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Objective

In this lesson we’ll see that God is a personal Being who reveals His holy character through everything He does.

Key Verse

Psalm 145:17: The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does.

Introduction

Most people in the world today say they believe in God. But their idea of who God is often differs greatly from what the Bible reveals. Some think of God as a distant force or energy. Others imagine God as a kindly grandfather who overlooks sin. Still others see God as an angry judge who can never be pleased. None of these ideas match what God has shown us about Himself in Scripture.

In our previous lesson, we looked at the basic qualities of who God is. We saw that God is a spiritual Being who is not limited by time and space like we are. But God is also a personal Being. This means that God reveals who He is through His actions toward us. The things we do show others the kind of person we really are. When we watch how someone behaves over time, we learn about their character.

When we study what theologians call the “moral attributes” of God, we are learning about the qualities of God’s character that He wants us to understand and imitate. These are not cold, abstract ideas but living realities that should shape how we think, feel, and act every day.

Throughout the Old Testament, God progressively revealed His character to His people Israel. The foundation of everything God showed them about Himself was His holiness. When God revealed Himself to Moses at Mount Sinai, holiness was the first and most important truth Moses learned about God’s nature. When God called Isaiah to be a prophet, the vision of God’s holiness overwhelmed him completely. From this foundational understanding of God’s holiness, all of His other character qualities flow like rivers from a spring.

In this lesson, we’ll see that the holiness of God is the greatest revelation about His character. God’s holiness flows through everything He does. His holiness is expressed in His justice, goodness, love, mercy, grace, faithfulness, and truth. When we understand God’s holiness, we begin to understand why He acts the way He does toward His people.

Here are the main points we will explore together:

• God is holy
• God is just
• God is good
• God is love
• God is merciful
• God is gracious
• God is faithful
• God is true

God Is Holy

The greatest revelation that God gave to Moses was that our God is a holy God. This is also the greatest revelation that God gave to Isaiah.

Leviticus 19:2: Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.’

Isaiah 6:3: And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

But what does it mean that God is holy? This means much more than moral purity, though it certainly includes that. When we read about the tabernacle worship in the Old Testament, we discover that every object, every piece of clothing, every vessel used in worshiping God was called “holy.” The vessels themselves were not moral or pure in the way people can be moral, but they were set apart from ordinary use and dedicated completely to God. A bowl that was used to worship God could not be used for everyday meals at home.

Holiness means that God is completely separate from all created things. He can only be compared to Himself. He alone is the perfect standard of all that is right and good. When we are separated from the world’s values and dedicated to God alone, then we become holy as God is holy.

The Bible teaches that we must be holy to see God. How is this possible for sinful people like us? Only as we receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament sacrifices did not in themselves make people holy. These sacrifices were a picture pointing forward to how Christ would be our perfect sacrifice. God always saves people by faith in Christ. Through Christ alone we are made holy. This was true for Old Testament believers just as it is true for us today. We look back by faith at the finished work of Christ. They looked ahead in faith and obedience to the coming Messiah.

Hebrews 12:14: Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The sacrifices described in Hebrews 10:1-12 show us that the Old Testament offerings were shadows pointing to Christ’s perfect sacrifice that actually takes away sin. When we put our faith in Christ, we are holy and righteous in God’s eyes. But just like the Children of Israel, we are also commanded to live in a holy manner day by day. Paul makes this point when he quotes from the Old Testament and calls believers to separate themselves from the world’s values (2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1).

(Notebook Moment: How does understanding God’s holiness change the way you think about worship? What areas of your life might God be calling you to “set apart” for Him?)

God Is Just

Since God is holy, He must judge sin. And since God is just, He judges all people equally. He makes no special exceptions based on wealth, family background, or social status.

Ezekiel 18:4: For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.

Jesus told parables to teach about the justice of God. We cannot bring any valid complaint to God about how He has treated us. In the parable of the workers in the vineyard, Jesus shows us that God’s justice is perfect even when it doesn’t match our expectations (Matthew 20:1-16).

The justice of God is seen most clearly at the cross. Christ was “made sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This means that the Father’s judgment had to come upon the Son. When Jesus prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, He used the term “Abba,” which is a family word meaning “Daddy.” Jesus was the beloved Son, but the Father still could not make an exception for Him. God is just, and that’s why He could not remove the cup of suffering.

Mark 14:36: “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

God Is Good

Everything that God does is good. Why? Because everything God does flows from the goodness of His character. When the Bible says that God’s work is “good,” this means that it is complete and perfect.

Genesis 1:31: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

This same goodness continues in God’s work in our lives today. Paul assured the Philippians that God’s good work in them would continue until completion:

Philippians 1:6: Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Even when circumstances seem difficult or confusing, we can trust that God works all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose:

Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

God Is Love

John had more to say than any other Bible writer about the love of God. True love means seeking the highest good for another person, even when it costs you something.

John 3:16: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Jesus demonstrated this perfect love by laying down His life for us. He told His disciples that no one has greater love than the person who lays down his life for his friends:

John 15:13: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

John 15:9: As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

John reminds us that we love God only because He first loved us:

1 John 4:19: We love because he first loved us.

In his first letter, John explains that God doesn’t just show love—God actually is love. This means that love is not just something God does; it’s who He is at His very core (1 John 4:8-12).

Human love is a weak reflection of the perfect, holy love of God. As we grow in Christ, we learn to let Christ’s love flow through our lives to others. This is a work of the Holy Spirit, who pours God’s love into our hearts:

Romans 5:5: And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

2 Corinthians 5:14: For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

God Is Merciful

Mercy means that God does not give us what we deserve. We deserve punishment because of our sin, but He is merciful and forgiving toward us. The mercy of God is one of the great themes woven throughout the Old Testament. God’s mercy was beautifully demonstrated in how He dealt with Israel as a nation and with individuals like King David.

David understood God’s mercy deeply. In Psalm 136, he repeats the phrase “his love endures forever” twenty-six times as he recounts God’s faithful mercy throughout Israel’s history. When David sinned terribly with Bathsheba, he cried out to God based on His mercy:

Psalm 51:1: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

Jesus taught parables about the mercy of God and how we should show mercy by forgiving others. In the parable of the unmerciful servant, Jesus shows us that those who have received God’s great mercy should extend mercy to others (Matthew 18:21-35).

(Notebook Moment: Think of a time when someone showed you mercy when you didn’t deserve it. How does remembering God’s mercy toward you motivate you to show mercy to others?)

God Is Gracious

Mercy means that God holds back judgment from us when we deserve it. Grace means that God extends His blessings toward us when we don’t deserve them. The Old Testament emphasizes the mercy of God, while the New Testament emphasizes His grace. Christ is the very expression of God’s grace toward us.

Titus 2:11: For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people.

Ephesians 2:8-9: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

We continuously experience God’s grace and blessings each day. We should receive God’s grace with thanksgiving and look for opportunities to extend it to others.

God Is Faithful

God cannot change. He remains faithful to everything He has promised. God’s faithfulness does not depend upon our performance, but upon His eternal character.

2 Timothy 2:13: If we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

Because God is faithful, we can be confident that He will complete the work of salvation He began in us. Paul expressed this confidence when he wrote to Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:12: That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

This same assurance appears in his letter to the Philippians, where he declares that God will carry on His good work until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6). Jesus Himself promised His disciples that He would return to take them home to be with Him forever:

John 14:1-3: Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

God Is True

Jesus Christ is described as “Faithful and True.” These two qualities work together beautifully.

Revelation 19:11: I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.

Jesus declared Himself to be “the way and the truth and the life”:

John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Paul reminds us that it is impossible for God to lie:

Titus 1:2: In the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time.

Because God is true, we can believe everything He tells us in the Bible:

Psalm 119:160: All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.

(Notebook Moment: Which of God’s character qualities that we’ve studied do you most need to remember in your current circumstances? How might meditating on this aspect of God’s character change your perspective?)

Conclusion

The truths we have studied about God’s character are not meant to be abstract ideas that we simply learn and forget. These are living realities that should transform how we live every day. Knowing who God is should change how we treat others and how we respond to the circumstances of life.

Because God is merciful, we should extend mercy to others. Jesus taught us to pray:

Matthew 6:12: And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Because God is loving, we should love one another. Jesus made this clear when He said:

John 13:34: A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Because God is holy, we should be holy. Peter reminds us of God’s call:

1 Peter 1:15: But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.

This transformation is possible only because we know Jesus Christ, who is the complete revelation of God’s character:

Hebrews 1:3: The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

When we look at Jesus, we see exactly what God is like. And we have the Holy Spirit living within us, enabling us to grow more like Christ each day.

As you continue studying the Bible, remember that God wants you to know Him personally, not just know facts about Him. The more you understand about God’s character, the more you will love Him, trust Him, and desire to live in a way that honors Him. Ask the Holy Spirit to make these truths real in your heart and to help you reflect God’s character to everyone around you.

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