John MacArthur – The Reformation Resurgence

By barzilaiendan on June 19, 2016 • ( 0 )

God’s attributes don’t compete against one another for importance. His love doesn’t override everything else He says about Himself.

Moreover, love isn’t something that God discovered in the New Testament, thus abandoning His earlier dominant attributes of justice and wrath. The transition from Malachi to Matthew doesn’t mark a transition in God’s character. God doesn’t change (Malachi 3:6). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). God is love, but He doesn’t dispense with His other characteristics in favor of His love.

Unfortunately there is a modern propensity to overemphasize God’s love and ignore His other attributes.

If we are to accurately understand and present the love of God, then we must do so in a way that complements—not competes with—His other attributes. They must be harmonized within the corpus of Scripture. While that is theologically challenging, it is not impossible. As John MacArthur points out, the seeming conflict between some of God’s attributes is ultimately resolved at the cross of Christ.