By the attributes of God is meant those qualities and
characteristics of the Divine nature which are essential to God
as the Supreme Being. His attributes are His personal
perfections without which He would not be the true and living
God, the God of the Bible. The Divine attributes explain what
God is and what He does.
The greatest and most important of all sciences is theology,
the science that treats of God. The being of God is the
foundation of all religion. If there is no God, religion is a foolish
and unnecessary evil. If there is no God, who is the supreme
Lawgiver and Ruler and Judge, then man is not a responsible
and accountable being, and the logic is inescapable that every
man may do that which is right in his own eyes, insofar as the
eternal future is concerned. If there is no God, “Who will
render to every man according to his deeds” (Rom. 2:6), then
every man may act according to his own pleasure without fear
of future retribution.
Religion is true or false as it embodies the true conception of
the true God. Religion, from re-ligo “to bind back” must have a
true God to tie to, or it is worthless. Mere belief in a supreme
being is not enough. God must be known in His glorious
attributes, and these are revealed to us in the Bible.
OUR PROPER STUDY
It has been said that the proper study of mankind is man. But
Job felt otherwise. He says, “Acquaint now thyself with him,
and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee” (Job
22:21). Jeremiah thought that a spiritual and saving
knowledge of God is the greatest need of men: “Thus saith
the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory
in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he
understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which
exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the
earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jer.
9:23,24).
Our Savior said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know
thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent” (John 17:3). Daniel tells us that: “And such as do
wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries:
but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do
exploits” (Dan. 11:32). Spurgeon wrote that “Nothing will so
enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of
man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the
great subject of the Deity.” May we quote further from this
prince of preachers:
“The proper study of the Christian is the Godhead. The
highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest
philosophy, which can engage the attention of a child of God,
is the existence of the great God which he calls his Father.
There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a
contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our
thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is
drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can comprehend and
grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self content, and go our
way with the thought, ‘Behold I am wise.’ But when we come
to this master science, finding our plumb line cannot sound its
depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn
away with the thought, ‘I am but of yesterday and know
nothing'”(Sermon on Mal. 3:6) “For I am the LORD, I change
not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
A study of the Divine nature should be attended with humility,
caution, and reverence. The more we learn about God in His
holy Word, the fuller we realize that He is incomparable and
incomprehensible. Strikingly did the Puritan John Howe
declare: “The notion therefore we can hence form of His glory,
is only such as we may have of a large volume by a brief
synopsis, or of a spacious country by a little landscape. He
hath given us a true report of Himself, but not a full; such as
will secure our apprehensions from error, but not from
ignorance.” The writer is saying that through the study of the
Bible we may be saved from error concerning God, but not
from ignorance. The finite mind will never be able to fully know
the Infinite God. God is the most overwhelming of all truths.
HOW GOD IS KNOWN
Two things are necessary to man’s knowledge of the true
God. There must be a revelation of God, and man must have
a capacity to know God. One of these without the other will
not suffice. The Bible gives a revelation of God, and a
regenerated man is the only person who has the capacity to
know God. Both of these are the results of the Holy Spirit’s
work. The Bible was written by men who were moved by the
Holy Spirit, and the regenerate man has been born of the
Spirit. There is thus, for the believer, a twofold revelation of
God; a revelation to him in the word of truth, and a revelation
in him by the Spirit’s illumination.
Wherever the Bible has not gone, men have searched in vain
for the true God. Job asked: “Canst thou by searching find out
God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” (Job
11:7). Paul tells us that the worldly wisdom knew not God “For
after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not
God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe” (I Cor. 1:21). This was after the
philosophers of Greece had tried and failed. One of the
philosophers being asked the question, “What is God?”
required a day to think it over. When the day was up, he
requested more time. The reason being asked for his delay,
he replied that the longer he considered the question the more
obscure it became to him.
But a mere objective revelation of God is not all that is
needed. There must also be a subjective revelation. The Spirit
must put light in the soul which has been darkened by sin.
Many have the Bible who do not know God. “Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”
(John 3:5); “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he
know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Cor.
2:14); “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no
man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any
man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son
will reveal him” (Matt. 11:27).
VALUE OF THE STUDY
1. The study of the Divine attributes will go far toward
delivering us from error on many doctrinal points. For
example, opposition to the doctrine of eternal punishment
comes from a perversion of His goodness and a denial of His
wrath and justice. Opposition to the doctrine of election comes
from a misunderstanding of the grace of God, a denial of
human depravity, and a disregard for the sovereignty of God.
2. The study of the personal perfections of the Godhead will
give a just view of God. The God of the masses is not the God
of the Bible. The God of the imagination is not the true God.
A. W. Pink uses strong words but we believe he speaks the
truth when he says: “The God of this twentieth century no
more resembles the supreme Sovereign of Holy Writ than
does the dim flickering of a candle the glory of the midday
sun. The ‘god’ who is now talked about in the average pulpit,
spoken of in the ordinary Sunday School, mentioned in much
of the religious literature of the day, and preached in most of
the so called Bible Conferences is the figment of human
imagination, an invention of maudlin sentimentality. The
heathen outside the pale of Christendom form ‘gods’ out of
wood and stone, while the millions of heathen inside
Christendom manufacture a ‘god’ out of their own carnal mind.
In reality, they are but atheists, for there is no other possible
alternative between an absolutely Supreme God, and no God
at all. A God whose will is resisted, whose designs are
frustrated, whose purpose is checkmated, possesses no title
to Deity, and so far from being a fit object of worship, merits
nought but contempt.”
3. A contemplation of God in His personal attributes will
promote humility and reverence. When Job got a vision of
God, he cried out, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in
dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). When Isaiah saw the Lord on His
throne, he cried, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone;
because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of
a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King,
the LORD of hosts” (Isa. 6:5). The better view we have of
God, the better will we know ourselves. In the light of His
holiness we can better see our vileness. Humility is the effect
of being occupied with those sterner attributes of God, such
as His justice, wrath, holiness, and power. There has been
such a lop sided view of the love of God, and neglect of the
wrath of God, that there is little fear and reverence of God
today.
4. To be occupied with thoughts about God as He is revealed
in the Scriptures will increase our faith. Much that passes
current for faith today is either sentiment or presumption. Faith
must be based upon a true revelation of God, and we have
this revelation in the Bible. The way to have strong faith is to
have a great and mighty God. Nobody’s faith can be stronger
than he believes his God to be. I cannot have strong faith in a
God who, I think, is weaker than men. If my God is weak, my
faith of necessity will be correspondingly weak. I cannot have
much faith in God if I believe He is being defeated on most
battle fields. I cannot have much faith in God if I believe He is
trying and failing; if I believe His will is being thwarted by the
will of men; if I believe He is doing the best He can to
accomplish as much good as He can, and to save as many as
He can. But if like Job, I believe “But he is in one mind, and
who can turn him? and what his soul desireth, even that he
doeth” (Job 23:13); then with Paul I can say “Now unto him
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask
or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph.
3:20).
WHAT KIND OF A GOD DO WE PRAY TO?
Do we pray for the conversion of loved ones or friends or even
enemies? Then we must pray in faith that God is able to
convict and convert them. But if we are to pray in faith we
must believe that God is almighty, that nothing is too hard for
Him. We must believe that God is irresistible whether He
works in grace or in justice; in salvation or in judgment. With
Isaac Watts we must say:
“His very word of grace is strong,
As that which built the sky;
The voice that rolls the stars along,
Proclaims it from on high.”
And may grace be given both writer and reader to believe in
grace as did Philip Doddridge when he wrote:
“Grace led my roving feet
To tread the heavenly road;
And new supplies each hour I meet,
While pressing on to God.”
CLASSIFICATION OF THE ATTRIBUTES
The Divine attributes are variously distinguished by
theologians. Perhaps the best classification is that which
divides them into communicable and incommunicable. The
communicable attributes are those which God, in some
measure, communicates or imparts to men, as love, power,
wisdom, and holiness. The incommunicable attributes are
qualities that belong exclusively to God, as infinity,
independency, and immutability. These qualities distinguish
the Creator from His creation.
“Only one life to live and soon is past
Only what’s done for Christ will last!”
Hoping to make the time I have left count for the glory of God.
THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD