Twenty Attributes of God

The Character of God (from Grudem)

We spent many weeks going over the various aspects of God's character. I used the framework provided by Grudem in his book, Systematic Theology. Below I've provided just the definitions of each of the 20 attributes identified by Grudem. These are useful for meditation and for #2 of the Life Action Revival outline for your "Holy Hour".

Incommunicable Attributes

1. God’s Independence - God does not need us or the rest of creation for anything, yet we and the rest of creation can glorify him and bring him joy.
2. God’s Unchangeableness - God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes, and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, and he acts and feels differently in response to different situations.
3. God’s Eternity - God has no beginning, end, or succession of moments in his own being, and he sees all time equally vividly, yet God sees events in time and acts in time.
4. Omnipresence - God does not have size or spatial dimensions and is present at every point of space with his whole being, yet God acts differently in different places.
5. Unity - God is not divided into parts, yet we see different attributes of God emphasized at different times.

Communicable Attributes

A. Attributes Describing God’s Being
1. Spirituality - God exists as a being that is not made of any matter, has no parts or dimensions, is unable to be perceived by our bodily senses, and is more excellent than any other kind of existence.
2. Invisibility - God’s total essence, all of his spiritual being, will never be able to be seen by us, yet God still shows himself to us through visible, created things.

B. Mental Attributes
3. Knowledge (Omniscience) - God fully knows himself and all things actual and possible in one simple and eternal act.
4. Wisdom - God’s wisdom means that God always chooses the best goals and the best means to those goals.
5. Truthfulness (and Faithfulness) - God’s truthfulness means that he is the true God, and that all his knowledge and words are both true and the final standard of truth.

C. Moral Attributes
6. Goodness - God is the final standard of good, and that all that God is and does is worthy of approval.
7. Love - God’s love means that God eternally gives of himself to others.
8. Goodness in Mercy, Grace, Patience - God’s mercy, patience, and grace may be seen as three separate attributes, or as specific aspects of God’s goodness. The definitions given here show these attributes as special examples of God’s goodness when it is used for the benefit of specific classes of people.
     God’s mercy means God’s goodness toward those in misery and distress.
     God’s grace means God’s goodness toward those who deserve only punishment.
     God’s patience means God’s goodness in withholding of punishment toward those who sin over a period of time.
9. Holiness - God’s holiness means that he is separated from sin and devoted to seeking his own honor.
10. Peace (or Order) - God’s peace means that in God’s being and in his actions he is separate from all confusion and disorder, yet he is continually active in innumerable well-ordered, fully controlled, simultaneous actions.
11. Righteousness, Justice - God’s righteousness means that God always acts in accordance with what is right and is himself the final standard of what is right.
12. Jealousy - God’s jealousy means that God continually seeks to protect his own honor.
13. Wrath - God’s wrath means that he intensely hates all sin.

D. Attributes of Purpose
14. Will - God’s will is that attribute of God whereby he approves and determines to bring about every action necessary for the existence and activity of himself and all creation.
15. Freedom - God’s freedom is that attribute of God whereby he does whatever he pleases.
16. Omnipotence (Power, Sovereignty) - God’s omnipotence means that God is able to do all his holy will.

E. “Summary” Attributes
17. Perfection - God’s perfection means that God completely possesses all excellent qualities and lacks no part of any qualities that would be desirable for him.
18. Blessedness - God’s blessedness means that God delights fully in himself and in all that reflects his character.
19. Beauty - God’s beauty is that attribute of God whereby he is the sum of all desirable qualities.
20. Glory - God’s glory is the created brightness that surrounds God’s revelation of himself.