- Eternal
- Holy
- Impassable
- Infinite
- All-powerful
- Everywhere-present
- All-wise
- All-knowing
- Simple
- Self-existent
- Self-sufficient
- Immaterial
- Good
- Love
- Gracious
- Merciful
- Just
- Sovereign
- Freedom
- Jealous
AND, my favorite: Unchanging
Also called immutability, this means that God never changes in his being (who he is) or promises (cf. Mal.3:6; James 1:17; Heb. 6:17).
Eternal
God exists forever, meaning he has no beginning or end (cf. Psalm 90:2; 1 Tim. 1:17). He has always existed in the same way: fully and completely as God. “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8)
Holiness
“To say that God is holy is to say that He is eternally separate and distinct from all impurity. The term holiness in Hebrew, qodesh, has the notion of separation, of uniqueness, of one-of-kindness as it were.” -Bruce Ware
Impassable
God is without passions. He is not overwhelmed by any emotion, he is not incapacitated or weakened or stifled by any event or any amount of grief or love. Rather, God is totally self-controlled. While God does grieve, and does passionately love, he does so completely on purpose.
Infinite
God is not subject to any of the limitations of humanity or his creation.
All-powerful
God has all power. He can exercise dominion over the entire universe, carry out the purposes of his wisdom, govern the hearts of men, and even create things out of nothing.
Everywhere-present
God is everywhere – Jer. 23:24; Psa. 139:7-10; 1 Kings 8:27. “This is not to say that God’s form is spread out so that parts of Him exist in every location. God is spirit; He has no physical form. He is present everywhere in that everything is immediately in His presence. At the same time He is present everywhere in the universe. No one can hide from Him and nothing escapes His notice.”
All-wise
God has all wisdom. He works everything out for the good of his people, and for the display and enjoyment of his glory. This involves countless factors and people and events and decisions and all sorts of things that would drown any stategist. But not God. Even when things look the worst, God is carrying out his perfect wisdom. He never fails, never lacks any foresight, and never estimates. He knows all, and plans all, and he loves to display the glory and beauty of his wisdom by accomplishing the seemingly impossible.
All-knowing
God knows all things – 1 John 3:20; Psa.147:5; Heb.4:13. This includes the past, the present, and the future. It includes actuality, and contigencies. That is, he knows what will happen, and he knows would “could” happen. There was never a time when God did not know anything. The greatest and deepest and most fascinating thing that God knows is himself, for his is infinitely deep in character and substance and beauty and wisdom. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” (Romans 11:34)
Simple
“The simplicity of God means that God is a unified being – He is one essence. God is not composed of a variety of substances. In this sense he is different from humans who are made up of matter and spirit. Jesus is not an exception to this truth. While he took a human body while here on earth he is still absolute spirit in his essence. The simplicity of God reminds us that God needs nothing else to exist neither did he comes about by a number of forces or substances joining together. This reassuring fact will encourage us to worship him as the unchanging God.”
Self-existent
God’s self-existence means that he does not need us or the rest of creation for anything. While everything other than God depends on God for everything, God depends on no one for existence. He is absolute reality, with whom we have to reckon.
aseity n. (Metaphys.) independent or underived existence. (f. med. L aseitas L a from + se oneself; see-ITY) The Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary, second edition, 1984 S
Self-sufficient
“The Scriptures allude to the fact that God does not need anything that we humans need to survive. He requires no water, air, food, sleep or money. Counselors, supervisors, and advisors of any kind are of no need to Him. He is self sufficient in all capacities this is hard for the human brain to consider, that someone does not need what we do to survive.” [3]
Immaterial
God is not fundamentally composed of matter, for he is spirit, and he created all matter (and all spirit other than himself). This does not mean that God is absolutely nothing (“immateriality” as a word can sometimes mean this), rather it means that God is nothing physical. “[T]he true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
Good
The goodness of God comprehends all His attributes. All the acts of God are nothing else but the effulgence of His goodness (Exodus 33:19).
Love
“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8 (NKJV) God is concerned for his creatures, and especially his people. He is tender toward them, and does not take pleasure in their suffering or condemnation. He seeks the best for us, and he offers up his Son in love as a substitution for sin. He loves to love people through His.
Gracious
God loves to give us what we don’t deserve. He loves to pardon sin and lavish us with his goodness. He takes pleasure in giving gifts to people to display the glory of his resourcesfulness, patience, and mercy.
Merciful
God shows his mercy by not giving us the punishment we deserve. Mercy as used in the Bible frequently has a much wider sense which may be translated “loyal love”.
Just
God is deeply concerned with making wrongs right. He lets no sinner off the hook without a fitting punishment, or a fitting substitutionary atonement.
Sovereign
All things are under God’s rule and control, and that nothing happens without His direction or permission. God works not just some things but all things according to the counsel of His own will (see Eph. 1:11). His purposes are all-inclusive and never thwarted (see Isa. 46:11); nothing takes Him by surprise. The sovereignty of God is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things, but that He does so, always and without exception. In other words, God is not merely sovereign de jure (in principle), but sovereign de facto (in practice).
Free
The freedom of God, also called divine freedom, designates that God is free and “not constrained by anyone other than himself. He does what he pleases (Ps. 115:3), and therefore he is always free… He is not bound to the dictates of anyone else. He does make promises, to be sure, which obligate him to do certain things, but he makes those promises voluntarily.”
Jealous
The jealousy of God involes God’s jealousy for his glory and for the faithfulness of his people. Erik Thoennes explains that both are related, writing that “God is ultimately jealous for the faithfulness of his people because he is jealous for his own glory” (Godly Jealousy, p. 32, ephasis added). He goes on to say that “God’s desire for glory drives his constant revelation of himself in the lives of his people. He wants to be known, and recognized for who he is, so that he will receive his deserved glory (p. 33).
see Theopedia: List of God’s known attributes for a further discussion of the attributes of G_d.
