The Nature of God

The personal being, God, consists of one divine nature shared by three distinct persons. It is important to keep in mind that God as a being is not just his nature or not just his persons but his nature and persons taken together. At this point we will consider the being of God from the perspective of his divine nature. Thus, we will examine the non-personal characteristics of God, those associated with his divine nature as opposed to those associated with the distinct persons. We will be answering the question, “What is it that the nature, shared by the three persons, provides to God’s being?”

First, we will answer this question from the perspective of what God can do. What abilities does the nature give to the being God? By that we mean what are the capabilities of the persons because they have the divine nature? What things can the Father, the Son, and the Spirit do? It is here that subjects like God’s power and God’s knowledge and God’s desires come into focus.

Second, as we answer the question regarding what God’s nature provides, we will look at attributes. What are the attributes of God’s nature that apply to the three persons who share that nature? Here we will look at attributes like self-sufficiency and dependability or the fact that God is good. These are not things God can do. They describe how God exists and characterize how the three persons act.

As we consider these various aspects of God’s divine nature, we should keep in mind two points mentioned earlier. First, since these characteristics are associated with God’s one nature, we can be sure that what is true for one of the persons in the Godhead is true the other two as well. If the Father can exercise power, then so too the Son and Spirit can exercise power. If the Son is good, then so too are the Father and Spirit.

And second, while we associate these characteristics with God’s nature, we know of them primarily as they are linked with the persons. Consider an analogy. A human’s sense of sight is provided by his human body, part of his human nature. But we say, “Bruce sees the dog.” and not “Bruce’s nature (or eye) sees the dog.” Because Bruce’s nature senses the dog, Bruce, the person, can see the dog. We might say that the nature “provides information” to the person. In a similar way with God, his nature is seen through the working of the three persons. We know about the characteristics of the nature of God because we see the persons of the Godhead manifesting or reflecting that nature.

On the table of the triune God’s abilities and attributes, what follows consider the items under the column “The Nature of God.”

The Abilities of the Nature

The persons who possess the nature of deity have certain abilities by virtue of having that nature. It is these abilities that are here under consideration. As we reflect on these abilities, we need to keep in mind that as abilities associated with the nature, they are simply that, abilities. These abilities provide the potential for the person to be able to do a particular activity or experience an activity. In the former, the person is active; in the latter the person is passive.

We should be clear that the three persons of the Godhead have all the abilities rooted in the nature identically. It is a personal being’s nature that determines what the person individualizing that nature can and cannot do. Since the three persons of the Godhead share equally the one divine nature, they are co-equal in all their abilities. There is no sense in which one person gets a larger share than another. This means that the three members are co-equal in their knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. They are co-equal in their capacity for good. And the members are co-equally powerful. Since they individualize the same nature, it could not be otherwise.

As we consider these abilities, we want to also see how they are affected by what God is doing vocationally. Another section of this study considers God’s vocation existence. That section will focus specifically on what the Godhead is doing. For now, we will simply agree that the three persons have developed a plan and are now executing it. Because of that, certain realities exist now that never existed before creation. As a result, this in-the-process-of-being-executed plan, which includes creation, the fall, redemption, and consummation, has permitted God to display his nature in ways not possible without this plan. For example, God has always possessed the ability to use his power to create a material universe and man. But prior to the execution of this plan, God had never used that power to do so.[1]

The abilities of the nature are considered under five headings: power, knowledge, understanding, desire, and consciousness. The nature of God provides the persons with power and with consciousness. Power enables the persons to act. Consciousness enables awareness of what is taking place. The nature also provides the store of knowledge and understanding accessible by the persons. Each person has access to limitless stores of information. And the nature produces desires. These desires are presented to the persons who may, as they see fit, act on them. Since these abilities are associated with the nature, they are shared equally by the three persons. Each person has complete access to these abilities.

Interestingly, human beings by nature also possess these same basic abilities. Since we are creatures that have been created in God’s image, this should not be surprising. Obviously, there is a matter of degree. God’s nature completely and unfailingly supplies these abilities. And with God’s divine nature these abilities are not limited as is the case for a human nature.

The Attributes of the Nature

As we think about the attributes of God’s nature, recall that as we are using the term attribute we are referring to what God is like (versus what he does). Attribute considers what God’s nature is in character as opposed to what it can do. It answers questions regarding how God’s nature exists as it is manifest by the persons sharing that nature.

The following four areas are considered. God’s nature is sufficient, dependable, and good. Sufficiency has to do with the fact that God needs nothing outside of himself to exist. Dependability reflects on the truth that God never fails to accomplish what he determines he will do. That God is good expresses the idea that the persons who individualize the nature are only good in whatever they do.

As the persons of the Godhead act,[2] those actions are characterized by the various attributes of their nature. This is notably the case where we see that God is good. As we reflect on God being good, we will conclude that everything that God does accords with his good nature. Goodness is always present in God’s acts. As we think about God’s goodness, we see that there are two aspects of that goodness. There is a righteous sense, as in good versus evil. And there is a benevolent sense,[3] as in God’s love and kindness.

Endnotes

[1] There is an assumption here that God had not created another material universe or other beings about which we have no knowledge.

[2] See later “The Persons Can Act” under “The Abilities of the Persons.”<.p>

[3] Cf. Frame’s comments regarding use of the word good in the section “Goodness As Benevolence” in The Doctrine of God (pp. 409f).