Why does God get Angry?

Psalm 7:11b, ”God is angry with the wicked every day.”  Make no mistake about it – God’s wrath is not merely an anthropomorphism.  Let us never forget Who came first.  We are made in the image of God, not the other way around. 

Recently a Christian brother asked me a very legitimate question, “If God made us the way we are (and He could have made us differently), why does He get angry when we do what we shouldn’t do?”  My dear brother isn’t the first one to inquire about this, nor will he be the last.  The great man Job of ancient days said as much in the book bearing his name, “God, Your hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet You do destroy me…” (Job 10:8). 

Job felt (albeit erroneously) that he was suffering as a result of God’s anger against him.  While in Job’s case this wasn’t true (in fact he was suffering because God was so proud of him), in many instances it is precisely the case.  Example: Numbers 11:1, “When the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and His anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp.”  Now, God made the Jews.  God chose the Jews.  God knew from the beginning that they were going to be miserable ingrates on that day.  So why get angry about something that You could have prevented Yourself?  As my friend put it, if one knows the precise result of combining certain chemicals together, why would one get upset when the expected outcome is produced by causing that actual combination to be mixed?

Did God make us so He would have someone to pick on?  Obviously not!  The cross proves that well enough!  The God who gave Himself to die for us has justly demonstrated His sincere love and compassion toward us; His care for humanity is not reasonably questionable.  So, what’s up with the anger thing?

We have a few options I suppose.  We can deny that He really get’s angry.  We can redefine anger.  Some deny that God is real.  Others deny that we are real.  We could run to the extremes of fatalism or deism.  Or, we can take a faith approach and remind ourselves of some Biblical facts that we as Christians are not willing to debate; presuppositions that are foundational to everything else we explore in the spiritual world of theology, hamartiology and anthropology. 

·         God is!

·         God has always been!

·         God is good, always!

·         God is a person!

·         God is absolutely autonomous!

·         God created us for His own enjoyment!

I, for one, am not willing to budge on any of these premises.  I’m not sure I could have an intelligent, coherent or civil discussion on other theological issues with any person who denies any of these things.  We could point out our differences I suppose, but this framework holds so much of my vocabulary and perspective that surrendering any point would be such a paradigm shift as to render me senseless.  So, if you disagree with those points, you might as well stop reading.  But, if those salient items are granted, then we can proceed cogently.  There are other relevant fundamentals that I could add, but I forebear.  I think these will serve us well enough.

Actually I think the question itself is flawed.  “If God made us the way we are…”  Stop right there!  Job said, “Your hands have made me and fashioned me together round about…”  But, is this true?  The wise man Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 7:29, “Lo, this only have I found, that God has made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.”  God did not make us “the way we are” – i.e. sinful.  He made everything good; and declared it to be so.  He didn’t make Adam or Eve with flaws.  He made them perfect, innocent, holy, blameless…  But… BUT… He did make us in His own image, after His own likeness.  Surely, surely we can assume that the autonomous, sovereign God; the Creator who does whatsoever He wants to do in accordance with His own transcendent purposes and prerogatives… surely He was big enough and powerful enough to endow the crowning creation (homo sapiens) with actual, not imagined, actual autonomy.  In other words, the choice that Adam made was actually his own choice.  Did God know that Adam would choose Eve, Satan and himself over his Maker?  Duh!  Of course God knew!  In fact, God had already outlined a plan for fixing the problem (Revelation 13:8).

Here is the thing.  If God could have made Adam differently, but didn’t…  then we MUST conclude that this was the very best plan God could contrive in accordance with His desired purpose of creating us for His own pleasure.  Could God get pleasure from the programmed love of automatons?  I think not!  So, God made us perfect… including the perfect and real ability to make up our own mind.  Now, when we sinned (in Adam), we lost (to a great extent) the ability to exercise our prerogative power.  We enslaved ourselves in an addiction to sinfulness; binding ourselves with a chain that only God’s grace is sufficiently able to break.

Still… if He saw it coming (if He knew how the formula would react), then why would He be actually upset when it comes to pass?

Well, I don’t know!  Do you?

Or, maybe we do… we just don’t realize it.  Let’s let the Bible speak here…

Genesis 1:3-4, “God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good…”

Genesis 2:19, “Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them…”

Genesis 6:5-8, “GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart.  And the LORD said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repents Me that I have made them.  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

Genesis 11:5, “The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.”

Genesis 18: 20-21, “The LORD said,’ Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;  I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.”

Genesis 32:24-25, “Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a Man with him until the breaking of the day.  And when He saw that He prevailed not against him, He touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with Him.”

I would love to expound on every one of these passages and many more, (neither my time, nor your patience will allow for that).  Consider just the first passage then: “God said, Let there be light: and there was light.  And God saw the light, that it was good…”  Why does it say, “and God saw…”?  Is God in the business of discovering?  Learning?  Developing?  Expanding?  I would be hard pressed to make a case for that!  The immutable God of the Bible is changeless… in His essence, His attributes & His characteristics.  You and I can add nothing to His existence.  Yet, there it is still: “He saw!”  What is the purpose in God describing the occasion thusly… unless, UNLESS He is attempting to reveal something significant to us about His very nature.  The immeasurable significance of Genesis in presenting the person of the Godhead to us should be obvious.  So, what is He getting at?

Postulation: God relishes the experience; the event with all of its traits and characters. 

Had He ever made light before?  By revelation we can conclude that this was the first time light had ever existed in the chronology of eternity.  God made it; then He liked it!  Why do we (some of us, sometimes) think that because God is omniscient and eternal that He lacks emotion or chronological experiences?  Is it necessary for God to dwell outside of chronology in order for Him to be God?  Just because He knows something, does that mean it’s His fault; that He’s the instigator?  If there is Biblical doctrine to support such an idea, fine!  Bring it forward.  My soteriology will be unaffected either way.  But by jingo, if I can come into a more whole and worshipful view of my dear God though meditating upon this dilemma, then I full well intend to dwell here.  Leave me be!

Jeremiah 9:24 says, “‘Let him that glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight,’ says the LORD.”  I’m on an honest and humble inquiry into the exercises of God.  It sure appears to me that God delight’s in the experiencing of a thing, not just the knowledge or understanding of it.  Herein lies an adequate answer to why and how our truly omniscient God could and does get angry when His creatures act up.

It might be something like a hypothetical genius cinematographer.  What if he was also the script writer, studio owner, the director, the lead actor, the acting coach, the producer, the artistic consultant… etc. (you get the point).  Perhaps in His artistic brilliance he could see the finished product clearly in His mind from the very beginning… yet, would it be strange if he sits and cries through the premiere showing of the finished film?  Of course not!  It actually makes even more sense since he vested so much time and energy into it; so much of himself.  Though he may have known precisely how it would turn out, still it wasn’t done until it was done.  Maybe it was as good as accomplished in his mind… but, it was still in his mind; even so with God, though happening on a much grander scale.

Truly, this helps me out with so may other things as well: prayer, election, prophecy, forgiveness, judgment, God’s love, His jealousy, the incarnation, the doctrine of the trinity…  so many illusive and enigmatic issues that come up in one’s journey of fellowship with the Almighty.

Do you not live life one experience at a time; one after the other; richly swallowing up moment after moment of pain and pleasure as time marches on?  Should not the God from whom we derive our life not be expected to exist in a similar (though sanctified) form on a much higher plane?  Does it bring God down to a lower level to ascribe to Him an attribute that He unashamedly uses to describe Himself? 

God saw the light, that it was good.  He had never “seen” it before.  So what?  He’s still God!

He looked at it; He beheld it for the first time ever; He considered this thing that He had made; He perceived its actual beauty; He regarded it with interest; He enjoyed the scene… He paid close attention in that moment to this particular thing – light!  Was He surprised?  I would assume not!  Was He interested?  Absolutely!  Was He focusing on one specific thing at that juncture and allowing His natural emotional tendencies to have sway?  Why not?  Does that make Him any less God-like?  It shouldn’t.

So, when I ignore Him, the occurrence is real and it is also injurious; doing damage to His heart.  My experience today is important to Him today because He goes through this day with me… orchestrating it to the infinitesimally minute detail… yes!  But, make no mistake, this day has never existed before and it never will again… even in the “life of God” . . .  I don’t want to make Him upset today, do You?

So, am I a heretic?

If I am, maybe Job was too:

Job chapter 10, “I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me why You contend with me… Is it good that You should despise the work of Your hands… Do you have eyes of flesh?  Or do You see as man sees? Your hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet you destroy me.  Remember, I beg You, that You have made me as the clay… If I sin, then You mark me, and You will not acquit me from mine iniquity… I am full of confusion; therefore You see my affliction; for it increases. You hunt me as a fierce lion: and again You show Yourself marvelous upon me.  You renew your witnesses against me, and increase Your indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.  Why then have You brought me forth out of the womb?”

No, no heresy… just finite humanity grasping at the glorious Infinite One on whom we have fixed our reciprocating affection.  Mm… I can’t wait to meet Him!

 

(I have a funeral Friday, so I’m writing one day early this week).

Unanswered Prayer

Why don’t we pray more?  More often; more sincerely, more passionately; more diligently; more effectively; more precisely in agreement with God’s perfect will?  

The great men and women of faith just seemed to somehow sense (at times) exactly what God wanted to do, and, they would cry out for it… becoming an on/off switch (as it were) to the releasing of God’s willing and abundant power & blessings.  Oh, I know there were times when great saints would pray, only to encounter delay (Daniel), denial (Elijah) and even rebuke (Moses).  God is God and we are men…  I would fully expect that even the best and most pious among us might naturally be periodically misguided by personal perspectives and prejudices; thereby falling short of grasping at the elevated plans and purposes of the Almighty.  Yet there are many instances found readily in Holy Writ where men spoke boldly and seemingly spontaneously calling for mighty acts of God which came immediately to pass.  Elijah stopped the rain, Elisha blinded the enemy & Jesus fed the multitude… all after simple and straightforward prayers.  There are many other examples too. 

What was the secret?  The same God who did the mighty and miraculous deeds of old is still alive and He is still the same God today.  Has he changed His program so much, or have we just lost whatever it is that frees Him up to exercise His presence in more evident and undeniable fashions than we typically encounter today.

I’m not calling for a new era of signs and wonders.  The Antichrist will be the next one to step onto the world stage with miracles to validate his power.  But, must we only point to the “minor” blessings of divine intervention as indications that our prayers are being answered.  I hate to be a skeptic, but the Bible says plainly that God sends His rain on both the just and the unjust.  It seems possible and likely that we take the general kindnesses of God and attribute them to our “mighty praying power” when in reality they are only crumbs scattered to all the birds, grateful or not.

What separates me and my prayers from the mountain moving faith described by Christ?  The worldly men who opposed the early church were unable to resist the words which were spoken by the children of God.  Do we have that measure of the Spirit upon our lives?  The first century church was clearly a praying body, hence the power.  What lack we?

Examine & evaluate these sincere statements:

1.       God hasn’t changed.  His power is unaffected by culture and time.

2.       We are sure of His existence and of His ability.

3.       There is a certainty concerning God’s instruction for us to pray – we must do it!

So, if I pray and see no result… what is the problem?  Doubt can be a big one.  We are exhorted not to doubt when we pray.  Well, I (for one) don’t doubt God’s existence or power, that’s for sure.  But my flesh does accuse Him concerning His wisdom and heart sometimes.  It’s wrong; it’s wicked to question these, but it is there nonetheless.  I know in my mind and gut that God is perfectly wise and immeasurably compassionate, however my prayers, attitudes and actions sometimes scream otherwise.

Now, here are some more typical and infamous prayer blockers:

1.       Sin.  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.

2.       Selfishness.  If I pray to God as if He is my genie in a bottle, I’ll get nothing.

3.       Sluggishness.  If I pray casually, flippantly, intermittently; my insincerity offends God and inhibits his work.

Ok, that’s enough I suppose.  I could spend the rest of my life getting those three things in order.  But, I must add one more.  

4.       Spirituality.  If I am not led by the Spirit, then my prayer is a totally un-obligatory wish cast like a set of dice before the throne of grace.  “Maybe God will grant my petition like he did for Hezekiah… and maybe He won’t.”  Unfortunately, I think honestly that that’s about the way I’ve always viewed prayer anyway… crying out against some kind of ridiculous blend of fatalism and chance.  I’m ashamed!  What a heathen concept of what in reality is such a precious opportunity.

 Spirit led prayer is no optimistic gamble (or pessimistic).  Spirit led prayers are sure to be answered.  It’s not like wishing upon a star; it’s like working out a math equation.  Let me prove it from the Bible:

“This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He hears us: and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (First John 5:14-15).

Brother (or sister)!  If The Spirit of Jesus Christ on the throne in my heart is crying out to the Father in heaven through my prayer life – then the answer will come.  God is one.  Unity!  Can the Holy Ghost lead us against the will of the Godhead of which He is a part?  I think not!

I am convinced that this Spiritual domination is what I primarily lack in my prayer life.  Silent skies belie my misguided prayers.  First John 4:1 says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God…”  Who led the prophet in First Kings 22 & Second Chronicles 18?  It was a lying spirit.  How long would I have to sit silently before the throne of grace in sincere humility awaiting the clear direction of the Spirit of God… if I was only willing to only pray Spirit led prayers; only petitions that I knew without a doubt were exactly what God was directing me to pray.

What is the prayer “batting average” of a man of God supposed to be anyway? 

Ouch!

Does every day have to be memorable?  Should each episode of your life & mine be a little more interesting, a little more intriguing, a little more inspiring than the last? 

It’s not my goal to celebrate mediocrity today, but really, do all aspects of our lives have to be filled with competition and one-upmanship?  Do we always need to be better than someone (even if it is our own past that we are pushing against)?

True, Ecclesiastes 9:10 still says, “Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you are going.”  But, must every “thing” that our hand is put to be earth shattering, life changing, awe inspiring and magnificent.

I find myself trapped at times in a never ending cycle of trying to outperform my last performance.  It’s human nature I suppose.  Even this past Sunday, for example, I found myself guilty of lagging morosely in the doldrums after preaching on familiar topic, “The Armor of God.”  There was nothing “new” or mysterious, just straightforward instructions on how to win spiritually.  I’m sure it was exciting the first few times I heard it when I was a child, and even the first time I ever preached it (whenever that was)… but this time I feared boring the audience with a tedious review.  But, you know, sometimes “tedious reviews” are appropriate; necessary; beneficial.  Every Sunday sermon doesn’t have to be profoundly unique.  Sometimes the best lesson the body of Christ can possibly get is a lesson in the discipline of patiently reviewing the fundamentals of the Christian walk; reexamining self in an honest if repetitious critique.  It might not be hair raising, pulse intensifying, tear jerking or spine tingling… but it works.  Truth is power whether it is exciting or not.

Eugène Ionesco (whoever that is, eh?) wrote this, “Explanation separates us from astonishment, which is the only gateway to the incomprehensible.”  How strange that I hunger for astonishment and yet I also crave the explanations that frequently obliterate the astonishment and leave me searching for a new thrill.  But is astonishment always God’s avenue of choice in His program of constant “Dave” adjustments?  He has surely used it many times, but more frequently I find that if I am willing to pay attention, He is generally trying to use the simple and ordinary things from my daily routines to draw me to Himself.

Reminds me of Acts 17:21, “All the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.”  Of course, though they may have had many fresh and fascinating discussions, they had never met the artesian well of living newness that Paul intended to introduce to them on Mars hill that day.  There is logically a limit to the unencountered things under the sun, but there is truly no limit to the encounters we can expect in the Son.  And, truth be told, I get a little nostalgic treading the same plain garden path with my Lord that I joined Him on yesterday… even if there is no apparent new rare nugget of knowledge for me to glean.  The fellowship experience is indeed fresh even if it is identical or (heaven forbid I admit it) less stimulating than the former day’s.  Need every night by a honeymoon night?  Is there a spiritual malfunction if my walk is sometimes simple (I didn’t say dead) rather than extravagant?

Ravi Zacharias speaks of the human hunger for the sense of awe.  He has observed that our capacity for wonder expands with time and experience and that it is only adequately satisfied by the ultimate awe inspiring One – Jesus!  But what happens when we try to “out awe” ourselves or our fellowman from within?  Whether writing a blog, giving a present, delivering a speech, building a structure, preparing a meal, romancing a lover, growing a flower, buying a toy, playing a game or just simply talking… it is possible to exert energy in increasingly larger increments (trying to outdo another person or our own imagined reputation) until there is just no oomph left in us; no time to spare; no zeal remaining.  Maybe it’s the thing conventionally labeled as burn-out?  Perhaps it’s “loosing interest” or some more enigmatic modernly described phenomenon.  Regardless of what it’s called, it is to be avoided for sure.  We walk the tightrope of modern society striving to avoid irresponsibility and insanity; laziness and overachieving. 

Perhaps we do this; maybe we make this mistake because we lose sight of God’s perfect perspective.

Consider this passage:

Matthew 10:42,                “Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water [that’s small, eh?] only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” 

It seems obvious to me that Jesus was straining to find one of the most minute, common and insignificant deeds imaginable (in man’s eyes) to illustrate the infinite eternal and spiritual value of one’s attitude or motive and the total irrelevance of so many of the great and admirable feats that we humans tend to exalt. 

I’m not saying that God despises the “great” accomplishments.  He doesn’t.  He empowered Moses to part the Red Sea, Joshua to stop the rotation of the earth and Elijah to call down fire from the sky… dramatic occasions indeed!  He truly received glory and honor in these and countless other circumstances as the magnificence of His supernatural power was on prominent display.  Think about this though, the same Moses that watched over the congealed walls of water at the eastern border of Egypt also spent the 40 previous years in a solitary wilderness life watching sheep – not nearly so dramatic by our standard.  Yet, truly God was pleased to work in his life through both experiences.

We live in a rather hedonistic culture.  Let it not seep into our habits.  Pleasure is one of the primary modern gods.  Edifices stand everywhere, monuments to its sovereign place in the hearts of contemporary men.  For many people, fresh thrills and new sensations are seemingly valued above anything and everything else.  Even in Christianity, we are more or less guilty of “new high” strategies as we “market” the gospel in this “consumer” culture. 

My heart cries out!  Where is the simplicity in Christ that was so valued by the early New Testament believers?  Where is the sacrifice, the service, the humility, the compassion, the holiness, the sincerity, the spontaneous joy, the natural peace?  Have we traded the real thing for substitutes?  Better buildings, newer technology, crisper literature, well oiled programs, satisfying systems, precisely planned schedules, careful budgets, trained staff… the list could get long.  Not that any of those things are intrinsically evil.  Indeed, God can use any or all of them if they are sanctified by faith and love and controlled by the Spirit.  However, if we would pause and meditate, we would readily admit that God can/could/did work without any of those things.  Are we focused on their use because we are convinced that God wants to use us that way… or because we actually think that their use leads conveniently in the upwardly mobile direction which our ambition (and perhaps religious pride) leans.

I once heard a radio personality grieving over the overstimulation of the present way of life.  Eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin… never perceivably as busy (in history) as today; never as preoccupied as at the present.  My weak memory is telling me that it was Blaise Pascal who pointed out the following: men run to and fro their whole life long looking for “diversions” to keep themselves from having to deal with the BIG issues of life; the issues that revolve around our relationship with our Maker and the expectancies that He has when He looks at us.  Unfortunately we have so many diversions in our world today that it seems very likely that a man could live his whole life without ever having to really pause to consider the meaning of it all.  Music, art, money, food, beauty, new experiences, exotic places – the multiplicity of choices have become so incredibly varied and available that a man might well wake up in hell without having ever seriously reflected on the ramifications of living this life.  One of the Old Testament prophets once complained of this (even in his ancient day) concerning the rebel: “God is not in all his thoughts” (Psalm 10:4).

Here’s my point plain and simple.  There is nothing wrong with striving to improve; working toward expansion; reaching farther (personally or corporately).  But, in the name of all that is holy, be satisfied with tasks as plain as passing out bottles of water… if that is the task God has for you at the moment.  According to the revealed Word of God it is the weak, the simple, the foolish things that God as predominantly chosen to use in the reestablishing of His reign within the hearts of mankind; not necessarily crusades, revolutions, revivals, amazing presentations or charismatic leaders (though I cheer His very capable use of these as well).  I’m saying that God can (and does) bless the mundane, the familiar, the repetitive, the obscure, the unnoticed… yes even the boring tasks… when they are done for the genuine love of His name.  The next “thing” doesn’t have to be more spectacular than the last thing.

Push to do great things!  Fine!  Let’s do it!  But first, gauge if a thing is right… right in the timing, plan and purpose of God; right according to the infallible Bible we hold; right due to the calling of God upon our life; right in line with the leadership of the Holy Spirit. 

Great?  OK.  No reason to oppose “great” things.  Embrace them when God avails you of the opportunity.  Pray for enlarged coasts and even for present success. 

But…

Now, some random, closing thoughts along these lines:

German Christa Wolf once wrote, “Awe is composed of reverence and dread.  I often think that people today have nothing left but the dread.”  What if the proper components of awe are replaced with the placebos of modern entertainment and ambition?  Woe is man!  Ever aiming at a higher sense of awe, but obtaining it by artificial means.

Personally, I hail the intense.  Our faith sometimes is hollow and lacking in intensity.  God is certainly worthy of intense worship and passionate service.  But the simplest service in the unnoticed corner can and should be as intense as the extravagant accomplishment on the largest stage.  (I’m saying this, but can I live it?)

Substance!  That’s where it’s at!  And the small things and the same things can still have the highest degree of substance.  My wife kisses me three times every time we part even if our separation is to be only for a few minutes.  Sure, it’s repetitious.  No, I don’t imagine that she gets goose bumps every time.  Yet I treasure the ritual as much as I do our most precious love secrets.  If she were to cease or even skip the expected triplicate – I would be negatively affected.  It represents something very precious to me.  There is substance in it.  So too the Christian walk; substance, reality, sincerity, authenticity, depth – these can be found even in the supply of a cup of water for an “insignificant” child.  God is pleased!

I could ramble on and on, but I forebear.  As I was finishing this blog entry today (sitting with my laptop in the Salisbury Mall food court), I noticed a series of signs throughout the large hall with giant lettering: “Give the Ultimate Gift!”  Well, to me, when I hear of someone giving “the ultimate gift” (more precisely, making the ultimate sacrifice) it usually means dying for someone.  Christ is the ultimate gift of God.  But, no – turns out that the ultimate gift is “style” . . . style! style? more honestly, an American Express card.  Talk about an anticlimax.  Nothing against American Express, but their card (even if it is as “green” as advertised) in no way approaches “ultimate” – IMHO.  Neither is style in any way ultimate.  Yet, there it was.  Even today’s advertising slogans have to be more impressive, catchier, more convincing than the last one.  Where does it end? 

We must not fall prey to this mentality as believers.  Stick to the basics.  The gospel of Christ and a changed life are the tools that you and I need.  Reach the guy next to you whoever he is and you will be accomplishing your mission.  We don’t have to win everyone at once.  They don’t even have to weep and wail.  Just be real and be obedient.  God will use you.  He will use me.  Your calling may include things that are incredibly familiar and even blah, but sanctified by God’s presence and your humble love for the Master… what you are doing matters infinitely (present accolades or not).  Our vocation may not be earth shattering and sensational now, but eternity will be affected and all of the sensations we’ve ever craved will pale in comparison to the sensation we will experience if we get to hear, “Well done!  You are a good and faithful steward!”  Now, that’s the big peak that we SHOULD be focused on.

And, by the way, if you felt that this blog entry takes a rather blasé approach or is too trite – well, then I’m just living exactly what I’m preaching.  LOL!  It’s the simple things in life, you know…

I found the following ridiculous statement about motherhood on www.wikipedia.org Friday: “Because of the complexity and differences of the social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to define a mother in a universally accepted definition.”  Well, well, well… I suppose if the objective is “universal acceptation” then anything would be hard to define.  But, I, for one couldn’t care less about universal acceptance.  Truth is truth regardless of how widely or narrowly it is accepted.  (And, I’m getting accustomed to holding positions that are narrowly appreciated anyway).  Now really, motherhood is not so difficult to define.  A mother is a “female parent” – duh!  Personally, I’ve never wondered for even one moment about what a mother is, or who my mother is, or who the mother of my children is nor what the responsibilities of a mother are… Grrrr!  Of course with some of the modern dysfunctional and redefined perversions of the family unit that are given prominence and approval these days, it’d be no wonder if some are sincerely confused I suppose.  I can’t imagine having to wonder, “Who is my Mommy?” “Do I have a Mommy?” or worse, “What’s a Mommy?”  God give us wholesome and traditional homes with one Daddy, one Mommy, a quiver full of kiddies and an endless commitment to preserve this sacred prize that is under such vicious satanic attack in these last days.

Anyway…

Today, I want to honor the two grand ladies in my life; two mothers – my Momma and my wife.

There are no two people on the earth that I am as connected with physically or emotionally as I am to these two.  Having been born and reared by my Momma and having fathered five (one in heaven due to a miscarriage) children by my wife – the connection is obviously an intimate one in both cases.  Additionally, and fittingly too, there are no two people who have done more for me in this life than these two.  Tonya Marie Talley and Rebecca June Talley are two VERY special gifts from God, gifts that I’m deeply grateful for.

So, how do I honor them?

Naturally, I begin from the Bible.  In John 19:27, it is written, “Then He said to the disciple [John], ‘Behold your mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”  I assume that Jesus was being a wise and responsible son, watching out for His Mom as He looked death in the face.  He was making sure that she would be cared for when He was gone.  Yet, He was God.  God doesn’t need to ask anyone to watch out for the people that He cares for.  Truly, He does assign us to one another anyway – but it’s not due to any necessity.  Jesus loved the woman that birthed Him… on a human level, He loved her.  I know – He loves us all!  In fact, He said that any of us who will do His will is as close to Him as Mary was (Matthew 12:50 & Mark 3:35).  Yet, at that moment… while He hung on the cross, being so completely and incredibly human, He spoke to His mother and made provision for her (I believe) because she was simply so very precious to Him.  He never had an earthly father, wife or child… but He did have a human mother.  His heart yearned in her direction because of her plight.  Surely, as with every good mother’s normal offspring, His soul would have cared for her because of their uniquely shared experiences.  Perhaps his passion was elevated not only by His own impeccable holiness, but by the reality that she had been highly favored above all women, yet he undoubtedly thought upon the reality that “to whom much is given, much is required.”  How could Mary bare the weight of what she was witnessing?  Her sin was the cause of the death of her own son… and Him being perfect at that!

How many other dying men have longed to have a mother by their side at that moment?  When we are scared, alone or hurting… we long for that feminine compassion that only Moms can give.  Even God Himself took on this beautiful personage in describing himself as a being a mother to us in Isaiah 66:13.

Can there be anything more precious and comforting than motherly love.  I speak from experience… there is nothing like it!

Thanks ladies!  I love you both!  I pray that my daughters will follow your holy examples.

 

Some Musings about “Eternal Security”

As I said last week, I have been mulling or musing for (over) a month now about the nature of salvation as well as the timing of the transaction.  Not that I wonder about it on a personal level any more, but I frequently encounter questions about it.  People say things like: How do I know if I’m really still saved?  If I skip church, do I go to hell?  Do you think so-and-so is still a saved; there is no fruit in their life?  Why would any believer care to do right (after salvation) if they are “eternally secure” no matter what?  How does this passage or that passage of Scripture fit into this doctrinal position of eternal security?  What if a person commits suicide, does that condemn them even if they were a believer?  Are the Armenians right, or are the Calvinists right?  The questions are as varied as the individuals inquiring.  Doubtless every inquisitor has a specific situation that has prompted them toward considering the topic in the first place… but, I think a better and more pure question would be this: Is salvation a single event, a process or an eventual product?  Surprisingly, the answer is: YES!  Huh?

I think the easiest place to start on a controversial and vital topic such as this is in the place where Jesus always seemed to start, with stories.  No, I’m not going to tell any stories, I just want you to think about the Bible characters that most of us have read about for years.  If the return of humanity to peace with God is the objective of redemption, then surely the testimonies of those who have escaped their ostracized spiritual condition through faith should serve as examples for us to observe and to learn from.  While there are plenty of believers, make believers, opponents and apostates in the Scriptural record, I just have a difficult time personally seeing how any character in the Bible can be clearly described as once saved, justified, accepted, adopted, redeemed, born again (whichever etymological angle you prefer) and then thereafter lost, condemned, rejected and forever separated from the God that was once glad to be called their God (Hebrews 11:16).  Certainly I can’t find people moving in and out of God’s family in cycles of belief and unbelief (in some kind of saved-lost-saved-lost-saved pattern).

There are plenty of characters who followed God outwardly for a time (think: king Saul or the apostle Judas Iscariot), only to end their life in shame and evident unbelief.  There are even more who walked in wickedness with brief spurts of apparent humility (think: Esau or Pharaoh).  There are some who had a form of repentance, but lacked faith in God.  There are others who seemed pleased to believe, but balked at repentance.   Undoubtedly though, the problem with every case is that we can only view the works of these men.  Sometimes God tells us plainly what was in their heart, but at other times we are left to wonder (think: Simon the Sorcerer). 

There are some (Able, Enoch, Joseph, Daniel, Job, Elisha, the deacon Stephen & the apostle Paul) who escaped life with a virtually impeccable testimony of faith, presumably or obviously after a specific conversion experience.  Yet, we know that they were still sinners even in the midst of their walk with God (many of them plainly said as much).  But, the most common human player in the biblical drama is obviously the simple sinner; sinful sons of Satan… redeemed, and therefore amazingly… they were then sinful sons of God.  Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Gideon, Samson, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Peter & others: all had distinct dips in their spiritual/moral walk.

I’m no expert or theologian; I’m aware of that.  I’m not even sure I’m a very good student.  I don’t claim to have all of the answers, or even many answers.  Certainly the critic will still have questions, maybe even more than before, after reading my meditations.  But, many people do indeed approach me about this and I kinda’ like to organize my answers in this manner (writing).  The purpose of this blog entry (from my point of view) is that my perspective might be precisely articulated… and that the genuine confidence of those who already hold this position might be somewhat strengthened. 

I have been reminded recently of a few passages that (according to some people) make our “once saved, always saved” dogma seem to be out of line.

This is so involved that I hardly know where to start.  So let’s just jump in here: the epistle to the Hebrews.

Hebrews 10:26-31 is one passage that was brought to me recently.  Let’s look at it.  Begining with verse 23…

“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching.  For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.  He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?  For we know Him that has said, ‘Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says the Lord.’  And again, ‘The Lord shall judge His people.’  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

And let’s not leave out the end of the chapter: verses 35-39,

“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward.  For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.  For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.  Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.  But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.”

Those verses can’t be ignored any more than these powerfully disturbing verses of Hebrews 6:4-9:

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame.  For the earth which drinks in the rain that comes oft upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receives blessing from God: but that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.  But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.”

Well now, admittedly there are a number of phrases that could shake one up (as I believe was exactly one of the author’s intentions), yet let’s not lose sight of how both sections of instructed introspection are closed.  Read these two again…

“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Hebrews 10:39

“But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.” Hebrews 6:9

Even though apostasy is the obvious topic in both chapters, there was that reassuring caveat at the end of both shots.  Assuming that Paul wrote this letter – notice that he was speaking with confidence about himself and his audience.  “We are real.  We are genuine.  We have got what it takes (or better, WHO it takes).”  He wasn’t just being optimistic.  He recognized that there is a difference in the saved/sealed genuine believer and the vacillating/professing believer.  Isn’t it likely that Paul was trying to reach out to the “Messianic Jews” in his audience that had followed after the apostolic movement and who had even been affected by the atmosphere of true spirituality, yet this tare had not taken that crucial step of faith, there had been no adoptive transaction whereby they had become a permanent abode of the Spirit of Christ.  In their case, there was no “salvation” possessed FOR them to lose.  Sure, there was an opportunity to squander, but no deed to burn.  There was a creed, an experience, a company – but not the mystical and mysterious effectual change that only God can bring to pass in the heart of a man (who is expressing both repentance and faith, as a result of the Spirit and the Word).  These people described as “falling away” and “drawing back” weren’t just insecure in their spiritual life… they didn’t have the life of God in them in the first place.  They didn’t have the Son.  First John 5:12, “He that has the Son has life; and he that has not the Son of God has not life (present tense).”  Not an experience, an adjustment, an association, a religion, a commitment… no, a person; Jesus.  He is obtained through “Epistle of James” faith; a faith that only God can produce in the heart of a man.  Hebrews 12:8 labels “Christians” who do not have the seal of the Spirit: “bastards.”  They are illegitimate.  God is not their Father.  They never had a salvation to lose.  They are lost.  They were always lost.  And, more still, when their actual condition is manifest in full apostasy… then their condition is absolutely hopeless.  There is no tool left with which to minister the gospel to them.  They’ve heard it all, and didn’t convert.  They’re lost forever.  It’s best described in First John 2:19, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

Another passage brought to my attention by a dear saintly friend of mine is Matthew 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?  It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (as well as a companion text in Luke 14:33-35).  I’ll not commit much time to this one because it seems clear to me that the saltiness of a believer refers to their effectiveness as a witnessing disciple, not to the saved-or-lost condition of their soul.  Any real child of God can render himself useless on earth though fleshly living.  A branch must abide in the vine if fruit is to be produced, but I do not for one instance believe that the removal of a branch from the vine is equal to the hypothetical removal of the indwelling Holy Spirit who inhabits EVERY redeemed child of God in this New Testament church age.

It is my position that not all labeled "believers" are actually "born again". . .  James 2:19, "You believe that there is one God; you do well: the devils also believe, and tremble."  Are the demons saved by their brand of “belief”?  No!  Even though it is coupled with a brand of fear?  No!  Now, Paul preached "...both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21).  An unrepentant "faith" is an unproductive faith, which is what (I hold) MANY professors of Christ have.  But, a person who has been actually redeemed (saved) by grace, upon the conditions of repentance and faith, is "...sealed unto the day of redemption" by the indwelling Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30). 

Who knows which man is the genuine article, except God and that sincere believer?  To make matters worse, some think they have it and really don’t.  Could others fear that they don’t, but they truly do?  No wonder Jesus is the only qualified judge.  Yet, though He alone can perfectly declare the status of a man’s soul, the Bible plainly pronounces the avenue and means of salvation.  So, abstractly, we speak with certainty even as Peter did in the early chapters of Acts. 

You have probably considered some of these pro-permanence verses before, but here they are again:

John 10:27-29, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand."

John 6:37, "All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out."

Philippians 1:6, "Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ…"

There are many other passages that I could go to, but perhaps one of the strongest is this one concerning how the church was to handle the young "believer" involved in brazen incest: "Deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5).  It seems clear enough that his eternal destiny was secure even if his sanctification was grossly lacking.

There are preachers who feel like the threat of damnation is needed to keep parishioners in line, but I find that the Scripture teaches otherwise in Romans 2:1-4, "Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whosoever you are that judges: for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you that judges do the same things.  But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.  And do you think this, O man, that judges them which do such things, and does the same, that you shall escape the judgment of God?  Or do you despise the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"  It is the guarantee of God’s grace that motivates me toward personal holiness, not a threat of Him retracting His word of grace.

Even Matthew 7:23, in talking about the damned, teaches the absolute certainty and permanence of redemption. "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity."  He will not say, "I once knew you, but I don't any more."  You know, even looking at it in an overly simplistic way, it is the very nature of eternal/everlasting life that it would be a permanent possession.  That is the definition of eternal... not temporary or intermittent life.  If my relationship with God can be severed by sin or a lapse in my faith, then it is my own righteousness and maintaining fortitude that assures my eternal destiny, not Christ's righteousness nor His faithfulness to His own promise (Hebrews 10:23).  If the life can be lost, then can it be eternal/everlasting?  Check these proof texts out: 

Hebrews 5:9,"Being made perfect, He [Jesus] became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him…"

1 John 5:11, "God hath given to us eternal life..."

John 6:51, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever..."

John 5:24, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word, and believes on Him that sent Me [I’ve done this, have you], has [past tense] everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."

I’ve wearied some of you and lost other at this point, but I can’t resist adding a few more that must be reckoned with in my opinion:

John 6:39, "This is the Father's will which has sent Me, that of all which He has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day."

1 Peter 4:19, "Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."

1 John 3:20, "If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things."

2 Timothy 1:12, "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day."

2 Timothy 2:13, "If we believe not, yet He abides faithful: He cannot deny Himself."

2 Timothy 2:19, "Nevertheless the foundation of God stands sure, having this seal, The Lord knows them that are His."

Finally, I asked a question early on that I want to repeat here:  is salvation a single event, a process or an eventual product?  I said that the answer is: YES!  See, man is body, soul and spirit.  God said in Genesis to the first human, “The day that you sin, you will die” (Genesis 2:17).  Did Adam die that day?  Well, it depends on what part of man you are evaluating.  Man died in the spirit instantaneously.  Man began to die in his body, but the final breath wasn’t released for some 900 years.  If Adam did not return to God in faith (I don’t know if he did or not), then his soul is still dying in hell today.  QUESTION: Shouldn’t the form of salvation match the form of death?!?  I affirm that it does!  I was saved in spirit in an instant when the Holy Ghost moved into my heart on August, 13 1985.  God is working on the sanctification of my body and by degrees I am growing in grace in this physical world, becoming more close to the life He designed and desires for me.  Because I’m under the blood of Jesus, my soul will return to the God who gave it when this life is over. 

Whether you agree with my labeling of the salvation of the three parts of the individual or not, surely you can understand this simple outline…

1.       I am saved (past tense) from the penalty of sin.

2.       I am being saved (presently) from the power of sin.

3.       I will be saved (future tense) from the presence of sin.

My postulation, though, is that once this process has begun through the initial conversion of an individual, it is irreversible.  Just think of what the Word says in John 2:23-25, “Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in the feast day, many believed in His name, when they saw the miracles which He did.  But Jesus did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man: for He knew what was in man.”  I know I’m opening a can of worms, but I don’t care.  He didn’t commit Himself to them in the present because He knew of their future retraction.  He understood fully their insincerity.  Would God grant His eternal Spirit to a man that He knew He would have to withdraw from in the future?  I (for one), think not.

A Christian who lives without the knowledge of the complete liberty that we have in Christ is sure to be a defeated Christian and one without the confidence and assurance, which, I’m certain, God desires to give us. 

Oh friend, shout it from the highest mountain: “Once saved, always save!”  He is holding me, not the other way around.

Are there are many who CLAIM to be saved, but never have been?  Of course, hence many who will say "LORD" are not the children of righteousness… and they never have been.

I close with a quote from C. H. Spurgeon,

“What a cleansing power in His blood to take away sin such as ours! and what glory in His righteousness to make such unacceptable creatures to be accepted in the Beloved!  Mark, believer, how sure and unchanging must be our acceptance, since it is in Him! Take care that you never doubt your acceptance in Jesus.  You cannot be accepted without Christ; but, when you have received His merit, you cannot be unaccepted (emphasis added).  Notwithstanding all your doubts, and fears, and sins, Jehovah's gracious eye never looks upon you in anger; though He sees sin in you, in yourself, yet when He looks at you through Christ, He sees no sin.  You are always accepted in Christ, are always blessed and dear to the Father's heart. Therefore lift up a song…”

from Evening, March 28