Being & Attributes of God (Part 2)
Who is God? What do we know of His being and attributes from the Bible?
God is not limited in knowledge. He is omniscient (Rom 11:33-36; 1 John 3:20) and He himself is the source of knowledge (Exod 31:3; Job 21:22; Prov 2:6; Eccl 2:26), and to respond rightly to Him is the beginning of knowledge (Prov 1:7; 9:10). He knows everything about us (Ps 139:1-6, 13-16), and He also knows the depth of our hearts (1 Sam 16:7). The omniscience of God is demonstrated in Jesus knowing the heart of Nathanael (John 1:48), Judas (John 6:70) and many other people during His earthly ministry (John 2:24; Luke 5:22; Matt 9:4).
God is not limited in wisdom. He is omnisapient, wise in all His decisions and actions (Isa 28:29; 55:8; Job 12:13; Rom 11:33). He himself is the source of wisdom (Prov 2:6; Dan 2:23; Jas 1:5), and to respond rightly to Him is the beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7; 9:10; Ps 111:10). His wisdom means He is perfect in all His ways (Ps 18:30; 145:17; Isa 55:8-9), and He uses His knowledge and power perfectly. We are called to trust Him and submit our ways to Him so that He may make our paths straight (Prov 3:5-6). Jesus is the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24, 30) that comes from heaven; He is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (Jas 3:17).
God is simple. His simplicity does not mean that He is “easy or plain to understand”, but rather that there is nothing prior to God and that He is not divided into parts, although we see His different attributes being emphasised at different times.[1] For example, some parts of the Scripture tell us that God is merciful (Ps 103:8; Luke 6:36), and in other parts, Scripture tells us that He is just (Isa 61:8; Acts 10:34). In saying so, this does not mean that God is partially merciful and partially just. It also does not mean that God is merciful at times and just at other times. It means that God is both entirely merciful and entirely just. The entirety of God’s mercy and justice is shown on the cross, in which God, in His justice, poured out His entire wrath on Jesus and, in His mercy, extended forgiveness to repentant sinners who put their trust in His Son (Isa 53:5).
God does not change. He is immutable and unchanging in His being, character, purpose and promises (Num 23:19; Ps 102:27; Mal 3:6; Jas 1:17).[2] His immutability does not mean that He cannot choose to do something new (Isa 43:19; Luke 5:36-39; Rev 21:5). It also does not mean He cannot respond differently to different situations.[3] By way of illustration, in the story of Jonah, God responded to Nineveh’s wickedness (Jonah 1:2) by proclaiming an upcoming judgement that will happen in forty days (Jonah 3:4). The people of Nineveh turned from their evil ways, and God responded to their repentance by relenting and not bringing on them the destruction He had threatened (Jonah 3:10). God’s final response might be different to what He initially declared through Jonah. Still, in all these things, God remained a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity (Jonah 4:2).[4] The unchanging nature of God is the source of hope and assurance as we deal with the inevitability of change in this sinful world. Man may change, but Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Heb 13:8).
[1] Grudem, Systematic Theology, Second Edition, ch. 11, "The Character of God: "Incommunicable" Attributes." Grudem notes that it is more helpful to speak of God’s “unity” rather than his “simplicity” due to the sense that the word “simple” carries at the present time.
[2] Barry Cooper, “Immutability,” Ligonier Ministries, 23 January 2024, https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts/simply-put/immutability.
[3] Grudem, Systematic Theology, Second Edition, ch. 11, "The Character of God: "Incommunicable" Attributes."
[4] Even Jonah was aware of God’s unchanging character, so much so that he chose to flee to Tarshish instead.