“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
—Revelation 4:11
When we ask the question “What is God like?” we enter a study of theology (in other words, the study of God). This may seem academic and stuffy, but learning what God is like is not just assimilating knowledge or information; it leads us to greater appreciation and holy awe of our Creator. In seeking answers to this question, we may increase a spirit of adoration and communion with the Lord.
A short article describing God’s attributes cannot hope to cover the breadth or depth of this topic. There are entire books exploring what God is like, and others devoted to just one attribute, such as God’s holiness. So, our focus will be on a brief introduction. Think of this as an invitation to future exploration or inspiration for reflection and worship.
Sources of Our Understanding
Before introducing individual attributes, we first need to name the sources of our information.
The Bible
First, we consider the Bible, or God’s revealed word. Scripture is the first and most important source of information regarding God’s attributes. It is God’s revealed testimony to us, truth that stands the test of time. As Hebrews 4:12 says, “The word of God is living and active.”
But our investigation does not end with a reading of Scripture; it includes what we learn from (2) tradition, (3) reason, and (4) experience. Together, these four sources are known as the Wesleyan Quadrilateral—and they have helped Christians to organize thoughts about God for many centuries.
Experience
Here are a few ways that experience teaches us about God’s attributes: When we examine creation, we might infer that God is powerful—the one who created all that exists—and we also might notice that God is a remarkable designer. He ensures the orderliness of all creation and the laws and scientific constants that knit the world together. When we examine the human moral conscience, we may also infer that God is personal and moral—for God created people in the divine image, distinguishing right from wrong.
Church Tradition
We also learn of God’s attributes by studying church tradition. This history includes creeds and statements of faith that have been handed down through the centuries. Tradition teaches us which beliefs the church has held as central and orthodox (in other words, as established doctrine); it also teaches which beliefs are limiting or distorting, referred to as heresy. Tradition reminds us that we do not stand alone, but we may learn from those who have gone before us in the faith.
Reason
Lastly, God gave us the ability to reason and to use our minds to seek understanding (see Matthew 22:37). We use reason every time we sit down to study the details of Scripture, or when we discover God’s truth unveiled by some aspect of lived experience. Reason puts our logical minds to use as we consider what we know about God and faith.
A Full Picture
While Scripture remains central in our search to discover and define God, tradition, reason, and experience fill out the picture; they give us a portrait of God that we can turn over in our minds and communicate to others. Each side of the quadrilateral helps keep the others in check. We balance our belief and understanding, remembering that as humans we “see through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV). We must faithfully measure and test our understanding against what God has revealed to us and to others (see Acts 17:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:20–22).
God Is Not Like Us
In seeking to understand God, Christian thinkers have come up with several ways of categorizing his attributes. One way is to distinguish God’s communicable qualities—those that we share with God—from God’s incommunicable qualities—those things which set God apart from us.
Incommunicable Qualities
God has attributes for which there is no way that we, as limited human beings, could imitate. Some call these the “omni” qualities of God:
- omnipotence (see Genesis 18:14; Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Matthew 19:26)
- omnipresence (Psalm 139:7–12; Jeremiah 23:23–24; Acts 17:27)
- omniscience (Job 37:16, Psalms 139:1–4; 147:5, Isaiah 42:9)
“Omni” means “all,” so these attributes mean that God is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing. Whereas created people have no power of their own to perform miracles, God does. Whereas created people cannot be present everywhere, God can. Whereas created people are limited in knowledge and breadth of understanding, God doesn’t just know all there is to know—God is the source and fount of all wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).
God is also immutable, meaning that he does not change, which is different from the way humans develop and mature (see Psalm 102:27; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17). A God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever means that we can fully trust him. Related to this is God’s eternal nature—he has no beginning and no end (see Genesis 21:33; Psalm 90:2; Revelation 22:13).
Furthermore, God is active in the world (God’s immanence), while also remaining separate and distinct from creation (God’s transcendence; see Jeremiah 23:23–24).
Lastly, God is triune: three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) sharing one existence or essence.1
We Should Imitate God
There are several ways that humans can and should learn to be more like God. We are designed to have a moral character modeled after God’s own as we pursue goodness, holiness, love, and faithfulness (see Exodus 33:19; Leviticus 11:44; Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalms 89:2; 103:17; 145:9; Ephesians 2:4–5; 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24; 1 Peter 1:16; 1 John 4:8–10).
We can seek to be more like God even when we fall short of God’s perfection—growing in maturity and grace. Through our pursuit of goodness, holiness, love, and faithfulness, God builds in us a character that imitates Christ’s example (see 1 Corinthians 11:1).
Knowing What God Will Not Do
Sometimes we discern God’s attributes by understanding things God cannot or will not do. Since he is faithful and true, God does not lie or break confidence (Numbers 23:19). If we look at prayer as an example, imagine how our prayer life is transformed by coming to appreciate that God will never be unfaithful (see Luke 18:1).
Through our pursuit of goodness, holiness, love, and faithfulness, God builds in us a character that imitates the example set by Christ.
Knowing God Leads to Growth
Understanding what God is like is not just an intellectual exercise. Knowing his character guides us—both as individuals and corporately—as God’s people. And understanding God’s attributes is more than assimilating facts or pointing to the right Bible verses. Knowledge and wisdom are good, but we need to apply what we have learned to reflect his love better and to worship him.
Professor and author Millard Erickson puts it this way:
“The study of God’s nature should be seen as a means to a more accurate understanding of him and hence a closer personal relationship with him.”2
Or as J.I. Packer wrote:
“It is that we turn each truth that we learn about God into matter for meditation before God, leading to prayer and praise to God.”3
Understanding Ourselves
Learning about God can lead to greater understanding of ourselves—whether his character reveals ways that we fall short or by inspiring us to a life of greater worship.
When believers grow in the knowledge and the character of Christ, the church also grows. Together we declare “the praises of him who called [us] out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
More Resources to Explore:
Eyreon, Stephen. 2013. “God’s Character and Personality.” CS Lewis Institute. https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/gods-character-and-personality/.
Packer, J. I. 1973. Knowing God. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
“The Most Quoted Verse in the Bible.” 2024. Bibleproject.com. https://bibleproject.com/podcasts/most-quoted-verse-bible/.
“What are the attributes of God?” 2003. Gotquestions.org. https://www.gotquestions.org/attributes-God.html.
“What is the character of God?” Gotquestions.org. Accessed August 3, 2026. https://www.gotquestions.org/character-of-God.html.
- For many Bible verses listed in support of the doctrine of the Trinity, see “The Biblical Basis of the Doctrine of the Trinity” by Robert M. Bowman, Jr., available at https://irr.org/biblical-basis-of-doctrine-of-trinity. ↩︎
- Millard Erickson, Introducing Christian Doctrine (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1992), p. 76. ↩︎
- J.I. Packer, Knowing God (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1974), p. 18. ↩︎
