A spirit, invisible, immense, eternal and unchangeable, almighty, infinitely wise, holy, free and absolute - working all things according to the counsel of his own unchangeable and righteous will, for his own glory.

The list is not decoration, because every clause in it gets used later. Unchangeable underwrites the doctrine of God's decree, almighty underwrites providence, and the phrase about the counsel of his own will is the sentence the whole doctrine of the decree is built out of.

God is spirit, so those who worship him must do it in spirit and in truth.'

John 4:24

Confession 2.1

That he is not made of anything, is not assembled from components, and is not acted upon from outside himself.

Each of the three rules something out. No body: he is not located or limited the way physical things are. No parts: there is nothing in God that could be separated from the rest of him, so his mercy is not a portion of him competing with his justice. No passions: he is not moved about by circumstances the way we are, which is a statement about his reliability rather than a denial that he loves.

To the one true King - who never dies, who can't be seen, who is God alone - honor and glory forever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:17

Confession 2.1

Most loving, gracious and merciful, patient, overflowing in goodness and truth, forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion and sin - and the rewarder of those who seek him out.

None of this is a concession made against the attributes listed before it. This is one God being described, so his mercy is not a softer side that his justice has to be talked round; both come out of the same character, which is what makes what follows so abrupt.

Confession 2.1

It is not waived. The same God is most just and terrible in his judgements, hates all sin, and will by no means clear the guilty.

Both halves sit in one sentence, taken from one verse where God announces himself as forgiving wrongdoing, rebellion and sin, and as one who will not leave the guilty unpunished. Holding those two together is the problem the rest of the document exists to answer.

The Lord passed in front of Moses and said, 'The Lord, the Lord - a God who is compassionate and gracious, slow to get angry, overflowing with loyal love and faithfulness.'

'He keeps his love going for thousands, forgives wrongdoing, rebellion, and sin. But he doesn't ignore guilt - He brings consequences for wrongdoing, even affecting future generations.'

Exodus 34:6-7

Confession 2.1

Nothing. He has all life, glory, goodness and blessedness in and of himself, and is alone all-sufficient.

The consequence is the part worth holding: he does not get anything out of us. That rules out the idea of a God who created because he was lonely or who is owed service because he is short of it, and it makes everything he does towards us a gift rather than a transaction.

Who has ever given God something first, so that God owes them anything?

Everything comes from him, everything exists by his power, and everything is for him. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

Romans 11:35-36

Confession 2.2

That he has the most absolute right over everything he has made, to do with it, for it, or to it whatever he pleases - and that whatever worship, service or obedience he is pleased to require, creatures owe him.

The two go together deliberately. Because God takes nothing from us, nothing we do puts him in his debt; and because everything we have came from him, there is no ground on which we could refuse what he asks. The confession adds that everything is open and laid bare before him, and that he is most holy in all his purposes, works and commands.

Confession 2.2

Nothing. The confession says his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent of the creature, so that nothing is contingent or uncertain to him.

Independent is the load-bearing word. God does not find out what will happen by watching it happen, which is why the next chapter can deny that anything was decreed on the basis of foreseeing it. Everything is open and laid bare in front of him already.

Nothing in creation is hidden from God. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before him - the one we'll answer to.

Hebrews 4:13

Confession 2.2

Three persons - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - of one substance, power and eternity, each fully God, and God is one.

The two halves of that sentence are both non-negotiable and the doctrine is the refusal to soften either. Three real persons, not three names for one person playing parts; one God, not three gods cooperating.

'So go to people everywhere and help them become my followers. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.'

Matthew 28:19

Confession 2.3

Their relations. The Father is of none, the Son is eternally begotten of the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

They are not told apart by any difference in power, age or greatness, because there is none. The only distinction the confession will draw is a matter of how they stand to one another - and "eternally" rules out the idea that the Son had a beginning.

Confession 2.3

It calls it the foundation of all our fellowship with God, and of any settled dependence on him.

That answers anyone who treats the Trinity as a puzzle bolted to the outside of the faith. On this account you do not deal with God at all except through the Son and by the Spirit, so a God who was not three would be a God nobody could approach.

Confession 2.3