Moral Attributes of God. (Communicable Attributes)
Moral attributes are the most glorious of his divine perfections.
The Goodness of God.
Goodness of God can be divided into the following.
Goodness of God means as he is God he is good. In goodness of God he is absolutely perfect. "The goodness of God endureth continually" (Ps. 52:1) The "goodness" of God respects the perfection of His nature: "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all" (1 John 1:5). There is such an absolute perfection in God’s nature and being that nothing is wanting to it or defective in it, and nothing can be added to it to make it better. He cannot be less good than He is; as there can be no addition made to Him, so no subtraction from Him. (Thomas. Manton).
Mark 10:18; Exod 33:19: Gen 3:21; Ps 106:1
Love of God.
God is love" 1 John 4:8, 16
There is a love of God to all his creatures comes out of his goodness. Even though sin is an abomination to God yet there is a common goodness to all his creatures Ps 145:9,15-16 Mat 5:45-48; Acts 14:17
But to the elect, believers there is a special love an intimate love where we can call God, ‘our heavenly Father’. John 3:16; John 16:27; Rom 5:8: 1 John 3:1
The love of God endures for ever; it is an everlasting love, in that sense, (Jer. 31:3) it is the bond of union between God and Christ, and the elect; and it can never be dissolved; nothing can separate it, nor separate from it (Rom. 8:35, 38, 39). The union it is the bond of, is next to that, and like it, which is between the three divine persons (John 17:21, 23). The union between soul and body, may be, and is dissolved, at death; but neither death nor life can separate from this; this loving kindness of God never departs; though health, and wealth, and friends, and life itself may depart, this never will, (Isa. 54:10) having loved his own which were in the world, he loves them to the end, to the end of their lives, to the end of time, and to all eternity (John 13:1).
Grace of God
Out of God’s goodness comes the grace of God. Grace is God’s favor to the underserved. We don’t deserve it yet it is given to us, it is unmerited. Grace of God is the source of all spiritual blessings.
We are called by grace Gal 1:15
Saved by grace Eph 2:7-9
The word of God is of grace Acts 20:32
By grace we are justified. Rom 3:24; 4:16; Tit 3:7
By grace we are enriched with spiritual blessings John 1;16; Eph 1:2-3
Grace is given to all those who love him. Eph 6:24
God gives grace to the humble. 1 Pet 5:5
Our labor in the Lord is by his grace 1 Cor 15:10; Acts 14:26
Gospel is of grace Gal 1:6
In modern theology and evangelism they believe the word grace of God, yet we see the true meaning is lost as it becomes more synergistic. Synergistic means our human will has a great place in God’s grace as it has to cooperate with God. Let me give an illustration. It is said that Hydrogenated oil can cause cancer. As it is not natural but manufactured by man. The merchants add hydrogenated oil to other natural oil and to foods as it taste good and the food lasts longer, so they make good profits. This is the meaning of synergism, meaning you are adding something extra to the original. This comes from Roman Catholicism and Arminianism. This is totally opposite to the true biblical meaning of grace which is monergistic. Monergistic means grace is the work of God alone to the underserved sinners. There is no works involved in receiving the gospel. Rom 11:6
If you add 50% of hydrogenated oil to 50% of vegetable oil it taste good, however it can cause cancer. This is the modern evangelism where they add 50% human works to 50% of God’s grace. The pure gospel is perverted in to a gospel of man and Christ together, this is the worldly gospel of man, not the true gospel.
Mercies of God
Out of the goodness of God comes mercies of God. The grace of God shows man is guilty before God, therefore man need forgiveness of God. Man need divine help in his pitiful condition. God instead of judgment shows his mercy towards the sinner.
Deut 5:10; Ps 57:10; 86:5; 1 Chro 16:34; 1 Tim 1;2 2 Tim 1:1 Titus 1:4 Ps 145:9
Longsuffering of God
Out of his goodness also comes the long suffering of God. The Hebrew word which literally signifies "long of both nostrils", is sometimes rendered "longsuffering", as in the places referred to; and sometimes "slow to anger", (Neh. 9:17; Ps. 103:8) The thought is that God takes a long deep breath as he holds his anger. In the New Testament, (Rom. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9, 15) the allusion is to the nose, the seat of anger, which restrains or shows it, as it is long or contracted. Even the sinner is continually sinning against God, there are warnings and advice comes to him, postponing God’s judgment.
Ex 34:6; Ps 86:15; Rom 2:4; 9:22 1 Pet 3:20; 2 Pet 3:15
Recommended in-depth studies can be found from Louis Berkof Systematic Theology. Robert Raymond Systematic Theology. John Gill – Body of Divinity. A.W Pink Body of Doctrinal Divinity, Thomas Watson Body of Divinity.