Goodness and Severity

Scripture focus

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

Romans 11:22 KJV

At a glance

Summary of the chapter

Packer takes Paul's pairing of God's goodness and severity in Romans 11 as a corrective to a widespread modern habit: keeping the comforting half of God's character while quietly setting the demanding half aside. He argues both attributes belong to the same, single, coherent God, and that isolating either one distorts the whole picture.

He is sharply critical of what he calls a 'Santa Claus' theology — an imagined deity who is endlessly benevolent, never angered, and asks nothing serious of anyone. That picture, however comforting, quietly erodes the seriousness of sin and the necessity of the atonement, leaving a shallow faith unprepared for real moral reality.

Turning to God's actual goodness — his moral perfection, generosity, and redemptive care traced through passages like Psalm 107 — and to his severity, expressed as the withdrawal of blessing from those who persistently reject it, Packer draws three responses: gratitude for God's goodness, patience modeled on God's own patience, and a right regard for his discipline as purposeful rather than punitive alone.

Key points

• Paul insists God's goodness and severity be considered together, not separated into a comfortable half-picture.
• A 'Santa Claus' image of God — kind but never severe — is a distortion, not a gentler version, of the biblical God.
• God's goodness is generous and redemptive, evident throughout Scripture and supremely in Christ.
• God's severity is the withdrawal of his goodness from those who persistently refuse it, not arbitrary cruelty.
• The right response is threefold: gratitude for goodness received, patience modeled on God's own patience, and respect for his discipline as corrective.

Related Scripture

• Psalm 107:1-9
• Romans 2:4
• Hebrews 12:6
• Psalm 86:15

For reflection and discussion

1. Where might your own picture of God be quietly one-sided — either all comfort or all demand?
2. How does seeing God's severity as the withdrawal of goodness, rather than arbitrary anger, change how you understand it?
3. What would it look like to genuinely thank God for his patience with you this week?