LECTURE FOUR - GOD'S ATTRIBUTES AND LIFE IMPLICATION
LECTURE FOUR –
So, what is God Like? – Implications for life
Introduction
In this lecture, we will learn something about what God is like. The important thing to study is the
attribute itself to learn not only what it reveals about God, but also what implications it has for one’s
personal outlook and life. We will also learn different names of god and their meanings as well as triune
(Three in one) nature of God.
God is omniscient. Omniscience means that God knows everything, and this includes the knowledge not
only of things that actually happen but also of things which might happen. This kind of knowledge God
had by nature and without the effort of learning. The practical ramifications of the omniscience of God
are many. Think, for instance, what this means in relation to the eternal security of the believer. If God
knows all, then obviously nothing can come to light subsequent to our salvation which He did not know
when He saved us. There were no skeletons in the closet which He did not know about when He offered
to give us eternal salvation. Think again what omniscience means when something tragic occurs in our
God knows and has known all about it from the beginning and is working all things out for His glory and
our ultimate good. Consider what omniscience ought to mean in relation to living the Christian life. Here
is someone who knows all the pitfalls as well as the ways to be happy and who has offered to give us this
wisdom. If we would heed what He says then we could avoid a lot of trouble and experience a lot of
happiness.
God is holy. The world holiness is very difficult to define. The dictionary does not help much since it just
defines holiness as absence of evil, and it is usually measured against a relative standard. In God,
holiness is certainly absence of evil, but it must also include a positive righteousness and all of this
measured against Himself as an absolute standard. Holiness is one of the most important, if not the
most important, attributes of God and certainly nothing that God does can be done apart from being in
complete harmony with His holy nature. Peter declares that “He which hath called you is holy” (1 Pet
1:15), and then he goes on to state what effect that should have in our lives, namely, “so be ye holy in all
manner of conversation” (life).
God is just (or righteousness). While holiness principally concerns the character of God, justice or
righteousness has more to do with the character expressed in His dealings with men. It means that God
is equitable, or, as the Bible puts it, “He is no respecter of persons”. David said, “The judgments of the
Lord are true and righteous altogether” (Psa 19:9; see also Psa 116:5; 145:17; Jer 12:1). The most
obvious application of the justice of God is in connection with When
men stand before God to be judged they will receive full justice. This is both a comfort (for those who
have been wronged in life) and a warning (for those who think they have been getting away with evil).
Before an unsaved audience Paul emphatically warned of the coming righteous judgment: “He hath
appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath
ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from the dead”
(Acts 17:31).
God is love (1 John 4:8). The love of God seems to be of such a nature as to interest itself in the welfare
of creatures in a measure beyond any normal human conception (1 John 3:16; John 3:16). It is almost
beyond human comprehension to think of God allowing Himself to become emotionally involved with
human beings. Of course the great manifestation of this was in the sacrifice of His Son for the salvation
of men (1 John 4:9-10); the hearts of the children of God (Rom 5:8). There is a very popular teaching
today that says that because God is love and always acts in a loving manner toward His creatures,
eventually all men will be saved. This teaching is called universalism. The trouble with the doctrine is not
only that it contradicts direct statements of the Bible which say that men will be cast into hell forever
(Mark 9:45-48), but it misunderstands the concept of love and its relation to the other attributes of God.
Love may have to punish, and the attribute of love does not operate in God apart from His other
attributes, particularly the attributes of holiness and
God is true. Truth is another concept which is difficult to The dictionary says that it is agreement which is
represented: if applied to God, it means that God is consistent with Himself and thus everything He does
is true also. The Bible asserts that God is true (Rom 3:4) and Jesus claimed to be the truth (John 14:6),
thus making Himself equal with God. The ramifications of the truthfulness of God lie chiefly in the area
of His promises. He cannot be false to any one of the promises He has made.
God is free. Freedom in God means that He is independent of all His creatures, but it obviously could not
mean that He is independent of Himself. Often we hear it said that the only restrictions on God are
those inherent in His own person (e.g. God cannot sin because His holiness restricts Him from doing
that).
God is omnipotent. Fifty-six times the Bible declares that God is the almighty one (and this word is used
of no one but God, Rev 19:6). God’s omnipotence is seen in His power to create (Gen 1:1), in His
preservation of all things (Heb 1:3), and in His providential care for us.
God is infinite and eternal. Eternity is usually defined as infinity related to time. Whatever is involved in
these concepts, we can see that they must mean God is not bound by the limitations of finitude and He
is not bound by the succession of events, which is a necessary part of time. Also His eternality extends
backward from our viewpoint of time as well as forward forever. Nevertheless, this concept does not
mean that time is unreal to Although He sees the past and future as clearly as the present, He sees them
as including succession (Psa 90:2; cf. Gen 21:33; Acts 17:24).
God is immutable. Immutability means that God is unchanging and unchangeable. God never differs
from Himself, and thus in our concept of God there can be no idea of a growing or developing being. He
is the one in whom there is no variableness (Jam 1:17; cf. Mal 3:6; Isa 46:9- 10).
God is omnipresent. Omnipresence means simply that God is everywhere present. Furthermore, the
presence of God is not usually in visible or bodily form. Occasionally He has appeared so that His glory
was seen, but omnipresence is a spiritual manifestation of Psalm 139 teaches His omnipresence in a
most vivid way, and of course his doctrine means that no one can escape God. If people try throughout
their entire lifetime, they still cannot escape Him at death. On the other hand, it also means that a
believer may experience the presence of God at all times and know the blessing of walking with Him in
every trial and circumstance of life.
God is sovereign. The word sovereign means chief, highest or supreme. Of course, the position brings
with it a certain amount of authority and in God’s case that authority is total and absolute. This does not
mean, however, that He rules His universe as a dictator, for God is not only sovereign; He is also love
and holiness. He can do nothing apart from the exercise of all His attributes acting harmoniously
together. The concept of sovereignty involves the entire plan of God in all of its intricate details of
design and outworking. Although He often allows things to take their natural course according to laws
which He designed, it is the sovereign God who is working all things according to His wise plan. For the
Christian the idea of sovereignty is an encouraging one, for it assures him that nothing is out of God’s
control, and that His plans do triumph. These are the principal attributes or characteristics of God, and
this is the only God that exists. The God of the Bible is not a God of man’s own making or thinking or
choosing, but He is the God of His own
What does God call Himself?
A person’s names always tell something about him or about the relationship he has to those who use
the names. Often names grow out of experiences people have. So it is with God. He has revealed aspects
of His nature by the names He uses with men, and some of them have grown out of specific experiences
men have had with God.
Primary Old Testament names
Elohim. The most general (and least specific in significance) name for God in the Old Testament is
Although its etymology is not clear, it apparently means “Strong One”, and it is used not only of the true
God but also of heathen gods (Gen 31:30; Exo 12:12). The impending indicates that the word is plural,
and this has given rise to considerable speculation as to the significance of the plural. Some have
suggested that it is an indication of polytheism, which would be difficult to sustain since the singular
(Eloah) is rarely used and since Deut 6:4 clearly says that God is one. Others have attempted to prove
the concept of the Trinity from this plural word. While the doctrine of the Trinity is of course a biblical
one, it is very doubtful that it can be proved on the basis of this name for God.
Jehovah. This is the most specific name of God in the Old Testament, though Jehovah is not a real word!
It is actually an artificial English word put together from the four Hebrew consonants YHWH and the
vowels from another name for God, Thus Jehovah was concocted this way” YaHoWaH, or Jehovah. The
Jews had a superstitious dread of pronouncing the name YHWH, so whenever they came to it they said
Adonai. We probably ought to pronounce it Yahweh.
Adonai. This is the name of God which the Jews substituted for the Tetragrammaton (the four letters
YHWH, Yahweh) when they read the Scriptures. Yet it, too, is a basic designation for God and means
Lord (master). It is used, as one might expect, of the relationship between men (Like master and slave,
as in Exo 21:1-6). There are two sides to a master-servant relationship. On the one hand, the servant
must give absolute obedience to his On the other hand the master obligates himself to take care of the
servant. If the believer truthfully calls God by His name, Lord, then he can expect God to take care of
him, and God in turn can expect the believer to obey Him in everything.
4.6.1 Compound Old Testament Names
Frequently the Old Testament reveals something about the character or activity of God by using some
designation in compound with Yahweh or El (which is the singular of Elohim). Here are some examples:
El Elyon – “The Most High” (Gen 14:22). Notice its use in connection with Lucifer’s desire to be like the
Most High (Isa 14:14).
El Olam – “The Everlasting God” (Gen 21:33). Notice this use in connection with God’s inexhaustible
strength (Isa 40:28).
El shaddai – “The Almighty God” (Gen 17:1).
Yahweh Jireh – “The Lord Provides” (Gen 22:14). This is the only occurrence. After the angel of the Lord
pointed to a ram as a substitute for Isaac, Abraham named the place, “the Lord provides.”
Yahweh Nissi – “The Lord is my Banner” (Exo 17:15). Actually this and the other compounds are not
really names of God, but designations that grew out of commemorative
Yahweh Shalom – “The Lord is Peace” (Judg 6:24)
Yahweh Sabbaoth – “The Lord of Hosts” (1 Sam 1:3). The hosts are the angels of heaven which are ready
to obey the Lord’s
Yahweh Maccaddeshcem – “The Lord thy Sanctifier” (Exo 31:13).
Yahweh Roi – “The Lord … my Shepherd” (Psa 23:1).
Yahweh Tsidken – “The Lord our Righteousness” (Jer 23:6).
Yahweh Shammah – “The Lord is there” (Eze 48:35).
Yahweh Elohim Israel – “The Lord God of Israel” (Jude 5:3).
Qadosh Israel – “The Holy One of Israel” (Isa 1:4).
To review: The knowledge of the true God is the highest knowledge any person can have. There are
certain logical arguments which can at least tip the balance in favour of theism (though they do not tell
us who God is or what He is like). The world around us tells us of the power of God, but it is from the
Bible that we learn the full facts about God. Specifically, we learn about Him through what the Bible says
about His character (attributes) and His names.
What is the Trinity?
The word trinity is not found in the Bible; indeed, many think it is a poor word to use to try to describe
this particular teaching of the Bible. Actually, it describes only half the teaching; the reason will become
clear shortly. When you study a manual like this, it may appear to you that the writer, or the church, or
somebody else is saying to you, “Here are the doctrines – believe them! If that’s the case it is only
because you are looking at the results of someone’s study, not the process of it. We are not saying,
“Here are some doctrines to be believed whether you like it or not,” but rather, “Here are some facts to
be faced. How would you harmonize and organize them?”
Specifically, the Bible seems to say clearly that there is only one true God. But it also seems to say with
equal clarity that there was a man Jesus Christ who claimed equality with God and there is someone
called the Holy Spirit who is also equal with God. Now how do you put those facts together? The way
conservatives have put them together results in the doctrine of the Trinity. Others have put these facts
together and have come up with a different idea of the Trinity (the Persons being modes of expression
of God and not distinct persons), and still others, rejecting the claims of Christ and the Spirit to be God,
become Unitarians. But the claims are still there in the Bible, and the need for packaging them is what
we study in this section.
Any concept of the Trinity must be carefully balanced, for it must maintain on the one side of the unity
of God, and on the other, the distinctness and equality of the persons. That is why the word trinity only
tells half of the doctrine- the “threeness” part and not the unity. Perhaps the word trinity is better since
it contains both ideas – the “tri” (the threeness) and the “unity” (the oneness).
Evidence for Oneness
Deut 6:4 may be translated in various ways (e.g, “Yahweh our God is one Yahweh,” or “Yahweh is our
God” or “Yahweh alone”), but in any case it is a strong declaration of monotheism; so are Deut 4:35 and
32:39 as well as Isa 45:14 and 46:9. The first of the so-called Ten Commandments shows that Israel was
expected to understand that there is only one true God (Exo 20:3; Deut 5:7). The New Testament is
equally clear in passages like 1 Cor 8:4-6, Eph 4:3-6 and Jam 2:19, all of which state emphatically that
there is only one true God. Therefore, the doctrine of the Trinity must not imply in any way that there
might be three Gods. God is single and unique, demanding the exclusion of all pretended rivals and
removing any hint of tritheism.
Evidence for Threeness
Nowhere does the New Testament explicitly state the doctrine of triunity (since 1 John 5:7 is apparently
not a part of the genuine text of Scripture), yet the evidence is overwhelming.
The Father is recognized as
Jesus Christ is recognized as God. (John 20:28; Mat 9:4; Mat 28:18; Mat 28:20; Mark 2:1-12).
The Holy Spirit is recognized as God. He is spoken of as God (Acts 5:3-4; 1 Cor 2:10; Psa 139:7; John 3:5-
6, 8).
This New Testament evidence is quite clear and explicit. Is there any similar evidence in the Old
Testament? The answer is no, because what the Old Testament reveals concerning the Trinity is not
clear and explicit but intimating and implicit. It is probably best to say that the Old Testament, although
it does not reveal the triunity of God, does allow for the later New Testament revelation of it. Passages
which use the plural word for God, Elohim, and plural pronouns of God allow for this subsequent
revelation (Gen 1:1, 26). The Angel of Yahweh is recognized as God and yet is distinct from God (Gen
22:15-16), indicating two equal Persons. The Messiah is called the mighty God (Isa 9:6 and note eternity
ascribed to Him in Mic 5:2) again indicating two equal yet distinct Persons. Probably Isa 48:16 is the
clearest intimation of the Trinity in the Old Testament because “I” – the Lord – is associated with God
and the Spirit in an apparently equal relationship. But still these are only intimations and are not as
explicit as the New Testament evidences.
The Evidence for Triunity
Probably the verse that best states the doctrine of the triunity of God balancing both aspects of the
concept, the unity and the Trinity, is Mat 28:19, “baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” There is no question about the “threeness” aspect, for the Father, Son and
Spirit are mentioned- and only three. The unity is strongly indicated in the singular “name” rather than
“names.” There are other verses similar to this one where the three are associated in equality and yet
distinguished (like the benediction in 2 Cor 13:14 and the presence of the Trinity at the baptism of
Christ, Mat 3:16-17), but they do not also contain the strong emphasis on unity as indicated in the
singular “name” in Mat 28:19.
Having looked at the evidence and having concluded that there is one God and yet three Persons in the
Godhead, is it possible to formalize this concept in a definition? Warfield’s is one of the best: “The
doctrine that there is one only and true God, but in the unity of the Godhead there are three eternal and
co-equal Persons, is the same in substance but distinct in subsistence.” Subsistence means being or
existence. The word person is really not so good, because it seems to indicate separate individuals in the
Godhead; but, though we all recognize deficiency in the word, what better one is there?
Can the Trinity be illustrated? Not perfectly, nor probably very well, because most illustrations cannot
include the idea that the three fully possess all the qualities of the one equally and without separation.
One illustration from psychology notes that the innermost being of man-his soul – can carry on dialogue
with itself, noting both sides of the debate and making judgments. Another uses the sun (like the Father)
and notes that we only see the light of the sun, not the sun itself, which yet possesses all the properties
of the sun (like the Son who came to earth), and observing further that the chemical power of the sun
(which also possesses all the qualities of the sun, its light, and its power may give some help in
illustrating the Trinity).
It is no wonder that a difficult doctrine like this has been the focal point of many errors throughout
church history. One error that crops up again and again sees the Spirit as a mere influence and not a
living person who is God. Sometimes Christ, too, is regarded as inferior to the Father, even as is some
created being (dynamic Monarchianism, Arianism, present-day Unitarianism). Another error regards the
concept of the Trinity as merely modes or manifestations of God (Sabellianism, after Sabellius, c.
A.D. 250, or modalism). Karl Barth was for all intents and purposes a modalist, though he often rejected
the label.
Important Ramifications of the Doctrine of God
Three final thoughts:
There is no other God but the one we have been trying to Gods of our making, whether radically
different from the God of the Bible or akin to Him, are false. Even good Christians can fall into the trap of
trying to mould God according to their own thinking or wishes or pleasure. The result may be a god not
dissimilar to the God of the Bible, but it will not be the true God. We know God not because we can
initiate or generate such knowledge, but because He has revealed Himself. Therefore, what we know
does not come from our minds but from His revelation. Beware of creating a god!
If the true God is as He is revealed to be, then it shouldn’t be hard for us to believe that He could
perform miracles, give us an inspired Bible, become incarnate, or take over the kingdoms of this world.
In other words, if we accept the facts about the true God which have been revealed, then it shouldn’t be
difficult to believe He could and can do what is claimed of That is why the knowledge of God takes first
priority in the study of doctrine.
If the teaching is not important, how else could you conceive of our atonement being accomplished
apart from a triune God? God becoming man, living, dying, raised from the dead is pretty hard to
conceive of if you are a Unitarian. Does not this doctrine illuminate the concept of fellowship? The fact
that God is Father, Son and Spirit emphasizes the fact that He is a God of love and fellowship within His
own being. And this is the one with whom we as believers can enjoy fellowship as
