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In this profound episode of The Reformed Standard, we delve into Westminster Shorter Catechism Answer 4: “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” Building on the previous episode’s examination of how we should approach the question “What is God?”, we now explore the answer itself—not as an exhaustive definition, but as a beautiful mosaic of divine self-revelation. The episode unpacks the meaning of God as Spirit, examines the doctrine of divine simplicity underlying His infinite, eternal, and unchangeable nature, and contemplates how these qualities permeate each of His attributes. Through scriptural evidence, we see how God’s perfections culminate in the cross of Christ, where His infinite goodness and justice meet perfectly—not merely as theological abstractions but as a portrait of the living God to be adored.
Key Takeaways
- God as Spirit: Jesus’s declaration that “God is spirit” (John 4:24) fundamentally reframes our understanding of worship, shifting focus from physical location to spiritual reality and truth.
- Divine Simplicity: God is not composed of parts; all that is in God is God. This foundational doctrine informs our understanding of His infinite, eternal, and unchangeable nature.
- God’s Infinite Nature: Nothing constrains God; His being, knowledge, and power are boundless, as illustrated in Job’s rhetorical questions about finding the “limit of the Almighty.”
- God’s Eternal Being: God exists outside of time, not merely enduring through it but inhabiting all eternity in a single, timeless present—”from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90).
- God’s Unchangeability: There is “no variation or shadow due to change” in God (James 1:17). His immutability is the foundation of our hope, as expressed in Malachi 3:6.
- The Cross as Divine Harmony: At Calvary, God’s infinite goodness and justice meet perfectly—He pours out just wrath against sin upon His Son while extending gracious goodness to us without compromising His holiness.
Key Concepts
Divine Simplicity: The Foundation of God’s Attributes
Divine simplicity stands as one of the most profound yet often overlooked doctrines in Reformed theology. Unlike created beings who are composed of various parts and properties, God’s nature is not pieced together or divided. His attributes are not separate components added to His being; rather, they are expressions of His singular, undivided essence. When we say God is love, we don’t mean He possesses love as a quality—He is love itself. The same applies to His wisdom, power, and all other attributes. This means God cannot lose any attribute without ceasing to be God, nor can He gain any new attribute. Divine simplicity gives us a God who is perfectly integrated, with no internal conflicts or contradictions. His justice never works against His mercy; His power never operates independently of His wisdom. This understanding transforms how we relate to God—we never encounter just one aspect of Him, but always His whole, perfect being.
The Cross: Where God’s Justice and Goodness Meet
The cross of Christ represents the supreme demonstration of how God’s seemingly contradictory attributes find perfect harmony. In Exodus 34:6-7, God declares Himself both forgiving of sin and unwilling to clear the guilty—a paradox that finds its resolution at Calvary. At the cross, God’s justice demands that sin be punished fully, while His goodness desires that sinners be saved completely. Rather than compromising either attribute, God satisfies both by bearing the punishment Himself in the person of His Son. This is not God setting aside His justice to be merciful, nor is it God being merciful despite His justice. Rather, it is God being perfectly just and perfectly merciful in the same act. The cross reveals that God’s attributes are not in tension but in harmony. His love is a holy love; His justice is a good justice. This understanding deepens our worship, as we recognize that our salvation flows not from God suspending any of His attributes, but from the perfect expression of all of them together in the person and work of Christ.
Memorable Quotes
“As the theologian Geerhardus Vos so beautifully put it, ‘The best proof that He will never cease to love us lies in that He never began.'”
“This is the God of the Bible. Not a distant force, not a projection of our own ideals, but a Spirit—infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. This is not just a list to be memorized. This is a portrait to be adored.”
Full Transcript
Last time, we stood before the most profound question in the catechism: What is God? We considered the posture required to even ask such a thing—a posture of humility, reverence, and submission to God’s own self-revelation. We prepared ourselves to take off our shoes, as it were, recognizing that we are treading on holy ground.
[00:00:28] The Catechism’s Profound Answer
Today, we turn to the catechism’s answer. And what an answer it is. It is not an exhaustive definition, for the finite can never exhaustively define the infinite. Rather, it is a summary, a beautiful and precise mosaic of the truths God has revealed about Himself in His Word. The catechism says that “God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”
[00:00:55] God as Spirit
Let’s begin where the catechism does: “God is a Spirit.” The proof text is John 4:24, where Jesus tells the woman at the well, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The context here is a debate about physical location. The Samaritans worshipped on Mount Gerizim; the Jews in Jerusalem. Jesus’s statement completely reframes the entire debate. He teaches that true worship is not tied to a mountain or a building because God is not a physical being who can be localized. As Spirit, He is utterly unlike anything we have ever encountered with our senses. This is precisely why we must depend on His self-disclosure in Scripture rather than our own reasoning. If God is Spirit, our worship cannot be a mere external ritual; it must be an internal reality, engaging our inner person—in spirit—and it must be grounded in the reality of who He is—in truth.
[00:01:51] Divine Simplicity: Infinite, Eternal, Unchangeable
Building on this, the catechism describes God with a trio of attributes that defy our creaturely understanding: He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable. These three qualities are really outflows of a single, profound doctrine known as divine simplicity. In short, simplicity means that God is not composed of parts. All that is in God, is God. Unlike us, who are parceled out over time and space, God simply is, in the full perfection of His being.
Because God is simple, He is infinite. Nothing constrains Him. In Job chapter 11, Zophar asks a series of humbling rhetorical questions: “Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?” The answer is a resounding no. His being, His knowledge, His power—they are all boundless. He is omnipresent, as David marvels in Psalm 139, meaning His whole being is everywhere, yet He is contained by nowhere.
Because God is simple, He is eternal. Time is a measure of change, a sequence of moments within creation. Since God is simple and without parts, He exists outside of time. Psalm 90, a prayer of Moses, powerfully contrasts our fleeting existence with God’s timelessness: “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” This isn’t just a long timeline; it is an entirely different mode of existence. God doesn’t just endure through time; He inhabits all of eternity in a single, timeless present.
And because God is simple and timeless, He is unchangeable. The Apostle James tells us that every good gift comes from “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James uses an astronomical analogy. The sun, moon, and stars—the great lights of creation—are in constant motion, casting shifting shadows. But God, the Creator of these lights, is absolutely stable. There is no potential in Him to be actualized; He is pure actuality. This is our great comfort.
As God declares in Malachi 3:6, “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” His covenant faithfulness is anchored in His very nature. As the theologian Geerhardus Vos so beautifully put it, “The best proof that He will never cease to love us lies in that He never began.”
Now, the catechism applies this glorious foundation.
[00:04:24] God’s Infinite Attributes
It tells us that God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His specific perfections.
First, in His being. The proof text is Exodus 3:14, God’s revelation of His own name to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM.” This is the ultimate statement of self-existence. God’s being is not derived from anything; it is not dependent on anything. He simply is. He is the one uncaused cause, the source of all other being, and the one who is actively present to save His people.
He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His wisdom. Psalm 147:5 declares, “Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.” God’s knowledge is not learned; it is not sequential. He knows all things—past, present, and future—in one single, perfect, and unchangeable act of knowing. Paul erupts in praise of this very reality in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”
He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His power. In Revelation 4:8, the heavenly beings cry out, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” The name Almighty—Pantokrator in the Greek—means the one who has sovereign sway and rule over all things. God’s power is true omnipotence. It is not the ability to do anything imaginable, like making a rock so heavy He cannot lift it, but the infinite ability to do all of His holy will, bringing all things to their appointed end.
He is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His holiness. In Revelation 15:4, the saints sing, “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy.” God’s holiness is His absolute purity and His utter separateness from all sin. It’s this holiness that we see in Isaiah 6, where the seraphim cover their faces, crying “Holy, holy, holy,” and the prophet is undone, crying “Woe is me!” in the presence of such untainted perfection.
[00:06:28] God’s Justice, Goodness, and Truth
Finally, the catechism groups three attributes together, pointing us to one of the most magnificent passages in all of Scripture, Exodus 34, verses 6 and 7. God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His justice, goodness, and truth. After the sin of the golden calf, Moses asks to see God’s glory, and this is how God reveals Himself: “The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty…'”
Here we see His goodness: He is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. This is His tender, covenantal heart. Here we see His truth or faithfulness: He keeps that steadfast love for thousands of generations. And here we see His justice: He “will by no means clear the guilty.” In our finite minds, these might seem to be in tension. How can a God who forgives iniquity also be a God who punishes every sin? The answer, of course, is the cross of Jesus Christ. At the cross, God’s infinite goodness and His infinite justice meet perfectly. God poured out His just wrath against sin upon His own Son, in order that He might pour out His gracious goodness upon us, without compromising one bit of His holy justice.
[00:07:53] Conclusion and Reflection
This is the God of the Bible. Not a distant force, not a projection of our own ideals, but a Spirit—infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. This is not just a list to be memorized. This is a portrait to be adored.