God
is sovereign, he knows us better than we know ourselves, he knows us
intimately. God cannot be surprised by the things we do, no matter how
terrible, because he knows before we even do them. And the most wonderful
thing is that he has already forgiven us for all our sins - past present
and future.
This
does not give us a license to sin, instead, it shows us that there is
nothing we can do to earn our salvation. We are cleansed and sanctified,
we have been made holy by the blood of Jesus. No amount of good work
we do will make us righteous. Instead we are thankful to God for what
he has done and because of this we desire to to good -- That he may
be glorified.
But
in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give
an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope
that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a
clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your
good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 1
Peter 3:15-16
But
avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels
about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a
divisive person once and then warn him a second time. After that have
nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped
and sinful; he is self condemned. Titus 3:9-11
Keep
reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling
about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of
truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will
become more ungodly. II Timothy 2:14-16
Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments,
because you know they induce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant
must not quarrel, instead he must be kind to everyone, able to teach,
not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the
hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge
of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from
the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:22-24
It
has been stated several times: "If God can do anything, why can't
He lie, or cheat, or steal, or hate, or commit any of various vices?"
The
answer is that we are looking at the problem from the completely wrong
perspective. We think that all vice is an action in itself. We can lie
to another person, cheat on a test, steal from a store, hate another person,
etc. They are all verbs, actions taken. However the actual case is that
to lie is not the opposite of telling the truth, it is the
absence of truth. To cheat is not the opposite of honesty,
it is the absence of honesty. Hate is not only the opposite
of love, hate is the absence of love.
God
is love. Therefore to be capable of hating someone (hating evil is an
entirely different story) God would have to empty himself of His love.
God is the way, the truth and the life. To be able to lie, God would
have to stop being truth. Evil is not doing bad things, we all manage
to do that, evil is the absence of good. A person lacking love, honesty,
self-control, most or all virtues would be considered evil.
Having
made the statement that hating evil is different from hating a person,
one must realise that God must hate evil. He does not hate those who
do evil, He hates the evil that the man (or woman) does. Evil occurs
most often when man empties himself of virtue, upholding vice. Satan
is said to be God's ape, creating lust for love, lies for truth, etc.
In reality, Satan is by no means that creative. Satan did not create
lust, he merely took God's love and drained it, giving it's empty container
to man, the hollow shell of it's former purpose.
It
is known that in the old testament, God destroyed whole cities, tribes,
and nations. People ask "how then, if He is good, could He do those
things? Take the instance (quite famous now) of Sodom. God destroyed
Sodom with fire and brimstone, how could He do that?"
The
answer is that the people of Sodom were completely debase of any moral
virtue whatsoever. They were so completely emptied of any shred of human
decency (yeah, oxymoron.) God, being a righteous judge could not sit
by and let that continue, even then He rescued the only innocent people
out of the city before He destroyed it. Quite simply put, toleration of
sin is a vice in itself, and God cannot tolerate evil forever.
©
Thanks
to Glenn for allowing me to use his post from the Rock
for Life web site!
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