MERCY OF GOD Is his readiness to relieve the miserable and to pardon the guilty. 1. It is essential to his nature, Exod. 34:6,7; not, indeed, as a passion or affection, as it is in men, but the result of his sovereign will, and guided by his infinite wisdom.--2. It is free, as nothing out of himself can be the cause of it; for then there would be a cause prior to him, the cause of himself. The misery of the creature is not the cause of mercy, for he is not wrought upon as creatures are, nor are the merits of the creature the cause, Tit. 3:5; nor are even the sufferings of Christ the cause, but the effects of it; but it arises…

LOVE OF GOD Is either his natural delight in that which is good, Is. 61:8. or that especial affection he bears to his people, 1 John 4:19. Not that he possesses the passion of love as we do; but it implies his absolute purpose and will to deliver, bless, and save his people. The love of God to his people appears in his all- wise designs and plans for their happiness, Eph. 3:10.--2. In the choice of them and determination to sanctify and glorify them, 2 Thess. 2:13.--3. In the gift of his Son to die for them, and redeem them from sin, death, and hell, Rom. 5:9. John 3:16.--4. In the revelation of his will, and the declaration of his promises to them, 2…

WRATH OF GOD Is his indignation at sin, and punishment of it, Rom. 1:18. The objects of God's anger or wrath are the ungodly, whom he has declared he will punish. His wrath is sometimes manifested in this life, and that in an awful degree, as we see in the case of the old world, Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues of Egypt, the punishment and captivity of the Jews, and the many striking judgments on nations and individuals. But a still more awful punishment awaits the impenitent in the world to come; for the wicked, it is said, shall go away into everlasting punishment, where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Matt. 25:46. Rom. 2:8,9. Rom. 1:18.

JUSTICE OF GOD Is that perfection whereby he is infinitely righteous and just, both in himself and in all his proceedings with his creatures. Mr. Ryland defines it thus: "The ardent inclination of his will to prescribe equal laws as the supreme governor, and to dispense equal rewards and punishments as the supreme judge." Rev. 16:5. Psal. 145:7. Psal. 97:1.—2. It is distinguished into remunerative and punitive justice. Remunerative justice is a distribution of rewards, the rule of which is not the merit of the creature, but his own gracious promise, James 1:12. 2 Tim. 4:8. Punitive or vindictive justice, is the infliction of punishment for any sin committed by men, 2 Thess. 1:6. That God will not let sin go unpunished is evident, 1.…

HOLINESS OF GOD Is the purity and rectitude of his nature. It is an essential attribute of God, and what is the glory, lustre, and harmony of all his other perfections, Ps. 27:4. Exod. 15:11. He could not be God without it, Deut. 32:4. It is infinite and unbounded; it cannot be increased or diminished. Immutable and invariable, Mal. 3:6. God is originally holy; he is so of and in himself, and the author and promoter of all holiness among his creatures. The holiness of God is visible by his works; he made all things holy, Gen. 1:31. By his providences, all which are to promote holiness in the end, Heb. 12:10. By his grace, which influences the subjects of it to be holy, Tit.…