We are currently in a series discussing the attributes of God that are “communicable”. We have divided God’s “communicable” attributes into five major categories:
- God’s being attributes (Part 1)
- Spirituality definition: God’s spirituality means that God exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses, and is more excellent than any other kind of existence.
- Invisibility definition: God’s invisibility means that God’s total essence, all of his spiritual being, will never be able to be seen by us, yet God still shows himself to us through visible, created things.
- Mental attributes (Part 2)
- Knowledge (omniscience) definition: God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act.
- Wisdom definition: God’s wisdom means that God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals.
- Truthfulness (and Faithfulness) definition: God’s truthfulness means that he is the true God, and that all his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth.
- Moral attributes (This week, Part 3a)
- Attributes of Purpose
- “Summary” attributes
This week we will discuss God’s moral attributes. There are eight attributes in this category, so I will break this discussion into two discussions, part 3a and next week part 3b. This week we will discuss God’s moral attributes of goodness, love, mercy/grace/patience and holiness.
Goodness: The goodness of God means that God is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval.
Here, “good” can be understood to mean “worthy of approval,” but we have not answered the question, approval by whom? In one sense, we can say that anything that is truly good should be worthy of approval by us. But in a more ultimate sense, we are not free to decide by ourselves what is worthy of approval and what is not. Ultimately God’s being and actions are perfectly worthy of his own approval. He is the final standard of good. Jesus implies this when he says, “No one is good but God alone” (Luke 18:19).
If God is himself good and therefore the ultimate stand of good, then we have a definition of the meaning of “good” that will greatly help us. What is “good”? “Good” is what God approves. We may ask then, why is what God approves “good”? We must answer, “Because God approves it.” That is to say, there is no higher standard of goodness than God’s own character and his approval of whatever is consistent with that character. God has given us some reflection of his own sense of goodness, so that when we evaluate things in the way God created us to evaluate them, we will also approve what God approves and delight in things in which he delights.
Our definition also states that all that God does is worthy of approval. We see evidence of this in the creation narrative: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:3). The Psalmist connects the goodness of God with the goodness of his actions: “You are good and you do good; teach me your statutes” (Psalms 119:68). Paul encourages us to discover in practice how God’s will for our lives is “good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).
In imitation of this communicable attribute, we should ourselves do good (we should do what God approves) and imitate the goodness of our heavenly Father. Paul writes, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all men, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). When we realize that God is the definition and source of all good, we will realize that God himself is the ultimate good that we seek. We will say with the Psalmist, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing upon earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalms 73:25-26).
Love: God’s love means that God eternally gives of himself to others.
This definition understands love as self-giving for the benefit of others. This attribute of God shows that it is part of his nature to give of himself in order to bring about blessings or good for others.
John tells us that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). We see evidence that this attribute of God was active even before creation among the members of the Trinity. Jesus speaks to his Father of “my glory which you have given me in your love for me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24), indicating that there was love and a giving of honor from the Father to the Son from all eternity. It continues at the present time for we read, “The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand (John 3:35).
This love is also reciprocal, for Jesus says, “I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father” (John 14:31). The love between the Father and the Son also characterizes their relationship with the Holy Spirit, even though it is not explicitly mentioned. The eternal love of the Father for the Son, the Son for the Father, and of both for the Holy Spirit makes heaven a world of love and joy because each person of the Trinity seeks to bring joy and happiness to the other two.
The self-giving that characterizes the Trinity finds clear expression in God’s relationship to mankind, and especially to sinful men. Paul writes, “God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ dies for us” (Romans 5:8). John also writes, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Paul also speaks of “the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20), showing an awareness of the directly personal application of Christ’s love to individual sinners. It should cause us great joy to know that it is the purpose of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to give of themselves to us to bring us true joy and happiness. It is God’s nature to act that way toward those upon whom he has set his love, and he will continue to act that way toward us for all eternity.
We imitate this communicable attribute of God, first by loving God in return, and second by loving others in imitation of the way God loves them. All our obligations to God can be summarized in this: “You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind… You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37-38). If we love God, we will obey his commandments (1 John 5:3) and do what is pleasing to him. We will love God, not the world (1 John 2:15), and we will do all this because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).
Our imitation of God’s love is also seen in our love for others. John makes this explicit: “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). In fact, our love for others within the fellowship of believers is so evidently an imitation of Christ that by it the world recognizes us as his: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). God himself gives us his love to enable us to love each other. Moreover, our love for our enemies especially reflects God’s love (read Matthew 5:43-48).
Mercy, Grace, Patience: God’s mercy, patience and grace may be seen as three separate attributes, or as aspects of God’s goodness. The definition given here show these attributes as special examples of God’s goodness when it is used for the benefit of specific classes of people.
God’s mercy means God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress.
God’s grace means God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment.
God’s patience means God’s goodness in withholding of punishment toward those who sin over a period of time.
These three characteristics of God’s nature are often mentioned together, especially in the Old Testament. When God declared his name to Moses, he proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). David says in Psalms 103:8, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”
Because these characteristics of God are often mentioned together, it may seem difficult to distinguish among them. Yet the characteristic of mercy is often emphasized where people are in misery or distress. David says, “I am in great distress; let us fall into the hand of the LORD for his mercy is great…” (2 Samuel 24:14). The two blind men who wish Jesus to heal them cry, “Have mercy on us, Sonof David” (Matthew 9:27). When Paul speaks of the fact that God comforts us in affliction, he calls God the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3). In time of need, we are to draw near to God’s throne so that we might receive both mercy and grace (Hebrews 4:16). We are to imitate God’s mercy in our conduct toward others: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).
With respect to the attribute of grace, we find that Scripture emphasizes that God’s grace, or his favor toward those who deserve no favor but punishment, is never obligated but is always freely given of God’s part. God says “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (Exodus 33:19).
Grace as God’s goodness especially shown to those who do not deserve it is seen frequently in Paul’s writings. He emphasizes that salvation by grace is the opposite of salvation by human effort, for grace is a freely given gift. “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:23-24). The distinction between grace and a salvation earned by works that merit a reward is also seen in Romans 11:6: “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer by grace.” Grace is God’s favor freely given to those who do not deserve this favor.
Paul also sees that if grace is unmerited, then there is only one human attitude appropriate as an instrument for receiving such grace, namely, faith: “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest of grace…” (Romans 4:16). Faith is the one human attitude that is the opposite of depending on oneself, for it involves trust in or dependence upon another. It is devoid of self-reliance or attempts to gain righteousness by human effort. If God’s favor is to come to us apart from our own merit, then it must come when we depend not on our own merit but on the merits of another and that is precisely when we have faith.
God’s patience, similarly, was mentioned in some of the verses earlier in connection with God’s mercy. The Old Testament frequently speaks of God as “slow to anger”. In the New Testament, Paul speaks about God’s “kindness and forbearance and patience” (Romans 2:4), and says that Jesus Christ displayed his “perfect patience” toward Paul himself as an example for others (1 Timothy 1:16).
We are also to imitate God’s patience and be “slow to anger” (James 1:19), and be patient in suffering as Christ was (1 Peter 2:20). We are to lead a life “with patience” (Ephesians 4:2), and “patience” is listed among the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22. As with most of the attributes of God that we are to imitate in our lives, patience requires a moment-by-moment trust in God to fulfill his promises and purposes in our lives at his chosen time. Our confidence that the Lord will soon fulfill his purposes for our good and his glory will enable us to be patient. James makes this connection when he says, “You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8).
Holiness: God’s holiness means that he is separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own honor. This definition contains both a relational quality (separation from) and a moral quality (the separation is from sin or evil, and the devotion is to the good of God’s own honor or glory). The idea of holiness as including both separation from evil and devotion to God’s own glory is found in a number of Old Testament passages. The word holy is used to describe both parts of the tabernacle. The tabernacle itself was a place separate from the evil and sin of the world, and the first room in it was called the “holy place.” It was dedicated to God’s service. Then God commanded that there be a veil, “and the veil shall separate for you the holy place from the most holy” (Exodus 26:33). The most holy place, where the Ark of the Covenant was kept, was the place most separated from evil and sin and most fully devoted to God’s service.
The place where God himself dwelt was itself holy: “Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? (Psalms 24:3). The element of dedication to God’s service is seen in the holiness of the Sabbath day: “the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11). The Sabbath day was made holy because it was set apart from the ordinary activities of the world and dedicated to God’s service. In the same way the tabernacle and the alter, as well as Aaron and his sons, were to be “made holy” (Exodus 29:44), that is, set apart from ordinary tasks and from the evil and sin of the world and dedicated to God’s service.
God’s holiness provides the pattern for his people to imitate. He commands them, “You shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). When God called his people out of Egypt and brought them to himself and commanded them to obey his voice, then he said, “You shall be to me a kingdom of priest and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-6). In this case the idea of separation from evil and sin (which here included in a very striking way separation from life in Egypt) and the idea of devotion to God (in serving him and obeying his statutes) are both seen in the example of a “holy nation.”
New covenant believers are also to “strive…for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14) and to know that God’s discipline is given to us “that we may share his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10). Paul encourages Christians to be separate from the dominating influences that comes from close association with unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) and then encourages them, “Let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God” (2 Corinthians 7:1). The church itself is intended by God to grow “into a holy temple in the Lord” (Ephesians 2:21), and Christ’s present work for the church is “that he might sanctify her… that he might present the church to himself in splendor… that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27). Not only individuals but also the church itself must grow in Holiness!
Zechariah prophesies a day when everything on earth will be “holy to the LORD.” He says:
In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO THE LORD.” And the cooking pots in the Lord’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the Lord of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts in that day. (Zechariah 14:20-21)
At that time, everything on earth will be separated from evil, purified from sin, and devoted to the service of God in true moral purity.