The attributes of God's goodness are His moral purity, His integrity, and His love. Concerning His moral purity, one can describe that attribute further by saying that He is holy, righteous, and just. In Isaiah 6:1-5, the Prophet Isaiah was overwhelmed by God's holiness. He saw the Lord as high and lifted up, then saw himself as a man of unclean lips, sinful and undone. In Psalms 19:7-9, the Psalmist wrote about the perfect law of God and described the Lord's judgments as true and righteous. Then, in Romans 2:11-12, the Apostle Paul demonstrated God's justice and fairness by saying that the Lord is not a respecter of persons.
God's moral purity is well-defined by the above biblical references. They correctly show Him as the standard for what is right and wrong and also as One Who cannot be touched by the wickedness of our culture. However, God is also a God of love, a God Who shows deep commitment, devotion, and intimacy toward His people, toward His creation. Consequently, two questions are often asked relative to this discussion. First, how can a loving Father condemn His own creation? Yet then, on the other hand, how can a just God not condemn sin? For most people, understanding the consistency between these seemingly contradictory attributes of moral purity and love is difficult. But for od, these attributes do not conflict with each other, nor does He ever feel any tension by trying to be both morally pure and also a loving Father.
According to Mr. Erickson, God does not have any difficulty being both morally pure or just and also loving. In fact, the author says that most individuals become confused by these specific attributes of God simply because they try to analyze them separately, rather than by trying to put them together. In other words, they say that God is just and that He is also loving, but this type of separation of God's attributes leads to confusion for the normal person. It is when one puts the two attributes together and says that God is both morally pure and loving that the proper spiritual understanding can be acheived. God is morally pure! He will and He does judge sin. But God is also our loving heavenly Father, and because sinful man cannot pay his own sin debt, God, the loving Father, has paid it for us by offering is Son on the cross at Calvary. According to Mr. Erickson and also based on the teachings of Scriptures, in particular in I John 2:1-2, God's attributes of moral purity and of love are both satisfied in Jesus.
Tom of Spotswood "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
Index to Selected Essays And Book Reviews
Lesson 25 - The Constancy Of God's Plan
Send email to: tlee6040@aol.com