The attributes of God are the essential qualities of a perfect Being — the property of God.
A. The Omnipotence of God.
This means that God is all-powerful, all-mighty: “I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Rev. 19:6); “Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26); “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14a).
There is only one thing which can limit God, and that is His own holy will. Some foolish person may propose II Timothy 2:13: “If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” This person says, “Here is something God cannot do.” But this is not a question of what God can do, but what God will do.
1. God Has Power Over Nature. “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps. 33:6-9); “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land” (Hag. 2:6). See also Genesis 1:1-3; Nahum 1:3-6. Man has to have tools to make things — God only has to speak, and it is done.
2. God Has Power Over Men. “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For what ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that” (Jas. 4:12-15). See also Exodus 4:11.
3. God Has Power Over Angels. “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Dan. 4:35). 25
4. God Has Power Over Satan. In Job 1:12; 2:6 we notice that Satan is subjected to God; “The LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. . . . And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.” And we know of the end of Satan from the following Scriptures: “The God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly…” (Rom. 16:20a); “He laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years...And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Rev. 20:2, 10). See also Luke 22:31, 32.
5. God Has Power Over Death. Paul prays that the Ephesians may know “what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come” (Eph. 1:19-21). Ultimately, death shall be destroyed: “Death and hell [hades] were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death” (Rev. 20:14).
B. The Omniscience of God.
Omniscience means “all knowing.” God is the “All-Knowing God” — He knows everything! “For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things” (I John 3:20).
1. Includes All Nature. God, the Creator, knows everything concerning His creatures.
a. Of His Inanimate Creatures. “He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names” (Ps. 147:4); “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding” (Is. 40:28).
b. Of His Brute Creatures. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father” (Matt. 10:29).
c. Of His Human Creatures. God has full knowledge of man: “Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matt. 6:8). He knows man’s need; he has knowledge of the need of man. He knows the very thoughts of man: “Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off” (Ps. 139:2). “The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity” (Ps. 94:11). See also I Chronicles 28:9 and Hebrews 4:13. God knows the heart of man: “Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)” (I Kings 8:39). See also Psalm 44:21 and Acts 1:24. God knows the experiences we have gone through: “The LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows” (Ex. 3:7). How absurd for man to try to deceive God!
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2. Covers All Time. “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18). And this covers the past, the present and the future. The past can God see, for He has given to us those things which have happened millenniums ago (Book of Genesis); the Present is an open book to Him: “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13); and the future is known as the past and present is known. He knows the end from the beginning: “Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (I Peter 1:20). I Kings 13:2 is also a marvelous illustration of God knowing the future: a baby was named three hundred years before it was born, its name given, from what family it was to come and the things it was to do in later life: “And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD: Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall be burnt upon thee.” See also Isaiah 44:28; Jeremiah 1:5; Galatians 1:15. 16; Exodus 3:19; Daniel 2:8.
With God knowing the future, we must put ourselves in His hands.
3. Includes All Possibilities. Only God knows what would have happened if something had happened which did not happen. “Thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day” (Matt. 11:23). See also I Samuel 23:12; Isaiah 48:18.
C. The Omni-sapience of God.
By this we mean the “All-Wisdom of God”; that is, God has all wisdom. There is a vast difference in wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge is what one knows; wisdom is the perfect display of that knowledge. Wisdom includes discernment and judgment.
1. Choice of The Highest End. All things are chosen which will bring about the highest end for God’s glory.
2. Best Way of Securing That End. Here wisdom asserts itself, not only choosing that which will bring about the highest end, but devising the best ways of securing that end. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out” (Rom. 11:33). See also Romans 16:27; I Corinthians 2:7; Ephesians 1:8; 3:10; I Timothy 1:17.
D. The Omnipresence of God.
There are many vague ideas concerning the omnipresence of God. “Omnipresent” simply means everywhere present. God is everywhere present. God is everywhere, but He is not in everything. The belief that He is in everything is Pantheism. If God were in everything, then all man would have to do would be to bow down to a stone, a tree, a desk, a table, or any object, and he would be worshiping God. God is not in everything, but He is 27 everywhere! He is everywhere present. The best illustration of this is of a teacher before his class. The teacher is omnipresent to every student in that classroom; but he is not omnipresent to those on the outside, nor to those in the basement, nor even to those who are in the next room. Why? Because the walls, floors and space are barriers between him and those in other parts of the building. But God transcends all barriers — space, materials, all things.
We believe, however, that there is a certain place where He manifests Himself, where He is located — and from that locality He is present to everything of the universe. “Hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive” (I Kings 8:30). See also Jeremiah 23:24; Ephesians 1:20; Revelation 21:2.
While God’s dwelling place is in heaven, yet we do know that He has manifested Himself in other places: on earth, as when He dwelt in the burning bush (Ex. 3:4): “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I”; and in the flesh, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Phil. 2:5-8).
The Holy Spirit is everywhere. He is in believers: “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:16, 17). He is with the unbelievers: “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:7, 8).
God is with us no matter where we are; He is omnipresent; He is everywhere present!
E. The Eternity of God.
This is one thing which has never been grasped by the human mind: God is without beginning and without ending. He is the Eternal Now. He is the only One who is. There is no past, and there is no future in eternity. God is eternal; therefore, there is no past nor future with God. “I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end” (Ps. 102:24-27). See also Psalm 90:4.
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Some one may ask, “What is the difference between Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1?” Genesis 1:1 says: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” John 1:1 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Are both “beginnings” the same? If so, then the Word, Jesus Christ, had a beginning! Both passages start at the same point — the beginning; Genesis 1:1 begins with the beginning and looks forward into eternity; while John 1:1 begins with the beginning and looks backward into eternity. Therefore, the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, had no beginning.
F. The Immutability of God.
In other words, this means the “unchangeableness of God.” His Being, attitude and acts are without change; “I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Mal. 3:6); “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (Jas. 1:17); “God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath” (Heb. 6:17).
For a discussion of the repentance of God see Chapter I, III, C, 3, b,.
G. The Love of God.
1. Its Citation. “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. . . . And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him” (I John 4:8-16).
This is the one definition of God. There are many adjectives defining God, but a noun needs a noun. The love of God comes from revelation. It does not come by one’s own knowledge. It cannot be seen in nature. Only from God’s Word comes that knowledge that God is love. There are those who deny the inspiration of the Scriptures, but who still say that God is love. If the Scriptures are not the Word of God, how do we know that God is love? You can search the world over and never find a “God is love” among the heathen. They have their gods and idols, but a God that is “God is love” is unknown to them. The Bible is the Word of God — it, and it only, tells us that “God is love.”
2. Its Objects. If God is love, then that love must be directed to someone. And it is, for we learn from the Scriptures that the objects of His love are:
a. His Son. God loves His Son more than man could ever love his own offspring. “Lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). See also Matthew 17:5. God’s love is a perfect love and transcends all bounds: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).
b. Believers. All who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are the objects of God’s divine love. He manifests that love day by day. “The Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God” (John 16:27). “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that 29 thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:23).
c. Israel. Be careful how you speak of the “lowly” Jew. He is the object of God’s love, the same as we Christians: “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jer. 31:3).
d. Sinners. God never changes concerning His attitude toward sin. God hates sin, but loves the sinner! “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved; )” (Eph. 2:4, 5). “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8).
3. Its Manifestations.
a. In the Gift of His Son for Sinful Man. “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him” (I John 4:9). See also John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8.
Man cannot look upon Calvary and say, “God doesn’t love me.” One dear man told of the time when his own son was in the pangs of death. The hardest thing he ever had to do was to say, “Thy will be done. If thou wantest my son, thou canst have him.” Oh, to give up an only son! But mankind gives up its sons to God, who takes care of them better than man ever could. But God gave His Only Son to sin — to pay for sin, to pay for the sins of sinners! Yes, we may see our children in the throes of death, but God saw His Son suffer as no man ever did. The dearest child on earth is only a stranger compared with the love of God toward His Son. God points toward Calvary and says, “See my Son! See Him mocked, smitten and bruised?” God saw Him. God saw sinners as they crucified His Son. God could have wiped them off the face of the earth, but He did not. The nails that pierced His Son pierced the heart of the Father. We can never understand it. “For God so loved the world, that He gave...” The Father gave him up to the hands of justice, to pay for our sins.
Many a murderer has had to pay with his life for his crime. Jesus was delivered up to pay for our crimes of sin.
b. In Giving Life and Position In Christ. To believers only is given that sacred position — in Christ; there is where we are — saved, and uncondemned. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (I John 3:2): “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:5,6).
c. In Granting That We Should Be Called the Children of God. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not” (I John 3:1, R. V.).
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d. In Chastening of His Loved Ones. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby” (Heb. 12: 6-11). Remember, the chastening of the Lord is for our benefit — for our profit. We need chastisement; it is a must in the life of the Christian; and we receive it from our Father in Heaven.
e. In Remembering His Children in All Circumstances of Life. The question is asked and answered in the Word concerning the care of parents. Is there a love greater than mother love? Listen to what God says: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?” Is it possible that a mother could ever leave her child? The answer is, “Yea, they may forget.” In our own lifetime we have witnessed the desertion of children by their parents. It is a shame that the United States and the separate States have to have laws which compel parents to take care of their children. However, this is the nature of the flesh; this is the Adamic nature, the sinful nature, that parents desert their offspring. You may know someone who has. You, yourself, may have been deserted by some one. But listen to the rest of God’s Word: “Yet will I not forget thee” (Is. 49:15). There is One who will never desert His children!
f. In Rejoicing Over the Return of the Prodigal Son. This great story is found in Luke 15:11-24. It is the story of a Son, not a sinner. A sinner is not a son. Only a son is a
son, and you cannot un-son a son. A son is born a son forever. But here was a son who sank so low that the testimony he might have had was lost. Remember, he was still a son, and as much so while feeding swine as he was in his Father’s house. Relationship was still there, but fellowship was broken. You can lose fellowship, but you cannot lose sonship. He made up his mind what he would say to his father upon his return, but he did not get the chance. He did say, “I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son”; but before he could add, “Make me as one of thy hired servants,” the Father, holding his son in his arms, cried to the servants, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found” (Luke 15:21-24).
Let the prodigal know that if he has been once born from above he is still God’s child. Only let him resolve to “arise and go” to his Father. The Father stands with open arms ready to plant His kiss upon the penitent lips of His wayward child. “Arise and go!”
4. The Forms of God’s Love.
a. In the Goodness of God.
(1) As Manifested in Creation. “God saw . . . that it was good.” This is characteristic of the first chapter of Genesis. God is good, and all things that He creates and makes are for the good of man.
(2) As Manifested In His Care of Brute Creation. “The eyes of all wait upon thee; 31 and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing” (Ps. 145:15, 16).
(3) As Manifested In the Variety of Pleasure for His Creatures. Why all the beauty of nature, if not to be enjoyed by the eye of man?
(4) As Manifested in the Gift of His Son. This proves the goodness of God — that God is good.
(5) As Manifested In Allowing Sinners to Repent. “Despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4).
b. In the Loving-kindness of God. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32). Since God has given us the Greatest Gift — His Son — we can be assured that we shall be given “the wrappings” with it. The Son is the Gift, and the wrappings are “things” of His supply which make our souls happy.
c. In the Long-suffering of God. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (II Peter 3:9). “The LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6). See also Numbers 14:18.
How many of us praise the Lord that the Saviour gave us “time” in trusting Him for our salvation? Oh, the long-suffering of God which is manifested toward us, in that we were able to hear the Gospel twice, when there are millions who have never heard it once!
d. In the Patience of God. “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus” (Rom. 15:5). Here we note that the patience of God is a divine title, for He is the God of patience! This is clearly manifested in:
(1) His Dealings With Sinners: Those Before the Flood. “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water” (I Peter 3:20). The Lord demonstrated His patience for at least a hundred years. As long as the ark was a preparing, the Gospel was preached — the people warned. His patience was exhausted, finally, and the flood carried the unbelievers away. It will be the same with the coming of the Son of Man at His revelation, at the end of the Tribulation. All those who are found not to be in the Ark, Jesus Christ, shall be destroyed.
(2) His Dealings With Israel. “And yet for all that [Israel’s sin], when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the LORD their God. But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the LORD” (Lev. 26:44, 45).
Israel today is Godless, and by this we do not mean that Israel is worse than any other nation, but simply that it is without God. Jehovah has sent prophets unto her, but she has stoned them. He sent even His Son, and Him they crucified. They have been driven unto the uttermost parts of the earth because of it. Yet, for all of this, God has shown His 32 patience, and that patience shall be rewarded, for that nation shall be born anew in a day, and all Israel (those alive at the time of the Revelation of Jesus Christ) shall be saved!
(3) His Dealings With the World Today. Why does not God strike today? Why are men allowed to blaspheme the God of heaven and His Son Jesus Christ? The answer is found in the patience of God.
H. The Mercy of God.
1. As To Its Citation. “(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them” (Deut. 4:31). “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. . . . But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children” (Ps. 103:8, 17). “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us . . . hath quickened us together with Christ” (Eph. 2: 4-5). See also Psalms 130:7; 145:8; 136:1.
2. As To Its Explanation. There is very little difference in the meaning of mercy and grace. Mercy, generally speaking, is used in the Old Testament, and grace in the New Testament. Old Testament mercy and loving-kindness go together. Someone has said that mercy is negative, and loving-kindness is positive. Mercy is shown to the disobedient, and loving-kindness is showered upon the obedient — both together mean grace.
3. As To Its Manifestation.
a. In Pardoning the Sinner. “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief” (I Tim. 1:13).
b. In Removing the Guilt and Penalty. “He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Ps. 103:10-12).
c. In Delivering the Periled. “Return, O Lord, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake” (Ps. 6:4).
d. In Saving Its Object. Luke 10:33-37 records the parable of the Good Samaritan.
After He has told the parable Jesus asks, “Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?” And the answer comes: “He that shewed mercy on him.” There can be no doubt but that Jesus Christ is typified by the good Samaritan, and it is He who saves, through His mercy, the objects of His concern.
I. The Grace of God.
1. As To Its Citation. “According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7). “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph. 1:7). “The God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (I Peter 5:10). See also I Corinthians 6:1.
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2. As To Its Explanation. Grace is said to be undefinable. Grace always flows down.
We might be able to love our equal, or one above our equal, or sometimes one below our equal, but look at the vast difference between God and us; there can be no comparison.
The grace of God toward us is unmerited favor.
3. As to Its Manifestation.
a. In That Grace Justifies. Rather, grace declares the saint to be righteous: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23, 24).
b. In That Grace Imputes Righteousness. This means, that by the act of God’s grace, the righteousness of God is put to the account of the believing sinner, “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Rom. 4: 4, 5).
c. In That Grace Imparts a New Nature. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:8-10).
d. In That Grace Saves. Why should God save us? The only answer is grace! “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8).
e. In That Grace Instructs. “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world” (Titus 2: 11, 12).
J. The Faithfulness of God.
Unfaithfulness is the greatest sin of today. This is true in every walk of life, whether in business, church, or state. But we have a God who is faithful at all times, under every circumstance. The Word bears out the faithfulness of God by the following:
1. Citation. Many Scriptures point out the faithfulness of God: “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:9); “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord” (I Cor. 1:9); “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I Cor. 10:13). See also Deuteronomy 32:4 (R.V.); I Thessalonians 5:24; II Thessalonians 3:3; I John 1:9.
2. Explanation. The meaning of “faithfulness” is stay, lean, prop, support. God is our support; He it is upon whom we can lean; when we are faltering, He is our Prop — at all times!
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3. Manifestation. How does God prove faithful?
a. In Keeping His Promise. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)... For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry” (Heb. 10: 23, 36, 37). The promise of the virgin-born son in Isaiah 7:9 is fulfilled in Luke 1:26-38; 2:7; the promise of God to Abraham in Genesis 15:13, that his seed would go to Egypt and stay there for four hundred years, is fulfilled in Exodus 12:41. See also these other Scriptures: Deuteronomy 7:9; I Kings 8:23, 24, 56.
b. In Preserving his People. Take Lamentations 3:22, 23 with Jeremiah 51:5 and you can see that once a people becomes God’s people, they are His forever. That is because God is faithful: “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22, 23); “Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel” (Jer. 51:5). Other Scripture bears out the faithfulness of God in preserving His people: “Let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator” (I Peter 4:19). See also Psalm 89:20-26; II Timothy 2:13 (R.V.).
c. In Chastening His Children. God is faithful in carrying out the “spankings” He has promised to His wayward children: “I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me” (Ps. 119:75). Correction is needed when we disobey our Lord, and verily we can always count on the faithfulness of God to render the expression in this respect. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Heb. 12:6).
d. In Forgiving Our Sins. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).
e. In Answering Our Prayers. How do we know that our prayers will be answered?
God commands us to pray to Him without ceasing. How do we know that it will do any good? We know that God answers our prayers, because the faithfulness of God guarantees that His ears will always be opened to the cries of His children: “Hear my prayer, O LORD, give ear to my supplications: in thy faithfulness answer me, and in thy righteousness” (Ps. 143:1).
4. Applications.
a. It will preserve us from worry.
b. It will check our murmuring.
c. It will increase confidence in God.
K. The Holiness of God.
While we mention the holiness of God as the last of God’s attributes, let us never forget that it is not the least at all. Consider first:
1. Natural holiness. This is called the fundamental attribute, and is one attribute by which God wants His people to remember Him. Some Bible scholars declare that this is 35 the most important of all of God’s attributes. We know why they make such a statement. It is because holiness is named most often in the Scriptures. God is called holy more times in the Scriptures, and His holiness is mentioned more, than His might. Holiness is indeed the “attribute of attributes.” When we think not of God’s holiness, we think light of sin. We are living in the day of compromise, when people hold “light views.” It is hard to get people to consider their lost condition and the peril of hell ahead. They think lightly of salvation, because they have a light view of God’s holiness: “Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11); “I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11: 44, 45); “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory” (Is. 6:2, 3); “Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones” (Is. 57:15); “I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:11); “Grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30). See also Leviticus 19:1, 2; Joshua 24:19; Psalms 22:1-3; 99:5,9; I Peter 1:15, 16.
2. Aspects of holiness. By this we mean the mien of holiness that of which holiness is composed.
a. Purity.
(1) Its Citation. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (I John 1:5).
(2) Its Explanation. In Him is light. In Him is no darkness ever. Light is always pure. There is no such thing as dirty light, nor can anyone make dirty light. God is Light — pure, free from defilement. There are two phases of purity: negative, free from all that defiles; positive, pure. God in His holiness is pure: free from all that defiles, and pure in essence.
b. Righteousness. This is another element of holiness.
(1) Its Citation. “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he” (Deut. 32:4). “Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?” (Jer. 12:1); “O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou has sent me” (John 17:25).
(2) Its Explanation. The formula for righteousness is found in Ezekiel 18:5, 9: “If a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right...” that is, do things right, in a right way, “he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.” God is always right. He possesses character that makes Him do everything right. Righteousness always requires that which is right in character. God never asks anything that is not right. God never 36 commands that which will make us do wrong.
c. Justice.
(1) Its Citation. “The just LORD is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame” (Zeph. 3:5). See also Deuteronomy 32:4.
(2) Its Explanation. The Greek and Hebrew words for justice mean the same.
Righteousness is the legislative demand of God — the demand for holiness. Justice is judicial holiness — that judicial act of God which demands the penalty for those who have not measured up to the righteous commands of God. Justice, judicial holiness, governs those who are judged, and that brings about the execution of those who carry not out God’s laws. Justice is the Executor of those who wrong God’s holy commands. Man’s justice is sometimes wrong, but God’s justice is always right — thus holiness!
d. Truth of God.
(1) Its Citation. “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. . . . All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies” (Ps. 25:5, 10); “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Num. 23:19); “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2). See also the following Scriptures: Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 31:5; 86:15.
(2) Its Explanation. That which God has revealed to man in His Word is Eternal Truth. God never contradicts Himself. One portion of His Word never contradicts another. Are we not glad that the Word of God has not agreed with all the dead theories of the past? Certainly! Be not dismayed should the Bible not agree with any modern day theory concerning creation, man, etc. Man does not know apart from the Word of God. Anything apart from the revelation of God is mere supposition.
3. Manifestation of God’s holiness.
a. By His Works. Everything that God has created and made is perfect, holy. God did not create sin. God did not create a sinful nature which is in the unsaved man. God created man, who, has sinned. Man, by sinning, has passed on to man that perverted nature, that Adamic nature, or as we have called it, that “sinful” nature. Yes, God created man who was capable of sinning. If God had created man so that man could not have sinned, then He would have made a machine rather than a being with a free will. And if God had created man so that man could not sin and yet was not a machine, man would not only have been like God, but he would have been God Himself. God does not make God. Man is inferior to God. God cannot sin; that is His nature. Man would be God if he could not have sinned.
b. By His Laws. All the laws are right — they are truth. There is not a single untruth in the whole of God’s laws. Thus God’s laws manifest God’s holiness.
c. By His Hatred of Sin. Do you know one reason why fellow Christians are tolerant toward the sins of another, or toward the sins of the unbelievers? It is because they do not hate sin as God hates it. Often we say that God hates sin, but He doesn’t hate the sinner. That is not true. God does hate the sinner; “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou 37 hatest all workers of iniquity” (Ps. 5:5). This may be a revelation to some of us. God hates the sinner because of his sin, and not because of himself. God hates the sinner, but He loves him, too, because He knows that man is capable of holiness, although ruined by sin. Why does God punish the sinner? Because of the sinner’s sins! God thus hates sin, no matter where it may be found, whether in the life of an unregenerated sinner, or in the life of His own believer! God’s attitude and conduct toward sin reveal the holiness of God.
d. By His Love of Righteousness. God loves righteousness as much as He hates sin: “Hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness” (I Kings 8:32); “Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows... For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister” (Heb. 1:9; 6:10).
e. By His Justification of the Believing Sinner. If man had his “rights,” he would be in hell; but it is the mercy and grace of God which offers him the plan of salvation, which if he receives declares the believing sinner to be righteous: “God hath set [Christ Jesus] forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25, 26).
f. By His Care of His Saints, “The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed” (Ps. 103:6). “Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked” (Ps. 129:1- 4). See also the following Scriptures: Psalm 98:1-3; 145:15-19; II Timothy 1:6-9.
g. By His Cross. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1). We can catch a glimpse of the Cross by reading the quoted verse and the remaining verses of Psalm 22. This Psalm is, of course, prophetical, spoken or written some nine hundred years before Christ actually died upon the Cross of Calvary. And Christ’s death is a perfect manifestation of God’s holiness. Some, no doubt, will ask how this could be. We know that God hates sin; therefore, when His Son was made “sin for us, who knew no sin,” yea, when even God’s Son became sin, God’s attitude toward sin did not vary. God hated sin as much as ever, even when He made His Son sin. His Son did not change His view at all. Jesus, therefore, became hated of the Father because of sin. Jesus never became a sinner, but He became sin. And as God hated sin (“It pleased the LORD to bruise him” — Is. 53: l0a), God forsook His Son, for God will always forsake sin. God’s holiness did not change.
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