In the belief of the Pentecostals, is God moral, immoral or amoral? I've been studying on the nature of God and His character. While reading the New Testament I noticed that God operated in a different way in terms of His behavior. In the Old Testament, God had commanded that people be killed; men woman, children and even animals. I want to believe that in definition of terms, God would definitely seem immoral.

But Jesus who is God showed us a different character and nature of God. Jesus confirmed His unity and oneness with God in John 10:30. This on the other hand shows a "moral" God.

We are to believe that God remained the same in both Testament, unchanging; "He's the same yesterday, today and forever" and if this is so it would seem that both nature expressed in both Testament draws a huge parallel line.


If God is moral, in the light of the OT, what is the basis of his morality?
If God is immoral, is He then worth serving?
If God is neither moral or immoral, does that make Him amoral?
Leading Pentecostal theologian J. Rodman Williams deals with the character of God in his systematic theology, Renewal Theology, volume 1, chapter 3.  Here are a few quotes that teach God's holiness and righteousness, which Wiliams considers to be aspects of God's &quot;moral nature&quot;:

Holiness is the foundation of God’s nature; it is the background for everything else we may say about God. (59)
It is sometimes assumed that the Old Testament depicts a God of holiness, whereas the New Testament depicts a God of love. This is an unfortunate misapprehension, for the God of the New Testament is the same holy God. (60)
There is in God utterly no taint of anything unclean or impure. (61)
God is a God of total integrity and uprightness. [...] The divine nature is that of absolute rectitude. Wrongdoing is foreign to His life and action. (62)

Out of this holiness and righteousness, says Williams, flow God's justice and punishment:

God expects His people to demonstrate uprightness [...]. When they depart from His way, punishment must follow, for God’s righteousness cannot tolerate any unrighteousness in man. (61–62)
God in His justice renders to each person according to his works. God is “the Judge of all the earth” (Gen. 18:25), and accordingly metes out both penalties and rewards. (62)

This is a huge topic, but these quotes should make the point – God's punishes people (in both the Old Testament and New Testament – read Acts 5 sometime) because they fall short of his standard of righteousness.  That said, he offers grace as well, as Williams writes:

The word grace speaks of the way in which God in Christ has condescended to us. It highlights that aspect of God’s love that refers to His self-giving regardless of merit. (66)
In the Old Testament God is frequently spoken of as one who “abounds in lovingkindness.” The words of God to Moses that begin, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious” continue with “slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and faithfulness, keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgivinginiquity and transgression and sin.” (66–67)