The Attributes of God
What are Attributes?
Knowing the attributes of God is one of the most important things we as believers need to familiarize ourselves with. Perhaps the title of this post or my opening statement intimidates you. Believe me, I understand. In some form knowing the characteristics of God should make us uneasy because God is so beyond us. Yet, neglecting who God is due to the sake of our uneasiness would be a mistake.
So first off, what does the word attribute even mean?
The formal definition for the word attribute is a quality or feature regarded as a characteristic or inherent part of someone or something. [i]
We all have attributes. Perhaps you are patient or loyal or creative. One of the greatest joys of making new friendships is discovering their attributes. Finding someone’s characteristics takes time but it is enjoyable when both of your personalities blend well.
My question is, if you can find pleasure in getting to know someone while you drink a cappuccino, how much more enjoyable should it be to discover who God is?
God has chosen to reveal himself to us. Out of his great love for us, he has graciously taken pleasure in showing us who he is. What if God did not show us who he is? It is not a right to know who God is but a gift. Like a child, we should be eager to rip the patterned wrapping paper, chuck the bow, and excitedly behold the magnificence of God’s character.
1. The Theology of the Attributes of God
Before I dive in it is important to explain what the word “theology” means. Theology is simply the study of the nature of God. You are probably more familiar with theology than you realize. It is a tool that we use when we look at the Word of God.
C. S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, “If you do not listen to theology, that will not mean that you have no ideas about God. It will mean that you have a lot of wrong ones.” [ii]
Theology is essential to the Christian life. As Lewis said, rejecting theology will mean that your perception of God is not accurate. What is worse than misunderstanding who God has revealed himself to be?
When reading about God’s love it is important to know how God is communicating this attribute, to whom, and in what circumstances. Be aware of the landscape around you when you read the word of God. This guidance of course applies to all of God’s other, beautiful attributes like patience, wisdom, wrath, omniscience (all-knowing), immutability (unchanging), etc.
“What is worse than misunderstanding who God has revealed himself to be?”
Here are two key theology resources I have used that have helped deepen my understanding of the Bible and God’s attributes:
A. The ESV Student Study Bible.
I highly recommend using this version as your main study Bible. The ESV is a sound translation that includes in-depth commentary, maps, and cross references that will allow you to have a solid understanding of the Bible.
I have had this version for many years now and it has been worn out and well-loved.
B. Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem.
This book is over 1,200 pages but has had one of the biggest impacts on my Christian life. Grudem’s systematic approach to doctrines like the attributes of God, sin, or the Holy Spirit is clear, informative, and will broaden your understanding of what the Bible says and communicates.
(Note: This article is just an example of Wayne Grudem’s excellent work. Much of the information I am sharing in this article has been extracted from his book.)
Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
2. Incommunicable and Communicable Attributes
Incommunicable and communicable attributes are a fancy way of breaking God’s attributes into two categories.
Incommunicable attributes are the characteristics of God that we do not possess while communicable attributes are characteristics that he shares with us.
First off, while it is helpful to classify these attributes into these two categories, they are not concrete.
For instance, an incommunicable attribute of God is his immutability, meaning God does not change. While countless things about us will change there are probably key characteristics about you that will not. For example, you may always be an extroverted individual who loves sports and has a pet peeve of being late.
A communicable attribute of God is patience. Yes, we can indeed exercise patience but it is impossible to succeed in patience compared to God. I can wake up refreshed and feeling loving and patient until the barista gets my Starbucks order wrong. My patience can often drain after the slightest inconvenience.
God is Beyond Us.
Incommunicable attributes are characteristics of God that we do not possess.
There are incommunicable attributes we may be able to relate to and we have limits to the communicable attributes.
God’s incommunicable attributes should allow us to soak in the awe of God. There are innumerable things about God that are beyond us. We are small, finite, sinful beings whose minds could not contain the awesomeness of God. Words like majestic, glorious, powerful, awesome, and unattainable are feeble words that fall short of the infinite, omnipotent God we worship.
“God’s incommunicable attributes should allow us to soak in the awe of God.”
Here is a list of the incommunicable attributes of God:
Eternal: God has no beginning and no end. He always was, always is, and always will be. (Rev. 1:8)
Immutable: God does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. (Jas. 1:17)
Self-Sufficient: God has no needs and depends on nothing, but everything depends on God. (Act. 17:24-25)
Omniscient: God is all-knowing; there is nothing unknown to him. (Heb. 4:13)
Incomprehensible and Transcendent: God is high above and beyond human understanding. He is unable to be fully known. (Rom. 11:33-36)
Infinite: God is limitless. He exhibits all of his attributes perfectly and boundlessly. (Ps. 147:5)
Self-Existent: God was not created but exists by his power alone. (Ps. 90:1-2)
Omnipresent: God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places. (Jer. 23:23-24)
Omnipotent: God is all-powerful; his strength is unlimited. (Job 42:1-2)
Sovereign: God governs over all things; he is in complete control. (1 Chron. 29:11-12) [iii]
God Shares Who He is With Us.
Yes, God is higher and mightier than we could ever imagine, but he also descended and clothed himself in flesh to dwell among men.
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps. 8:3-4)
God, somehow, someway, chose to not only reveal himself to us but also share some of his attributes with us. This divine fellowship with God and exercising these communicable attributes can only be perfected by the work Christ has done in us.
Salvation in God means I can love like him, exhibit patience like him, display wisdom like him, be holy like him. Yes, I will fail at this. Yes my imitation of Christ will display human failure compared to Jesus but the process will be beautiful. When I am unloving and impatient, which will be continuously daily, I run back and confess to the Father.
Participating in communicable attributes is messy, but being a small child, imitating the Father is glorious!
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6:)
God finishes all of his art projects!
What a glorious promise! God will not ditch you for a “better” child of his. He says in His Word that the work he has started with you will be completed until the end. This does not mean I will graduate from the communicable attribute academy on my deathbed.
“Salvation in God means I can love like him, exhibit patience like him, display wisdom like him, be holy like him.”
The Christian walk is a journey. I will continue to grow in my relationship with God and will look more like him at the end of my life than I did at the first breaths of my salvation.
How I exercise communicable attributes will only strengthen the longer I walk with God.
Here is the list of communicable attributes:
Holy: God is holy. Which means he is separate from sin. God is unable to sin because it is the opposite of who he is. He is righteous. (Rev. 4:8)
Good: God is good. God is the final standard of good, and all that God is and does is worthy of approval. (Ps. 34:8)
Just (or Righteous): God is always upright and is the definition and final authority of righteousness. (Isa. 61:8)
Merciful: God is merciful. He withholds the punishment we deserve. (Tit. 3:5)
Jealous: God seeks to receive the praise, honor, and affection he deserves. (Ex. 20:4-5)
Wise: God is infinitely knowledgeable and is judicious with his knowledge. (Isa. 46:9-10)
Loving: God is eternally, enduringly, steadfastly loving and affectionate. He does not forsake or betray his covenant love. (1 Jn. 4:16)
Truthful: God’s truthfulness means that he is the true God, and that all of his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth. (Jn. 14:6)
Wrathful: God’s wrath means that he intensely hates all sin. (Rom. 1:18)
Gracious: God is kind, giving us gifts and benefits we do not deserve. (Isa. 30:18)
Patient: God is long-suffering and enduring. He gives ample opportunity for people to turn toward him. (2. Pet. 3:9)
Faithful: God is incapable of anything but fidelity. He is loyally devoted to his plan and purpose. (Deut. 7:9) [iv]-Daily Grace Co. site it!
3. Accurately Viewing God and His Attributes
I believe we have already established that God is different from us. His attribute of being incomprehensible alone attests to him being beyond us.
So, as would be true to his character, we can only assume that he would exhibit his attributes differently than we humans.
God’s Attributes Are Not Displayed Individually
Imagine you sit down at a restaurant that serves its courses one at a time. Maybe you start with a buttery roll and the waiter waits for you to swallow your last bite before you enjoy your ceasar salad. Once you are done you may enjoy your ribeye steak, eat your mashed potatoes, and finally top off your meal with a brownie sundae.
This is NOT how the attributes of God work.
He does not serve his love on a platter, take it back to the kitchen and serve you another plate of his delectable holiness.
God is not limited and does not express his characteristics individually. It can be our default to expect God to display his character like we, finite beings, do.
So what is the correct viewpoint of seeing God’s attributes?
God’s Attributes Are a Complex Web
When you view the architecture of a spider’s web you see separate strands all intersected together. This is how we should view the attributes of God. His characteristics are all equal and expressed simultaneously.
God is unified. God does not draw out his attributes individually but is constantly displaying them simultaneously.
In 1 John we read that God is love. When God says that he loves us we can believe this love is equally and infinitely holy, wise, just, all-knowing, merciful, etc. When I look at any single characteristic of God I know that all of his other characteristics are overlapping and weaving a portrait of who God has revealed himself to be.
The attributes of God are a mind-boggling and humbling experience of who God is and our position as the created.
4. How We Should Apply God’s Attributes
My local church has a mantra of who we are as a congregation and what we live by. These three things obviously apply to a wide spectrum of biblical but I want to specifically view them in light of how to apply the attributes of God.
A. Know God
We cannot seek to become like God if we do not know him.
Looking at his Word will reveal who he is and should shape the believer on how they can imitate him. If I want to love as God loves or be holy like he is holy, I need to look for myself how he has those qualities and walk according to what the Word says.
B. Enjoy God
We can only enjoy what we know. Enjoyment or pleasure is expressed from the familiar.
Have I experienced God’s holiness and goodness? Do I stand on the promise that he is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-present? Is the affection of my heart planted in the soil of his wisdom?
Worship is an action expressed from the pleasure of knowing God.
C. Make God Known
Like a child who repeatedly recounts his trip to Disney World, we should be constantly sharing who God is with others. When you see the work of God’s holiness in your life—share it! When you are enduring through trials but have faith in God’s goodness—share it!
You are the light! Let the darkened world be immersed in the light of the Gospel. Let the attributes of God radiate through your smile and actions and words.
You alone could never change a lost soul’s eternal state but your God can! As he works through you he can take a corpse and create the rhythm of a pumping heartbeat.
Gaze at your God’s character and become like the One you were created to adore.
[i] “attribute” Merriam-Webster.com. 2026. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/attribute
[ii] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (HarperCollins, 2001 edition, pages 153-155).
[iii] The Daily Grace Co., The Attributes of God. (Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), p. 35
[iv] The Daily Grace Co., The Attributes of God. (Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), p. 34
