What God Is Really Like

The Bible never tries to prove that God exists, but simply assumes it from the first verse (Genesis 1:1). In the Bible, God reveals himself to be a personal and relational being unique from any other. Let’s examine more fully what God is like.

Immanence and Transcendence

Isaiah 57:15 describes a God who is both immanent (near to us) and transcendent (far above and beyond us). God is distinct from his creation, but remains present and involved in it (Matthew 1:23), sustaining and directing it for his purposes. He is knowable by and interacts with human beings (Exodus 3:11-12). Yet even though God is present, he is distinct from the universe. He is beyond humanity’s full experience, perception or understanding (Romans 11:33-34). His thoughts and ways are beyond ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Incommunicable Attributes

The attributes of God can be described in two categories: communicable and incommunicable. The incommunicable attributes are those characteristics of God’s nature that are completely unique to him. They cannot be shared (or “communicated”) with human beings. As you consider some of these attributes, you will see that there can be no other gods beside this one God.

Infinitude

God is infinite, meaning that he is free from limits. God does have limits imposed by his character. For example, he cannot do evil. But he is not subject to any of the limitations found in his creation. It follows that all of God’s attributes are also infinite.

Independence

God does not depend on any other being for his existence. While we depend on God for both the beginning and the continuation of our lives, God has no origin (Revelation 4:8). As a self-existent being, he possesses the capacity for life within himself. Thus God is not answerable to anyone outside of himself.

Self-sufficiency

Since God is independent, he has no needs and therefore relies on no one or nothing. God did not need to create in order to fulfill something lacking in himself, but created simply because he chose to do so. God does not need anything from us: our worship, our money, our help, or anything else (Acts 17:24-25).

Unchangeableness

The Bible depicts God as responding to different situations differently in his interactions with human beings. But God’s being and perfections do not change (Psalm 102:25-27). He will never stop being infinite and self-sufficient. He will never become more powerful or more loving than he is. Evil will not someday start being good. His purposes and promises do not change (Psalm 33:11; Numbers 23:19). As a result, we can trust God, knowing that he will always remain the way he has revealed himself to us (Malachi 3:6).

Eternity

God is infinite with respect to time. He is, has always been, and will always be (Revelation 1:8). He has no beginning and no ending (Psalm 90:2). God is not limited or bound by the passage of time, but created time and sees all events through all of time at once (Isaiah 46:9-10).

Omnipresence 

God is infinite with respect to space (Jeremiah 23:23-24). He does not have size or spatial dimensions. He  is not limited to being in one place at a time, but is present at every point of space with his whole being (Psalm 139:7-12; 1 Kings 8:27). As a being of spirit, God does not possess a physical body. When the Bible speaks of God having physical parts (eyes, mouth, arms, etc.), it is not describing God as he is. Comparison to human traits tells us that God can perceive, communicate, act, and more.

Unity

God’s unity means that every attribute of God applies fully to all of God. God is not divided into parts. Every attribute is also fully consistent and integrated with the others. God’s attributes are never contrary to each other. For example, because God is holy, his love is a holy love. Because God is merciful, his justice is a merciful justice. 

Communicable Attributes

Communicable attributes are those aspects of God’s nature that are reflected in human beings, albeit in finite form. There are many of these, but several examples will illustrate.    

Spirituality

God is spirit (John 4:24). Human beings, while embodied, also have a spirit. God interacts with us at a spiritual level (Rom 8:16; 1 Corinthians 6:17). One function of God’s spirituality is that he is invisible to the unaided human eye (1 Timothy 6:16).

Knowledge

Humans have a limited capacity to know truth. But God is omniscient. He knows all things perfectly: past, present and future, visible and invisible, actual and possible (Job 37:16; 1 John 3:20).

Power

God is omnipotent. His power is infinite (Matthew 19:26; Jeremiah 32:17). This doesn’t mean God can do anything. He cannot act in a way that is contrary to his character (Titus 1:2; 2 Timothy 2:13). But God is powerful enough to do anything that he chooses to do. 

Wisdom

God is wise (Romans 16:27) because he always chooses the best purposes and the best means to achieve those purposes (Romans 8:28).

Truthfulness

As the true God (Jeremiah 10:10), God himself epitomizes truth. His perception defines reality and is the final standard of all truth. He cannot lie or deceive. One aspect of God’s truthfulness is his faithfulness (Deuteronomy 32:4), because God is always true to his promises (2 Samuel 7:28).

Goodness

All that God is and does is worthy of approval (Genesis 1:31). He is the final standard of what is good (Luke 18:19; Psalm 106:1). God only acts toward his creation in a way that is good (James 1:17). 

Love

God is love (1 John 4:8) in that he eternally gives of himself to others (John 17:24). The love within the Trinity is the perfect example of this (John 14:31). While human love is tainted by self-interest, God loves even sinful humanity, at great cost to himself (1 John 4:10; Romans 5:8). His love takes shape in other attributes, like grace, patience, mercy, and compassion.

Holiness

God is often called holy (Psalm 71:22; Psalm 99:9; Isaiah 6:3). The root idea of “holiness” is “separation.” On one hand, God is separate from all sin or evil, and calls us to separate ourselves from sin and evil in our lives (1 Peter 1:14-16). But in a greater sense, God is holy because he is completely transcendent. That is, he is absolutely separate in his being and perfection from his creation.

Righteousness

In biblical languages, righteousness and justice are equivalent. God always does what is right (Genesis 18:25; Zephaniah 3:5), but not according to some external standard or law. God himself is the final standard of right and wrong (Deuteronomy 32:4). 

Wrath

God’s wrath is his settled animosity and opposition toward sin (Exodus 32:9-10; Romans 1:18). While human wrath is usually misapplied, to hate sin and evil is a virtue (Zechariah 8:17). While God’s wrath expresses his holiness and righteousness, it is never at odds with his love and mercy.

The Triune God

When we integrate everything God has revealed about himself in the Bible, the only possible conclusion is that God exists eternally as three persons in one being. First, God is three persons. The Bible portrays the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as distinct centers of consciousness (Matthew 28:19), who can interact with each other (Matthew 3:16-17) and who have different roles, but work in perfect unity as equals.

Second, each person is fully God. It is a given in the Bible that the Father is God. The Son is also seen as God (John 1:1-3; see Topic 4). The Holy Spirit is depicted having attributes that only God has and doing things that only God can do (Acts 5:3-4; see Topic 5). As such, all three members of the Trinity are worthy of our worship.

Third, the Bible clearly teaches that there is only one God (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6-8).

The distinction between “person” and “being” is important, because careful use of language helps us to avoid two fundamental errors. First, we must not confuse the persons of God. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, and neither is the Holy Spirit. Second, we must not divide the essence or being of God. The Father, Son and Spirit are not separate gods.

In the end, we don’t have to understand or articulate how God can be three persons in one being. Why would finite creatures expect to be able to grasp an infinite God (Job 11:7)? But we can explain why we hold this teaching, as the only view of God that takes into account everything the know about God from the Bible.

For more details about this important doctrine, see the series The Trinity at pursuegod.org/trinity.