Expert: Mel and Guyna Horne - 3/4/2011

Question
according to Arthur w pink, God IS three things and three things only; Love 1st John 4:8, Light 1st John 1;5 and Spirit 1st John 4:24. God may have other attributes such as wrath, omnipotence etc but he is not wrath or omnipotence itself. Is this statement true = do the scriptures say GOD actually is these three things only? While his other characteristics are just attributes?

Answer
Hi Pete,
Your question specified "what the scriptures say", and in that context, the short answer to your question is "no".
The long answer is long but we shall try to keep this short.
To attempt to define God literally through the use of a "be verb" expression or equivalency (x is y, or x = y) as found in scripture, one has to include the following verses:
Gen. 31:50 God is witness
Deu. 4:24  the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Psa. 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield:
Psa. 94:22  my God is the rock of my refuge
2Sam 22:33 God is my strength and power
Phil. 1:8  God is my record
1Tim. 1:1 God (is) our savior
If we say that these are figurative or metaphorical, while the others are literal, then we can get into one of those endless arguments such as described in Titus 3:9.
While the two statements in 1 John 1, 4 and one in John 4, are generally accepted as helping us to understand the nature of God, it could also be argued that "love, light and spirit", which are defined as attributes, are no more than that.
Love is an emotion, an intense feeling of affection that can be demonstrated by physical actions, but to the physical mind, it is an abstract idea that, in or beyond the physical world, exists only in the awareness of a thinking mind. While God is the epitome of love, giving life, and giving his Son's life so that we can have eternal life, to say that God is defined as an emotion or an idea, is to fall into the philosophical trap of Rom. 1:19-22.  
Heraclitus of Ephesus taught that the universal principle through which all things exist was like God only without any human qualities; merely a process, not an entity. He called it the logos. [Archetypes of Wisdom, 3rd Ed., Douglas Soccio]  Logos is Greek for "word".  (Compare John 1:1-14, written about 500 years after Heraclitus.)
In a religious context, love is considered the basis for all being. The problem, and the danger, arises when one accepts the philosophical approach that "that basis" is not a sentient Being.

Light or visible light, in the physical realm,  "is the portion of electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye,"

Light, in theology, is "an aspect of divine presence or illumination, such that represents the spiritual communication between God and human beings, as well as between human beings."
While it is God that gives us understanding, especially of spiritual things, he is greater than the understanding itself.

The English word spirit come from Latin, spiritus "breath", and thus, relates directly to physical life.  In Gen. 2:7, God breathed into Adam's nostrils and "he became a living soul" (nephesh, a breathing creature).
Spirit has many meanings but all relate to a non-corporeal substance in contrast to the material body.  The concepts of a spirit and a soul are sometimes considered the same and sometimes different. The spirit is described as the "vital principle" (what makes an individual unique and different from one who is dead or brain-dead).
To define God as a spirit is accurate but insufficient since the angels, Satan and his demons are also spirits.

We are unaware of Mr. Pink's intentions, whether it was to limit God to some philosophical concept as a nebulous, unthinking process, or (as many have tried) to harmonize pagan philosophy with the Word of God, or whether he was just emphasizing certain points for the sake of a sermon.  If his words were "these three things only", then he exposed himself to an argument similar to the sacred names doctrine, (that God has only one name by which he will hear our prayers and grant us salvation).
Rom. 1:20 explains that we can understand everything made since the creation of the world, including God's own (invisible) nature, by the things that are visibly seen.   
God is more than just three things:
2Chrn. 30:9 for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful,
Psa. 86:15  But you O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
Psa. 89:8  Who is a strong Lord like unto you: or to your faithfulness
Psa. 91:2 He is my refuge and my fortress:
Psa. 106:21 Savior
Isa. 40:28 Creator
Eze. 20:5, 7, 19, 20,  "I am the Lord your God",  [I am Yhvh (the self-existent one), your elohim (God, divine one)]
Rom. 15:33 the God of peace
Rom. 16:26 the everlasting God
2Cor 1:2-3 God our father. Blessed be God, even the father of Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, the God of all comfort,
Finally, how much difference is there between what one does and what one is?  Men generally define themselves by what they do rather than who they are. God is a Creator who creates.  He is a Savior who saves us from eternal death. He is our refuge who protects us. He is love, who loves us.  He is the source of all understanding who gives us understanding (light).  He is a spirit who creates other spirits and makes eternal spirits out of physical humans.
He is also everlasting, eternal, without beginning or end, who inhabits eternity. (Heb. 7:3, Isa. 57:15).
Various body parts are named, hair, head, face, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, arm, hand, finger, foot, hinder parts, all showing that we are made in his image, therefore, his image looks like ours.  We know that he is a sentient being that communicates, plans, thinks, feels, has emotions, and wants to consider us as his children.
Why would we want to limit God to an emotion, an abstraction and an ethereal concept?  As important as love, light and spirit are, they are still insufficient to adequately describe our God.
We hope this helps.  If you have any further questions, please write.
Sincerely,
Mel and Guyna