that an idol is nothing in the
world, and that there is none other God but one." 1 Corinthians 8:4.
"There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus." 1 Timothy 2:5.

2. It is asserted, that this God is the only living and true God.
The name of God is, indeed, given in Scripture to various other
beings, on account of some resemblance which, in some particular
respect, they bear to God. Angels are called gods, on account of the
excellence of their nature.—Psalm 97:7. Magistrates are called gods,
because, in the execution of their office, they act in God's name,
and because we are bound to obey them.—Exodus. 22:28. Moses was a
God to Pharaoh, and Aaron was his prophet, because Aaron received
the divine messages, which he carried to Pharaoh immediately from
Moses; whereas other prophets received their messages to the people
immediately from God himself.—Exodus. 7:1. Idols are called gods,
because idolaters account them gods, and honor them as such. And
Satan is called the God of this world, because he rules over the
greater part of the world, and they are his servants, and do his
works.—2 Corinthians 4:4. But, "though there be that are called
gods, whether in Heaven or in earth, yet to us there is but one
God," who is the only living and true God. He is styled the living
God, in order to distinguish him from idols, which are altogether
destitute of life. The opposition between the living God and dead
idols the Psalmist states and illustrates in a manner the most
convincing.—Psalm 115:3–7. He is styled the true God, in opposition
to imaginary and fictitious gods. The heathen, besides worshiping
dead idols, worshiped also living creatures.—Deuteronomy 32:17.
These were only gods in their vain imagination, not in reality. They
were called gods, but they were not gods by nature.—Galatians 4:8.
Between the true God and all rival gods there is an infinite
disparity.

3. It is asserted that this God is a most pure Spirit,—that is, he
is an incorporeal, immaterial, invisible, and immortal Being,
without bodily parts or passions. "No man has seen God at any time."
He "dwells in light, which no man can approach unto, whom no man has
seen nor can see." He is described as "invisible, incorruptible, and
immortal." The Confession affirms that God is a pure Spirit,
according to the Scriptures, and in opposition to an ancient sect of
heretics, who, understanding everything spoken of God in a literal
sense, held that God has bodily parts and a human form. These
heretics are called Anthropomorphites; a name compounded of two
Greek words,—the one signifying human, and the other, shape or form.
That corporeal parts and bodily members,—such as eyes, ears, hands,
and face, are ascribed to God in the Scriptures is certain; but such
language is used in accommodation to our capacities, and must be
understood in a way suitable to a pure spirit. Were the great God to
speak of his essence and perfections as he is in himself, instead of
being informed, we would be confounded. He, therefore, employs human
properties and actions as emblems of his own spiritual perfections
and acts. We become acquainted with persons and things by seeing
them or hearing of them; and to intimate the perfect knowledge which
God has of his creatures, eyes and ears are ascribed to him. It is
chiefly by our hands that we exert our bodily strength; and hands
are ascribed to God to denote his irresistible power. We look with
an air of delight and satisfaction on those whom we love; and God's
face denotes the manifestation of his favor. In the same manner must
we explain the several passions that are ascribed to God,—such as
anger, fury, jealousy, revenge, affections of mercy, etc. "Passion
produces a vehemence of action; so when there is, in the providences
of God, such a vehemence as, according to the manner of men, would
import a passion, then that passion is ascribed to God. When he
punishes men for sin, he is said to be angry; when he does that by
severe and redoubled strokes, he is said to be full of fury and
revenge; when he punishes for idolatry, or any dishonor done to
himself, he is said to be jealous; when he changes the course of his
proceedings, he is said to repent; when his dispensations of
providence are very gentle, and his judgments come slowly from him,
he is said to have affections. And thus all the varieties of
providence come to be expressed by all that variety of passions
which, among men, might give occasion to such a variety of
proceeding."

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

1. God is infinite. To be infinite, according to the literal
signification of the word, is to be unbounded,—unlimited. As applied
to the other attributes of God, this term denotes their absolute
perfection. He is infinite in his wisdom, power; holiness, etc. As
these perfections must be considered afterwards, we only notice, at
present, that God is infinite in his being, or essence. From this
results his incomprehensibility, or that super-eminent perfection
which can be comprehended by none but himself. A perfect knowledge
of God is competent to none but himself, whose understanding is
infinite. "Can you by searching find out God? Can you find out the
Almighty unto perfection?" Job 11:7. His infinity, as applied to his
being, also includes his immensity and his omnipresence. Between
these a distinction may be drawn. His omnipresence has a relation to
creatures actually existing, with every one of which he is
intimately present; but his immensity extends infinitely beyond the
boundaries of all created substance. God fills all places at
once—Heaven, and earth, and hell—with his essential presence. "Am I
a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide
himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? Says the Lord.
Do not I fill Heaven and earth? says the Lord." Jeremiah 23:23, 24.

2. God is self-existent and independent. He has all life, glory, and
blessedness, in and of himself. His existence is necessary and
underived; for his name is, "I am that I am." Exodus. 3:14. His
glory and blessedness are likewise underived. His glory necessarily
results from, or rather consists in, the absolute perfection of has
own nature, and his blessedness is all summed up in the possession
and enjoyment of his own infinite excellencies. Being thus
all-sufficient in and unto himself, he must be independent of any
other being. He stands not in need of any creatures which he has
made, nor can he derive any glory from them. Every other being
receives its all from him, but he receives no advantage from any.
"For his pleasure all things are and were created; but none can be
profitable to God, as he who is wise may be profitable to himself;
nor is it any gain to him that they make their ways perfect." Rev.
4:11; Job 22:2, 3.

3. God is the fountain of all being. As he has life in and of
himself, so he is the author of that life which is in every living
creature. "In him we live, and move, and have our being." All the
life of the vegetative, animal, and rational world, the life of
grace here, and the life of glory hereafter, are of him, and derived
from him. "With him is the fountain of life,"—of all sorts of life.
"Of him, and through him, and to him, are all things." Romans 11:36.
From this it follows, that God has most sovereign dominion over all
his creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them; whatever
himself pleases. He who is the first cause of all things, must also
be the last end. As he gave being to all creatures, so he must have
an absolute right to rule over them, and to dispose of them for the
ends of his own glory. Hence we are told, that "his kingdom rules
over all," and that "he does according to his will in the army of
Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay
his hand, or say unto him, What do thou?"—Psalm 103:19; Daniel 4:35.
But God has not only a right to exercise sovereign dominion over his
creatures, he has also an indisputable claim to their service and
obedience. This claim is likewise founded upon his giving them their
being. They are not their own, but the Lord's; him, therefore, they
are bound to serve. Hence the Confession, with great propriety,
affirms, that to God "is due from angels and men, and every other
creature, whatever worship, service, or obedience, he is pleased to
require of them."

4. God is eternal. The word eternal is sometimes used, both in
Scripture and in common language, in a restricted sense, for a long
time, or for a period whose termination is to us unknown. Sometimes
it denotes a duration which, though not without beginning, is
without end. Thus angels and the souls of men are eternal; for
though they had a beginning, they will have no end. But eternity, in
the strict and proper sense of the word, signifies a duration
without beginning, without end, and without succession; and in this
sense it is peculiar to the great God. The supposition that there
was a period at which God began to be, is equally repugnant to
reason and to revelation. He who created all things must have
existed before any of them began to be; and his existence being
underived, he can never cease to exist. The Scripture plainly
declares that he is without beginning: "Before the mountains were
brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even
from everlasting to everlasting, you are God." Psalm 90:2. It no
less plainly declares that he is without end: "The Lord shall endure
forever." Psalm 9:7. That he is without succession is no less
explicitly declared: "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day." 2 Peter 3:8. There is one passage
in which an unbeginning, unending, and unsuccessive duration, is
ascribed to God—Psalm 102:25–27. One of his glorious titles is, "The
high and lofty One that inhabits eternity;" and he is styled, "The
everlasting God,—the Father of eternity,—the First and the Last."

5. God is immutable. "With him is no variableness, neither shadow of
turning." To this important truth reason and revelation give their
united testimony. His immutability necessarily results from his
absolute perfection. If he were to change, it must be either to the
better or to the worse. He cannot change to the better, for that
would imply past imperfection; he cannot change to the worse, for
then he would cease to be perfect. He must, therefore, remain
invariably the same. To the absolute immutability of God the
Scripture gives numerous testimonies.—Numbers 23:19; Psalm 33:11;
Malachi 3:6.

God is unchangeable in his being. "I am that I am," is the name by
which he made himself known to Moses, a name which conveys the idea
not only of self-existence and independence, but also of
immutability. He is unchangeable in his glory. Though the
manifestation of his glory may vary, yet he is, and ever was,
infinitely glorious in himself; for his essential glory is neither
capable of increase nor susceptible of divination. He is
unchangeable in his blessedness; for as it consists in the enjoyment
of himself, so it can neither be increased nor diminished by
anything that creatures can do for or against him.—Job 35:5–7. He is
unchangeable in his purposes and counsels. He proclaims with divine
majesty, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: I
have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I
will also do it." Isaiah 46:10, 11. He is unchangeable in his
covenant, love, and promises to his people.—Isaiah 54:10. When,
therefore, we read in Scripture of God's repenting, we must
understand such language of an alteration of the outward
dispensations of his providence. We are by no means to attribute to
him any change of mind; for, in this respect, it is impossible for
God to change. "He is in one mind, and who can turn him?"—Job 23:13.

6. God is all-knowing. In his sight all things are open and
manifest. He has a perfect knowledge of himself, and he only knows
himself perfectly. He knows all things besides himself, whether they
be past, present, or to come, in our way of measuring them by time.
He knows all creatures, from the greatest to the least; he knows all
the actions of his creatures, whether secret or open; all their
words, thoughts, and intentions. Hence the Scripture declares, "The
eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the
good." Proverbs 15:3. "He is acquainted with all our ways, there is
not a word in our tongue but he knows it altogether, and he
understands our thought afar off." Psalm 139:2–4. "Known unto God
are all his works from the beginning of the world." Acts 15:18. Yes,
be knows the most contingent events: the actions of free agents, and
all events concerned in them, were always known with certainty to
him; so that, though they be contingent in their own nature, or ever
so uncertain as to us, yet, in reality, nothing is to him contingent
or uncertain. We cannot doubt this, when we consider the numerous
prophecies, relating to things of this kind, that have received a
most exact and circumstantial accomplishment, many ages after the
prophecies were announced. It may be remarked, that God knows
things, not by information, nor by reasoning and deduction, nor by
succession of ideas, but by a single intuitive glance; and he knows
them comprehensively, and infallibly.

7. God it most free and most absolute. "He works all things after
the counsel of his own will." Ephesians 1:11. His will is infinitely
free, and "he does according to his will in the army of Heaven, and
among the inhabitants of the earth." He has an absolute right to do
whatever he pleases, and "none can stay his hand, or say unto him,
What do thou?"—Daniel 4:36.

8. God is infinitely wise. The wisdom of God is that perfection of
his nature by which he directs all things to their proper end—the
end for which he gave them being; and this is his own glory: for as
he is the most excellent Being, nothing can be so excellent an end
as his own glory. How admirably is the wisdom of God displayed in
creation! Whether we look upward to the heavens, or downward to the
earth; whether we survey the mineral, the vegetable, or the animal
world, can we forbear to exclaim with the devout Psalmist, "O Lord,
how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them