Attributes of God - Charnock - XLI - Chapter 12 (God's goodness) continued

Required reading
Attributes of God by Charnock (Available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Continue Chapter 12 (A discourse upon the goodness of God) by reading up to the paragraph commencing 'IV. The fourth thing is, the manifestation of this goodness in creation, redemption, and providence.'

My summary
Today we read Charnock's third main point that God is good.

Firstly Charnock asserts that God is good because the more excellent anything is in nature, the more of goodness and kindness it hath.

Secondly as God is the cause of all created goodness he must therefore himself be the supreme good.  Charnock defends this by teaching us that:
(i) the goodness of God is not impaired by suffering sin to enter into the world, and man to fall thereby;
(ii) nor is his goodness prejudiced by not making all things the equal subjects of it.

What grabbed me
Interesting to read this quote: 'God only hates the sin, not the sinner; he desires only the destruction of the one, not the misery of the other; the nature of a man doth not displease him, because it is a work of his own goodness, but the nature of the sinner displeaseth him, because it is a work of the sinner's own extravagance. Divine goodness pitcheth not its hatred primarily upon the sinner, but upon the sin: but since he cannot punish the sin without punishing the subject to which it cleaves, the sinner falls under his lash.'

I thought the common idea that God loves the sinner but hates the sin was a modern thought, but here it is in Charnock (and apparently taken from Suarez according to Charnock's footnote).

But I don't think I agree.  Jesus teaches us that it is out of our sinful hearts that sin comes from, sin doesn't come from without: 'But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander (Matthew 15:18-19).'

I think claiming that God's real problem is with sin and not with us minimises our responsibility for sin.

Next week's reading
Continue Chapter 12 (A discourse upon the goodness of God) by reading up to the paragraph commencing 'The second thing is the manifestation of this goodness in redemption.'

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.