In all His relations with His people God is faithful. 2:8). From the mass of humanity, God sovereignly decides to give mercy to some of them. . Hebrews 6:18 puts it like this: God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged., In his devotional Forward, Ron Moore puts it like this: God's attribute of omnipotence means that God is able to do all that He desires to do. 90:4; 2 Pet. God is spirit (John 4:24), he has no physical form. He also knows the thought and intent of our heart. In this study we will be discussing God's non-moral attributes. There are several different methods for categorizing Gods attributes. Scripture affirms Gods wisdom in several places: Christ is the wisdom of God to those who are called (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30), even though the cross is foolishness to those who reject it and think themselves to be wise in this world (1 Corinthians 1:1820). Page 3 Introduction to the Attributes of God Doerksen classify the attributes as Moral and Non-moral; Millard Erickson classifies them according to Greatness and Goodness; but most popularly, Charles Hodge, Louis Berkhoff, William Shedd, and Herman Bavinck classify the attributes of God as Communicable and Incommunicable. 15:29). His mercy flows from his goodness. For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth. However, it is important for an individual,. True A person can know God better by studying the attributes ascribed to Him throughout Scripture. Grace of God. When talking about the grace of God, theologians will often differentiate between Gods common grace and his saving grace. 3:26), TRUE: God is perfectly truthful, and cannot lie (John 17:17; Titus 1:2; Heb. And He never sleeps or slumbers, He's aware every moment of every day, exactly what we're up against. 18:20; 28:20), Fills all things (Jer. If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. On the left are listed various attributes of God. That is why I use the word manifold., Ligonier.org writes this about the glory of God: When we think of the glory of the Lord, the image of brilliant light often comes to our minds. God is the sum of all desirable qualities. In a very real way, God is always near us, closer than our thoughts, writes Tozer. This specific aspect of Gods truthfulness is sometimes viewed as a distinct attribute: Gods faithfulness means that God will always do what he has said and fulfill what he has promised (Numbers 23:19, 2 Samuel 7:28, Psalm 141:6). O taste and see that the Lord is good! (Psalm 34:8). Seeing God is perfect, He cannot be more perfect, truthful or holy. His plans and purposes do not change (Psalms 33;11, Isaiah 46:10, Romans 11:29). We are finite, created beings, made in the likeness of our infinite creator. God cannot do the self-contradictory (e.g., make a rock He cannot lift), nor can He do that which is contrary to His perfect nature (e.g., He cannot change, He cannot lie, etc.). While our will isnt absolutely free in the way Gods is, he gives us relative freedom. We never have to worry about drying up his never-ending well of goodness, peace, mercy and grace. The word staggers before its task of even describing the reality, writes R.C. There was no right on the sinner's part, to the saving mercy of the Most High God. These passages are often sorted into attributes of God, a biblical framework we can use to talk about what God is like and how we know that. Nobody gets injustice - R. C. Sproul, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion. So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy." Christians shouldnt fear Gods wrath. A wise person uses his heart, soul and mind together with skill and competence. Some of Gods incommunicable attributes include his: Some of Gods communicable attributes include his: This breakdown seems pretty straightforward, but while it can be helpful, it isnt perfect. - Colossians 1:17, Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure Psalm 147:5. All Rights Reserved. What Do We Learn from Reading Jesus Genealogy? This is also comforting. He is there no matter where we are or what we are doing. 45:21; Zeph. He cannot do anything contrary to His will, character, or nature. 1:13-16), God cannot be comprehended as He really is (1 Cor. Mercies of God 4. When we realize that God is the definition and source of all good, we realize that God himself is the ultimate good that we seek. This does not mean Gods form is spread out so that parts of him are in every location. Often, many individuals do not ponder the attributes of God. The innate qualities of absolute Deity those features that are uniquely divine. God is infinitely wise, consistently wise, perfectly wise. What a chilling thought. 4:35, 39; Psa. Because of our disobedient hearts, we deserve death. TRANSCENDENT: God is entirely distinct from the universe, as the carpenter is distinct from the bench; excluding pantheism (God in all) and animism (everything is a god). For instance, love would be a moral attribute, whereas omnipotence would be a non-moral attribute. The most common way to classify God's attributes divides them into incommunicable attributes (traits that God doesn't share or "communicate" to others) and communicable attributes (traits that God shares or "communicates" with us). For instance, love would be a moral attribute, whereas omnipotence would be a non-moral attribute. Scriptures narrative frequently describe Gods wrath, especially when Gods people sin against him. And yet, since we as human beings are made in the image of God, there are echoes of his attributes in our lives that we share with him. His presence is everywhere in that everything is immediately in His presence. says the Lord. (Jeremiah 13:24). Johns gospel opens with the claim that, Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.. Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Jesus says to his Father, And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). Now, when God looks on us, he sees Christs perfect holiness. By submitting your email address, you understand that you will receive email communications from HarperCollins Christian Publishing (501 Nelson Place, Nashville, TN 37214 USA) providing information about products and services of HCCP and its affiliates. Do what is self contradictory. 1.f2.n3.j4.a5.g6.r7.b8.p9.m10.k11.c12.i13.e14.l15.d16.h17.o18.s19.q. Thus, God cannot lie, sin, deny himself, or be tempted with evil. When we meditate on this truth, especially in light of his other attributes of goodness and love, it makes it easier to trust him with all we have going on in our lives, from the very serious to the silly and mundane. For although we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:3), we now trust in Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Matthew 5:45 tells us, For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:7-8. 10:31). Daniel brings to bear Gods sovereignty perhaps better than any other writer. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite (Psalms 147:5). 90:2; 93:2; 102:12; Eph. That can be very comforting or scary according to our perspective. His Son (Hebrews 13:8). And his love for us knows no beginning and no end. IMMUTABLE: God is perfect in that He never changes nor can He change with respect to His being, attributes, purpose, or promises; excluding process theology, Mormon doctrine of eternal progression. Will is a communicable attribute because we exercise choice and make real decisions regarding the events of our lives. Gods grace, or his favor toward those who deserve no favor but only punishment, is always freely given. Moral attributes are those attributes which have to do with God's will and with the rightness of God's character and actions. 32:9-14; Psa. Our ability to exercise will and make choices is one of the most significant marks of God-likeness in our existence. SELF-EXISTENT: God has no cause; He does not depend on anything for his continued existence. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. John can say that God is light (1 John 1:5) and then a little later say also that God is love (1 John 4:8). Our trust in him is therefore a confident trust, for we know that he will not, indeed cannot, change. The love of God is eternal, sovereign, unchanging, and infinite. Since a thousand years is a figure of speech, one day lasts forever in Gods mind. 8. Each is Deity, yet they are distinct in personality. Paul refers to God as the one who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11). Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord - Jeremiah 23:23-24, To be omnipresent is to be in all places, at all times. He is complete or perfect in every way. says the Lord. By His nature He is inclined to bestow blessedness and He takes holy pleasure in the happiness of His people.. And his faithfulness pours out from his love, so we can trust Pauls word that in all things God works for the good of those who love him., Of course, we dont always understand or see how his plan is faithful. September 14, 2014. It is only in this that we can hope to stand in the presence of the blindingly pure, perfect, Holy One of Israel. Immutability God's nature does not change in any way. You may unsubscribe from these email communications at any time. The Attributes of God refers to the character traits of God as they are revealed to us in the Scriptures. He is both fully merciful and fully just. 11. Its important to note the anything he wills part of that statement, because God cannot do anything that is contradictory or contrary to his nature. The Proverb says: "the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the Who he is never changes. John tells us that God is love (1 John 4:8). In the King James Version of the Bible, it's translated Lord God. . Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine (Job 41:11). 1:2; 11:3), Scripture everywhere assumes the personhood of God in the use of personal pronouns, in recording Him speaking and acting willfully, etc. 28:9, 17; Psa. Therefore you are to be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect, Jesus says in Matthew 5:48. 1:1-2; etc. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please - Isaiah 46:9-10, God is omniscient, which means he knows everything. 11:25-27), GOOD: God is morally excellent, and does only good (Gen. 1:31; Deut. 1:26-28; Rev. It is the reason that everyone Christian or non-Christian - enjoys the blessings of life, provision and abundance. He will never allow anyone to stand in His presence apart from Christ (Habakkuk 1:13). 102:26-27; Isa. 8:35-39)!, For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. John 5:26, As limited humans, we have incredible needs, which left unfulfilled, result in death. Only one God (Deut. His grace is also sovereign. Non-moral attributes represent the characteristics of God's being that does not relate to God's moral nature. In Jeremiah, God rebukes the prophets who think their words or thoughts are hidden from God. God said, "I AM THAT I AM." Because he possesses these unfathomable riches in the perfect knowledge and love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matt 11.25-27;John 17:24-26), God is the "blessed" or "happy" God (1 Tim 1.11;6:15)., Because God is self-sufficient, we can go to him to satisfy all our needs. 8:28), HOLY: God is morally transcendent, utterly separated from all evil, and perfectly pure (Ex. 107:8; 118:1; Nahum 1:7; Mark 10:18; Rom. The idea of a moral deity, the guardian of the moral order, is a human rather than a cosmic conception, for divine morality is a reflex of human ethic raised to its highest imaginable power. He cannot cease to exist, or cease to be God, or act in a way inconsistent with any of his attributes. D.S. Or where can I flee from Your presence? God does not change. . When He plans something, it will come to be. Every attribute of God that we find in Scripture is true of all of Gods being, and every attribute of God qualifies every other attribute. In Johns apocalyptic vision, the 24 elders proclaim, You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being (Revelation 4:11). ETERNAL: God is perfect in that He transcends all time and temporal limitations, and is thus infinite with respect to time. 43:10), Separate from the world (Isa. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. He is the all powerful one. Below are a few scriptures dealing with Gods sovereignty: So Gods non-moral attributes consists of His omnipresence, omniscience, omnipotence, immutability, omnisapience, and His Sovereignty. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 23:24; Acts 17:28), Unchangeable (Psa. Gods mercy, patience, and grace may be seen as three separate attributes, or as specific aspects of Gods goodness. It is an answer to a question, the reply God makes to our . Omnipotence comes from two Latin words. God is able and powerful to do anything he wills without any effort on his part. 14:9; 1 Cor. With him are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding (Job 12:13). God has both moral and non moral attributes. 42:5), God is near, so He can be known (Deut. True A person can know God better by studying the attributes ascribed to Him throughout Scripture. Salem Media Group. MORALLY PERFECT: The following are the moral attributes of God; they are listed here together because Gods moral nature is perfectly unified, with no tension between His wrath and His love, for example. Instead, because of the mercy of God, we get life through faith in Christ. His lists of the attributes typically included . Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. This post will use the most common classification system, adapted from Wayne Grudems online systematic theology course. The quality of knowing everything is called omniscience, and because God knows everything, he is said to be omniscient (that is, all-knowing). He is infinitely, unchangeably, unfailingly merciful forgiving, lovingly kind toward us. David says in Psalm 103:8, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.. The attributes of God are the inherent characteristics closely associated with or belonging to God. God, being infinite, must possess attributes about which we can know. He is the same God always, and everything he says or does is fully consistent with all his attributes. God loves all that is right and good, for rightness and goodness conforms to his moral character. He can be relied upon, and he will never prove unfaithful to those who trust what he has said. Proud member Amen (1 Timothy 1:17). If I say, Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will be night, even the darkness is not dark to You, and the night is as bright as the day Darkness and light are alike to You. Jeremiah 23:24 says, Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? He knows our needs and desires (Matthew 6:8 and 32-33), We stand naked before Him. Worship Him (Psalm 100, Psalm 22:3, Acts 13:1-3). Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious (Exodus 33:19). 4:16; 7:1), Satan, idols, and the belly are all false gods (Psa. In confronting Abraham concerning Sarahs laughter and unbelief (Genesis 18:14). He knows all that we have done and all that we will do. Practice His presence (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20). Pauls statement might be more explicitly translated, who continually brings about everything in the universe according to the counsel of his will.. God asks Job, Who has given to me, that I should repay him? As mercy is Gods goodness confronting human misery and guilt, Tozer writes, so grace is His goodness directed toward human debt and demerit. If the situation changes, then of course Gods attitude or expression of intention will also change. Do not I fill heaven and earth? Wayne Grudems online systematic theology course, Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology online course, [Common Places] The Promise and Prospects of Retrieval: Recent Developments in the Divine Attributes, Eternal nature (he is infinite, but we are finite), Unchangeableness (he never changes, but we do), Omnipresence (God is everywhere at once, but we can only be in one place at a time), Love (God is love, and were capable of love), Knowledge (God has knowledge, and we can have it, too), Mercy (God is merciful, and were also capable of mercy), Justice (God is just, and were capable of justice), He created everything (Revelation 4:11, John 1:3, Romans 11:3536), Moses prayed to prevent the destruction of the people of Israel (Exodus 32:914), God added fifteen years to the life of Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:16), The people of Nineveh repented and God withheld his promised wrath (Jonah 3:4, 10). INCORPOREAL: God has no body or parts, and is immaterial, being a simple and infinite being of spirit; excluding the Mormon doctrine of God as an exalted man. (communicable). 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Rev. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. When Moses asked God, "Who shall I tell Pharaoh has sent me?" Jesus bares the same attributes as the Father. Likewise, although this is hard for many to accept, his sentencing of evil, unrepentant sinners to hell is also right and good. Fuller divided the attributes of God into two categories: natural and moral. Indeed, Tozer writes this about the confusing, head-spinning attribute of Gods infinity: To admit that there is One who lies beyond us, who exists outside of all our categories, who will not be dismissed with a name, who will not appear before the bar of our reason, nor submit to our curious inquiries: this requires a great deal of humility, more than most of us possess, so we save face by thinking God down to our level, or at least down to where we can manage Him., In his article on Christianity.com, Dr. Adrian Rogers writes about the self-existence of God: The name Jehovah is used some 6,800 times in the Bible. 1. While we must say that God has made all creation so that each part of it reflects something of his own character, we must also affirm that to picture God as existing or being like anything else in creation is misleading and dishonors who he is. He is the author of more than a dozen books including the bestselling. (2 Tim. Non-moral attributes represent the characteristics of God's being that does not relate to God's moral nature. A natural question that arises from this is, how then can a just God justify the unjust (as each of us are without Christ!)? Hes independent because: 1. Isaiah 43:7 says that man was created by God for his glory. now therefore let me alone, that my, Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to, He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but.

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