Think on These Things
November 2000
...
while others seem to miss the point of serving God altogether?
In this issue we wish to address this question from a biblical
standpoint. Starting at the
beginning, most people come to God and obey Him because they recognize that God
exists from all of the evidence that we find all around us.
Referring to this, Paul stated that they had no excuse for not believing
(Rom. 1:20). Those who come to God also recognize Him as a God of love (2
Cor. 13:11), who wants what is best for us and has thus communicated that to us
(2 Tim. 3:16f). At the same time,
they recognize the biblical truth that the true and living God is just, as Paul
said in II Th. 1:5-8: “{This is} a plain indication of God's righteous
judgment so that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which
indeed you are suffering. For after
all it is {only} just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
and {to give} relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire,
dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not
obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” In
short, most people first come to God to gain heaven and escape hell.
While
this is enough to get them to God, rarely is it enough to keep them faithful to
Him. Many will call on the name of
Jesus and claim to be His in the day of judgment but will not be acceptable
because they did not continue to obey and grow in the grace of the Lord (Mt.
7:21). In addition to this, those
who come to God must continue to seek after him (Heb. 11:6) to the point that
they recognize His authority in every aspect of their lives and learn to love
God in the way that only He has designed. Let
us look into this as we open God’s word and study.
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The goal of this page is to promote morality and justice in our society (Prov. 14:23).
Our
civil responsibility.
It has been said that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph over
good is for good men to do nothing. We
will have an opportunity in the near future to participate in the political
process by voting. It seems a small
thing, but consider...
For
one thing, recognize that your vote is much more important than you might think.
A very small percentage of the population of this country votes.
But more importantly, only a very small fraction of those who vote are
actually willing to switch their votes between parties.
Those who mindlessly vote for the same party regardless of who is running
waste their vote and are taken for granted by both parties (the one assumes to
always get them, the other to never get them).
It is the very small number of swing voters who determine how our country
will be run over the next four years. And
even if it is a choice between two less than perfect alternatives, at least they
will determine which way the country will lean ... essentially establishing a
direction for the possibility of something better (or something worse) in the
future. Even a vote for a hopeless third party has great merit, since
it sends a message to the big guys that they better pay attention to a growing
concern in the future.
Some
believe that it is wrong to vote, and that we should leave all of this in the
hands of God. What is the basis for
such a position? Are there any
other areas where we are to pass up opportunities to bring about good and just
let God do it? Read Rom. 13 and 1
Pet. 2:13f, which give Christians’ responsibilities to their governments.
Our civil authorities (to the person) will tell us that it is their
preference that we all participate in the political process and vote.
Voting is submitting to them in this regard.
A nation gets the political leaders that it deserves.
This has never been more true than in countries where they are elected by
popular vote. When we fail to do
what we can to change the system, we have no one to blame for it but ourselves.
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God's Authority and Love
Authority
and love are not often found in the same sentence, much less in a title.
The reason is because we rarely associate love with authority.
This was a logical association in the family relationships a half century
ago when, for the most part, the traditional family was predominant, and there
was a strong presence of a loving father figure.
This person had both authority over and love from the family. It is interesting to compare the “Father Knows Best” TV
entertainment of the 1950s with that of today which as often as not portrays
father with all the grace and presence of a moron.
But
it is not just the depiction in entertainment; it is also the reality of many
fathers today, who are guilty of gross selfishness, and in many cases outright
abandonment. It is no wonder that
children of such parents cannot understand the nature of a “heavenly
father,” since their concept of fatherhood is one of a person who is both
unloving and an abuser of authority.
The
scriptural basis for the premise of this article is in I Jn. 5:3: “For this is
the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not
burdensome.” So the very
definition of love of God is the
keeping of his commandments. Of
course, we cannot keep commandments that we do not know, so implied in this is
the study of God’s word to determine just what it is that he wants us to do (2
Tim. 2:15). It is the recognition
of the authority of God that motivates us to want to learn all there is to know
about God so that we can better please Him.
The
key to understanding the inter-relationship between love and authority depends
totally on our belief in a loving God. Read
the entirety of 1st John to get the total picture.
It is one of a God who has our best interests in mind.
We are his creation, and He loves us.
He has demonstrated this love first by His physical blessings ... even in
those things that we do not think are going our way (Rom. 8:28).
But more importantly, He holds our spiritual welfare well above our
physical welfare (something that we rarely do).
He sent His son into this world that we would never have to be separated
from Him (Jn. 3:16). Would such a
God not provide us with the guidance that we need to stay in fellowship with Him
throughout eternity?
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“God’s love is so great that
no one could be condemned.”
but
Jesus said (Mt. 7:21) ...
“Not everyone who says to Me,
'Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My
Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus
goes on to say ... “Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name
perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;
depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” This is not talking about cold-blooded murderers, rapists or
child molesters. It is talking
about religious people ... people who thought they had all of the bases covered
... people who had no reservation but to plead their case before Jesus.
Continue
reading in Mt. 7 and you see that Jesus follows up this saying with the story of
the wise man and the foolish man, and summarizes with: "Therefore everyone
who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise
man, who built his house upon the rock. And
the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against
that house; and {yet} it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.”
God has provided us with all that we need to escape the consequences of
our sins and be forever with Him in eternity.
He wants us to accept His promises and act upon our faith in Him to do
those things that are required so that this is a reality.
Who will enter the eternal kingdom of heaven?
“... he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
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