In a conversation recently, I learned that there is a group of people who call themselves a church, yet they believe that the God of the New Testament—the God of today—is different than the God of the Old Testament. The God of the Old Testament, they say, was a God who was angry and vengeful and destructive. The new God, the God of the New Testament, is a God of love and tolerance, and is constructive.
It is interesting that one would limit God’s attributes with the restrictions of humanity. In the logic of these false teachers, construction and destruction cannot and do not coexist. They do not see anger and love together any more than they can bring vengeance and tolerance into the realm of God’s reactions to sin and sinfulness.
False teaching about God has disastrous consequences.
But these teachings are false. God is eternal. He does not change, nor will He change. His righteousness demands punishment for sin, not because He is angry or hateful or vengeful, but because it is right to hate and punish sin. That does not change. God hated sin in the Garden of Eden. God hates sin in Chicago, and Denver, and Los Angeles, and New York and all the smaller places in between. He hates sin on every continent of the world because He hates sin in man’s heart. He hates sin in man because sin destroys man and God loves man. He does not want to see destruction come to that which He loves. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Because God loves man does not logically exclude His hatred of sin. That may be a human conclusion, but it would defy the reliability of God.
God can love, and God can hate. God can be a God of anger, while remaining the God who loves. God is reliable. He never changes. God does not tolerate sin, but He has tolerated sinners. Over and over in the Old Testament, God spared the Israelites from the destruction of His wrath. The King James and other versions of the Bible translate this characteristic of God as His longsuffering. God is patient. But His patience does not pardon the inevitable judgment of sin, and those who harbor sin. In Revelation 20:11-15, the apostle John was given insight into the end of sin and sinners:
“11Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15, ESV).
This is the God of the New Testament. The reason He sounds like the God of the Old Testament is because He is. God is reliable throughout all time. He is so reliable that anyone who denies Him, will face the consequences of the prophecy found in the passage above.
Good News is in the reliability of God’s love for you!
There is good news, however. God is a God of love. And it is His love that rescues us from the consequences of our sin. It is God’s love that gave us the opportunity to learn about Jesus Christ. Some say that Jesus was a great prophet; yes, He was a great prophet. Some say that Jesus was a great teacher; yes, again! Jesus was a great teacher. But Jesus is also God Himself. The incarnate God of heaven who became human, died to assume the penalty of your sins, and rose from the grave to demonstrate God’s ultimate power over death and hell.
The Bible tells us that the payment for our sins is death, but God’s free gift to us is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord (Romans 6:23). So, in one sentence in God’s Word, we see that He will punish sinners with death, but will rescue those sinners who accept His gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. God is reliable in His hatred of sin in that He will punish your sin with eternal death (read: “hell”), and He is reliable in His love for you in that Jesus will save you from eternal punishment.
Do you know the love of God through Jesus Christ? God’s Word says, “If you confess (pray) with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). It goes on to say that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans. 10:13).
When people teach that God is different today than He was in Old Testament days, they are teaching a lie that will result in a false belief in the God of love. His sacrifice allows you to be with Him forever. Don’t be misled by false teachers. Call on the name of the Lord and see how your life will be transformed. He is reliable. God never fails. He is God.
Blessings!
Pastor Bill
