The Attributes of God
It is seemingly impossible for finite beings to wrap their minds around a infinite God. In fact everything we know about God is limited and only a fraction of his immense being. All that we know about God is what God himself has chosen to reveal to us. Without God revealing himself to us we would not know him at all. He is incomprehensible. God has made himself knowable in part through general revelation as we look at his creation and he has made himself known more fully though special revelation as we read his word.
God is Existent
Genesis 1:1 begins, “In the beginning, God…” The Bible itself begins with a statement about God’s existence. We see that he is both there at the beginning and before anything begins. The Bible assumes his existence. It does not explain it or defend it. It is the most fundamental reality about God. Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” The fool is called such because he is blind to what is obvious to everyone else. The pervasive view that God does not exist has only been prevalent in western thought since the late 17th century. Prior to that, the majority of people acknowledge his existence. Many have developed helpful proofs of his existence, but God’s existence is not dependent on our belief or unbelief. God simply is. He exists.
God is Eternal
Genesis 1 records for us the account of God creating everything that we see. He created every atom and caused it to move. He invented energy and gave it its power. The fact that he was there at the beginning shows us that he created time itself. He put heavenly bodies in the sky and caused the earth to move so that we would have the ability to even measure time. As the creator of time God himself is outside of time. He is not bound by a half dimensional understanding of time like we are. God is able to look at everything in the past, present and future at once. In Exodus 3 God revealed himself to Moses saying, “eyeh asher eyeh.” We often translate that as “I AM THAT I AM.” In other words God exists eternally in the past, present and future. In Moses’ final blessing (Deuteronomy 33:27) over Israel he tells them that God is eternal and that he is their dwelling place. God offers eternal life and speaks of the eternality of his word and his covenants. Only an eternal being can speak in this way. His eternal natures demonstrates that he has a vastly greater perspective on the events of history and how it all fits into his plan.
God is Creative
Genesis 1 immediately begins with the action of God as he creates the world. God simply speaks into the nothingness and out of his imagination comes forth life and matter. The world's most brilliant scientists may spend a lifetime trying to understand concepts that were merely an effortless thought on the part of God. We praise Newton for noticing the effect of gravity. And yet no scientist can articulate the cause. God himself invented the very laws of physics that govern the natural world. Many of the Psalms speak of God’s creation. Psalm 104:24 says, “O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” In the midst of Job’s suffering, God describes the magnitude of his creation in Job 38:4-7 saying, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” In Colossians 1:16 Paul writes about Jesus saying, “all things were created through him and for him.” God is the creator of everything and is therefore the most creative being.
God is Communal
Each person of the Trinity shares in perfect fellowship within the Godhead. In John 17 Jesus describes the Father as being in him, and he in the father (vs. 21). And then he says that they are one (vs. 22). Jesus then describes the love that the father has for him (vs. 26). 2 Corinthians 13:14 refers to the fellowship of the Spirit. This doctrine is closely related to the doctrine of the Trinity, but it is also the basis for relationships and community within the body of Christ.
God is Perfect
In Matthew 5:48 Jesus describes God the Father as perfect. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul writes that Jesus knew no sin, which by inference shows his perfection as well. In Hebrews 10:14 the author writes, “For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” It is the Holy Spirit who works in us the process of sanctification. That can only be possible is the Spirit himself is also perfect. Because God is perfect he can act perfectly. 2 Samuel 22:31 says that his way is perfect. Psalm 19 says that his law is perfect. In our modern context we would say that the scriptures are perfect and the work of a perfect God.
God is Holy
God’s holiness is related to his perfection. It means that God is completely set apart and different from everything in creation. The angelic beings around his throne in Revelation 4:8 continually call out to each other saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Repeatedly in Leviticus the Lord says, “be holy, for I am holy.” God is sacred, sinless and pure.
God is Impeccable
Not only is God holy and perfect, but God is also impeccable. This means it is not possible for God to sin. Not only was Jesus sinless, but it was impossible for sin to overcome him. James 1:13 says that God cannot be tempted with evil. There is no hint of desire within God to do evil. Impeccability is a matter of the will. The will of God is that he shall not sin. The temptations that Jesus faced were genuine, but was impossible for those temptations to be greater than Jesus’ own will. A helpful way of understanding it is with the following illustration.
It is objected to the doctrine of Christ’s impeccability that it is inconsistent with his temptability. A person who cannot sin, it is said, cannot be tempted to sin. This is not correct; any more than it would be correct to say that because an army cannot be conquered, it cannot be attacked. Temptability depends upon the constitutional susceptibility, while impeccability depends upon the will.
God is Transcendent
Because God is the Creator of everything, he is also high above it all and different from his creation. God is not a created being or part of the creation itself. His transcendence means that he is not bound by the limitations of the universe like we are. Is it impossible to know a God who is transcendent without his own self revelation. In Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration we hear God speaking from heaven as a reminder that his home is not here. Paul says in Acts 17:24, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.” In Isaiah 55:8 God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Everything about God is higher than we can comprehend. His home, his thoughts and his ways transcend creation and the human mind.
God is Immanent
God is not only high above it all, but he is also here with us. God is both transcendent and aldo immanent. The prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 57:15, “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: ‘I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.’” God is other and different from us, and yet he dwells with us, became one of us and indwells the believer. Because God is immanent, meaning God is here, he is accessible to us and involved in human affairs.
God is Omnipresent
God is high above it all, but also here with us. In fact, God is omnipresent, meaning that he is everywhere at once. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place.” God sees everything that happens on the earth. In Jeremiah 23:24 God asks, “Do I not fill heaven and earth?” God is everywhere and Colossians 1:17 reminds us that he holds all things together. In Psalm 139:7 David asks where he can flee from God’s presence. The implication is that he cannot flee from God or hide from him because God is everywhere.
God is Omniscient
God is all-knowing, or omniscient. Psalm 147:5 tells us that his understanding is infinite. Because God is the creator he holds all things together understands the intricate workings of everything in creation. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names (Psalm 147:4). And because he is omnipresent he is able to observe the activity of everything in creation. Psalm 139:2-3 says, “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.” Because of this, God has a complete knowledge of everything in creation from every moment in time. But God’s knowledge, being infinite, goes beyond what we can know, see and measure. His understanding is unsearchable (Isaiah 40:28). It is far beyond what we will ever know or understand.
God is Omnipotent
Because God made everything, sees everything, knows everything and is everywhere at once, it follows logically that God can exercise power over everything. God is therefore omnipotent, meaning that he is all-powerful. Jesus said that with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). God can do anything, so long as it is consistent with his will and character. For example, God can act in ways that are miraculous and seemingly impossible according to the laws of nature, and yet God cannot lie or sin because that would defy his will and his holiness. Job in Job 42:2 said, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” God will always use his power to act according to his purposes. Jesus, while on earth also demonstrate God’s power over nature, diseases, spirits and death itself. See Matthew 8:23–27, Matthew 9:1–8, Matthew 8:28–34, and John 11:38–44 respectively. Hebrews 1:3 says that “he upholds the universe by the word of his power.” If God was not omnipotent the universe would cease to exist because it is his power that sustains it and holds it together.
God is Immutable
Our hope would be misplaced if God could suddenly change. It’s is an important doctrine to consider that God is immutable which means that he cannot change. If God could cease to be gracious or loving, then he would be made a liar and we would have no hope. But because God is not a liar and he is perfect, he is also unchanging. By that, we mean that his attributes, as being defined here, are unchanging. In Malachi 3:6 God says, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” We benefit from characteristics of God, that if changed, would lead to our destruction. Hebrews 6:17 refers to the unchangeable character of his purpose. What God has decided to do he will accomplish. God’s plans do not change and his character does not change. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
God is Sovereign
Because God knows all, sees all, is everywhere at once, and has the power to act, he can accomplish his will to perfection. The Psalmist says, “Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps (Psalm 135:6). God is sovereign which means that not only is he above all, but that he in control. Isaiah demonstrates it with the following: Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’ (Isaiah 46:10). God has a definite plan, which he will accomplish in spite of any decisions made by sinful humans. When we pray for God’s will to be done we do so knowing that he will accomplish whatever he sets out to do. R. C. Sproul puts it like this: “His will restricts my will. My will cannot restrict His will. When He decrees something sovereignly, it will come to pass—whether I like it or not, whether I choose it or not. He is sovereign. I am subordinate.” God often declares his will and brings it to pass, but there are also things about God’s will which only he knows and is in control of. Our role is to act according to those things which God has declared for us. We are to submit and be subordinate to God and his will. Romans 8:28 says that, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” As we act within the will of God we see how everything works together for good.
God is Just
When dealing with issues of the sovereignty of God and the problem of suffering in the world many people often ask why a good God allows suffering. What they are really questioning with that question is trustworthiness of God. Is God fair? Can I trust him? The answer to both of those questions is yes because God is just. His ways are just (Revelation 15:3) and he loves justice (Psalm 33:5). All of his ways are right and he is justified in every action he takes. Psalm 9:7 says that he, “has established his throne for justice.” Psalm 103:6 says, “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.” He makes things right where they seem to be wrong and he provides justice for those who are victims of injustice. Isaiah says that God is exalted in justice (Isaiah 5:16). Isaiah 30:18 says, “the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” God is right and true in everything he does. He is trustworthy and just.
God is Merciful
God’s own self description to Moses is important for understanding his character.
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:6–7 (ESV)
God’s first descriptor of his character is merciful. Mercy is the act of withholding punishment when it is due. Jesus demonstrated mercy to the woman caught in adultery (John 8) and also taught on it in multiples parables such as The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:21-35). Paul, writing in Ephesians 2:4, describes God as, “being rich in mercy.”
God is Gracious
In the second statement about himself in Exodus 34, the Lord describes himself as gracious. It is through mercy that God has withheld his wrath from us, and it is through grace that he himself took the punishment on our behalf. John describes Jesus as being full of grace and truth (John 1:14). We are saved because of the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9, Acts 15:11, Romans 3:23-24). If mercy is withholding punishment, grace is the giving of a gift which is not deserved. None of us can be good enough to save ourselves so it is only by the grace of God that we can find salvation. God’s grace is demonstrated by his forgiveness of our sin purchased through the blood of his son.
God is Slow to Anger
The third statement that God makes about himself in Exodus 34 is that he is slow to anger. In other words, he is patient. His patience therefore is directed at those he should be angry with. His patience provides the space and opportunity for him to show his mercy and grace. 2 Peter 3:9 describes God’s patience towards us by saying God, “is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” He is slow to anger so that we have the opportunity to repent and seek forgiveness.
God is Good
Jesus said that no one is good except God alone (Mark 10:18). His goodness describes not only his actions (Psalm 145:9), but also his will (Romans 12:2), his inclination (Philippians 2:13) and his very being (1 Chronicles 16:34). A deist may believe that God exists, but that he is no knowable. And if he were knowable he may not be good. A fundamental assertion of Christianity is that God is good and it is therefore good to know him and be known by him. Psalm 86:5 says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
God is One
The foundation of Christianity in Judaism stood radically apart from other cultures and religions with its claim of monotheism. It the midst of people groups who worshiped many gods, Israel claimed that there is only one God. And God himself made that clear in the ten commandments (Exodus 20). The famous shema (which means listen) in Deuteronomy 6:4 says, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” He is the one and only. There is no other. Psalm 115 makes it clear that other gods are merely the works of human hands. They are temporary lifeless inventions of man in attempts to make gods in man’s own image.
God is Triune
In what seems like a paradox, the Bible clearly teaches that God exists as three persons and yet is still only one God. Many have undertaken trying to find the right illustration to explain this fundamental principal. There are two popular illustrations which are incorrect in that they demonstrate two heretical views of the Trinity. The first illustration compares God to a water molecule which can be a solid, liquid or a gas. In this illustration ice can turn into water and then turn into steam but it is never all three at the same time. This is the heresy of modalism. Modalism teaches that God the Father became Jesus the Son and is now the Spirit. In this view he is only ever one of these and never all three. We clearly see the opposite of this at Jesus’ baptism where Jesus is in the Jordan and we hear the Father speak and see the Spirit descend. God exists as all three persons at the same time.
The second heresy is tritheism. The common illustration here is that God is like an egg which has a shell, whites and a yoke and yet each part can be referred to as the egg. The problem here is that it makes each person simply a part of God. having three persons who are each just a part of God is the same as having three Gods. This contradicts the unity and oneness of God. By contrast, the Bible teaches that each person of the Trinity is fully God.
Each person of the Trinity plays a unique role in God’s plan and yet each person is fully God. It has already been established that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4). The early church described each person of the Trinity as being one in substance and essence and that each person mutually indwelled the other (the term we know as perichoresis). But the best way to understand the Trinity is by examining what scripture teaches.
The easiest way to understand Trinitarian concepts is to start with Jesus. In the first chapter of his gospel John says that in the beginning was the Word (who we know from vs. 14 is Jesus). So at the start of creation Jesus was there. The first implication is that he already existed because he is an eternal being. The John says that the Word was with God. This shows the unique personhood of Jesus as distinct from the Father. They were with each other. But then John adds that the Word was God. This shows that Jesus was both with God and is himself God. Jesus in John 14:9 said, “If you’ve seen me then you’ve seen the Father.” By this he indicated that he is God and that he reveals the Father to us. In John 10:30 Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” This points to the unity the Son has with the Father. And yet there are distinct activities of the Father and the Son. The Son was sent by the Father (John 3:16). Only the Father knows when Jesus will return (Matthew 24:36). We see clearly that Jesus is God and yet he is also a distinct person from the Father.
With that established, the next step is to look at the Spirit. As we saw at Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit descended, indicating a distinctness from the Father and the Son. The Spirit is referred to as a person (Romans 8:16, John 5:6). And we also see that the Spirit is God and by extension co-equal with God in the Trinitarian formulations of Matthew 28:19 and 2 Corinthians 13:14. Each person is not the same as the other person but all three are fully God. Each person is also in the other in perfect unity. There is only one God who eternally exists as three persons. Each person is equal and worthy of praise.
God is Love
Perhaps the attribute of God that defines all others is the one offered up in 1 John 4:8 where John writes, not just that God is loving, but that God is himself love. God is love. All of his activities and attributes are wrapped up in this essential truth. God is love, therefore everything he does is loving. If we want to know how to love others we look to God, to his person and his example. God loved us by sending his only son whom he loved to die for us when we didn’t deserve it (Romans 5:8). God’s love is sacrificial and supernatural. Jesus said that the greatest command was to love God and that the second was to love others (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus loved God and others perfectly. He also said that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends (John 15:13). He demonstrated ultimate love through the means of his death on the cross.