Theology I: Attributes of God (part 3)
God’s Communicable Attributes | Holiness, Justice, and the Call to Imitate God
In this theology lecture, Cedarville University students move into the final section of the doctrine of God by studying His communicable attributes — the qualities God shares with His people and calls them to reflect in everyday life. After examining God’s incommunicable attributes, this session focuses on holiness as the central moral attribute of God and the source from which justice, righteousness, truth, and wrath flow.
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0:29 Review of the Trinity, transcendence, and immanence
1:04 Incommunicable vs. communicable attributes
1:47 Why imitation matters in the Christian life
7:14 “Be imitators of God” (Ephesians 5)
9:18 “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1)
10:14 Holiness as the root attribute
14:03 Set apart and morally pure
17:08 Positional and progressive holiness
18:47 Holiness and sexual purity
20:00 Why God’s holiness must be preached
22:31 God’s purity and freedom from sin
24:57 God’s truthfulness and faithfulness
27:59 Righteousness and justice defined
29:55 Right precedes rights
30:55 God’s wrath as a holy response to sin
32:23 Judgment, salvation, and God’s glory
The lecture opens by reminding students that communicable attributes are not merely abstract descriptions of God but patterns for Christian living. Scripture repeatedly calls believers to imitate God and follow Christ in ways that are visible, practical, and transformative.
Holiness is presented as the central root of God’s moral character. God is utterly set apart, morally pure, and devoted to His own glory. Because God is holy, His people are made holy in Christ and are called to pursue holiness in real life. Using passages like 1 Corinthians 1 and 1 Thessalonians 4, the lecture explains the difference between positional holiness — being set apart in Christ — and progressive holiness — growing in obedience and moral purity.
From God’s holiness flow several key attributes. God is pure and cannot be tempted by evil. He is truthful and faithful, always keeping His promises. God is righteous and just, acting in perfect accordance with what is right and serving as the ultimate standard of justice. The lecture challenges modern ideas of “rights” by emphasizing that what is right according to God must come before any claim to personal rights.
The session also addresses God’s wrath, a necessary expression of His holiness. God’s wrath is not uncontrolled anger but His settled opposition to sin and evil. Passages from John 3, Romans 1, and 2 Thessalonians 1 show that God will be glorified both in judgment and in salvation.
The lecture concludes by pointing forward to the love of God, reminding students that holiness and love are never opposed. Together, they reveal the beauty of God’s character and the foundation of the gospel.
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