bodies, soul passions, and spirit faculties, why could not God have a real spirit-body with soul passions and spirit faculties and still be a divine being?

6.       Paul makes it very clear that men can understand God. He gives us a simple illustration of the Godhead. He says that even sinners can comprehend God, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:19-21). If the invisible things and the eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen by the visible things that God has made in this world, then all we need to do is use a little common sense in connection with plain statements of Scripture, to find out what the Godhead is really like. If sinners can understand God, certainly saints ought to be able to do likewise. There must be some clear and visible thing or things in this world that will help us to understand God so that we can be without excuse for ignorance.

The Scripture certainly does not harmonize with the opinions of men quoted above, that no man can comprehend God. It does not sound as if God is such a mystery. If He can be clearly seen by something visible in this world, what visible thing on Earth gives us a visible picture of the invisible God?

Man would naturally be the visible thing that clearly illustrates the Godhead. Man has a body, soul, and spirit; so if he is the visible thing that clearly illustrates what God is like, then God also must have a personal body, soul, and spirit. If the Godhead consists of three separate and distinct persons, as plainly stated in 1 Jn. 5:7-8, then we are to believe that each person has a personal body, soul, and spirit, as is the case with each man. If there are three persons in the Godhead and they exist as one, we must understand this oneness to be the same as in the case of several men being one—one in unity, as in Jn. 17:11, 21-23; Mt. 19:5; Heb. 2:11; 1 Cor. 6:17; Acts 4:32.

What is hard to understand about this since we have concrete examples on Earth of every fact stated here? What is hard to understand about three persons in the Godhead being three separate persons in the same sense that we conceive of any other three persons? What is hard to understand about three persons being one in unity as we can conceive of any number of persons? Do we have to believe that three persons must become one person in order to be three in one? Is this the case with three men who are one in unity? If not, then this is not the case of the three separate persons in the Godhead. Is it necessary for all persons who are one in unity to lose their own personality, their own bodies, souls, and spirits, and all get inside one person in order for them to be one in unity? Cannot any number of persons retain their individuality and still be one in unity? Could not this be true of the Godhead? Could not God exist as three separate persons with three separate bodies, souls, and spirits, and still be one in unity? Why, then, would we have to claim that such could not be comprehended, since we have concrete examples of the unity of the Godhead in this world? Do we have to believe that the Trinity is such a mystery? Do we have to believe that it bewilders the most astute minds and that it is beyond the comprehension of the most learned? Do we have to believe that God is only one person in the Godhead when the Bible says there are three? Do we have to believe the other foolish statements in our doctrine books? If we did have to, then we could not believe the plain Scriptures. But thank God we do not have to believe something that is not stated in Scripture, just because we don't fully understand the truth.

From another standpoint, we can believe that “one God,” “one Lord,” and “one Spirit” literally mean one in number in some cases, as is plainly stated in 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:3-6. These passages refer to single persons of the three persons in the Trinity. Just as we can speak of three men being one in unity and then single out each of these three men as one in number if we want to speak of them as individuals, so it is with God. There are three persons in the divine unity and three separate persons in the divine individuality. It is not proper to say “one person” in speaking of the whole Godhead any more than it would be proper to speak of the whole body of Christ as one person when we know it is made up of millions of individuals. It is proper to speak of “one person” if we refer to one single person of the three that constitute the Trinity, just as it is proper to speak of single persons making the body of Christ. All three are God and Lord, and each one could be called God or Lord.

To be literally honest with all Scripture, the rule to follow is the same as when we speak of any three men we might have in mind. Where only one person of the Godhead is plainly referred to in a particular passage, as in Gen. 32:24-32, only one person should be understood. Where two persons are referred to and clearly seen and the language is clear that two persons are referred to, as in Gen. 19:24; Dan. 7:9-14; Acts 7:56-59; then two persons should be understood. And where three persons are clearly spoken about and where the language is clear that three persons are referred to, as in Mt. 3:16-17; 28:19; 1 Jn. 5:7-8; Rev. 1:4-6; 4:2-5; 5:1, 6, 7, then three distinct persons should be understood. Common honesty demands that we accept one, two, and three separate and distinct persons wherever they are seen with the eyes and referred to in plain human language by the first, second, and third personal pronouns. See “Over 500 Scriptures Proving a Divine Trinity” in Lesson Twenty-seven.

Nothing but confusion will result from being dishonest with the Bible. If these facts are stated in the Bible and the other theories are not, which should be the more sensible thing to believe? You know the answer as well as all of us do; you know what to believe. If you decide to believe the simplicity of the Bible, the subject will be very simple to understand, but if you accept the incomprehensible theories of men, the subject will be incomprehensible.

The Father is called “God” (1 Cor. 8:6); the Son is called “God” (Isa. 9:6; Heb. 1:8; Jn. 20:28); and the Holy Spirit is called “God” (Acts 5:3-4). All three persons of the Godhead are divine and can be spoken of individually as “God” and collectively as “one God” in the sense of unity. Each one is called “Lord,” and collectively all three can be called “one Lord” in the sense of unity. The Father and Son are both called “Lord” and “God” in the same passages, yet they are clearly distinguished as two separate persons (Heb. 1:8-9; Ps. 110:1; Gen. 19:24; 1 Cor. 11:3). Any family as individuals or collectively could be called by the family name, so it is with the Godhead. All three persons in the deity are divine, God, Lord, etc.

To sum it all up, we can scripturally say that everything that could be spoken collectively of God could be spoken of each person in the Godhead as an individual, but there are certain things that are said of each individual person of the deity as to position, office, and work that could not be spoken of the other members of the Godhead. Only the Father is the Father and the head of Christ (1 Cor. 11:3); only the Son was the begotten of the Father (2 Jn. 3); and only the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son (Jn. 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15; Acts 2:34). There are many other facts of difference between the three persons of the Godhead that will be given in Lessons Twenty-one, Twenty-five, and Twenty-seven.

According to all the above points a spirit is far different from what we have been taught. Spirit-beings can and do have real, material, and tangible spirit-form, shape and size, with bodily parts, soul passions, and spirit faculties. Their material bodies are of a spiritual substance and are just as real as human bodies. This will be abundantly proven in Lesson Six.

Even human bodies after the resurrection will be able to go through material substances, as did Jesus after His resurrection. He had a flesh and bone body (Lk. 24:39), yet in its changed, spiritualized, glorified state, Jesus could transform his body from one form to another at will. He could appear and disappear, go through material substances (including closed doors), be visible and invisible (Lk. 24:16, 31, 34, 36-45; Mk. 16:12-14; Jn. 20:14-18). If this is true of glorified human beings, then it can be seen how God, angels, and other spirit-beings can have bodies of material spiritual substance that are just as real as glorified human bodies that are spiritualized.

7.       God has a spirit-body with bodily parts like man. This is proven by hundreds of plain Scriptures that do not need interpretation. They are too clear and literal to misunderstand. All we can do is either deny what the Bible says or believe it. If we are not going to believe, then be honest and say that we are not believers. It does not make sense to pretend to believe the Bible and then refuse to have faith in it, except for a few things we have traditionally been taught to accept. If we have not been taught to believe in the Bible, we can make up our own minds now to become full believers in all things that are plainly written in Scripture. If we do not, God will hold us accountable in the Day of Judgment. What does it matter if some preachers and teachers do not believe the simplicity of the Bible? We can.

Space will not permit a quotation of all the following passages, so we will simply state the truths they reveal about God. If you want to verify these facts, you can read for yourself each passage and see if they are not plainly written in your own Bible.

God is a person who is Spirit, infinite, eternal, immutable, self-existent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, invisible, perfect, impartial, immortal, absolutely holy and just, full of knowledge and wisdom, in whom all things have their source, support and end. God is known in Scripture by over 200 names. He is described as being like any other person as to having a body, soul, and spirit (Job 13:8; Heb. 1:3; Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-7). He is a Spirit-being with “a body” (Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-6, 9-19; Exod. 24:11; Gen. 18; 32:24-32; Ezek. 1:26-28; Acts 7:54-59; Rev. 4:2-4; 5:1, 5-7; 22:4-5); “shape” (Jn. 5:37); “form” (Phil. 2:5-7; same Greek word as in Mk. 16:12, which refers to bodily form); and an “image and likeness of a man” (Gen. 1:26; 9:6; Ezek. 1:26-28; 1 Cor. 11:7; Jas. 3:9; Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-6). He has “back parts,” so He must have “front parts” (Exod. 33:23). He has “a heart” (Gen. 6:6; 8:21); “hands” and “fingers” (Exod. 31:18; Ps. 8:3-6; Rev. 5:1, 6-7); “nostrils” (Ps. 18:8, 15); “mouth” (Num. 12:8); “lips” and “tongue” (Isa. 30:27); “feet” (Ezek. 1:27; Exod. 24:10); “eyes,” “eyelids,” “sight” (Ps. 11:4; 18:24; 33:18); “voice” (Ps. 29; Rev. 10:3-4; Gen. 1); “breath” (Gen. 2:7); “ears” (Ps. 18:6); “countenance” (Ps. 11:7); “hair,” “head,” “face,” “arms” (Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-19; Rev. 5:1, 6-7; 22:4-6); “loins” (Ezek. 1:26-28; 8:1-4); “bodily presence” (Gen. 3:8; 18:1-22; Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; Exod. 24:10-11); and many other bodily parts as is required of Him to be a person with a body.

God “goes from place to place” in a body just like anyone else (Gen. 3:8; 11:5; 18:1-22, 33; 19:24; 32:24-32; 35:13; Zech. 14:5; Titus 2:13). He is “omnipresent,” but not omnibody; that is, His presence can be felt everywhere but His body cannot, as seen in Point 9, below. He “wears clothes” (Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-19); “eats” (Gen. 18:1-22; Exod. 24:11); “rests”—not because he gets tired, but because he ceases activity or completes a work (Gen. 2:1-4; Heb. 4:4); “dwells in a mansion” and in a city located on a material planet called Heaven (Jn. 14:1-3; Heb. 11:10-16; 13:14; Rev. 3:12; 21:1-27); “sits on a throne” (Isa. 6; Rev. 4:1-5; 22:3-5); “walks” (Gen. 3:8; 18:1-22, 33); “rides” upon cherubs, the wind, clouds, and chariots drawn by cherubims (Ps. 18:10; 68:17; 104:2; Ezek. 1:1-28); and He does and can do anything that any other person can do bodily that is right and good.

In the first two chapters of Genesis alone there are nearly 200 separate personal acts of God in creating, planting, speaking, working, seeing, blessing, commanding, etc. He has eaten with men, as many as 74 at a time, who saw Him with their natural eyes and conversed with Him as literally as other persons at banquets (Gen. 18:1-22; Exod. 24:9-13). He has wrestled bodily with man (Gen. 32:24-32). He has written laws with His own finger while men looked on with the natural eyes (Exod. 34:1-7, 27-28). He has revealed Himself in so many different ways, proving to men that He has a body with bodily parts like man, that only rebels and unbelievers will reject such obviously literal manifestations and revelations of deity. If you want to make Him a liar concerning all these things, that is your choice, but why not believe them?

Not one passage has ever been given by men to prove that God is intangible, immaterial, without body, parts, and passions except Jn. 4:24, “God is Spirit,” and this certainly does not teach that He is without a body. Men are satisfied to remain ignorant about what spirit consists of, or what spirit-bodies are like. Spirit-bodies must consist of material and bodily form in order to appear to men and make contact with them bodily as we have seen spirit-beings do. Spiritual substance is as real as natural substance, except that it is of a higher type of matter and is governed by higher laws.

Paul speaks of the human flesh-and-bone bodies in the resurrection as being “spiritual” (1 Cor. 15:42-44), and “like unto his glorious body” (Lk. 24:39; Phil. 3:20-21); so if human bodies that become spiritualized are still material and tangible, then certainly God and other spirits can have bodies just as real and still be spirit-beings. After all, Jn. 4:24 is a mere statement of fact—that God is a Spirit—but it does not define and analyze a spirit. Bible writers that claim to have seen God with the eyes either lied or told the truth. We cannot believe them and modern Bible teachers who contend that no man has ever seen God with the eyes. Both cannot be right, for they contradict each other.

One argument of modern scholars is that God is “light” and “love,” and that you cannot see these qualities, you can only feel them. But we reply, this does not do away with the realities of God's body any more than the statements that men are “salt” and “light” do away with the bodies of men (Mt. 5:13-16).

Another argument they use is that God cannot be comprehended by the senses, but by the soul, and that He is above fleshly perceptions. If this is true, then God cannot be comprehended by the soul, for the soul is the seat of the affections, emotions and desires, or the senses, as proven in Point I, 9, (2), above. Then no man can love God, have any affection for God, desire God, be emotional at all in knowing God, or feel God in any sense. No statement in Scripture supports such a theory. By his senses man can enjoy, feel, see, touch, hear, and otherwise experience God, and it takes the senses to do any one of these things. Men have seen, heard, touched, and otherwise experienced God. All Israel heard God (Deut. 5:24); Jacob wrestled with God, so he touched Him (Gen. 32:24-32); and, as seen above, men have seen God with the eyes.

The reason we do not comprehend God more than we do by the senses is that He is bodily too far from us. When the time comes all men will see God and be in His bodily presence, as stated in Rev. 7:9-17; 14:1-5; 21:3; 22:4-6. Man will be able to see, hear, smell, touch, and otherwise comprehend God by the same senses we use in connection with the bodily presence of others.

It may be objected that these facts do not harmonize with Jn. 1:18, “No man hath seen God at any time,” but we answer that they are in perfect harmony. The Greek word for “seen” here means “to comprehend fully,” or “to understand fully with the mind,” as well as “to look upon with the eyes.” Our English word “seen” means the same thing, so if the proper meaning of the word “seen” is understood in Jn. 1:18 (which will harmonize with the many passages in which men saw God with the eyes), there will be perfect harmony. No statement ever says that men cannot comprehend God here and now, since the complete New Testament revelation of Him by Christ and others. Jesus said, “He that hath seen [fully comprehended] me hath seen [comprehended] the Father” (Jn. 14:1-11). Men can now understand God.

It may also be objected that these facts do not harmonize with Exod. 33:20, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live,” but again we reply that there is no contradiction. The whole passage must be considered, not just this one verse. Exod. 33:11 says that “the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh with a friend.” This proves that Moses saw God with the eyes. In Exod. 33:18 Moses wanted to see God in all His glory and requested, “Shew me thy glory,” and it was this that could not be granted. Paul said that God dwells “in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see” (1 Tim. 6:16). God could not grant Moses the request to see Him in all of His glory, but He did permit Moses to see Him face to face out of His glory. Moses got to see God's glory as expressed in His “back parts” (Ex. 33:18-23), but could not see God's glory as expressed in His countenance.

No Scripture says that God's image consists only in intellectual and moral powers. He could not have such faculties without having a body through which these powers could be released. These powers could not be conceived of as being parts of a person that had no parts, or of an invisible, omnipresent unreality that fills all space and solid matter. They must all be concentrated in a real Being in the same way that other persons have such faculties. Naturally, God has intellectual and moral faculties, but this does not do away with bodily form. He is a real Being with a body, soul, and spirit.

Scriptures used to prove God's moral faculties do not say that He does not have a body like other persons that have moral powers. The same passages that speak of God's faculties also speak of man as having the same faculties, and no one argues that man does not have a body because he has such faculties; so why apply this argument only to God, who should be even more real than His creatures?

If all the expressions about God having bodily parts are mere figures of speech and human expressions trying to convey some idea of God (as is contended by some Bible teachers), then it may well be asked, what kind of ideas about God do such expressions convey? Do they tell us that God does not have bodily parts or that He does? If they are trying to tell us that He does not have them, then they are a peculiar way for an intelligent being to convey such ideas. Any human being could excel God in expressing himself, if this is the way God tells us He does not have a body with parts and passions. It must be remembered that there cannot be figures of speech of anything that is not real.

Would it not be best conveyed to tell us in plain language that God does not have a body, soul, and spirit, or that He does not have bodily parts? This would have been clear and would have settled the question for all concerned. On the other hand, if God inspired Bible writers to record in hundreds of places the many bodily parts, soul passions, and spirit faculties, then it does not make sense to deny them, if we still claim to believe the Bible. If so many hundreds of Scriptures do not mean what they say, then how do we know that any Scripture means what it says? If many Scriptures say that God has parts and passions and He does not have them, then it should be expressed in at least one passage; so we could take all such statements as figurative that says He does have them. Otherwise, we have no authority to take all such passages as figures of speech. We are to believe them literally as we do the same statements about men.

The Bible makes the subject of man's invisible soul clearer and more understandable than man does the spirit-body of God. The inner man is just as real as can be and is of a material spiritual substance. How could the angels carry the inner man of Lazarus into Abraham's bosom (Lk. 16:19-31) if they could not get hold of it and if there was nothing real to carry? How could souls under the altar be clothed while they were out of their bodies (Rev. 6:9-11) if there was not something real to clothe? How could Moses, out of his body, wear clothes and talk with Christ and be seen of natural eyes (Mt. 17:1-13) if he was not real? How could the rich man in Hell have a tongue and other bodily parts while out of his body (Lk. 16:19-31) if the inner man does not also have these parts? How could Christ's soul go to Paradise and preach while His body was in the tomb (Ps. 16:10; Lk. 23:43; Eph. 4:7-11; 1 Pet. 3:19) if the inner man was immaterial and unreal? These and many other facts prove that the souls and spirits of men, after leaving their bodies, are real, can wear clothes, be handled, see, hear, talk, and are just as conscious as when they were in their bodies. If these facts be true of men outside of their bodies, and if souls and spirits are of a tangible spiritual substance, why could not God have a body that is of a tangible, spiritual, material substance?

8.       God has a personal soul, with soul passions like those of man. God has a soul, as defined in Point I, 9, (2), above. God said, “My soul shall have no pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:38; see also Lev. 26:11, 30; Isa. 42:1). God's soul is capable of feelings of “grief” (Gen. 6:6; Judg. 10:16); “anger” (1 Ki. 11:9); “repentance” (Gen. 6:6); “jealousy” (Exod. 20:5); “hate” (Prov. 6:16); “love” (Jn. 3:16); “pity” (Ps. 103:13); “joy,” “peace,” “longsuffering,” “mercy,” “graciousness,” and “compassion” (Neh. 8:10; Phil. 4:7; Col. 3:15; Exod. 34:6; Ps. 86:15); “gentleness” (2 Sam. 22:36); “goodness” (Rom. 2:7); “meekness” (Ps. 45:4); “kindness” (Ps. 31:21); “fellowship” (1 Jn. 1:1-7); “pleasure” and “delight” (Ps. 147:11); and other feelings, passions, and appetites, which constitute the soul.

9.       God has a personal spirit with spirit faculties like those of man. God has a personal spirit, as defined in Point I, 9, (3), above. God speaks of “my spirit,” which is His own personal spirit in the same sense that every person has his own spirit (Ps. 143:10; Isa. 30:1). God's personal spirit consists of “mind” (Rom. 11:34); “intelligence” (Gen. 1:26; Rom. 11:33); “will” (Rom. 8:27; 9:19); “power” (Eph. 1:19; 3:7, 20; Heb. 1:3); “truth” (Ps. 91:4); “faith” and “hope” (Rom. 12:3; 1 Cor. 13:13); “righteousness” (Ps. 45:4); “faithfulness” (1 Cor. 10:13); “knowledge” and “wisdom” (Isa. 1:2; 1 Tim. 1:17); “speech” (Heb. 1:1-3; Acts 3:25); “reason” (Isa. 1:18); “discernment” (Heb. 4:12); “eternity” (Ps. 90; 1 Tim. 1:17); “immutability” (Heb. 6:17; Jas. 1:17); “self-existence” (Jn. 5:26); “omnipresence” (Jer. 23:23-24; Ps. 139); “omniscience” (Rom. 11:33); “omnipotence” (Rev. 19:5); “infinity” (Rom. 11:33); “holiness” (Isa. 57:15); “justice” (Rom. 3:26; Acts 17:31); “impartiality” (Rom. 2:6; 2 Sam. 14:14); “perfection” (Mt. 5:48); “invisibility” (Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16); “immortality” (1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16); and other spirit faculties which constitute spirit.

Man was made a miniature of God in soul and spirit faculties and with bodily parts like those of God. The only difference between the faculties of God and those of man is that those of God are infinite and those of man are finite, one is unlimited and the other is limited. In other words, man has the same feelings as God and is capable of grief, anger, repentance, jealousy, hate, love, pity, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, mercy, compassion, kindness, fear, fellowship, pleasure, delight and other soul passions and appetites and desires, but only on a smaller scale. Man also has a mind, intelligence, will, power, truth, faith, knowledge, wisdom and other spirit faculties like those of God, but only on a smaller scale.

These facts above prove that God is a real person; that He lives in a real place—a planet called Heaven; that He runs His business like any other person; and that He has special agents sent throughout the Earth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation. The vague way men think and speak of God as being a universal Spirit that fills all space and all solid matter, and that He is impersonal, intangible, unreal, and without a body, soul, and spirit with parts, passions, feelings, appetites, desires, will, mind, or intellect, is the height of ignorance. God wants us to know that He is a person; that He is real; that He has a body, soul, and spirit; and that He has literal faculties to hear, see, speak, will and do anything any other person can do.

God is Omnipresent

God is not a universal nothingness floating around in nowhere. He is not impersonal, immaterial, intangible—an unreal person. He is not a universal mind, soul, spirit, conscience, goodness, principle—an abstract power or force filling the whole of space and solid matter, as false cults teach. He is not omnibody; that is, His body is not everywhere at the same time. It is just as visible, tangible, and material as the bodies of all other spirit-beings. Even resurrected bodies of flesh-and-bone saints are called “spiritual” (1 Cor. 15:44), so spiritual bodies are of materialized, spiritualized substance—something we know nothing about, as far as experience is concerned, at the present time. Furthermore, the soul and spirit (or the inner man) is just as spiritual as God and angels. The inner man out of the body, which is the outer man, is a spiritual body itself and has been seen with bodily parts to correspond with those of the outer man. The inner man or spiritual part of one person, after leaving the physical body, has been seen by another such spiritual part, as being fully conscious, capable of wearing clothes, and being carried by other spirit-beings into material places of either rest and comfort, or torment (Lk. 16:19-31; Eph. 4:8; Heb. 12:22-23; Rev. 6:9-11).

Each member of the divine Trinity has His own personal spirit-body, His own soul with all the soul feelings of other beings, and His own personal spirit with all the spirit attributes and powers that other spirits of persons have. This is proven by the bodily presence of God to men (as in Points 3 and 7) by the many soul passions, emotions, and desires God has, as listed in Point 8, above; and by the many spirit faculties God has, as listed in Point 9, above. Angels and all other kinds of spirits have also been seen with the natural eyes of men; and the many hundreds of facts about them, as listed in Lesson Six, prove that all spirit-beings have bodies, souls, and spirits, as men have. The only difference between men and spirits is that men have earthly, and “flesh and blood and bone” bodies, whereas spirit-beings have spirit-bodies which are not mortal and fleshly like the bodies of men.

Spirit-beings, including God Himself, cannot be omnipresent in body, for their bodies are of ordinary size and must be at one place at a time, in the same way that bodies of men are always localized, being in one place at a time. God, angels, and other spirit-beings go from place to place bodily as men do, but their presence can be any place in the universe—wherever there are other persons who also have the sense of presence enough to feel the presence of others regardless of bodily distance between them. Christ is a true example of what we mean by omnipresence. He said, “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Mt. 18:20). In what sense is He in the midst of so many gatherings? This could not mean that He is bodily present, for His body is in Heaven seated at the right hand of God, as twenty-four Scriptures declare (Ps. 110:1, 5; Mk. 16:19; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; etc.).

God personally dwells in Heaven, not everywhere. Jesus addressed His Father and referred to Him as being in Heaven. Eighteen times He said, “Father which is in heaven” (Mt. 5:16, 45, 48; 6:1, 9; 7:11, 21; etc.). Shall we conclude that Jesus did not know what He was talking about? Not one time does one Scripture refer to God as being bodily everywhere. God is omnipresent, but not omnibody; that is, His presence can be felt by moral agents who are everywhere, but His body cannot be seen by them every place at the same time. God has a body and goes from place to place like anybody else.

Presence is governed by relationship, not bodily sight. When the body of a person is not literally present, one cannot say that it is present. The presence of two persons may be felt though thousands of miles may separate them bodily. In such a case, presence consists of union, relationship, memory, acquaintance, and association to the same end in life. The closer two persons are to each other in any relationship, the more they feel each other's presence in their thought lives; so it is with God. God dwells in Heaven and persons on Earth that know Him and are in union with Him in spirit can feel His presence in their lives regardless of where they are on the Earth or under the Earth.

This is what is meant by statements men use to prove that God personally fills the whole of all space and matter. In Ps. 139:7 the psalmist said, “whither shall I go from thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?” God said to Jeremiah, “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” (Jer. 23:23-24). Paul said, “In him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:27-28).

We must understand all like passages as teaching the omnipresence of God, but not the omnibody of God. While I write I feel the presence of my wife and children who are hundreds of miles away at this time. They are in my thoughts, my plans, my life, and all that I do. I do nothing without them, yet they are far away. I am building a home for them to move into. I plan for them. I see them in the new home. I experience the thrill of having them with me. They are here in spirit and presence, planning with me, and we are working together to the same end in life. This presence is constant, though distance separates bodily at times. I don't feel the presence of other families I have never met and to which there is no union. If I would become acquainted and closely associated with someone whom I do not now know, I could likewise feel their presence, even though we were sometimes separated bodily. Thus, presence is governed by relationship, not bodily contact only. Man has the same faculty that God has to make his presence felt by others, only it is on a finite scale. God's attribute of presence is infinite, but it works literally on the same principle as that of man. It is governed by relationship and knowledge, as well as bodily sight.

Men who do not know God, seldom, if ever, feel His presence. It is only as their creative spirits begin to ponder such questions as “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going?” that they give the Holy Spirit a chance to reason with them. When there are times of serious meditation, when trouble comes or when someone brings the knowledge of God to them, then they know that there is a real God. But they do not actually realize and feel His presence, though, until they get to know about Him and begin to conform to His will. Then the presence of God becomes a reality and they can feel Him everywhere they go. The more one thinks of God and lives for Him, the more His presence is manifest in the conscience.

Men can worship God at any time and place and their union with God in spirit will make the presence of God real. The greater the knowledge of God and the consecration to Him, the greater His presence is felt. In this sense Jesus Himself, who has a flesh and bone body and who is local in body—one place at a time—is with all men everywhere even to the end of the age (Mt. 28:19-20). In this same sense, Paul was with the Corinthians in spirit when they delivered the fornicator to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Cor. 5:1-8). In this sense, Paul and other believers dwelled in each other regardless of personal bodily distance from each other (2 Cor. 7:3; Phil. 1:7). We know that the personal body of Christ, or those of believers, are not omnipresent when they are in the lives of others in spirit presence, so the same thing is true of the Father and the Holy Spirit.

God is Omniscient

The question of the omniscience of God is also much misunderstood. The Bible makes many simple statements that limit God's knowledge. There would be no sense to such passages if we do not believe them literally. There is no meaning to them if we take them figuratively. There was no purpose for God to say such things about Himself, if they were untrue. God gets to know things concerning the free moral actions of men as others do (Gen. 6:5-7; 11:5-7; 18:21; 22:12; 2 Chron. 16:9; Zech. 4:10; Job 12:22; 24:23; Ps. 7:9; 44:21; Ps. 139:1-6; Prov. 24:12; Jer. 17:10; Ezek. 11:5; Rom. 8:27; 1 Thess. 2:4). God sends messengers throughout the Earth who report to Him of all that they find in the Earth that goes on (Dan. 10:13-21; 11:1; 12:1; Zech. 1:7-11; 6:1-8; Mt. 18:10-11; Heb. 2:4). God does not take care of every detail of His vast business in all the kingdoms of the universe. His agents help Him and they are found in every part of the universe on missions for God. Certain angels are responsible to God for carrying out His will in almost infinite detail concerning the billions of suns, moons, planets and all free moral agents on them. God does not personally do everything that is done in all acts and events, nor has He known, elected, chosen, or predestinated all the acts and events from all eternity past. Several times God Himself said of certain events that they did not come into His mind (Jer. 19:5; 32:35; 44:21). God did not know beforehand that men would become so wicked (Gen. 6:5-7); that they would plan Babel (Gen. 11:5-7); that Sodom would be so wicked (Gen. 18:21, 26, 28-32); that Abraham would actually proceed to offer up Isaac (Gen. 22:12). God did not know whether it would take one or two or three signs to make Israel believe in Him (Exod. 4:1-12); or whether testing Israel would cause them to obey Him, or not (Deut. 8:2, 16). He did not know that Israel would backslide as far as she did (Deut. 32:19-29; Isa. 59:15-19). Furthermore, He searches to find men whom He can bless (2 Chron. 16:9); He discovers deep things (Job 12:22); tries the hearts and reins of men so that He may know them (Ps. 7:9; 44:21; 139:1-6, 23-24; Jer. 17:10; 1 Chron. 28:9; Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor 2:10; Rev. 2:23), proving all men for the same reason (Ps. 17:3; 66:10; 81:7).

God sends messengers throughout the whole of His vast creations to find out for Him what He wants to know, the same as the head of any other business would be likely to do, so that plans may be made and actions taken accordingly. Examples of such agency constantly reporting to God can be found in Gen. 18:21-22; Dan. 10:13-21; 11:1; 12:1; Zech. 1:7-11; 6:1-8; Mt. 18:10-11; Heb. 1:14; 2:2; Rev. 1:1; 7:1-3; 8:2-13; 9:1; 14:6-20; 15:1-8; 16:1-21; 18:21; 22:6, 8-9, 16.

The 6,468 commands in the Bible regulating man as to his part in the eternal plan of God, and setting forth his responsibility to God and man, the 1,260 promises of curses and blessings, rewards or loss of rewards, the hundreds of warnings, curses, blessings and dealings of God on the basis of conformity to His will, the 1,522 “if's” and the many hundreds of conditional requirements of God throughout Scripture are sufficient proof that God does not cause all acts and events by His own decrees—and sufficient proof that He changes His own dealings with men, as they conform or refuse to conform to His will. Such facts and many others make it clear that God does not know from all eternity what any one man will do, much less what different types and dispositions of men will do under various circumstances that are not yet present to deal with. We have no statement in the entire Bible saying that God knows or even would like to know all acts and particular events of all vast creations of free moral agents from all eternity past, or that He has fixed decrees choosing and predestinating all the thoughts, acts, and deeds of free wills from all eternity past to all eternity future. God's eternal plan for man is known from the beginning to the end and what He plans to bring to pass on Earth He has power to do, but concerning the free actions of free moral agents He does not know from all eternity what they will do before they are in existence and are here to have a part in His plan. He does not know which ones will be saved and which ones will be lost. He has made a plan for all to be saved alike and all who conform to His plan are blessed with the predestined blessings. Those who willfully rebel will be cursed with the predestined punishments according to the plan. It is the plan that is known from the beginning to the end, not the individual conformity to it by free moral agents. It is left up to each person to choose His own destiny. God wills for all men to be saved, but if man does not choose to be saved that is his responsibility (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9; Jn. 3:16; Rev. 22:17).

God is Omnipotent

Within God's own realm He is omnipotent, but there are certain spheres in which He does not and cannot operate, and there are certain things He cannot do. We must therefore be sensible when we consider omnipotence—unlimited and universal power and authority within a certain sphere, or of a certain kind. God is Almighty and omnipotent in His own right of creation and redemption, and in His plan for man and all creations, but He has limited Himself in His dealings with free moral agents. He respects their will power and gives them absolute right to act of their own free choice to conform to His will and consecrate themselves to the highest good of being and of the universe. He has laid down laws whereby they should live and conduct themselves, and has made penalties for all sin and rewards for all acts of obedience. In these matters God is omnipotent, but there are certain things He cannot do.

God cannot: “lie” (Heb. 6:17-19); “deny Himself,” or act contrary to His own eternal truth (2 Tim. 2:13); “have respect of persons” (Rom. 2:11; Col. 3:25; 2 Pet. 1:17); “save a soul apart from faith and grace in Christ” (Rom. 3:25; Jn. 3:16; Eph. 2:8-9); “bless men contrary to faith in His Word” (Heb. 11:6; Jas. 1:5-8; Jn. 15:7); “curse men who meet His conditions” (Mk. 1:15; 16:16; Lk. 13:1-5; 1 Jn. 1:9); “change His eternal plan” (Act 15:18; Eph. 2:7; 3:11); “save rebels who persist in rebellion, refusing to meet His terms” (Prov. 1:22-33; 29:1); “be tempted to do evil” or “tempt man with evil” (Jas. 1:13-15); “forgive unconfessed sin” (Lk. 13:1-5; 1 Jn. 1:9); and “keep one saved who turns back to sin and lives in rebellion” (Gen. 2:17; Ezek. 3:17-21; 18:4-24; 33:7-16; Mk. 7:19-21; Rom. 1:21-32; 6:16-23; 8:12-13; Gal. 5:19-21; 6:7-8; Col. 3:5-10).

God limits Himself, according to His own revelation of Himself, along other lines. Whether or not this limitation is by nature or by choice is not always stated. For example, God's compassion and love can be considered infinite and comprehensive, yet He naturally has to limit the exercise of His love to those that will not conform to His plan (Exod. 20:5-6; Jn. 3:16-18). God has had to punish people whom He once had compassion for. His faithfulness can be spoken of as infinite, but He must limit it according to His plan for those who merit it (Exod. 32:7-14; 30-35). We speak of the infinite Fatherhood of God, yet He has to limit His parenthood to those who will become His children according to His plan (Lk. 11:9-13; Acts 5:32; Heb. 12:5-10). We speak of God's infinite grace, yet He has limited it to those that will humbly receive it (Rom. 12:3-8; Titus 2:11-13). We speak of God's infinite care, yet He can care only for those that permit Him to help them (1 Pet. 5:5-10). We speak of God as being immutable and unchangeable, yet He has had to change His plans, set aside His promised blessings, change prophecy that was based upon conditions, and do many things that He did not first intend to do. All this had to be done because of the failure on the part of those with whom He was dealing. There are many prophecies and promises in Scripture based upon people meeting certain conditions (Lev. 26:3-45; Deut. 11:13-32; 12:1-32; 28:1-62; 30:15-20; Isa. 1:15-20; 55:1-13; 59:8-14; etc.).

We speak of God as being impartial and no respecter of persons, yet He has been forced to be impartial to those that have obeyed Him. This is His plan. All can enjoy the plan if they choose, and concerning this, God cannot be partial and still be just. We speak of God as being invisible, yet He has been seen as a visible person by many, as we have seen in Point 7, 8 and 9, above. We speak of God's longsuffering as being infinite, yet it has come to an end many times (Exod. 32:7-34; 34:6). God is spoken of as infinite in mercy, yet He has had to curse people whom He had previously had mercy upon (Exod. 15:13; 1 Cor. 10:1-12).

And so it goes with many of God's attributes and powers. He naturally has had to limit Himself in His dealings with free moral agents, so in the thought of God being limited concerning His knowledge of human affairs, we must conclude that it is not so much that God cannot know all things beforehand if He so chooses. Rather, He prefers not to do this because of the very nature of His plan, and because it was made in conjunction with unpredictable free moral agents. We can still believe that God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, impartial, longsuffering, etc., by nature, but that He limits Himself according to His plan of dealing with other beings who are capable of free action; it cannot be known what they will do under all circumstances until they are tested. This is the only kind of a plan that God could justly make since it includes the personal relations with creatures capable of free and unpredictable choices.

The Attributes of God

Many are the attributes of God, and what is said of one person of the divine Trinity can be said of each one of the three separate and distinct persons of the Godhead. See the many attributes of God in Points 8 and 9, above.

The Existence of God

There are over 130 declarations of God revealing that He is God, and the only true God, in Ps. 93:1-5; Isa. 40:12-31; 41:3-29; 43:13-21; 44:6-8; 45:12-22. Also, 3,808 times such expressions as “Thus saith the Lord,” and “The Lord spake” and others show Him to be the author of the Bible. See Lesson Two, VII, 16. Many times God declares Himself to be the Creator of the worlds (Gen. 1:1-2:25; Job 12:7-25; 38:1-41:34; Ps. 8:1-9; 19:1-6; 102:25-28; Isa. 45:18; Jn. 1:1-3; Eph. 3:9; Rev. 4:10-11; 14:7; and from Heb. 1:3 we learn that He not only created all things, but that all things are now upheld by His great power. The many manifestations of God's great works, and His many personal acts of manifestations on various occasions, as recorded in Scripture, also prove His existence and person (Gen. 1:1-2:25; 3:1-24; 11:1-9; Lev. 10:2-4; 2 Sam. 22:8-16; Job 38:1-40:24; Ps 18:7-20; 78:12-16, 23-29, 43-66; etc.).

       10.     The Godhead consists of three separate and distinct Persons. This fact is simply stated in Scripture: “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood; and these three agree in one” (1 Jn. 5:7-8).

The word “one” is explained in Point I, 3-4, and Point II, 6, above. Some facts concerning the Trinity are given in Point I, 5, 7, 8, and Point II, 6, above. For full and complete proof we shall wait until Lesson Twenty-seven. Here we may say that the only sense in which three can be one is the sense of unity, and one person cannot be three persons in any sense. So the old idea that God exists as three persons in one person is not only unscriptural, but it is ridiculous to say the least.

If there are three separate and distinct persons as plainly stated in 1 Jn. 5:7-8, then let this fact be settled once and forever. All Scripture will harmonize with this idea, but many scores of Scriptures cannot possibly be harmonized with the idea of God being only one person or one person made up of three persons. The above passage is speaking of three witnesses and no one person can be three separate witnesses. It will be proven in Lessons Twenty-one and Twenty-five that both the Son of God and the Holy Spirit have personal bodies and that they are distinct persons from the Father, and in Lesson Twenty-seven it will be proven that there are three separate and distinct persons in the Godhead. Since this is true, we must conclude here that if one person of the three in the Godhead has a personal body, soul, and spirit, all three persons must also have separate bodies, souls, and spirits.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON 4

1.    What is one of the greatest errors of the Church of today?

2.    Is there any reasonable excuse for ignorance of God? Why?

3.    How have men almost nullified the Word of God?

4.    Define “God,” “Godhead,” “one,” “in,” “person,” “incarnation,” “Father,” “Son,” “Trinity,” “body,” “soul” and “spirit.”

5.    Do unsaved men have God's Spirit in them? Prove from Scripture.

6.    When do they get the Spirit of God?

7.    Is “breath” and “spirit” the same? Prove from Scripture.

8.    Does man have a separate spirit from God's Spirit? Prove.

9.    Is there such a thing as a “spirit-body”? Prove.

10.   Do all things in creation have bodies? Prove.

11.   Did Jesus teach that God has a body? Prove.

12.   How does Moses teach that God has a body?

13.   How does Paul teach that God has a body?

14.   Have men ever seen God with the natural eyes? Prove.

15.   Will the redeemed see the body of God in the future? Prove.

16.   What is the modern conception of God? Can men prove this idea of God?

17.   Is there any harmony between the Bible and this conception of God?

18.   Do angels and other spirit-beings have bodies? Prove.

19.   What kind of illustration does Paul give that makes clear the subject of God?

20.   Is there anything hard to understand about God if we believe Paul? Why?

21.   How should we understand the word “one” in such phrases “one God”?

22.   What is the rule to follow in Scripture to distinguish the different persons in the Godhead?

23.   Are all three persons in the Godhead called “God”? Explain how the word can be used individually and collectively.

24.   What kind of bodies will men have in the resurrection?

25.   How does this help us to understand the body of God?

26.   Prove from Scripture that God does have a spirit-body.

27.   Do such words as “light” and “love” prove that God does not have a body?

28.   Can God be comprehended by the senses? Prove.

29.   Why is it that we do not comprehend God more today by the senses?

30.   How can we harmonize Jn. 1:18; Exod. 33:20; 1 Tim. 6:16 with the idea that men have seen God with the natural eyes?

31.   Is there a single passage that says God's image and likeness consists only of moral and intellectual powers?

32.   How are we to explain the bodily parts of God mentioned in Scripture?

33.   Do they prove that God does not have bodily parts? What do they prove?

34.   How do facts in the Bible about the soul and spirit out of the body prove that God can and does have a spirit-body?

35.   Prove from Scripture that God has a personal soul.

36.   Prove from Scripture that God has a personal spirit.

37.   Does man have the same kind of soul passions and spirit faculties that God has? What is the difference between them?

38.   Does the Godhead consist of three separate and distinct persons? Prove.

39.   How can three persons be one? Can one person be three persons in any sense?

40.   If there are three distinct persons in the Godhead, would each have a separate body, soul, and spirit? Why do you think so?

41.   Define and discuss the omnipresence of God. Is He omnibody?

42.   Define and discuss the omniscience of God. Name some things He does not know.

43.   Discuss fully the personality of God and prove He is a person.

44.   Discuss fully the invisibility of God. Is He of a substance that cannot be seen? Prove from Scripture.

45.   Define and discuss the omnipotence of God. Name some things He cannot do.

46.   Prove from the Bible the existence of God.

47.   Name at least 15 attributes of God.

48.   Give at least three plain Scriptures that prove that God exists as three separate and distinct persons.

49.   How many hundred Scriptures prove the divine Trinity?

50.   What are the clearest of all the many Scriptures to you to prove a divine Trinity?

— God's Plan for Man

 I. What This New Conception of God Will Mean to You

The idea that the Godhead consists of three separate and distinct persons, each with a personal spirit-body, a personal soul, and a personal spirit will mean much to you as you learn to know and love God and follow the divine plan for your life. At the very least, this conception of God will make the whole Godhead comprehensible to you. It will no longer be a mystery beyond all possible understanding as you may have been taught.

Because God the Father is a person, He expects you to respect Him as you would any other great personage and as you should the Sovereign Moral Governor of all free moral agents. God has a personal plan for your life that will fit perfectly into His larger plan for man. In other words, He has invited and has made it possible for each of you to have a personal part in the fulfillment of His plan for man. You should enter wholeheartedly into cooperation with God's plan for your life. God's plan is a mutual one for the best and highest good of all creation. He wants to take you into partnership for eternity. As Paul expressed it, “workers together with him” (2 Cor. 6:1). This should be the thrill of your life. You should count it the greatest honor ever bestowed upon you to have a part with Him to bring about the highest good of the universe. You should hunger daily to know Him better as a person and to know His plan, so that you may become an integral part of God and His program.

The plan of God for man includes both the means and the ends, prayer and its answer, the labor and its fruit. There is a single plan which embraces all things for the good of all creation. It is a part of the perfection of God that He would have a plan for man—the best plan possible. This plan is already predestinated according to the eternal purpose of Him that works all things after the pleasure of His own will (Isa. 46:10-11; Dan. 4:35; Eph. 1:3-11; 2:10; 3:10-11).

This personal concept of God will enable you to work with God as a person, pray to Him as you would talk to any person in whom you put trust and confidence, and obey Him in all things, realizing that everything is done in the presence of God. As you continue these lessons the plan of God will be unfolded to you, and you will get to know God in a real, personal way. As you conform to the plan, you will get to know the power of God and learn how to use it to get the many blessings of this life for yourself and for others. God's plan will become a personal part of your life as you seek to know and follow it. God will become your best friend and a personal Father and Partner in your everyday affairs. You will come to know the glory and the blessing of a secret relation with God such as few men know.

II. All Men Are Sinners

The first thing to do in getting acquainted with God is to know yourself and your relation to God as well as to know what you can receive from Him. The Bible declares that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). If you have not yet realized your condition of sinfulness, or if you have been deceived by false religions into believing that you are not a sinner, the thing to do is to throw out this false religion. You know that you have sinned and have been condemned in your own conscience for many acts you have committed in life. The Bible makes it clear that “sin is transgression of the law” (1 Jn. 3:4) and that “all unrighteousness is sin” (1 Jn. 5:17).

Anything that the Bible forbids is sinful. Lists of sins that damn the soul are plainly recorded, so there can be no excuse for not knowing what the will of God is concerning sin. In Mk. 7:21-23 we read, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

In Rom. 1:29-32 we read of other sins that condemn men before God: “Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventers of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

Again we read, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolators, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

Paul, in Gal. 5:19-21, gives another catalog of sins that will damn the soul: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness revellings and such like . . . they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

All these Scriptures prove beyond doubt that God condemns all men as sinners, for all men outside of Christ commit in varying degrees some of these sins. If any man has committed one of these sins at any time in his life, he has incurred the death penalty and he must accept Jesus Christ as a personal Savior or be eternally condemned and lost, according to Scripture, which says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,” and “they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (Ezek. 18:4; Gal. 5:21; 1 Cor. 6:9-11).

III. The Key That Unlocks All Promises

Jesus taught that a man “must be born again” and “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God . . . Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God . . . Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven . . . Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Jn. 3:1-8; Mt. 18:3; Lk. 13:1-5).

The new birth is a necessity to being saved and to having the right relationship to God so that one can claim the benefits of the Bible. The new birth is not confirmation, church membership, water baptism, taking the sacrament, observing religious duties, an intellectual reception of Christianity, orthodoxy of faith, going to church, saying prayers, reading the Bible, memorizing creeds, being moral, being cultured or refined, doing good deeds or doing your best, being as good as the next fellow, or any of the other things that men are trusting in to save them.

Neither do these things bring about the new birth. Nicodemus, whom Jesus addressed concerning the new birth, had most of these qualifications, but Jesus said to him “Ye must be born again.” The thief on the cross and many others whom Jesus forgave while on Earth were saved without these things. They simply did the one necessary thing—became “converted” and “born again” by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and by repenting and turning to God with their whole heart as a little child, as proven in Mt. 9:1-7; Lk. 7:48-50; 18:9-14; 23:43; Jn. 8:1-10; Acts 3:19; 8:36-37; 16:31.

Every man who is born again will automatically have the above external evidences of a good life by virtue of the new birth. However, it is sad to say, that there are millions of people who are trusting these outward things to save them, and they really believe that they are the evidences of a right relationship with God. Millions will die and be lost without the new birth because they have been misled concerning the experience of being born again. There is no excuse for men being deceived if they will read their own Bibles instead of listening to some religious teachers.

It is all-important that we pay personal attention to our eternal welfare and not trust the best of men. If we permit men to mislead us in eternal matters and are lost, it will be too late then to personally see after our welfare, so let us do it now. Don't take the attitude that you cannot be deceived and that your church is the only right one and cannot mislead you. This may be true, but it would be wise for you to make sure of it by going to the Bible for yourself and seeing with your own eyes, and knowing from your own heart that you are right with God and have had the real new birth experience and are living right with God every day.

There is no use fooling yourself. That will not get you anywhere. You are either born again or you are not. You are either really saved, or you are being deceived into thinking that you are, and you are lost. If you are not getting answers to your prayers, it is either that you are not saved or you are doubting God. If your obstacle is doubt, then you should quit it. If it is not doubt, then it will pay you to examine yourself and see if you are really right with God. He is obligated to answer you if you are His child. If you have once been saved, it may be that you have become cold in your experience and need to re-consecrate your life to God. You know your own life and true relationship to God, so get the fact settled that you are genuinely saved and in present contact with God, and then you will be in the right position to get what God has promised.

Culture, refinement, and outward correctness of life in the Church or out of it will not take the place of the new birth. The trouble is in the heart (Mk. 7:18-23), and merely to reform the outward life will not save you.

An artist could put a coating of wax and the most beautiful colors on the outside of a rotten apple, but it would still be rotten at heart. One bite into it would be a bite into decay. The fact is that out of Christ every man is rotten in the heart, and mere culture, refinement, outward respectability, morality, and outward correctness of life are simply artificial and the practice of hypocrites who, like whited sepulchres, make clean the outside; but within are full of extortion and excess—”dead men's bones, and all uncleanness” (Mt. 23:25-28).

IV. The Evidences of the New Birth

1.       You will be changed down in the depths of your being and be made a new creature: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 5:17-18). If you have never been changed like this, then it is certain that you have never been born again.

2.       You will have the witness of the Spirit in your life that you are a child of God: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba Father. The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:14-16).

3.       You will have freedom from condemnation and from the law of sin and death and you will live and walk in the Spirit: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death . . . That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit . . . And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Rom. 8:1-13; Gal. 5:16-26).

4.       You will be cleansed from all sin and delivered from the power and dominion of sin as well as from the love of sin. “He shall save his people from their sins” (Mt. 1:21); “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin . . . If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:7-9).

5.       You will be free from sin. “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free . . . If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (Jn. 8:31-36); “Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? . . . our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin . . . reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin . . . sin shall not have dominion over you . . . Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? . . . ye were the servants of sin . . . being made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness . . . even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness . . . but now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Rom. 6:1-23); “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:1-4); “everyone that doeth righteousness is born of him . . . he that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil . . . whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin . . . whosoever is born of God overcometh the world . . . whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not” (1 Jn. 2:29; 3:7-10; 5:1-4, 18).

Many other Scriptures say that when one is born again and in Christ he “receives power to become a son of God” (Jn. 1:12); he has “crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Gal. 5:24); “his sins are blotted out” (Acts 3:19); “he is washed, sanctified, and justified” (1 Cor. 6:9-11; Rev. 1:5); “he has turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God” (Acts 26:18); “he has salvation” (Rom. 1:16; 2 Thess. 2:13); “he is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24); “he is God's elect” (Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:2-4; Col. 3:12); and “he departs from all iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:4, 19-22).

I am fully aware that literally thousands of religious teachers are constantly saying that no man can live free from sin, and that we sin every day. One can see that this teaching is entirely out of harmony with the Bible by reading the above Scriptures. If these men sin every day, then they are sinners every day and there is no time that they are not sinners. If they are sinners all the time, then there is no time when they are not under the death penalty of the broken law, and they will be sent to Hell as sinners to pay the death penalty. Christ means nothing to them if they are sinners and if they cannot be saved from sin.

It is time that you wake up and stop listening to such men and begin to read the Bible and obey it. Naturally, a man that does not believe in salvation from sin can never be saved from it. If Christ came to save us from our sins and He cannot do it, then He has failed in His mission. If the New Testament teaches freedom from sin, then it is either the truth or a lie. If it is a lie, then we might as well throw the whole Bible away and have nothing to do with religion. Christianity, in that case, is a mere sham and a false religion, teaching something that is not true. If salvation through Christ is true, however, then these modern teachers of religion are false and no man can safely believe them, or even listen to them deny the truths of the Bible.

Do not let men deceive you into thinking that there is no such thing as living a clean, holy, victorious life in Christ secure from sin, the flesh, the world, and the devil. If you are not saved from these things you are not saved from Hell, according to the Scriptures under Point II, above. There may not be such a life as far as these teachers are concerned and as far as they know. Either they do not know the Bible and they do not have biblical experiences, or they are plain rebels against truth and refuse to get such blessings. In either case, you should not listen to them concerning such an important thing as your eternal welfare. Why not listen to the Scripture instead? It will not deceive you. It will always tell you the truth, as you can see from the facts stated above.

If you want biblical experiences, if you want faith in God, answers to prayer, prosperity, healing and health, and happiness in God, you will have to conform to God and His Word as you receive it. It is not a question of deciding between what we say and what others say. It is a question of what you can plainly read in your own Bible. That and that alone you will have to give an account for, so do not permit any man to lead you astray. Let men brand you as old fashioned if they want to. If you will follow the Bible, it will pay you great dividends and benefits untold in this life and in the life to come. You are the one who desires such benefits, and you are the one that must see to it that you cooperate with God and His Word to get such blessings. Man is not going to give you such blessings, but man can hinder you from getting them from God if you permit him to cause you to fail God and His Word.

V. What the New Birth is and How it is Received

The new birth is a new creation from above, the direct operation of the Word of God and the Spirit of God upon your life, changing you completely when you truly repent and turn to God. This is brought about in the following manner: first, recognize that you are a sinner and lost, without God and without hope; second, admit that Jesus Christ died on the cross to save you from sin by His own precious blood; third, come to God repenting of your sins and turning away from all sin, pleading the merits of the blood of Christ in the name of Jesus Christ, and you shall be born again; that is, the Holy Spirit will then definitely make you a new creature, cleansing you from all sin by the authority of the Word of God and by the blood of Christ that was shed to atone for your sins; and fourth, you must believe from the heart when you confess with the mouth that God forgives you of your sins and that He cleanses you from all unrighteousness.

Scriptures for your authority to confess and believe are the following: “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (Jn. 1:12-13); “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (Jn. 6:37); “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:14-21, 36; 5:24); “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved; For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation . . . For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 1:16 through Rom. 10:9-13); “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 2:38-39; 3:19; 16:31); “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:1-10); “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

The new birth is not a coming into existence of the body, soul, and spirit; it is simply the cleansing of his body, soul, and spirit from all sin by grace through faith in the precious blood of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:25), by the Word of God (Jn. 3:5; 15:3; Eph. 5:26; Jas. 1:18; 1 Pet. 1:23), and by the direct power of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11; 12:13; Titus 3:5). It is the new creature experience of a person being renewed in righteousness and true holiness (2 Cor. 5:17-18; Gal. 5:24; Eph. 4:24). It is the blotting out of all sins that have separated a man from God (Isa. 59:2; Acts 3:19; 1 Jn. 1:7, 9; 2:29; 3:6-10; 5:1-4, 18). It is genuine conversion from death to life and from the power of Satan to the power of God (Mt. 18:3; Acts 3:19; 26:18; Jas. 5:19-20). It is the adoption of a person of the family of Adam and the family of Satan into the family of God (Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 1:5; 3:14-15; 1 Jn. 3:8-10). To compare the new birth with physical conception, begetting, birth, and human existence leads to too many false ideas, for the two births and two lives are not parallel at all.

1.       One does not exist as a human being before his natural birth; he truly must be in existence before he can be born again.

2.       One does not choose his natural birth, his parents, or environment; but he must choose the new birth and all the consecrations of Christian living (Jn. 3:16; Rev. 22:17).

3.       One does not repent in order to become a human being by natural birth; but he must repent and obey the Gospel daily to be a child of God (Mk. 1:15; 16:16; Lk 13:1-5; Acts 2:38).

4.       The first experience is the actual coming into existence of a new body, soul, and spirit—a new person; whereas, the other is merely the reconciliation of such a person to God (2 Cor. 5:17-21).

5.       The former is a literal, actual conception and birth to become a human being; the latter is simply an adoption of a human being into the family of God (Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 1:5; 3:14-15; 1 Jn. 3:8-10).

6.       The one is coming into existence as an unclean sinner; the other is the cleansing of the sinner from all sin and uncleanness (1 Cor. 6:11; 1 Jn. 1:7-9; Rev. 1:5; 5:10; 7:14).

7.       A person has no responsibility regarding his natural birth; in the new birth he has personal responsibility in the initial phase as well as in the continued life of daily righteousness and true holiness, which are required (Jn. 6:37; Lk. 9:23; Rom. 6:14-23; 8:12-13; 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 10:4-10; 2 Pet. 1:4-10).

VI. What the Water of the New Birth Means

The Word of God is the “water” referred to in Jn. 3:5, as proven in Eph. 5:26; Jn. 6:63; 15:3; 17:17; 1 Pet. 1:23; Jas. 1:18. When one believes the Word of God that he is a sinner, that Christ died to save him from all sin, that if he confesses his sins to God and turns from sin with a whole heart and believes the Gospel, he is conforming to the Word, then the Holy Spirit will transform his life by the power of the Word of God and the blood of Christ. The moment one does this he is saved and born again. He must believe it and walk accordingly. He must begin reading the Bible and praying to God. He must begin to walk and live in the Spirit and conform to the Word of God as he receives the light (1 Jn. 1:7; Jn. 8:31-32).

VII. Prosperity and Money

The old idea among Christians that God is against His children having material wealth for fear they will lose their souls is unscriptural. The Bible is full of records of God blessing men with prosperity (Gen. 13:3-9; 26:12, 16; 33:11; 39:2-23; 41:40-44; 1 Ki. 10:7; 2 Chron. 1:12; 9:22–17:5; 32:27; Job 1:3; etc.). In both Testaments God has promised riches and blessings untold to those who will serve and obey Him (Lev. 26; Deut. 28; 29:9; Josh. 1:7-9; 1 Ki. 2:3-4; 2 Chron. 20:20; 24:20; 26:5; Ps. 1:3; Prov. 10:22; 1 Cor. 16:1-2; 2 Cor. 8:9; 9:6-11; 1 Tim. 6:17; 3 Jn. 2). God Himself is the richest person in the universe, so if it would be a sin to be rich He would be the greatest sinner of all. The very streets of Heaven are paved with gold. Jewels of all kinds garnish the foundations. The gates are solid pearl and every house is a mansion (Jn. 14:1-3; Rev. 21). If God has promised us these things in the next life, why would it be a sin to have some of these things in this life?

Having wealth is not a sin, and the reason God's children are so poor is that they do not ask and receive as He has promised. Money is all right to have, and it is a great blessing that can be used to help God's work and others in their needs, and this is the purpose of asking God for prosperity. It is true that men are warned not to trust in riches and permit them to destroy their souls, but saved men can get victory over the wrong use of money as they can get victory over other sins (Ps. 62:10; Prov. 11:28; Lk. 8:14; 1 Tim. 6:17-19). Such warnings were not given to cause God's people to desire poverty in order to be saved, but rather to regulate the right use of money when one is saved and is prospered.

As seen in Point VII of Supplement One, God has provided abundance and has made no limitation to His children in getting all that they want in this life. The laws of prosperity will be fully covered in Lessons Eleven and Twelve, but here we may say that what you need of this world's goods you should begin to pray for and believe the promises. Even before you get the laws of prosperity you can receive many benefits of this kind.

VIII. Power With God

Thousands of Christians are in total ignorance as to the Bible doctrine of power for believers. We want you to know the truth about this so you can start from the first of these lessons to get what you want from God and get power over the devil. The Old Testament saints had great power and did remarkable acts that are seldom heard of today among Christians. Abraham had power to heal a whole nation at one time (Gen. 20). Moses and Aaron did great wonders in Egypt (Exod. 7:10–11:10) and in the wilderness (Exod. 15:22-26; Num. 11:2, 29-30; etc.). Moses healed the whole nation of Israel, and there was not a feeble one in all their tribes (Ps. 105:37; 107:20). Joshua, many of the judges, kings, and prophets did many signs and wonders by the power of God. For example, Elijah did fifteen miracles and Elisha did thirty, such as raising the dead, shutting the heavens against rain, bringing rain, calling fire from Heaven, dividing Jordan, healing people, helping people get out of debt, making iron to swim, and all kinds of miracles (1 Ki. 17:1–2 Ki. 13:21).

Christ came doing miracles and healing all manner of diseases to confirm the Word of God (Isa. 11:1-2; 42:1-7; 61:1-2; Mt. 4:23-24; 11:2-6; 12:18; Lk. 4:16-21; Acts 10:38). The apostles and many others did the same work before Pentecost (Mt. 10:1-20; Mk. 6:7-13; Lk. 9:49-50; 10:1-20). Christ promised that all believers should have the signs of the Gospel following them and that every believer should be able to do the works that He did (Mk. 9:23; 11:22-24; 16:15-20; Lk. 24:49; Jn. 14:12-15; 15:7; 16:23-26; Acts 1:1-8). The early believers did do the works of Christ (Acts 2:42-47; 3:6; 4:1-16, 29-33; 5:1-16; 6:3-8; 8:5-20; 9:17-18, 32-43; 11:21; 13:6-12; 14:3, 8-20, 27; 15:4; 16:16-34; 19:1-20; Rom. 1:11; 15:18-19, 29; 1 Cor. 1:7, 18-24; 2:1-5; 4:19-21; 5:1-5; 9:18; 12:1–14:40; 16:10; etc.).

We are bringing many truths to you that you seldom get in modern churches. We want you to know that everything God ever promised to Christians is for you and that God has not changed. If there has been any change, it is on man's part. If you will accept truth as you can plainly read it in all these Scriptures you can help us give to the world a new type of Christianity that it has not seen since the days of the early Church, except in a measure here and there. We want you to know that you are receiving lessons that will wake up the Christian world, if Christians who get to know these teachings will rise to their responsibility in the Gospel. We want you to know that these lessons and supplements are not just the same old doctrines that you can get in many books. We present old truths and many new ones—new to modern Christians, but not new to the early ones; for many early believers enjoyed these blessings to the full, as we will make clear to you in coming lessons.

During the next two weeks review these four lessons and do all the things we instructed you to do in the two supplements. You now have been taught the general terms and subjects of the plan of God, that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that you can understand the Bible, and you now have the right understanding of God Himself. You have been shown the reality of God, of the devil and demons, the source of sin and diseases, the true source of help, how to pray, what to pray for, how to practice the presence of God in your life, how you can be saved and have the abundance of good things in life, how to overcome sinful habits, how to have healing and health, what the new conception of God means to you, how all men are sinners, the key that unlocks all the promises of God, the evidences of the new birth, what the new birth is and how to get it, and that it is God's will for you to be prosperous and have power with Him to get all that you need in this life.

These things are just a drop in the bucket compared to the riches of many truths that are in store for you and the order in which they will come. If you want power with God, prosperity, healing, or any good thing in particular, do as we instruct you and it will definitely come into your life.

Ten Questions For Supplement Two. Do You Know:

1.               That there must be at least three more European wars before the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ? In Dan. 7:23-24 we have a prophecy that ten kingdoms must be formed inside the old Roman Empire territory in the last days. These ten kings referred to are the same ones symbolized by the ten horns on the beast of Rev. 13 and 17. In Rev. 17:12-17 it is stated that they will give their kingdoms to the future Antichrist, and then will fight against Jesus Christ at His Second Coming. This proves that they all must be in existence when Christ comes. There are twenty-two states inside that territory now. Therefore, if these countries must be formed into ten kingdoms and be in existence when Christ comes, changes must be made sometime in the future that will affect these states.
It will take one war to form these ten kingdoms before the Antichrist comes. This is the first war to which we refer. Then in Dan. 7:23-24 it states “after them,” that is, after the ten kingdoms are formed, then the Antichrist will arise and subdue three of them. This is the second war. In Dan. 11:40-44; Rev. 17:12-17 it is revealed that the Antichrist will finally get power over the whole ten kingdoms. The third war will be fought between the ten kingdoms under the Antichrist and the nations that are north and east of the ten kingdoms. In other words, Russia, Germany, and other countries north and east of the ten kingdoms inside the old Roman Empire territory will fight these ten kingdoms during the last 3 ½ years of this age. Antichrist will be the victor, and then he will lead the nations against Jerusalem and the Jews, but Christ will come and defend the Jews, destroy the Antichrist and set up His kingdom in the world forever (Zech. 14:1-21; Ezek. 38-39; Joel 3; Isa. 63; Rev. 17:14; 19:11-21; 20:1-10).

2.               That there will be eternal generations of natural people on the Earth? The Scriptures are so literally clear on this question that we shall merely give a number of references to read. There will be “perpetual generations” and an everlasting kingdom of Christ over all coming generations forever (Gen. 8:22; 9:12, 16; 17:7, 19; 2 Sam. 7:24-26; Isa. 9:6-7; 59:20-21; Jer. 31:35-36; Ezek. 37:24-28; Dan. 2:44; 7:13-14, 18, 27; Lk. 1:32-33; Zech. 14:1-21; Rev. 1:5; 5:10; 11:15; 22:4-5).

3.               That God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct persons, each with a personal body, soul, and spirit? They are three persons (1 Jn. 5:7-8; Mt. 28:19). Two and three of these have been seen with separate bodies with the same eyes at the same time (Dan. 7:9-14; 10:5-7; Acts 7:54-59; Rev. 4:2-4; 5:1-7; 22:4-5; Mt. 3:16-17). If there are three separate persons, then all three would have to have a separate body, soul and spirit, as is true of any three persons we could use as an example. Abundant proof of this will be furnished in Lesson Twenty-seven. See also the many proofs in Lesson Four.

4.               That God the Father will some day move His headquarters from Heaven to the Earth to live among men and that men will see Him in visible form? This is clear from Rev. 21 where it pictures the New Jerusalem as coming from Heaven to the Earth. In verse 3 it states, “The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Men will see God, for in Rev. 22:4 we read, “they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads . . . and they shall reign forever and ever.”

5.               That one man will rule the world soon and he will not be the Antichrist? The first and only universal ruler of the Earth since Adam fell, will be the Lord Jesus Christ, who will come from Heaven with the armies of Heaven and seize the governments of this world in one day and reign forever (Zech. 14:1-21; Isa. 9:6-7; Dan. 2:44; 7:13-14, 18, 27; Lk. 1:32-33; Rev. 11:15; 19:11-21; 20:1-10; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Eph. 1:10).

6.               That there are degrees of punishment in Hell and rewards in Heaven? Jesus taught that it will be more tolerable for some in the day of judgment than for others (Mt. 11:20-24); that some will be found to be twofold more a child of Hell than others, and will receive “greater damnation” (Mt. 23:14-15); and that every man will be judged according to his works (Rev. 20:11-15). The saints will be rewarded according to their works (Mt. 10:41-42; 16:27; Rom. 14:10-12; 2 Cor. 5:10-11; Rev. 22:12).

7.               That wars are won or lost in the heavenlies between good and bad angels before they are won or lost on Earth by men? This is clear from Dan. 10:13-21 where Gabriel says that the satanic rulers of Persia held him captive for three weeks. He states, “now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia [the fallen angel that ruled Persia for Satan]: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.” He further reveals that when Babylon was overthrown he had helped Michael to overthrow it (Dan. 10:21–11:1). He speaks of Michael as being the special prince of God over Israel (Dan. 12:1). These and other Scriptures, such as Heb. 1:14; Mt. 18:10, show that there are angels over governments and even over individuals, who minister to them and seek to rule their lives. When God gets ready to overthrow a government on Earth to fulfill His prophetic Word, His angels have to overthrow Satan's rulers of these kingdoms and then men will carry out the result on Earth. (See Lesson Four, Point II, 9.)

8.               That the mark of the beast is not 666? This is the “number of the beast” and not his mark, as is plainly stated in Rev. 13:16-18. There will be three things men will have a choice of taking in the days of Antichrist: the mark of Antichrist, his name, or the number of his name. What the Antichrist's name and mark will be is not stated; but the number of his name is stated as being 666. Therefore, no man can now know his name or his mark and will never be able to know them until the Antichrist comes after the Rapture of the Church, as we shall see. However, anyone now can know that 666 is the number of his name, as this is revealed in Rev. 13:18.

9.               That blood will soon flow up to the horses' bridles? This will literally be true at the Battle of Armageddon which will be fought at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the near future (Rev. 14:14-20; 19:11-21; Ezek. 38:17-21; Zech. 14:1-21).

10.              That all true saints will be exempt in the last day wars? The reason for this will be that they will be translated to Heaven before the last two wars, as we have explained in question 1, above. These last two wars will be fought after the Antichrist comes. These two wars will be fought after the first of the three wars, which brings about the formation of the ten kingdoms (Dan. 7:23-24) and after the Rapture of the Church (2 Thess. 2:7-8; Rev. 4:1). This we will prove in detail in Lessons Thirty-seven through Fifty-two.

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