Of God, and of the Holy Trinity – Chapter Two.

Chapter Two of the WCF speaks of God and the Holy Trinity in three short but grand and majestic clauses. But how can the human mind conceive of the awesome God – the One who reveals Himself to us in the Holy Scriptures?

One simple way to put it is to say, that there is none beside Him (see Deut. 4:35; Isa. 44:6); there is none before Him (see Isa. 43:10); and there is none like Him (see Exo. 9:14; Deut. 33:26; Jer. 10:6).

Smith’s Bible dictionary has this to say about “God”: throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, two chief names are used for the one true divine Being – Elohim, commonly translated God in our Bibles, and Jehovah, translated Lord. Elohim is the plural of Eloah, (in Arabic, Allah); it is often used in the short form, El, (a word signifying strength, as in El-Shaddai, God Almighty, the name by which God was specially known to the patriarchs. It is generally agreed that the primary idea of El is that of strength, power of effect, and that it properly describes God in that character in which he is exhibited to all men in his works, as the creator, sustainer and supreme governor of the world.

Jehovah on the other hand denotes specifically the one true God, whose people the Jews were, and who made them the guardians of His truth. The name is never applied to a false god, nor to any other being except one, the Angel-Jehovah who is marked as one with God, and who appears again, in the New Covenant, as “God manifested in the flesh.”

The key to the meaning of the name is unquestionably given in God’s revelation of himself to Moses by the phrase “I AM that I AM” (Exo. 3:14, 6:3). We must connect the name Jehovah with the Hebrew substantive verb to be, with the inference that it expresses the essential, eternal, unchangeable being of Jehovah. But more, it is not the expression only, or chiefly, of an absolute truth: it is a practical revelation of God, in his essential, unchangeable relation to this chosen people, the basis of his covenant.

Some of the words the WCF uses to describe God are: He is the “only living and true God … infinite in perfection … almighty … wise … most holy” and so on. This chapter also goes on to teach us that God will work “all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will.” This He will do “for His own glory.” The Confession describes Him as “most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands.” Therefore to Him is due from every creature, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, He is pleased to require of them.

With regard to the Trinity, the WCF says, there are three persons, united in one Godhead, of one substance, power and eternity. It says, “The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son.

The Bible declares that “no man hath seen God at any time” and it is only the begotten Son who has “declared” Him (John 1:18). “Declare” here means to unfold, to rehearse, or to draw out. In other words, God is revealed by and through the Son. In His eternal wisdom He has also chosen in these last days to speak to us by His Son, whom He has appointed “heir of all things.” (Heb 12).

Therefore, Jesus is able to declare to us that to know God the Father, you need to know Him, for in Him is “all life, glory, goodness, and blessedness.”


Rev. Robert Chew