God: Loving / Good / Gracious / Merciful
Love means...
God's love (agape) is unconditional benevolence (favor) toward us. It is because of this love that God shows grace and mercy to us.
How do we know God is love?
1 John 4:8-9 tells us that God is love. It is part of His character. This means that God is the original and supreme example of love It was proven when He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us.
How is God's justness reconciled with His love?
God is just as well as loving. His justice demands payment for our sin. But because of His love, He paid for our sins Himself, satisfying justice.
Good means...
While 'good' refers to God's righteousness, it also refers to God's actively seeking the good of those who love Him, and even those who don't.
How do we know God is good?
God shows His goodness to all men (Matthew 7:11, Psalms 136:25, 145:9, Proverbs 29:13). Psalms 25:8-10 says God is good and upright, teaching men His ways. Jesus said that only one, God, is good (Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18).
Gracious means...
Grace is God's unmerited favor. It is His beneficial working in our lives.
How do we know God is gracious?
God is gracious and slow to anger (Psalms 145:8). Our salvation is an act of God's grace (Ephesians 2:8, Titus 2:11), as is our sanctification ( 1 Corinthians 15:10)
Merciful means...
Merciful describes God's compassion to us. It includes God's forgiveness of our sins and His protection of us.
How do we know God is merciful?
God's mercy is seen in his dealings with the Hebrews from the time they left Egypt. Even though they failed to keep His covenant, He forgave them and supplied their needs (Deuteronomy 4:31). God's mercy is without limit (Psalms 103:17)
What significance does God's love, goodness, graciousness, and mercy have for us?
If it were not for God's love, then we would have no hope of salvation (John 3:16). But because of His unconditional love for us, there is nothing we can do to cause God to love us any more or less. We also know that God has our best interests at heart. There is nothing that can separate us from God's love (Romans 8:38-39).
All content written by Andrew Bernhardt unless otherwise noted. Site hosted on lunarpages.com.
Topic viewed 425 times since 2009-07-02 02:50:14.
Last updated by System on 2004-06-08 12:00:00.
