Chapter 2

God’s Character

Sections

In order to relate to God, we need to know who God is – what his character is like. In tackling this topic, this chapter includes teaching on the two primary personal characteristics of God, from which his other characteristics come. These are his holiness and his love.

God’s Holiness

God is holy

Holy, holy, holy! The Lord Almighty is holy!   Isaiah 6:3b GNT

Being holy means that God is morally pure. It also means that he is separate from and intolerant of anything which is not morally pure.

There is nothing bad in God

[A psalmist:]  They will say that the Lord is good. He is my Rock, and there is no wrong in him.   Psalms 92:15 NCV™

God cannot tolerate evil

[Habakkuk, to God:]  You are too just to tolerate evil; you are unable to condone wrongdoing.   Habakkuk 1:13a NET

God’s Righteousness and Faithfulness

All God does is right and just

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right and his ways are just.   Daniel 4:37a NET

[Believers, to God:]  Just and true are your ways, King over the nations!   Revelation 15:3b NET

God does not lie nor change his mind – he keeps his promises

God is no mere human! He doesn’t tell lies or change his mind. God always keeps his promises.   Numbers 23:19 CEV

God’s Anger

God’s anger is awesome

[A psalmist, to God:] No one knows the full power of your furious anger, but it is as great as the fear that we owe to you.   Psalms 90:11 CEV

God is slow to anger and does not stay angry

The Lord is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love. 9He does not keep on rebuking; he is not angry for ever.   Psalms 103:8-9 GNT

God’s Love and Mercy

God is love

The person who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, because God is love. 9God has shown us his love by sending his only Son into the world so that we could have life through him.   1 John 4:8-9 GW

The phrase “God is love” (v. 8) implies that God’s nature is fundamentally love, rather than that love is simply a characteristic of God. It also reflects that God is the sole source of love.

God is merciful and compassionate

[James, to believers:] You have heard of Job’s patience, and you know how the Lord provided for him in the end. For the Lord is full of mercy and compassion.   James 5:11b GNT

God’s Goodness

God is good

[A psalmist, to God:] You are good and you do good.   Psalms 119:68a NET

God exercises kindness

[A psalmist:] How can I repay the Lord for all his acts of kindness to me?   Psalms 116:12 NET

Pray for persecuted Christians