Liar Liar
Several years ago I sat across from someone who lied to me. At the time I would have called him a friend. He certainly was no friend. However, in the moment he lied to me I had one up on…
Category Theology for Everyone
Communicable Attributes: God is Spirit
When considering the communicable attributes of God – those attributes of his that he has graciously shared with his creatures – it’s not often that I think of His being Spirit. Usually I think of attributes like love, kindness, wisdom,…
Communicable Attributes: What Is the Mercy of God?
I remember hearing this question in a Bible study more than once, and this was the common answer: “Mercy is not getting what we deserve.” While it’s short and pithy, is mercy as simplistic as that? Is it only the…
God Never Sweats it: Impassibility
When speaking about God it’s always crucial to remember that we are speaking about He who is incomprehensible, the infinite One of Whom finite language cannot fully describe or define. Thus, theologians have rightly stated that most language concerning the…
Communicable Attributes: God is Love so Dwell in Love
When we study one of the Lord’s attributes we focus on a characteristic that is attributed to His essence or being to tell us what He is like and Who He is. Some attributes are exclusive to God and so…
Communicable Attributes: Covenant Love & Faithfulness
“May you live in interesting times” is an English expression that purports to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. While seemingly a blessing, the expression is normally used ironically; life is better in “uninteresting times” of peace and…
Timelessness and Timeliness: Eternality
“From everlasting to everlasting, you are God.” This declaration of the eternal nature of our God ends one of the most notable opening verse couplets to any of the Psalms. Moses, in Psalm 90, declares the excellencies of the God…
God Is Never Absent: Omnipresence
“The guy upstairs.” “The big man in the sky.” These are just two of the more common, modern slang terms for God. Aside from being utterly irreverent, they transgress the Second Commandment of having no graven images of God in…
God is not Indecisive: Immutability
A favorite hymn we sing at church is Walter Smith’s “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” where the congregation beautifully confesses that “We blossom and flourish as leaves on a tree, and wither and perish, but naught changeth Thee.” My heart…
God Not Divided: Simplicity
The world is, at its very core, divided. There are divisions between races, between nations, between political parties, and on and on it goes. Even within our own selves we are divided. We desire to do good, but our flesh…