In the Bible, God has chosen some very specific words that describe His character to us. These 24 words are known as the attributes of God, and I want to share all of them with you because I believe a healthy well balanced Church member will be aware of each of them. For that reason I want to introduce them to you now.

Before I begin sharing them with you I have one more important thought I want to share with you. In 1 John 4:8 (ESV) the Bible says “God is love.” I have intentionally left love off of the list of God’s attributes because I believe LOVE IS ALL OF THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD COMBINED.

#1. God’s Independence

The first attribute of God I want to share with you is God’s independence. We can find God’s independence mentioned many times in the Bible, and I want to give you two examples of where it can be found. The first example is found in the Old Testament writings: in Job chapter 41:11 (ESV) the Bible tells us that God spoke to Job and said “Who has given to me, that I should repay him?”

In addition to that, in the New Testament book of Acts chapter 17:24-25 (ESV) speaks of the independence of God and says “the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by men, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything.”

In response to Bible verses like these, we believe that “God’s independence may be defined as follows: God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify him and bring him joy.” (Wayne Grudem)

The best way to understand the importance of God’s independence is to combine it with His love. God’s independence guarantees there is nothing or no one that can place limits or restraints on the depth of God’s love for us.

God’s independence simply means no one is able to tell Him when or how He can share His love for us.

Discussion Questions:

#1. What thoughts come to mind when you try to reconcile God’s independence with God’s love?

#2. God’s Unchangeableness

The second attribute of God that I want to share with you is known as God’s unchangeableness. I have two Bible passages to share with you showing you where this particular doctrine comes from. One passage I want to show you is from the Old Testament, and the second one is from the New.

The Old Testament passage is found in the Book of Psalms, chapter 102 verse 27 (ESV) which says “you are the same, and your years never end.” As for the New Testament, James chapter 1 verse 17 speaks about God saying “with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

So in response to Bible passages like these, we believe and agree with Wayne Grudem’s definition which says “God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations.”

Just like God’s independence, we need to look at His unchangeableness from the perspective of His love for us. When you are able to rest and enjoy His goodness by receiving the benefits of His love, God gets very excited on an emotional level.

When the circumstances in life prevent you from enjoying the benefits of His love, His thoughts and goals of wanting to lead you to a place where you can recover from their absence in your life remain unchanged.

Discussion Questions:

#1. What thoughts come to mind when you try to reconcile God’s unchangeableness with God’s love?

#3. God’s Eternity

The third attribute of God I want to share with you is known as God’s eternity. While there are a lot of places in the Bible that mentions this, I have chosen one passage from the Old Testament and the New to represent them all.

In the Old Testament Job 36:26 (ESV) says “…the number of his years is unsearchable.” Then in Revelation 1:8 (ESV) the New Testament says “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

These two verses represent hundreds of others that lead us to agree with the following quote from Wayne Grudem: “God has no beginning, end or succession of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time.”

Now we should consider this attribute in light of God’s love. This attribute tells us that God can display His love for us at certain times in certain ways in our day to day lives. On the days when we are weak and vulnerable we can call for help and His eternal love can show up in our bad circumstances and turn our lives around in a completely different direction.

Discussion Questions:

#1. What thoughts come to mind when you try to reconcile God’s eternity with God’s love?

#4. God’s Omnipresence

The fourth attribute of God I want to share with you is known as God’s omnipresence. In Jeremiah 23:23-24 (ESV) the Old Testament says “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Declares the LORD.”

Then in the New Testament the Book of Acts 17:28 (ESV) tells us that the Apostle Paul said “in him we live and move and have our being” which also encourages us to believe in God’s omnipresence.

Wayne Grudem says “God’s omnipresence may be defined as follows: God does have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his entire being, yet God acts differently in different places.”

Now let’s apply the love of God to this attribute of God’s omnipresence. If God is able to be present everywhere in the Universe and beyond, then how difficult would it be for Him to share the benefits of His love with you at any time or any place?

Discussion Questions:

#1. What thoughts come to mind when you try to reconcile God’s omnipresence with God’s love?

#5. The Unity of God

The fifth and final attribute that we are going to take a look at in this lesson is known as the Unity of God. For this attribute I am only going to share one Bible passage from the Old Testament with you.

In Exodus 34:6-7 (ESV) the Bible says this:

“The LORD passed before him and proclaimed “the LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love to thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

Now we can look at Wayne Grudem’s definition of the Unity of God. Wayne Grudem says that “The Unity of God may be defined as follows: God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times.”

In the Bible passage from Exodus, we are told that God is “slow to anger” and “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” That raises the following question: If God becomes angry, has he stopped “abounding in steadfast love?”

The Bible’s answer to that is no. God’s anger and his steadfast love can both exist in a single moment of time. We believe that God at any given moment in time, God is always independent, always unchangeable, always eternal and always omnipresent in every corner of the universe and beyond.

This is how we are to think about the Unity of God.

Discussion Questions:

#1. Have you ever considered the idea that different attributes of God (like God’s love and God’s anger) can co-exist in His character at the same time? (Why or why not?)