Chapter 3

In this chapter we will examine carefully what the Bible has to say about the One who was from the beginning, the Creator and Sustainer of this great universe in which we live, with all its marvellous manifestations of His wisdom and power. The contemplation of all these wonders took David's breath away! How puny are all human achievements by comparison!

"When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast established; what is man that thou art mindful of him...?" (Psalm 8:3-4)

Truly, as he says in another Psalm:

"The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork" (Psalm 19:1)

Many prophets drew attention to the natural wonders of both heavens and earth as potent witnesses of God's 'eternal power and deity', so that man has no excuse for ignoring the responsibility he bears to his Maker (Romans 1:20). We therefore approach this subject with all reverence, to outline what God has revealed about Himself in His Word. In this review, whenever we use the word 'God' we refer expressly to the Father of the Lord Jesus. While it is unlikely that the Christian reader will dissent from any of the propositions about to be submitted, it will be necessary to document them in some detail, so that valid comparisons and contrasts may be recognised when we later progress to our consideration of Jesus, the Son of God, and of the Holy Spirit of God (chapters 6 and 5 respectively). In this way the trinitarian claims of the co-equality and co-eternity of the 'three persons in the Godhead' will be very carefully tested by the witness of the inspired Word.

PROPOSITION 1: GOD IS ONE" THERE IS NO OTHER"

Among the themes that are repeated time and time again throughout the Scriptures, this proposition and declaration is one of the most emphasised. There can therefore be no possible doubt about both its importance and the outstanding need to understand its significance. Trinitarians frankly admit the strength of this emphasis but say: "Certainly, there is one God we believe that: but in the Godhead are three persons". So often has this been reiterated by them in defence of their doctrine that one tends to forget how basically contradictory such a statement is, especially in the light of a host of Bible passages correctly understood in their context.

Let's suppose for a moment that a schoolteacher wishes to impress on his class that Britain has only one reigning monarch. What choice of words would he employ to make his point beyond any possibility of misunderstanding? "The Queen", he might say, "is the sole ruler of the Commonwealth. She neither knows nor recognises any other because there isn't another; she alone is the supreme ruler". With a dozen repetitions of these unambiguous statements day after day one would hope that even the thickest pupil would get the message, and not begin to wonder whether, after all, there might not be two or even three monarchs on the British throne! In view of Israel's frequent lapses into idolatry over her long history, and God's foreknowledge that His people would be subject to such weakness, it is not surprising that throughout the prophetic writings of the Old Testament He chose to use the same heavy emphasis about His unity, so that the dullest Israelite wouldn't fail to get the point. After several centuries of their national existence and many idolatrous periods this truth has indeed taken root, and now is the central dogma of orthodox Jewish belief. Indeed the pious Jew will die with the words of the 'Shema' on his lips: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4). We will not be surprised at the strength of such a conviction when we review the following Old Testament passages (which by no means exhaust the verses bearing on the matter):

"... there is none like me in all the earth." (Exodus 9:14)

"that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him." (Deuteronomy 4:35).

"the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other" (Deuteronomy 4:39).

"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD" (Deuteronomy 6:4).

"See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me" (Deuteronomy 32:39).

"the LORD is God; there is no other" (1 Kings 8:60).

"Thou art the LORD, thou alone" (Nehemiah 9:6).

"Let them know that thou alone, whose name is the LORD, art the Most High over all the earth" (Psalm 83:18).

".... thou alone art God" (Psalm 86:10).

"Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me". I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no saviour" (Isaiah 43:10-11).

"I am the first, and I am the last: besides me there is no God" (Isaiah 44:6). 

"Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock ^2; I know not any" (Isaiah 44:8). Rock -A metaphor for God; see Deuteronomy 32:4.

"I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God" (Isaiah 45:5).

"I am the Lord, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:6, see also verse 14)

"I am the Lord, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:18).

"... there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Saviour; there is none besides me" (Isaiah 45:21).

"For I am God, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:22).

"For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me" (Isaiah 46:9).

"... you know no God but me, and besides me there is no Saviour" (Hosea 13:4).

Let's be honest. Throughout these passages, is there the slightest hint whatever that God, the great and holy one of Israel, is in fact two, three, or for that matter thirty-three? "I. even I, am He, and there is no god besides Me." Note the pronouns'I', 'He', 'Me' is this one person speaking or several? What other wording could have been selected to make this matter clearer or more precise?

The unity of God in the New Testament

It is frankly admitted by many church leaders, Trinitarians to a man, that the trinity is not taught in the Old Testament ³ the glory that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44).

"And this is eternal life, that they know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (John 17:3).

"... to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ! Amen" (Romans 16:27).

"To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Timothy 1:17).

"... the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see" (1 Timothy 6:15-16).

"To the only God, our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen" (Jude 25).

"... O King of the ages! Who shall not fear and glorify thy name, O Lord? For thou alone art holy" (Revelation 15:4).

"... we know ... that there is no God but one" (I Corinthians 8:4).

"yet for us there is one God, the Father , from whom are all things" (I Corinthians 8:6).

"there is ... one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:6).

"For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2:5).

Christ's endorsement of the Old Testament

The very first quotation listed above shows Christ's firm endorsement of Old Testament teaching. A scribe had asked Jesus which was the first commandment of all, and Jesus replied with the passage from Deuteronomy 6:4 quoted above:

"Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one."

The scribe was discerning and responded with approval and added:

"You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that He is one and that there is no other than He"

for which, as we have seen, he had plenty of Old Testament backing. Did Jesus take this splendid opportunity to correct the scribe's statement on the basis of trinitarian teaching? Far from it! When he 'saw that the scribe had answered wisely', he told him, 'You are not far from the kingdom of God'. Perhaps the scribe had overheard Christ's earlier reply to the rich young man who had addressed him as 'Good Teacher': 'Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.' This is the first of no less than eight passages (marked *) in the above list in which God's unity and uniqueness are proclaimed in clear distinction to Jesus' position. Study them one by one. Do they in any way 'confound the persons'? Do they not, each in turn, acknowledge the Father as 'the only God' (especially the first ten), and then add, as quite distinct, some role or position of the Lord Jesus? It will not do to fall back on the excuse that Jesus had temporarily 'relinquished' his godhead status in order to 'become man' and thus spoke as he did. Most of these passages refer to the post-resurrectional era when, according to Trinitarians, the Lord had resumed his full honour and glory, and we must take this into account when evaluating the import of these verses. And even those spoken during Christ's earthly ministry exhibit his full support for Old Testament teaching, a support he showed on every occasion and whatever the subject under discussion.

John 17:3 is extremely important in that the gift of eternal life is predicated on a believer's sound knowledge of the Father as 'the only true God', and of the Son whom He sent into the world ⁴. We are not therefore arguing fine debatable details but the very fundamentals of belief and salvation. C.K. Barrett in his celebrated commentary on John comments on this verse: "The God whom to know is to have eternal life is the only being who may properly be so described; he and, it must be added, he alone is truly 'theos' (God). Note too here the order of precedence, repeatedly stated in this Gospel (over 20 times): it is the Father who sent the Son a clear indication of the greater directing the subordinate (see further in chapter 6).

The Apostle Paul's testimony

The Apostle Paul, God's chosen vessel to make His name known to the Gentiles, has several of these important passages in his writings. His concluding words to the Romans read: "to the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus Christ." Why make this distinction if the two are 'co-equal'? And why use only for the Father the description 'the only wise God'? When discussing with the Corinthians food offered to idols he distinguishes 'one God, the Father' from 'one Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Corinthians 8:6): all things are 'from' the former but 'through' the latter the difference between primary source and vehicle. To the Ephesians he cites seven entities in the 'unity of the Spirit', amongst which are 'one Lord' (clearly Jesus, see 3:11), 'one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all and through all and in all' (Ephesians 4:5-6). He tells Timothy 'there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ...' (1 Timothy 2:5). So Jesus in his exalted state still styled 'man' acts as intermediary between God and men a faithful High Priest for God's household of believers, but clearly not equal in status to his Father, for otherwise there would be little point in this mediatorial role being assigned to him. In chapter 6:15-16 of this same letter it must be perfectly clear that the description "the blessed and only Sovereign" applies to the Father, for the sentence concludes, "whom no man has ever seen or can see". Plenty of people saw Jesus in his earthly life; Stephen and Paul saw him in his exalted state (Acts 7:55; 9:17,27), but "no one has ever seen God" (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12). The Apostle Jude's concluding doxology also distinguished between "the only God, our Saviour" and "Jesus Christ our Lord" (Jude 25).

"I and the Father are one"

But, Jesus refutes this charge immediately by replying v19 "Truly truly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing....." In fact this charge was palpably false and merely the Jews own wrong conclusion - Just as the other charge was equally false. "He ..... broke the Sabbath" Jesus was altogether without sin [John 8v46,29] so there is no question that he transgressed any of the Ten Commandments. Verse 18 echoes what the Jews themselves said, and the sense would be better brought out here by using quotation marks in the appropriate places:

"This was why the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because 'he not only broke the Sabbath ' but also called God his Father, 'making himself equal with God." ⁵

The only other New Testament passage that comes to mind as apparently teaching the trinitarian type of unity is found in the Authorised version text of 1 John 5v7:

"For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one."

The short answer to this is that these words are known to be spurious, and have been omitted from virtually every subsequent translation. [see also p. 198 ] More details of how they to be included in the AV are recounted by Prof. F.F. Bruce in his "The Books and the Parchments" [1963, p. 210] He states that the words 'first appeared in the work of a Spanish Latin writer named Priscillian who died in 385, then in a few old Latin authorities, from which they were later imported into the Vulgate text. Erasmus rightly omitted them from his first two printed editions of the Greek New Testament [1516 and 1519] He only reluctantly included them in the third edition because one late Greek manuscript was found to contain them [ albeit in a form which betrayed their Latin origin]

To sum up. We have in the Old Testament the unity and uniqueness of God repeatedly affirmed in the clearest possible way; the New Testament fully confirms this teaching and makes it clear that the birth of God's Son into the world in no way undermined this cardinal doctrine of the Fathers supremacy.

PROPOSITION 2: GOD IS ETERNAL - "FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING"

There is overwhelming testimony to the fact that God is without beginning or end. Abraham "called on the name of the Lord, the everlasting God" [Gen 21v33] Moses blessing of Israel concluded with the comforting assurance:

"The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms" [Deut 33v37]

Words which are taken up in Psalm 90:

"Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God." [Psalm 90v1-2]

Other Psalms conform [93v2; 102v24,27; 106v48], as do the prophets [Isaiah 40v28; Jeremiah 10v10; Habakkuk 1v12] notably Isaiah 57v15 "the High and Lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is Holy"; so to the apostles [Romans 1v20; 16v26; 1 Timothy 1v17; Revelation 4v9; 10v6; 15v3 RSV] Needless to say our finite minds cannot comprehend an eternal existence, nevertheless a study of Astronomy compels the recognition of boundless time and space. If we attempt to set limits to these, the question comes immediately - What is beyond those limits? Similarly we cannot imagine anyone or anything bringing God into existence or, in view of his nature [see below] terminating it. The simple testimony of the word, illustrated in the passages cited, is wholly adequate and satisfying to the enquiring mind. Through the prophet Isaiah God has said implicitly:

"Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me" [43v10]

and again:

"I am the first and I am the last..." [46v6]

Thus He is Literally "from everlasting to everlasting" .

PROPOSITION 3: - GOD IS INCORRUPTIBLE

This proposition follows logically on the previous one, especially in the sense of His nature being immortal [i.e.. not subject to decay], but it includes moral incorruption too - God cannot tolerate sin or wickedness in any form [although He is merciful and forgiving to repentant sinners]. Consider the following passages:

".....and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man ..." (Romans 1v23 RV).

"Now unto the King eternal, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever." (1Timothy 1v17 RV).

The moral aspect of God's incorruptibility is frequently referred to in scripture, as we might expect. Abraham's plea to the Almighty: "Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" Gen 18v25 is expanded in Moses' farewell song to Israel:

"He is the rock, His work is perfect, for all his ways are judgement: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" Deuteronomy 32v4 AV

Elihu had similar comments:

"Yea, surely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment" (Job 34:12 AV).

The words of Habakkuk to God are very much to the point:

"Thou who art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on wrong ..." (Habakkuk 1:13).

This saying echoes the tribute of the Psalmist:

"Thou art not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not sojourn with thee" (Psalm 5:4).

Closely related to this theme is God's justice and impartiality (see under Proposition 7, part ii).

The other aspect of incorruptibility concerns spirit nature, a Bible theme of which the average reader seems to know very little, yet which leads to certain firm conclusions when the relevant passages are collated, as follows. Jesus said of his Father: "God is spirit" (John 4:24) and in this he was reflecting God's words in Isaiah 31.3:

"The Egyptians are men, and not God: and their horses are flesh, and not spirit."

Likewise the angels are "ministering spirits" (Hebrews 1:14, quoting Psalm 104:4). Further, Jesus himself after his resurrection is styled "the Lord the Spirit" and "a life giving Spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 RV). What is common to these affirmations, in addition to the term 'spirit', is the fact that all these persons are immortal, as the following table illustrates:

Similarly, God's great and precious promises to faithful men and women are that they too will be made partakers of "the divine nature", having escaped the corruption that is in the whole world because of passion (lust) (2 Peter 1:4). The Apostle Paul puts it this way:

"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery (i.e. a secret). We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed ... For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." (1 Corinthians 15:50-53, AV).

It is not difficult to deduce from these references that spirit nature is the divine nature, immortal and sinless; it is the nature possessed by God and the angels, and by the Lord Jesus after his resurrection and it is also promised to all who in faith overcome the flesh (i.e. the debased human mind) by their allegiance to God's law, for such will be made "like him" (Jesus), their lowly bodies changed to be "like his glorious body" (1 John 3:2; Philippians 3:21).

PROPOSITION 4 GOD IS OMNIPOTENT

There is no lack of Scripture testifying to this proposition that God is all-powerful. God's own title 'the Almighty' is witness to this (see further under 'Titles of Deity'). The basic Hebrew word for God, 'el', appears to be closely related to the concept of power, and is sometimes so translated, e.g. in Laban's anger with Jacob when he says "It is in my power to do you harm" (Genesis 31:29), and again when Jacob named an altar he had built 'El-elohe-Israel' (Genesis 33:20), which the N.I.V. translates as "mighty is the God of Israel". Of more general testimonies we may cite Genesis 18:14: "Is anything too hard for the LORD?"; also Job 42:2 "I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be thwarted"; also Jeremiah 32:17: "Nothing is too hard for thee ..." From the New Testament we have Jesus' words "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26), as well as the record in Revelation: "We give thanks to thee, Lord God Almighty" (11:17) and "the Lord our God the Almighty reigns" (19:6). The only 'limits' to God's power are those in which He would act inconsistently with His own principles. Thus we have Paul, in affirming God's faithfulness, declaring that He "cannot lie" (Titus 1:2; see also Numbers 23:19). No sane person is going to charge the Almighty with inconstancy or vacillation in such circumstances.

PROPOSITION 5 GOD IS OMNISCIENT

Again the Bible is replete with proof passages demonstrating that God knows all things. Psalm 147:5: "His understanding is beyond measure"; Isaiah 40:28: "... his understanding is unsearchable." The story of Job illustrates the breadth of God's knowledge and wisdom as well as His power. Indeed all the works of creation manifest that wisdom and knowledge, and David among others marvels at them (Psalm 8:3-5), as we noted at the beginning of this chapter. When summing up the divine purpose to save eventually both Jews and Gentiles, Paul breaks into a paean of praise to God:

"O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!" (Romans 11:33):

A special aspect of God's omniscience is his foreknowledge, "... declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done ..." (Isaiah 46:10). His great plan to establish His Kingdom on earth, with all its stages (and apparent setbacks), was foreseen and controlled from the beginning, indeed "before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24; Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 17:8). The lives and characters of men and women are known beforehand, and even their very thoughts are read before they themselves can formulate them. Psalm 139 is specific on this:

"O LORD, thou hast searched and known me ...

thou discernest my thoughts from afar ...

Even before a word is on my tongue, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether" (Verses 1-4) ⁶

PROPOSITION 6 GOD IS OMNIPRESENT

Here the Scriptures present us with an apparent paradox, viz. that on the one hand God has a definite location or 'dwelling place', and yet He is said to be present everywhere and at all times. Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple repeatedly uses the expression: "Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place" (1 Kings 8:30,39,43,49), which fact the Lord Jesus endorses in his model prayer: "Our Father who art in heaven ..." (Matthew 6:9). Similarly Hebrews 9:24 speaks of Jesus entering "heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf" (see also Luke 1:19). But Solomon also included in his prayer the rhetorical question:

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee: how much less this house which I have built" (1 Kings 8:27).

How then can God at one and the same time be located in a specific place (which the Bible simply calls 'heaven') and yet be present everywhere? The most detailed answer is afforded us in Psalm 139:7-12; the passage begins:

"Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? 

Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?"

The remaining verses plainly state that nowhere can one be beyond God's sight and control (Jonah discovered this when he attempted to flee from 'the presence of the LORD'). The verse just quoted from Psalm 139:7 is a Hebrew 'parallelism', where 'Spirit' is the equivalent of 'presence' (i.e. of God Himself), so we may say that God is everywhere present by His Spirit, i.e. by His power. This power is not a separate 'person' in a trinitarian sense, but God's own mind and disposition (see chapter 5). Through Jeremiah God confirms what we have read in Psalm 139:

"Am I a God at hand, says the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? says the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? says the Lord" (Jeremiah 23:23-24).

We just mention here (fuller consideration is reserved for chapter 4) "the Angel of the Presence" that God appointed to lead Israel through the wilderness (Exodus 23:20-22). This is an extension of the concept of God's omnipresence, clearly exercised in part through His servants the angels. The Psalmist describes these agents in glowing terms. After a reference to God's worldwide dominion, he proceeds to address them:

"Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word! Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers that do his will" (Psalm 103:20-21).

Thus God sees fit to delegate authority to His heavenly servants, who are guiding human affairs towards the establishment of His Kingdom. As God's 'authorised agents' they are an extension of His 'presence'. The subsequent application of this principle to the Lord Jesus is a marvellous feature of the divine revelation and will be the subject of chapter 6, Section 3.

PROPOSITION 7 GOD IS INVISIBLE

The Scriptures teach that God veils Himself from human sight in order that mortal men should not perish instantly in the dazzling and blinding glory of His presence:

"Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?" (Isaiah 33:14)

The first line here is a specific allusion to God's presence on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:17). Even Moses, who was permitted to draw near to God, was not allowed to see His glory. As it was, the radiance he did receive was sufficient to persist in his face for some time afterwards (Exodus 34:29ff).

"... you cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live." (Exodus 33:20).

"No man has ever seen God ..." (John 1:18; 1 John 4:12).

"Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made ..." (Romans 1:20).

"He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God ..." (Colossian 1:15).

"To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17).

"The blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see." (1 Timothy 6:15-16).

"... for he (Moses) endured as seeing him who is invisible" (Hebrews 11:27).

The combined force of these testimonies, and notably 1 Timothy 6:15-16, leaves no alternative but to conclude that our Creator has a literal brilliance and energy so great that mortal man would not survive an instant in His presence. The reader should note the contrast between this unapproachableness and the access by which people drew near to Jesus, even touching him with their hands (Luke 5:13; 24:39) and vice versa, as well as seeing and handling him (1 John 1:1). Stephen and Saul saw him after his ascension (note the blinding glory in the latter case). At his return too, "every eye will see him, every one who pierced him" (Revelation 1:7).

Jesus himself claimed to have seen the Father (John 6:46). The implications of this will be explored in chapter 6.

PROPOSITION 8 GOD'S MORAL ATTRIBUTES

These include holiness, jealousy for His Name, impartiality, love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness. All these are well known and recognised by those enlightened by the Scriptures, so that for the most part only a few illustrations and confirmatory passages will be quoted, These attributes are of the greatest importance because apart from them there would be no salvation for the human race. Further, they are traits which must also be developed in the characters of all who wish to be included in God's spiritual family, as indeed they were supremely developed in the character of Jesus. Let's review each in turn.

• God is holy and jealous for his name.

The term 'holy' has a very clear and precise meaning in the Bible. The Hebrew word comes from a root signifying 'to be set apart, consecrated for a particular purpose, dedicated ⁷. God describes himself as 'the Holy One of Israel' some forty times in the Old Testament, most of these in the prophecies of Isaiah. The perfection and completeness of God's character distinguishes Him altogether from the gods of the nations (as any comparison with the pantheons of Babylon, Greece and Rome will quickly reveal), and He is jealous of the honour of His Name. He will not tolerate idol worship or any rival of man's invention. Is not this why there is a repeated emphasis on the necessity to know him?. Isaiah is particularly scathing against the simpleton who, having chosen a tree out of the forest, uses half to fuel his cooking fire, then sets up the other half as an idol and bows down to it, invoking a mere block of wood to save him! (Isaiah 44:9-20).

Under the Law of Moses God required that His people Israel were to be holy too, distinct and separate from the surrounding nations. Especially were they to shun the abominable practices of the Canaanites whom God was to drive out of the land by Joshua's victorious campaigns (see Leviticus 20:22-26). They were strictly forbidden to indulge in Baal worship and its immoral cult practices, and they were not to tolerate mediums or wizards.

The same principle of separation, in its basic, moral aspects, has also been made binding on Christian believers (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1; 1 Peter 1:14-16). Hence the use of the term 'saints' (i.e. holy, separate ones) applied in the New Testament letters to all believers, not to just a select few 'canonised' by the orthodox churches.

• God is just and impartial

As God is "Judge of all the earth" (Genesis 18:25) it is right and fitting that He Himself should be the exemplar of justice, and 'no respecter of persons'. Again the Scriptures speak with unanimous voice:

"For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the terrible God, who is not partial and takes no bribe" (Deuteronomy 10:17).

"... take heed what you do, for there is no perversion of justice with the LORD our God, or partiality, or taking of bribes" (2 Chronicles 19:7).

"... who shows no partiality to princes, nor regards the rich more than the poor ..." (Job 34:19).

"Peter ... said "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to Him" (Acts 10:34-35).

"Masters ... forbear threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him" (Ephesians 6:9).

"and if you invoke as Father him who judges each one impartially according to his deeds, conduct yourselves with fear ..." (1 Peter 1:17). ⁸

But God's justice is very much tempered with mercy and forgiveness, as we now proceed to consider with gratitude.

• God is merciful and forgiving

After Israel had made the golden calf, Moses successfully interceded with God to forgive them and asked to see God's glory. In response he was favoured with a revelation of God's character His moral glory the beauty of which runs like a golden thread throughout the rest of Scripture:

"The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed,' The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and the fourth generation" (Exodus 34:6-7).

The mercy and forgiveness of God, both towards individuals and nations, are repeatedly shown in His relationship with Israel, first in the events of the Exodus and the forty years wandering in the desert, and subsequently in their chequered history in the land of promise. Psalm 78 summarises their behaviour up to the days of David, and how God repeatedly bore with their backslidings:

"He restrained his anger often, and did not stir up all his wrath. He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes and comes not again" (Psalm 78:38-39).

After listing Israel's many transgression, the leaders of the returned exiles repeatedly referred to the Exodus declaration Nehemiah 9:17,19,31; see also Daniel 9:9. The individual aspects of forgiveness, shown even to such wicked men as Ahab and Manasseh at the slightest sign of their repentance, will surely give the greatest encouragement to the humble believer of every age, distressed at his own repeated failings. How well it is expressed by the Psalmist!;

"If thou, O LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared" (Psalm 130:3-4).

These two characteristics of God's character, mercy and grace, form the basis of the proclamation of the divine name YAHWEH (usually rendered JEHOVAH), concerning which we will have much to say in subsequent pages.

• God shows steadfastness and faithfulness

These fundamental traits, also included in the Exodus declaration reproduced in the previous section, speak for themselves. There is no vacillation with the Almighty towards those who love Him and keep His commandments. Repeatedly these twin aspects appear together, especially in guaranteeing the eventual fulfilment of the "covenants of promise" made to the Jewish patriarchs. ⁹ It is time now to expound these moral characteristics together under a general consideration of God's name YAHWEH, and also relate them to the main titles by which He has made Himself known. 

THE NAME AND TITLES OF GOD