Lesson for February 15, 2026

Problem-Solving Devices

#7 – Personal Love for God

God loves us because He has integrity; we can love Him in return when we acquire Christian integrity. Christian integrity is defined as a strict adherence or loyalty to the truth, soundness of moral principle, and a state of honesty and uncorrupted virtue as found in the Word of God. Virtue is defined as strength of character exhibited in such characteristics as stability, courage, capability, worthiness, honor, high moral standards, kindness, humility, faithfulness, and patience. Christian virtue refers to these qualities in a person, as God designed them to be.

Virtue in the Christian life can be produced under the filling of the Holy Spirit by application of God’s Word. Believers need a power greater than themselves in order to acquire and apply virtue. They need the same power that Jesus had while here on earth, Who pioneered the Christian life for us while being tested in every way that we are tested, except without sin. (I John 4:9; II Peter 1:2-4)

The Greek word “arete” is translated “virtue” in English. Paul uses this word in Philippians 4:8-9 and gives us the qualities that we should be concentrating on to develop virtue. Christian virtue is not avoidance of a set of taboos from some religious organization. Christian virtue is forming and exhibiting the character of Jesus Christ by consistent study and application of Bible doctrine, which is the mind of Christ. (Philippians 2:5)

Personal love for God is a function of our Royal Priesthood. Before we can love one another, we must learn to love God. Our personal love for God is based upon our thinking not our emotions. No one can be forced to love God. As with everything in the Christian Way of Life, it is a matter of personal volition. Loving God changes our human norms and standards to divine norms and standards and gives us a foundation upon which to build our Christian lives. This, of course, not only affects our relationship with God (our spiritual life), but it also affects our relationship with others (our Christian life). (I Peter 1:8; Ephesians 3:19)

The Attributes of God

SOVEREIGNTY

God is free to make any decision He pleases. However, God has limited Himself by divine decrees. For example, God cannot violate a person’s free will because He gave everyone volition. The sovereignty of God is His eternal, infinite, and perfect divine volition. The sovereignty of God is His eternal, infinite will which is expressed in His divine decrees, manifested in the divine administration of history called dispensations, and His unique plan regarding the Church Age.

OMNISCIENCE

God knows perfectly, eternally, and simultaneously all that is knowable, whether it is actual or possible. He knows our thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions. God is eternal and has eternal knowledge. God is truth and His knowledge is totally and perfectly accurate. Since God has always existed, His knowledge has always existed with Him. Therefore, He knows perfectly and simultaneously everything that has occurred or ever will occur. He knows perfectly and eternally all that is knowable, whether actual or possible. There are three factors of divine knowledge: 1) it is eternal – Acts 15:18; 2) it is incomprehensible – Romans 11:33; 3) it is wise – Ephesians 3:10. The future is as clear to God as the past. God foreknows what will be the choice of everyone. He may choose to influence their choice by the guidance of the Holy Spirit or through Bible doctrine, but He doesn’t coerce. (Psalm 33:13-15, 139:2, 147:4; Matthew 6:8, 10:29-30; Hebrews 4:3; Acts 15:8; Malachi 3:16; Isaiah 46:9-10, 44:28)

RIGHTEOUSNESS

God’s righteousness is perfect therefore He demands perfect righteousness. In the function of the essence of God, divine perfect righteousness and justice always precede divine love. God cannot love personally those who are not perfect. God’s perfect righteousness demands perfect righteousness from mankind. His righteousness is available to anyone. God’s righteousness is His gift to all those who put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. (II Corinthians 5:21)

OMNIPRESENCE

God is present everywhere. The whole of God is in every place. This is not pantheism, since pantheism denies the Person of God saying that God is in the rocks, the grass, etc. God’s essence fills the universe. (Psalm 139:7-8; Jeremiah 23:23-24; Acts 17:27) God is also free to be in only one place, as in the mountain with Moses, or in the Holy of Holies above the Mercy Seat. He is free to become flesh and dwell among us as Christ did. (John 1:14)

LOVE

God is love. God is motivated by His love. Like all of His divine attributes, love belongs to God’s being. God is and always has been love. Subjectively, God loves His own integrity; objectively He loves the other members of the Trinity. God can only love God or another being with His perfect righteousness. (I John 4:8)

JUSTICE

God is fair; it is impossible for God to be unfair. Justice administers the penalty which perfect righteousness demands. Perfect righteousness and justice always go together. Divine justice is portrayed in salvation. We all get divine justice sooner or later; sooner by believing in Christ, later in the Lake of Fire. Sin is not the issue in salvation, justice is. Because of propitiation, God is free to pardon and justify anyone who appropriates the saving grace of God by faith in Christ. The basis for unbelievers being sentenced to the Lake of Fire at the White Throne Judgment is not sin, it is because they rejected the payment that Christ made for their sin at the Cross. (Revelation 20:12-15) Justice prevailed at the Cross and will again prevail at the White Throne Judgment. (Deuteronomy 32:4; II Chronicles 19:7; Job 37:23; Psalm 19:9, 50:6, 58:11, 89:14; Isaiah 45:21; Romans 3:26, 12:3; Hebrews 10:30)

OMNIPOTENCE

God is all powerful, infinitely able to do all things by His power within His holy character or essence. However, He will not make a right wrong or a wrong right. He will not abuse His power or compromise His justice. If God is limited at any time, it is because of a self-limitation consistent with His own essence. God can do all He wills to do, but He may not choose to do all He can do. (Isaiah 44:24; II Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 1:19-21, 3:20; Hebrews 1:3)

IMMUTABILITY

God is unchanging. He cannot change, cannot be better or worse than He is. The problem is that anthropomorphic representations of God in the Bible are misunderstood. They really represent the perfect attitude of God toward variations of people or history in human language, so that mankind can understand God’s policies. God doesn’t hate, get angry, change His mind, have hands, or eyes. When a person changes, God seems to change, but in reality, God is remaining consistent with His own essence.

ETERNAL LIFE

God is eternal life. He has always existed totally apart from time. God is not subject to time, because He is the cause of time. Both time and space, though without substance, are both objects of His creation. God is not in time, but time is in God; He is the origin of time. God transcends all creation including time; therefore, He has always existed. God does not need to be chronological as we do. (Romans 4:17) Time, which is finite, has both a beginning and an end. Eternity, which is infinite, has no end. (Isaiah 44:24; II Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 1:19-21, 3:20; Hebrews 1:3)

TRUTH

God cannot lie. God’s truth is absolute, expressed to us in Bible doctrine. God is true to Himself, His essence, and His character. God did not acquire truth; He is truth. This attribute guarantees the genuineness of divine revelation. Bible doctrine (truth) is the expression of His essence. (Deuteronomy 32:4; I John 5:20; John 6:32, John 14:6, 15:1; Hebrews 8:2)

Summary

Personal love for God means you have come to know Him in an intimate way. You have learned Who God is and how He treats His children. This has caused you to love God personally above all others. You have done this through the consistent study and application of accurate Bible doctrine. The Word of God is the only source of absolute truth about the character of God. Lack of knowledge of His Word means a believer cannot love God, even if they say they do.