Couplets of God’s Holy Love
In a previous post, Knowing God: Our Father of Holy Love, I introduced John Stott’s concept of couplets of God’s holy love. A vision of God’s holy love delivers us from caricatures of him, as John Stott reminds us.
“We must picture him neither as an indulgent God who compromises his holiness in order to spare and spoil us, nor as a harsh, vindictive God who suppresses his love in order to crush and destroy us.
That God is holy and loving is foundational to biblical Christianity and to biblical counseling. The Scriptures express the oneness or unity or simplicity[1] of God in terms of the complementary, indivisible nature of his holiness and love—his holy love. Stott refers his readers to ten passages that highlight God’s holiness and love, then concludes: “Here are ten couplets, in each of which two complementary truths about God are brought together, as if to remind us that we must beware of speaking of one aspect of God’s character without remembering its counterpart” (The Cross of Christ).
Our Father’s Holy Love
I’ve searched the Scriptures, looking for additional couplets of God’s holy love. I’ve summarized these couplets with phrases like:
- Holy Love
- Affectionate Sovereignty
- Sovereign Shepherd
- Shepherd King
- Above Us and Near Us
- Transcendent and Immanent
- Glory and Goodness
- Truth and Grace
- Justice and Compassion
- Love and Righteousness
- Love and Faithfulness
- Love and Strength
41 Scriptural Couplets of God’s Holy Love
I’ve combined Stott’s study with my study. Together, here are forty-one scriptural couplets of God’s holy love.
Exodus 20:5-6: 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Exodus 15:13: 13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.
Exodus 33:18-19: 18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” 19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
Exodus 34:5-7: 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
Numbers 14:18-19: 18 “‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’ 19 In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”
Nehemiah 9:31-33: 31 But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. 32 “Now therefore, our God, the great God, mighty and awesome, who keeps his covenant of love, do not let all this hardship seem trifling in your eyes—the hardship that has come on us, on our kings and leaders, on our priests and prophets, on our ancestors and all your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today. 33 In all that has happened to us, you have remained righteous; you have acted faithfully, while we acted wickedly.
Psalm 26:3: 3 For I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.
Psalm 33:5: 5 The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
Psalm 36:5-6: 5 Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. 6 Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep.
Psalm 36:10: 10 Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.
Psalm 40:10-11: 10 I do not hide your righteousness in my heart; I speak of your faithfulness and your saving help. I do not conceal your love and your faithfulness from the great assembly. 11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me.
Psalm 48:9-10: 9 Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love. 10 Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness.
Psalm 57:3, 10: 3 God sends forth his love and his faithfulness. 10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Psalm 59:16: 16 But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.
Psalm 61:7: 7 May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever; appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.
Psalm 62:11-12: 11 One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God, 12 and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”; and, “You reward everyone according to what they have done.”
Psalm 63:2-3: 2 I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. 3 Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
Psalm 85:10-11: 10 Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. 11 Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.
Psalm 86:15-16: 15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. 16 Turn to me and have mercy on me; show your strength in behalf of your servant.
Psalm 89:1-2, 14: 1 I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. 2 I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. 14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.
Psalm 92:1-2: 1 It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, 2 proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night.
Psalm 98:3: 3 He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Psalm 100:5: 5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Psalm 101:1: 1 I will sing of your love and justice; to you, Lord, I will sing praise.
Psalm 103:17: 17 But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.
Psalm 115:1: 1 Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.
Psalm 116:5: 5 The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.
Psalm 117:1-2: 1 Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. 2 For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Psalm 138:2: 2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your unfailing love and your faithfulness.
Psalm 143:11-12: 11 For your name’s sake, Lord, preserve my life; in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. 12 In your unfailing love, silence my enemies; destroy all my foes, for I am your servant.
Isaiah 40:10-11: 9 “Here is your God!” 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.
Isaiah 45:21: 21 Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.
Hosea 2:19: 19 I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
Micah 7:18-20: 18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20 You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
Habakkuk 3:2: 2 Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.
John 1:14: 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Romans 2:4-5: 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
Romans 3:26: 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Romans 11:22: 22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.
Ephesians 2:3-5: 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
1 Peter 1:15-16 with 1 John 4:8-10: 1 Peter 1:15-16: 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 1 John 4:8-10: 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
1 John 1:9: 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Note
[1]In his post, The Holy Love of God, R. C. Sproul describes God’s simplicity. “As Christians we believe in a God who is simple and not made up of parts. God is not one part sovereign, one part just, one part immutable, one part omniscient, one part eternal, and one part loving. Rather, He is all of His attributes at all times. To understand any single attribute, we must understand it in relation to all His other attributes. The love of God is eternal and sovereign. The love of God is immutable and holy. We treat all of His other attributes in the same way. God’s justice is loving and eternal. His holiness is loving and omniscient. Our concept of the love of God will stay on track only as we understand His love in relationship to His other attributes.”
