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Thoughts, Progress, and Other Stuff

1/31/2014

Perhaps that should be "Progress, Thoughts, and Other Stuff", but whatever...

My new study schedule is working fine and I'm enjoying it. I hope to add to it soon, but I'll get to that in a minute. Seeing as I got started on a Wednesday, here at the end of the week, I'm only through chapter 3 of God and Government, Vol. 1 by Gary DeMar. He starts you out with the foundations of the whole notion of what government is and where and how individuals get the authority to govern anything--from themselves to the body politic.

Anyway, today while going over the discussion questions at the end of the chapter, I ran into this: "Compare what is going on in our nation today with the blessings and cursings of Leviticus 26..."

Lev. 26: 29

You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters.

I suddenly got to thinking--is this what we do, in a figurative sense, by means of abortion? If so, it shows how abortion is judgement. Daddy always asserts that abortion is judgement on our nation more that something that will bring judgement--for it is a distruction of posterity (lack of children was always historicially seen as a curse or at least something to sorrow over). Those are my meandering thoughts that gave me reason to pause and muse today.

In other news (study-wise), I am getting through about two Latin sentences a day (in the morning). The old adage, "if you don't use it, you lose it" is certainly true. However, I'm happy to say that I'm already starting to remember some of that stuff I forgot!

Of course, throughout the course of my mumbling, reading, writing, and thinking, there are those necessary interruptions to help Granddaddy with whatever it is he needs. If Daddy isn't around and he's not asleep, he does not seem to stay in the same place for more than ten minutes at a time. It drives me crazy the way he goes from the TV to the dining room table and back again. Particularly when I'm doing something and I hear "Carry me into that room..." or just "Carry me." He can actually peddle himself around with his own two feet in the wheelchair, so I'm starting to just kind of ignore him unless he asks for help. (By ignore, I mean visibly so--but even with my headphones on and music in my ears, I'm audibly-aware as well as watching him out of my peripheral vision.)

Now for the "other stuff" of the title and the elluded to addition in the first paragraph. This morning while I was doing something in the kitchen, Mama suggested that I "go ahead and start on the research for you Nathan Bedford Forrest movie." (Um, yes, y'all...in case you didn't know it, I have this dream to do movie about Gen. Forrest.) Well, I thought that was a fine idea, so this afternoon, I raided my bookshelf for anything that I thought might be useful. I created myself a second "bookshelf" out of a cardboard box to the left of my desk for my War Between the States books that I brought down as probable-helpfuls. One of them I have read before: Railroad War by Robert Dunnavant, Jr. If you have any interest in Bedford Forrest, I would recommend this book. (We actually bought it from the lady who runs a campground right on what used to be Sherman's supply line. The old rail-road is no longer there, but in it's place is a nice wide hiking/riding trail.)

I'm debating on whether to start with Sherman's memoirs (we found a copy this fall at a yard-sale, along with a bunch of other books on the WBtS) or Shelby Foote's The Civil War: A Narrative. I flipped through that and it appears to only cover 1861-62.

The reason I though Sherman's book would be helpful was because he and Forrest were arch nemesis--particularly during the '63-'64 campaign. Who was it who called N.B. Forrest, "That Devil Forrest"? W. T. Sherman (of all people!) (There is a book floating around someplace with that title...but I couldn't find it on the shelf. Perhaps it is in Florida...)

Anyway, I look forward to adding history into my current study plan. Next, I have to dig my way back into my music...

Racheal

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Things That Go "Bump" in the Night...

1/29/2014

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That may be a slightly humorous title for a post dealing with a not so humorous situation, but it fits.

Around about ten o'clock last night, I was sitting here at my computer, closing up for the evening when I heard (and felt) a very distinct "bump". I processed it a hair slower than perhaps I should have, then got up and went around the corner and as I started to open the door into the bedroom I announced, "Granddaddy just fell out of bed!"

Daddy had just headed for the shower, so it took a minute to get him there, but I went on in and started to get Granddaddy in a sitting position. Well, I couldn't because of the contraption behind him, so I just kind of held him up off the floor while Mama came and got the "thing" from behind him. Then we got him sat up.

Shortly after that, Daddy came and they got the gait belt under him and using that like a sling, picked him up and swung him onto the bed. (I helped just a little bit during that process.)

It was soon apparent that he was bleeding all over the place. His right elbow had the skin ripped up again (it always seems to be his right elbow that gets wounded) and his right ear was busted and bleeding. That was more painful than anything I think, including the embarressement of everyone being there. Daddy patched him up, with myself acting as nurse. Once we got him in bed and bandaged up, I went and washed the blood of my hands and arms and then changed my nightgown because it had blood smeared on it front and back. Figures that it was a clean one...

This morning, Granddaddy looked kind of like someone had punched him in the eye because his ear had continued to bleed and since he sleeps on his side for the most part, it had dripped along the side of his face and around his right eye. When I first saw him, I thought he was bruised.

Anyway, after breakfast and doing the dishes, I got a pan of warm water and washed his face off. I didn't try to get the blood out of his ear (I figured that might hurt some since last night it really seemed to hurt him), but at least he no longer looks like someone slugged him in the eye.

At present, Granddaddy is sleeping peacefully in the sun at the table...I have this feeling that he is going to spend a lot of time sleeping today because he got shook up badly last night.

Hopefully, we won't have too many of these accidents.

Racheal

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New Battle Plan

1/28/2014

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I suppose you could call it that...but anyway, after a conversation with Mama and Savannah, during which I bemoaned the fact that I don't feel like I'm doing anything, it was determined that little miss lazy mind needs to return herself to some sort of study routine. I will admit, the past two years I've really let myself slip in the intellectual department.

Mum first suggested I start with Rushdoony's Institutes (which idea, I confess frightens me slightly since my brain hasn't had much streeaching in a while). Then she changed her mind and suggested a church history book (which title I cannot remember or who the author happens to be). Anyway, we finally settled on Gary DeMar's God and Government series. Apparently they are a fairly easy read, and it'll be a means of easing me back into a studious mindset.

Therefore, I addressed my overcrowded and overflowing desk with all the determination an out of sorts girl of 22 who doesn't feel the best can muster when she really feels like doing nothing. I thought, with some of my usual forethought (ahem, that's a joke), that I would take some before and after pictures.

That's what it looked like when I started...as you can see, I keep everything from my knitting to whatever I'm currently reading to my wrist brace to my video camera to my shawl cluttered on my desk...nevermind the multiple notebooks and loose pieces of paper I write things on--one notebook contains James and Burke episodes and Authentic Christianity notes. The other one contains a continuous letter to my best friend and Cow Cavalry editing scribbles. That one also serves as a mouse pad.

Anyway, I thought a bookshelf would help.

So...I went on a box hunt. We always have boxes of all kinds of discription everywhere, so that was neither hard nor long. I came up with this GFS box and picking up my ever faithful pocket knife, I added a little more cardboard cutting to it's 11-year history. (I joke that I have cut miles of cardboard with that "Old Timer".)

I shimmed up the top with one of the long flaps and put both short flaps in (to form a "T") in order to strengthen and reinforce the top of the box--since I fully intended (as you'll see) to use the top of the box for storage as well.

It took me a few minutes to figure out how and where to situate everything, but I think this works.

This side looks pretty much the same...except that I hooked my headphones on the edge of the table (like I did down in Florida) and put my scrap paper basket on top of the tower. [Note the hair brush...I've had that thing for ages and will cry when it is of no more use.]

I will admit that this side does look similar, but it is different and I really think it will work nicely. I was finally able to get my Latin books up off the floor (they are hiddedn behind the lamp). In the box you will find a pack of college rule paper, my "story-book", Lord Foulgrin's Letters by Randy Alcorn (I'm only reading that sporadically), God and Government, Vol 1 by Gary DeMar (plan on starting that tomorrow), and The Hunted Children by Donald Lowrie (a book about WWII; I'm only two chapters in). Besides which I have someone's full copy of the WCF and catechisms (Daddy's I think, but mine is down south and doesn't have the proof texts anyway), a few other little notebooks for various personal scribbles, a copy of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and William Potter's Broadside! I shall get around to finishing listening to those at some point...

On top of the box is my camera, some more knitting needles, my Zoom, my USB cords, and a couple of thumb drives. (Oh, yes, and that wrist brace I haven't needed in weeks.)

Now remains the actual schedule (battle plan) of at what time of day I should devote myself to this new (and yet old) task of doing a little study. Probably after lunch will end up being the best (most practical) time for me to do so. (With coffee or after the dishes? I'll have to figure that out.)

You'll be happy to know that as I've sat here writing this, my desire to begin has gotten stronger. The idea is less daunting that it was an hour ago...chin up, shoulders back, stubbornness in every line...I shall prevail over my lazy mind! (Still, for all that, I look forward to spring where I can start working again. I miss my work...and I miss my animals...)

I would also like to get back into my music. I got my new cello strings days ago and haven't put them on yet (I kind of wanted Daddy to help me put them on). I'd play my guitar more, but it's hostage in the cold, cold "office" with bisquine over the enterance...and a table put up to keep the cat out. I could get it out if I wanted to work that hard. (Boy, do I sound lazy or what??)

Preservo! (That's as much for me as it is for my dear readers...)

Racheal

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It's Good to be Needed...

1/25/2014

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Yes, it's good to be needed, even if it means at the end of the day your heels hurt (some of that comes from wearing shoes, boots, and going barefoot all in the same day...not that that probably makes sense, but it's true.)

This comes to mind because Mama told me this afternoon that I was doing a good job of helping out and that she needs me right now to pick up some slack. She's not feeling well and this afternoon poor Katherine had a badly irritated eye (it's still swollen). It always feels good when your mother commends your work.

I am glad to say that I got everything done today that I wanted to get done--from vaccuming the floors to changing the litter in the cat box. I've felt like a slug all day long and beside that there is possiblity I'm fighting some bug...

I made pizza for supper--it's not as good as Katherine's, but it wasn't bad. I was a real dope and burt my arm on the stone taking it out of the oven. I'm not exactly sure how I did it, but maybe I went to prop it on my arm (not an unsual posture for me if I'm carrying anything with a little weight to it.) I now have a two and a half inch red line on the soft part of my forearm, just below the elbow.

On a related note, this last batch of pepperoni I made wasn't as good as the first batch (which Mama spiced). I think next time I make pepperoni, I will just add a little more of everything from the salt to the cayenne pepper.

Last night I made supper. The reason I mention that here is that I didn't pre-plan the meal and it really came together grandly (in my humble opinion). The funny thing about it is it was all based off some cabbage that I had cut up at lunch time...and then we didn't use it.

Granddaddy was really kind of out of it today--which makes it even more necessary to have someone around to keep an eye on him. I've begun to pick up signals...for example, he goes to stand when he needs to go to the bathroom; which then entails a rush and a repeated asking of which kind of bathroom he needs to go and then perhaps a trip to the bedroom comode or perhaps a "hang-on-and-let-me-get-the-urnial" moment. (Forgive me if you find any of this gross or unseemly--it's just life as I live it at the moment.)

He gets pretty anxious sometimes when Daddy's not around--poor Daddy...he's constantly on call--24/7. He answers to some of the most interesting names--just minutes ago Granddaddy was calling: "Mama! Mama!" That's the first I've heard that one! :D "Honey" is fairly frequent, but "son" is the usual call.

Anyway, I need to scram...

Racheal

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May God Grant Us Wisdom!

1/21/2014

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What does one do when they are unjustly accused? How does one react to being lied about, cut off from friends whom are like family? How does one address abuses in particular systems?

What does one do when they have a hole punched in them by someone they once looked up to and respected? What is the proper response?

These questions whirl through my head. I want to see justice done for myself and my family...for other injured parties--past, present, and very probably future (even near future). I want to see the party in the wrong defeated and taken down. But...even though I admit that I have said and probably will say things that are not loving (and the plain, unhappy truth can be stated without being vindictive)...I do not hate those who have injured myself, my family, and my dear, dear friends.

There seems to be a fine line between desiring justice and hate for the perpetrator of injustice. I am, as I have been, somewhat surprised that I do not feel vindictive or hateful against the someone(s) who have caused such hurt. Rather I grieve...and continue to pray God that I do not surrender to hate.

I love the system that has been abused. This situation does not shake my belief in that. It just serves to remind me that one must constantly be viligent because even the best of systems can be distorted, twisted, and used wrongly. Sinful men (myself included) can and will twist things--whether to give them more power or to make themselves look better. We all must fight that temptation.

As for me and my family--we will trust the Lord...and we will fight for justice...for ourselves and others. Oh, may God grant us all wisdom and righteous tongues!

Racheal

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The Perfections of God, Part 5

1/19/2014

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I finished chapter three today! There were only two more of God's perfections left...so here goes.

God is long-suffering.

God’s long-suffering is His power of control over Himself which enables Him to be patient with wicked sinners instead of judging them immediately to the full extent for their sins. (306)

He is able to restrain His anger against sin without removing or softening that
anger. (306-307)

Let us view God's patience in relation to His other perfections. First, the goodness and mercy of God:

His long-suffering is an expression of His mercy, but it differs from mercy in that mercy views its objects as miserable and in distress while long-suffering views its objects as guilty, deserving of punishment, but it bears with the sin that causes the
misery.“Goodness sets God upon the exercise of patience, and patience sets many a sinner on running into the arms of mercy. That mercy which makes God ready to embrace returning sinners, makes Him willing to bear with them in their sins, and wait their return.” 73. Charnock, The Existence And Attributes of God, 764. (307)

Omnipotence and long-suffering:

God’s power moderates His anger...But He is long-suffering with sinners, not because He lacks power over us, but because He has fullness of power in Himself. (307)

Justice and long-suffering:

He will punish sin; but He is free to restrain the effects of His anger for a time, without dishonoring His holiness or acting unrighteously (Acts 1:7). Justice is not wronged by patience; it is made more obvious and has broader scope to vindicate itself. (308)

God's long-suffering in seen throughout history...

The entirety of Old Testament history is a display of God’s long-suffering and patience. (308)

God was not indifferent to their sin and the claims of His justice. Nor by being patient did He forgive their sins. He simply suspended judgment until Christ, when He fully demonstrated His judgment against sin...Those who do not believe in Christ will experience God’s wrath forever without the restraint of His patience. (309)

Every non-Christian is an object of the long-suffering of God...Every person in every age and every society is an object of God’s patience. Every non-Christian alive today, and not in hell, has grounds to praise God for His long-suffering. Christians, who are not inflicted the sharp pains of chastisement, also should thank God for His patience. And both non-Christians and Christians should be led to
repentance by that divine patience. (309)

As seen above, God is patient both with believers and unbelievers: though for different reasons.

So then, the point of 2 Peter 3:9 is this: because of the patience of God, He is not willing that “any” of “you,” “who are chosen,” should perish, but that “all” of “you, who are chosen,” should come to repentance...God’s long-suffering with His chosen people is the assurance of the salvation of all of God’s people. (310)

God’s patience with the hardened reprobate in this world is not a sign of His favor for them. As awful as it sounds, it more clearly reveals their deserving of the infliction of God’s holy anger and it gives God room for a greater display of His power. (310)

The last perfection of God expounded here is the following: God is abundant in truth.

The God of the Bible is the God of Truth. (312)

His truth is His veracity, i.e., His adherence to His true character, the conformity of His word to truth and fact in total accuracy, precision and honesty. (313)

There are two demensions to this: Truthfulness and Faithfulness.

First then, God is true in three senses. He is true in and of Himself.

He is the one, true God, always true to Himself, Who sets Himself over against all
the lies and vanities of all false gods. He really exists (Heb. 11:6), and all His perfections are real. He is not only omnipotent, omniscient, holy and sovereign, He is truly and actually so. (313)

God is true in all His communications and self-revelations.

He reveals Himself as He really is. What God says about Himself in the Bible is meaningful to God, and it should be so to us...He meant that all God has revealed in His Word may be trusted as true, i.e., as really corresponding to what really is. (313)

If our confidence in God’s truth were undermined, the effect would be universally ruinous. Not only would Scripture with all its doctrines, promises, threatenings, precepts, and predictions, become worthless, but the basis of all confidence in our own faculties would be undermined; and universal skepticism would arrest all action. Man could neither believe his fellow-man, nor his own experience, nor senses, nor reason, nor conscience, nor consciousness, if he could not believe his God. 80. Dabney, Lectures In Systematic Theology, 171. (313-314)

God is true in all His knowledge.

He knows all things as they really are; and has so created man’s mind that he can truly know the reality of things, as he thinks God’s thoughts after Him...Truth for us is God’s revealed opinion of things...Whatever was true yesterday is true today and will be true tomorrow. (314)

Second, God's faithfulness in truth:

An unfaithful God is an intolerable thought. Our God “never forgets, never fails, never falters, never forfeits His word. To every declaration of promise or prophecy the Lord has exactly adhered, every engagement of covenant or threatening He will make good.” 84. Pink, The Attributes of God, 59. (315)

God's faithfulness is and has always been convenantal faithfulness--there are seven different covenants (or would we call this dispensations of the covenant). The Edenic, the Adamic, the Noahic, the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, the Davidic, and the new Covenant in Christ.

I'm sorry, I lost all train of thought here (though the above is basically all the important notes), due to some news I heard from the other room. Please forgive the abupt ending here...

Racheal

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Productive Day?

1/17/2014

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It's a good question, I suppose...but one it seems hard to answer.

I started out the day (cutting all discussion of dishes, since that's a given) working on the trailer for the "Cow Cavalry". I had 'finished' it yesterday and had to go back and fix a few things--some of them I spotted for myself and a few others were graciously pointed out to me by family and friends whom I asked to view it critically. It's nice to have an honest critique board. As of this writing, I'm currently uploading my third take to YouTube. Never fear...I'll give you a link here real soon. :)

I landed the job of being the-guy (ahem, gal)-to-watch-Granddaddy this afternoon and because I didn't want to watch the Bonanza episode that was coming on (I'd seen it before and it isn't high on my list...some married woman takes a header for Adam), so I watched "Master and Commander". Mama found a copy at Goodwill earlier this week. I'd heard good things about it and I really enjoyed it. I hope to write a review over on Reformed Reveiws soon. I might actually like to watch it a second time before doing that though because the lighting was terrible (glare on the TV and the film is in shadow box and lots of dark-ish scenes) and I had a couple of breaks where I either had to put Granddaddy on the toilet, hold the urinal, make sure he wasn't going anywhere, and tell him that no, he couldn't go to bed, so I probably lost some stuff in the mix. The music is great, however.

In the meantime, I got about 4 and quarter inches done on a sock. (Dark brown, this pair is going to be.)

So, the question becomes, was my day profitable?

While it doesn't seem like I did much today, I think that yes, my day was profitable. I got some more done on my film project, I got a good start into a sock, and I did something that is, in the long run, far more important...I sat with my Granddaddy. Someone has to do it...and to be completely honest, it doesn't take much arm-twisting to get me to watch movies. Particularly good ones.

Oh, yes...and I also finished that kid biography on Queen Victoria. I have yet to pick my next book...(I like to read during the slow-time when working on video projects...)

Racheal

P.S. I just remembered something else! I got the first-step on a batch of pepperoni done. Yummy....

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Tuesday Tales

1/14/2014

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I guess there really isn't overly much to ramble about, but if I can hold your attention, I'll tell you about my day. :)

After the usual morning routine of dishes, etc. I settled in as the person-who-keeps-an-eye-on-Granddady. The reason someone has to be at least semi-vigilant is that he goes to get up and he might fall if someone's not there to help him. So, while he slept and twitched, I watched the last half of a Perry Mason episode. Shortly after Ironside came on, Savannah woke him up and did therapy with him. She really is the best with him. Regardless of the fact that he was nearly asleep the whole time, he did alright. I sat there, tossing a ball from one hand to the other or just straight in the air with either hand and catching it in the same hand (I guess I can catch okay with my left hand like that), and "dodging" Savannah to see the television. I enjoy Ironside so when she'd step into my line of sight I'd lean one way or the other.

I didn't do much else this morning beside stashing a box of Christmas bows under the Victrola in my room. I was going to put them under the bed, but they didn't fit, so I stacked the boot box (reenacting boots) that I had under there on top of the box holding
my new boots and stuffed the bow box down there.

Before lunch and for a while after lunch, I scribbled. There are three things I'm trying to get back into--my Latin, writing a little bit every day on one of my stories (I didn't ever really have a habit of that), and my music. Of course, I washed dishes again.

Daddy and I went out this afternoon and split some wood. He ran the splitter and I loaded the back of the go-buggy with wood and carted it off like that (then unloaded it, of course). We did four loads. The first two got dumped in the basement and the other two I stacked under the lean-to on the old garage. Daddy hurt his back when he went to unhook the splitter from the go-buggy when we were done and so I put it away (with some help from Daddy--I'm not sure I could have gotten the 'oomph' to get it rolling in the mud without him). He was going to help unload the wood but decided he'd better not with his back hurting. We got a little wet with some sleety rain. That stuff stings when it hits your face. The slush has quit now, but the wind is blowing harder.

When we came in, I slogged my way through a Latin sentence (I had a couple of breaks--one of which was to help Granddaddy onto the potty) and now I'm writing this...

I need to change the cat-box in my room, so I reckon I'd better skedaddle and do that. I meant to do it yesterday...

Over and out (for now)!

Racheal

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Random Observations and Stories of This Day...

1/12/2014

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We took Granddaddy took church with us today. While I think it would be good if we did so every week, Daddy said he thought Granddaddy probably wouldn't be inclined to go again--the distance and the length of the service being factors. There is only so much you can "make" a person do and keep the peace...so I guess we'll just see how that works out.

I don't know if Granddaddy has ever been to a Presbyterian service before in his life (but I kind of don't think so), but I found some sort of humor in the fact that of all days we had a Baptism (paedo) today. Granddaddy's an old Southern Baptist. :)

After church, I was standing around talking to one of my most special little friends when one of "my" boys dashed by. I grabbed Christopher round the waist and moments later both of us were on the floor. I don't think I said "Ouch!" though Christopher did (and that plucky seven-year-old doesn't say that easily). We both landed on our knees (him underneath). I'm still not sure if I tripped because I stepped on my own skirt, or because Christopher had his feet tangled in it or his forward motion was simply too strong for me to "whoa" back on him with those shoes I had on. I realized (after we got home) that I didn't even have the grace to be embarressed about the whole thing. I grunted as my knee cap smacked into the floor and one of the elders who was standing there, talking to another man, said, "That didn't sound good!" I laughed it off, let Christopher go (he and I go way back on "You can't catch me!" so I like to grab him when he's not looking), and went back to talking to Isabelle.

Anyway, I landed with most of my weight on my left knee. It's now sore and I have a bit of a knot under my knee cap where it swelled up. However, it feels a whole lot better than it did just a couple of hours ago. Guess it serves me right for not behaving like a lady... ;P

Racheal

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The Perfections of God, Part 4

1/12/2014

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I still didn't finish the chapter this week, but Lord willing, I'll mange that next week. Without further ado then, the continuation of The Perfections of God...

First, God is most just.

God’s unswerving loyalty to His word and His covenant people guarantees our
protection by our enemies’ destruction. God’s justice seeks out those who oppose Him and who assault His people. (279)

The Old Testament uses two primary Hebrew words to describe God’s righteousness: sedek, meaning justice or righteousness, and mishpat, meaning judgment. (279)

Dr. Morecraft goes into a little more detail about each of these words:

God is righteous in and of Himself. He never acts out of character. He always acts in strict adherence to His own character; therefore, He is always trustworthy and reliable. Sedek denotes strict adherence to a standard. (280)

Without this righteousness, sedek, God would not be fit to be the governor or the judge of the universe. His government would be unpredictable and arbitrary, bringing terror and uncertainty rather than pleasure to those who yield to it. (281)

Concerning mishpat he says:

GOD’S JUDGMENT OR JUSTICE IS HIS DISCRIMINATION AGAINST EVIL AND FOR GOOD, GROWING OUT OF HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, PLUS THE VINDICATION OF HIS NAME, COVENANT AND MORAL ORDER, WHICH LEADS TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WICKED AND THE SALVATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS (Deut. 10:18; Ps. 25:9). (281)

Jesus is the revelation of both the righteousness (sedek) and the judgement (mishpat) of God.

He is the incarnate revelation of the holy and perfect character (sedek) of God (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3), who always acts in accordance with God’s character (John 5:30; 1:18f). He is also the incarnate revelation of the judgment (mishpat) of God (Matt. 3:11f; John 8:16; John 12:47f; Matt. 10:34). His judgment will bring salvation to the world rather than annihilation (John 3:17). (282)

Jesus Christ is our only hope, because He provides for believers His own righteous life and His atoning death as the basis for our acceptance with God through faith. (282)

On the basis of the obedience and redemptive work of Christ, God credits to believers that which He Himself requires of us: perfect righteousness. This is called imputation (Romans 4)—the imputing of Christ’s righteousness to the believer. This imputation is possible because God’s judgment (mishpat) was fully poured out against our sins in Christ on the cross (Rom. 3:25; 1 Pet. 2:24). (282)

God’s righteousness and God’s judgment guarantee the triumph of the church over her oppressors. (283)

Second, God is abundant in goodness...

“God’s goodness is, to creatures, one of His loveliest attributes; because it is from this that all the happiness which all enjoy flows, as water from a spring.” 53. Dabney, Lectures in Systematic Theology, 169 (284)

God is good in two senses: 1) God is good in and of Himself. His glory is His goodness.

And God’s goodness is the sum total of all His perfections. Augustine said: “God is the supreme good—in Him alone is everything which all creatures need and seek to obtain. He is the one unto whom all creatures strive to attain, whether consciously or unconsciously;He is the object of every one’s desire. And the creature finds no rest except in God and in Him alone.… Let God be all in all to Thee, for in Him is the entirety of all that Thou lovest.” (285)

2) God is good in relation to His creation.

“The Lord is good to all” (Ps. 145:9). In this sense, God’s goodness is His abundant generosity and kindness toward His creatures. (285)

God deals generously, beneficially and kindly with the entirety of His creation. “The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord” (Ps. 33:5). (286)

No one on earth or in hell can say with honesty, that God was not abundantly good to him, while on earth. (286)

God’s goodness has a variety of manifestations. It is lovingkindness, i.e., gracious covenant loyalty. It is mercy, i.e., goodness shown to those in misery and distress. It is grace, i.e., God’s powerful, unmerited and undeserved favor which saves the guilty who deserve hell. It is love, i.e., that which moves God to reveal Himself and to give Himself to His people in Christ. It is patience and long-suffering, i.e., God’s goodness manifested toward those who are deserving of punishment. (287)

The best fashion in which God's goodness to creation is shown is through salvation.

We are greatly moved to admire the revelation of God’s goodness in our salvation,
when we consider that: (1) The misery of sinners is self-caused; and the sin that causes it is indescribably abominable to God; (2) The misery from which Christ delivers us is so immense and so terrible; and the blessedness He bestows upon us so complete and so everlasting; (3) The human being, ruined by his sin, was unnecessary to God and so trivial and insignificant compared with God’s Being; (4)
The attitude of sinners throughout all this plan of mercy is one of aggravating ingratitude, hostility toward God and rebellion against Him, up to their conversion; (5) The price God paid to save such vile and wretched sinners was the humiliation and death of His own Son, and the condescending work of His Holy Spirit; (6) The fact that God “exerted the highest wisdom known to man in any of
the divine counsels, and the noblest energies of divine power, to reconcile His truth and justice with His goodness in man’s redemption” is an incomparable display of God’s generosity and kindness to us. (287)

Some deny that God can be both almighty and good (the presence of pain, suffering, and "bad" things being a stumbling block for them).

The problems with this objection are twofold. (1) The argument rests upon a fallacious assumption that man, in and of himself, has the ability to determine good and evil apart from God and the Bible. It seeks to interpret God in terms of human existence. (2) God has clearly revealed that He is good and that He is almighty; and that He alone determines what is good and what is evil. (288)

The answer is to be found in two verses. Romans 6:23 says that “the wages of sin is death.” Some pain is the just punishment for sin, and by it God vindicates His character and restrains rebellion, teaching us that “the way of the transgressor is
hard.” Hebrews 12:6 states that “whom the Lord loves He disciplines.” Some pain is the chastening of a loving Father in the lives of His wayward children to make them what He wants them to be. In other words, whatever God does is good, whether it be pleasant or painful to us. (288)

A few applications of the doctrine of God's goodness:

As Christians we are called upon to imitate God’s goodness in our own relationships and thoughts. We are to be as open-handed, and as abundantly generous in our giving to others as God is toward us. (289)

The power of good is infinitely greater than the power of evil. Good will overcome evil. Your goodness toward others is the divinely instituted method by which God will defeat evil in the world and Christianize the world. (289)

Third, God is most merciful.

God’s goodness shown to those in misery is called His mercy. Although grace and mercy are expressions of God’s goodness, they can be distinguished.

[W]hile grace looks down upon sin as a whole, mercy looks especially upon the miserable consequences of sin. So that mercy really means a sense of pity plus a desire to relieve the suffering... 57. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies In The Sermon On The Mount, 2 vols. (London: InterVarsity Fellowship, [1959] 1966), 1:99–100. (290)

And because God is merciful, we are to be merciful. Christians are to be like their Father, regardless of what people in misery deserve; we are to keep being merciful, compassionate, sympathetic and helpful to those who are suffering. (290)

God is merciful in a general and temporal sense to all creation, including unregenerate men and women...Jesus showed compassion to all kinds of miserable people (Matt. 14:14; Mark 6:34). However, God is especially and eternally merciful to His elect people who are “vessels of mercy” (Rom. 9:23). Because God does not owe anyone mercy, and because the bestowal of mercy is purely voluntary on God’s part, He can say, “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy” (Rom. 9:15). (291)

God’s grace toward the undeserving is behind God’s mercy to those in misery. Divine mercy is not caused by anything outside God, rather it springs from His goodness alone. God is merciful because He loves to communicate Himself to His creatures and does not refrain from rescuing the miserable. (291)

God’s mercy is “an asylum for the penitent and pious, but not a refuge for the impenitent and impious.” 63. Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, 1:44 (293)

Fourth, God is most gracious.

Salvation is all of sheer, unmerited, unearned, sovereign, almighty grace, which the triune God freely bestows upon His people in Christ, while they are sinners, justly
deserving His displeasure (Rom. 9:15f; Eph. 2:8f; Rom. 5:8). (293)

Grace is God’s eternal, free, unmerited, undeserved, unpurchasable, unearned and unobligated favor and power revealed in Christ which saves and transforms forever His hell-deserving sinners (Rom. 4:4; 11:6; 3:24). (293)

The source of grace is the blessed Trinity (Rev. 1:4–6). God the Father is the “God of all grace” (1 Pet. 5:10). God the Son bestows grace on His people (Rom. 16:20). And God the Holy Spirit is “the Spirit of grace” (Heb. 10:29). Each person of the Trinity makes His own unique contribution to the nature and bestowal of grace. The Father bestows electing grace. The Son bestows redeeming grace. The Holy Spirit bestows regenerating, sanctifying grace. (295)

A Christian is defined in terms of God’s grace. He is someone who sees his only hope of escape from the punishment his sins deserve as the sheer grace of God, sovereignly bestowed upon men of God’s choosing and freely offered to all through faith in Christ. (298)

Remove sovereignty from grace and all we are left with is hopelessly lost mankind. (299)

Fifth (and finally for today), God is most loving.

The GOD of omnipotence, omniscience, sovereignty, wisdom and holiness, the God Who is unchangeable, infinite, eternal, holy and self-contained, Jehovah, Who does all things for His own glory, is love. (299)

The triune God loves Himself as the highest possible object of His loving. All of His love and delight are directed preeminently toward His own glorious perfections, as He stands in need of no man’s hand to be served (Acts 17), so He needs no man’s heart to be loved. He needs no object outside of Himself to love. (300)

There are two Old Testament words primarily used for "love":

(1) chashaq has the root meaning of “to bind, to join together,” coupled with the idea of delight, so that the meaning of this Hebrew word for love is that of a bond of intimate and delightful fellowship...(2) ahab refers to the action of love, the root meaning of which is “to breathe after, to long for, to desire strongly.” (300)

God’s love is holy love. His loving never disregards His own holiness (Isa. 43:4; Hos. 3:1; Ps. 11:7; Isa. 61:8). God’s love is eternal, unchanging love. When God sets love upon someone, He loves that person forever (Jer. 31:1–; 1 Kings 10:9). (300)

God’s love is totally undeserved and unmerited. (301)

The main New Testament word for love is agape.

Colossians 3:14 identifies love as the “bond of perfection,”... (301)

God's love is defined in the following ways: 1) it is self-communicating; 2) it produces joy...

Therefore, we can say that God saves sinners, not only for His own glory, but also for His own joy and gladness; because the salvation of sinners is rooted in God’s love for sinners. (302)

3) Is is eternal...

It is as eternal as the union between the three Persons of the Trinity. (302)

4) It is covenantal...

God has promised to love forever those whom He has made His friends and separated from the world unto His Son’s kingdom (Rom. 8:33). God’s love therefore is redemptive love. He saves those upon whom He sets His love... (302)

5) It is both sovereign and distinquishing.

God's love demands something of us:

God demands love in return from those whom He loves (Deut. 6:5; Ps. 119:47–48)... It shows itself in heart-felt obedience to God’s revealed will. (304)

Additional truths concerning the doctrine of God's love:

To say that “God is love” is to say more than “God loves.” It is to say that love is of the very essence of God, that all His works are rooted in His love for Himself and for His people. If He creates, it is in love. If He rules, it is in love. If He judges, it is out of love for His people. (305)

[From 1 John 4:9–10] (1) The majesty of the Lover: The God of the Bible, the Creator of the universe is LOVE and to display that love has given His Son for us. (2) The unworthiness of the loved: God loves sinners who do not deserve to be loved, but who rather deserve His condemnation for their sins. (3) The infinite worth of Him in whom we are loved: God loves us in HIS SON, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us. (4) The excellence of the blessings which flow from His love for us in Christ: We are given eternal life. We are enabled to love. (305)

It is this unmerited, eternal love of the sovereign God revealed to believers through Jesus Christ that is mankind’s only hope of salvation (Acts 4:12). (306)

Racheal

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