September 10, 2021
The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works. Psalm 145:17
“For I am the LORD, I do not change.” Malachi 3:6a
Jesus said to [Philip], “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:9
Satan has gone to great lengths to create false discrepancies in the character attributes of God by distorting them into human attributes. The Old Testament God: capricious, angry, vindictive! New Testament God: “easy-going,” “laid back” and “cool”! If the enemy can succeed in creating perceived irreconcilable differences, or “divine schizophrenia” among the attributes of God—and he has—then vast passages of scripture end up on the “cutting room floor” of people’s minds. It also opens the door to pride, the worst sort of which is self-sufficiency: to think you know better than God, leaving Him out of your decision making. Rather than allow such teachings to shape your paradigm, make a study of the mercy of God (coming tomorrow).
A vision of a sinless world is seen in the first three chapters of His Word. From the day of man’s fall into sin, we see a loving God who came down to bring hope: the hope of salvation from sin’s devastation. The distinction that we should discern is actually between sinlessness and sinfulness. At creation and for some time beyond, creaturely life was without sin or violence. But now: a fallen and deeply compromised world. In the Scriptures, we see our perfectly holy God navigating the abominable practices that “self-sufficient” people have generated, fashioned, fabricated and manufactured. Throughout this world’s history, the Great Shepherd has gently continued to lead the objects of His divine love back onto the correct path, holding individuals accountable for what they understand. His divine forbearance amid past abominations as He patiently and gently revealed Himself, is not a provision to plead for ourselves the ignorance of other persons. Today His Word, in its entirety, is accessible.
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all people everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30
Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:24b-26