bgamers900/questgpt huggingface dataset:
Topic: The Character of God
Question: Does God have a sense of humor?
Answer: Perhaps the best indication that God does have a sense of humor is that He created man in His image (Genesis 1:27), and certainly people are able to perceive and express humor. The American Heritage Dictionary defines a “sense of humor” as “...The ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is comical or funny.” According to this definition, then, God must show an ability to perceive, enjoy, or express what is comical. The difficulty is that people perceive what is comical differently, and what sinful man perceives as funny would not amuse a holy and perfect God. Much of what the world calls humor is not funny but is crass and crude and should have no part in a Christian’s life (Colossians 3:8). Other humor is expressed at the expense of others (tearing down rather than building up), again something contrary to God’s Word (Colossians 4:6; Ephesians 4:29).An example of God’s humor is the instance in which the Israelites were using the Ark of the Covenant like a good-luck charm in taking it to battle, and the Philistines ended up capturing it and placing it in their temple before their idol of Dagon. They came into the temple the next day and found Dagon flat on his face before the ark. They set him back up. The next morning, there he was again, but this time he had his hands and head cut off as a symbol of his powerlessness before the God of the ark (1 Samuel 5:1-5). God’s putting Dagon in a position of submission to His ark is a comical picture.This incident is an example of God laughing at the foolishness of those who would oppose Him. “See what they spew from their mouths— they spew out swords from their lips, and they say, ‘Who can hear us?’ But you, O LORD, laugh at them; you scoff at all those nations” (Psalm 59:7-8). Psalm 2 also reveals God laughing at those who would rebel against His kingship (verse 4). It is like the comical picture of a kindergarten-aged child being upset at his parents and running away from home...all the way to his neighbor’s house. But there is obviously a serious side to this as well, and although the picture of weak and silly man trying to match wits with an almighty and all-knowing God is comical, God takes no delight in their waywardness and its consequences but rather desires to see them turn around (Ezekiel 33:11; Matthew 23:37-38).A person does not crack jokes in the presence of one who has just lost a close loved one; silly jokes are out of place on such occasions. In the same way, God is focused on the lost and is looking for those who will care for their souls as He does. That is why our lives (while having times of refreshing and humor) are to be characterized by “soberness” (seriousness about making our lives count for Christ) (1 Thessalonians 5:6,8; Titus 2:2,6).
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What is the finger of God?
Answer: The phrase the finger of God is found four times in the Bible, three times in the Old Testament and once in the New. It is synonymous with the supernatural power of God as it directly impacts events in this world. The first reference to the finger of God is found in Exodus. Moses had just unleashed the third plague on Egypt in an effort to force Pharaoh to free the Israelites who had been held captive for four hundred years. The Lord instructed Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his staff and “strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt” (Exodus 8:16). After Pharaoh’s magicians tried and failed to replicate the miracle, they said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19).The second reference to the finger of God also occurs in Exodus, where the phrase is used about the tablets of stone given to Moses. These tablets contained the covenant law, “inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18). Moses relates an account of the same incident in Deuteronomy 9:10. It is not to be supposed that God literally touched the tablets, since God is spirit and has no “fingers”; rather, the phrase the finger of God is an anthropomorphism indicating that God directly caused the commandments to be engraved upon the stone. The 1956 movie The Ten Commandments depicts the writing as coming from a finger of fire, which is probably as good a rendering of the actual act as any. However God accomplished it, the letters were devised and formed by Him, the writing was His, and the engraving on the stones was done by His own power.The New Testament reference to the finger of God is from Jesus Himself. After freeing a blind and mute man from a demon, Jesus said to His critics, “If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). In a parallel passage, the phrase is the Spirit of God rather than the finger of God (Matthew 12:28). In both accounts, the meaning is that Jesus performed miracles by the overt power of God, the same power that caused the gnats to swarm and the writing to appear on the tablets of stone.The finger of God is a reference to God’s unlimited power as He intervenes directly in the affairs of men. The working of the finger of God is unmistakable. No device of man can compete with that power, as even the heathen magicians came to recognize in Moses’ day.
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What does it mean that God repented?
Answer: The term repent at its root means “to change one’s mind.” To repent of sin means to change your mind about sin. At one time you thought sin was good and acceptable and even fun. When you repent, you see sin as evil and harmful. Any change of mind can be described as repentance.When the Bible says God “changes His mind,” it is speaking of God in human terms. (The technical term is anthropomorphism.) Of course, God knows all along what He will or will not do, and He never changes His mind because He never gets new information that He has to consider. However, as He interacts with people, He interacts in real time. God does not interact with us today on the basis of the sin that we may commit next month. Today, if we are walking in obedience and fellowship with Him, God chooses not to act on what He knows is coming. Likewise, if we are living in sinfulness today, but He knows we are going to repent next year, God does not treat us as He will next year. He deals with us now, in the situation we are in.In the King James Version, Jeremiah 26:13, 1 Chronicles 21:15, and Joel 2:13 say that God repented. Specifically, God repents of the punishment that He was going to send, because the people repented. God was sending judgment, but, in response to the sinners’ change of mind about sin, God also “changed His mind” about the judgment. Because of the possible confusion such wording may produce, the NIV translates the term “relent,” which does convey the idea accurately: “Now reform your ways and your actions and obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will relent and not bring the disaster he has pronounced against you” (Jeremiah 26:13, emphasis added).On the eternal level, God never “changes His mind.” In fact, Numbers 23:19 says that God does not lie or repent—because He never gains access to new information. But on the level of interaction with humans—from our perspective—He does. Although He knows what will happen before it does, He reacts to us in “real time.” When the situation changes, He changes His actions and His responses to us.
Topic: The Character of God
Question: How big is God?
Answer: The question “how big is God?” pops up in two divergent contexts: serious philosophical discussions and children’s Sunday school. In the latter, the answer usually given is “bigger than you can imagine!”—setting up the follow-up question: “bigger than my house?!” In philosophy, particularly metaphysics, the question of God’s size is likely to take the form of discussions of the nature of reality, the existence of the supernatural, etc. Intellectuals may chuckle at the child who asks, “How big is God?” but the child could just as easily laugh at the philosopher’s confusion about reality.In dealing with the issue of how big God is, we should first state that God is not made of “stuff”; therefore, He has no dimensions, and spatial descriptions do not apply to Him. God is not “made” at all but is preexistent, eternal, with no beginning and no end (Revelation 22:13). He is existence, and without Him nothing else can exist. God exists outside of and independent of His creation.God is “spirit” (John 4:24) and as such has no physical or material form. This characteristic of God is difficult for us to understand. We have a spirit linked to a physical body and are closely tied to the material world. We naturally think in terms of length, depth, and height. We feel that, if we can measure something accurately, we can understand it better. So we invent measuring devices; we speak in terms of angstroms, inches, meters, miles, and light-years. But we run into a problem when we try to measure God; we find He is immaterial and therefore immeasurable. He is infinite in every way. God resists quantification and will not submit to our attempts to scrutinize Him, classify Him, and decipher Him.How big is God? Very big. More than that, God is transcendent; He is so “other” that we can never fully understand Him. At the same time, we are made in His image, and He loves us (Genesis 1:27; John 3:16). He has communicated to us through His Word and His Son, Jesus. Whether the question of God’s bigness comes from a child in Sunday school or from a metaphysicist, the answer comes down to this: He is “big” enough to make the universe and “small” enough to know and love us.
Topic: The Character of God
Question: Does God have a physical body?
Answer: Both the Bible and good philosophy report that God is non-physical - spirit. In John 4:24 it is said that God is spirit (see also Luke 24:39; Romans 1:20; Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17). This is why no material thing was to be used to represent God (Exodus 20:4). But this can also be shown by reflecting on what God is. Philosophically the same truth comes through. All that is created is necessarily finite and limited. But the first cause (God) is uncreated, and therefore must be non-finite, or infinite. That which is beyond the finite must, by definition, be infinite, and the Bible states that God is beyond creation (1 Kings 8:27; Job 11:7-9; Isaiah 66:1-2; Colossians 1:17). That which is physical cannot be infinite - for you cannot add finite parts together until they reach infinity. Therefore God is spirit as opposed to physical/material in His Being. This does not mean He cannot localize a physical appearance. God is not composed of matter nor any other imaginable substance. He also cannot be measured, is not spatial, and has no true location (presence is a different concept).Knowing this truth can help us understand the metaphorical speech often used to describe God or, more often, God’s actions in Scripture. In the case of God, once all finitude is negated from a statement, what is left is what is actually true. If nothing is left, then it is a pure metaphor. Some metaphors use attributes from creation itself (2 Samuel 22:3). Others use man’s attributes (anthropomorphism - Deuteronomy 33:27). In this way we can go from what we know by experience to what we know through the metaphors. For example, when Scripture describes God’s mighty arm we know that arms are by definition limited - but might is not. So God’s mighty arm is actually unlimited power to act (what we call omnipotence). When Scripture describes God’s mind, we know that minds are limited, but knowledge is not. God’s mind is actually His infinite knowledge (what we call omniscience).There were times in the Bible when God appeared in a physical body in order to be seen by men in a form which they could perceive without danger to themselves. Because God said, “No man can see me and live” (Exodus 33:20), He chose at certain times to reveal Himself in human form. These occurrences are called theophanies (Genesis 12:7-9; 18:1-33; 32:22-30). Every theophany wherein God takes on human form foreshadows the incarnation, where God took the form of a man to live among us as Emmanuel, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What does God look like?
Answer: God is a spirit (John 4:24), and so His appearance is not like anything we can describe. Exodus 33:20 tells us, “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” As sinful human beings, we are incapable of seeing God in all His glory. His appearance is utterly unimaginable and too glorious to be safely perceived by sinful man.The Bible describes God appearing to people on various occasions. These instances should not be understood as describing exactly what God looks like, but rather as God revealing Himself to us in a way that we can understand. What God looks like is beyond our capability of understanding and describing. God gives glimpses of what He looks like to teach us truths about Himself, not necessarily so that we can have an image of Him in our minds. Two passages that powerfully describe God’s amazing appearance are Ezekiel 1:26-28 and Revelation 1:14-16.Ezekiel 1:26-28 declares, “Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.” Revelation 1:14-16 proclaims, “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”These passages represent Ezekiel’s and John’s best attempts at describing the appearance of God. They had to use symbolic language to describe that for which human language has no words; i.e., “what appeared like,” “like the appearance,” “he looked like,” etc. We do know that when we are in heaven, “we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2). Sin will be no more, and we will be able to perceive God in all His glory.
Topic: The Character of God
Question: Does God still perform miracles?
Answer: Many people desire miracles from God. They want God to perform miracles to “prove” Himself to them. “If only God would perform a miracle, sign, or wonder, then I would believe!” This idea, though, is contradicted by Scripture. When God performed amazing and powerful miracles for the Israelites, did that cause them to obey Him? No, the Israelites constantly disobeyed and rebelled against God even though they saw all the miracles. The same people who saw God part the Red Sea later doubted whether God was able to conquer the inhabitants of the Promised Land. This truth is explained in Luke 16:19-31. In the story, a man in hell asks Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn his brothers. Abraham informed the man, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31).Jesus performed countless miracles, yet the vast majority of people did not believe in Him. If God performed miracles today as He did in the past, the result would be the same. People would be amazed and would believe in God for a short time. That faith would be shallow and would disappear the moment something unexpected or frightening occurred. A faith based on miracles is not a mature faith. God performed the greatest “God miracle” of all time in coming to earth as the Man Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins (Romans 5:8) so that we could be saved (John 3:16). God does still perform miracles—many of them simply go unnoticed or are denied. However, we do not need more miracles. What we need is to believe in the miracle of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.The purpose of miracles was to authenticate the performer of the miracles. Acts 2:22 declares, “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.” The same is said of the apostles, “The things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles—were done among you with great perseverance” (2 Corinthians 12:12). Speaking of the gospel, Hebrews 2:4 proclaims, “God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to His will.” We now have the truth of Jesus recorded in Scripture. We now have the writings of the apostles recorded in Scripture. Jesus and His apostles, as recorded in Scripture, are the cornerstone and foundation of our faith (Ephesians 2:20). In this sense, miracles are no longer necessary, as the message of Jesus and His apostles has already been attested to and accurately recorded in the Scriptures. Yes, God still performs miracles. At the same time, we should not necessarily expect miracles to occur today just as they did in Bible times.
Topic: The Character of God
Question: Why does Scripture emphasize the right hand of God?
Answer: The Scripture has several words translated "right" and the usage of the term, "right hand" ranges from a direction, to the opposite of wrong, what is just or what conforms to an established standard, and to a place of honor or authority. In the case of division or appointment in the Bible, the right hand or right side came first, as when Israel (Jacob) divided the blessings to Joseph’s sons before he died (Genesis 48:13-14).In addition, a person of high rank who put someone on his right hand gave him equal honor with himself and recognized him as possessing equal dignity and authority. And this is what the Apostle Paul writes of Jesus Christ in Ephesians. "And what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us, the ones believing according to the working of His mighty strength which He worked in Christ in raising Him from the dead, and He seated Him at His right hand in the heavenlies, far above all principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this world, but also in the coming age" (Ephesians 1:19-21). Here we see God exalting Jesus above all others by seating Him at the right hand of the Father.The term "God’s right hand" in prophecy refers to the Messiah to whom is given the power and authority to subdue His enemies (Psalm 110:1; Psalm 118:16). We find a quote in Matthew 22:44 from Psalm 110:1, which is a Messianic Psalm. "The Son of David" is claimed by the LORD Jesus Christ as He is the "greater son of David" or the Messiah. In this passage of Matthew 22, Jesus questions the Pharisees about who they think the "Christ" or the Messiah is. "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? Whose son is He? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make Thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call Him Lord, how is He his son?" (Matthew 22:41-45, KJV). The position of the Messiah is at God’s right hand.The fact that Jesus Christ is at the "right hand of God" was a sign to the disciples that Jesus had indeed gone to heaven. In John 16:7-15, Jesus told the disciples that He had to go away and He would send the Holy Spirit. So the coming of the Holy Spirit in the upper room on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13) was proof positive that Jesus was indeed in heaven seated at the right hand of God. This is confirmed in Romans 8:34 where the Apostle Paul writes that Christ is sitting at God’s right hand making intercession for us.Therefore, what we can say is that "God’s right hand" refers to the Messiah, the LORD Jesus Christ, and He is of equal position, honor, power, and authority with God (John 1:1-5). The fact that Christ is "sitting" refers to the fact that His work of redemption is done and when the fullness of the Gentiles is brought in (Romans 11:25), Christ’s enemies will be made His footstool. When the end of the age comes, all prophecy will be completed, and time will be no more.
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What does it mean that God is truth?
Answer: Any statement beginning with the words God is indicates that it is ontological in nature; that is, the statement refers to an attribute of God’s being. The attributes of God are typically categorized into two groups, with the first being nonmoral attributes (e.g., eternality, infinity, and omnipotence) and the second being moral attributes, one of which is truth. The statement God is truth speaks of God’s morality.To say that God is truth is to acknowledge that truth itself proceeds from the nature of God. While many things can have the truth, only one thing can be the truth, with that one thing being God Himself.Scripture refers to this fact about God directly in a number of places. For example, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and He called the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13). A more indirect affirmation that God is truth is Hebrews 6:18, which says that “it is impossible for God to lie.”The Hebrew term for “truth” is emet, which means “truth,” “firmness,” “stability,” and “faithfulness.” The Greek word for “truth” is aletheia, which denotes “truth,” “sincerity,” “straightforwardness,” or “reality.” From these terms—and from other attributes of God that support His truthfulness such as His immutability (God cannot change), infinity, and simplicity (God cannot be partly anything)—we understand that God Himself is absolute truth. That truth will never change and can always be relied upon.Lastly, one often overlooked aspect of truth in the Scriptures that applies to God is the synonymous relationships between righteousness and truth, and between unrighteousness and falsehood. For example, Paul refers to people who “do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness” (Romans 2:8), and he highlights the equality of unrighteousness and lies and righteousness and truth in Romans 3:5, 7. From this we learn that God’s moral attribute of truth is also tied to His attribute of holiness.
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What does it mean that God is light?
Answer: “God is light,” says 1 John 1:5. Light is a common metaphor in the Bible. Proverbs 4:18 symbolizes righteousness as the “morning sun.” Philippians 2:15 likens God’s children who are “blameless and pure” to shining stars in the sky. Jesus used light as a picture of good works: “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds” (Matthew 5:16). Psalm 76:4 says of God, “You are radiant with light.”The fact that God is light sets up a natural contrast with darkness. If light is a metaphor for righteousness and goodness, then darkness signifies evil and sin. First John 1:6 says that “if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.” Verse 5 says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” Note that we are not told that God is a light but that He is light. Light is part of His essence, as is love (1 John 4:8).The message is that God is completely, unreservedly, absolutely holy, with no admixture of sin, no taint of iniquity, and no hint of injustice.If we do not have the light, we do not know God. Those who know God, who walk with Him, are of the light and walk in the light. They are made partakers of God’s divine nature, “having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4).God is light, and so is His Son. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). To “walk” is to make progress. Therefore, we can infer from this verse that Christians are meant to grow in holiness and to mature in faith as they follow Jesus (see 2 Peter 3:18).God is light, and it is His plan that believers shine forth His light, becoming more like Christ every day. “You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). God is the Creator of physical light as well as the Giver of spiritual light by which we can see the truth. Light exposes that which is hidden in darkness; it shows things as they really are. To walk in the light means to know God, understand the truth, and live in righteousness.Believers in Christ must confess any darkness within themselves – their sins and transgressions – and allow God to shine His light through them.Christians cannot sit idly by and watch others continue in the darkness of sin, knowing that those in darkness are destined for eternal separation from God. The Light of the World desires to banish the darkness and bestow His wisdom everywhere (Isaiah 9:2; Habakkuk 2:14; John 1:9). In taking the light of the gospel to the world, we must by necessity reveal things about people that they would rather leave hidden. Light is uncomfortable to those accustomed to the dark (John 3:20).Jesus, the sinless Son of God, is the “true light” (John 1:9). As adopted sons of God, we are to reflect His light into a world darkened by sin. Our goal in witnessing to the unsaved is “to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18).
Topic: The Character of God
Question: Which of God’s attributes are above all others?
Answer: The question of which of God’s attributes are highest or most important or “above” the others must be answered in two parallel modes. One possible answer differentiates between the attributes of God that are more important for us to understand; but we must also consider whether or not some attributes of God are more important for Him, in reality. Interestingly, when we look at the attributes of God, we find they are all unchangeably perfect, so there is no practical difference in their importance—at least not to God. However, from a human viewpoint, the way we understand God’s qualities has to come in a certain order.In order to be truly “infinitely” perfect, a being has to be perfect in all qualities. Attributes such as omnipotence and omniscience can only exist in cooperation with each other. For example, a being could not have all possible power unless he also has all possible knowledge. He could not be all-knowing unless he was all-present. And so on and so forth. For this reason, God’s attributes cannot be ranked on a scale of importance as if some were more critical than others to who God is. All of God’s qualities are equally perfect, equally “infinite,” and equally ranked.At the same time, human beings are not infinite, nor are we perfect. Our understanding has to come in steps and stages. For this reason, certain attributes of God must be understood before we can properly appreciate the others. When all is said and done, the starting point for understanding who God is, from a human perspective, is His holiness (see Isaiah 6:3). God’s holiness means that He is set apart from mankind, that He is something other than we are, in a radical and fundamental way. He is perfection, without a hint of unrighteousness. Before anything else about God makes sense, we must understand that God is holy—without recognizing this uniqueness, none of His other qualities make sense.More generally, we need to understand attributes of God that are “beyond” mankind before we can make sense of those more connected to human experience. God’s holiness, sovereignty, and omnipotence, for example, are crucial foundations for our understanding of His other qualities such as love and justice. As pointed out before, God’s perfection ensures none of God’s qualities are “more” or “less” present than the others. But, in order to grasp God to the extent the human mind is able, we can arrange those qualities in a certain logical order. That begins with His holiness, extends to His power (omnipotence, sovereignty, etc.), and then to His personality (love, mercy, justice, etc.).
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What is the grace of God?
Answer: Grace is a constant theme in the Bible, and it culminates in the New Testament with the coming of Jesus (John 1:17). The word translated "grace" in the New Testament comes from the Greek word charis, which means “favor, blessing, or kindness.” We can all extend grace to others; but when the word grace is used in connection with God, it takes on a more powerful meaning. Grace is God choosing to bless us rather than curse us as our sin deserves. It is His benevolence to the undeserving.Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves.” The only way any of us can enter into a relationship with God is because of His grace toward us. Grace began in the Garden of Eden when God killed an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21). He could have killed the first humans right then for their disobedience. But rather than destroy them, He chose to make a way for them to be right with Him. That pattern of grace continued throughout the Old Testament when God instituted blood sacrifices as a means to atone for sinful men. It was not the physical blood of those sacrifices, per se, that cleansed sinners; it was the grace of God that forgave those who trusted in Him (Hebrews 10:4; Genesis 15:6). Sinful men showed their faith by offering the sacrifices that God required.The apostle Paul began many of his letters with the phrase, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:7; Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:3). God is the instigator of grace, and it is from Him that all other grace flows. God shows both mercy and grace, but they are not the same. Mercy withholds a punishment we deserve; grace gives a blessing we don’t deserve. In mercy, God chose to cancel our sin debt by sacrificing His perfect Son in our place (Titus 3:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). But He goes even further than mercy and extends grace to His enemies (Romans 5:10). He offers us forgiveness (Hebrews 8:12; Ephesians 1:7), reconciliation (Colossians 1:19-20), abundant life (John 10:10), eternal treasure (Luke 12:33), His Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), and a place in heaven with Him some day (John 3:16-18) when we accept His offer and place our faith in His sacrifice.Grace is God giving the greatest treasure to the least deserving—which is every one of us.
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What does it mean that God is merciful?
Answer: God being merciful basically means that, when we deserve punishment, He doesn’t punish us, and in fact blesses us instead. Mercy is the withholding of a just condemnation. Throughout the Bible, God gives many illustrations of His mercy. God fully demonstrates His mercy in Jesus Christ.God was merciful to the wayward Solomon in 1 Kings 11:13. God was merciful to Israel in captivity (Psalm 106:45; Nehemiah 9:31). David illustrated God’s mercy when he showed kindness to Mephibosheth (2 Samuel 9:7). God’s mercy was illustrated every year on the Day of Atonement, when the high priest entered the Holiest Place and sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice before the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:14).Another illustration of God’s mercy is found in Matthew 18:23–27. In this parable, Jesus describes a rich ruler who was owed a large sum of money. The ruler ordered that money be collected, but then the debtor came and begged for mercy. The ruler, in turn, graciously forgives the debt. Here’s the point: we owed God a debt we could never repay, and He has freely forgiven us that debt in Christ! Interestingly, after the ruler in the parable forgives the debt, the person who owed the money refuses to forgive someone else. The ruler then judges that ungrateful person. God requires us to be merciful and forgiving to others here on earth (see Matthew 6:15). We who have been forgiven so much have no right to withhold forgiveness from others.Mercy is coupled with other attributes of God in Psalm 86:15, “You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (ESV). God’s mercy is rooted in His love for us. He is merciful, in large part, because He is love (1 John 4:8). As sinners, we deserve punishment (Romans 3:23). God’s righteousness requires punishment for sin—He wouldn’t be holy otherwise. Since God does love us and is merciful, He sent His Son (John 3:16). The fullness of His mercy is seen in Matthew 27. Jesus is brutally beaten and murdered on our behalf; Jesus received our just condemnation, and we received God’s mercy.Because of His love for us, God wants us to be with Him. His mercy is required for that to take place; there is an inseparable connection between God’s love and mercy. Jesus laid down His life and became the sacrificial lamb (Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29) so that God’s mercy could be extended to us. Instead of punishing us for our sin, God allowed His Son to take the condemnation in our place. That is the ultimate act of God’s mercy (see Ephesians 2:4–5). To our eternal benefit, “mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13b).
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What does it mean that God is omnibenevolent?
Answer: The word omnibenevolent comes from the Latin word omni, meaning “all,” and the word benevolent, meaning “good” or “charitable.” When we say that God is omnibenevolent, we are saying that God is absolutely good and that no action or motive or thought or feeling or anything else about Him is not purely good. He is “all-good.” The Bible provides many testimonies of God’s goodness, including Jesus’ own, when He asserted that no one is truly good except God Himself (Mark 10:18). This can only mean that, although human beings can do good things, only God is omnibenevolent, or wholly good.To believe in a perfect being, one must accept that God can be omnibenevolent. If God is completely self-sustaining, independent of need, the “un-caused cause” and “un-moved mover,” He must also be perfectly good. If God were simply a good and powerful being, but not perfectly good, there would be an element of contingency. That is, we could conceive of a being of potentially greater benevolence—and someone with greater goodness would be greater than God. Since the goodness of anything is measured by its perfection, God must be perfectly good in order to also be omniscient and omnipotent. All three aspects of His person must be in place for us to conceive of any one of the three.The most common objection to the assertion that God is omnibenevolent, as well as omnipotent and omniscient, is the problem of evil. If God is all-knowing and all-powerful and perfectly good, why does evil exist? Philosophers debate this question endlessly. Some solve the problem by saying that Lucifer’s and then, later, man’s free will was the cause of evil and that God was not involved in causing evil. One might then ask, “Why then did God create a being who could choose evil?” and the typical answer to that is “because He wanted beings who would be able to make choices”; i.e., He did not want robots.Philosophically speaking, God’s omnibenevolence is a complicated issue. The problem of evil is a complex one. However, we do know that, for God to be God, He must be omnibenevolent, omnipotent, and omniscient. And, really, the issue comes down to believing the Bible, which presents God as always good (Psalm 106:1; 135:3; Nahum 1:7). His message to sinners, through Christ, is “good news” (Luke 2:10); His revelation of Christ is called the appearing of “the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior” (Titus 3:4, ESV). It is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4), goodness is one of the results of His indwelling Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and He brings goodness to fruition in our lives through faith (2 Thessalonians 1:11).
Topic: The Character of God
Question: What does it mean that God is love?
Answer: Let’s look at how the Bible describes love, and then we will see a few ways in which God is the essence of love. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a). This is God’s description of love, and because God is love (1 John 4:8), this is what He is like.In love, God does not force Himself on anyone. Those who come to Him do so in response to His love. In love, God shows kindness to all. In love, Jesus went about doing good to everyone without partiality. In love, Jesus did not covet what others had, living a humble life without complaining. In love, Jesus did not brag about who He was in the flesh, although He could have overpowered anyone He ever came in contact with. In love, Jesus willingly obeyed His Father in heaven. “The world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:31). In love, Jesus was/is always looking out for the interests of others.The greatest expression of God’s love is communicated to us in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Romans 5:8 proclaims the same message: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We can see from these verses that it is God’s greatest desire that we join Him in His eternal home, heaven. He has made the way possible by paying the price for our sins. He loves us because He chose to as an act of His will. Love forgives. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).So, what does it mean that God is love? Love is an attribute of God. Love is a core aspect of God’s character, His Person. God’s love is in no sense in conflict with His holiness, righteousness, justice, or even His wrath. All of God’s attributes are in perfect harmony. Everything God does is loving, just as everything He does is just and right. God is the perfect example of true love. Amazingly, God has given those who receive His Son Jesus as their personal Savior the ability to love as He does, through the power of the Holy Spirit (John 1:12; 1 John 3:1, 23-24).
Topic: The Character of God
Question: Does the Bible teach that God is love?
Answer: The Bible does teach that God is love, yet it also describes that He is much more than just love. In 1 John, the apostle John affirms twice that God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). In many other passages, the Bible describes the love that God expresses, but only John actually says that God is love. Clearly, John is not implying that God is only a concept or that He is equal to love. On the contrary, John consistently recognizes God as personal, but described as love. While love is a central attribute of God, there are other divine attributes that are important, and one in particular may be even more definitive of who God is.While John records that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16), he also records the scene in heaven with the four creatures who constantly say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come” (Revelation 4:8). John explains that God is love, but he also communicates that the creatures God surrounds Himself with repeatedly affirm His holiness. It seems that God most wants to be understood as being holy, or totally set apart.The scene John records in Revelation is similar to what Isaiah sees in Isaiah 6. God is sitting on His throne, and Isaiah sees seraphim who are constantly calling out, saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is filled with His glory” (Isaiah 6:3, AMP). Isaiah understands the grace, compassion, and lovingkindness of God (Isaiah 43:4; 48:14; 61:8; 63:9). At the same time, Isaiah records the priority God places on His own holiness. This helps us understand that God’s love is much higher and “more” than any kind of love we could imagine. As Isaiah also records, God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8–9). In other words, even God’s love is defined by His holiness. We should remember that, while God is love and He is very loving, love is an expression of His holy character. Consequently, we have to rely on Him to define what love is and how He wants us to express that love.Thankfully, God does exactly that. He affirms His love for all humanity (John 3:16) as expressed through Jesus Christ. He challenges those who have believed in Jesus to think like Him, maintaining the same love (Philippians 2:2) and following His example of humility and service to others (Philippians 2:5–8). Because God has loved us, we ought to love Him and each other (1 John 4:19). If we are loving God with the holy kind of love He expects, we must also be loving our brother (1 John 4:20).God is holy, and He is love. He has expressed His love to the whole world in many ways, but most significantly through Jesus Christ. He expects us to receive His love by believing in Jesus (Romans 5:1–2), and then we need to learn more about how to love Him and love others in a manner worthy of our calling (Ephesians 3:14–19; 4:1). God is holy. God is love. As we have become His children by belief in Jesus Christ, He expects that we would reflect both holiness and love (1 Peter 1:15–16; 1 Thessalonians 4:9).
Topic: The Nature of God
Question: What are the communicable and incommunicable attributes of God?
Answer: Communicable attributes of God are those that humans can also possess, although only to a finite extent. If something is communicable, it is able to be communicated or transmitted to others. Incommunicable attributes of God are those attributes exclusive to Him. Humans cannot share the incommunicable attributes of divinity.As finite beings, humans will not share in even the communicable attributes of God to the same extent that God has those attributes. For example, God is love (1 John 4:8). Humans can love, but we do so imperfectly. God is also just. Humans have a sense of justice and can carry out justice but, again, do so imperfectly. God is Creator. Humans are creative, but we cannot create ex nihilo as God has. Some of the other communicable attributes of God are grace, mercy, goodness, truthfulness, rational thought, and relationality.As we grow in Christ and are transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit in us (Romans 12:1–2; 2 Corinthians 3:18), we share in God’s communicable attributes in a more meaningful and perfected sense. When we are saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus, we become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Yet we also still battle against our sinful natures and must learn “to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24). It is in abiding in Christ that we can bear fruit (John 15:1–17). It is through the filling of the Holy Spirit that we exhibit characteristics like “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). It is when we are in Christ that our love more closely resembles godly agape love and is less tainted by our own sinfulness.It is important to understand that we will never be fully like God, and in no sense will we ever become gods. God is distinct from us, and yet we are made in His image and redeemed by His Son. We are called to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:15–16) yet know that only He is completely holy; any holiness in us comes from Him. Our sharing in God’s communicable attributes is for His glory and is made possible by His design of us and His enabling as we abide in Him.God’s incommunicable attributes are those characteristics that cannot be shared with His creatures. God’s incommunicable attributes are things that only God can have and that make Him distinct from creation. For example, God is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, sovereign, transcendent, immutable, and self-existent. We can define these attributes, but we often do not fully comprehend them and can never call them our own. The incommunicable attributes of God are what make God, God. They are His distinguishing features that only He possesses. The incommunicable attributes of God are cause for us to revere, worship, trust, and praise the Creator.
Topic: The Nature of God
Question: What does it mean that God is great?
Answer: Among many other places, Psalm 145:3 declares, “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” Dozens of verses describe God as “great” and give as evidence His wondrous works (e.g., Psalm 86:10; 96:4; 135:5; Job 5:9; 9:10; 1 Chronicles 16:24). In describing a person, the word great means “preeminent, above the norm, or distinguished.” It also implies superior character or quality, such as saying that Abraham Lincoln was “a great man.” So, when the Bible describes God as “great,” it sets the Lord apart from human beings we may consider “great” and calls attention to His worthiness to be worshiped and adored (2 Kings 17:36; Psalm 5:7).The word great is used in many English versions of the Bible to capture the meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words describing God’s superior character qualities. First John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (emphasis added). Romans 9:22 speaks of God’s “great patience.” Lamentations 3:22–23 praises the Lord for His great love and His great faithfulness.Ephesians 1:19 indicates that God’s might is unsurpassed—it is an “incomparably great power.” Titus 2:13 calls Jesus “our great God and Savior,” meaning that the Lord is of the highest rank, eminent in His authority. Hebrews 10:21 says that Jesus is “a great priest over the house of God,” signifying that Christ surpasses all other priests throughout history in nature, in power, and in ability. When Jesus cast a demon out of a boy, the crowd was “amazed at the greatness of God” (Luke 9:43).All through the Bible, we see evidence that God is great, from the creation of the world, to the parting of the Red Sea, to the miracles of Christ, to the final judgment. Our response to God’s greatness is to humbly worship and adore Him: “Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness” (Psalm 150:2).God is so great that He cannot be compared with anything or anyone else (Psalm 71:19). Since He created everything in existence, He is far superior to those creations. He is bigger, in the sense that He cannot be confined by time or space. He is wiser, using foolish things to confound those who think themselves wise (Isaiah 40:13; 1 Corinthians 1:27). He is infinite, while all created things are finite (Psalm 90:2). God, in fact, defines greatness, and all other uses of the word are mere echoes of that greatness.