Pastor's Power Points

God’s Holy Love

God only acts according to His perfect nature and character.  He declares to His Servant – the chosen Servant, Messiah – “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness” (Isa. 42:6).

“Righteousness” (tsedeq) comes from the root sdq which means a rigid moral, ethical standard (like the idea of a measuring rod). The standard is the will and nature of God.

 The LORD is righteous in all his ways,
and holy in all his works.
Ps. 145:17

John Oswalt points out: “the righteousness of God is the stringency with which He acts in accordance with the will of His holiness.”  All that God is He is fully and equally. His love is consistent with His holiness. It is preposterous to assume that one can outweigh the other. We can, however, know and understand God from varying standpoints where one seems to be in view more than the other. Indeed we must because we are finite.  If we look at the “will of His holiness” apart from His work of redemption then we see His wrath in that man is alienated from Him and condemned (Rom. 1:18-19; Eph. 2:3). But from the standpoint of salvation we see His love (He is righteous and just to forgive, I John 1:9). Because God’s love is holy (Eph. 1:4) there must necessarily be wrath against those who despise it.

That sense is in Messiah’s righteous calling – to act in strict adherence to God’s character and will – to be right in showing gracious love while at the same time being right in judgment and wrath on those who reject the light of His love and mercy (John 3:18, 36; Acts 17:30-31; Rev. 1:7).