(the picture in the video is from Tim Challies)
C.
Goodness (moral)
1. Definition
a. God is the final standard of good, and all that God
is and does is worthy of approval. (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, pg. 197)
b. God’s nature is perfectly good and morally
excellent
2. Scriptural Data
a. Final
standard of good
i. Psalm 34:8: Oh, taste and see that the Lord is
good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
ii. Psalm 100:5: For the Lord is good; his steadfast
love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.
iii. Luke 18:19: And Jesus said to him, “Why do you
call me good? No one is good except God alone.
b.
Everything God is and does is worthy of approval
i. Genesis 1:31: And God saw everything that he had
made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was
morning, the sixth day.
ii. Psalm 119:68: You are good and do good; teach me
your statutes.
iii. Psalm 145:9: The Lord is good to all, and his
mercy is over all that he has made.
3. Consideration and Reflection
a. God is
the fountain of good
i.
All goodness comes from God
ii.
Morality (right and wrong) comes from God
b. God is
the greatest good
i.
in that He is what we should be seeking
ii. in Him is the only place to find goodness, which,
in part, is what is missing from our lives
c. Euthyphro
dilemma
i. Is what is morally good commanded by God because it
is morally good, or is it morally good because it is commanded by God?
ii. Moral good just is = something eternal and
necessary besides God
iii. Moral good commanded by God = good and evil arbitrary
iv. Neither. God’s very nature is good and morality is
rooted in His nature
4. Practical Application
a. Since goodness is rooted in the very nature of God,
it is impossible for Him to do wrong (i.e. evil acts, sin)
i. Hebrews 6:18: so that by two unchangeable things,
in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might
have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.
D. Holiness (moral)
1. Definition
a. In respect to God, holiness means not only that He
is separate from all that is unclean and evil but also that He is positively
pure and thus distinct from all others. (Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology, pg. 42)
2. Scriptural Data
a. God is
absolutely holy
i. Exodus 3:3-5: And Moses said, “I will turn aside to
see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to
see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I
am.” Then he said, “Do not come near;
take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is
holy ground.”
ii. Leviticus 19:2: “Speak to all the congregation of
the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God
am holy.
iii. Revelation 4:8: And the four living creatures,
each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day
and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
b. God’s holiness exposes man’s sinfulness
i. Isaiah 6:1-5: In the year that King Uzziah died I
saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his
robe filled the temple. Above him stood
the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he
covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the
thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with
smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am
lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of
unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
c. God’s
holiness separates man from God
i. Isaiah 59:1-2: Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your
iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have
hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
ii. Habakkuk 1:13: You who are of purer eyes than to
see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain
silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?
3. Consideration and
Reflection
a. 2 types
of holiness (Louis Berkhof, Systematic
Theology, pg. 73-74)
i.
Majesty-Holiness
-transcendent
-not
creaturely
-not
of this universe
ii.
Ethical-Holiness
-moral
-separation
from sin
-moral
excellence
4. Practical Application
a. We should
strive for personal holiness in our lives
i.
God hates wickedness
-Revelation 14:18-20: And another angel came out from
the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud
voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the
clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” So the angel swung his sickle across the
earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great
winepress of the wrath of God. And the
winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as
high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.
ii. 1 Peter 1:14-16: As obedient children, do not be
conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is
holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be
holy, for I am holy.”
iii. Matthew 6:33: But seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
b. In
Christ, God’s holiness becomes our justification
i. Romans 1:16-17: For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew
first and also to the Greek. For in it
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written,
“The righteous shall live by faith.”
ii. Romans 3:21-26: But now the righteousness of God
has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear
witness to it— the righteousness of God
through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no
distinction: for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a
propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's
righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former
sins. It was to show his righteousness
at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who
has faith in Jesus.
c. God
disciplines us in order that we share in His holiness
i. Hebrews 12:10-17: For they disciplined us for a
short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that
we may share his holiness. For the
moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields
the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make
straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint
but rather be healed. Strive for peace
with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the
Lord. See to it that no one fails to
obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes
trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or
unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired
to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent,
though he sought it with tears.
d. In the
end, everything on earth will be holy to the Lord
i. Zechariah 14:20-21: And on that day there shall be
inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the
house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar. And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be
holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them
and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a
trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.
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