Knowing the Truth About GodMoral Attributes

Dr. Norman L. Geisler and Kurt T. Wise

The Moral Nature of God God is personal

– God is not just a cosmic force. He has all the elements of personal existence.

Mind: Ps.147:5; Acts 15:18; Heb. 4:13 Will: Dan. 4:35; Ps 115:3; Isa. 46:10 Emotions: 1 John 4:16

– Because God is personal He is also moral. God is moral

– God knows the good.– God loves the good.– God chooses the good.

The Moral Attributes of God

Holiness Justice Jealousy Perfection Truthfulness Goodness

Holiness Meaning:

– God is totally and utterly set apart from all creation and evil

Holiness Support:

– Ex. 15:11: “Who is like You, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders?”

– Lev. 11:45: “For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”

– Isa. 5:16: “But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, And God who is holy shall be hallowed in righteousness.”

– 2 Cor. 7:11: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”

Holiness

Implications:– Lev. 11:44: Because God is Holy, His people are to

be holy. A holy God cannot be joined in fellowship with an unholy people.

Holiness

Implications:– Lev. 11:44: Because God is Holy, His people are to

be holy. A holy God cannot be joined in fellowship with an unholy people.

– Hebrews 12:14: Only the holy will see the Lord. Therefore, we must pursue holiness if we are to truly know God.

Justice

Meaning:

– God is infinitely and immutably righteous by His nature. He is the ultimate standard of all that is right.

Justice Support:

– Psalm 19:9: “The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.”

– Psalm 89:14: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.”

– Hebrews 1:8: “But to the Son He says: ‘Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom’”.

– Zephaniah 3:5: “The LORD is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, But the unjust knows no shame.”

Justice Implications:

– Because God is by nature just and right He must punish all unjust and evil acts. However, He will reward righteous ones.

– As a moral attribute, righteousness can be possessed by creatures. Therefore, it is something:

we should be instructed in it (2 Tim. 3:16-17) we should seek it (Matt. 6:33) we should pursue it (2 Tim. 2:22) we should thirst after it (Matt. 5:6) we should suffer for it (1 Pet. 3:14; 2 Tim 3:12) we should submit to it (Rom. 10:13) we should be slaves of it (Rom. 6:18) we should practice it (1John 3:7)

Jealousy

Meaning:– The root meanings of the basic Old Testament word for

“jealous” (kannaw) are “to be desirous of,” “to be zealous about,” “to be excited to anger over,” and “to execute judgment because of.”

– Jealousy, as used of God, concerns His holy zeal and His angry wrath. God has holy zeal to protect His supremacy, and God has angry wrath on idolatry and other actions contrary to His nature.

Jealousy Support:

– Exodus 34:14: “. . . for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

– Ezekiel 39:25: “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.”

– Deuteronomy 29:20: “The LORD would not spare him; for then the anger of the LORD and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under heaven.”

– Zechariah 8:2: “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I am zealous for Zion with great zeal; With great fervor I am zealous for her.’”

Jealousy Implications:

– Because God is jealous for His own glory, we should worship God as supreme (Ex. 20:3) and forsake all idolatry.

Jealousy Implications:

– Because God is jealous for His own glory, we should worship God as supreme (Ex. 20:3) and forsake all idolatry.

– Because believers are “sons of God” (John 1:12) we can rest assured that with an eternally vigilant zeal God will guard from evil all that are His. Our eternal good is under the watchful gaze of God’s consuming jealousy.

Perfection

Meaning:– God is complete and without flaw in every area of His

being. He possesses every good quality without lacking anything. God is morally flawless.

Perfection Support:

– Deuteronomy 32:4: “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.”

– 2 Samuel 22:31: “As for God, His way is perfect.” – Psalm 19:7: “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the

soul.”– Matthew 5:48: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your

Father in heaven is perfect.”– James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from

above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Perfection

Implications:– God’s perfection demands the same standard of us

(Matt. 5:48). Thus we should seek to be perfected by God (2 Cor. 13:9).

Perfection

Implications:– God’s perfection demands the same standard of us

(Matt. 5:48). Thus we should seek to be perfected by God (2 Cor. 13:9).

– While absolute perfection cannot be obtained in this life, God’s infinite perfection means He will perfect His creatures in the life to come (1 John 3:2).

Truthfulness

Meaning:– The word “truth” refers to what corresponds to reality

(the way things really are). Also, truth in Scripture is that which is reliable, faithful, dependable, and stable. Truth is absolute. It never changes.

Truthfulness

Meaning:– The word “truth” refers to what corresponds to reality

(the way things really are). Also, truth in Scripture is that which is reliable, faithful, dependable, and stable. Truth is absolute. It never changes.

Truthfulness

Meaning:– The word “truth” refers to what corresponds to reality

(the way things really are). Also, truth in Scripture is that which is reliable, faithful, dependable, and stable. Truth is absolute. It never changes.

– As applied to God, it means God cannot lie. In fact, God is truth by His very nature.

Truthfulness Support:

– Deuteronomy 32:4: “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.”

– Numbers 23:19: “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

– Psalm 33:4: “For the word of the LORD is right, And all His work is done in truth.”

– John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

– 1 Thessalonians 1:9: “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God”

Truthfulness Implications:

– Because God is absolutely truthful, His promises are absolutely trustworthy (Ps. 89:35). His truth assures our salvation (2 Tim. 2:13), saves us (Eph. 1:13), sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13), and liberates us

(John 8:32).

Truthfulness Implications:

– Because God is absolutely truthful, His promises are absolutely trustworthy (Ps. 89:35). His truth assures our salvation (2 Tim. 2:13), saves us (Eph. 1:13), sanctifies us (2 Thess. 2:13), and liberates us

(John 8:32).

– Because we are to be like God, we should always speak truth (Eph. 4:25), walk in truth (Ps. 86:11), worship in truth (John 4:24), and study the truth (2 Tim. 2:15; John 17:17).

Goodness (Love) Meaning:

– God is all-loving (omnibenevolent). He wills the good of all His creation.

Goodness (Love) Meaning:

– God is all-loving (omnibenevolent). He wills the good of all His creation.

– God’s goodness means that God has a tender loving-

kindness that results in a sacrificial benevolence.

Goodness (Love) Support:

– Jeremiah 31:3: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

– Zephaniah 3:17: “The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

– John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

– 1 John 4:10: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

– 1 John 4:16: “God is Love.”

Goodness (Love) Implications:

– Because God is good, He cannot force anyone to act against their own will. Therefore, God will not save anyone who does not will to be saved. God works through persuasion, not coercion.

Goodness (Love) Implications:

– Because God is good, He cannot force anyone to act against their own will. Therefore, God will not save anyone who does not will to be saved. God works through persuasion, not coercion.

– It is God’s goodness that leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4). In fact, “we love because He first loved us” (1Jn. 4:19 cf. Luke 7:47).

Conclusions Our life can rise no higher than our view of the

Highest (God). Our life can be no more stable than its ultimate

Foundation (God).

Our life won’t be ultimately satisfied with anything less than the Ultimate.

Conclusions To make a person happy:

– Add to their possessions - materialism– Take away from their passions - Buddhism– Redirect their passions to God - Christianity

An infinite thirst will never be satisfied with the finite.An eternal desire will never be satisfied with the

temporal.A quest for ultimate satisfaction will never be happy with

anything less than the Ultimate.

Good Books on GodJ. I. Packer, Knowing God.J. B. Philips, Your God is Too Small.A. J. Tozer, Knowledge of the Holy.A. J. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God.Stephen Charnock, The Existence and Attributes of God.Thomas Aquinas, The Summa Theologica.Peter Kreeft, A Summa of the Summa.Norman Geisler, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2.