Foundations of Faith
THE MORAL ATTRIBUTES OF GOD (I)
In the last three issues we discussed the divine attributes of God, that is, those that are His alone, such as His transcendence and omnipotence. God has additional attributes, such as holiness, love, and faithfulness, which He encourages us to display as well. These we call God’s moral attributes.
So goes the familiar hymn, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” God is true to His Word. He is faithful to fulfill all that He has promised, both to His own blood-bought children and to those who persist in rejecting Him. “The faithful God … keeps covenant and mercy with those who love Him and keep His commandments … and repays those who hate Him” (Deut. 7:9,10).
Just as God is true to Himself and His Word, so should we, the children of God, be faithful to Himself and His Word as well as true to our own word, that is, our promises and commitments to others (Eccl. 5:4,5). We are to be faithful to God in the use of our time, our material possessions, and our spiritual gifts (Matt. 24:45,46; Luke 16:10,11; 19:17).
Have you ever stopped to think–with utter amazement–about how much sin and unfaithfulness God has had to endure just in your life? God is longsuffering. He does not quickly retaliate against a sin or offence. Rather He offers men and women, boys and girls repeated opportunities to turn to Him to receive His salvation.
“Thou, O Lord, art longsuffering, with plenty of mercy and truth” (Psa. 86:15). “The Lord is … longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish” (2 Pet. 3:9).
The more we consider God’s longsuffering toward us, the more we should be motivated to display this attribute toward others. There may be people in our lives who are difficult to get along with. We must ask the Lord for the grace to be longsuffering [instead of short-tempered] toward such (Eph. 4:2,3; Col. 3:12,13; Jas. 1:19).
The truth of God’s longsuffering may give the false impression that God tolerates sin. Nothing could be further from the truth! God is holy; He cannot tolerate sin in His presence (although, praise His name! He is frequently longsuffering toward the sinner). Since God exhorts the believers to “abhor that which is evil” (Rom. 12:9), it is clear that holiness goes far beyond the simple absence or avoidance of sin in oneself. Holiness is abhoring, hating sin. God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil” (Hab. 1:13).
In the presence of God and His absolute holiness, Isaiah became acutely aware of His own utter unholiness:”I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:1-5). In a similar way will we gain a more realistic appreciation of our own sinfulness and lack of holiness as we learn to compare ourselves against the standard of God’s perfect holiness. To this end, we are exhorted by the Lord, “Be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:15).
Running the Race
HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE (in View of God’s Moral Attributes)? (I)
“I swear upon a stack of Bibles that I’m telling you the truth!” Have you ever heard anyone make such a statement? Perhaps you have said it yourself. Do you have a reputation in your family and among your friends of always telling the truth and always being faithful to your word? If so, you shouldn’t ever have to swear to God to get others to believe you. The Old Testament law commanded that those who made a vow or oath must keep it, and that they must not swear by God’s name while speaking a falsehood (Lev. 19:12; Num. 30:2). But the Lord Jesus instructed His disciples not to swear (or make an oath) at all, but simply say, “yes, yes” or “no, no” (Matt. 5:33-37); in other words, just speak the plain, unvarnished truth at all times.
“Dad, last week I tried telling my friend Bob how to be saved. Ever since then he and his friends have been making fun of me, calling me a `Jesus freak’ and a `fanatic.’ I feel like punching them in the nose!”
Maybe some of our readers have experienced persecution for their faith. The apostle Paul tells us of the longsuffering which Jesus Christ showed toward Him, “for a pattern to those who should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting” (1 Tim. 1:15,16). Our persecutors would like nothing better than to see us break down and become angry and “lose our religion” as they would call it. But if we hold out with longsuffering and pray for them and try to do good to them in return (Matt. 5:44), some of them will be impressed with the reality of our faith and may desire that salvation for themselves.
Scene: On the way home from the Christian youth group meeting.
Ken: Hey, Tom, I’ve got a copy of the latest Playboy. Would you like to see it when I’m finished with it, that is, if I haven’t cut out all the good pictures?
Tom: I don’t think God would be very pleased with that. Don’t you remember what we learned this afternoon about the holiness of God and about fleeing fornication (1 Cor. 6:18)?
Ken: But we’re not really doing anything wrong. It’s just looking at pictures.
Tom: I believe there is a verse in the Bible that says something about one who looks on a woman to lust after her committing adultery with her in his heart. (See Assignment 27)
Ken: I guess God doesn’t want us to have any fun at all does He?
Tom: Well, I don’t know what to say about that.
Joe, the youth group leader (coming up behind): May I break in? Remember the next verse after “Flee fornication”?
Ken and Tom: No.
Joe: It says, “Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you…? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” One of the best ways of showing your appreciation to God for the great price that was paid by His Son for your salvation is to keep yourself holy so that the Holy Spirit who indwells you will have the greatest freedom to teach you and use you in God’s service. Oh, and by the way, when you get married, I believe that you will discover a side benefit of remaining sexually pure, both in body and in mind–a more satisfying and enjoyable relationship with your wife. God’s “commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3), but are designed to bring the greatest possible blessing, joy, and peace to those who keep them.
Assignment 27: Where in Matthew 5 is this verse found, and who spoke these words?