As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.

In Romans 3:19-20 we have the conclusions that such sinners should realize given the holiness of God and what He requires -

Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law <is> the knowledge of sin.

In Romans 3:21-26 we have the only way a holy and righteous God can be just and yet in mercy and grace justify sinners -

But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

The only way that a sinner can have a saving, intimate knowledge of God is through Jesus Christ. This is what every saved, justified sinner has. The Bible uses four major analogies to describe this intimate knowledge of God that saved sinners, believers, have and the relationship we have as a result of that knowledge. We know God in the manner of (1) a son knowing his father; (2) a wife knowing her husband; (3) a subject knowing his king; (4) a sheep knowing its shepherd. All four of these point to a relationship in which the one who knows is totally dependent upon the one who is known. The one who is known takes the responsibility for the one who knows. The Bible reveals that we can only know God in this way through a right knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Himself God manifest in the flesh. Consider the following passages of Scripture that teach this.

I. CHRIST - THE WAY TO THE FATHER

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. -- John 14:6

Christ is the way into God's kingdom, God's eternal favor. He is the embodiment of the truth by which we are set free and enter into God's kingdom. And He is the source of life which is the benefit of God's grace and favor. No one can approach God as a loving, gracious father except through Christ and based on His righteousness alone. If you approach God in any other way, based on any other ground, you will find Him to be a God of wrath. Why? It is because sin demands punishment and wrath. Righteousness demands justification and life, and righteousness can only be found in Christ by faith in Him.

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? --John 14:7-9

All who have seen Christ as the one mediator between God and men, the one upon whom all of salvation is conditioned, the one who has met every condition, the one who has fulfilled all righteousness to demand the salvation of all for whom He died and to enable God to be both a just God and a Savior, all who have seen HIM have seen the Father. They know the Father in that special covenant relationship. They have seen how every attribute of God's character is honored, engaged, and magnified in their salvation based on the righteousness of Christ.

In John 8 our Lord dealt with religionists who knew some things about God. They claimed to know God and to worship Him. They recognized some things about Christ. Many of them agreed for a time that He was the Messiah. They knew He had performed many miracles. What did Christ say about them?

Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also. -- John 8:19

These religionists knew something of God's character. They knew Him as Creator, Provider, Sovereign Judge, Protector. But they did not know Him as the one who justifies the ungodly based on the righteousness of Christ. They did not know Him as their covenant God and Father, because God's covenant is a covenant of promise. This promise is revealed in the Gospel of salvation based on the righteousness of Christ. They believed that God had promised to save and bless all the Jews without exception and that salvation was conditioned on them. They did not believe nor abide in the doctrine of Christ.

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. -- 2 John 9

II. CHRIST - THE REVEALER OF THE FATHER

All things are delivered unto Me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. -- Matthew 11:27

How does the knowledge of God in salvation come to sinner? It comes through Christ, the Mediator, and on the basis of His having glorified the Father by meeting the conditions of our salvation. All eternal life resides in Christ to be sovereignly dispensed by Him to all whom the Father has given Him. Do you want this grace? Do you desire this great salvation? It is in God the Son alone, and no one knows the Son but the Father. If we want to know the saving character of Christ, we have to abide by the of the Father concerning Him (John 3:36; 5:24; 14:6; 1 John :10-13). So the first saving view of Christ is of Christ as sent of the Father to meet all the conditions of salvation for His sheep (John 17:3).

No one knows the Father except through the Son, as revealed by the Son. God the Father has engaged every attribute of His character to save sinners based on the righteousness of Christ. It is in the accomplishment of this salvation that God is glorified as both a just God and a Savior. When sinners see this, God is glorified in their hearts. This is salvation (2 Cor. 4:6). So the ground of this great salvation lies in the fact that all of salvation is conditioned on Christ, the Son, and the fact that He met all of those conditions. Based on His having established that righteousness which is the only ground of salvation, He rules and disposes over all things to insure that everyone of His sheep partake of this eternal life He has merited for them.

III. CHRIST - THE ONE SENT OF THE FATHER

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. -- John 17:3

Eternal life is to know God savingly as both a just God and a Savior in Christ. This is to know and understand God in His revealed redemptive glory as Him who justifies the ungodly based solely upon the blood and imputed righteousness of Christ. This is the only true and living God. Eternal life is a quality of life "given" by means of regeneration and conversion. This knowing is the understanding of justifying faith which hears, understands and believes God's promise of salvation conditioned on Christ alone and which receives and pleads Christ's righteousness imputed as the only ground of salvation. Apart from this knowledge savingly applied and understood there is no eternal life but only the abiding wrath of God.

This giving of eternal life in 17:2 is salvation, and salvation is the new birth which includes regeneration and conversion (a sinner coming to faith and repentance). Now faith and repentance are evidences of life and life eternal. So, any who are ignorant of or not submitted to the imputed righteousness of Christ as the only ground of salvation do not have eternal life (Rom. 10:1-3). They are ignorant of the true God, God's redemptive glory. They are ignorant of Christ and His righteousness imputed through which the true and living God is known. This knowledge of God cannot be attained apart from Jesus Christ AS HE IS SENT OF GOD to accomplish redemption. It is not Christ absolutely considered, but the Christ of God who came to fulfill the conditions of our salvation and who fulfilled them.

IV. CHRIST - THE GLORY OF THE FATHER

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. -- 2 Corinthians 4:6

In 2 Corinthians 4:6 we have one of the most comprehensive statements concerning salvation itself (regeneration and conversion). This describes those who have been blessed by God's grace to see how God is just to justify the ungodly based on the merits of the obedience and death of Christ. THIS IS SALVATION, because to see this glory is to be saved. This is a spiritual illumination by the truth of the Gospel in the power of God the Holy Spirit. This is where the veil of self-righteousness, self-love, and religious pride is removed and a sinner sees the first and foremost purpose of the law. The same God who created the world and spoke light into existence is the same God who creates a new creature in Christ and brings him to a knowledge of His glory in Christ. This is saving knowledge of God.

The Glory of God here is not mystical. It is the specific revelation of God's attributes revealed in the salvation of sinners based on the imputed righteousness of Christ. Here we see how every attribute of God's character is engaged, honored, and revealed in our salvation conditioned on Christ. The face of Jesus Christ is not mysticism. It is His Person which qualified and equipped Him to accomplish such a great redemption.

All of these verses show us how a sinner obtains a saving view of God. God is spirit. He cannot be seen with the physical eye. We must look to Him with the eye of understanding, the eye of faith as He is revealed in His Word. His Word is mainly His testimony of Christ. God reveals His glory to us as we see the great salvation He has provided through Christ.

So we are going to study God attributes as they are revealed in the salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ! All of God's perfections come together and are revealed, honored, and magnified in the highest in the Person and redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ. God's attributes are revealed to sinners savingly when we see how God can be just to justify the ungodly based on the righteousness of Christ. We again see that the main issue in salvation is the glory of God (the revelation and honor of all His attributes). The main issue in the glory of God is the righteousness of Christ (the merit of His obedience and death that enables God to be both a just God and a Savior).

God's glory, then, is directly related to the atonement which Christ made on behalf of God's elect. In this study we are going to see how that in order to have right views of God's character, we must have right views of Christ and the atonement He made for sinners. What did Christ actually accomplish on behalf of sinners? Did He make salvation merely possible for sinners who would be good enough to meet certain conditions, or did He accomplish the whole of salvation by establishing a righteousness that demands the salvation and final glory for His sheep according to God's promise?

The way of salvation conditioned on the sinner is the way of works and it does not glorify God. It does not honor His holiness and justice, because it says that multitudes will go to hell even though Christ died for them and paid their debt to law and justice. It does not honor His love and grace and faithfulness because it says that even though God loved these sinners and promised to save them, He either did not have the desire or the power or the wisdom to insure their salvation. It does not honor Christ and give Him the preeminence because it says that even though He died for them, shed His blood as payment for their sins, establish a righteousness for them, they perished anyway. What does this say about God's love and Christ's atonement? It says that they do not make the real difference in between salvation and condemnation. It says the sinner's faith, repentance, and/or perseverance is what makes the real difference.

God reveals all His attributes to men to show us that He is the only Source and Originator of salvation, and Christ's righteousness is the only ground of salvation. God reveals that His love, His power, the blood and righteousness of Christ make the only difference between salvation and condemnation. Sinners are commanded, required and warranted to believe. Faith is necessary for salvation, but not as the ground or cause. Sinners are commanded to believe that Christ alone makes the difference between salvation and condemnation.

All of God's attributes are revealed to lead sinners to this great truth. Everything that God reveals in His Word is revealed ultimately to glorify Him as both a just God and a Savior, and to lead sinners to believe on Him as the God who justifies the ungodly based upon the righteousness of Christ. The first thing revealed in God's Word, after the Fall of man, was the promise of salvation conditioned on Christ (Genesis 3:15). Everything revealed about God from then on is revealed to encourage sinners (active idolaters) to believe that promise and repent from idolatry and dead works. None of it is revealed to discourage or frighten sinners away, or to promote legal repentance.

In light of this knowledge, there are five basic truths, five foundational principles of knowledge of God that true Christians have. This will determine our course throughout.

(1) God has spoken to man, revealed Himself, and the Bible is His Word revealing knowledge of God through Jesus Christ and given to make us "wise unto salvation" (2 Timothy 3:15).

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by <his> Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness <his> glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty high. -- [Hebrews 1:1-3

(2) God is Lord and King over His world, and He rules all things for His own glory, displaying His perfections in all that He does, but especially in salvation by Christ, based on His righteousness alone, in order that men may be saved and worship and serve Him.

Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. -- Titus 2:13-14

(3) God is a just God and a Savior, active in sovereign love through the Lord Jesus Christ to save sinners from the guilt and defilement of sin, to adopt them as His children and to bless them accordingly.

Blessed <be> the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly <places> in Christ: -- Ephesians 1:3

(4) God is ONE God in THREE distinct PERSONS (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and the work of salvation is one in which all three Persons of the Godhead act together, the Father purposing redemption, the Son securing it and the Spirit applying it.

Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. -- 1 Peter 1:2

(5) Godliness means responding to God's revelation in trust and obedience, faith and worship, prayer and praise, submission and service. Life must be lived in the light of God's Word. Therefore, true godliness begins with faith in Christ, believing God's Gospel and repentance of dead works. It continues as our hearts are established with grace, as we are motivated by the assurance of final glory based on the imputed righteousness of Christ.

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that <pertain> unto life and godliness, the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. -- 2 Peter 1:2-3