In our study of the doctrine of the integrity of God when we left off we were discussing the principle that any form of rapport or attraction or any category of works or merit does not sustain God's love. God's love is not bought with good behavior or worthy deeds.
Legalism tries to bribe God with what it considers to be good or moral, but the only thing that impresses God in the human race is the reflection of His own divine integrity that comes from the spiritual life that He as provided for us through our function in the two power options, three spiritual skills, the ten problem solving devices, and three stages of development in the spiritual life.
Believers cannot attract the love of God through their function in human good. God loves because it is an inherent part of His eternal integrity. He doesn't love us in response to our behavior. He is love, his love does not change and everything he does is love. Mal 3:6;
Infinity characterizes all that God does. Infinity is a part of His personality. The infinity of God involves His eternal self-existence; His immutability, His perfection, His absolute truth, His eternal love and integrity.
God knew everything about you in eternity past and provided everything for you so that you can now learn how to have capacity for rapport with Him.
Since the finite mind cannot understand the infinite, anthropopathisms are used reveal divine policies, judgments, or blessings. An anthropopathism ascribes human compassions; feelings, attitudes to God that God does not actually possess.
They are used to indicate divine policy in terms of a language of accommodation.
Anthropopathisms are God's use of man's frame of reference and human attitudes to explain divine policy in terms of human frame of reference. Through the use of anthropopathisms, God borrows from humanity, compassion, longsuffering, benevolence, happiness, and human love.
All of the personality traits and manifestations of human characteristics that are used to describe God must be related to anthropopathic expression to avoid blasphemy and to understand the divine policy in terms of human function.
The borrowing of human personality expressions in good and bad emotions must not be construed as being in conflict or incompatible with God's absolute perfection.
For example anger, wrath, hatred, and repentance are ascribed to God as human characteristics that God does not possess. God does not possess these things but we can understand God's policies when they are described from our human frame of reference.
An example of this is found in Rom 9:13; "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" are both anthropopathisms that express God's divine policy of acceptance or rejection based on regeneration by grace through faith alone in TLJC alone.
God loved both Esau and Jacob equally. TLJC died as a substitute for them both, but while Jacob took advantage of God's love and grace, Esau did not and as a result Jacob received spiritual life and Esau remained in spiritual death.
The only difference between them was their orientation God, his integrity and his grace policy but that difference was infinite. John 3:36;
Infinite God is beyond the limits of human language; but God has revealed Himself to us in very clear concepts in terms of our own language.
In the person of Christ in hypostatic union, the two natures, divine and human. were united inseparably but there was no mixture or loss of separate identity or transfer of attributes.
In his perfect humanity, our Lord had true human emotion his but human emotion was never transferred to His deity. The eternal essence of God has not and never will change to accommodate to or to relate to any creature.
The Postsalvation Spiritual Life is based in integrity not emotion. What the righteousness of God demand, the justice of God executes.
What the righteousness of God condemns, the justice of God judges. The righteousness of God condemned every sin in human history and imputed them to Jesus Christ for judgment by the justice of God on the cross.
When the righteousness of God approves, the justice of God blesses. The righteousness of God has given total approval to salvation by grace through faith alone in TLJC alone and to the postsalvation spiritual life.
The righteousness of God is the base and foundation for the function of the grace of God that is provided by the justice and Love of God.
The justice of God is the point of reference for every believer in Jesus Christ. Justice enables the grace of God, and that is basis for both blessing and discipline from God's Love.
The righteousness of God approves the believer's residence and function in the spiritual life because the spiritual life was designed to be compatible with His righteousness, justice and love through his policy of grace.
The righteousness of God condemns perpetual carnality and believers who function under persistent OSN control of the soul receive discipline from God.
The passage in 2Cor 13:14; explains to us the principle of harmonious rapport with God as the overall definition of our spiritual life. "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; and the love of God; and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit; be with all of you."
The postsalvation spiritual life is harmonious rapport with God. Harmonious rapport with God is the believer's response to this divine love as an integral part of the postsalvation spiritual life. That is why the winner believer has virtue love based on the integrity of God as we have seen in 1John 4:19; "We love because He first loved us."
Gal 5:22; "The production (profit; gain; advantage) of the Spirit is love (integrity love), joy (sharing the happiness of God), harmonious rapport with God."
TLJC stated in John 14:26; that "The Mentor; the Holy Spirit; whom the Father will send in My name; He will teach you all things; and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."
The "all things" that He teaches are provided in the word of God and are communicated by the spiritual gift of pastor-teacher in a language that the local assembly understands.
All divine attributes contribute to the person and integrity of God. We separate these attributes for analysis and understanding for the purpose of learning how we can have harmonious rapport with God.
The divine essence of love is a part of the divine integrity of the Godhead from eternity past, divine love is always related to an object through the perfect holiness of God.
Each person of the Trinity has divine righteousness both as the subject and the object in the interaction of the Father; Son; and Holy Spirit. Each person of the Trinity has divine love and righteousness related to self that is the basis for spiritual self-esteem. This is the basis for our spiritual life.
The integrity of God is the sum total of divine attributes in operation, but righteousness, justice, and love are functional in relationship to mankind and the spiritual life of those who believe. The grace of God is the policy of divine love.
This policy is stated in 2Cor 13:14; "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ...", grace is a part of the nomenclature of harmonious rapport with God as the principle for the spiritual life of the Church Age.
Grace belongs to both the deity of Christ as a divine attribute and to the humanity of Christ as the pioneer and perfecter of the spiritual life. Heb 12:2;
Grace is identified with God as a part of the integrity of God; Rom 5:15; 1Cor 1:4; 1Cor 15:10; 2Cor 6:1; 2Cor 8:1; Eph 3:2;7.