Sunday, August 10, 2008

Scriptural Foundations for the Nicene Creed

Note: Some of the Scripture passages copied below are only excerpts of the complete text listed.

GOD THE FATHER

Genesis 1:26a
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.

Deuteronomy 5:6-7
" 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. " 'You shall have no other gods before me.

Deuteronomy 6:4
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Deuteronomy 32:6
Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father, who created you, who made you and established you?

GOD THE SON

John 1:1-18 [excerpt]
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. . . . And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth. . . . From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart, who has made him known. [see also 1 John 1:1-5]

Philippians 2:6-11 [excerpt]
Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death-- even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Colossians 1:15-20
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Hebrews 1:1-13 [excerpt]
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God's glory and the exact imprint of God's very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. [Reference: Deut 32:43a; Psalm 45:6-7; Psalm 102:25-27]

Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Psalm 2:7
I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you.

2 Samuel 7:14
I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men

GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

Genesis 1:2
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.

Psalm 104:29-30
When you hide your face, they [creatures] are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust. When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

John 14:16-17
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

The passages listed above are just a small sampling of the many more texts that could be listed in defense of the Creeds and the Trinity -- Van+

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