Page 20 - Bible Doctrines II w videos short

(Heb. 4:16; cf. 2:17; Jas. 5:11). We can imitate God’s mercy in our conduct toward others as evangelist
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Matthew notes; “ Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matt. 5:7; cf. 2 Cor. 1:3-4).

On God’s grace, apostle Paul understands grace as something given to somebody who does not deserve
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it. He stresses that salvation by grace is the opposite of salvation by human effort. He says that “ For
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all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by his grace through the
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redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-24 [CSB]). In Romans 11:6, he states that “ Now if by
grace, then it is not by works; otherwise grace ceases to be grace” (CSB). On God’s patience, some
authors of the Old Testament books speak of God as slow to anger (Exod. 34:6; Num. 14:18; Psa. 86:15;
103:8; 145:8; Jonah 4:2; Nah. 1:3, et al.). In the New Testament, Paul speaks about God’s kindness and
forbearance and patience (Rom. 2:4). We can imitate God’s patience and be slow to anger (Jas. 1:19),
and be patient in suffering as Christ was (1 Pet. 2:20). We are to lead a life with patience (Eph. 4:2) and
patience is listed among the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 (see also Rom. 8:25; 1 Cor. 13:4; Col.
1:11; 3:12; 2 Tim. 3:10; 4:2; Jas. 5:7-8; Rev. 2:2-3, et al.).

Holiness
This attribute means that God the Father is “separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own
honor.” Holiness is perfect moral purity which to be maintained must involve separation from the
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world. Yet, amazingly, God’s holiness is not compromised in his interaction with us or with His creation.
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The psalmist says, “ Who is like the LORD our God—the one enthroned on high, who stoops down to
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look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the trash
heap” (Psa. 113:5-7 [CSB]). This holiness provides the pattern for us to imitate. We are commanded in
Scriptures to be holy because the LORD our God is holy (Lev. 19:2; cf. 11:44-45; 20:26; 1 Pet. 1:16). After
bringing the children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, they were commanded by God to obey His voice;
“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to
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myself. Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, . . . and you will be my kingdom
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of priests and my holy nation’” (Exod. 19:4-6 [CSB]). New covenant believers are also to “ Pursue peace
with everyone, and holiness—without it no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14 [CSB]).

Peace (or Order)
The peace of God the Father can be defined as follows: it means that “in God’s being and in his action he
is separate from all confusion and disorder, yet he is continually active in innumerable well-ordered,
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fully controlled, simultaneous actions.” However, the peace of God is not inactive, but ordered and
controlled. Paul says that God’s actions are full of peace and not disorder (Rom. 15:33; 16:20; Phil. 4:9; 1
Thess. 5:23, et all.). Disorder here means confusion or unrest. We can imitate this peace by allowing the
Holy Spirit to control all aspect of our lives because peace is among the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).
We are encouraged to walk in God’s ways, that is, in “ righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”
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(Rom. 14:17 [CSB]).

Righteousness, Justice
While those words have different terms in English, in both Hebrew and Greek, there is only one-word
group behind those two English terms. As a result, they will be treated as one attribute of God. The
righteousness of God the Father means that “God always acts in accordance with what is right and is
himself the final standard of what is right.” Moses says that “ The Rock—his work is perfect; all his
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ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true” (Deut. 32:4 [CSB]). What is right?
Right is any that conforms to “God’s moral character.” We can imitate the righteousness of God the
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Father by striving to live righteously through what we speak and do.

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