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Bible Study -
Devotional
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Contributed by Phil Spadaro
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Monday, 08 October 2007 |
 How important is it to know who God is? Some will say it is the job of
theologians to answer such a deep question. Other will have their
minister or pastor be the source of knowledge. Some will even go to the
bible to learn about the Lord, from their perspective. Unfortunately,
many have an incomplete or skewed view of God.
Job 42:7-9 (Holman)
7 After the LORD had finished speaking to Job, He said to Eliphaz the Temanite: "I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has. 8 Now take seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. Then My servant Job will pray for you. I will surely accept his [prayer] and not deal with you as your folly deserves. For you have not spoken the truth about Me, as My servant Job has." 9 Then Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job's [prayer].
God was angry. He was angry with Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar because they did not speak the truth about Him. These men believed and were teaching that men who suffered were being punished for their sins. Their shallow understanding of God's motives and methods provoked the Lord to anger.
It is important to understand and teach accurately who God is. What are His likes and dislikes? What are His expectations? Unfortunately, Jehovah's character is often taught in part; truncated and abridged. “God is all love” is said about Him, without recognizing love includes discipline. “God is full of wrath” without acknowledging His compassion and mercy. “If you are [materially] blessed, it shows you are close to God”; a claim of the wealth and prosperity gospel. “You can be saved by faith alone”, unfortunately lumping repentance and a response to God's love with works, therefore making them unnecessary. Most of the inaccurate teachings concerning Him stem from a reaction to an opposite inaccurate teaching or from a selfish desire to make God in our image.
Incomplete theology is at the root of many doctrinal misunderstandings. Although repentance and baptism are often the argued subjects when sharing the gospel with people, it is an inaccurate portrayal of God in their minds which prevents them from seeing biblical salvation doctrine. “Pray Jesus into your heart” as a saving act, is not in the bible, yet many cling to it as a method of removing sin and entering into a relationship with God. Why? Many of the same people will claim Jesus as their personal savior, but not (practically) as their Lord. They are missing the Lordship of God, which in turn would make repentance (obedience) an anathema. In contrast, the person who views God as full of wrath without compassion, will tend toward guilt and works to earn salvation. Neither view is complete or biblical. Our salvation doctrine will ultimately reflect our theology.
It is important that each Christian find the answer to, “Who is God?” Although I tend to lean toward the “God is love”, it is important for me to also discover the “God of wrath” as well. There is one God with a consistent character and I cannot pick and choose the facets of the Lord which agree with my understanding of Him. Also, I cannot back down on biblical mandates; repentance, baptism, faith, love, obedience, etc... This is not to say that one must understand, in depth, every nuance of the character of God to be saved; but we must grasp His expectations and general constitution. In a marriage, one does not date to discover everything about their future spouse. The learn enough to know they will pursue the relationship until death. Husbands and wives learn more about each other every year and yet never know everything about the other person. Our relationship with God is much the same, except He does not everything about us.
Let us take the time and invest the effort to answer the question, “Who is God?” Our theology is important for us and for those we reach out to. What we teach and the expectations of God we share will be molded by our belief and understanding of the Lord's character.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 11 October 2007 )
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