attributes

Word of the Week: Goodness Attributes (pt. 2)

This week we continue in our reflection of of God’s attributes, specifically his goodness attributes. In this post and the previous two posts, we are following Millard Erickson’s division of greatness and goodness attributes found in his book, Introducing Christian Doctrine. Last week’s attributes focused on God’s character and nature with regard to his purity and righteousness. This week’s post emphasizes God’s goodness with regard to his loving interaction with humanity.

How do you imagine God? Do you think of him as an ancient old man smiling down on his poor creatures? Do you think of him as a grandfather figure? Do you think of him as a wrathful tyrant ready to strike rebellious humans with a lighting bolt? By the way, that last question describes the Greek deity, Zeus, far more than the God of the Bible.

My reason for asking your perception of God is that who you believe God to be plays a significant role in how you respond to him. If God is wrathful, then you might be afraid of hm. If God is a loving grandfather type, then you might want to just sit with him. If God is an old man prone to smiles, then you might merely laugh at him.

Our perceptions of God are not always accurate. For right and true understanding of who God is, we need his self-revelation found in Scripture.

The testimony of Scripture is far greater and more glorious than our typecast images of God. In fact, our typecast images of God might be idolatrous (see Exodus 20:3-6).

When we reflect on God, we need to see him for who he reveals himself to be rather than our preconceived notions. We need to see God as fully and gloriously as possible. These posts are my very limited attempt to get us to think of God in the greatness, grandeur, glory, and goodness that he has revealed himself to be. If this is your first time reading one of my posts, please go back and reflect on God’s transcendence, immanence, Trinitarian unity, greatness, and goodness (pt. 1). Here are three more goodness attributes that we discover from the Bible.

God is mercy. Mercy is not getting what one deserves. Mercy is the counterpart to justice. It is just when God punishes sin. Throughout biblical history, God punished sin individually and corporately. In the Old Testament, God judged Israel for her idolatry and punished individuals specifically for their sinfulness. When God shows mercy, he stays his hand of judgment. We want God to be just, and he is. But if God were absolutely just, in that he could only act according to justice, then we would be in a hopeless situation. If God were just with you and me, we would be destined for eternity in the judgment of hell. Yet God is merciful. He does not give us what we deserve.

God is grace. Grace is getting what one does not deserve. An acrostic of GRACE exhibits a biblical analogy using the phrase: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Paul explained, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). God saves us by his grace, that is his unmerited favor to us. God does not save us according to our works for then we would be doomed to punishment. He does not save us because of our work for our works are not sufficient to satisfy his holiness and righteousness. He saves us by his grace. God merits believers with the righteousness of Christ. More than that, God shares with believers his abundant riches and glory. Grace in the greek language is charis, or gift. God’s grace is an undeserved gift that he bestows upon believing sinners. His grace is that he makes saints of sinners.

God is love. If people who are not followers of Christ believe anything about God, it is that God is love. God specifically defines himself as love when John writes: “God is love” (1 John 4:7). The word used here for God’s love is agape. It is a selfless, other-oriented love. God loves not because of what he gains, but because of what he gives. His love is purely and perfectly for the good and benefit of the objects of his love. Only God can perfectly love like this. While God expects us to love him and others with this kind of love, we only can love this way because he first loved us this way (Matthew 22:37-40; John 13:34). God’s love for his creatures is what motivated him to send Jesus to save us (John 3:16).

God is greater than we can imagine, and his goodness is deeper than we can dream. These attributes are perfected in the person of Jesus Christ. He is God’s expression of love to mankind as well as full of grace, truth, and mercy (John 1:14).

These attributes of God should motivate us to follow Jesus. It is God’s mercy, grace, and love that invites wicked sinners into a relationship of forgiveness with a holy and righteous God. If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, consider these attributes.

  • Discover the God who is just and the justifier of those who believe by his mercy and grace.
  • Worship the God who loves you in spite of your sinfulness.
  • Obey the God who does not give you the death and judgment you deserve.
  • Serve the God who offers you the unmerited riches of his grace forever and ever.

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Romans 3:21-26 (emphasis mine)

Word of the Week: Goodness Attributes (pt. 1)

We are continuing our exploration of the attributes of God. Last week’s post on God’s greatness attributes focused on how God transcends us. This post and the next on the goodness attributes of God focus on how God relates to us: how God is immanent with us.

Again, we are following Millard Erickson’s division of attributes, goodness and greatness, from his Introducing Christian Doctrine.

God is holy. In Isaiah’s vision of God enthroned he saw God “high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1). The angels were crying “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3). God’s holiness refers to his being “set apart” and not like ordinary or normal persons or things. God’s holiness is one of his primary attributes, and his holiness sets him apart from us in nature and character.

God is righteous. God’s righteousness reflects the perfection of his law and his self-consistent actions in accord with his law. The decrees of the Lord are righteous (Psalm 19:9). Erickson defines God’s righteousness as “God’s holiness applied to his relationships to other beings” (Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine, 99).

God is just. That God is just means that God makes correct and right judgments with regard to his creation. God is just when he judges, and because he is good, he is also the justifier of those who believe in Jesus (Romans 3:26). God’s justness is good news for those in our world longing for justice. While the debates will continue over the proper interpretation of justice in social spheres, the Christian has a ready-made worldview with which to interpret issues of justice: the character and laws of God. God’s justice also means that he must punish sin. We’ll compare God’s justness with with his love, mercy, and grace in the next post.

God is true. God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18) and is identified as the “Truth” (John 14:6). God does not obfuscate or obscure. He is the epitome of what is true. His judgments, statements, promises and affirmations are true. This is one of the primary reasons why we can trust the truthfulness of biblical revelation. God is not a liar, and thus what he reveals will be true and trustworthy.

God is faithful. God’s faithfulness is affirmed over and again in Scripture. He is described as the faithful husband to unfaithful Israel (the book of Hosea), and Paul declares that God’s faithfulness assures us that he will accomplish his plans and purposes (1 Thessalonians 5:24). The faithfulness of God grounds our confidence in his promises and interventions.

God’s holiness, righteousness, honesty, justice and faithfulness reflect his glorious interactions with people. While we cannot adopt perfectly these attributes in our own lives, we can relate to them. In fact, these goodness attributes of God are specially important to followers of Jesus because they are relatable.

When we consider the greatness, glory, and wonder of God’s attributes, we should be amazed. He wants us to relate to him as he is, and he invites us to know him.

So on this day as you reflect on these attributes, praise God for these goodness attributes.

  • Imagine the glory of God’s holy splendor in Isaiah’s vision and bow before him in humility.
  • Consider the perfection of God’s righteous standards and declare his righteousness to your own sinful heart.
  • Contemplate the clarity of God’s justice and acknowledge that he alone is the true Judge of action and motive.
  • Meditate on the personality of God’s truth in Jesus Christ and praise him as the only True God.
  • Remember the persistence of God’s faithfulness and thank him that he will never fail you.

Look for next week’s post when we reflect on more of God’s goodness attributes.