THEOLOGY LESSONS
No. 1
These lessons are based on questions raised in the Ligonier State of Theology Survey 2025.
This survey was given to people to test their beliefs in what have been traditionally main truths believed by evangelical Christians. For each statement submitted, the respondent could say they strongly agreed, somewhat agreed, were not sure, somewhat disagreed, or strongly disagreed.
The purpose of this series of lessons is to make sure you know the correct Biblical answers to these issues, that your theology is in line with the Bible. It is also to give you the information you need to defend your beliefs. You may believe correctly, but not know where to find that truth in the Bible. It is my prayer that these studies will be the remedy for that.
Statement No. 1
God is a perfect being and cannot make a mistake.
Only 53% of respondents strongly agreed with the statement that God is a perfect being and cannot make a mistake. So, is God perfect? The answer is” Yes.
Let’s look at what the Bible says.
Jesus, in said: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) There you have it straight from the mouth of Jesus, the Son of God. If anyone would know, certainly he would. He has known the Father for eternity.
The Bible also gives us at least some of God’s specific perfections.
*God’s way is perfect. (2 Samuel 22:31; Psalm 18:30;)
2 Samuel 22:31 is in the song of David. After Saul had died, and after the Philistines were defeated, David considered all that he had been through and declared that God’s way is perfect and his word is true.
*God’s work is perfect. "The Rock, his work is perfect. (Deuteronomy 32:4)
This verse is from the Song of Moses, which Moses spoke to Israel after God told him he was about to die. Moses had witnessed God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt and his provision for them in the wilderness. He gave Israel this message to keep them faithful after his death.
*His law is perfect. (Psalm 19:7; James 1:25)
The effect of God’s law is amazing. We can trace our moral standards back to his law even today. When Israel kept the law, they prospered. It protected them from all kinds of harm. Their obedience to it glorified God as other nations recognized its greatness.
*His peace is perfect. (Isaiah 26:3) “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. This is an extraordinary peace, an all encompassing sense of security, beyond understanding, because we trust God and focus on him.
*He is perfect in knowledge. (Job 37:16)
*He gives perfect gifts. (James 1:17)
So we see that God is perfect in who he is and what he does.
The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), Section 2.1: “There is but one only living and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection…”
The 1689 London Baptist Confession, Section 2, says: “The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of Himself, infinite in being and perfection…”
The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, section II, says: God is infinite in holiness and all other perfections.
John Owen, the great English Puritan theologian wrote:
God is absolutely perfect; whatever is of perfection is to be ascribed to him; otherwise he could neither be absolutely self-sufficient, all-sufficient, nor eternally blessed in himself. He is absolutely perfect, inasmuch as no perfection is wanting to him, and comparatively above all that we can conceive or apprehend of perfection (Works, vol. XVI, 95).
Since God is perfect, he cannot make mistakes. If he made a mistake, there would be some imperfection in him. When humans make mistakes, it is because of some imperfection of knowledge or holiness. God is perfect in knowledge (omniscience) and holiness.
Why is this concept important?
(1) The Bible says it and we believe the Bible.
(2) If God is not perfect, then His commands and moral standards might be questionable, potentially undermining the basis for objective morality and ethical behavior.
(3) If we do not exalt God as perfect, we rob God of His infinite nature and unbounded perfection. When we do so, we create a god in our own image. We create and worship an idol. This idol is a lesser God made for our convenience, one who is simply a somewhat better version of ourselves, the man upstairs or the Big Guy. Our God, by contrast, is high and lifted up (Isa. 6:1). There is no one like him.
(4) The truest and highest worship of God is not worship for what he has done, but worship for who he is. You have to know who he is to do this.
(5) Knowledge of God’s perfection, and thinking on it, gives us assurance and God’s perfect peace, because we know he does not make mistakes with our lives. Whether we experience trouble or blessing, we know he is sovereign and in control and nothing happens outside of his will.
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