Who is God according to the Bible?
Study what Scripture says about God's identity, character, holiness, mercy, and relationship to creation.
Short answer
The Bible presents God as creator of all things, personal and holy, merciful and just, spirit rather than a created object, and the source of love. A careful answer has to hold those claims together instead of reducing God to only power, only kindness, or only mystery.
Key takeaways
- God is not introduced as one being inside creation, but as the maker of heaven and earth.
- Scripture describes God's character with moral language: holy, merciful, just, patient, and loving.
- Christian theology has to hold God's nearness and God's transcendence together.
Key Bible passages
- Genesis 1:1
- Exodus 34:6-7
- John 4:24
- 1 John 4:8
How to study this question
Exodus 34:6-7 is one of the Bible's clearest self-descriptions of God's character.
John 4:24 keeps readers from imagining God as a physical object that can be controlled or contained.
1 John 4:8 says God is love, but biblical love does not cancel holiness or judgment.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Do not build the whole answer from one isolated phrase.
- Do not use a tradition's slogan as a substitute for reading the passage.
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