by Pastor Smith in St Clair, MO
"He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."
Deuteronomy 32:4.
In a world overtaken with corruption and compromise, there is a source of truth and justice; it is found in the living God, "just and right is he." Words that help explain the meaning of just are right, lawful, and equal. God is morally right and righteous in all that He does. Friendships, fears, flatteries, or false information may influence men and thus pervert justice. However, God - because of His holy character and perfect nature - will always act justly. The Lord God is a righteous Judge. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25).
Because God is just, He establishes and imposes just laws and then executes them righteously. He will give to everyone what is due. Because He is just, He is impartial in His judgment. God cannot be deceived, and it would be futile to attempt to bribe Him. "God is no respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). We may not always understand or fully agree with God's judgments, but we can have complete confidence that what He does is always right.
God is just in the penalties He exacts for transgression. "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Because He is just, He requires that proper payment be made for sin. Also, He allows a substitute to pay for the sin of another. Thus, His Son made the just payment for our sins through His death on the cross and completely satisfied the just judgment of our sin. The penalty has been paid in full and God can and will forgive the sins of those who accept His payment. He is at one time "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).
One of the common cries of the Old Testament prophets was the lack of justice among the corrupt leaders of Israel. The moral character and weakness of men today have resulted in a dearth of justice. In our current political climate, many government leaders are for sale and will champion any cause that wins them favor. Even in the arena of professing Christians, truth has fallen in the streets. There is a great need for men and women of justice and integrity who look to the Rock for wisdom. Thank God, there is a day coming when Jesus Christ will return to this earth and will judge the world in righteousness.
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
ReplyDeleteThen he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?
Isaiah 55: 6-9
ReplyDelete6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
http://achievingproverbs31.blogspot.com/2011/03/bearing-loss-and-learning-his-will.html
ReplyDeleteThe great preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote: “God knows that soldiers are to be made only in battle; they are not to be grown in peaceful times. We may grow the stuff of which soldiers are made; but warriors are really educated by the smell of powder, in the midst of whizzing bullets and roaring cannonades . . . Is He not developing in you the qualities of the soldier by throwing you into the heat of battle, and should you not use every application to come off conqueror?”
ReplyDeleteReligion is an insult to human dignity. Without it, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, it takes religion. For far too long priests and preachers have completely ignored the vicious criminal acts that the Bible promotes. Your God, according to the Bible, is directly responsible for many mass-murders, rapes, pillage, plunder, slavery, child abuse and killing, not to mention the killing of unborn children. And you have the gall to justify these things by simply saying that His ways are higher than ours?
ReplyDeleteJust a few examples:
The God of the Bible allows slavery, including selling your own daughter as a sex slave (Exodus 21:1-11), child abuse (Judges 11:29-40 and Isaiah 13:16), and bashing babies against rocks (Hosea 13:16 & Psalms 137:9).
This type of criminal behavior should shock any moral person. Murder, rape, pillage, plunder, slavery, and child abuse can not be justified by saying that some god says it’s OK. If more people would actually sit down and read the Bible there would be a lot more atheists like myself.
And just in case you are thinking that the evil and immoral laws of the Old Testament are no longer in effect, perhaps you should read where Jesus makes it perfectly clear: "It is easier for Heaven and Earth to pass away than for the smallest part of the letter of the law to become invalid." (Luke 16:17 NAB)
I know that most Christians believe that God is a good and loving god, and wants people to do good things. I believe that most people want to do good things and behave morally. I also believe that many Christians (not all) haven’t really read the Bible, or just read certain passages in church. This is understandable, as the Bible is hard to read due to its archaic language and obscure references. Also many priests and preachers don’t like to read certain passages in the Bible because they present a message of hate not love.
I ask you, please open your eyes to all of the bible, not just the pleasant parts.
Wow. Talk about taking things out of context. And then adding more verses that talk about something completely different to try to make a point which is already laughably humorous. Don't worry, most people "like yourself" like to think they know the Bible better than "most Christians", that's actually pretty normal. That's necessary in order to breed the type of pride it takes to ignore God working all around you, showing Himself to you on a daily basis. (Romans 1) If you actually read it for what it actually says, rather than just to take separate thoughts and ideas and cram them together to try to make it sound silly, you would come to an entirely different conclusion. God promises it. You could do the same thing with the newspaper on a daily basis. They call those people "conspiracy theorists". Most of them aren't living in reality either. Which, unfortunately, is what most people that are bitter against God do.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, you open a can that can't possibly be fully explained in a forum like this. Let me add one more thing that God "allows". He allows each of us free will to make decisions for ourselves. To believe what he says is true, or to choose to do our own thing, whatever that may be. He promises true happiness when we seek His will for our lives, and the opposite is true in the world all around us. Anyone that lives for self will not be truly happy. It's really no mystery, our Creator made us that way. True happiness comes from living for others.
In the same way that we would call a parent that protects their offspring from the world around them for their entire life "overbearing" or worse, so the God that created everything and gave his masterpiece creation, humans, responsibility to take care of it, He also created us to bring glory to Him, and it's tough to do that if he simply created robots. True glory goes to Him when we choose for ourselves to live for Him and please Him with our life. The God that loved each one of us, including you, Anonymous, enough to take the sins of the world in His perfect sinless body and die in our place. Then, to prove that death and hell had no power over Him, he rose from the dead after 3 days, just as He promised He would. He did that so that we would not have to pay the penalty of eternal separation for Him in hell.
See, His original plan was for eternal communion with his human creation. It was our voluntary sin that created the separation between us, not His will. Could He just MAKE us do right?? Yes, but then where would the honor and glory in that be?
Read His Word for what it actually says, rather than trying to intentionally misunderstand things into your own preconceived notions. Then you might understand the reason behind those archaic and obviously un-American laws and rules from the Old Testament. The law was made to be our "schoolmaster", to bring us to a place where we realized that as humans, there was no way that we were able to live without sin under the law, and that the only way of redemption from our sins was, in fact, Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made for each one of us.
So, I ask you, please open your eyes to ALL the Bible, not just the parts you can split and join together to try to make your own point...
Not Anonymous, but a fellow sinner. Saved not because I'm good, but through His grace He saved me. And He wants to do the same for you. Even people who call themselves "atheists". :-)
~Sean
A comment in reference to Anonymous comment #5:
ReplyDeleteI must agree with the above that "you open a can that can't possibly be fully explained in a forum like this"--but a great place to check the reality and many falsities of your accusations against the Perfect & Holy Word of our Almighty God ("pleasant" and "unpleasant") would be here:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/
Just one, for instance, does the Bible really "promote" slavery? No.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2007/02/02/feedback-bible-slavery
Another one to look at:
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/why-does-creation-include-suffering
And there is much more.
And one other note... You call yourself an "atheist"--but I must ask, Do you know everything? The answer is obviously, "No." No one knows everything. You can not say there is no God, because you do not know everything.
And lastly, "if more people would sit down and read the Bible"--there would be a revival unlike anything this earth has ever known. And until you have read it yourself--you cannot say that it is the Word of God causing you to be an atheist.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteYour comment has been removed because I feel it was rude and ugly... Not only to the women who host this blog, but against The Pure and Holy Word of God. And I won't stand for it.
I will respond to certain things you said--then this will end.
Sean's comment was right and what we all thought. It has nothing to do with your ill-conceived ideas of women and subjection.
Case in point-the Bible does not promote slavery. Study your facts and history-that passage is not what you are touting it to be. Period.
Also, this blog is not about religion. It is about belief in the Word of God--and everything it says and stands for.
Also, until you have read and studied The Bible, do not say it is your reasoning for being an "atheist". Your study of someone's else's false opinions about God's Word is very lacking in what The Bible is.
And lastly, "science and common sense of society" are ever changing. Yet, the Word of God remains consistent and whole all throughout time. We can not say it makes any "common sense" to place your trust in something that changes like the wind.
I encourage you to read the resources listed above. You can see what the Bible is really saying in these passages you are misconstruing and twisting beyond belief.
I have faith that God can change you--and will pray for such a time in your life.
And in closing, Proverbs 21:30 "There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD."
"One walking with me observed, with some emphasis, “I do not believe as you do. I am an Agnostic.”
ReplyDelete“Oh,” I said to him. “Yes. That is a Greek word, is it not? The Latin
word, I think, is ignoramus.”
He did not like it at all. Yet I only translated his language from Greek to Latin.
These are queer waters to get into, when all your philosophy brings you is the confession that you know nothing, and the stolidity which enables you to glory in your ignorance."
Charles Spurgeon
"The atheist is, morally, as well as mentally, a fool, a fool in the heart as well as in the head; a fool in morals as well as in philosophy. With the denial of God as a starting point, we may well conclude that the fool’s progress is a rapid, riotous, raving, ruinous one. He who begins at impiety is ready for anything. “No God,” being interpreted, means no law, no order, no restraint to lust, no limit to passion."
ReplyDeleteCharles Spurgeon
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of our personal beliefs, or how we choose to believe in God (obviously, that choice is widely diverse across religions, including atheism, which is simply another religion in direct opposition to God and His Word (get in line, there are lots of those)), the fact remains that God promises in His Word that ALL of us must give account for our lives before Him. It is appointed unto each of us to die, but after this is the judgment for how we spent our lives. This truth bonds his entire human creation into a single group. How we choose to live with that knowledge is what is diverse. Some choose to follow God's Word and the promises it contains, many others choose to take the Bible and add their own wisdom to it. Still others choose to ignore it as much as they possibly can. This last group usually ends up creating anger and bitterness in the individual, because try as we might, we cannot escape our Creator, in this life but most certainly not afterward.
ReplyDeleteBecause we are all in the same boat, so to speak, it would be foolish of me to return the same anger and vitriol toward you, "Anonymous", because I am no better than you. The only difference is that I have chosen to recognize God's plan for my life, and embrace it, not fight it. Foolish pride only damns the soul,and usually makes the person miserable and lonely in the process.
God has so much more for you, my friend. Stop fighting His working in your heart, and truly receive His Word. Only then will you know true peace.
~Sean
I contend that we are both Atheists. I just believe in one fewer God than you do. When you understand why you dismiss other possible gods (Allah, Zues, etc.), you will understand why I dismiss yours.
ReplyDeleteI am the author of the 1st post, as well as this post. I apologize if you think I am the person whom you have been arguing with so vehemently.
I promise you there is nothing vehement about my posts. And when you have a personal relationship with the God of the Bible, there's no reason to argue.
ReplyDeleteAll I can do is try to convince you, or anyone else, that what God offers through His Word is better than anything that this world offers. True happiness can only be found in the center of God's will for your life. Anyone in that place knows it's the truth. And anyone that hasn't been there or experienced salvation that only He can give has absolutely no idea. It would be akin to me arguing with Neil Armstrong about what being on the moon is like. One of us has a clue, and it wouldn't be me. :-)
I just feel extreme sadness for anyone whose pride takes them to the point of disbelief in anything outside themselves.
You can content anything you wish to, you can try to justify your beliefs anyway you would like. These other gods you mention all have one thing in common. They were created by men centuries, if not millenia, after the one true God created it all. Allah, as he is called now, would be the oldest one of the currently used "deities", since he at least has his beginnings as the moon god of the Old Testament, dating back to Abraham's time, in Ur. But that's still way too late to be anything other than what all the other gods are: manmade.
My friend, pride was the very first sin against God. Satan himself used it. And he continues to use it today against God's creation, mankind. Pride blinds us to our true condition before God, and keeps us from understanding and accepting the relationship with Him that he desires with each one of us, including you, "Anonymous". Read 2Corinthians 6:1,2
Receive not God's grace in vain. Accept Him while He shows Himself to you through His Word. Isaiah 55:6-9 that were quoted above are a plea to you, my friend, and to everyone that would match their own prideful will against God's.
Sincerely,
~Sean
I AM OFFENDED THAT YOU HAVE TAKEN AWAY THE VOICE OF ANONYMOUS THROUGH EDITING. THIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE PITFALL WE CHRISTIANS FIND OURSELVES IN.
ReplyDeleteI WAS RAISED A JEHOVAH WITNESS, THAT BASICALLY MEANS, THEY BELIEVE THEY ARE THE ONLY ONES DESERVING OF HEAVEN. I CONVERTED TO PRESBYTERIAN, WHICH IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE BAPTST, WHO WILL NOT RECOGNIZE MY BAPTISM.
I CONVERTED TO PRESYTERIAN BECAUSE THEY TEACH A TOLERANCE THAT I FIND CHRIST LIKE. THIS MAY NOT BE ACCEPTABLE TO SOME, BUT,I DECIDED TO LET GOD RULE MY HEART AND HE HAS BLESSED ME WITH A VARIETY OF FRIENDS THAT SHARE WITH ME THE TRUE GIFT OF GOD. LOVE!!!
I really want to reiterate, this blog is not about religion. It is about belief in the Word of God--and everything it says and stands for.
ReplyDeleteAs a blog that stands for Christ and His principles, the comments in question were correctly deleted. No pitfall. We will not let anyone attack God's Word and do nothing about it.
Philippians 1:27-31
27Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
28And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.
29For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
30Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
We love Anonymous, and pray for their salvation, as was stated many times above--but we will not "tolerate" attacks on our precious, Holy God or His Word.
1 Thessalonians 2:2
2But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.
1 Timothy 6:12
12Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
We stand strong for the Lord and His Word.
If you are offended, we have a great post about dealing with offenses in a way that reflects Christ and His principles found in God's Word.
http://achievingproverbs31.blogspot.com/2010/10/dealing-with-offenses.html
Zechariah 8:16-17 "These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates: And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD."
Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."
Philippians 1:9-11 "And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God."
We love God, and will follow Him and His Word, whatever the cost.