Communicable Attributes of God

A communicable attribute is perfect characteristic of God that is endowed by God to man in an imperfect way. It is common to interpret man being made in the image of God as man sharing God’s communicable attributes. God loves and therefore we can love, but in an imperfect way. God reasons and therefore we can reason, but in an imperfect way. The primary communicable attributes of God are now presented.

God as Spirit. The closest that the Bible comes to defining God is the classic verse, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (Jn 4:24). This verse is a strong affirmation of theology in terms of faith seeking understanding. We must worship God in spiritual faith, but this faith should be informed by spiritual truths. But what does it mean that God is spirit? John uses the Greek word pneuma (πνεῦμα), which literally means a breath or a breeze. Spirit therefore means incorporeal and without physical substance. Humans can be thought of as the union of a physical body and an incorporeal spirit. God, in contrast, is pure spirit. Furthermore, he is not just a spirit, but Spirit itself. God is not of this physical universe, although He is fully present as Spirit in every place and at every time. Of course, this makes sense since God existed when time and space did not exist and must therefore exist completely apart from the created universe. But we must often keep this in mind since there are many anthropomorphic verses about God in the Bible and many anthropomorphic images of God in artistic representations. Isaiah writes, “I am your God … I will also uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Is 41:10), but God has no literal hand. Deuteronomy reads, “[M]an shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the LORD” (Dt 8:3), but God has no literal mouth. Since God is Spirit, He is not limited to body, form, or boundaries. Rather, God is invisible, immeasurable, and ultimately incomprehensible.

God is Holy. The Bible is clear that God is a Holy God. “Seraphim were standing above Him, … And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD’” (Is 6:2-3). Holy is translated from the and the Greek word hágios (ἅγιος) which means to be set apart. Therefore, it is not correct to view holiness as primarily related to moral purity or sacred status. In the context of God, His holiness means that He is completely separate from the physical universe and humanity. This means that He is worthy of awe, veneration, and worship. But we are also called upon to be holy. “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy’” (Lv 19:1–2). We are holy to the extent that we are set apart from things of the world and set towards things that bring glory to God. In this sense, the result of becoming more holy is to be more pure, upright, and free from sin.

God as Love. The second closest that the Bible comes to defining God is the other classic verse, “God is love” (1 Jn 4:8). There are several Greek words for different kinds of love, but this versus uses agapé (ἀγάπη), which refers to unconditional, selfless, and sacrificial love. St. Augustine thinks that love is so central to God and his message that each verse of Scripture can only be understood in the context of the love of God. Friedreich Schleiermacher goes further and believes that God as described in the Bible is best understood as only having the single attribute of love. He writes, “[O]nly love and no other divine attribute can be equated with God … Love is the orientation of wanting to unite with others and wanting to be in the other.”[i] Furthermore, the Bible is clear that our capacity to love is because it is communicated to us from God. “We love because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). The verses about God’s love are numerous. There are over 300 instances of love in the NT including every single book. But God’s love is perhaps best summarized in Jn 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.”

God as Goodness. To say that God is Goodness is somewhat of a tautology since God determines what is good and what is not good. But this attribute not only identifies God as the standard of goodness, but the perfect embodiment of this standard. Everything that God is and does is good, and it is impossible for God to do anything or be anything other than good. Furthermore, like all communicable attributes, only God can be perfectly good. This is why Jesus Himself tells us, “No one is good except God alone” (Mk 10:18). It is also why the psalmist recognizes the inconceivable immenseness of this divine attribute. “How great is Your goodness” (Ps 31:19). As for goodness being communicated to mankind, we are instructed to “love your enemies and do good” (Lk 6:35). But doing what we think is good in human terms is not necessarily being good from God’s perspective. This is why we are told that our true goodness is derived directly from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness” (Gal 5:22).

God as Mercy. It is clear that mercy is an attribute of God that can be communicated to us. “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Lk 6:36). The Greek word used in this verse is oiktírmōn (οἰκτίρμων), which means to have pity for someone. In this sense, the mercy of God means that He feels pity and compassion for us in our misery, struggles, and hardships, just as we should feel pity and compassion for others with misery, struggles, and hardships.[ii] The OT often describes God exacting harsh punishments on individuals and entire communities. But it must be understood that this is done in the context of mercy. “For the Lord your God is a merciful God” (Dt 4:31 ESV) “The LORD’S acts of mercy indeed do not end, For His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness” (Lam 3:22-23).

God as Righteousness. The OT Hebrew word for righteousness is tsedeq (צֶדֶק), which literally refers to measures and scales that are correct and accurate. When applied to moral issues, righteousness therefore refers to the correct and accurate assessment of moral actions and the correct and accurate distribution of rewards and punishment. The NT word for righteousness is dikaiosynē (δικαιοσύνη), which literally means a condition of justice that gives to each what is fairly due. In a broader sense, dikaiosynē refers to someone being in the condition that one ought to be in be in. A person who is righteous in the eyes of God is therefore in a condition that is acceptable to God. God’s righteousness refers to His perfect moral judgement and distributive justice, which operates in perfect harmony with His love, mercy, and holiness. This is true for both retributive justice where God righteously punishes evil, and remunerative justice where God righteously rewards goodness. However, an important distinction between retributive and remunerative justice must be made. People deserve retributive justice (Rom 6:23) but are undeserving of remunerative justice (Lk 17:10). As a communicable attribute, this concept is most prominent in God making believers positionally justified before God as a free and undeserved gift by grace for those who have faith. “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:19).

[i]        Friedrich Schleiermacher, The Christian Faith, Mackintosh, H.R. and Stewart, J.S., ed., Berkeley, CA: Apocryphile Press, 1830/2011: §167.1; §165.4.

[ii]        The third Beatitude in Mt 5:5 is typically translated as “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” However, mercy in this verse is a translation of eleēmōn (ἐλεήμων), not oiktírmōn (οἰκτίρμων). The words are synonymous.