Day 8: God Is Not Divided, His Perfections Do Not Compete

Scripture

“The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.” Psalm 145:17 ESV


“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17 ESV

Confessional Summary
The Belgic Confession calls God “simple,” meaning God is not made up of parts that can be separated or set against each other (Belgic Confession, Article 1). Westminster guards the same truth when it says God is “without body, parts, or passions,” and it also confesses that He is immutable, unchanging (Westminster Confession of Faith 2.1).

This is not a claim that God is distant or blank. It is protection against imagining a patchwork God, as though His holiness fights His love, or His justice fights His goodness.

The confessions teach that God is one, whole, and unchanging, so His righteousness and kindness never contradict.

Reflection
You know what it is like to feel divided. You can want to do the right thing and still want credit for it. You can tell the truth and still angle yourself to look good. You can love someone and still resent what it costs. We are complicated, not in the admirable way, but in the fractured way. Sin does not just make us do wrong things. It pulls us apart.

That is why these two short verses are so steadying. Psalm 145 does not say the Lord is righteous in some ways and kind in others. It says He is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works. James does not say God is generous when the mood strikes. He says every good and perfect gift comes from Him, and that with Him there is no variation. No shadow. No shifting version of God.

This matters because when life hurts, we start negotiating with God’s character. We read a hard passage or we live through a hard providence and we silently revise the doctrine of God. We say, “God is loving, but not here,” or “God is just, but not now,” or “God is good, but not to me.” That is our divided heart trying to make sense of the world by dividing God.

But God’s perfections do not compete. His holiness is not the enemy of His kindness. His justice is never cruelty in a nicer suit. His mercy is never moral laziness. He does not swing between strict and soft. He is the Father of lights, and there is no shadow due to change.

If you ever wonder whether God will be good to you, you do not need to guess. Look at Jesus. At the cross, God’s justice and God’s mercy do not compromise each other. They meet. Not by weakening one attribute to make room for the other, but by accomplishing both in the one redeeming act of God. The God who saves you is not divided.

Application
When you are confused by God’s ways, refuse to accuse His character. Do not build a “different God” out of your pain. Rehearse what Scripture says is true: righteous in all His ways, kind in all His works, generous without shadow. Then obey what you already know, even while you wait to understand what you do not.

Prayer

Lord, You are not divided like I am. Cleanse my thoughts of You from suspicion and distortion. Teach me to trust Your steady righteousness and Your steady kindness, and to follow You when I cannot yet trace Your reasons. In Jesus’ name. Amen.