Condensed Theology, Lecture 14: Theology, Truthfulness, Wisdom, Justice, Righteousness, Wrath,...

8/14/2019 Condensed Theology, Lecture 14: Theology, Truthfulness, Wisdom, Justice, Righteousness, Wrath, Jealousy, Holiness

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Condensed Theology

A Primer in Systematic Theology



Theology Proper:

The Doctrine of God

What does the Bible teach about

God?



Where We’re Going

• Ten (or more) lectures covering foursubjects:

– The existence of God – The attributes of God

– God as Trinity

– God’s works of creation & providence



The Attributes of God

What Is God Like?



General Categories of the

Attributes



General Categories

1. Communicable – The communicable

attributes of God are

those characteristicsof God that arepeculiar to him butwhich he shares withhumanity

– If the attribute can beconverted to acommand, it iscommunicable

2. Incommunicable – The incommunicable

attributes of God are

those characteristicsof God that arepeculiar to him butwhich he does notshare with humanity

– If the attribute cannot be converted to acommand, it isincommunicable



Sub-categories for Communicable

Attributes

• Kindness • Severity

Rom 11:22: Behold then the kindness and severity ofGod; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God'skindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwiseyou also will be cut off.



Sub-categories for Communicable

Attributes• Kindness

– Goodness

– Mercy

– Grace

– Patience

– Kindness

– Compassion

– Love

– Truthfulness

– Wisdom

• Severity

– Justice &Righteousness

– Wrath – Jealousy



The Attributes of Kindness



The Attributes of Kindness:

Truthfulness• The Christian God is the true God; he defines

genuine divinity

– Jer 10:10-11: But the LORD is the true God; He is the

living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath theearth quakes, And the nations cannot endure Hisindignation. Thus you shall say to them, "The godsthat did not make the heavens and the earth willperish from the earth and from under the heavens.“

– John 17:3: This is eternal life, that they may knowYou, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Youhave sent.




Truthfulness• God embodies the truth; he is the standard of

truthfulness – Exod 34:6: Then the LORD passed by in front of him

and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God,

compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, andabounding in lovingkindness and truth.”

– Ps 31:5: Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You haveransomed me, O LORD, God of truth.

– Isa 65:16: Because he who is blessed in the earth

Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he whoswears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth;Because the former troubles are forgotten, Andbecause they are hidden from My sight!




Truthfulness• Everything God does is an expression of

truth

– Ps 111:7-8: The works of His hands are truthand justice; All His precepts are sure. Theyare upheld forever and ever; They areperformed in truth and uprightness.




Truthfulness• God’s knowledge is true and he never

communicates falsehood to others

– Titus 1:2: …in the hope of eternal life, whichGod, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.

– Num 23:19: God is not a man, that He shouldlie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent;

Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has Hespoken, and will He not make it good?




Truthfulness• God’s knowledge is true and he never

communicates falsehood to others

– Heb 6:18: …so that by two unchangeablethings in which it is impossible for God to lie,we who have taken refuge would have strongencouragement to take hold of the hope setbefore us.

– 2 Sam 7:28: Now, O Lord GOD, You are God,and Your words are truth, and You havepromised this good thing to Your servant.




Truthfulness• These two texts (Heb 6:18; 2 Sam 7:28)

reflect that God’s truthfulness in speechand character means that he will always

keep his promises• This aspect of God’s truthfulness is also

called his faithfulness, and it is sometimestreated as a separate attribute

• Thus God’s faithfulness is a subcategoryof his truthfulness




Truthfulness• The truthfulness of God is his

characteristic of embodying genuinedivinity and the standard for what is true

• It may also be defined as his characteristicof being truthful in all he knows andcommunicates and that which results inhis faithfulness (i.e. he is true to hispromises)

• It is the opposite of falsehood and unreliability




Truthfulness• Commanded to pursue the truth

– Prov 3:3: Do not let kindness and truth leaveyou; Bind them around your neck, Write themon the tablet of your heart.

– Prov 23:23: Buy truth, and do not sell it, Getwisdom and instruction and understanding.




Truthfulness• Commanded to speak the truth

– Zech 8:16-17: “These are the things which youshould do: speak the truth to one another; judge withtruth and judgment for peace in your gates. Also letnone of you devise evil in your heart against another,and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,”declares the LORD.

– Eph 4:25: Therefore, laying aside falsehood, SPEAKTRUTH EACH ONE of you WITH HIS NEIGHBOR,for we are members of one another.

– Col 3:9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid asidethe old self with its evil practices.




Truthfulness• Commanded to be faithful

– Rev 2:10: Do not fear what you are about to suffer.Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you intoprison, so that you will be tested, and you will have

tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and Iwill give you the crown of life. – 1 Cor 4:2: In this case, moreover, it is required of

stewards that one be found trustworthy. – 2 Cor 1:18: But as God is faithful, our word to you is

not yes and no. For the Son of God, Christ Jesus,who was preached among you by us—by me andSilvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but isyes in Him.




Wisdom• God is wise

– Job 9:4: Wise in heart and mighty in strength,Who has defied Him without harm?

– Job 12:13: With Him are wisdom and might;To Him belong counsel and understanding.

– Rom 16:27: …to the only wise God, through

Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.





– In creation

• Ps 104:24: O LORD, how many are Your works! Inwisdom You have made them all; The earth is fullof Your possessions.

• Prov 3:19: The LORD by wisdom founded theearth, By understanding He established the

heavens.• See Prov 8:22-31





– In redemption

• Rom 11:33: Oh, the depth of the riches both of thewisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchableare His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

• Eph 3:10: …so that the manifold wisdom of Godmight now be made known through the church to

the rulers and the authorities in the heavenlyplaces.

• See 1 Cor 1:18-31





– In providence

• Because God’s character is wise, we can knowthat there is nothing about the circumstances hehas ordered for our lives that my justly beconstrued as foolish

• He never errs in his providence, acting wisely to

accomplish his purposes for us




Wisdom• The wisdom of God is his

characteristic of knowing perfectly

what is required in order toaccomplish his purposes

• It is the opposite of foolishness




Wisdom• Commanded to pursue wisdom

– Jas 1:5: But if any of you lacks wisdom, lethim ask of God, who gives to all generously

and without reproach, and it will be given tohim.

– Prov 2:2: Make your ear attentive to wisdom,Incline your heart to understanding.

– Prov 4:5: Acquire wisdom! Acquireunderstanding! Do not forget nor turn awayfrom the words of my mouth.




Wisdom• Commanded to be wise

– Rom 16:19: For the report of your obediencehas reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing

over you, but I want you to be wise in what isgood and innocent in what is evil.

– Eph 5:15-16: Therefore be careful how youwalk, not as unwise men but as wise, making

the most of your time, because the days areevil.

– See Jas 3:13-18.



The Attributes of Severity



The Attributes of Severity:

Justice & Righteousness• The terms “justice” and “righteousness,”

though different in English, are twopossible translations of a single word inboth Hebrew and Greek

• So when we speak of God’s justice andrighteousness, we are speaking of one

and the same attribute




Justice & Righteousness• God is just and the standard of justice

– Gen 18:25: Far be it from You to do such a thing, toslay the righteous with the wicked, so that therighteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be itfrom You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?

– Deut 32:4: The Rock! His work is perfect, For all Hisways are just [or, “justice”]; A God of faithfulness andwithout injustice, Righteous and upright is He.

– Dan 9:14b: “...for the LORD our God is righteous withrespect to all His deeds which He has done, but wehave not obeyed His voice.




Justice & Righteousness• God is just and the standard of justice

– Rom 9:20-21: On the contrary, who are you,O man, who answers back to God? The thingmolded will not say to the molder, "Why didyou make me like this," will it? Or does not thepotter have a right over the clay, to make fromthe same lump one vessel for honorable use

and another for common use?




Justice & Righteousness• God’s justice is retributive; he punishes the guilty

– Ps 7:11: God is a righteous judge, And a God whohas indignation every day.

– Rom 2:5-6: But because of your stubbornness andunrepentant heart you are storing up wrath foryourself in the day of wrath and revelation of therighteous judgment of God, who WILL RENDER TOEACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.

– 2 Thess 1:6-7a: For after all it is only just for God torepay with affliction those who afflict you, and to giverelief to you who are afflicted…




Justice & Righteousness• God’s justice may seem to exclude

forgiveness, since by its nature itoverlooks sin.

• But this is not how God’s forgivenessoperates.

• God’s forgiveness overlooks sin in a

person because his justice does not overlook it in another in your behalf




Justice & Righteousness• Rom 3:25-26: …whom [= Jesus] God

displayed publicly as a propitiation in Hisblood through faith. This was to

demonstrate His righteousness, becausein the forbearance of God He passed overthe sins previously committed; for thedemonstration, I say, of His righteousness

at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who hasfaith in Jesus.




Justice & Righteousness• The justice and righteousness of God

are his characteristics of always beingfair, always doing what is right,always punishing evildoers, andembodying in himself what it meansto be just and righteous.

• They are the opposite of arbitrariness,injustice, and wrongness.




Justice & Righteousness• Commanded to be just and righteous

– Isa 56:1: Thus says the LORD, “Preserve justice and do righteousness, For Mysalvation is about to come And Myrighteousness to be revealed.”

– Micah 6:8: He has told you, O man, what isgood; And what does the LORD require ofyou But to do justice, to love kindness, And towalk humbly with your God?




Justice & Righteousness• Commanded to be just and righteous

– Jer 22:3: Thus says the LORD, “Do justice andrighteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbedfrom the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or doviolence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and donot shed innocent blood in this place.”

– Matt 23:23: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and haveneglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice andmercy and faithfulness; but these are the things youshould have done without neglecting the others.

– Col 4:1: Masters, grant to your slaves justice and fairness,knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.



The Attributes of Severity: Wrath

• God is intensely hateful toward and angry withsin – Deut 9:7-8: Remember, do not forget how you

provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the

wilderness; from the day that you left the land ofEgypt until you arrived at this place, you have beenrebellious against the LORD. Even at Horeb youprovoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was soangry with you that He would have destroyed you.

– Exod 32:9: The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen

this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people.Now then let Me alone, that My anger [= wrath] mayburn against them and that I may destroy them; and Iwill make of you a great nation.”




• God is intensely hateful toward and angrywith sin – John 3:36: “He who believes in the Son has

eternal life; but he who does not obey the Sonwill not see life, but the wrath of God abideson him.”

– Rom 1:18: For the wrath of God is revealed

from heaven against all ungodliness andunrighteousness of men who suppress thetruth in unrighteousness…




• God is intensely hateful toward and angry withsin

– Rom 2:5, 8: But because of your stubbornness and

unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath foryourself in the day of wrath and revelation of therighteous judgment of God…8but to those who areselfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obeyunrighteousness, wrath and indignation.

– Col 3:6: For it is because of these things that thewrath of God will come upon the sons ofdisobedience.




Wrath• The wrath of God is his characteristic

of intensely hating and being angry

with sin.• It is the opposite of loving what is

good.




Wrath• Commanded to hate evil, to have indignation

– Ps 97:10: Hate evil, you who love the LORD, Whopreserves the souls of His godly ones; He delivers

them from the hand of the wicked. – Prov 8:13: The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride

and arrogance and the evil way And the pervertedmouth, I hate.

– Amos 5:15: Hate evil, love good, And establish

justice in the gate! Perhaps the LORD God of hostsMay be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

– Rom 12:9b: Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.



The Attributes of Severity: Jealousy

• The Lord is a jealous God – Exod 20:5: You shall not worship them or serve

them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God,visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on

the third and the fourth generations of those who hateMe…” – See Exod 34:5-17. – Deut 4:23-24: So watch yourselves, that you do not

forget the covenant of the LORD your God which Hemade with you, and make for yourselves a graven

image in the form of anything against which theLORD your God has commanded you. For the LORDyour God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.




• The Lord is a jealous God – 1 Cor 10:14-22: Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I

speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. Is not the cup ofblessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is notthe bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Sincethere is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we allpartake of the one bread. Look at the nation Israel; are not thosewho eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? What do I meanthen? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol isanything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentilessacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not

want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink thecup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake ofthe table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provokethe Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?




• Jealousy and wrath

– Deut 6:14: You shall not follow other gods,any of the gods of the peoples who surround

you, for the LORD your God in the midst ofyou is a jealous God; otherwise the anger ofthe LORD your God will be kindled againstyou, and He will wipe you off the face of the

earth.




• Jealousy and wrath – Deut 32:15-21: "But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—You are

grown fat, thick, and sleek—Then he forsook God who madehim, And scorned the Rock of his salvation. They made Him

jealous with strange gods; With abominations they provoked Him

to anger. They sacrificed to demons who were not God, To godswhom they have not known, New gods who came lately, Whomyour fathers did not dread. You neglected the Rock who begotyou, And forgot the God who gave you birth. The LORD saw this,and spurned them Because of the provocation of His sons anddaughters. Then He said, “I will hide My face from them, I willsee what their end shall be; For they are a perverse generation,

Sons in whom is no faithfulness. They have made Me jealouswith what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with theiridols. So I will make them jealous with those who are not apeople; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.”




Jealousy• The jealousy of God is a praiseworthy

zeal for the fame of his own name

• It is the opposite of indifference




Jealousy• Commanded to be jealous

• Unlike the jealousy mentioned in 1 Cor

13:4, there is a kind of jealousy that issalutary

• We convert it to a command by calling itzeal




Jealousy• Commanded to be jealous/zealous – See Num 25:1-13

– Rev 3:19: Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; thereforebe zealous and repent.

– John 2:14-17: And He found in the temple those who wereselling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changersseated at their tables . And He made a scourge of cords, anddrove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen;and He poured out the coins of the money changers andoverturned their tables; and to those who were selling the dovesHe said, "Take these things away; stop making My Father'shouse a place of business." His disciples remembered that it waswritten, "ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”

• 1 John 2:6: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself towalk in the same manner as He walked.



The Crowning Attribute

The Holiness of God



The Crowning Attribute:

The Holiness of God• Communicable or incommunicable?

– Like many of the attributes, this one is difficultto categorize.

– It is included among the communicableattributes because it can be converted into acommand.

– Nevertheless, as we shall see, the holiness ofGod is something that is so peculiar to Godthat it cannot be predicated of the creature.




The Holiness of God• Holiness as God’s peculiar divinity – Exod 15:11: Who is like you, O Lord, among

the gods? Who is like you, majestic inholiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doingwonders.

– 1 Sam 2:2: There is none holy like the Lord;there is none besides you; there is no rocklike our God.

– Hosea 11:9b: …for I am God and not a man,the Holy One in your midst, and I will notcome in wrath.




The Holiness of God• Holiness as God’s peculiar divinity

– Ps 89:35: Once I have sworn by My holiness;I will not lie to David.

– Isa 57:15: For thus says the One who is highand lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whosename is Holy: I dwell in the high and holyplace…

– See Isa 6:1-5.




The Holiness of God• Holiness as God’s ethical majesty

– Hab 1:13a: Your eyes are too pure to approve evil,And You can not look on wickedness with favor.

– Ps 11:4-6: The LORD is in His holy temple; theLORD'S throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, Hiseyelids test the sons of men. The LORD tests therighteous and the wicked, And the one who lovesviolence His soul hates. Upon the wicked He will rain

snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will bethe portion of their cup.




The Holiness of God• Why a “crowning” attribute?

– This characteristic is the only of God’sattributes to receive a three-fold affirmation

• Isa 6:3: And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy,Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of Hisglory.”

• Rev 4:8: And the four living creatures, each one of themhaving six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day

and night they do not cease to say, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY isTHE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHOIS AND WHO IS TO COME."



Why a “Crowning” Attribute?

Love

Holiness Hatred Justice Mercy



Why a “Crowning” Attribute?

Holy

Love Hatred Justice Mercy



The Holiness of God

• The holiness of God is his crowningcharacteristic of being both wholly otherand morally blameless.

• The opposite of holy is profane, common.




Holiness• Commanded to be holy – 1 Pet 1:14-16: As obedient children, do not be

conformed to the former lusts which were yours inyour ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you,

be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; becauseit is written, "YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AMHOLY.“

– 2 Pet 3:11-12: Since all these things are to bedestroyed in this way, what sort of people ought youto be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and

hastening the coming of the day of God, because ofwhich the heavens will be destroyed by burning, andthe elements will melt with intense heat!



Conclusion

• For purposes of teaching, we havedivided the attributes of God into twocategories: communicable andincommunicable

• From there we subcategorized thecommunicable attributes into the

attributes of kindness and the attributesof severity



Conclusion

• This lecture began to unpack more of thecommunicable attributes of kindness,including God’s truthfulness (and

faithfulness) and wisdom.• It also addressed his attributes of severity,

including his justice and righteousness,wrath, and jealousy.

• Finally, it spoke to his crowning attribute:his holiness.



Conclusion

• The truthfulness of God is his characteristic ofembodying genuine divinity and the standard forwhat is true

• It may also be defined as his characteristic ofbeing truthful in all he knows and communicatesand that which results in his faithfulness (i.e. heis true to his promises)

• It is the opposite of falsehood and unreliability



Conclusion

• The wisdom of God is his characteristic ofknowing perfectly what is required in orderto accomplish his purposes

• It is the opposite of foolishness



Conclusion

• The justice and righteousness of God arehis characteristics of always being fair,always doing what is right, always

punishing evildoers, and embodying inhimself what it means to be just andrighteous.

• They are the opposite of arbitrariness,injustice, and wrongness.



Conclusion

• The wrath of God is his characteristic ofintensely hating and being angry with sin.

• It is the opposite of loving what is good.

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