Lesson 20
THE GODHEAD
Part V
by Ruth Mahoney Swaim
Moral Attributes
Moral attributes are those characteristics which belong to God in relation to His creatures. These attributes are those which God wants man to possess and thus they are also called Communicable Attributes.
1. Perfect Holiness
Speaks of absolute purity. He cannot sin or tolerate sin. He is sinless perfection. Holiness is God's inward character. He is perfectly holy in all He thinks, says and does.
Leviticus 19:2; Be ye holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. Holiness is one of the key words in Leviticus. It is used 45 times.
Mark 1:24: Jesus Christ is the perfectly Holy One.
Isaiah 57:15: His name is holy.
Psalm 47:8; 89:14; 97:2; 99:9: Fundamental characteristic of God.
Because we live in a fallen world where every effort is made to divert us from real truth, we tend to think of holiness as that attribute of God which doesn't want us to enjoy life or have anything we like and therefore is unattainable in mortal man.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
If it were not possible to be holy, God wouldn't have issued the command in Leviticus 19.
Holiness is a continual work which God does in our hearts and lives when we surrender to Him. He does not say to us Be perfect." But He does say Be holy."
Why? Because He sees us as holy through the blood of Jesus. That means when you sin, come to God in prayer and through the blood of Jesus ask forgiveness. This is when He works holiness into our lives.
Holiness is God's blessing to man and His strong desire toward us in order that we enjoy everything to the fullest. He wants us to have life and have it in even more abundance than we can imagine.
He wants moral and sexual purity in us in order that we can enjoy the fullness of marriage in all it's rewarding gifts. Sexual purity is to enhance the life of a marriage, not destroy it.
He wants honesty and truth in you because He knows that is the only way you can live a safe and prosperous life. Marriages, cultures and societies fall apart because of immorality and dishonesty. Witness the last few years of our own government and financial institutions. Greed, dishonesty and immorality will destroy anything and everything it touches.
For example: Picture yourself as an automobile needing repairs. This automobile is trying to go down the road with an engine that is sputtering and backfiring. The tires are all out of found and it is rusted and dented something awful. All kinds of gunk and rust is interfering with it's performance.
Now if a mechanic comes along and says he would like to clean it up, fix it up, shine it up so that it runs like new and looks like new, would you refuse to allow him to do this for you? Would you be so attached to this rundown piece of mechanical wreck that you would not believe he could make it run smoothly and look fresh and new?
This is what holiness is. It is the process which God wants to take you through in order to clean you up and make you run spiritually perfectly and smoothly with efficiency and purpose.
You may be all stopped up with pride, theft, immorality, selfishness, gossip, unforgiveness, self pity, etc.
These besetting sins keep the smooth flow of the Spirit of God from working in your life. He wants to deal with that, get it all out of you so that you can run perfectly, flow smoothly and become the holy model He has planned for you.
That is what holiness is. It isn't what you CAN't do or be. It is what you CAN do and be.
2. Perfect Righteousness
Righteousness is holiness in action. Righteousness is the 'doing' part of holiness. The Holiness of God must see that sin is judged and the sinner punished. The righteousness of God is His holiness dealing justly with sin. (Lest you get nervous here about God's judgment, remember that your sin was dealt with at the cross. Jesus took on the punishment for our sin. God dealt with our sin at the cross when Jesus paid the price for us.)
Righteousness is an action word. It is the action of what holiness works in you. When He has worked beautiful holiness in you, then you will do righteous deeds, make righteous decisions, begin to do the works of God and become productive and useful in the Kingdom F God.
Holiness of life is the divine standard. People can do many good things and yet not be holy in heart and righteous in conduct. They can do many good things and yet lack that spiritual quality of the heart called holiness.
Holiness is a heart condition.
Righteousness is the outward result or conduct of that heart condition.
Deuteronomy 32:4: All God's ways are judgment. He is a God of truth and without iniquity, and He is just and right.
Revelation 16:57: True and righteous are the judgments of the Lord.
Genesis 18:25: Judge of all the earth.
Romans 1:17: Righteousness is revealed in the Gospel
I John 3 tells us that we must practice righteousness.
If you are holy you will DO righteous deeds.
If you are holy you will DEAL with people in honesty.
If you are holy you will TALK with people in truth.
If you are holy you will DO GOOD and spread Heaven around everywhere you go.
If you are holy you will GIVE out and allow charity to flow through you.
If you are holy you will allow the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT (Galatians 5:22) to develop in your life and hand them out where you live daily. The fruits of the Sprit are:
Love
Joy
Peace
Long Suffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperance (self control)
If you are holy you will GIVE.
Do you give out of show forth love?
Do you hand out joy?
Do you bestow peace on troubled people?
Are you long suffering and patient?
Do you deal gently with people?
Do you show forth goodness in a business dealing or an activity?
Do you show faith when you converse with people?
Do you use self control on the job?
I put the questions back at me! I must confess I fall short on most of this list.
But Praise God who always causes us to triumph (II Corinthians 2:14), I can go to Him each day, confess my sin and short coming and ask for HIs forgiveness. He never turns His back on me. He cleanses me daily by His blood and the washing of water by the word (Ephesians 5:26) then continues his work of holiness in my life.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, you have said "Be ye holy for I the Lord your God am holy." I want to be obedient to your command You have said I can be holy just as you are holy. I ask now that you begin your work in me so that I may have clear communication with you. I want nothing to stand between my soul and my savior. I want nothing to clog up my life or to cut off our fellowship. I need your cleansing every day so that I can show forth your love and be a spiritually efficient and clean vessel for your use.
The next lesson will be on the other two Communicable Attributes of God.
This lesson by Ruth Mahoney Swaim may be copied, shared and handed out freely.
copyrighted by Ruth Mahoney Swaim for protection against commercial use.
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