GOD
Commentary
Scripture References
God is a triune, eternal, all-knowing, self-existent, all-powerful, always present, unchangeable, loving, just, holy, and righteous Being. He is the Creator of the universe and everything in it. God does not live in temples or structures built by human hands, nor is He served as though He needed anything. Instead, God is the One who provides life, breath, and the ability for everything to exist.
God is eternal with no beginning and no end. He has existed from eternity past, continues to exist forever, and cannot cease to exist. God is an infinite Being, not a created One, and is not subject to time or space limitations.
God possesses all knowledge. He knows everything that can be known, from eternity past to eternity future. God is not limited to minutes, hours, days, and years. Instead, He operates in all times present, which means the past, present, and future are "right now” to God. His absolute knowledge of all things does not violate or interfere with individuals’ free will. Everyone is free to make their own decisions, despite God already knowing what those decisions will be in advance.
A few human analogies that help depict foreknowledge in relation to free will on a very elementary level are as follows:
Example #1: Imagine the host of a young girl's birthday party offering the attending children a choice between chocolate cake or strawberry ice cream. Before presenting the kids with their options, each child's parent already knows their son's or daughter's choice based on their likes and preferences. Each parent's foreknowledge of their child's dessert choice does not violate or interfere with their son’s or daughter’s ability to choose when presented with the options. It just means they know what their decision will be ahead of time.
Example #2: Imagine a young man has watched a reality television series twenty times in a row. He is thoroughly knowledgeable about everything that occurred within the series. He knows who interacted with whom and when. He understands how each person’s choices and actions during filming affected everyone else in the reality series. He even knows how the season ended and why it concluded the way it did. However, this young man’s in-depth knowledge of the reality television series did not interfere with or affect each participant’s actions, choices, and activities during filming.
God is self-existent, self-sufficient, and does not depend upon anyone or anything other than Himself. Yet, He is necessary for everything and everyone else to exist. The Bible says without Him, nothing would exist that does exist since He is the One who holds everything together. If God should ever decide to withdraw His spirit and breath from the earth, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust (see Job 34:14-15).
God has unlimited power and can do anything as long as it does not violate His divine nature. In other words, He is restricted to functioning in ways consistent with His character. Consequently, there are several things God cannot do because they would defile His holy, righteous, and self-existent nature. Some examples of this truth are as follows:
God cannot lie. Dishonesty and deception are sinful, but God is holy. The Bible says in Numbers 29:13, “God is not a man, that He should lie.” Scripture also records God repeatedly saying, “Be holy, for I am holy” (see Leviticus 1145-46; 1 Peter 1:15-16). As such, it is impossible for God to lie or deceive anyone because it would violate His perfectly holy nature.
God cannot cease to exist. God is eternal with no beginning or end. Psalm 90:2 proclaims, “Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” As an eternal Being, it is impossible for God to stop existing. Additionally, He is necessary for everything else to exist, and without Him, nothing would exist that exists since He is the One who holds everything together (see Acts 17:24-25 and Colossians 1:17).
God cannot create a God. The Bible declares that only one God exists, and He is infinite and eternal. He is not a created Being but has always existed from everlasting to everlasting. As such, God cannot create a divine Being with an origination date because it is a contradiction of terms.
God cannot be tempted or entice others to sin. God is righteous, which means everything about Him is perfect and sinless. Therefore, He can never experience an inner desire or longing to sin nor be provoked, persuaded, bribed, swayed by, or presented with anything that would ever evoke a yearning within Himself to do wrong, including enticing others to sin.
God cannot learn anything. God possesses all knowledge. He knows everything that can be known, from eternity past to eternity future. Therefore, nothing surprises God because He operates in all times present— meaning the past, present, and future are "right now” to Him.
Additionally, God cannot deny Himself, break His promises, contradict Himself, let unbelievers into Heaven, or send born-again believers to Hell. These factors do not discount or diminish His deity but reinforce it.