Have you ever heard someone say, "Well, the God I worship" and then they fill in the rest of that statement with some cardinal belief that, if you disagree, demonstrates that you both do not worship the same God. "Well, the God I worship loves all people, and He would not send anyone to Hell for loving who they want to love--or for living in this life how they desire within themselves to behave and to think."
Have you ever heard someone say, "How could a loving God" and then they fill in the rest of that statement with an issue that seems incompatible with belief in a "loving" God. "How could a loving God send anyone to Hell?" "How could a loving God allow His children to get sick and die?" "How could a loving God allow hunger and starvation," or "children to be used as sex slaves," or "earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes and tsunamis?" I often ask such people if their definition of love is biblical and, if not, where their definition originates. Would a "loving" God, for example, allow His children to suffer? Yes, actually (Phil. 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:19, 20, 21; 3:14, 17, 18; 4:1, 2, 12, 13, 14, 16)!
How would you respond if you discovered that the God you worship is not the God of the Bible, the God of Israel (1 Kings 8:23), the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:3) as presented in His Word? Would you change your perspective? Or would you decide that you prefer the god you presently worship to the one found in the scriptures? Did you know that the Gate leading into Hell is wide and the way, or the road, is broad that leads to eternal destruction--and that there are many who enter through it (Matt. 7:13)? Did you know that the Gate leading into Heaven is narrow and the way, or the road, is hard and difficult that leads to eternal life--and that there are few who find it (Gen. 7:14)?
THE STATE OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
I spent 11 years in The Episcopal Church (2014-2025) because I loved the Book of Common Prayer as both a guide for daily life in prayer and also for the worship of our triune God. I knew the denomination was theologically liberal. I expected the leaders and pastors to push liberal social agendas such as Critical Race Theory, LGBTQIA+ perspectives, and referring to God as Mother as well as Father. I did not expect to discover overtly damnable heresies regarding the person of Christ Jesus, or an openness to the inclusion of cults like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, or even of referring to all the religions of the world as their own unique paths to God. According to the Book of Common Prayer, you can't even be a good Episcopalian and believe the preceding nonsense, to say nothing of being a good Christian and believing such heresy.
This same Sunday School teacher led our class in a New Testament study under Ohio State University New Testament professor, the Joe R. Engle Chair in the History of Christianity and a Professor of History, Dr. David B. Brakke, who taught us that the apostle Paul never insisted that Jesus was Deity but was, contrary, the first being that God created. He misused verses from Proverbs 8:22-31 regarding wisdom, using the New Revised Standard Version (1989), "The LORD created me [wisdom] at the beginning of His work, the first of His acts of long ago" (v. 22), with Paul's words at 1 Corinthians 1:30, "He," that is, contextually, God the Father (cf. 1 Cor. 1:28, 29), "is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God." He then suggested that Paul unequivocally teaches us that Jesus is not Deity, but this time he did not use the NRSV (1989): Jesus, "though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Phil. 2:6 RSV).
If he had continued using the NRSV (1989), he would have read, "though He was in the form of God [He, Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited"--(cf. CEB, CSB, NTFE); "a prize to be displayed" (EHV); "He did not take advantage of this equality" (GW); "something to be used to His own benefit" (ERV, NCV) / "advantage" (HCSB, NIV, NIRV). The NRSVue (updated edition 2021), which once gave clarity to the passage, has chosen to replace clarity for wooden literalness, He "did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped," so that those with an anti-Christ agenda among theological liberals can garner perceived translational weight for their heresies in dethroning Jesus. I barked back: "This is rank heresy! This issue was settled 1700 years ago!" But the Sunday School teacher sided with Dr. Brakke.
Once again, a person cannot even be a good Episcopalian and deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, to say nothing of a good Christian! Every week we recite the Nicene Creed as our Standard of the Faith: "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father" (BCP, 358). The Catechism of the Episcopal Church states of Jesus: "The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father ... whereof is one Christ, very God, and very Man" (II. Of the Word or Son of God). The Creed of Athanasius affirms the same: "For the right Faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man. ... This is the [one and only] Catholic [Universal] Faith, which except a [person] believe faithfully, he [and she] cannot be saved" (BCP, 865).
THE EPISCOPAL GOD
I remember being attracted to Anglicanism in particular through discovering the Book of Common Prayer, and The Episcopal Church as a means of experiencing Anglicanism, and I was talking with my college professor about it because he used to be Episcopalian. He said to me, "Son, I don't think they worship the same God that you do." That comment was like a punch to the gut. That statement, coupled with The Episcopal Church's stance on affirming LGBTQIA+ people to the priesthood and bishopric, kept me from joining for over two and a half years.
But the reason why I chose to join in 2014 was because I knew that the liberals in the denomination allowed for conservatives to maintain the integrity of their consciences within a conservative theological framework. So I thought to myself that perhaps I could be used of the Lord to influence parishioners away from the liberalism that they have been taught. I didn't realize, however, that decades of liberal teaching was so entrenched in their hearts and minds that any contrary views, especially from one so zealous for biblical truths, was deemed as disruptive, divisive, and to be avoided at all costs. In a recent letter from our Bishop, we were asked to pray for those in our nation and in our towns and federal and local governments who were causing divisions, and those persons were alluded to without naming them specifically. But the dog whistle was loud enough regardless: conservatives, political and theological, are those who cause divisions and stir up hatred among us.
The Episcopal god is a nice and polite and jolly Santa-Claus god who affirms every little whim your sinful heart can imagine. This god is so overjoyed by all your little sinful quirks that he just can't help himself but to pour out "love" upon you. There is nothing wrong with you--except, perhaps, that you don't embrace his "love" for you and you don't embrace who you are in this life--a life that is all about you. This god did not sacrifice his son Jesus as some divine child abuser. But he did allow evil men to kill Jesus in an effort to display non-violent resistance as the way to combat wickedness. The Bible is merely the opinions of men who have oftentimes misunderstood god. There is some divinity sprinkled and inspired throughout some of the Bible but its errors and contradictions are rife, varied, and too many to count. This god will accept all of humanity into his kingdom and "fix" their theological errors when they arrive. This is a false god for a woefully false church.
Are there not some wonderful people in these churhes? Without a doubt, yes, and thankfully some of them truly are born again brothers and sisters in Christ! The issue at hand isn't about the people themselves but the beliefs they tolerate--and even some of that is not their fault but only what they have been falsely taught for decades. In a sense, they are victims, but victims who cannot recognize biblical truth because the Bible has been used as a weapon against them. Most of them even insist that no one is saved by what ones believes. I beg to differ!
THE BIBLICAL GOD
Already, some people will read this and think I am being mean-spirited, hateful and divisive. Such people fail to see that a biblical perspective of God, and a proper theology, is the most loving and saving way to live in this brief time on earth. Wolves want to trap you in a false system of religion to keep you away from the true God--and there are false versions of God (Rom. 1:25; 1 John 4:1), false versions of Christ Jesus (Matt. 24:23-25; John 14:6; 2 Cor. 11:3, 4), and false gospels (Gal. 1:6, 7, 8, 9) in many churches and denominations that will damn the soul who is deceived by them. Jesus even warned us: "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves" (Matt. 7:15 ESV); "For false christs and false prophets [proclaimers, preachers] will arise, and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (Matt. 24:24 ESV). Is Jesus being divisive and unloving for warning people about heresies and deception?
The apostle Paul warned us: "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound [right, orthodox] teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions [preachers who tell them what they want to hear], and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths" (2 Tim. 4:3-4 ESV). The Greek words referring to having "itching ears" pictures "an uncomfortable irritation that demands relief. Applied to hearing, it portrays listeners who crave novel, stimulating ideas rather than wholesome teaching. The figure implies restlessness, self-gratification, and a willingness to exchange truth for whatever temporarily soothes the sensation." This is an epidemic in our worldwide culture. This is why liberal churches and charismatic-fringe so-called churches, such as NAR-type Charismatic churches, garner such appeal to people in this twisted culture: they tell them not what they need to hear, true biblical doctrine, but sensational messages that "tickle their fancy," appeal to their senses, revealing that their emotions are their god (Phil. 3:19 GW).
The apostle Peter also warned us: "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves [and those who listen to them] swift [and eternal] destruction" (2 Pet. 2:1 ESV). A loving person despises heresy, false teaching, and warns people of the eternally-destructive nature of heresy. A hateful person is steeped in deception and misleads would-be followers of Jesus who could be saved by God's grace through faith in Christ. "I have often told you, and now tell you with tears in my eyes," writes Paul, "that many live as the enemies of the Cross of Christ. In the end they will be destroyed. Their own emotions are their god and they take pride in the shameful things they do. Their minds are set on worldly things" (Phil. 3:18-19 GW); "Those who live by the corrupt nature have the corrupt nature's attitude. ... The corrupt nature's attitude leads to death. ... This is so because the corrupt nature has a hostile attitude toward God. It refuses to place itself under the authority of God's standards because it can't. Those who are under the control of the corrupt nature can't please God" (Rom. 8:5-8 GW). If we are to know and trust and love the Biblical God then we must learn about Him in the only infallible, inerrant, written Revelation of God--the Bible.
THE WORD OF GOD
First, every word of God is inspired / breathed out by God / God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16 NASB; 2 Tim. 3:16 ESV; 2 Tim. 3:16 NIV)--theópneustos, from theós, God, and pnéō, to breathe out--the words are the very breath of God; and the Word of God is "able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation [by grace, cf. Eph. 2:5, 8] through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15); the Bible is "useful for teaching, rebuking [the only rebuking The Episcopal Church knows is rebuking orthodoxy], correcting [see previous comment] and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NIV 1984). Scripture, containing the 39 Books of the Old Testament and the 27 Books of the New Testament of the Protestant Canon, is the only authoritative, infallible, irrefragable, inerrantly-written Revelation of the character, the nature and the sovereign will of our triune God (Ps. 19:1-14; 119:1-8; 9-16, 60; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; 2 Pet. 1:16-21).
The Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, so that it cuts going in and it cuts going out, and it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit--it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Heb. 4:12). The reason why skeptics and unbelievers do not embrace the Bible as the written Revelation of God is because they are spiritually unable (1 Cor. 2:6-14): only born-again believers receive the Bible as the infallible and inerrant Revelation of God because the Breath of God, i.e. Scripture, is "at work in you who believe" (1 Thess. 2:13 NIV). When Jesus said that the Word of God "cannot be broken" (John 10:35), luthēnai, loosed, released or destroyed, He is teaching us that the Word of God "cannot be 'broken' in the sense of being shown to be in error." Churches that reject the Word of God reject the God of the Word.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
Second, our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is One (Deut. 6:4), is sovereign (Ex. 4:11; Deut. 32:39; 1 Chron. 29:11, 2 Chron. 20:6; 12; Job 42:2; Ps. 103:19; 115:3; 135:6; Prov. 16:4, 9, 33; 19:21; 20:24; 21:1; Isa. 14:24, 27; 45:7; 46:10; Jer. 14:22; Dan. 2:21; 4:35; Eph. 1:11; Col. 1:16; 1 Tim. 6:15), each Person eternally equal to that of the other Person, and this One God is sovereign over all creation. The Father creates (Isa. 64:8; 1 Cor. 8:5, 6), the Son creates (John 1:1, 2, 3; Col. 1:15, 16, 17, 18; Heb. 1:1, 2, 3), and the Holy Spirit creates (Gen. 1:2; Job 33:4; Ps. 104:30). You better be careful when you suggest that "a loving God would not" and then complete that statement with your own imagination of what the character of God means to you. The question is not what you think a loving God would or would not do but what the written Revelation of the character and nature of God is in reality. Our theology must originate from the written Revelation of God as declared in His holy Word.
THE LOVE OF GOD
Third, yes, God is love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16; cf. Ps. 145:8; Rom. 8:38, 39). God does not merely have / possess love but is, by nature, love. But what does that mean, and what are we to conclude, and what is love biblically? His Word teaches: "We know love," agapé (affection, good-will, love which centers in moral preference), "by this: that He laid down His life for us--and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16). So God's love is affectionate, self-sacrificial, and preferential. That latter idea is entirely absent from liberal American and European cultures. But does not God love, have personal affection for, is self-sacrificial toward, good-willed and preferential toward every single person in the entire world who has ever or who will ever exist (John 3:16)? Savingly, no. God will not save all people. This fact is so established throughout the entirety of the Bible that I am actually embarrassed for the people who say otherwise (Matt. 7:13, 14, 21, 22, 23; John 3:36). There is a Heaven to be gained in Jesus (Rev. 21:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 22:3, 4, 5, 14) and a Hell to shun (Rev. 21:8; 22:15).
In our reality, God expresses His general love for the creatures created in His image daily, as He is constantly willing to save anyone who will call upon the Name of Jesus, to save them from their sins, which bring about the wrath of God (John 1:11, 12; Rom. 10:9, 10, 13; 1 Tim. 2:3, 4, 5; 2 Pet. 3:7, 8, 9). Daily, God patiently tolerates sinners mocking Him, defying Him and behaving wickedly without self-restraint. He sustains our very existence, even of billions who despise Him, every moment of every day because of His love (Acts 17:28). So, in spite of the fact that few will be saved (Matt. 7:13, 14), God displays His love. But God also displays His justice (Ps. 11:7; cf. Ps. 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). No one ever receives injustice from God--such is impossible. People either receive justice or mercy (cf. Rom. 9:11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23; 11:30, 31, 32).
THE HATRED OF GOD
Does God hate anyone? Yes, actually, He does hate people. Here is a list of just a few biblical samples that could be amply multiplied:
CONCLUSION
We cannot know the God of the Bible if we neglect the Bible. Neglect of the Bible is motivated by devilish ideas that the Bible is full of errors and contradictions. The notion is stupid. But that overall idea is born of devils who want to distract you and ultimately distance you from a God who redeems sinners. The agenda of Jesus is to save you and give you abundant life, meaning, eternal life with Him (John 10:9, 10b). The agenda of devils is to destroy you (John 10:10a; 1 Pet. 5:8). They whisper heretical statements to your heart and mind because that is where the battlefield is for your soul (2 Cor. 10:4, 5, 6). If the true meaning of the Gospel and Biblical Truth is hidden from your eyes then that is the work of the enemy (2 Cor. 4:4, 5, 6); and the enemy will use anyone he can to see to your eternal state in Hell. He uses skeptics, agnostics and atheists to deceive and influence you, and he can even use orthodox (right, sound, true) and Bible-loving believers in Christ Jesus the King.
You can read a post like this, filled with truths of God's Word, and the enemy of your soul can whisper into your mind that I am one of those religious fanatics who believes in God-magic, in fairy tales and legends, mocking and deriding all that is presented here. You may even get a good laugh at all this--and that is exactly what he intended. There is no shame in demons. They will use and twist God's Word in order to deceive even the most innocent. Your only hope, then, is to run to Christ! Embrace the Word of God and the absolute Truth of God and run to His open arms. Cry out to Him that you believe His Word, you believe His Son, and ask to become one of His own (John 1:11, 12, 13). Find a Bible-believing church and begin your new life in Christ. If a persons' view of God does not come from His Book then reject it immediately!
Have you ever heard someone say, "How could a loving God" and then they fill in the rest of that statement with an issue that seems incompatible with belief in a "loving" God. "How could a loving God send anyone to Hell?" "How could a loving God allow His children to get sick and die?" "How could a loving God allow hunger and starvation," or "children to be used as sex slaves," or "earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes and tsunamis?" I often ask such people if their definition of love is biblical and, if not, where their definition originates. Would a "loving" God, for example, allow His children to suffer? Yes, actually (Phil. 1:29; 1 Pet. 1:19, 20, 21; 3:14, 17, 18; 4:1, 2, 12, 13, 14, 16)!
How would you respond if you discovered that the God you worship is not the God of the Bible, the God of Israel (1 Kings 8:23), the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:3) as presented in His Word? Would you change your perspective? Or would you decide that you prefer the god you presently worship to the one found in the scriptures? Did you know that the Gate leading into Hell is wide and the way, or the road, is broad that leads to eternal destruction--and that there are many who enter through it (Matt. 7:13)? Did you know that the Gate leading into Heaven is narrow and the way, or the road, is hard and difficult that leads to eternal life--and that there are few who find it (Gen. 7:14)?
THE STATE OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
I spent 11 years in The Episcopal Church (2014-2025) because I loved the Book of Common Prayer as both a guide for daily life in prayer and also for the worship of our triune God. I knew the denomination was theologically liberal. I expected the leaders and pastors to push liberal social agendas such as Critical Race Theory, LGBTQIA+ perspectives, and referring to God as Mother as well as Father. I did not expect to discover overtly damnable heresies regarding the person of Christ Jesus, or an openness to the inclusion of cults like Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons, or even of referring to all the religions of the world as their own unique paths to God. According to the Book of Common Prayer, you can't even be a good Episcopalian and believe the preceding nonsense, to say nothing of being a good Christian and believing such heresy.
- Incidentally, I had a change of views on church government (rejecting infant baptism with its covenantal contexts), as well as the practice of prayer in formal worship and private devotion. I could not remain Anglican any longer even if I could tolerate all the liberal heresies.
This same Sunday School teacher led our class in a New Testament study under Ohio State University New Testament professor, the Joe R. Engle Chair in the History of Christianity and a Professor of History, Dr. David B. Brakke, who taught us that the apostle Paul never insisted that Jesus was Deity but was, contrary, the first being that God created. He misused verses from Proverbs 8:22-31 regarding wisdom, using the New Revised Standard Version (1989), "The LORD created me [wisdom] at the beginning of His work, the first of His acts of long ago" (v. 22), with Paul's words at 1 Corinthians 1:30, "He," that is, contextually, God the Father (cf. 1 Cor. 1:28, 29), "is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God." He then suggested that Paul unequivocally teaches us that Jesus is not Deity, but this time he did not use the NRSV (1989): Jesus, "though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Phil. 2:6 RSV).
If he had continued using the NRSV (1989), he would have read, "though He was in the form of God [He, Jesus] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited"--(cf. CEB, CSB, NTFE); "a prize to be displayed" (EHV); "He did not take advantage of this equality" (GW); "something to be used to His own benefit" (ERV, NCV) / "advantage" (HCSB, NIV, NIRV). The NRSVue (updated edition 2021), which once gave clarity to the passage, has chosen to replace clarity for wooden literalness, He "did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped," so that those with an anti-Christ agenda among theological liberals can garner perceived translational weight for their heresies in dethroning Jesus. I barked back: "This is rank heresy! This issue was settled 1700 years ago!" But the Sunday School teacher sided with Dr. Brakke.
Once again, a person cannot even be a good Episcopalian and deny the Deity of Jesus Christ, to say nothing of a good Christian! Every week we recite the Nicene Creed as our Standard of the Faith: "We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father" (BCP, 358). The Catechism of the Episcopal Church states of Jesus: "The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father ... whereof is one Christ, very God, and very Man" (II. Of the Word or Son of God). The Creed of Athanasius affirms the same: "For the right Faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man. ... This is the [one and only] Catholic [Universal] Faith, which except a [person] believe faithfully, he [and she] cannot be saved" (BCP, 865).
THE EPISCOPAL GOD
I remember being attracted to Anglicanism in particular through discovering the Book of Common Prayer, and The Episcopal Church as a means of experiencing Anglicanism, and I was talking with my college professor about it because he used to be Episcopalian. He said to me, "Son, I don't think they worship the same God that you do." That comment was like a punch to the gut. That statement, coupled with The Episcopal Church's stance on affirming LGBTQIA+ people to the priesthood and bishopric, kept me from joining for over two and a half years.
But the reason why I chose to join in 2014 was because I knew that the liberals in the denomination allowed for conservatives to maintain the integrity of their consciences within a conservative theological framework. So I thought to myself that perhaps I could be used of the Lord to influence parishioners away from the liberalism that they have been taught. I didn't realize, however, that decades of liberal teaching was so entrenched in their hearts and minds that any contrary views, especially from one so zealous for biblical truths, was deemed as disruptive, divisive, and to be avoided at all costs. In a recent letter from our Bishop, we were asked to pray for those in our nation and in our towns and federal and local governments who were causing divisions, and those persons were alluded to without naming them specifically. But the dog whistle was loud enough regardless: conservatives, political and theological, are those who cause divisions and stir up hatred among us.
The Episcopal god is a nice and polite and jolly Santa-Claus god who affirms every little whim your sinful heart can imagine. This god is so overjoyed by all your little sinful quirks that he just can't help himself but to pour out "love" upon you. There is nothing wrong with you--except, perhaps, that you don't embrace his "love" for you and you don't embrace who you are in this life--a life that is all about you. This god did not sacrifice his son Jesus as some divine child abuser. But he did allow evil men to kill Jesus in an effort to display non-violent resistance as the way to combat wickedness. The Bible is merely the opinions of men who have oftentimes misunderstood god. There is some divinity sprinkled and inspired throughout some of the Bible but its errors and contradictions are rife, varied, and too many to count. This god will accept all of humanity into his kingdom and "fix" their theological errors when they arrive. This is a false god for a woefully false church.
Are there not some wonderful people in these churhes? Without a doubt, yes, and thankfully some of them truly are born again brothers and sisters in Christ! The issue at hand isn't about the people themselves but the beliefs they tolerate--and even some of that is not their fault but only what they have been falsely taught for decades. In a sense, they are victims, but victims who cannot recognize biblical truth because the Bible has been used as a weapon against them. Most of them even insist that no one is saved by what ones believes. I beg to differ!
- John the Baptizer came as a witness, to testify about the Light [Jesus], so that all might believe through him (John 1:7);
- But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name (John 1:12);
- He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him (John 3:36 NKJV; cf. John 3:36 NASB, where "obey" implies "belief," and see also John 6:29, 36, 37, 40);
- I told you that you would die in your sins. Yes, if you don't believe that I Am [cf. Exod. 3:14, 15; John 8:58], you will die in your sins (John 8:24 ERV); So he said to them, 'You will lift up the Son of Man. Then you will know that I Am [cf. Exod. 3:14, 15; John 8:58]. You will know that whatever I do is not by My own authority. You will know that I say only what the Father has taught Me' (John 8:28 ERV);
- Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me [a statement that would be blasphemous if the Son was not equal with the Father] ... I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:1, 6);
- If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Rom. 10:9-10);
THE BIBLICAL GOD
Already, some people will read this and think I am being mean-spirited, hateful and divisive. Such people fail to see that a biblical perspective of God, and a proper theology, is the most loving and saving way to live in this brief time on earth. Wolves want to trap you in a false system of religion to keep you away from the true God--and there are false versions of God (Rom. 1:25; 1 John 4:1), false versions of Christ Jesus (Matt. 24:23-25; John 14:6; 2 Cor. 11:3, 4), and false gospels (Gal. 1:6, 7, 8, 9) in many churches and denominations that will damn the soul who is deceived by them. Jesus even warned us: "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves" (Matt. 7:15 ESV); "For false christs and false prophets [proclaimers, preachers] will arise, and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (Matt. 24:24 ESV). Is Jesus being divisive and unloving for warning people about heresies and deception?
The apostle Paul warned us: "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound [right, orthodox] teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions [preachers who tell them what they want to hear], and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths" (2 Tim. 4:3-4 ESV). The Greek words referring to having "itching ears" pictures "an uncomfortable irritation that demands relief. Applied to hearing, it portrays listeners who crave novel, stimulating ideas rather than wholesome teaching. The figure implies restlessness, self-gratification, and a willingness to exchange truth for whatever temporarily soothes the sensation." This is an epidemic in our worldwide culture. This is why liberal churches and charismatic-fringe so-called churches, such as NAR-type Charismatic churches, garner such appeal to people in this twisted culture: they tell them not what they need to hear, true biblical doctrine, but sensational messages that "tickle their fancy," appeal to their senses, revealing that their emotions are their god (Phil. 3:19 GW).
The apostle Peter also warned us: "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves [and those who listen to them] swift [and eternal] destruction" (2 Pet. 2:1 ESV). A loving person despises heresy, false teaching, and warns people of the eternally-destructive nature of heresy. A hateful person is steeped in deception and misleads would-be followers of Jesus who could be saved by God's grace through faith in Christ. "I have often told you, and now tell you with tears in my eyes," writes Paul, "that many live as the enemies of the Cross of Christ. In the end they will be destroyed. Their own emotions are their god and they take pride in the shameful things they do. Their minds are set on worldly things" (Phil. 3:18-19 GW); "Those who live by the corrupt nature have the corrupt nature's attitude. ... The corrupt nature's attitude leads to death. ... This is so because the corrupt nature has a hostile attitude toward God. It refuses to place itself under the authority of God's standards because it can't. Those who are under the control of the corrupt nature can't please God" (Rom. 8:5-8 GW). If we are to know and trust and love the Biblical God then we must learn about Him in the only infallible, inerrant, written Revelation of God--the Bible.
THE WORD OF GOD
First, every word of God is inspired / breathed out by God / God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16 NASB; 2 Tim. 3:16 ESV; 2 Tim. 3:16 NIV)--theópneustos, from theós, God, and pnéō, to breathe out--the words are the very breath of God; and the Word of God is "able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation [by grace, cf. Eph. 2:5, 8] through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. 3:15); the Bible is "useful for teaching, rebuking [the only rebuking The Episcopal Church knows is rebuking orthodoxy], correcting [see previous comment] and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NIV 1984). Scripture, containing the 39 Books of the Old Testament and the 27 Books of the New Testament of the Protestant Canon, is the only authoritative, infallible, irrefragable, inerrantly-written Revelation of the character, the nature and the sovereign will of our triune God (Ps. 19:1-14; 119:1-8; 9-16, 60; 2 Tim. 3:14-17; 2 Pet. 1:16-21).
The Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, so that it cuts going in and it cuts going out, and it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit--it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Heb. 4:12). The reason why skeptics and unbelievers do not embrace the Bible as the written Revelation of God is because they are spiritually unable (1 Cor. 2:6-14): only born-again believers receive the Bible as the infallible and inerrant Revelation of God because the Breath of God, i.e. Scripture, is "at work in you who believe" (1 Thess. 2:13 NIV). When Jesus said that the Word of God "cannot be broken" (John 10:35), luthēnai, loosed, released or destroyed, He is teaching us that the Word of God "cannot be 'broken' in the sense of being shown to be in error." Churches that reject the Word of God reject the God of the Word.
THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
Second, our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is One (Deut. 6:4), is sovereign (Ex. 4:11; Deut. 32:39; 1 Chron. 29:11, 2 Chron. 20:6; 12; Job 42:2; Ps. 103:19; 115:3; 135:6; Prov. 16:4, 9, 33; 19:21; 20:24; 21:1; Isa. 14:24, 27; 45:7; 46:10; Jer. 14:22; Dan. 2:21; 4:35; Eph. 1:11; Col. 1:16; 1 Tim. 6:15), each Person eternally equal to that of the other Person, and this One God is sovereign over all creation. The Father creates (Isa. 64:8; 1 Cor. 8:5, 6), the Son creates (John 1:1, 2, 3; Col. 1:15, 16, 17, 18; Heb. 1:1, 2, 3), and the Holy Spirit creates (Gen. 1:2; Job 33:4; Ps. 104:30). You better be careful when you suggest that "a loving God would not" and then complete that statement with your own imagination of what the character of God means to you. The question is not what you think a loving God would or would not do but what the written Revelation of the character and nature of God is in reality. Our theology must originate from the written Revelation of God as declared in His holy Word.
THE LOVE OF GOD
Third, yes, God is love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 16; cf. Ps. 145:8; Rom. 8:38, 39). God does not merely have / possess love but is, by nature, love. But what does that mean, and what are we to conclude, and what is love biblically? His Word teaches: "We know love," agapé (affection, good-will, love which centers in moral preference), "by this: that He laid down His life for us--and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren" (1 John 3:16). So God's love is affectionate, self-sacrificial, and preferential. That latter idea is entirely absent from liberal American and European cultures. But does not God love, have personal affection for, is self-sacrificial toward, good-willed and preferential toward every single person in the entire world who has ever or who will ever exist (John 3:16)? Savingly, no. God will not save all people. This fact is so established throughout the entirety of the Bible that I am actually embarrassed for the people who say otherwise (Matt. 7:13, 14, 21, 22, 23; John 3:36). There is a Heaven to be gained in Jesus (Rev. 21:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7; 22:3, 4, 5, 14) and a Hell to shun (Rev. 21:8; 22:15).
In our reality, God expresses His general love for the creatures created in His image daily, as He is constantly willing to save anyone who will call upon the Name of Jesus, to save them from their sins, which bring about the wrath of God (John 1:11, 12; Rom. 10:9, 10, 13; 1 Tim. 2:3, 4, 5; 2 Pet. 3:7, 8, 9). Daily, God patiently tolerates sinners mocking Him, defying Him and behaving wickedly without self-restraint. He sustains our very existence, even of billions who despise Him, every moment of every day because of His love (Acts 17:28). So, in spite of the fact that few will be saved (Matt. 7:13, 14), God displays His love. But God also displays His justice (Ps. 11:7; cf. Ps. 11:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). No one ever receives injustice from God--such is impossible. People either receive justice or mercy (cf. Rom. 9:11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23; 11:30, 31, 32).
THE HATRED OF GOD
Does God hate anyone? Yes, actually, He does hate people. Here is a list of just a few biblical samples that could be amply multiplied:
- "For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; no evil dwells with You. The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. You destroy those who speak falsehood; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit" (Ps. 5:4-6 NASB; cf. Ps. 26:5);
- "God is a righteous judge and a God who shows His wrath every day" (Ps. 7:11 CSB; cf. 1 Thess. 1:10);
- "The LORD examines the righteous but He hates the wicked and those who love violence" (Ps. 11:5 CSB);
- "You shall not worship them or serve them [false idols / gods / ideas of the God of Israel, of Jesus His Son and His Gospel, or of the Holy Spirit]; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity [gross behavior] of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments" (Ex. 20:5);
- "There are six things which the LORD hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: the person with haughty eyes, the person with a lying tongue, the person with hands that shed innocent blood, the person with a heart that devises wicked plans, the person whose feet run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and the person who spreads strife among brothers" (Prov. 6:16-19).
CONCLUSION
We cannot know the God of the Bible if we neglect the Bible. Neglect of the Bible is motivated by devilish ideas that the Bible is full of errors and contradictions. The notion is stupid. But that overall idea is born of devils who want to distract you and ultimately distance you from a God who redeems sinners. The agenda of Jesus is to save you and give you abundant life, meaning, eternal life with Him (John 10:9, 10b). The agenda of devils is to destroy you (John 10:10a; 1 Pet. 5:8). They whisper heretical statements to your heart and mind because that is where the battlefield is for your soul (2 Cor. 10:4, 5, 6). If the true meaning of the Gospel and Biblical Truth is hidden from your eyes then that is the work of the enemy (2 Cor. 4:4, 5, 6); and the enemy will use anyone he can to see to your eternal state in Hell. He uses skeptics, agnostics and atheists to deceive and influence you, and he can even use orthodox (right, sound, true) and Bible-loving believers in Christ Jesus the King.
You can read a post like this, filled with truths of God's Word, and the enemy of your soul can whisper into your mind that I am one of those religious fanatics who believes in God-magic, in fairy tales and legends, mocking and deriding all that is presented here. You may even get a good laugh at all this--and that is exactly what he intended. There is no shame in demons. They will use and twist God's Word in order to deceive even the most innocent. Your only hope, then, is to run to Christ! Embrace the Word of God and the absolute Truth of God and run to His open arms. Cry out to Him that you believe His Word, you believe His Son, and ask to become one of His own (John 1:11, 12, 13). Find a Bible-believing church and begin your new life in Christ. If a persons' view of God does not come from His Book then reject it immediately!
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