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God's justice and mercy, and not unfrequently is foolish enough to infer that
the Creator cares not for man's happiness or misery, and makes no distinction
between good and bad. But since the Most Holy and Most Merciful God has revealed
Himself through His eternal Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, and earlier still in
some measure by means of His Holy Spirit speaking through the prophets,
declaring His will and His commands, teaching us the terrible consequences of
sin and urging men to awake to righteousness and sin not, therefore His justice,
mercy, love and holiness are proved by the holy Scriptures which He has given
us. From their pages man may learn with perfect certainty that God will never
accept impenitent, sinful and wicked men, and that, if He does not recompense
them for their evil deeds in this world, He assuredly will in the next. Above
all, God's love and goodness are shown forth in the character of His only Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and also in the fact that the latter suffered and died
for us, the just for the unjust. Had the Saviour been a mere creature of God,
His sufferings might have shown His own goodness, but not that of God. Nay
rather, men might be led to think evil of God for letting the noblest and best
of men thus suffer and die on the cross for the salvation of those that believed
on Him. But the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity removes this difficulty, for it
thus becomes clear that 'God 1 was in Christ,
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DOCTRINE OF THE HOLY TRINITY
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reconciling the world unto himself;' that He did not inflict
suffering upon an innocent creature but bore it Himself in the person of His
eternal Word. Here again there is admittedly a great and glorious mystery, but
right reason assures us that, if unselfish love and the perfection of
self-sacrifice for the good of others be virtues, they must somehow exist
in God, and that the Almighty must be able to manifest these gracious and
most holy qualities. The doctrine of the Trinity in Unity alone shows how this
is possible. The holy Scriptures inform us that, since men are sinners and
therefore cannot by themselves in any manner cleanse themselves from their guilt
and wash away the uncleanness of their hearts, they are unable to deliver
themselves from the chains of sin and from eternal ruin and misery. Moreover,
God's holiness and justice are such that it would be a violation of both these
attributes were He arbitrarily to accept the unclean and sin-polluted, thus also
making His threats of punishment meaningless. Yet His love and mercy made Him
unwilling to leave mankind to endless sin and eternal death. Hence the eternal
Word of God, one with His Father, took upon him perfect human nature, becoming
incarnate as the Lord Jesus Christ. By His obedience to the divine will even
unto death upon the cross, He the sinless one suffered for sinners. He thus won
to Himself the hearts of believers, making them repent of their sins which were
the cause of His sufferings. They are forgiven
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