In the Bible, there are 24 attributes of God given to help us understand His character. We are going to continue looking at them, starting with number six and ending with number ten.

#6. God is Spirit

In John chapter 4 verse 24 we are told “God is Spirit.” This idea is also found many places in the Old Testament, but for our purposes here I am going to give one example. In Exodus 20:4-6 (ESV) the Bible encourages us to believe God is a Spirit by saying:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

There are hundreds of passages scattered around the Bible like these two, and as a result of them we agree with what Wayne Grudem wrote about this attribute of God:

“God’s spirituality means that God exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses, and is more excellent than any other kind of existence.”

Like all the other attributes we examined earlier, we need to think of how this is connected to the love of God in order to understand who God is.

Discussion Question:

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

#7. God is Invisible

The seventh attribute of God is known as God’s invisibility. Our belief in God’s invisibility comes in response to Bible passages like this one from the Old Testament portion of the Bible:

“Then the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form, there was only a voice” (Deuteronomy 4:2 ESV). Here is a second verse from the New Testament: “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17 ESV)

Comments like this lead us to embrace this comment by Wayne Grudem: “God’s invisibility means that God’s pure essence, all of his spiritual being, will never be able to be seen by us, yet God still shows Himself to us through visible, created things.”

Discussion Questions:

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

#8. God’s Omniscience

The eighth attribute of God I wanted to share with you is known as God’s omniscience, or knowledge. In Job 37:16 (ESV) the Old Testament talks about God and says He is “perfect in knowledge.” Then in the New Testament, 1 John 3:20 (ESV) tells us that God “knows everything.”

In response to passages like these two, Wayne Grudem writes that “God fully knows Himself, and all things actual or possible in one simple act.” What this means is that there is never a time or a place where God cannot see every part of the universe clearly in the past, the present or the future.

Discussion Questions:

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

#9. God’s Wisdom

The ninth attribute of God we need to look at is known as God’s wisdom. Here are two places where God’s wisdom is mentioned in the Bible. In Job 9:4 (ESV) the Old Testament says God is “wise in heart” and then in the New Testament Romans 16:27 says “to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen.”

Wayne Grudem explains that “God’s wisdom means that God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals” and as you learn how to be loyal to God, you will understand what this means.

Discussion Question:

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

#10 God’s Truthfulness

The tenth and final attribute for this lesson I want to share with you is known as God’s truthfulness, which can be seen all over the Bible, but to keep things simple I have chosen two passages as an introduction.

The first one is found in the Old Testament. Jeremiah 10:10 (ESV) says “the LORD is the true God, he is the living God and the everlasting King.” In the New Testament, John 17:3 (ESV) says “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

In response to these kinds of passages, Wayne Grudem says “God’s truthfulness means that he is the true God, and that all his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth” and anyone who has received FORGIVENESS OF SIN and is working on FREEDOM FROM SIN will be able to embrace this truth.

Discussion Question:

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