The Attributes Of God

Definition: His virtues are not added to His being but His being is a pleroma of His virtues and reveals itself in them.

We can classify God’s attributes into:

The unrelated attributes of God – The attributes that are less shared by us
The related attributes of God – The attributes that are shared by us

The incommunicable/Unrelated attributes of God – The attributes that are less shared by us.

Self-existence of God. The in-dependence of God. God does not need us or the rest of the creation for anything yet we need Him and the rest of the creation can glorify Him and bring Him joy. Job 41:1, Ps 50:-10-12, Ps 94:8, Isaiah 40:18, Roman 11:33-36
The immutability of God. The unchangeableness of God. God is unchanging in His being, perfection, purpose, and promise, yet God does not act and feel emotions, and He acts and feels differently in response to different situations. Ps 102:25-27. God existed before heavens and earth were made. And He will exist long after they have been destroyed. Unchanging nature of God
- Does God sometimes change His mind?
  - Exodus 32:9-14
  - Isaiah 32:1-6
  - Jonah 3:4, 10 – God’s change of mind in judgement upon Nineveh.
  - 1 Samuel 15:10 – God feels sorry that He made Saul the king.
  - Impassability
God’s infinite in that He is not subject to any of the human limitations or of creations in general. Yet Personal. Personable. God is above the limitations of every creation.
- Different aspects of the infinite Nature of God: From everlasting to everlasting
  - In relation to the space. 1 Kings 8:27
  - Immensity
  - In relation to the time. Exodus 15:18, Deu 32:27 Neh 9:5, Ps , Rev 4:8-10
The eternity of God. God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in His own being, and He sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time. Job 36:26, Exodus 3:14, Genesis 1:1, John 1:3,
God is Spirit. John 4:24. God speaks, listens, thinks, sees, hears. There is No variableness. He is the source of spirit within us. Luke 14:20, 2 Chronicles 16:9, Isaiah 11:2 God’s the perfect Spirit.
The unity of God. God is One. Exodus 20:3, Deut 4:35, 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 7:22. Perfect Unity & Unified Unity (in relation to marriage) Genesis 2:2, 20. Heb 3:1, Genesis 4:4. Yahweh (Perfect Unity). Elohim.
Omnipresence of God – Omni (All)
- God is present everywhere Jeremiah 23:23, 24, Psalms 139: 7-10
- God doesn’t have spatial dimensions 1 Kings 8:27, Isaiah 66:1, 2, Act 7:48
- God is present everywhere to punish, to sustain, or to bless

Noncommunicable Attributes > Active attributes of God

God is omnipotent
From eternity to eternity, God is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and eternally the King. Genesis 1:1, 17:1, Job 40:2, Matthew 19:26, Rev: 15:3
God has the power to control everything, everywhere.
God is omniscient. All Knowing. Matthew 6:8, Genesis 18:17, 2 Kings 8:10, Ps 104:9, Ez 11:5, Heb 4:13,
God is sovereign. Daniel 4:35, Matthe 20:15, Roman 9:31,
- Concealed will of God – Deut 29:29, Ps 115:3, daniel 4:17, Roman 9:18, Eph 5:9
- Revealed will of God
The Moral Attributes of God
- Unity of God – The unity of God can be defined as follows “God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times”. God is love, but at the same time he punishes the sinners. God’s justice: the one who sins must punish…God’s love and God’s justice – intersected at calvary.
- God Love, God’s Justice, God’s Holiness, God’s Wisdom.
- God’s eternal, justice, love, holiness, wrath, knowledge, independence, jealousy, mercy, truth
- The Holiness of God – God is distinct and separate from all kinds of sin and evil. The holiness of God is the most significant attribute of our Living God. Leviticus 11:44, Joshua 24:19, Habakkuk 1:12, Exodus 19:12-25, Hebrews 10:19
  - Separation.
  - In the Tabernacle and Temple, there was a separation from holy, and holy to holies. Some people can enter, and priests can only enter once a year. Holy & Holy of Holies separated by Veil. Jesus granted us access to the Holy of Holies through His Blood. So we can access the Most Holy Place and call God – Abba, Father. Exodus 26:33, 1 Kings 6: 16-19. Leviticus 1: 1-7. Book of Isaiah, God is called/identified as the Holy one, 30 times. Eph 4:30. 1 John 1:5. In the OT, to meet God, the priest has to be holy. Any time we meet God, the requirement is we must be holy. Isa 59:1
  - Substitutionary – in place of . Romans 5:2, Eph 2:18, Therefore we must come to God in reverence and in devotion. Heb 12:28. To prove we have reverence towards God, our character will have: Humility, Repentance, Confession.
    - Atonement
- The righteousness and justice of God
  - God always acts in accordance with what is right and is Himself the final standard of what is right. Heb (Tsidkenu) Deut 32;4. God is righteous, God will always do what is right. How does God establish righteousness. Isaiah 50:4-9 2 Peter 3:13. God will remove wickedness. Roman 4:5 There are 2 aspects of God’s righteousness and justice
    - Righteousness that rewards (Remunerative Justice) –
    - Retribution Justice – Deu 7:9-10, 2 The 1:6-8.
- God is faithful
  - Ps 96: 5, 6
  - Isaiah 44:9
  - Romans 3:4
  - Unique qualities of God’s faithfulness – God is faithful in His promises, they never change. Exo 34:6, Deu 4:31, 2 Thess 3:3, 2 Timothy 2:13
- God is Truth – Amet, Amuna, Amen. Greek (Alethes), Bistis. Romans 3:4, Ps 83:19, John 18:38, Isa 44:6, John 17:3, 1 John 5:20, 2 Timothy, Heb 11:11, 1 Cor 1:9, Joshua 21:45, Ps 85:10
  - Joshua 21:45
  - Ps 85:10
- God is Love – 1 John 4:8, John 17:24 God’s love means that God eternally gives of HImself to others.
- God’s love is reciprocal. God’s love is self giving for the benefit of others. Ref: 1 John 4:8.
- God’s love was active in eternity. John 17:4

The communicable attributes of God – The attributes that are shared by us.

God’s Love – we imitate this communicable attribute of God first by loving God in return and second by loving others in imitation of the way God loves them. Ref: Romans 5:8, John 3:16, Matthew 22:37, 38
Mercy – God’s mercy means God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress
Grace – God’s grace means God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment
Patience -God’s patience means God’s goodness in withholding of punishment toward those who sin over a period of time.
Ref: Exodus 34:6, Psalms 103:8

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