In our study of Mark we are in Mark 13:31; where Jesus backs up his promises that are contained in the prophesy to the Jews during the Tribulation with the oath that "Heaven and earth will pass away buy My words will not pass away.
Based on this we have taken up a study of the doctrine of immutability. Last time we noted that God's existence is unalterable because it is immutable. God is the cause of all existence outside of Himself. Since God is eternal, there never was a time and there never will be a time when He did not exist.
Since God is infinite, eternal, and invisible, it is necessary for God to reveal Himself to mankind. He has done in many different ways through the course of history and presently does it through the communication of His Word under the ministry of God the Holy Spirit by the spiritual gift of pastor teacher.
The integrity of God is composed of two divine attributes: divine justice and divine righteousness.
After the fall of mankind in the garden, divine justice became mankind's point of reference with God because God can do nothing for mankind that would compromise His divine attributes.
Before the fall of mankind in the garden, God's love was the point of reference. The created beings (Adam and the woman in the garden) functioned under God's love but the point of reference for all naturally born human beings after the fall is the justice of God.
There was no need for the function of divine justice until mankind disobeyed the only mandate in the garden.
Man did not choose between good and evil in the garden. Man could not even understand what good and evil were until after the fall and very few people actually understand it today.
In the garden man made the choice between obedience or disobedience. They chose to disobey the single mandate to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Their choice to disobey opened their eyes to good and evil.
Gen 3:7;
Obedience and obedience alone was the issue and the man and the woman chose to disobey.
Even today obedience is the only issue there are simply a few more mandates starting with the mandate for children honor their father and mother followed by the mandate to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ followed by the mandate to keep on being filled with the Spirit.
We see from this that man's free will has coexisted with God's immutable sovereignty from the beginning of the human race on this earth and once mankind sinned, because God is immutable and perfect, divine justice became the point of reference for mankind.
God is fair, and because He is Immutable and Holy it is impossible for God to be unfair so God in His integrity took the imitative toward mankind through His justice.
God's justice administers the system of divine mandates that are compatible with His divine integrity. Divine justice is the function of eternal God as the judge of mankind, rendering daily decisions in the Supreme Court of heaven.
The decisions of the supreme court of heaven are compatible with God's perfect righteousness. They are also compatible with the fact God is wise, incorruptible, perfect, fair and immutable.
God's justice administers the penalties and decisions that are demanded by His perfect righteousness. Deut 32:4; Job 37:23; Psa 19:9; Psa 58:11; Psa 89:14; Isa 45:21; Jer 50:7; Rom 3:26; Heb 10:30-31; Heb 12:23;
God the Father's justice was exhibited at the cross, when God the Father called for the printout every sin ever committed by mankind during the course of human history and imputing them to our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.
This was the most difficult thing that God the Father ever did and it demonstrated the power of God's impersonal integrity love for all mankind. John 3:16; Rom 5:8;
The power of God's impersonal integrity love was demonstrated because while He was imputing our sins to Jesus Christ on the Cross and judging every sin of human history in Him caused Him to scream out , "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" and in spite of this because of His impersonal integrity love for mankind God the Father continued the judgment until He was finished. Rom 8:32;
It was Jesus' personal love for God the Father along with His impersonal love for mankind that kept Him on the cross through the entire judgment.
Other functions of God's justice include God as the presiding supreme court judge, where he rules over the judgment and discipline of individuals, the five cycles of discipline to client nations, the judgment of the baptism of fire to all unbelievers at the second Advent Jesus Christ at the end of the Tribulation, the last judgment of human history at the Great White Throne, and the judgment of all fallen angels.
The second half of the Immutable Holiness of God is His divine righteousness.
God possesses eternal, unchangeable, perfect divine righteousness, Lev 19:2; 1Sam 2:2; Psa 22:3; Psa 47:8; Rev 3:7, Rev 4:8, Rev 6:10;
God is absolute good, Psa 25:8, Psa 34:8; Luke 18:19;
God's person and character are perfect. God is totally free from sin, 2Cor 5:21; 1John 1:5;
God is perfect righteousness in attitude and actions, Deut 32:4; Psa 119:137; Dan 9:14; Rev 19:2;
God's perfect and absolute righteousness rejects all human standards of righteousness. Isa 55:8;
That means that God rejects the highest good any naturally born could ever perform.
Isa 64:6; "For all of us have become like one who is unclean. All of our righteousnesses are like menstrual rags, and all of us wither like a leaf, all of our sins carry us away like the wind."
This is why salvation can never be acquired through human righteousness or any system of works, Titus 3:5; Gal 2:16;
This means that salvation cannot be acquired by any kind of doing "good" because God does not consider our "good" to be good.
The righteousness of God is available to everyone who simply believes in Jesus Christ, Rom 3:22; "Even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe."
This means that only those who believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God go to heaven. Do gooders only go to heaven if they are also believers and then they go to heaven only because they are believers not because they are do gooders.
God's immutability means that doing good or being good cannot, will not, and does not get anyone to heaven. God is perfect and cannot be anything less than absolute perfection.
Because of God's holiness, immutability, and eternity, it is impossible for God to be imperfect. Therefore, God has perfect righteousness.
At the moment of salvation through faith in Christ, God imputes one half of His integrity, His divine righteousness, to every believer.
The results of the imputation of divine righteousness are important to understand.
The Instant justification that occurs at salvation (Rom 5:1. 2Cor 5:21;) means that God found a way to justify us without compromising His immutable righteousness.
It also guarantees the personal love of God for every believer weather they obey God and take advantage of what God has done for them or not.
And it enables God's justice to impute logistical grace blessings to the righteousness of God that is imputed to every believer weather or not the believer chooses to obey God and advance in His plan.
God's integrity is composed of His perfect justice and His perfect righteousness, is both the guardian of the divine attributes as well as being the believer's point of contact with God.
The function of God's grace policy demands that there can be no compromise of the divine attributes. Therefore, in the function of God's integrity, righteousness demands righteousness and justice demands justice.
Righteousness is the principle of God's integrity. Justice is the execution of God's integrity. God cannot accept anything less than perfect righteousness and God cannot bless anything less than perfect righteousness.
Gods' justice is the source of all direct blessing from God to the believer. Divine justice is only free to provide blessing to the believer because the believer has God's perfect righteousness.
God's perfect righteousness resides in every believer from the moment of salvation. Therefore, the believer is qualified to receive life support from God under the principle of logistical grace and lesser blessings.
Grace is compatible with God's justice. The principle of logistical grace avoids compromise of the attributes of God. Acknowledgment of any known sin to God alone is also compatible with God's holiness or integrity as well as His immutability.