GOODNESS AND SEVERITY
PURPOSE:
To learn to relate God’s goodness to God’s severity.
DISCUSSION:
1. Why is and the crucial word in Romans 11:22?
2. Why have people become so muddled in their thinking about God?
3. What is the origin of “the habit of disassociating the thought of god’s goodness from that of his severity”? What effect does this habit have on Christianity? Why?
4. Why does “the Santa Claus theology [carry] within itself the seeds of its own collapse?
5. What attributes together make up God’s goodness?
6. Which attribute did God especially stress to Moses?
7. On page 162, what does this statement mean: “Generosity is, so to speak, the focal point of God’s moral perfection”?
8. Also on page 162, what does this statement mean: “God is good to all in some ways and to some in all ways”?
9. What is the point of Psalm 145?
10. What stands out to you as the main blessings God has given you?
11. For what four examples of deliverance does the writer of Psalm 107 praise God (p 163)?
12. What is God’s severity? What does this statement mean: “Behind every display of divine goodness stands a threat of severity in judgement if that goodness is scorned”?
13. What does the entire Bible stress about the nature of God’s severity?
14. What three lessons does Packer draw from his consideration of the goodness and severity of God? How can we apply each one?
Optional: Conclude with a time of thanksgiving and praise to God.
SUMMARY:
What is the relation between God’s goodness and God’s severity?
