When dealing with Marys astonishment at her pregnancy (Luke 1:34-38). He protects his honor. The psalmist affirms that God is timeless in Psalm 90:2: Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.. He is the author of more than a dozen books including the bestselling. Hes called the Holy One of Israel (Psalm 71:22, 78:41, 89:18; Isaiah 1:4, 5:19, 24). Without Christ taking the place for us and dying for our sins, we would all fall short of Gods holy standard. Amen (1 Timothy 1:17). Johns gospel opens with the claim that, Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.. SELF-EXISTENT: God has no cause; He does not depend on anything for his continued existence. And his standard for us is perfection as well. Omni means "all," andpotensmeans "powerful." Whither shall I go from your Spirit?Or whither shall I flee from your presence?If I ascend to heaven, you are there!If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!If I take the wings of the morningand dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,even there your hand shall lead me,and your right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:710. 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). 5. He doesnt have a physical body, nor is he merely energy, thought, or some other element of creation. how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out (Romans 11:33)! But jealousy can be a positive thing, too. Whatever God tells us, we should believe, r. We never have to ask God to be with us, First and Last, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End; as the Beginning, God has no cause (Isa. No one ever yet really trusted Him in vain. 23:19; 1 Sam. He believed the natural attributes of God were revealed both through general and special revelation. Goodness of God means In goodness of God he is absolutely perfect. Even describing him with mere words truly falls short of capturing who he is our words simply cannot to justice to describe our holy God. True A person can know God better by studying the attributes ascribed to Him throughout Scripture. To preserve His creation God must destroy whatever would destroy it. God, however, has never once been in need of anything. Wisdom sees everything in focus, each in proper relation to all, and is thus able to work toward predestined goals with flawless precision.. Malachi 3:6 says, For I am the Lord, I change not. This verse refutes Joseph Smiths doctrine of eternal progression. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 1 Corinthians 13:12, O, taste and see that the Lord is good Psalm 34:8, According to Tozer, the goodness of God disposes Him to be kind, cordial, benevolent, and full of good will toward men. 1:2; 11:3), Implied by doctrines of transcendence, self-existence, and immutability, The universe cannot contain God (1 Kings 8:27; Isa. He would rather speak of moral and non-moral attributes. I the Lord speak the truth, I declare what is, I have seen this people . The mystery of God as triune (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) is wedded to the conviction that God is personal and displays his character in all of his actions. We can express and experience love, but well never be infinitely loving like God. . Paul proclaims to the men of Athens, The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything (Acts 17:2425). I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. . 7:22; 1 Chr. This is because for us, jealousy is almost always wrong. Below are five things God cannot do. The Psalms frequently affirm that the Lord is good (Psalm 100:5). If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. Psalm 139:7-10, Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God afar off? If an attribute is something true of God, it is also something that we can conceive as being true of Him. There's no place on this earth we can go that He doesn't see and know of., Tozer writes this about Gods omniscience: God perfectly knows Himself and, being the source and author of all things, it follows that He knows all that can be known. Gods grace, or his favor toward those who deserve no favor but only punishment, is always freely given. He is the all powerful one. Gods wrath is His utter intolerance of whatever degrades and destroys.. His character never changes he never gets better or worse. His plans do not change. So although Gods total essence will never be able to be seen by us, God still reveals himself to us through visible, created things. God asks Job, Who has given to me, that I should repay him? David says in Psalm 103:8, The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.. What Is the Soul? God's Innate Non-moral Attributes. They get justice. September 14, 2014. In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures (Psalm 104:24). 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). 102:26-27; Isa. It is by his grace that God imputes merit where none previously existed and declares no debt to be where one had been before.. Tempt people to sin (James 1:13). He can blink and create a new galaxy. In fact, Paul says that God is "able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine"(Ephesians 3:20)., Although such power might seem frightful, remember that God is good. He can do anything at any moment. Omnipotent means to have unlimited power (omni = all; potent = powerful). Omni means all and when combined with presence means he is all present or present everywhere at once. How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! Romans 11:33. He doesnt love humanity in some vague sense, he loves humans. 18:20; 28:20), Fills all things (Jer. Paul refers to God as the one who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11). 40:18, 25; 44:7; 56:5, 9; Jer. Debbie McDaniel writes this about the omniscience of God, He can be everywhere, at the same time. The Proverb says: "the eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the Thus, we individually and corporately reflect Gods beauty in every way in which we exhibit his character. Through the work of Christ in atonement, justice is not violated but satisfied when God spares a sinner. His mercy is does not forbid him to exercise his justice, nor does his justice forbid him to exercise his mercy. ( Psalm 71:22; Isaiah 6:3; 1 Peter 1:16 ). Surely he recognizes deceivers; and when he sees evil, does he not take note? Job 11:7-11. Scripture attests to Gods righteousness and justice: Paul says that when God sent Christ as a sacrifice to bear the punishment for sin, it was to show Gods righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:2526). Practice His presence (Hebrews 13:5, Matthew 28:20). In this study we will be dealing with God's moral attributes. Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite (Psalms 147:5). 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. We find this precious truth expressed almost everywhere in the Scriptures, for His people need to know that faithfulness is an essential part of the Divine character. God does not change. OMNIPOTENT: God is perfect in that He can do all things consistent with the perfection of His being. 8:28), HOLY: God is morally transcendent, utterly separated from all evil, and perfectly pure (Ex. 4:7; Jer. The Argument from Contingency: A Proof for God, 6 Verses to Cling to When You Are Overwhelmed. Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea. 3:6; Rom. Yet even this is a reflection of Gods wise plan: For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 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). As with all of Gods attributes, they are not separate, isolated traits but interconnected parts of his perfect whole being. When Scripture speaks about Gods attributes it never singles out one attribute as more important than the rest. His radiance and beauty emanate from all that his is and all that he does. 90:4; 2 Pet. Weve all heard absurd questions from unbelievers like, If God is all powerful, can He make a circle square or a rock so large He cannot move it? C.S. Before examining God's attributes as revealed in Scripture, two points are important. For all have sinned and fall short glory of God, and, the wages of sin is death. But because of mercy, we dont get what we deserve. Our trust in him is therefore a confident trust, for we know that he will not, indeed cannot, change. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good (Psalm 106:1). 23:24; Acts 17:28), Unchangeable (Psa. The word staggers before its task of even describing the reality, writes R.C. 1:13-16), God cannot be comprehended as He really is (1 Cor. This ought to bring deep comfort to Christians who struggle with loneliness and deep sorrow. CREATOR: God is the One through whom all things have come into existence; by His unbounded power and knowledge He created finite existence ex nihilo and formed the universe as it now is. Jesus Christ bore the wrath of God that was due to our sin, in order that we might be saved (Romans 3:2526). He is the same God always, and everything he says or does is fully consistent with all his attributes. (communicable). so that no human being might boast in the presence of God 1 Corinthians 1:21, 27, 29. Your form could not be submitted. 3:20; Eph. 6. 82:1, 6; John 10:34-36), Yahweh is Elohim (Gen. 2:4; Deut. Just like his other attributes, Gods goodness exists within his immutability, and infinite nature, so that he is unchangingly, always good. Lewis responded, Nonsense is still nonsense, if talking of God or something else (Know What You Believe, Paul E. Little). Holiness, justice, love, goodness, truth, and mercy are all examples of the non-moral attributes of God. 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