What are the attributes of God?

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True Bible Answers · Accepted Answer

The question of God's attributes opens a deeper question: what is the difference between what God is and what is rightly attributed to Him? J.N. Darby addresses this directly in his paper God in His Essence and Attributes: There are two words applied to God, which reveal His nature — Love and Light — and only these two. They affirm what He is in nature — not any attribute. Love is goodness, but in supremacy; for, in its abstract nature goodness is identified with supremacy, for it must be free. Scripture says "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and "God is light" (1 John 1:5) — these are not attributes but declarations of His essential being. Darby explains the distinction: Attributes are relative; hence God, who is absolute, cannot be spoken of as being the attribute itself. It is only a character which belongs to Him. God is something in Himself. But He is also something in relationship to other things when they exist or are supposed to exist. The attributes may be a necessary consequence of what He is, and I suppose in God always are, but they are not what He is Himself. And further: He is omnipotent, omniscient, supreme; even righteous, holy; these, though more connected with His nature, are relative terms. I must think of God's dealings and claims to call Him righteous. He judges of something when He is righteous, only it affirms He always judges right. To call Him holy, I must think of evil which He rejects. Hence He is not called righteousness and holiness, but righteous and holy. The Principal Attributes of God Morrish's Bible Dictionary provides a structured summary of the fourteen principal attributes and characteristics of God as revealed in Scripture: 1. His Eternity. Hab. 1:12; Rom. 1:20. 2. Invisibility. Col. 1:15. 3. Immortality. Ps. 90:2; 1 Tim. 1:17. 4. Omnipotence. Job 24:1; Matt. 19:26; only Potentate. 1 Tim. 6:15. 5. Omnipresence. Ps. 139:7-10; Jer. 23:23-24. 6. Omniscience. 1 Chr. 28:9; Isa. 42:8-9; Rom. 8:29-30; Heb. 4:13. 7. Incorruptibility. Rom. 1:23; James 1:13. 8. Immutability. Mal. 3:6; James 1:17. 9. Wisdom. Ps. 104:24; Rom. 11:33-36. 10. Holiness. Ps. 47:8; Ps. 99:3, 5; Rev. 4:8. 11. Justice. Ps. 89:14; 2 Tim. 4:8. 12. Grace and mercy. Ps. 136; 2 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 2:4. 13. Longsuffering. Ex. 34:6; Rom. 9:22. 14. Faithfulness. Ps. 36:5; Heb. 10:23. Morrish's Bible Dictionary Morrish notes that these fall under the broader truth that "God's eternal power and divinity may be known in creation, Rom. 1:20; but He has revealed Himself in the person of Christ, the Son, the eternal Word." Natural and Moral Attributes Darby draws a further helpful distinction between natural and moral attributes: We have thus one personal God — "I am," supreme, absolutely free, omniscient, omnipotent, wise, the Creator. These are, so to speak, natural attributes; moral ones are righteous, holy, good. He defines these moral attributes with precision: Righteousness is perfectness in, or consistency with the relationship in which anyone stands; evil and good being known. Holiness, the aspect of heart, which intrinsic purity of nature bears towards other things, according to their character. God Is Love — The Heart of His Nature Edward Dennett devotes an entire address to this truth: When the word of God speaks of what He is absolutely in His nature, one word describes it, and that word is LOVE. If we enter into this, we shall have no difficulty in understanding that "love is of God," for in truth it could not be found elsewhere in the universe. Edward Dennett He explains how this was fully displayed at the Cross: Although this is true, it is to the cross we have to come for the perfect display of what God is. It was there in the death of His beloved Son that He told out all that He is, His righteousness against sin, His love in providing the sacrifice; yea, every divine attribute was displayed in the cross, and in all the perfection of their entire harmony because there every question of good and evil was for ever solved. The Cross: Where Every Attribute Is Harmonized F.B. Hole writes of how the Cross resolved what seemed irreconcilable: In His Cross, and there alone, every Divine attribute was harmonized as regards its dealings with sin. All was brought to equipoise and rest. There it was that "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Ps. 85:10). And because these seemingly opposite attributes of God have met harmoniously in the Cross, they meet with equal harmony in the experience of the ransomed sinner. F.B. Hole H.J. Vine poses the great question that the Cross alone answers: Where could the wisdom be found, to bring man who is sinful into right relation to God who hates sin? How can man who is unrighteous be made right with God who is righteous? How can man who is unholy be made suitable to the presence of a holy God?... A way by which all the holy attributes of God could abide in perfect harmony with His nature of love, in the blessing of sinful man who had merited His judgement? H.J. Vine Sovereignty and Holiness in Action J.G. Bellett highlights two attributes especially seen in God's dealings with His people: I perceive in them an expression of God's jealousy of His sovereignty, and of His holiness, of His rights as Lord of the people, and as the God of their Sanctuary. He will declare both His sovereign power, and His unapproachable holiness; He will testify His rights both as Lord, and as God of Israel, though His blessing and His service, and His land of desire, shall be theirs. J.G. Bellett Synthesis The attributes of God fall into two broad categories: natural attributes (eternity, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability, invisibility, incorruptibility, immortality, wisdom) and moral attributes (holiness, righteousness, justice, grace, mercy, longsuffering, faithfulness). But deeper than all attributes lies what God is — love and light. Love is what He is absolutely; light is what He is in contrast to all darkness and evil. His attributes are the outshining of that nature in relation to His creatures and creation. And the supreme place where every attribute was displayed in its full perfection — righteousness and mercy, justice and love, holiness and grace — is the Cross of Christ. There, as Morrish's Dictionary puts it of God's glory: "In Him all the divine attributes shine in infinite perfection."

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