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The Attributes of God: Knowing the Character and Nature of the Lord
The Attributes of God reveal what God is like. Scripture shows that He is holy, loving, just, faithful, and wise. These truths help us know the God we worship and understand how He cares for His people.
This hub brings together eight Studies about God's character. Each Study guides you to articles that explain biblical passages, answer questions, and help you put what you learn into practice.
You can begin with God's character, follow the Studies in order, or choose the subject that fits your question. The goal is to grow in trust, worship, and obedience as you come to know God through Jesus Christ.
Yahweh is gracious, merciful,
slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
Psalm 145:8 (WEB)
Understanding the Attributes of God
God's attributes are not separate parts of Him. He does not set aside His holiness when He shows love, or stop being merciful when He acts with justice. Everything He does is consistent with His perfect character.
The Bible is our guide to knowing Him. We learn from His words, promises, and actions, and from Jesus Christ, who reveals the Father. Knowing God should shape how we pray, face hardship, turn from sin, and love other people.
Choose a Study About God's Character
These four starting points organize the eight Studies below. Each offers a different way to explore the same God revealed in Scripture.
- Begin with who God is. The Character of God introduces His nature and attributes. God's Glory explores His greatness and our response in worship.
- Understand holiness and judgment. God's Holiness explains His purity and our need for cleansing. God's Justice and Wrath examines His judgment of sin and the hope offered through Christ.
- Learn to trust His goodness. God's Love points to His kindness and the cross. God's Care explores His provision and compassion. God's Faithfulness helps you understand and rely on His promises.
- Seek wisdom for daily life. God's Wisdom explores His wise purposes and how believers seek wisdom from Him.
These Studies also help explain the Gospel. God takes sin seriously, and His love provides salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We respond by turning from sin and trusting Christ, rather than trying to earn God's acceptance.
FAQs
The Attributes of God are the qualities and characteristics that describe who God truly is. These attributes reveal God’s nature, His character, and how He relates to the world.
Scripture shows that God is holy, loving, just, faithful, powerful, and glorious. These attributes are not separate parts of God. Instead, they work together perfectly because God’s character is complete and unified.
Yahweh passed by before him, and proclaimed, “Yahweh! Yahweh, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth, keeping loving kindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and disobedience and sin; and who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children’s children, on the third and on the fourth generation.”
— Exodus 34:6–7 WEB
Yahweh is gracious, merciful,
slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
Yahweh is good to all.
His tender mercies are over all his works.
— Psalm 145:8–9 WEB
Understanding the Attributes of God helps believers know God more deeply. When people understand God’s character, they learn to trust Him, worship Him, and follow Him more faithfully.
Knowing the Attributes of God also helps believers understand the message of the Bible and the purpose of salvation.
Yahweh says,
“Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom.
Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might.
Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches.
But let him who glories glory in this,
that he has understanding, and knows me,
that I am Yahweh who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness in the earth:
for I delight in these things,” says Yahweh.
— Jeremiah 9:23–24 WEB
This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
— John 17:3 WEB
The Bible reveals the Attributes of God through His actions, His promises, and His relationship with humanity. From creation to redemption, Scripture shows who God is and how He works in the world.
God’s character is revealed through events in the Old Testament and fully displayed through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
— Colossians 1:15 WEB
His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
— Hebrews 1:3 WEB
The Bible describes many attributes that reveal God’s character. Some of the most significant include holiness, love, justice, glory, and faithfulness.
| Attribute | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Holiness | God is perfectly pure and separate from sin |
| Love | God shows compassion and sacrificial care for humanity |
| Justice | God judges sin with perfect righteousness |
| Glory | God’s greatness and majesty fill creation |
| Faithfulness | God keeps every promise He makes |
These attributes help believers understand the full beauty and balance of God’s character.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loving kindness and truth go before your face.
— Psalm 89:14 WEB
God’s holiness shapes every part of His character. Because God is holy, everything He does is perfectly righteous and good.
His justice flows from His holiness, and His love is pure and faithful. Understanding God’s holiness helps believers understand why sin must be judged and why salvation is necessary.
One called to another, and said,
“Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies!
The whole earth is full of his glory!”
— Isaiah 6:3 WEB
You who are of purer eyes than to see evil,
and who can’t look on perversity,
why do you tolerate those who deal treacherously,
and keep silent when the wicked swallows up the man who is more righteous than he,
— Habakkuk 1:13 WEB
Many people wonder how God can be both loving and just. The Bible shows that these attributes work together perfectly.
God’s justice requires that sin be judged. At the same time, God’s love provides a way for sinners to be forgiven through Jesus Christ.
The cross reveals both God’s justice and His love.
Whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance; to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.
— Romans 3:25–26 WEB
But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
— Romans 5:8 WEB
This page introduces several key aspects of God’s character. You can explore them further in these articles:
- The Character of God: Understanding Who God Truly Is
- God's Glory: Seeing the Majesty and Beauty of God
- God's Holiness: Understanding the Purity and Majesty of God
- God's Justice and Wrath: Understanding the Righteous Judgment of God
- God's Love: The Perfect and Unchanging Love of God
Together, these teachings help believers gain a fuller understanding of who God is.
When believers understand the Attributes of God, their lives begin to change. Knowing God leads to deeper worship, greater humility, and stronger faith.
The Bible calls believers to respond to God’s character by trusting Him, obeying His Word, and growing in their relationship with Him.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
— 2 Peter 3:18 WEB
Know that Yahweh, he is God.
It is he who has made us, and we are his.
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
— Psalm 100:3 WEB
The Bible teaches that God is infinite and far greater than human understanding. Yet God has revealed Himself so that people can know Him personally.
Through Scripture and through Jesus Christ, God invites people into a restored relationship with Him.
No one has seen God at any time. The one and only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.
— John 1:18 WEB
This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.
— John 17:3 WEB
Your Next Step: Begin With God's Character
If you are new to this subject, start with The Character of God. It provides a foundation for the other Studies in this Topic.
As you read, ask: What does this passage reveal about God? How should that truth shape my response to Him? Choose one truth to bring into your prayers and daily choices.
Use the Study cards below to continue. If you want to explore another subject within the wider journey, return to the Who Is God Pathway.
