The Attributes of God

By Dane Gardow

You want to learn and know about who God is; His character, what He loves and hates? Many people have their own idea about God, and others think they can wait until death to find out what He's like—but that will be too late and they will be devastated to see a side to God they would never expect…so dreadful it will plunge them into an eternity of torment and despair. Instead, God has revealed Himself very clearly for us now in this life…in His word, that we may conform ourselves to His image accordingly, coming to know Him through His Son Jesus Christ in spirit, truth, and great intimacy.

God is Personal

God is by no means an impersonal force but a personal, self-conscious being who thinks, speaks, desires, wills, interacts, and expresses emotions. He possesses knowledge and wisdom, He loves and hates; He can rejoice and laugh; He can be grieved and angered.

God is Eternal

God has always existed and will always exist; He has been and always will be God from eternity past to eternity future. He had no beginning and He will have no end.

God is Infinite

God is without limit in all His attributes, abilities, nature, and power. Because God is infinite, it is impossible for Him to be fully understood by any finite creature, including angels and humans.

1. Omnipotent: God is all-powerful, with infinite power. He can do all that He pleases, with nothing able to stop Him.

2. Omniscient: God is all-knowing, with infinite knowledge and wisdom. He knows all there is to know about everything. He has known the eternal future from eternity past.

3. Omnipresent: God is all-present, with infinite presence. He is simultaneously in all places at once—yet He remains completely distinct from creation. God can see each and every person in the earth, in Heaven, and in Hell.

God is Spirit

God is not subject to any of the physical laws of the universe. He is independent and distinct from any material existence. He is invisible and must be worshiped in spirit and truth, not by any images or methods invented by men.

God is Self-Existent

God created all things out of nothing; He is the only being that was not created, the only uncaused cause. He has life within Himself and His existence is not dependent on anything; but all life has come from and is dependent upon Him.

God is Immutable or Unchangeable

God will never change in His nature, character, or attributes; He has always been and will always remain unchanged. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. However, God's immutable nature is not to be confused with His ability to change circumstances (e.g. if a person repents, God may offer mercy instead of executing the judgment forewarned). God always works all things according to the counsel of His will.

God is Good

God is of moral excellence and worthy of all admiration, esteem, and reverence. In all His character, God is absolutely desirable and all satisfying. Everything He does is good, in that He always rewards good and punishes evil; His law, commandments, will, and gospel are all good. All of His requirements and expectations are only for the greatest good of His creation. God showers His goodness on all, including His enemies and most especially His people.

God is Righteous

God's nature, motives, and actions are always perfectly just, fair, and morally right. God Himself is righteous and just, and His own character is the standard by which righteousness is determined. God loves righteousness and justice, but He hates unrighteousness and injustice—anything that falls short of His character and moral uprightness.

God is Holy

God is infinitely pure from moral imperfection, and completely separate from and transcendent above all things—especially sin. He is wholly unique, with nothing and no one comparable to Him.

God is Sovereign

God is Lord over all His creation and governs with absolute authority. All creatures are capable of their own will and therefore accountable for the things they freely choose to do; and yet their choices are a demonstration of God's predetermined, foreordained, and foreknown purpose and will. It is also God's prerogative as Creator to override the wills of His creatures whenever He so chooses (e.g. restraining wicked men from sinning further). God is not the author of evil, nor does He ever commit sin, but He does use the sin of wicked men and angels to accomplish His will; and He causes all things, both good and evil, to work together for the good of His people. God determines who or what is born naturally into this world as well as who is born again spiritually into His kingdom; and He determines every person's moment of death. Since all mankind has sinned and become guilty of breaking God's law, all men therefore are justly at His disposal like clay is to a potter.

God is Love

God's very essence is love; and therefore He is a God of grace, mercy, and compassion. He deals with people based not on what they deserve but on His own goodness, compassion, and longsuffering. God's love for what is right, just, and good causes Him to therefore hate everything that is not right, just, or good; and without this complementing hatred, God's love is rendered meaningless. The love of God is a sacrificial, self-giving love: out of love and for the good of His creatures, God the Father gave His one and only begotten Son; God the Son gave Himself and laid down His life. The love of God is so great that He expresses love toward the very objects of His hatred. I don't know of anyone who would be willing to deliver up their children to die for the benefit of an enemy who spitefully used them; yet God, in His infinite love, delivered His only Son to die an excrutiating death in order to save all who come to Him, even though they have done nothing but sin against Him all their lives.

God is Wrathful

The wrath of God is His intense hatred for sin and all that opposes His nature and will. Rather than being merely an extension of His character, like love it is the very essence thereof. Just as we love something and hate its opposite (i.e. loving pleasure and hating pain), likewise, because God is holy, He therefore hates everything that is unholy; and because He is good, He hates and punishes all that is evil. God is a consuming fire and His wrath is revealed against all unrighteousness of men. His jealousy burns against all who would give His glory to another; He will take vengeance on all who oppose and reject the mercy He has offered to all. The popular saying, "God hates sin, but loves the sinner," is almost always used in a way that directly contradicts the Bible which says God's wrath is not only directed toward sin, but even the sinner as well. It is only in Jesus Christ where God separates the sin from the sinner; outside of Christ, God's wrath abides on those who reject Him—both them and their sins.

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