Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 22 – The essence of God – Righteousness. Deu 32:4; Lev 19:2; Psa 7; 11Title: Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 22 – The essence of God – Righteousness. Deu 32:4; Lev 19:2; Psa 7; 11
6. The essence of God part 2: Attributes that constitute God and are commuted to beings.
Next we examine three attributes of God that make up His integrity or holiness.
The integrity or holiness of God consists of His righteousness, justice, and love.
As with knowledge, we are commanded to have all three, having God’s integrity in us, not to infinite perfection as His is, but of the same quality in a limited way.
F. Righteousness: God is infinitely perfect in both His person and character and absolute good. He cannot sin nor have anything to do with sin except to judge it.
God is perfect in person and character and therefore perfectly righteous.
Deut 32:4 "The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.
God’s goodness is not like human good which is often done to impress or gain approbation. God can do nothing that is not perfectly good, full of integrity, motivated by love, and executed through perfect justice.
God always does a right thing in a right way.
While all the attributes function together in an interwoven, seamless whole, righteousness and justice are particularly closely linked.
The universe has turned into conflict now that multiple wills are in it. God has seen in His genius omniscience the solution to justifying the unrighteous and worked in omnipotence to make it a reality. Therefore, after the fall of angels and men there remains God’s will which the creature can now freely choose through the work of Christ, and all other wills that are in opposition to that.
God’s righteousness must bring judgment or discipline to the opposing creature in justice, while at the same time, He is very patient by means of His love. All together these make up His integrity, which is terrible to the opposition and beautiful to the faithful.
All justice is administered from the perfect righteousness of God. What the righteousness of God demands the justice of God executes.
Lev 19:1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
Lev 19:2 "Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, 'You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
“holy” – qadosh = set apart, devoted, pure, sacred, distinct or separate from the common or the profane. Holiness is justice, righteousness, and love all together.
1Sa 2:2 [Hannah after receiving her son Samuel] "There is no one holy like the Lord, Indeed, there is no one besides Thee, Nor is there any rock like our God.
1Sa 2:3 "Boast no more so very proudly, Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth; For the Lord is a God of knowledge, And with Him actions are weighed.
1Sa 2:4 "The bows of the mighty are shattered, But the feeble gird on strength.
Unlike man when he judges, God has all the knowledge of all of the facts and so He does judge rightly and justly.
Psa 7:1 A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.
O Lord my God, in Thee I have taken refuge; Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
Psa 7:2 Lest he tear my soul like a lion, Dragging me away, while there is none to deliver.
Psa 7:3 O Lord my God, if I have done this, If there is injustice in my hands,
Psa 7:4 If I have rewarded evil to my friend, Or have plundered him who without cause was my adversary,
Psa 7:5 Let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it; And let him trample my life down to the ground, And lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
If I have done wrong, let me suffer the discipline of that wrong, for I trust your righteous judgements. For a man to say that is like rubbing lemon juice in satan’s open sores.
Satan has stated that God is unrighteous and unjust in judging him and yet David acknowledges the perfect righteousness (+R) of God to judge all things.
Psa 7:6 Arise, O Lord, in Thine anger; Lift up Thyself against the rage of my adversaries, And arouse Thyself for me; Thou hast appointed judgment.
Psa 7:7 And let the assembly of the peoples encompass Thee; And over them return Thou on high.
Psa 7:8 The Lord judges the peoples; Vindicate me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
Vindication cannot be arbitrary. As David recognizes, the justice of God must be satisfied through the sacrifice of the Savior and in the OT, divine discipline can only be averted by living in the Mosaic Law.
Deut 28:1-2 Now it shall be, if you will diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you
Deut 28:15 But it shall come about, if you will not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
Psa 7:9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the righteous God tries the hearts and minds.
Psa 7:10 My shield is with God, Who saves the upright in heart.
He is not relying on himself or the strength of any man for protection, but rather the Lord. He has appealed to the Lord’s grace by submitting himself to the plan of God for his life, and as such he will be shielded. [Seamless inner garment – the armor within from the seamless and timeless word of God.]
It’s not works, but rather a positioning of the volition to be either submissive to God or in opposition to God. Good works are not in view.
Psa 7:11 God is a righteous judge, And a God who has indignation every day [there are plenty of –R].
Psa 7:12 If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready.
Psa 7:13 He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts.
Psa 7:14 Behold, he [-R man] travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief, and brings forth falsehood.
Psa 7:15 He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made [law of volitional responsibility].
Psa 7:16 His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate [top of the head].
Psa 7:17 I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
For one person the +R of God is terrible and for another it is wonderful, motivating thanksgiving and comfort as an impenetrable shield.
In this the believer has to apply faith to the judgment of the unbeliever, both angel and man, in condemnation to the lake of fire. The believer must believe that this condemnation is righteous and just.
Holiness is to always do a right thing in a right way, away from sin and evil, untainted by corruption, pure and set apart as perfectly righteous and just.
Because God is holy He cannot in any way condone sin. God has never sinned, nor can He sin. He hates sin and must separate from sin and the sinner who has not been made righteous by faith in Christ.
This is why Jesus Christ had to become perfect humanity to be judged for sin as our substitute. In His deity, He could have nothing to do with sin except to judge it.
Psa 11:1 For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
In the Lord I take refuge; How can you say to my soul, "Flee as a bird to your mountain;
Psa 11:2 For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, They make ready their arrow upon the string, To shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
Psa 11:3 If the foundations are destroyed, What can the righteous do?"
In other words, “The wicked are after you, you better run into the mountains, run and hide, they will destroy you and there is nothing you can do!”
This is false and very bad advice. The Lord sees all and He will fight for His own while they keep silent and continue to submit to Him.
Ex 14:13-14 But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent."
Eph 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm [hold your ground].
There is no armour on the back!
This is so important to understand in this doctrine since the world will hate the grace oriented believer as will the KOD and we must not run and hide from them or ever be afraid of them. The omniscient, righteous God will fight for you and will be a shield to you.
Psa 11:4 The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; His eyes behold [OS], His eyelids test the sons of men.
Psa 11:5 The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates [anthropopathism meaning righteous opposition and just condemnation and/or discipline].
Psa 11:6 Upon the wicked He will rain snares; Fire and brimstone and burning wind will be the portion of their cup.
Psa 11:7 For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteousness; The upright will behold His face[communion or fellowship].
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