Positive attributes.
1. Life. (Vita.)
Creatures also have life. Paul says of himself and all men Acts 17:28: ζώμεν, we live. But this is life dependent on God. Paul adds, "In him [God] we live," εν αντω ζώμεν. To God alone independent life ("primordial life," "absolute" life) is due, John 5:26: εχει ζωην εν έαυτφ. By calling God the "living God" (Jos. 3:10: אֵ֥ל חַ֖י [HEBREW]; Acts 14:15: ό ϑεός ό ζών), Scripture describes the one true God in His divine majesty, in distinction from the gods of the heathen (Acts 14:15; Jer. 10:10: "The Lord is a right God, a living God") and in distinction from all creaturely life, as He Himself "gives life and breath to everyone everywhere", Acts 17:25.
The fact that God is the "living God" is used by the Scriptures a. as a warning for all the godless (Hebr. 10:31: "Terrible, φοβερόν, it is to fall into the hands of the living God"), b. as a comfort for all the pious. The Old Testament covenant people are to experience that a "living God" is among them (Jos. 3:10). Thus it is also a characteristic of the New Testament church that as "the congregation of the living God" (1 Tim. 3:15) it places its hope in the living God (1 Tim. 4:10: ήλπίκαμεν έπΐ ΰεω ζώντι). Luther: "Vivit."