By Josh Summers
Before we can understand the Gospel, we need to understand the One who gave it to us. The Bible doesn’t begin with our problems. It begins with God’s character. Who is this God who made the heavens and the earth, called Abraham, judged Egypt, and raised Jesus from the dead?
In this post, we’ll look at five key traits of God: holiness, justice, mercy, love, and justification. These aren’t just ideas. They are real, and we see them in Scripture and in the life of Jesus Christ.
1. God Is Holy
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.”
— Isaiah 6:3
In Isaiah chapter 6, the prophet sees a vision of God sitting on a throne. God is high and lifted up. The train of His robe fills the temple. Angels called seraphim fly around Him and shout, “Holy, holy, holy.” This shows that God is completely holy. Isaiah is overwhelmed and says, “Woe is me. I am ruined. I am a man of unclean lips.”
God’s holiness means He is perfect, pure, and set apart from sin. He is not like us. He is completely good and clean. R.C. Sproul once said that God’s holiness shakes us. It shows us how sinful we really are.
Without holiness, God’s other traits wouldn’t matter. If God were loving but not holy, His love could be soft and weak. If He were merciful but not holy, He might ignore justice. If He justified sinners but wasn’t holy, He would be a corrupt judge. Holiness is what makes God’s justice right, His mercy amazing, His love pure, and His forgiveness trustworthy.
In Revelation, the angels continue to sing, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” God’s holiness is not just a Bible idea. It is a powerful truth. Hebrews says God is a consuming fire. That’s why Moses had to take off his sandals at the burning bush, why the tabernacle had to be cleaned with blood, and why only Jesus could enter heaven for us.
To know God is to be changed by His holiness.
2. God Is Just
“He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them are an abomination to the Lord.”
— Proverbs 17:15
God’s justice isn’t random or mean. It comes from His holiness and perfect character. Paul Copan talks about this in his book Is God a Moral Monster? He explains that God’s justice in the Old Testament isn’t wild anger. It’s a way to protect people and bring healing. God gives warnings before He judges. He is patient and fair.
In another book, Did God Really Command Genocide?, Copan and Matthew Flannagan explain that many Bible verses about war use strong language. Phrases like “utterly destroy” were common in ancient writings. They weren’t always meant to be taken literally. God’s justice is not careless. It is wise and always matches His holy nature.
God cannot ignore sin. He is the Judge who said, “I will not leave the guilty unpunished.” But His justice is not cold. It comes from His love for what is right and good.
3. God Is Merciful
“In wrath remember mercy.”
— Habakkuk 3:2
Mercy is not weakness. It is strength that chooses to forgive. From the manna in the desert to saving Nineveh, God’s mercy is everywhere in the Bible.
In From Gods to God, Avigdor Shinan and Yair Zakovitch show how the Bible changed old myths. The gods of other nations were selfish and angry. But the God of the Bible is faithful, kind, and holy. He is slow to anger and full of love.
Even in stories of war, God shows mercy. Rahab and the Gibeonites were not part of Israel, but they trusted God. He saved them. Copan and Flannagan say these stories prove that anyone who turns to God can be saved.
Mercy doesn’t cancel justice. It works with it. God’s mercy is possible because Jesus took our punishment. That is the heart of the Gospel.
4. God Is Love
“God is love.”
— 1 John 4:8
God’s love is not just a feeling. It is strong, faithful, and life-changing. He loves like a Father who teaches His children, like a Husband who forgives His bride, and like a Shepherd who dies for His sheep.
Copan says God’s love is not soft. It is holy. God’s love wants what is best for us, even when it hurts. His jealousy is not selfish. It is the love of someone who wants to protect us from harm.
We see God’s love in His promise to Abraham, His patience with Israel, and most of all in Jesus. Jesus came not to break the law, but to fulfill it. His death and resurrection show the deepest kind of love. It is a love that gives, suffers, and saves.
Shinan and Zakovitch compare this to old myths. In those stories, gods trick people and fight each other. But the God of the Bible does not need anything. He creates because He loves. He saves because He is merciful.
5. God Is the Justifier
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
— 2 Corinthians 5:21
God doesn’t ignore sin. He deals with it fully and fairly. That’s what justification is all about. It means God declares sinners to be righteous, not because of anything we’ve done, but because of what Jesus did for us.
In the book Did God Really Command Genocide?, Copan and Flannagan talk about how God’s justice and mercy come together at the cross. Jesus took the punishment we deserved so that God could remain just and still forgive us. That’s not a contradiction—it’s the heart of the Gospel.
Justification isn’t something we earn. It’s a gift. When we turn from sin and trust in Jesus, God forgives us and gives us a new standing. Paul says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” That means we’re not just forgiven—we’re made right with God.
Paul Copan puts it beautifully in Is God a Moral Monster? when he says, “Eternal life doesn’t begin when you die—it begins the moment you believe.” That’s the joy of the Gospel. We don’t just escape judgment. We gain Christ.
The Gospel Begins with God—and God Is Holy
Knowing who God is changes everything. He is holy, just, merciful, loving, and the One who justifies sinners. The Gospel is not just a message about salvation. It is a message about who God is.
But holiness is the key. Without God’s holiness, His justice would not be fair. His mercy would not be amazing. His love would not be pure. His forgiveness would not be trustworthy. Holiness is the center of everything.
When Isaiah saw God, he didn’t cheer. He cried out in fear. “Woe is me!” he said, because he saw how holy God is (Isaiah 6:5). The angels didn’t sing “love, love, love” or “justice, justice, justice.” They sang “Holy, holy, holy,” because holiness is the most important truth about God.
The Gospel starts with a holy God who cannot ignore sin. It ends with that same God making a way for sinners to be made holy. The cross is where holiness and mercy meet. The resurrection shows that Jesus is the Holy One who conquered death (Acts 2:27).
To know God is to be changed by His holiness and made new by His grace.
“You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
— 1 Peter 1:16
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