The Attributes of God: A Dispensational Study

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; His greatness is unsearchable.”

— Psalm 145:3

1. Omniscience — The All-Knowing God

Your Understanding

“God is not bound by time but is outside of time ontologically. Although God is ontologically outside of time, He can voluntarily enter temporal existence (i.e., the incarnation). He still knows all time in that one glance.”

God’s knowledge transcends time and space. He knows the past, present, and future in one eternal, undivided act of awareness.

Supporting Insight

“The omniscience of God comprehends all things—things past, things present, and things future, and the possible as well as the actual.” — Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1.

God’s knowledge is exhaustive, immutable, and perfect. He does not learn; He knows all contingencies and certainties simultaneously.

Scriptural Framework

Psalm 139:1–4 – God knows every word before it is spoken.

Isaiah 46:9–10 – He declares the end from the beginning.

Hebrews 4:13 – Nothing is hidden from His sight.

1 John 3:20 – “God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.”

Doctrinal Implications

God’s omniscience guarantees prophecy, covenant, and redemption.

His knowledge secures His immutability—He never learns or forgets.

Divine foreknowledge works harmoniously with human freedom.

Teaching Summary

God’s omniscience assures believers that His plans are perfect, His judgments just, and His promises certain. He knows all that will be, all that could be, and works every detail for His glory.

2. Holiness — The Moral Perfection of God

Your Understanding

“God is perfect and pure. He is not tarnished or stained by sin or anything because He is not self-removed from fallen creatures, but He relates to them in a righteous manner.”

God’s holiness defines His moral perfection and His separation from sin, yet it also defines how He engages a sinful world—redemptively and righteously.

Supporting Insight

“In respect to God, holiness means not only that He is separate from all that is unclean and evil but also that He is positively pure and thus distinct from all others.” — Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (1999), 42.

Chafer taught that holiness is the foundation of all God’s moral attributes—His justice, righteousness, and love flow from His holy character.

Scriptural Framework

Isaiah 6:3 – “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts.”

Leviticus 19:2 – “Be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.”

1 Peter 1:15–16 – God’s holiness is the model for believers.

Habakkuk 1:13 – “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil.”

Doctrinal Implications

Holiness is the standard of all righteousness and judgment.

God’s holiness is active—it confronts, purifies, and redeems.

The cross reveals holiness satisfied and love extended.

Each dispensation reveals holiness differently: Law through separation, Church through sanctification, Kingdom through righteous reign.

Illustration

“Holiness is like a car without rust or a healthy cow. A rust-free car, like a holy God, is free from evil’s corrosion. A healthy cow, vibrant and strong, reflects the positive vitality of holiness. Holiness is both the absence of evil and the presence of pure, radiant life.”

Teaching Summary

God’s holiness is His radiant moral perfection that defines all He is and does. He is separate from sin but never distant from sinners—He redeems them to share in His holiness.

3. Love — The Divine Motive

Your Understanding

“God is love and because He is, we know what love is. Love seeks good for the object loved. God is love which means He also will discipline and pour out righteous wrath on those who deserve righteous justice. He gives grace because of His love. He created because of His love.”

God’s love is not emotional impulse but the pure, self-giving motive behind all divine actions—creation, redemption, and righteous judgment.

Supporting Insight

“Without the attribute of love, God would not be what He is. As no other attribute, love is the primary motive in God.” — Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, 205.

“Love in God is seeking the highest good and glory of His perfections. This implies no selfishness in God as it would in human beings.” — Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (1999), 44.

Scriptural Framework

1 John 4:8 – “God is love.”

Romans 5:8 – God’s love demonstrated at the cross.

John 3:16 – God’s love as the motive for salvation.

Ephesians 2:4–5 – “Because of His great love…”

Hebrews 12:6 – “The Lord disciplines those He loves.”

Doctrinal Implications

Love is intrinsic to God’s being.

His wrath and justice are expressions of holy love.

Divine love is purposeful, not permissive.

Love is progressively revealed: in covenant, in the cross, in the Kingdom.

Illustration

“Just as a father’s love disciplines his child or a shepherd uses his staff to guide and correct, so God’s love acts with both tenderness and firmness. His love is not indulgence but purposeful holiness.”

Teaching Summary

God’s love is the moral essence of His being—holy, just, redemptive, and self-giving. His love creates, redeems, disciplines, and restores, all for His glory and our good.

4. Omnipotence — The All-Powerful God

Your Understanding

“We do not know all that God can do. He has not done some things because He has a plan we do not understand. God will not do something that makes Him unable to do something else. He will not go against His nature and sin or fall into foolishness. If this happened, then He would not be the God we know in the Bible. God’s omnipotence is inconceivable to us, and this is a good thing.”

God’s power is infinite yet perfectly controlled—never reckless, always righteous, and always in harmony with His will and wisdom.

Supporting Insight

“Omnipotence means that God is all-powerful and able to do anything consistent with His own nature… He has not chosen to do even all the things that would be consistent with Himself for reasons known ultimately only to Himself.” — Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (1999), 45.

“He is able to do whatever He wills, but He may not will to do to the full measure of omnipotence. His will is directed in the way of holy and worthy ends. He cannot contradict Himself.” — Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, 210.

Scriptural Framework

Jeremiah 32:17 – “Nothing is too difficult for You.”

Genesis 18:14 – “Is anything too hard for the LORD?”

Matthew 19:26 – “With God all things are possible.”

Ephesians 1:19–21 – His mighty power raised Christ from the dead.

Doctrinal Implications

God’s omnipotence is power with purpose, guided by holiness.

He cannot do what contradicts His nature (Titus 1:2; James 1:13).

His power manifests differently across dispensations—creating, sustaining, redeeming, ruling.

Illustration

“God’s omnipotence is like the strength of a river behind a dam—immeasurably powerful, yet perfectly controlled to accomplish its purpose.”

Teaching Summary

God’s omnipotence is His infinite power to accomplish all that accords with His nature and will. His power is purposeful, righteous, and eternal—revealed in creation, redemption, and resurrection.

5. Omnipresence — The All-Present God

Your Understanding

“No one can escape God’s presence ever because He is able to be and see everything always. His love calls for this because we are incapable of doing right without His ever watchful eyes on us. This ties back to His omnipotence because only an all-powerful being can be everywhere at once.”

God’s presence fills all creation without being contained by it. He is fully present everywhere, yet personally engaged with His creatures.

Supporting Insight

“Omnipresence means that God is everywhere present with His whole being at all times… though the immediacy of His presence does vary.” — Charles C. Ryrie, Basic Theology (1999), 46.

Ryrie distinguishes omnipresence from pantheism and process theology: God is present everywhere but not identical with or dependent on the universe. His presence differs in fellowship, not in extent.

Scriptural Framework

Psalm 139:7–10 – “Where can I go from Your Spirit?”

Jeremiah 23:23–24 – “Do I not fill heaven and earth?”

Matthew 28:20 – “I am with you always.”

Hebrews 13:5 – “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Doctrinal Implications

God is both transcendent and immanent.

His presence comforts the righteous and convicts the wicked.

Omnipresence supports omniscience—He sees all and knows all.

His presence is manifest differently across redemptive history: tabernacle, incarnation, indwelling Spirit, and the future Kingdom.

Illustration

“God’s omnipresence is like sunlight that fills every place at once—warming and revealing. The same light blesses or burns depending on one’s response to it.”

Teaching Summary

God’s omnipresence means He is always with us in power, knowledge, and love. There is no place beyond His reach and no moment outside His care. For believers, His presence is peace; for unbelievers, it is accountability.

6. Omnibenevolence — The Infinite Goodness of God

Your Understanding

“The goodness of God connects to His omnipotence and love. He is a God of grace and mercy, as well as wrath and justice. This does not contradict His goodness. God loves the world He created and gives grace to all, righteous and unrighteous alike. Even in a fallen world, His goodness is present. Evil itself reveals there is an ultimate good. Only God can show us what is truly good—and He has, through His Son’s death and resurrection.”

Supporting Insight

“The infinite goodness of God is a perfection of His being which characterizes His nature and is itself the source of all in the universe that is good.” — Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, 207.

“The mercy of God has had its supreme manifestation in the giving of His Son for the lost of this world… God is seen to be rich in mercy.” — Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, 206.

Scriptural Framework

Psalm 145:9 – “The LORD is good to all.”

Matthew 5:45 – God sends rain on the just and unjust.

Matthew 6:25–33 – God’s care for creation.

Romans 5:8 – Love demonstrated in Christ’s death.

Hebrews 1:3 – He sustains all things by His word.

Doctrinal Implications

God is the source of all good.

His goodness includes mercy, grace, and justice in harmony.

Common grace and saving grace both flow from His benevolence.

Each dispensation reveals His goodness more fully—from Eden to the eternal Kingdom.

Illustration

“God’s goodness is like the rhythm of the seasons—always giving, sustaining, and renewing. The presence of evil does not diminish His goodness; it reveals creation’s longing for the fullness of His benevolent reign.”

Teaching Summary

God’s omnibenevolence is His infinite, active goodness expressed in grace, mercy, and justice. His goodness sustains creation, redeems humanity, and ensures that every act He performs is perfectly righteous and loving.

Conclusion

The attributes of God are not separate qualities but perfect harmonies within His being. His omniscience directs His plan; His omnipotence accomplishes it; His omnipresence sustains it; His holiness governs it; His love motivates it; and His goodness completes it. Together, they reveal the infinite perfection of the one true God — glorious in holiness, abundant in love, and sovereign in all His ways.