The attributes of God refer to the character traits of God as they are revealed to us in the Scriptures. For scripture references for study, refer to a Topical Bible or click this link: https://www.openbible.info/topics. Below is not an exhaustive list of all the attributes.
- Creator – God created and creates. He created the world, us and established a system that allows creation to continually happen through natural reproduction.
- Holy - Holy is to be set apart and different from the ordinary and common. This separation means he is sacred and pure, that is, without blemish, darkness, sin or unholiness. When we respond to the Gospel and become children of God, we are called to be like holy like Him. God made a way for that through Jesus’s death on the cross and the Holy Spirit enabling us to walk in it.
- Good - God is good in that He created the world and us, desiring fellowship with us. When the unholiness of sin entered into humanity, God had to separate us from Himself but also made a way to redeem us from it through Jesus. He restored us to a degree of fellowship with Him now but also to come. In this story of creation, fall, redemption and restoration, we see a God that is seeking after us and making a way for us to know Him. As such, He is good.
- Immutable - God is not subject to change through time or circumstances. In His nature and character, God is absolutely without change. This is important because we do not have a fickle God up who changes his mind and actions like humans. What you see in Scripture regarding God and His way can be trusted.
- Mercy – Mercy is when that which is deserved is withheld to the benefit of the object of the mercy. God has demonstrated this attribute in abundance with respect to mankind. We from nearly the beginning of our existence have deserved nothing but wrath; having sinned and fallen short of eternal life in glory, we can do nothing to commend ourselves to or defend ourselves before God. God however showed mercy in pouring His wrath upon Christ, not us.
- Omnipotence - Means God is all powerful and thus has unlimited authority and influence. He has the ability to do whatever His will dictates. His omnipotence is seen in His act of creating and sustaining.
- Omnipresence - God is everywhere. His circumference is nowhere, but His center is everywhere. Somehow He can be with us all simultaneously.
- Omniscience – God knows all and has perfect knowledge. God’s omniscience is His knowledge of all things including actual and possible, past, present, and future. God is all knowing and His knowledge is in no way restricted by temporal considerations. He knows and sees the past, the present, and the future with equal clarity and absolute certainty. To Him, all is the present.
- Sovereignty – God is King. He is sovereign. He has power over all and nothing happens without His knowing and ultimately His authorization. He has established and set the world in motion to self-sustain, but He has the power to interact as He wishes.
- Redeems - Because sin deserved death, God sent Jesus to buy us back from it. Through Jesus’s death on the cross, God’s wrath was poured onto Jesus and the death penalty met thus giving us access to God.
- Sustains - God physically sustains us through the natural working of the world which provides food, shelter and water. He spiritually sustains us through the Holy Spirit, thus teaching, instructing, convicting and upholding the faith in us.
- Wrath - The personal manifestation of God’s holy, moral character in judgment against sin. Wrath is neither an impersonal process nor irrational and fitful like anger. It is in no way vindictive or malicious. It is holy indignation—God’s anger directed against sin. God’s wrath is an expression of His holy love. If God is not a God of wrath, His love is no more than frail, worthless sentimentality; the concept of mercy is meaningless; and the cross was a cruel and unnecessary experience for His Son.
- Love - Strong, unconditional affection for another modeled through the Child of God understanding. It is a love that has boundaries designed for accountability and flourishing.