Saints In The Hands Of An Angry God?

Question: When is God angry with His children, born-again saints of God?

The answer: Never.

Now I know you've been taught that He's angry, directly or by implication. Admit it. You may even think when you are sinful or disobedient to the Word of God that God sees you as "wicked", and everyone knows "God is angry with the wicked every day", right?

Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon, "Sinners In The Hands of An Angry God" in the 1700's, and the picture has been applied to believers and has stuck...

...with those who don't understand the difference between a Sinner and a Saint. Or who don't understand the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

Oh, how the devil loves confusion. He loves confusion between the biblical concept of a "saint" as anyone who is a born-again child of God, and the Roman Catholic nonsense that a "saint" is someone who meets some elaborate criteria of the Mother Church, and is "voted in". The devil loves confusion between the Old Covenant (which Hebrews 8 says failed in bringing righteousness because of man's inability to keep the Law) and the New Covenant, in which God puts His laws in our hearts, fulfills those laws in Christ on the cross, declares us righteous, and forgives us of all our sins, past, present and future.

Yes, the devil loves confusion.

So it's no surprise (though a crying shame), that children of God think that God is angry at them when they fall short and sin. And otherwise fine Christians who mean well perpetuate this ridiculous notion, without one shred of support from the New Covenant scriptures!

And so Christians often run away from this angry God, instead of toward Him, when they fail. They won't look Him in the face, because they think it's a face of anger. What a tragedy.

This is not the place for an extended exegesis ("drawing out") of the subject in the scriptures. But here's a challenge for those who doubt what I'm saying: Search the epistles of the New Testament for any teaching that God is ever angry with His children.

By the way, don't think the passages on God's chastisement are regarding some kind of punishment out of anger. Study them closely, and you will see they involve loving gentle correction, from a loving Father, who just wants his kids to be in close fellowship with Him. No condemnation, no unforgiveness, no bitterness, no anger.

Like a daddy teaching his 1-year-old to walk, while the kid keeps wobbling, staggering, and falling...sometimes painfully in the wrong direction, but often into a laughing Daddy's arms for a big hug.

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What Is Our Highest Motive?

Measuring up?

I was listening to some instruction on the difference between secular psychology's "Behavior Modification" and Biblical change of behavior. It was pointed out that the important difference is motive, and I couldn't agree more. However, a chart was drawn on a white board showing two motives. Behavior Mod's motive was portrayed as "pleasing self". The motive for biblical change was shown as "glorifying God".

So far, so good. But it occurs to me that there are at least two other motives that should be mentioned. One is bad, one is good.

First the bad. There is a common motive among believers that I often call performance-based Christianity. It says, "I will obey (even though I don't really want to) because otherwise God will withhold His love and favor. I will earn God's love and favor by this behavior." And if I do pretty well, I have a right to be proud. And if I don't "measure up", I'm discouraged. But I'm always measuring myself by "the yardstick" of performance.

A dreadful way to live, and all too common. The solution? BAMM! An explosion of again understanding the love of God for His children. Of understanding that my performance doesn't affect His love for me. He loves me when I obey, and He loves me when I don't. Because I'm His Beloved.

Well, then why bother obeying at all? If I'm "in good" with God either way, why torture myself with obedience at all?

Good question. And that leads to the highest motive of all. The motive of LIFE! It's what occurs when Galatians 2:20 is in operation. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives through me." When Christ is living His life through me, I can't help but follow Him, love Him, obey Him, glorify Him, experience Him, rejoice in Him, die for Him if need be.

That's why we want the fullness of His Spirit, and we want to walk according to the Spirit. That's why we want to spend time with Him, gaze on Him, meditate on Him and His Word, know Him better and better, and have a heart of surrender toward Him. That's when His Life is manifested in us. That's when He lives His life through me.

That's the motive of Life, the highest motive of all.

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50/20 Vision

Jacob Sees Joseph Again

Just a reminder of what Joseph said to his brothers, after their awful treatment of him, selling him into slavery, and telling his father Jacob that he was dead. Years later, as the virtual ruler of Egypt, and after saving his family (the budding Israel) from starvation, he said, "...you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good..." (Genesis 50:20)

Have you come to see that yet, in your own life?

It's just another glittering facet of the Brilliant Diamond that also says, "God causes all things to work together for good, to those who love Him, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)

But you might think the Romans passage implies that evil just "happens", and God cleans up the mess. No, grasshopper. He meant it for good. The evil is part of His plan, even as He hates the evil itself. His thoughts are greater than our thoughts, and His ways are higher than our ways, and he has decreed the end from the beginning.

Praise Him even when evil comes. Count it all joy. He knows what He is doing.

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