Teens and Christ
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Lesson 2 of 4 · 9 min

The Attributes of God

Holiness, love, justice, mercy, eternity — and how they hold together.

Not a list of traits

God's attributes are not ingredients mixed together; they are ways of describing one undivided being. God does not have love, he is love. He does not become holy, he is holy.

Theologians often speak of incommunicable attributes — those unique to God, like eternity, self-existence (aseity), immutability, omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence — and communicable attributes, which he shares in measure with people: love, justice, mercy, faithfulness, patience, wisdom.

Holiness and love together

People often feel these attributes compete: if God is loving, how can he judge? If he is holy, how can he forgive? Scripture refuses the trade-off. At the cross both are fully expressed — sin is taken seriously and sinners are welcomed home.

Key passages

  • Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!

    Isaiah 6:3

  • Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

    1 John 4:8

  • The LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness... who will by no means clear the guilty.

    Exodus 34:6-7

Reflect

Which attribute of God do you find hardest to hold together with the others, and why?

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Next: The Trinity

Where this came from

We're not experts — these are the sources we used while researching this page. Read them yourself, keep digging, and hold us to them.

  1. [1]The Holy Bible — Blue Letter Bible interlinear and lexicons

    Primary source for every lesson; Strong's and BDB/Thayer entries for word studies.

  2. [2]The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381) — full text and history, Britannica

    The doctrinal frame for the lessons on God, Christ and the Spirit.

  3. [3]N. T. Wright, lectures and articles archive (NTWrightPage)

    New Testament scholarship drawn on for the gospel, kingdom and resurrection lessons.

  4. [4]Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican) and the Westminster Confession of Faith

    Consulted side by side wherever a lesson describes how different traditions teach a doctrine.