Overview

Having established that Scripture is the rule, the Confession turns to its great subject: God Himself. This chapter confesses who God is — one living and true God, infinite in being and perfection, the source of all life, working all things for His own glory — and then that this one God exists eternally in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is doxology in confessional form: the God whom we are made to glorify and enjoy.

The Confession, Section by Section

2.1 — The being and attributes of God

There is but one only, living, and true God, who is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will, for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him; and withal most just and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deut. 6:4, ESV)

“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.” (Exod. 34:6–7, ESV)

“God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24, ESV)

Further proofs: 1 Cor. 8:4, 6; Jer. 10:10; 1 Tim. 1:17; Mal. 3:6; James 1:17; Ps. 90:2; Rom. 11:36; Heb. 11:6; Nah. 1:2–3.

Exposition: The section gathers the Bible’s testimony to God’s perfections. He is one (“the LORD is one”), and simple — “without body, parts, or passions,” meaning He is not composed of parts and is not subject to mood swings as creatures are. He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being. And His attributes are held together: He is “most loving, gracious, merciful” and “most just,” forgiving iniquity yet not clearing the guilty. That very tension — how God can be both just and the justifier — drives the whole gospel the Confession will unfold (ch. 8, 11).

2.2 — God’s all-sufficiency and sovereignty

God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them: he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things; and hath most sovereign dominion over them, to do by them, for them, or upon them whatsoever himself pleaseth.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Rom. 11:36, ESV)

“The God who made the world and everything in it… is not served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.” (Acts 17:24–25, ESV)

Further proofs: John 5:26; Ps. 119:68; Rev. 4:11; Dan. 4:25, 35.

Exposition: God is aseity itself — life “in and of himself.” He created not out of need but out of overflowing fullness, to manifest (not increase) His glory. This is the ground of grace: a God who needs nothing gives everything freely.

2.3 — The Holy Trinity

In the unity of the Godhead there be three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. 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.

Scripture Proofs (ESV):

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt. 28:19, ESV)

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” (2 Cor. 13:14, ESV)

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1, ESV)

Further proofs: 1 John 5:7; John 15:26; Gal. 4:6; John 1:14, 18.

Exposition: One God, three persons “of one substance, power, and eternity” — not three Gods, nor one person wearing three masks. The persons are distinguished by their eternal relations: the Father unbegotten, the Son eternally begotten, the Spirit eternally proceeding. These are eternal, not temporal, relations; the Son is no less eternal than the Father. The single baptismal “name” (singular) shared by three persons is the seed of the whole doctrine.

Doctrinal Summary

There is one God, infinite and perfect in being, self-existent and all-sufficient, sovereign over all, holy and just yet abounding in steadfast love. This one God subsists eternally in three coequal, coeternal persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — distinguished by eternal relations of origin, yet one in substance. To know and worship this God rightly is the goal of all theology.

Connections

• WLC Q7–11 — what God is, that there is but one God, the three persons in the Godhead, and the proofs of the Son’s and Spirit’s deity and equality.
• WSC Q4–6 — “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth”; there is but one God; there are three persons in the Godhead.
• Loci: Theology Proper (divine attributes; simplicity, aseity, immutability) and the Doctrine of the Trinity. Compare the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds.

Pastoral & Practical Significance

The doctrine of God is not cold metaphysics; it is the warm center of worship. Because God is all-sufficient, your salvation rests on One who needs nothing from you and gives freely. Because He is immutable, His promises cannot fail and His steadfast love does not waver with your performance. Because He is Triune, salvation is the work of the whole Godhead — chosen by the Father, accomplished by the Son, applied by the Spirit — and the Christian life is fellowship with each person. The “passions” the Confession denies are creaturely mood swings; it does not deny that God truly loves, but affirms that His love is constant, not fickle.

For Reflection

• WSC 4 packs God’s nature into one memorizable sentence. Can I recite it — and does each word reshape how I pray?
• If God is all-sufficient and needs nothing from me, how does that change why I obey and worship?
• How does the Trinity shape my prayers: to the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit?