Attributes of God Pt. 2
- Terrell Pugh
- Jul 20, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 19, 2024
Lecture Notes:
I. Classifications Methods
A. Absolute and Relative
B. Natural and Moral
C. Transcendent and Immanent
D. Incommunicable and Communicable
II. Incommunicable Attributes
III. Communicable Attributes
IV. Omnis of God
V. Sovereignty of God
VI. Names of God
I. Classification Methods
A. Absolute and Relative Attributes
· Absolute relates to those attributes that exist independently from any relation.
· Relative relates to those attributes that exist or are experienced in relationship with God.
Example Scriptures:
· Exodus 15:11 (ESV) Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? [Holy]
· Ephesians 4:7 (ESV) 7 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. [Gracious]
Theologian: Augustus Hopkins Strong
B. Natural and Moral Attributes
· Natural relates to his nature.
· Moral relates to his nature manifested in humanity.
Example Scriptures:
· Malachi 3:6 (ESV) For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. [Immutability]
· Luke 18:7 (ESV) And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? [Justice]
Theologians: Henry C. Thiessen, Vernon D. Doerksen
C. Transcendent and Immanent Attributes
· Transcendent being those attributes that exist apart from our material universe.
· Imminent being those attributes that intimate to our human experience.
Example scripture:
· Isaiah 57:15 (ESV) For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” [Eternality and Compassionate]
Theologian: Augustus Hopkins Strong
D. Incommunicable and Communicable Attributes
· Incommunicable refers to his attributes that are humanly inconsistent with human reason and observations.
· Communicable refers to his attributes that can be understood through a human experience or understanding.
Theologians: William G. T. Shedd, Charles Hodge, Louis Berkhof, Herman Bavnick
II. Incommunicable
A. Aseity of God – Self-existence [and Self-sufficient]. Aseity means “from himself” in Latin.
· Isaiah 40:12-14 (ESV) “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?”
· Exodus 3:14 “I AM Who I AM”
· Acts 17 – Address to the Athenians. “It is in God we live, move and have our being.”
· Colossians 1:16-17 (ESV) For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
B. Infinity – Without limits, constraints, or bounds.
Immensity – Transcendent of spatial (space) limitation.
· 1 Kings 8:27 (ESV) But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!
· Psalm 147:5 (ESV) Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
· Job 11:7-9 Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea.
· God’s Omni’s
C. Eternality – Not confined by time; existing outside time.
· Psalm 90:2 (ESV) Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
· Romans 1:20 (ESV) For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
· Revelation 1:8 (ESV) “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
· Genesis 1:1 (ESV) - In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
D. Immutability – Perfection that does not change, improve, or diminish.
· Psalm 102:25-27 (ESV) Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. (Also see Hebrews 1:10-12)
· Malachi 3:6 (ESV) For I the Lord do not change.
· James 1:17 (ESV) 7 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
III. Communicable
A. Love & Compassion
· 1 John 4:8 (ESV) Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
· Psalm 136 – Throughout entire psalm.
· Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
· 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV) All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.
· Isaiah 54:10 (NASB) For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken, Says the Lord who has compassion on you.
B. Mercy and Goodness
· Isaiah 55:7 (ESV) Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
· Psalm 136:1 (ESV) Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
· Hebrews 4:16 (ESV) Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
· Romans 2:4 (ESV) Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
C. Grace
· Romans 3:23-24 (ESV) For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
· Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV) By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
· Titus 3:3-7 (ESV) For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
D. Justice and Righteousness – Related to his moral nature. His morality is perfect.
Toward ungodliness. Romans 1:18-32 God’s wrath against sin.
The oppressed. Psalm 72:12-14 (NLT) He will rescue the poor when they cry to him; he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them. He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them. He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to him.
God’s laws are holy. Romans 7:12 (ESV) So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Psalm 19:7-11 (ESV) The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules[d] of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Psalm 119 – Praise and admiration of God’s law.
IV. Omnis of God – Omni means “all”
A. Omnipotent – God is all-powerful. More accurately, God can do all things that are consistent with his nature.
· Jerimiah 32:27 (ESV) Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?
· Isaiah 40:28-29 (ESV) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.
B. Omnipresent – God is everywhere at once.
· Jerimiah 23:23-24 (NLT) Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord. “No, I am far away at the same time. Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.
· Psalm 139:7-12 (ESV) Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where 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 morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.
C. Omniscient – God is all-knowing.
· 1 Samuel 2:3 (ESV) Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
· Psalm 147:5 (NSAB) Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.
· Romans 11:33 (ESV) Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways.
· Job 21:22 (ESV) Will any teach God knowledge, seeing that he judges those who are on high?
· Job 37:16-18 (ESV) Do you know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge, you whose garments are hot when the earth is still because of the south wind? Can you, like him, spread out the skies, hard as a cast metal mirror?
D. Omnisapient – God is all-wise
· Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
· James 1:5 (ESV) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
V. Sovereignty of God
Meticulous Providence – Romans 1:11 (ESV) In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.
· Job 12:13 With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding. “Behold, He tears down, and it cannot be rebuilt; He imprisons a man, and there can be no release. “Behold, He restrains the waters, and they dry up; And He sends them out, and they inundate the earth. “With Him are strength and sound wisdom, The misled and the misleader belong to Him.
· Psalm 103:19 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.
· Daniel 4:17 The Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world. He gives them to anyone he chooses—even to the lowliest of people.
v.34 - his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
· Romans 9:10-13 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
· Joseph’s sold into slavery – Genesis 45
· God against the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel – 1 Kings 18
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