God’s characteristics

No excuse

Paul introduced his gospel message to the Romans with a declaration that was intended to get their attention and to motivate them to pay close attention to what he was about to explain to them. Paul declared:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (Romans 1:18-23)

Paul said unbelievers have no excuse for not believing in God because his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived since the creation of the world (Romans 1:20). Paul went on to say that unbelievers knew God, but they did not honor his as God or give thanks to him (Romans 1:21). The Greek word that is translated knew in Romans 1:21, ginosko (ghin-oceˊ-ko) means “to know, in a beginning sense: that is, to come to know, to gain or receive a knowledge of” (G1097).

The Greek word ginosko is sometimes translated as perceived (Matthew 16:8; 21:45: 22:18), as well as, aware of (Matthew 24:50). Jesus used the word ginosko in his response to Philip’s request, “Lord, show us the Father” (John 14:8). Jesus asked, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?” Jesus was surprised that Philip hadn’t been able to figure out who he was. Jesus’ explanation suggests that ginosko may refer to spiritual perception. Jesus told Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works” (John 14:9-10), but Jesus also made it clear that the works he was taking about were associated with results that were obvious to the senses (John 14:12-14). Paul indicated that unbelievers know the truth about God, but choose to suppress it, “For what is known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:18-19). “Romans 1:18 is probably to be understood as possessing a knowledge of the truth, but living in unrighteousness” (G2722). In other words, unbelievers know some of the things they do are right and other things are wrong and choose to do those things that they know are wrong.

Paul linked God’s invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature, with the creation of the world (Romans 1:20). The Greek word that is translated Creator in Romans 1:25, ktizo (ktidˊ-zo) means “to bring under tillage and settlement. In the New Testament: to establish, to create, produce from nothing” (G2936). “God called the universe into being of his own free will and by his absolute power, creating everything out of nothing…There are many concepts (such as creation) that the finite mind cannot completely grasp, and man must accept them by faith (Hebrews 11:3, 6)” (note on Genesis 1:1).

Paul told the Romans that the “righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith” (Romans 1:17). The Greek word that is translated revealed, apokalupto (ap-ok-al-oopˊ-to) means “to take off the cover…in the passive, of things which become known by their effects” (G601). Paul stated in his greeting to the Romans that the gospel message he was going to share with them had been promised beforehand by the prophets (Romans 1:2). Jesus coming into the world was not an unexpected event. It was the fulfillment of prophecies that the people of Israel were aware of for hundreds of years. Pagan priests came from Persia to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2). When King Herod asked the chief priests where the Christ was to be born, “They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet’” (Matthew 2:5).

It says in Hebrews 11:1 that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Conviction has to do with the certainty of something. The Greek word elegcho (el-engˊ-kho) means “to prove one in the wrong and thus to shame him” (G1651). After Job made his final appeal to his three friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, another man named Elihu joined the conversation. It says in Job 32:1-3, “So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself rather than God. He burned with anger also at Job’s three friends because they had found no answer, although they had declared Job to be in the wrong.” Elihu later asserted God’s justice, stating, “Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice” (Job 34:12). The Hebrew word that is translated justice, mishpat (mish-pawtˊ) refers to “a legal decision” (H4941). “God stands in absolute, essential opposition to sin, so he must judge and punish sin.” [1]

Justification is the sovereign declaration of God that the righteousness of Jesus Christ has been imputed to those who have trusted in his sinless obedience and his substitutionary atonement on the cross for their salvation. When God justifies a person, he no longer treats him as a sinner but reckons him to possess that righteousness which Jesus Christ earned on his behalf. The declaration of justification does not come through any past, present, or future merit in the sinner. Justification is based exclusively on the merits of Jesus Christ and is received through faith alone. [2]

Paul used the example of Abraham’s justification to explain that righteousness is a gift and that it is counted to us or imputed by believing that God’s Word is true (Romans 4:1-12). God’s accounting system is based on imputation, which means “to take an inventory, i.e. estimate” (G3049). Imputation is a thinking process that results in God reaching a conclusion about an individual’s sin (Romans 14:12). God only imputes righteousness to people who believe that Jesus died on their behalf to pay the penalty for their sin.

Paul argued that unbelievers have no excuse because they judge others for things they do themselves (Romans 2:1-2). Paul asked, “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:3). The judgment that Paul was talking about was “the act of judging in reference to the final judgment, as the day of judgment (Matthew 10:15; 11:22, 24; 12:36; Mark 6:11; 2 Peter 2:9; 3:7; 1 John 4:17)” (G2920). It says in Romans 14:12 that “every one of us shall give account of himself to God. The Greek word that is translated account, logos (logˊ-os) means “something said” (G3056). John used the word logos to refer to Jesus. John said, “In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word (logos) was with God, and the Word (logos) was God” (John 1:1). John went on to say:

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:10-13)

Paul explained in his letter to the Romans that we must publicly confess or openly acknowledge that we believe in Jesus in order to be saved. Paul said, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10). Jesus confirmed this requirement when he said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33).

Paul concluded his argument about there being no excuse for rejecting Christ with a statement that summarized God’s intent when he sent his Son Jesus to us to die for the sin of the world. Paul asked, “Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Repentance is necessary for justification to take place. A person that has not truly repented is not considered to be free from guilt and is at risk of being excluded from God’s kingdom, even if he has been born again. In his illustration of the final judgment, Jesus said all the nations will be gathered before him, “and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:32). To those who had not demonstrated the characteristics of sanctification, or holiness, in their daily life (Matthew 25:42-44), Jesus said, “these will go away into eternal punishment,” but the ones who were justified, or made righteous by placing their faith in Christ, entered “into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).

[1] John Macarthur and Richard Mayhue, Biblical Doctrine: A Systematic Summary of Bible Truth, p. 184.

[2][2] Statements and Affirmations – Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, Doctrine of Justification

God’s faithfulness

Job’s suffering caused him to doubt God’s faithfulness. Job was certain that he had done nothing to deserve the calamities that had come upon him and argued with his friends, stating, “God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me. Behold, I cry out, ‘Violence!’ but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice. He has walled up my way, so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head” (Job 19:6-9). Job’s internal conflict had reached its highest point. Job knew that the conclusions of his friends were misapplied and that he had committed no sin worthy of such affliction. He felt that God had turned against him without cause. Job had “yet to realize that sorrow and trials in the lives of believers come from the hands of a loving God” (note on Job 19:8-22).

It says in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that God is faithful, and will not let you be tempted or tested “beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” The Greek word that is translated faithful, pistos (pis-tosˊ) is derived from the word peitho (piˊtho), which generally means “to persuade another to receive a belief” (G3982). Another word that is derived from peitho is pistis (pisˊtis), which refers to “reliance upon Christ for salvation” and as a technical term is indicative “of the means of appropriating what God in Christ has for man, resulting in the transformation of man’s character and way of life. Such can be termed gospel faith or Christian faith (Romans 3:22ff.)” (G4102). Jesus taught his followers about pistis and often made note of it being demonstrated by those whom he healed. Jesus told a woman that had been suffering from a discharge of blood for twelve years, “Take heart, daughter, your faith has made you well” (Matthew 9:22). Later, Jesus asked two blind men who had approached him, “’Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘According to your faith be it done to you’” (Matthew 9:28-30).

Job declared his belief in Christ when he told his friends, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth” (Job 19:25). “Job clearly believed that death did not bring about the end of one’s existence” (note on Job 19:25-27), but Job was wrong in his conclusion that God had taken away his right and had made his soul bitter (Job 27:2). Paul explained in his letter to the Ephesians that it is necessary for believers to put off thoughts that are associated with their former manner of life and to be renewed in the spirit of their minds (Ephesians 4:22-23). Paul instructed the Ephesians to “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31). It was Job’s responsibility to control his emotional reactions to what was happening to him and to keep putting his trust in God who had not turned against him, but was testing his faith.

The thing that Job was unaware of was that God had allowed Satan to afflict him to prove that Job would not as Satan suggested, curse God to his face (Job 1:11). James explained in his letter to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion, that trials of various kinds produce steadfastness or patience. James said, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:3-4). Later, James commended Job for his patience, stating, “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful” (James 5:10-11). Paul also wrote about the benefit of suffering in his letter to the Romans. Paul said, “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

Peter talked about suffering and linked it with Christ’s sufferings. Peter indicated that suffering could be God’s will for a believer. Peter said:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good. (1 Peter 4:12-19)

Peter said that we should entrust our souls to our Creator when we are suffering because of God’s faithfulness. The Greek word that is translated entrust, paratithemi (par-at-ithˊ-ay-mee) means “to place alongside” (G3908). The root word tithemi was used by Jesus several times to refer to him laying down his life for us (John 10:11, 15, 17, 18). John said, “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers” (1 John 3:16).

James pointed out in his letter that there is a difference between hearing the Word of God and doing the Word of God. James said, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:23-25). Perseverance means that we continue to entrust our lives to God, even though we are suffering and don’t know why. Job testified to his commitment to God when he told his friends, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face” (Job 13:15). “Despite the fact that he did not understand why he was suffering so miserably, Job continued to trust in God” (note on Job 13:15). Job later testified, “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold. My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food” (Job 23:10-12). “Even though he did not understand the reasons behind his particular afflictions, Job expressed confidence that God was working in his life (v. 10) and reiterated his personal commitment to God (vv 11, 12)” (note on Job 23:10-12).

Job 38:1-2 states that God answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge.” Following this, God asked Job more than seventy questions. “These questions were not given to answer the mystery of Job’s suffering or to vindicate God himself. They were intended to help Job realize that God’s ways are higher than man’s ways and that he is worthy of complete trust even in the most desperate of circumstances” (note on Job 38:1-42:6). Before Jesus was crucified, he made it clear to his disciples and others that knew him that God was going to raise him from the dead three days later (Matthew 12:40; 27:40; 27:63; Mark 8:31; 15:29). Paul said God’s faithfulness in doing this is the reason why we should also put our trust in him (Acts 13:32, 38-39). In addition to this, Paul said that we can count on God to keep us blameless, as he did Job, when our faith is tested (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). After God completed his interrogation, Job answered the LORD and said, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted…Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know…I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:1-6).

My Redeemer

Job’s theological debate with his friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar led him to finally exclaim in exasperation, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” (Job 19:25-27). “Job clearly believed that death did not bring about the end of one’s existence” (note on Job 19:25-27). Job also acknowledged that God alone was his Redeemer. Job said that his Redeemer lives. The word Job used for lives in the Hebrew is chay (khahˊ-ee), suggesting that Job knew his Redeemer was not only God, but also someone like himself that was made of physical substances like flesh and blood (H2416). The Hebrew word that is translated Redeemer, ga’al (gaw-alˊ) first appears in the Bible in the book of Genesis. When Jacob blessed his son Joseph, he identified God as his Redeemer but referred to him as “the Angel.” Jacob said:

“May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham
    and my father, Isaac, walked—
the God who has been my shepherd
    all my life, to this very day,
the Angel who has redeemed me from all harm—
    may he bless these boys.
May they preserve my name
    and the names of Abraham and Isaac.
And may their descendants multiply greatly
    throughout the earth.” (Genesis 48:15-16, NLT)

It seems likely that Jacob was associating his Redeemer with the Angel of the LORD. “There is the distinct possibility that various Old Testament references to the ‘angel of the LORD’ involved preincarnate appearances of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Things are said of the angel of the LORD that seem to go beyond the category of angels and are applicable to Christ…The designation ‘angel of the LORD’ is used interchangeably with ‘the LORD’ and ‘God’ in the account of Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-6). Exodus 23:21 states that the angel of the LORD has the power to forgive sins, a characteristic belonging to God alone (cf. Mark 2:7; Luke 7:49) and that he has the name of God in him. No man can see the full glory of God and live (Exodus 33:20), but Jesus Christ, in whom all the fullness of deity was manifested in bodily form, has made God the Father known (John 1:18; Colossians 2:9)” (note on Exodus 23:20-23).

Job said his Redeemer would at the last “stand upon the earth” and “after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another” (Job 19:25-27). “Job may have used the expression ‘at the last’ in hope of vindication in his lifetime (at the conclusion of his time of suffering), or he may have meant some time after his death when God would clear him of any wrong” (note on Job 19:25-27). John talked about the judgment that will take place after Satan is defeated in Revelation 20:11-15. John stated:

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

John does not identify who was seated on the great white throne. Jesus told his disciples that the final judgment would take place, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne” (Matthew 25:31). In another conversation about future events, Jesus said, “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27, KJV). Works is “spoken of a course of action or conduct, especially of right, duty, virtue, to do, meaning to exercise, to practice (Acts 26:20; Romans 2:25; 7:15; 9:11; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Philippians 4:9). Acts 26:20 indicates that these works are deeds in keeping with repentance.

Repentance in a religious sense implies “pious sorrow for unbelief and sin and a turning from them unto God and the gospel of Christ (Matthew 3:8, 11; 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 3:8; 5:32; 15:7; Acts 5:31; 20:21; 26:20; Romans 2:4; Hebrews 6:6; 2 Peter 3:9)” (G3341). “At the end of God’s discourse, Job acknowledged that he had experienced the Lord in a new light (Job 42:5) and had gained an increased awareness of the sovereignty of God (Job 42:3). He repented of his complaints against God (Job 42:6) and submitted himself to God’s will, even if it included suffering that was seemingly undeserved” (note on Job 42:1-6). After the LORD rebuked Job’s friends, it says in Job 42:10, “And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.”

The LORD restored Job to a former state of prosperity (H7622) after he prayed for his friends (Job 42:10). Job interceded for his friends in the same way that Abraham prayed for Abimelech the king of Gerar (Genesis 20:7) and Nehemiah interceded on behalf of the people of Israel when he heard that those who had survived the exile were in great trouble because the wall of Jerusalem was broken down and its gates were destroyed by fire (Nehemiah 1:3). The role of the kinsman redeemer is portrayed in the book of Ruth as one of rescuing those who are destitute and lacking any hope for the future (Ruth 1:12-13). Theologically, the Hebrew word ga’al “is used to convey God’s redemption of individuals from spiritual death” (H1350). Paul explained the spiritual condition of the unsaved in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said:

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind…Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:1-12)

Job said that God had walled up his way so that he could not pass and had set the darkness upon his path, stripped him of glory and taken the crown from his head (Job 19:8-9). Job’s internal conflict had reached its highest point. He felt that God had turned against him without cause (note on Job 19:8-22). Job said, “He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, and my hope has he pulled up like a tree” (Job 19:10). In reality, God had not done any of the things that Job supposed he had but was showing Job that his “ways are higher than man’s ways and that he is worthy of complete trust even in the most desperate of circumstances” (note on Job 38:1-42:6).

Unchangeable

An important characteristic of God when it comes to salvation is what is referred to as his immutability. It says in Hebrews 6:17-18, “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.” The Greek word translated immutability, amethatetos (am-et-ath’-et-os) means unchangeable (G276). Amethatetos has to do with decision making and at a deeper level deals with loyalty to a particular person or viewpoint. The immutability of God’s counsel refers specifically to his will, the things that he intends to accomplish and uses his power to control.

The Old Covenant which dealt with Abraham’s descendants being brought into an eternal relationship with God was the primary reason Jesus came to Earth and died for the sins of the world, but even before Jesus was born, God said that he was going to establish a New Covenant that would finish the work of salvation that began with Abraham (Jeremiah 31:33). Whereas the Old Covenant was a conditional covenant, meaning there were conditions that had to be met in order for it to be fulfilled, the New Covenant was enacted by God as “an unconditional divine promise to unfaithful Israel to forgive her sins and establish His relationship with her on a new basis by writing His law ‘in their hearts’ — a covenant of pure grace” (Major Covenants in the Old Testament, p. 16).

The writer of the book of Hebrews explained God’s New Covenant in the context of the Mosaic Law. The Jews had been living according to God’s commandments for hundreds of years, but were told, “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change of the law also” (Hebrews 7:11-12). God’s standard of perfection was never meant to be attained by humans. The Mosaic law had to do with physical requirements that could extend one’s physical life; keeping the commandments was not expected to result in eternal life (Hebrews 7:16).

The writer of Hebrews determined that the Mosaic Law merely paved the way for something better that would accomplish what God originally intended, the restoration of his relationship with mankind (Hebrews 7:18-19). He said, “by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood” (Hebrews 7:22-24, NKJV). Basically, what this means is that Jesus has made it possible for the God’s work of salvation to continue uninterrupted. It is an eternal ministry that will never come to an end. The reason this is important is because sin can only be eliminated if it is permanently deleted from God’s record. The temporary covering that was originally accomplished through the sacrifice of animals was replaced with a perpetual, unchangeable atonement by the blood of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:27).