Reformed Covenanter
Cancelled Commissioner
I quite liked the below quotation from John Piper's latest book, with the possible exception of the word highlighted. Does Dr Piper hold to the impassibility of God, or, if he does, is it fair to conclude that he is just using the word affection in an improper sense, and he is not properly ascribing such passions to the divine essence?
Before creation, there were no standards outside of God. There was nothing outside of him for him to comply with. Before creation, God was the only reality. So when there is only God, how do you define what is right for God to do? That is, how can God’s holiness encompass not only his transcendence but also his righteousness?
The answer is that the standard of God’s righteousness is God. The foundational biblical principle is this: “He cannot deny himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). He cannot act in a way that would deny his own infinite worth and beauty and greatness. This is the standard of what is right for God.
This means that the moral dimension of God’s holiness—his righteousness—is his unwavering commitment to act in accord with his worth and beauty and greatness. Every affection, every thought, every word, and every act of God will always be consistent with the infinite worth and beauty of his transcendent fullness. If God were to deny this worth or beauty or greatness, it would not be right. The ultimate standard would be broken. He would be unrighteous.
John Piper, Coronavirus and Christ (Wheaton IL: Crossway, 2020), pp 32-33 (emphasis added).
Before creation, there were no standards outside of God. There was nothing outside of him for him to comply with. Before creation, God was the only reality. So when there is only God, how do you define what is right for God to do? That is, how can God’s holiness encompass not only his transcendence but also his righteousness?
The answer is that the standard of God’s righteousness is God. The foundational biblical principle is this: “He cannot deny himself” (2 Tim. 2:13). He cannot act in a way that would deny his own infinite worth and beauty and greatness. This is the standard of what is right for God.
This means that the moral dimension of God’s holiness—his righteousness—is his unwavering commitment to act in accord with his worth and beauty and greatness. Every affection, every thought, every word, and every act of God will always be consistent with the infinite worth and beauty of his transcendent fullness. If God were to deny this worth or beauty or greatness, it would not be right. The ultimate standard would be broken. He would be unrighteous.
John Piper, Coronavirus and Christ (Wheaton IL: Crossway, 2020), pp 32-33 (emphasis added).
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