God's Character Revealed in Scripture

Source of True Teaching THE CHARACER OF GOD

by Kim Riddlebarger http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/source-true-teaching/
Q. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the
only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.
(Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 2)
When someone begins a statement with “I think God is like…,” I immediately know that
this person doesn’t have a clue as to what God is like. The reason I can say this is
because God is an infinite spiritual being, which means that we can know nothing about
Him unless He has revealed Himself, which He does through creation and in His Word.
While creation tells us that God is eternal and all-powerful (Rom. 1:20), the creation
cannot tell us that God is triune, nor that He sent His eternally begotten Son to save us
from our sins. The knowledge of these things must be revealed to us in God’s Word, in
which we find the supreme revelation of God in the person of Jesus Christ (John 14:9).
This is why when someone attempts to tell us what God is like apart from Scripture —
where God chooses to reveal Himself — we can be sure that all they can give us is mere
opinion. And since all men and women are liars (Ps. 116:11), such opinion is apt to be
wrong, no matter how sincerely offered (Rom. 1:22–23).
The Westminster Shorter Catechism opens with the oft-quoted question: “What is the chief end
of man?” Answer: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” These are truly
words to live by, but the answer presupposes that God has revealed Himself in such a way as to
tell us that this is the case. That is why the very next question and answer (no. 2) in the Shorter
Catechism addresses this very issue. It is making the point that although God is unknowable in
Himself, He graciously stoops down to reveal Himself, as well as His will for His people. God does
this in Scripture — in the Old Testament through types and shadows, and in the New Testament
in and through Jesus Christ.
This is a fundamental point of Christian theology and serves to establish two critical aspects of
our faith. The first is the exclusivity of Christianity. God reveals Himself through His Word. This
revelation involves specific acts of God in human history (such as the exodus from Egypt and the
crossing of the Red Sea and the death and resurrection of Jesus). In addition to God’s acts to
save His people from their sins, we have God’s own word of explanation. An entire nation of
hundreds of thousands (Israel) escaping from a captor (Egypt) might be interesting, but it holds
no redemptive import until the same God who rescued His people tells us through His servant
Moses what this rescue means and how this dramatic event is preparing the stage for God to

save His people from their sins (with the coming of Christ). The same thing holds true for the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While the Romans were certainly not used to having
those whom they crucified come back to life, Jesus’ resurrection cannot be seen for the saving
event it was apart from God’s own explanation given in the gospels and the epistles. God’s
redemptive act and His word of explanation are inseparable.
This means that Christianity is a truth claim. If these things recorded in Scripture truly happened
in human history, then Christianity is true, regardless of whether or not someone believes these
things to be true. If these things did not happen, then Christianity cannot be true, and sadly (1
Cor. 15:17), we are still in our sins.
The second important aspect of our faith established by the fact of God’s revelation of Himself
in His Word is what is known as the sufficiency of Scripture. Simply put, this means that the
Bible tells us everything we need to know about God and ourselves in order to be saved. In
Scripture, we find God’s commands (the Law) and God’s remedy for sin (the gospel). Because we
don’t obey them, God’s commands reveal to us that we are sinners in desperate need of a
Savior. And because the gospel (what God has done in Jesus Christ to save us from our sins) is
not revealed in creation, we must turn to Holy Scripture for the answer to the question: “What
must I do to be saved?”
Therefore, the second question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is designed to remind us
that what we (or anyone else, for that matter) thinks about God really doesn’t matter. What
matters is: What does God reveal about Himself in His Word? How are we to glorify God in our
lives and then enjoy the fact that our sins are forgiven in Christ? We would never know the
answer to this (much less understand the importance of the question) unless these things were
revealed by God in His Word. For it is in Scripture, and only in Scripture, that we have the rule to
direct us to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
And that is why when someone begins a statement with “the Bible says God is…,” they’ll have
my undivided attention.

You have all seen the buttons some Christians wear, haven’t you? It’s an acrostic —
PBPGINFWMY — “Please Be Patient God Is Not Finished With Me Yet.” It

Hebrews 13:8 ESV / Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
1 John 4:8 ESV /Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV /The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Psalm 30:5 ESV / For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may
tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
James 1:17 ESV / Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
1 John 1:5 ESV / This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all.
John 14:6 ESV /jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.
John 3:16 ESV / “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in
him should not perish but have eternal life.
Galatians 5:22 ESV /But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,
John 14:26 ESV /But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will
teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
1 John 4:10 ESV In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.
Isaiah 40:28 ESV / Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is
unsearchable.
Psalm 103:1-22 ESV / Of David. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy
name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast
love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. ...
Psalm 18:30 ESV /This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield
for all those who take refuge in him.
1 Peter 1:15 ESV / But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,
1 John 4:14 ESV And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of
the world.
1 John 5:3 ESV / For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his
commandments are not burdensome.
Psalm 19:1-14 ESV /To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night
reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their

voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set
a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong
man, runs its course with joy. ...
Philippians 4:7 ESV / And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:16 ESV /All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
for correction, and for training in righteousness,
2 Timothy 3:1-17 ESV / But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of
difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive,
disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without
self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.
Avoid such people. ...
John 11:26 ESV / And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe
this?”
John 1:1 ESV / In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
Daniel 9:9 ESV /To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against
him
John 14:17 ESV /Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees
him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
John 4:24 ESV / God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Isaiah 41:10 ESV /Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will
strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Job 12:7-10 ESV / “But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and
they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will
declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In
his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
Genesis 1:1 ESV / In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Revelation 5:13 ESV / And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth
and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be
blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
James 2:14-17 ESV /What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have

works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,
and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the
things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is
dead.
James 1:27 ESV / Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit
orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Romans 14:11 ESV /For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and
every tongue shall confess to God.”
John 5:24 ESV / Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me
has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Matthew 5:21-22 ESV /“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder;
and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry
with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the
council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
1 John 2:2 ESV / He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of
the whole world.
2 Peter 3:13 ESV / But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells.
Hebrews 5:14 ESV /But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of
discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 1:2 ESV /But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the
heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
Ephesians 3:19 ESV /And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be
filled with all the fullness of God.
John 17:17 ESV / Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
John 17:3 ESV / And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom you have sent.
John 1:29 ESV / The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Matthew 25:31-43 ESV / “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him,
then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will
separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he
will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his

right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me
drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ...
Deuteronomy 30:15-16 ESV / “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If
you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the
Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and
his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that
you are entering to take possession of it.
Revelation 22:18-19 ESV /I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if
anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone
takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree
of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
2 Peter 1:21 ESV / For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from
God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 ESV / But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
1 Corinthians 15:28 ESV / When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be
subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
Acts 17:30-31 ESV / The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people
everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in
righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by
raising him from the dead.”
Acts 2:38 ESV /And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
John 3:17 ESV / For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him.
Luke 16:19-31 ESV “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who
feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered
with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the
dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's
side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his
eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. ...
Luke 13:3 ESV / No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Matthew 25:6 ESV / But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet
him.’

Matthew 10:29 ESV / Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to
the ground apart from your Father.
Matthew 6:26 ESV /Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Matthew 5:48 ESV / You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Proverbs 27:23 ESV / Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds,
Proverbs 8:27 ESV / When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the
face of the deep,
Psalm 119:89 ESV / Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Psalm 50:12 ESV / “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.
Job 38:41 ESV /Who provides for the raven its prey, when its young ones cry to God for help,
and wander about for lack of food?
Exodus 23:5 ESV / If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you
shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.
Exodus 3:1-12 ESV /Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of
Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain
of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush.
He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will
turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he
turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I
am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which
you are standing is holy ground.” ...
1 John 3:4 ESV /Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is
lawlessness.
Romans 14:1-23 ESV / As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over
opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.
Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass
judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on
the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld,
for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day as better than another,
while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ...
Romans 7:12-14 ESV / So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me
through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the

commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but
I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
John 17:1 ESV / When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
Luke 24:1-53 ESV /But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking
the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when
they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this,
behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed
their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the
dead? ...
Luke 12:16-21 ESV /And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced
plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’
And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store
all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for
many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is
required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ ...
Matthew 25:46 ESV / And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into
eternal life.”
Matthew 22:35-40 ESV / And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher,
which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first
commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ...
Matthew 11:27 ESV /All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows
the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom
the Son chooses to reveal him.
Proverbs 30:5-6 ESV / Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in
him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.
Psalm 150:6 ESV /Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
Psalm 31:5 ESV /Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
Psalm 12:6 ESV / The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the
ground, purified seven times.
John 10:35 ESV / If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot
be broken—
Matthew 15:17-20 ESV /Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the

stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this
defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality,
theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands
does not defile anyone.”
Proverbs 12:10 ESV / Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of
the wicked is cruel.
Psalm 148:1-14 ESV / Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the
heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise
him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord! For he commanded and they were created. ...
Deuteronomy 22:6-7 ESV /“If you come across a bird's nest in any tree or on the ground, with
young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the
mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself,
that it may go well with you, and that you may live long.
Deuteronomy 22:4 ESV / You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the
way and ignore them. You shall help him to lift them up again.
Leviticus 25:7 ESV /And for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: all its yield
shall be for food.
Exodus 23:11 ESV /But the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your
people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with
your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.
Exodus 20:10 ESV / But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do
any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your
livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

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