The Essence of God

[Dedicated Mind]

Originally Posted by Jay

I am going to stick with what the Bible says. God has many attributes and has revealed Himself in many ways.


God is a Spirit, that is what He is. There are several Scriptures that claim this, and thus His essence is spiritual.

However, He has multiple attributes, as do we. Some of these include love, hate, justice, anger, mercy, wrath, grace, jealousy, joy, justice, and righteousness. However, the greatest attribute in Scripture is His holiness. This one attribute regulates all the others as He deals with man.

There are also many appearances, manifestations as well, such as fire, wings, feathers, etc.

We can finally know approximately what He looks like, because when He came, He came in the form of a man. When we see Him, we will see Him as He would have looked on earth.

i think love and holiness are equal. if god were mainly holy that would leave little room for mercy. imho.

[Jay]

Originally Posted by Dedicated Mind

i think love and holiness are equal. if god were mainly holy that would leave little room for mercy. imho.

All of His attributes have an opposite characteristic with the exception of His holiness. Love is balanced by hate, mercy and justice are also juxtaposed to one another, righteousness and grace, holiness is the one aspect for which there is no corresponding attribute. Thus it is also the one that provides the balance for all of the others.

God loves men, but He hates sin. All of his attributes are intended to draw man back into a state of holiness. Only God can impart holiness to people.