By Gary Ray Branscome
The
attributes that I have listed as active are those that have to do with how God
deals with us or what He does. They are life, knowledge, wisdom, will,
holiness, justice, honesty, power, and goodness.
DIVINE
DIVINE
KNOWLEDGE
The words, The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, watching the
wicked and the good, tell us that God sees all things (Proverbs 15:3). The
words, Your eyes saw me, before I was formed; and in your book all the days
of my life were written, before they ever took shape, before any of them began,
tell us that God knows all that will happen (Psalm 139:16), The words, If
for any reason our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and
knows all things, tell us that there is no limit to Gods knowledge (1John
3:20). And, the words, O LORD, you have searched me, and known me. You know
when I sit down and when I get up, you understand my thoughts from far away.
You watch over my travels and my rest, and know all my ways. Before there is a
word on my tongue, O LORD, you know all about it, tell us that God knows
everything about us (Psalm 139:1-4).
The
words, There is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and is making known to
king Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the future, tell us that God knows the
future (Daniel 2:28). The words, And you,
DIVINE WISDOM The words, Now to the eternal King, the
immortal, invisible, and only wise God, be glory and honor for ever and ever. Amen, tell us that God is wise (1Timothy
DIVINE
WILL
The words, Who has known the mind of the Lord? or
who has been His counselor? tell us that God has a mind (Romans
DIVINE
HOLINESS
The words, I am the LORD your God: you shall therefore sanctify
yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy, tell us that God
is Holy, the words, This is the will of God, even your
sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, tell us that God
wants His people to be holy [set apart from the world, sanctified] (Leviticus 11:44,
1Thessalonians 4:3). The words, The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and
holy in all His works, use holiness as a synonym for righteousness (Psalm
145:17). The words, Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I, who am but
dust and ashes, have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, tell us that
because God is holy we should approach Him with reverence (Genesis 18:27). And
the words, We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, // In
whom we have free and confident access to God through faith in Him, tell
us that is only through the forgiveness that is ours in Christ that we have
access to our holy God
(Romans
DIVINE
JUSTICE
The words, Be careful what you do: for you do not judge for man, but for
the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. Therefore now let the fear of
the LORD be upon you; take heed what you do: for there is no injustice with the
LORD our God, or respect of persons, or accepting gifts, tell us that God
is fair and just in all of His decisions, and will condemn all judges who are
not just (2Chronicles 19:6-7). The words, You shall not make
unrighteousness judgments: you shall not respect the person of the poor, nor
honor the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shall you judge your
neighbor, tell us that just judgments are righteous judgments (Leviticus
19:5). The words, The ungodly will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners
in the congregation of the righteous, warn the ungodly that because God is
just they will be punished (Psalm 1:5-6). The words, Because of your hard
and impenitent heart you are stockpiling wrath for yourself in the day when the
wrath and righteous judgment of God is revealed; For He will render to every
man according to his deeds, warn the unrighteous of their need to repent
(Romans 2:5-6). And, the words, The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from
heaven with His mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on those
who do not know God, and who refuse to accept the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ: Who will be punished with unending destruction away from
the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His might, remind us that
because God is just He has provided a way of receiving forgiveness through the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Thessalonians 1:7-9). [See Psalm 92:15,
Hosea 14:9, Ps. 19:7, Isaiah 45:23, Ps. 119:137, Romans 1:32, Acts 17:31.]
DIVINE
HONESTY
The words, God is not a man, that He should lie;
nor the son of man, that He should repent: has He said, and shall He not do
it? or has He spoken, and shall He not make it good?
tell us that God is unfailing in speaking the truth and in keeping His promises
(Numbers
DIVINE
POWER
The words, Jesus looked at them, and said to them, With
men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible tell us that
nothing is impossible for God to do (Matthew
In
the past, enemies of God [See James 4:4] have tried to confuse believers by
saying, If God cannot lie, steal, die, or make a stone that is too big for Him
to lift, then there are some things that He cannot
do. That sort of reasoning only shows their ignorance, for by the miracle of
the virgin birth God took upon Himself the nature of man in the person of
Christ Jesus. In the person of Christ it was possible for Him to lie or steal
but He did not. As man there were many stones that He could not lift. And, as
the God-man He did die. He died in our place so we could have forgiveness. As believers, there are many things that we
do not understand, however, in regard to those who use such arguments God warns
us, Beware lest any man take you captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy (Colossians 2:8). If they do not speak according to Gods
Word, it is because there is no light in them (Isaiah
DIVINE
GOODNESS
The Bible passages that reveal Gods goodness include those that speak of His
compassion, love, mercy, grace, long-suffering and so forth. That
being understood, the words, God so loved the world, that He gave
His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life, clearly reveal Gods goodness (John
More on
Gods Attributes
God is
Compassionate. 1Kings
God is Faithful and True. Joshua
God is Gracious. Nehemiah 9:31, Isaiah 30:18-19, Exodus 34:6.
God is Incomprehensible. Job 36:26, Job 37:5, Psalm 40:5, Psalm 139:6.
God is Incorruptible. Leviticus 11:44, Malachi 3:6.
God is Invisible. Job 23:8-9, 1Timothy
God is Jealous. Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 32:16.
God is Longsuffering. Numbers 14:18, Psalm 86:15.
God is Merciful. Exodus 34:6-7, Numbers
God is Righteous. Ezra 9:15, Psalm 145:7 & 17.
God is Upright. Psalm 25:8, Psalm
92:15.