How do you see God?

God’s righteousness demands that every sin be punished to the uttermost and the wages of sin is death. He cannot bend the Law for anyone; His word says “righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.” Even we would be appalled if a human judge bent the rules for some people sometimes. But because God is Love and He loved us so, He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die the death that we should die.

At the cross is the greatest expression of love: God's righteousness and justice met with His love to bring us Salvation (literally Yeshua.)

With Christ as your righteousness, you will not continue to live in sin because Christ lives in you and leads you on the path of righteousness. Whenever we who are His sheep stumble or fall, the Lord our Shepherd rights us. God will never punish us because Christ already took our punishment when He hung on the cross for us. God disciplines us but His correction is never unto death; not with any of the things that Christ gave Himself to save us from. His correction is for our profit, that we may share in His holiness and that we might yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness, this according to Hebrews 12. What father does not discipline his own children? And because He is the one who trains us up in the way that we should go, in Christ, we don’t HAVE TO live right; we GET TO live right.

Many among us who grew up in Christian homes are disenchanted with God and the church. Many have left the church. The opinion of the world out there about the God isn't any better. The message that they are hearing about Him is is:

"You'd better stop sinning, repent and do your best to obey the law or else God will punish you" or “Get right with God or get left behind.” etc.

Because of this false doctrine that is being peddled in many places of worship, many see God as a hard Taskmaster who is just waiting in the wings for believers to sin so He can punish or let the devil have a go at one. Christians as a self-righteous people who think they are better than others because of their religion. They see angry preachers who are all about God demanding righteousness from the sinner and is intent on raining down punishment on anyone that does not abide by His laws. Some Christians even see God (wrongly) as a hard Taskmaster who will not bless unless you first grovel, go hungry, obey His law, do good deeds, sow seed and pay tithe.

Notice no Christ in this false equation of salvation? It is all about what you must do in order to be righteous, escape God's wrath and get the blessing and not what Christ has done. But Romans 5:9 tells us:

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Believer, NEVER means NEVER. In Christ, we will never experience the wrath of God, not because God has gone soft on sin but because Another took our suffering and died our death.

By grace, I see God as my Daddy who loves me to the uttermost- so much that He sacrificed His greatest Treasure- Jesus Christ- for me to have abundant life. The love of our earthly fathers cannot hold a candle to His love for us. What would you not do to make your own child live in triumph over sin and death and inherit your wealth if you had all the power to do so? Would you first expect him to grovel and beg like an outsider before feeding him? How much more our Abba Father who has poured out His grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) on us in all "wisdom and prudence" (Ephesians 1:7-8) and not recklessly that it needs "balancing" by human hands who try to add law to grace and so are "neither cold nor hot?"

This false doctrine that is being peddled by false preachers says believers will still face God's wrath that Christ bore for us unless we deploy our own arm of flesh that will fail aka human effort to doing right and obeying the law in order to be perfect before God. This is an effort in futility, "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are." Romans 3:20.

This "obey the law to get/remain right with God" doctrine is not of Christ. It is what the Pharisees and teachers of religious law believed and practiced. They demanded righteousness from others yet they could not cast the first stone...no one can.

We who are living more than 2,000 years after the Pharisees can't help but dislike them when we read about them in the Bible or watch that old movie "Jesus of Nazareth." They seem so pompous and proud, always boasting in their ability to obey the law, acting as custodians and enforcers of the law, pointing out sins, dishing out punishment for sinners and eager to give the woman caught in adultery the punishment of death that she very much deserved, even though they could not cast the first stone. Christ showed them that they were no better than the woman they were about to kill. Instead of them to remain in the Light of the world and be saved from their sins, they slunk back into their darkness of trying to obey the law to get right with God. They rejected Christ, Grace-personified, for human effort at attaining righteousness before God.

This is no different from what is going on in many places of worship today. Christ is being rejected by many of these our "big pastors" and many followers too who teach and believe that their right-standing with God and having eternal life is based on their ability to obey the law and do good works; those who, like the Pharisees, deceive themselves by believing that "God blessed me because I did my best to obey the law, paid my tithe and don't wear make-up and jewellery." These things amount to "a menstrual rag" before God according to Isaiah 64:6-

"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."

Christ's death is meaningless in the life of anyone who thinks that his own obedience of the law amounts to anything before God: "I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die." Galatians 2:21

Titus 2:14 tells us: "He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

But with this false doctrine, the focus is on how God will punish sinners if they don't obey and not on Christ's love, how He frees us from every sin and judgment and transforms even the vilest offender to live right! It is no surprise that the world sees many Christians the same way we see the Pharisees and teachers of religious law: bigoted, pompous and self-righteous. No one wants to have anything to do with such people.

Believer, this horrid mixture that is neither Law nor Grace is not the gospel of Christ! Jesus saved the adulterous woman from the death that she very much deserved, free of charge, but "pastor" will tell you who believe to go and oney the Ten Commandments, fast and sow seed before God will deliver you from the troubles of your own making! No amount of fasting, promises to obey the law or begging could have saved the sinner woman from the punishment that the law demanded, just as no amount of fasting, tithing and sowing seed can help anyone escape God's wrath.

Believer, we are not under law but under Grace where sin does not have dominion. Try to obey the law in order to be godly and sin will have dominion, "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14.

Anyone who depends on the law (human effort at obedience) in a bid to get right with God or receive from Him is cursed- Galatians 3:10:

"But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under His curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” No one can.

We know these verses by heart —

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3.

— but somehow, many of of us miss its meaning. Believers are being taught the false message that they will perish in hell and miss out on eternal life that God gave His own Son up for us to have as a gift if they don't obey the law in order to be godly. Why then did Christ die? Romans 6:23 says:

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The wages of sin is death. We were all appointed to die once and Christ died that death once according to Hebrews 9. Eternal life is a gift through Christ, not something a person earns.

As for the one who is looking for Salvation from sins, he hears: "Stop sinning, repent and come to Christ or else you will burn in hell." As if we could change ourselves. Are you a believer? This is why we believe: John 6:43-46 (MSG)

"Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over Me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent Me is in charge. He draws people to Me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do My work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End...."

It is the goodness of God that leads to repentance, not threats of God's wrath that He gave His own Son to save us from. When the love of Christ and His gift of righteousness to the sinner who believes is unveiled from the pulpit, the people will live right and love proclaiming Jesus too. It is His "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "go and sin no more."

Check out His way with sinners who encountered Him throughout the gospels. Just imagine what would have happened if He had yelled His disgust at the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob and told her to go and "repent" before He deigned to bless her. She had had five husbands and was living in adultery with a sixth man. No word of condemnation or judgment to her from our Saviour Jesus Christ. He even complimented her for being truthful with her "coded" response about having no husband. She ended up proclaiming Jesus in her village.

Believer, this is the Good News (gospel) of Christ- Romans 1:16-17:

"For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. 17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

And how does God make us right in His sight? See this in Romans 3:

"26...for He himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law."

The law is not of faith. But because of wrong teaching, many depend on their own ability to obey the law to get right with God so that they can get the blessing, just like the Pharisees. This is being faithless. Believer, let's not be found here. The gospel is not "obey the law and God will bless you; do bad and God will beat you." No Jesus in the equation. The Pharisees believed and taught this and we can't stand them. But none of them could cast the first stone. They demanded from God's people what even they could not do, like many church leaders today. It is not surprising that the world sees churchgoers as a bunch of bigoted, hypocritical liars. Everyday, they see "holy" leaders who act like they are sinless making bigoted, hateful and divisive statements and doing things that Christ never did and can never do.

 Everyday, the world laughs when pastors and leaders that pride themselves in their own righteousness and ability to obey the law are exposed as being unable to cast the first stone. (No sin is beneath anybody. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some people think that some sins are beneath them and that they can obey the law.)

But notorious sinners and the despised tax collectors always drew near to Jesus. He never condemned anyone the way we who are supposed to His ambassadors are doing today. People have not changed since He walked the earth as a Man. Sinners will follow Jesus and get transformed when His love and "no condemnation" for even the vilest offender is unveiled from the pulpit. The vilest offender who believes can never remain the same. Only when we receive God's abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death, including all of its symptoms of sickness, lack, depression, etc:

"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:17.

The spirit of the antichrist is not anti-God. In fact, it is all for attaining godliness — but by human effort. It denies the power of God in making the sinner who believes in Jesus righteous by Christ's shed blood. It preaches that you have to make yourself godly (be like God) by your own human effort at obeying the law. Same strategy that Satan used on Eve in the garden of Eden when he told her that she would be godly (be like God) if she did something by human effort.

Believer, God Himself made the Way for us to be godly (be like God) and it is through the suffering of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied of His suffering for us in Isaiah 53. See the effect of His sacrifice for us in Isaiah 53:11-

"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."

But preachers of what Paul called “doctrines of demons” in 2 Timothy 4:1 will tell you: "Now that you are born-again, you have to obey the law in order to be godly and escape God's wrath and make it to heaven." Everything that Christ died that we might freely have! This is the same strategy that Satan used to deceive Eve when he told her that that she would be godly (be like God) if she did something by human effort. But God had already made her godly; just as He has made all who believe in Jesus godly because we believe. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the law that many are trying to obey in order to be godly (be like God) in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)-

"The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me...."

Satan, through his ministers who pretend to be for Christ, is still seducing people to eat of the forbidden fruit aka the Law in order to be godly. It seemed good to Eve to eat, just as it seems good for many to strive to be godly by obeying the law, afterall what is bad in doing one's best to obey the law in order to be godly? But God's word says "the letter of the law kills." Proverbs 14:12 counsels us:

"There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."

The pulpit is not a place to unveil the sins of sinners. It is not a place to unveil the good works or virtues of a pastor. It is not a place for politics. It is not a place to unveil the Ten Commandments and which person is not doing what. People are already aware of their sins and are looking for the Way out.

The pulpit is a place to unveil the love of Christ for the world, His salvation from sin and death that is free for all who believe and His power to transform even the vilest offender who believes to a life of righteousness- nothing to do with what we do/did. All to do with what Christ has done.

All made possible because “For God so loved the world…”

Right believing always produces right living.