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Stephen Wellum
Baptist Press
It almost seems too obvious to say that at the heart and center of Christian faith and practice is the great and glorious Triune God of Scripture. But sadly, I am afraid, we too often forget this "obvious" fact.
Living in a secular and pluralistic age has had more of an impact on us than we would like to believe. As David Wells has reminded us in his important work, No Place for Truth, what a secular and postmodern age often does to "God" is not to eliminate him, but rather to relocate him from the center of our lives to that which is periphery and inconsequential. Unfortunately, as Wells also demonstrates, this effect of living in a secular age is often true of the church as well.
But as Article 2 of the Baptist Faith and Message reminds us, this is something the God of the Bible will not allow. For when we turn to Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, we are presented with "the only one living and true God," our Creator and Lord.
On every page, the God of majesty and glory confronts us as the one who will have no rivals, and as such, he rightly demands and deserves our "highest love, reverence and obedience."
In this context, what a privilege it is to confess and affirm Article 2a of the BF&M -- "God the Father." For as the statement reminds us, the God of Scripture is a Triune God -- Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- who may be distinguished by their personal properties.
But it is also a beautiful reminder that because of God's gracious work of redemption in Christ, we may now "become children of God" and have the supreme joy of calling God our Father.
Think of it! We who were ruined by the Fall and we who rightly stood under God's just condemnation are now, by grace "through faith in Jesus Christ," able to address God as Father.
Of course, this incredible truth must be understood and appreciated within the context of a biblical understanding of God the Father. For if we make him less than he truly is and if we attempt to domesticate him in such a way that his authority, sovereign rule, knowledge and holiness are not what Scripture says they are, then, I dare say, that the truth that we are "children of God through faith in Jesus Christ" will ring hollow with us.
But if we keep before us the glorious God of Scripture, then the thought of being his children will move us today as it moved the Apostle John of old -- "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are" (1 John 3:1a).
But it must be quickly added that this great privilege of knowing God as our Father is only found "through faith in Jesus Christ."
The BF&M correctly notes that God, as providential Lord, is "fatherly in his attitude toward all men" (Matthew 5:43-48; Acts 14:15-17; Romans 2:1-4). For in God's work of providence, he sustains and keeps the world that he has made, sending both rain and sunshine alike upon believer and unbeliever.
However, the great privilege of adoption is reserved only for those who have been joined to Jesus Christ by faith. Galatians 4:1-7 is very clear about this. For it is only when God the Son comes into the world and redeems us by his substitutionary work that we receive the blessing of adoption into the family of God as full sons and daughters of the King. On any other basis, there is no adoption into the family of God.
How should we live in light of this biblical teaching? I think there should be at least two responses. First, we need to recommit ourselves to knowing our great God and making him central in all of our thought and life. Our God deserves and demands nothing less. Second, we need to recommit ourselves to the faithful proclamation of the Gospel, for it is in Christ alone that people come to know God as Father.
What a privilege as well as an awesome task. May the Lord find us faithful in both.
Stephen Wellum is assistant professor of Christian theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
This is the third in a series of articles about the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
Text of Baptist Faith and Message