Incommunicable Attributes of God

5 Attributes of God We Cannot Fully Know

Independence of God

God is totally independent from His creation. There is nothing that we can give God that He needs. He is self-sufficient. Paul elaborates on this in Acts 17:24-25

Acts 17:24–25 NASB95

“The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;

Job says it this way in Job 41:11

Job 41:11 NASB95

“Who has given to Me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.

God owns everything. Even us. He made everything, so everything belongs to Him.

Though God does not need anything from us, He continually pours out everything we need. He is a continuous giver and never a taker!

God was not created and has always existed. David says in Psalms 90:2

Psalm 90:2 (NASB95)

Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Though God does not need anything from us, we can glorify Him with our praise and worship. Isaiah 43:7

Isaiah 43:7 (NASB95)

Everyone who is called by My name,And whom I have created for My glory,Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”

God has chosen us to bring him glory!

Unchangeableness of God

God does not change in character, purpose, and promises. We can depend on God being the same as he always has been, is, and always will be. God is perfectly consistent. Numbers 23:19

Numbers 23:19 (NASB95)

“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?

We can depend on God! In instances in the Bible where it appears as though God changed His mind and purpose, we must understand that He is a God of all possibilities and is expressing a current attitude or intention. For example, He said He was going to judge Nineveh. However they repented, so God did not judge them. God knew they were going to repent but would have judged them if they had not repented.

Eternality of God

God has always been, always is, and always will be. He is infinite. We cannot comprehend the eternality of God because we are finite. We have a beginning and an end.

Time has no effect on God. He operates outside the scope of time. Peter puts it this way in 2 Peter 3:8

2 Peter 3:8 NASB95

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

God is not limited by time. He is the creator of time and it serves Him.

We have issues sometimes with God’s timing. There are times where we feel God should answer our prayers in the time-frame we desire. God answers prayers in His time.

God sees time differently than we do. We see time chronologically. Meaning seconds minutes, hours, days, months, and years. God sees time all at the same time. He sees creation and eternity at the same time.

Omnipresence of God

Just as God is not limited by time, He is also not limited by space. God is everywhere at the same time. There is not a space where God is not. God cannot be contained by space. Psalms 139:7-10

Psalm 139:7–10 (NASB95)

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence?If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

Knowing that God is continually with us should bring us comfort knowing that He controls everything that happens to us.

Unity of God

God is not three parts. God is one manifested in three persons. The unity of the trinity is a complexity of God that is hard to grasp. God is not 1/3 Father, 1/3 Son, and 1/3 Holy Spirit. Each person of the trinity is 100% God.

God desires us to seek the one true God in the three persons. There is not anything that any on of the manifested Trinity does not know or is not completely unified. There will never be a time when any part of the Trinity will be at odds with one another.