What are God’s attributes? When we talk about the attributes of God, we are trying to answer questions like, Who is God, What is God like, and What kind of God is he? An attribute of God is something true about him.
When we pray, it is helpful to know to whom we are praying. This series of devotions will enhance our perspective of God.
8. God Is Gracious – God Is Infinitely Inclined to Spare the Guilty
” The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.” (Psalm 145:8)
If mercy is not getting what we do deserve (damnation), grace is getting what we don’t deserve (eternal life). “As mercy is God’s goodness confronting human misery and guilt,” Tozer writes, “so grace is His goodness directed toward human debt and demerit. It is by his grace that God imputes merit where none previously existed and declares no debt to be where one had been before.”
Because grace is a part of who God is and not just an action he bestows, it means we can trust that grace is eternal. His grace is something we do not earn or lose (“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Eph. 2:8). His grace is also sovereign. “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.” (Exodus 33:19).
9. God Is Loving – God Infinitely, Unchangingly Loves Us
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth:” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)
10. God Is Holy – He is Infinitely, Unchangingly Perfect
“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 4:8)
“Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.” (Psalm 99:9)
The word holy means sacred, set apart, revered, or divine. And yet none of those words is adequate to describe the awesome holiness of our God. That God is holy means he is endlessly, always perfect. And his standard for us is perfection “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Jesus says in Matthew 5:48. That’s why we need Christ. Without Christ taking the place for us and dying for our sins, we would all fall short of God’s holy standard. Thankfully, the Christian will never have to experience God’s holy wrath poured out. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, the penalty for our sins was paid and we were imputed (credited) with Christ’s righteousness. Now, when God looks on us, he sees Christ’s perfect holiness. Hallelujah! It is only in this that we can hope to stand in the presence of the blindingly pure, perfect, Holy One of Israel.
(Excerpts from15 Amazing Attributes of God: What They Mean and Why They Matter Compiled & Edited by BST & Crosswalk Staff January 06, 2023)
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001 chaplain@alaskaseniors.com
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