Are we to love God (Matt. 22:37) or fear Him (1 Pet. 2:17)?
Is the Godhead three or one? Is Jesus Christ fully God or fully man? Is God sovereign or is man morally responsible? Does God love the world or is He its eternal Judge? There are many such apparent contradictions in the Bible. Clearly, these are not contradictions to God, since He states both truths frequently with no trace of dilemma. In all such apparent contradictions we must hold to both at the same time.
A fear of God that does not truly love Him will result in a life of harsh condemnation and legalism. A love for God that does not truly fear Him will result in a wishy-washy life driven by unstable, emotional sentimentalism and spiritual self-centeredness.
Just as, in a single moment, we must fully embrace the sovereignty of God and the genuine moral responsibility of man, so we must, at the same time, deeply fear God and deeply love Him.
It is our Greek (Western) tendency that pressures us to try to resolve such apparent contradictions, by choosing one side and then subverting the other to it. But to do so necessarily means the loss of both truths. The Hebrew mind had no such artificial limitations; he fully feared God and fully loved Him – at the same time.
And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? (Deut. 10:12-13)
The following was written by one of our Asian team.
I recently led a prayer time for our local church’s leaders. We read Acts 9:32 through the end of chapter 10. God took in me a direction, “Look for what God did and what men did in this passage.” So that’s the question I gave every one for 15 minutes of team reflection.
During the reflection, I saw how God initiated all the miracles, how He convicts people’s heart of His salvation, how He gives His servants ministry opportunities, and how He renews Peter’s mind and advanced His kingdom through his obedience.
While what men did was so little and so simple – they responded to God in simple faith, they grasped the opportunities God gave them, they declared the name of Jesus in boldness, and they obeyed God’s instruction in readiness. Read more…
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. (Ps. 146:3-4)
On that very day, at that hour, in the moment of death their plans come to nothing. Nothing. This is the moment of reality.
All they have lived for, all they have built, all they have given their energy for – comes to nothing. All the power, the wealth, the fame, the success – comes to nothing. In the moment of death.
So do not put your trust in them or in the things they trust in. Instead live for God – live for eternity. One day you will face this same day, this same moment of reality.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – the LORD, who remains faithful forever. (Ps. 146:5-6)
Trust the Lord Jesus! He’s the true God, the only God. Fear Him. Don’t give your life for temporal fame and fortune. Live for Him! He is faithful forever. And what is done in Him lasts forever. Live every day, every hour, every moment, with this in your mind.
It is carelessly assumed by most persons that when a preacher pronounces a message of truth and his words fall upon the ears of his listeners there has been a bona fide act of hearing on their part. They are assumed to have been instructed because they have listened to the Word of God. But it does not follow.
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G. M. Cowan Has Warned:
Perhaps a large part of our trouble is that we tend to think of training as something of itself, a period of time, certain courses taken, a degree earned, abilities and qualifications that can be listed and enumerated on paper, so many credit hours, rather than as something that happened to us.
The emphasis should rather be on the man trained and his growth in maturity and in the capacity to apply what he has learned to new situations. Of itself training is nothing. It is the trained man that God uses. And God’s own training may include both formal and informal education.
Nor is the most fundamental training ever gained by proxy, reading about what God did in someone else. It is found in personally being put through the crucible of experience, fashioned and molded by His hand. The training that has value is that which enters into our make-up, fashions our attitudes, matures our thinking. We tend to include as part of our training much exposure to knowledge which effects no essential and lasting change in us.
From No Other Foundation by DeVern Fromke.
Christianity is a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. He is alive! He loves you and He wants you to know Him as your “Lord.” Recognizing that Jesus is Lord is central to the Christian faith, and it is the most important decision of your life.
If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom. 10:9)
What does Lord mean? When referring to Jesus, it is much more than a title of respect and honor.
In the Gospels, Jesus was identified by the angels announcing His birth as “Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11). Those who came to Him for help frequently referred to Him as “Lord” (Matt. 8:2, 6, 25; 9:6; 14:28-30; 15:22-28; 17:15; 20:30-34; Luke 23:39-43). Peter, when overwhelmed with a sense of his own sinfulness, called Jesus “Lord” (Luke 5:8). A blind man who had been healed by Jesus worshipped Him as “Lord” (John 9:35-38). In acknowledging Jesus to be the Source of life, Martha of Bethany called Jesus “Lord” as He was about to raise her brother Lazarus from death (John 11:21-27). The adoring crowds called Jesus “Lord” as they welcomed Him as their Messiah (Matt. 21:9). After His resurrection, He was worshipped as “Lord” (John 20:28). Jesus also identified Himself as Lord (Matt. 12:8; 22:41-45; John 13:12-15).
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