Chapter 4: Charnock on God's AttributesPages 75-80
God's holiness is His "perfect... freedom from all evil," says Charnock (76). God isn't holy because He chooses to be. He just IS holy.
God punishes sin in the death of Jesus, because in His holiness He abhors sin. We see God's holiness in the person of Jesus (without sin), as well as in His death.
God's goodness is His being beneficial, beneficent, to His creation. Some assert that if man had never sinned, God would still have become incarnate. This can be asserted, as an act of goodness, not mercy, which would not be needed. God isn't good because He chooses to be. He just IS good. Of course, He isn't forced by His nature to be good, or holy; He is so freely. But neither will He "deny Himself" and decide not to be good one day. The goodness of God is shown in promising reward to Adam of eternal life in the Garden, which he couldn't have merited by obedience. It is shown most clearly in Christ - John 3:16.
I appreciate the Christ centered treatment of God's attributes, but wonder if the authors aren't narrowing God's being and character too much. The cross is central to God's purpose of course, but not exhaustive either.
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