God is absolute in all his characteristics and attributes. In other words, he is absolutely good, absolutely just and fair, absolutely faithful, absolutely wise, and so on. He’s never just partially this or that. This even applies to the fact that he is personal. He is maximally personal — thinking, feeling, choosing, and self-aware to the nth degree.
But regarding the aforementioned qualities, it must be noted that in the Scriptures those qualities are predicate adjectives. They merely describe something characteristic of God. However, when it comes to love, we not only read that God is loving — which makes “loving” a predicate adjective — we read that God is love. That is called a predicate nominative.
Here’s another example of the difference. A predicate adjective sounds like this: The river is dangerous. A predicate nominative sounds like this: The river is a danger. A predicate nominative is a noun that actually renames the subject. So the assertion in 1 John 4:16 that “God is love” isn’t saying something about God, it is renaming God. He is love.
And what is meant by the word “love”? I am still convinced that the best synonym for that word is the word help. So I say that God is absolute helpfulness. Anyone who comes into contact with him, by definition, is always helped. That is to say, they are completely immersed in his helpfulness and then beyond that experience as much help as they allow God to give them.
