GOD is NOT in Need: A Response to a Blasphemy. Taken from A.W. Tozer's "Knowledge of The Holy"

Knowledge Of The Holy
by
A.W. Tozer

CHAPTER 6
The Self-sufficiency of God

Teach us, O God, that nothing is necessary to Thee. Were anything necessary to Thee that thing would be the measure of Thine imperfection: and how could we worship one who is imperfect? If nothing is necessary to Thee, then no one is necessary, and if no one, then not we. Thou dost seek us though Thou does not need us. We seek Thee because we need Thee, for in Thee we live and move and have our being. Amen.

“The Father hath life in himself,” said our Lord, and it is characteristic of His teaching that He thus in a brief sentence sets forth truth so lofty as to the transcend the highest
reaches of human thought. God, He said, is self-sufficient; He is what He is in Himself, in the final meaning of those words.Whatever God is, and all that God is, He is in Himself. All life is in and from God, whether it be the lowest form of unconscious life or the highly self-conscious, intelligent life of a seraph. No creature has life in itself; all life is a gift from God. The life of God, conversely, is not a gift from another. Were there another from whom God could receive the gift of life, or indeed any gift whatever, that other would be God in fact. An elementary but correct way to think of God is as the One who contains all, who gives all that is given, but who Himself can receive nothing that He has not first given.

To admit the existence of a need in God is to admit incompleteness in the divine Being. Need is a creature-word and cannot be spoken of the Creator. God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made, but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself. His interest in His creatures arises from His sovereign good pleasure, not from any need those creatures can supply nor from any completeness they can bring to Him who is complete in Himself.

Again we must reverse the familiar flow of our thoughts and try to understand that which is unique, that which stands alone as being true in this situation and nowhere else. Our common habits of thought allow for the existence of need among created things. Nothing is complete in itself but requires something outside itself in order to exist. All breathing things need air; every organism needs food and water. Take air and water from the earth and all life would perish instantly. It may be stated as all axiom that to stay alive every created thing needs some other created thing and all things need God.
To God alone nothing is necessary.

The river grows larger by its tributaries, but where is the tributary that can enlarge the One out of whom came everything and to whose infinite fullness all creation owes its being? Unfathomable Sea: all life is out of Thee, And Thy life is Thy blissful Unity. - Frederick W. Faber

The problem of why God created the universe still troubles thinking men; but if we cannot know why, we can at least know that He did not bring His worlds into being to meet some unfulfilled need in Himself, as a man might build a house to shelter him against the winter cold or plant a field of corn to provide him with necessary food. The word necessary is wholly foreign to God. Since He is the Being supreme over all, it follows that God cannot be elevated. Nothing is above Him, nothing beyond Him. Any motion in His direction is elevation for the creature; away from Him, descent. He holds His position out of Himself and by leave of none. As no one can promote Him, so no one can degrade Him. It is written that He upholds all things by the word of His power. How can He be raised or supported by the things He upholds?Were all human beings suddenly to become blind, still the sun would shine by day and the stars by night, for these owe nothing to the millions who benefit from their light. So, were every man on earth to become atheist, it could not affect God in any way. He is what He is in Himself without regard to any other. To believe in Him adds nothing to His perfections; to doubt Him takes nothing away.

Almighty God, just because He is almighty, needs no support. The picture of a nervous, ingratiating God fawning over men to win their favor is not a pleasant one; yet if we look at the popular conception of God that is precisely what we see. Twentieth century Christianity has put God on charity. So lofty is our opinion of ourselves that we find it quite easy, not to say enjoyable, to believe that we are necessary to God. But the truth is that God is not greater for our being, nor would He be less if we did not exist. That we do exist is altogether of God’s free determination, not by our desert nor by divine necessity.

Probably the hardest thought of all for our natural egotism to entertain is that God does not need our help. We commonly represent Him as a busy, eager, somewhat frustrated Father hurrying about seeking help to carry out His benevolent plan to bring peace and salvation to the world, but, as said the Lady Julian, “I saw truly that God doeth all-thing, be it never so little.” The God who worketh all things surely needs no help and no helpers.

Too many missionary appeals are based upon this fancied frustration of Almighty God. An effective speaker can easily excite pity in his listeners, not only for the heathen but for the God who has tried so hard and so long to save them and has failed for want of support. I fear that thousands of younger persons enter Christian service from no higher motive than to help deliver God from the embarrassing situation His love has gotten Him into and His limited abilities seem unable to get Him out of. Add to this a certain degree of commendable idealism and a fair amount of compassion for the underprivileged and you have the true drive behind much Christian activity today.

Again, God needs no defenders. He is the eternal Undefended. To communicate with us in all idiom we can understand, God in the Scriptures makes full use of military terms; but surely it was never intended that we should think of the throne of the Majesty on high as being under siege, with Michael and his hosts or some other heavenly beings
defending it from stormy overthrow. So to think is to misunderstand everything the Bible would tell us about God. Neither Judaism nor Christianity could approve such puerile notions. A God who must be defended is one who can help us only while someone is helping Him. We may count upon Him only if He wins in the cosmic seesaw battle between right and wrong. Such a God could not command the respect of intelligent men; He could only excite their pity.

To be right we must think worthily of God. It is morally imperative that we purge from our minds all ignoble concepts of the Deity and let Him be the God in our minds that He is in His universe. The Christian religion has to do with God and man, but its focal point is God, not man. Man’s only claim to importance is that he was created in the divine image; in himself he is nothing. The psalmists and prophets of the Scriptures refer sad scorn to weak man whose breath is in his nostrils, who grows up like the grass in the morning only to be cut down and wither before the setting of the sun. That God exists for himself and man for the glory of God is the emphatic teaching of the Bible. The high honor of God is first in heaven as it must yet be in earth.

From all this we may begin to understand why the Holy Scriptures have so much to say about the vital place of faith and why they brand unbelief as a deadly sin. Among all created beings, not one dare trust it itself. God alone trusts in himself; all other beings must trust in Him. Unbelief is actually perverted faith, for it puts its trust not in the living God but in dying men. The unbeliever denies the self-sufficiency of God and usurps attributes that are not his. This dual sin dishonors God and ultimately destroys the soul of the man.

In His love and pity God came to us as Christ. This has been the consistent position of the Church from the days of the apostles. It is fixed for Christian belief in the doctrine of the incarnation of the Eternal Son. In recent times, however, this has come to mean something different from, and less than, what it meant to the early church. The Man Jesus as He appeared in the flesh has been equated with the Godhead and all His human weaknesses and limitations attributed to the Deity. The truth is that the Man who walked among us was a demonstration, not of unveiled deity but of perfect humanity. The awful majesty of the Godhead was mercifully sheathed in the soft envelope of Human nature to protect mankind. “Go down,” God told Moses on the mountain, “charge the people, less they break through unto the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish”; and later, “Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” Christians today appear to know Christ only after the flesh. They try to achieve communion with Him by divesting Him of His burning holiness and unapproachable majesty, the very attributes He veiled while on earth but assumed in fullness of glory upon His ascension to the Father’s right hand. The Christ of popular Christianity has a weak smile and a halo. He has become Someone-up-There who likes people, at least some people, and these are grateful but not too impressed. If they need Him, He also needs them.

Let us not imagine that the truth of the divine self-sufficiency will paralyse Christian activity. Rather it will stimulate all holy endeavor. This truth, while a needed rebuke to human self-confidence, will when viewed in its Biblical perspective lift from our minds the exhausting load of mortality and encourage us to take the easy yoke of Christ and spend ourselves in Spirit-inspired toil for the honor of God and the good of mankind. For the blessed news is that the God who needs no one has in sovereign condescension set Himself to work by and in and through His obedient children.

If all this appears self-contradictory - Amen, be it so. The various elements of truth stand in perpetual antithesis, sometimes requiring us to believe apparent opposites while we wait for the moment when we shall know as we are known. Then truth which now appears to be in conflict with itself will arise in shining unity and it will be seen that the conflict has not been in the truth but in our sin-damaged minds.

In the meanwhile our inner fulfilment lies in loving obedience to the commandments of Christ and the inspired admonitions of His apostles. “It is God which worketh in you.” He needs no one, but when faith is present He works through anyone. Two statements are in this sentence and a healthy spiritual life requires that we accept both. For a full generation the first has been in almost total eclipse, and that to our deep spiritual injury.

Fountain of good, all blessing flows From Thee; no want Thy fulness knows; What but
Thyself canst Thou desire? Yet, self-sufficient as Thou art, Thou dost desire my worthless heart. This, only this, dost Thou require. - Johann Scheffler

The Greatest Hindrance to the Advancement of the Gospel

"I am a part of a religious system that has created a whole host of means & methods for doing church that in the end require little if any help at all from the Holy Spirit of God. We don't have to fast & pray for the Church to grow, we can market for that to happen. We don't have to pray to bring the crowds in, we got publicity for that. It's dangerously possible to carry on with the means & programs of church & do them all smoothly & even be "successful" in our church culture & in the end get there & realize we've done it all & the Holy Spirit has been absent from the entire process. We've made a deadly mistake decieving ourselves mistaking the presence of physical bodies in a building for the existence of spiritual life in the Church. The greatest hindrance to the advancement of the Gospel to the nations today may be the attempt of the Church of God to do the work of God apart from the power of the Spirit of God. What if the greatest hindrance to the advancement of the Gospel is not the self indulgent immorality of our culture but the self sufficient mentality of the Church? One question, are we dependant on ourselves or are we desperate for His Spirit?" - "The Presence of Christ in the Great Commission" - By Dr. David Platt, Senior Pastor, Church at Brook Hills, Birmingham, Alabama
http://www.sbts.edu/resources/chapel/fall-2008/the-presence-of-christ-in-the-great-commission/

Martin Luther

Text: Martin Luther Trans. by Frederick H. Hedge

A mighty fortress is our God,
a bulwark never failing;
our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevaling.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate,
on earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth,
his name, from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.
And though this world,
with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us.
The Prince of Darkness grim, w
e tremble not for him; his rage we can endure,
for lo, his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours, thru him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
the body they may kill; God's truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever.

The Wife Whom You Love

it's sunday afternoon. the kids and wife are napping. i'm reading.....

Ecc 9:9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.

I resolve to do so.

Heaven, a World of Love by Jonathan Edwards

"Charity never fails: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." - 1 Corinthians 13:8-10

"That we may the better see how heaven is thus a world of holy love, I would consider, first, the great cause and fountain of love that is in heaven; second, the objects of love that it contains; third, the subjects of that love; fourth, its principle, or the love itself; fifth, the excellent circumstances in which it is there exercised and expressed and enjoyed; and, sixth, the happy effects and fruits of all this." - Jonathan Edwards

read - http://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/charity16.htm

Grace Is Not Cheap

In order to better see God's love, let us see it in the light of his Holiness. Let's pool together all the attributes of God rather than isolating Love by its self. Some will only say God loves you in order to not offend anyone by saying harsh words like sin, hate, wrath, wretched, etc........ But if you leave out sin, and the absorbing of wrath by Christ on the cross, if you leave out blood, how can there be remission of sins? Without the hard truths of the bible, you don't get the full gospel. And a partial Gospel is no Gospel at all. If you refuse to preach the Gospel to the persishing, you only show your hatred for them. If you truly loved them, you'd think of their souls and not so much their feelings. I'm not against being cool. If you can have cool music, sit on a stool in a dark lit room while drinkin' java and preach the full Gospel and remain faithful to the word, and people are coming to Christ, then I'm all for it. Keep up the good work. Free Coffee For All!! But hanging with people is not necassarily loving them. The Gospel is word and deed. We have to care for people, and meet there needs, but we must also proclaim the good news (and yes, things like wrath, and sin are included in the good news, It shows what we are, and what Christ is saving us from) that we are utterly sinful, and God hates sin, and in order to reconcile us to himself, He sent his Son to die the death he didn't deserve on a cruel cross, in him we have the absorbing of wrath, by his stripes we are healed. There is LOVE!!! The glorious amazing thing about God is not that He damns, but that He'd save any of us who repent and place faith in His Son!!! I better understand the love that God has for me by examining His holiness. I better understand God's love, I am in awe, when I contemplate the fact that I am totally depraved, I can't do good, and yet, Christ died in order to remove my crimes, and was raised from the dead that I may now live life on mission. What a great Love with which God has loved us!! He is redeeming his enemies (you and I). My good friend Jared Pete recently said this...."When Jesus says to "love your enemies"...He is speaking from experience...Jesus loves His enemies."

This post was taken from an earlier post called "in response to @danielbeckworth"
Please enjoy it...again.

Sola Fide

How Rich Am I?

Found this site. All you do is type is how much you make annually and it tells you how rich you are in relation to the rest of the world. Kayla and I are within the top 98% of the world. That seems a little rediculous. Apparently I'm mega rich. Who knew? What about you? Take the quiz. I hope this inspires us to love open handed with our finances and realize that our generation has the capabiblity to put an end to extreme poverty. Extreme poverty is defined as peoples living on less than $1.25 a day. How often do I spend that amount on useless garbage? There are around 1.4 billion people living in these conditions. That's around 20% of the world's population. Over 50% of the world's population lives on less than $2 a day. And we have the responsibility to spread God's Great Gospel and meet the spiritual and physical needs of the world.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_poverty
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_percentage_of_population_living_in_poverty

I'm the 59,029,289 richest person on earth! Discover how rich you are! >>

Sola Fide,

Daniel

p.s. Jared is almost done!

Where is Jared?

You may have read my post breaking the news of Jared's arrival to this blog. I tried to manufacture as much enthusiasm as possible while posting this. I with much anticipation foretold of his very first post. What a magnificent post it would be!! The heavens will sing!! Doves will fly!! Poverty will be abolished!!

But this has not happened. I'm sad to say that Jared has yet to post a single blog. Where are you Jared? The nations are silent in humble anticipation of your words. Your intellect is admired through the world wide web. Please come to the aide of this site!!

Sola Fide,

Daniel

The Pinnacle

At 22 I've reached the American Dream. I own a house in white suburbia. We have 2 cars which are paid for. I married my high school sweetheart. She has a fabulous job making more than most of our peers parents make. She is educated. I am an educated man. I am pursuing more education, which only leads to more wealth. When in log into our banking info, I'm shocked at how much money we have/have the capacity to save. I have a fenced backyard (all it needs to be complete is a dog). Flat screen televisions, electronics, furniture, closets full of clothes. My parents (and most likely yours as well) told me those things are what comprise the good life. Love your wife, pay your bills, and raise up your children, get a raise, come home and watch t.v. I've done all of this (with the exception of kids). At 22, I've reached the pinnacle of the American Dream. The dream that the culture has bought into, as well as God's church. I was told that all of these things would make me content. But, they do not. I reached the dream and it wasn't what I thought it would be. My life is filled with all this stuff. But I feel empty. There has got to be more. I've been plauged by this new discovery. That my happiness is not contengent on my social status or my net income. And this is not a new concept to me. I've known this for what seems like eternity. You can't truly understand this until you yourself are placed in this situation.

More to come.

Sola Fide,
Daniel

BTW, Curtis suggested I add this picture to the blog. I think it is fitting.

School Begins

My last semester at Auburn University. Many claim this moment is bitter sweet. The accomplishment of completing a degree yet the loss of friends, the college scene, etc......
I hear students remark of how surreal it is to reach completion.

I don't feel that way. I'm just ready to be done. At this point, my bachelors degree only seems like the object that stands in between me and my future. I'm ready for that object to be removed.

New Member

Good news, JaredPete will now join me in my venture to rule the world of blog. It used to be me, all alone, the lone wolf. But now, I've added a new member to the pack. Wish Jared a warm welcome. He's working on his first post now. Should be interesting.....

Daniel

in response to @danielbeckworth

It seems that my blog post has not been to popular with some of you. I've receieved a few comments, a lot of direct messages and emails in opposition to the content that I previously posted. I've been told content of my blog is not loving, not uplifting, not true, no fun, no compassion, etc.........What I like most about all the opposition is that .........
1.) I mostly posted a ton of bible verses and tried to keep commenting to a minimal so the verses could speak for themselves. The bible is like a lion, unleash it and it will defend itself.
2.) Based on this, those who oppose the post don't really have a problem with me, but with the bible itself. or...
3.) I used a systematic approach to present the material. Systematic is kinda boring to some. I also hear that some people didn't really understand the material. They also attribute this the systematic approach. I admit that the issue is somewhat confusing and the manner in which it was presented could be hard to comprehend upon first reading it.
4.)People have said, " You only talked about wrath, but didn't talk about Love"
Maybe you just missed some of my blog. I even reposted the bottom half that dealt with love/atonement/expiation. I believe that some read the first few paragraphs, got mad, and assumed I continued with the sad verses. Please read the entire content. Love is crucial. No one said it was not. But in order to better see God's love, let us see it in the light of his Holiness. Let's pool together all the attributes of God rather than isolating Love by its self. Some will only say God loves you in order to not offend anyone by saying harsh words like sin, hate, wrath, wretched, etc........ But if you leave out sin, and the absorbing of wrath by Christ on the cross, if you leave out blood, how can there be remission of sins? Without the hard truths of the bible, you don't get the full gospel. And a partial Gospel is no Gospel at all. If you refuse to preach the Gospel to the persishing, you only show your hatred for them. If you truly loved them, you'd think of their souls and not so much their feelings. I'm not against being cool. If you can have cool music, sit on a stool in a dark lit room while drinkin' java and preach the full Gospel and remain faithful to the word, and people are coming to Christ, then I'm all for it. Keep up the good work. Free Coffee For All!! But hanging with people is not necassarily loving them. The Gospel is word and deed. We have to care for people, and meet there needs, but we must also proclaim the good news (and yes, things like wrath, and sin are included in the good news, It shows what we are, and what Christ is saving us from) that we are utterly sinful, and God hates sin, and in order to reconcile us to himself, He sent his Son to die the death he didn't deserve on a cruel cross, in him we have the absorbing of wrath, by his stripes we are healed. There is LOVE!!! The glorious amazing thing about God is not that He damns, but that He'd save any of us who repent and place faith in His Son!!! I better understand the love that God has for me by examining His holiness. I better understand God's love, I am in awe, when I contemplate the fact that I am totally depraved, I can't do good, and yet, Christ died in order to remove my crimes, and was raised from the dead that I may now live life on mission. What a great Love with which God has loved us!! He is redeeming his enemies (you and I). My good friend Jared Pete recently said this...."When Jesus says to "love your enemies"...He is speaking from experience...Jesus loves His enemies."
5.) I've been told that I'm un-loving. Is posting a bunch of bible verses unloving? or do we immediately grow defensive when our agenda or teachings are challenged, even if challenged by scripture? Perhaps it's not the content, but the manner in which I presented it. Once again, I say read the entire post.
6.) I've also noticed that of the responses I've recieved, I don't think the Bible has been used once to "correct" me. I've had some philosophy or a few pithy zen statements about why I ought not mention these things. But I place little stock in opinion. I want fact. So if you bring some bible verses to me (in context please) then we'll look over it and I'll talk with you. But don't bring me any of that trash saying we shouldn't mention this kind of stuff, or that God doesn't get mad. Please. I'm not shooting for the "most relevant christian of the year" award. I want to be found biblically faithful in all matters. Even the not so popular ones.
7.) We've also had quite a few that had further questions. People who had no idea that verses like this existed. And I understand that it's hard to convey meaning through written word without two-way conversation (especially hard for me). So if you have further questions, just message me or give me a call. If you live in Auburn, or in the local area, we'll meet and I'll buy you breakfast/lunch/ or dinner and we'll talk as friends.
8.) It has not been my intention to come off as mean or angry. I'm simply amazed that this God is so in love with me in spite of who I was. I am a new creation. He has changed me and continues to change me. Let us all embrace the word of the Living God!

“...And indeed we cannot grasp or exhaust Christ, the eternal Righteousness, with one sermon or thought; for to learn to appreciate Him is an everlasting lesson which we shall not be able to finish either in this or in yonder life.” - Martin Luther

Daniel
wdb0002@auburn.edu
334-759-0320

Love (Since some of you are upset)

This is not a new post. There have been quite a few peeps who got pissed about the previous blog posting. People have claimed that I never mentioned love, mercy, or any good news. Apparently you didn't read the entire blog. Scroll down past the first paragraph and read the transition. It's all about the cross (in case you didn't know, God proved his LOVE there) ( i even use the love word ever now and again).

On the cross, It was Jesus who bore our sins. 2 Cor. 5:21 puts it so elogantly....
2 Corinthians 5:21 (New International Version)
21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Perfect Jesus came to earth, willfully went to the cross, took all our sins, and was crushed.
Isa. 53 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
He bore in his body your and my crimes. He didn't deserve it. But He was obedient to the will of the Father and it is Him alone that redeems us from the law of sin and death thereby removing the wrath that is rightfully ours. The Hate is gone. He was crushed. Look above at Isa. 53:5. It was His punishment that brought us peace. We are HEALED by his wounds. Read Isa 53. It speaks a lot about wrath. That God hates sin. The measure of how much He hates sin is the cross.
This next piece taken from 2006 Desiring God Conference by Baucham
"The supremacy of Christ in truth and redemption is found in His exclusivity. There is no other means by which man can be justified. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18, ESV). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
How can what is wrong be made right? The Bible says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV). There came a day when God the Father crushed and killed His one and only Son in our stead in order to satisfy His wrath, “so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26, ESV).
The spotless, sinless Lamb of God is crushed, rejected, and killed to pay a debt that He did not owe on behalf of sinners who could never pay Him back.
Can you hear the rhetorical questions from Calvary? Was that enough for your sin? Was that enough for you to recognize the supremacy of Christ in truth as it relates to redemption? Nothing else could have been done that would have allowed God to be both just and justifier. But in the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ we find the resolution to the question, “How can what is wrong be made right?”
Listen as the hymn writer proclaims: “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains” (William Cowper’s “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” 1772).
How can what is wrong be made right? The spotless, sinless, Lamb of God is crushed, rejected, and killed to pay a debt that He did not owe on behalf of sinners who could never pay Him back." Voddie Baucham Jr. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n2/life-questions
Isa 53:10 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes [c] his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand

The punishment that is rightfully ours is now forgiven in Christ.
Ephesians 1:7-8 (New International Version)
7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

We are justified through the blood of Christ alone. And it is this very justification that removes the wrath of God from us.
Romans 5:9 (New International Version)
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

Let us embrace the full truth of the Gospel!! Let us not be cowards or men of deception, only telling half-truths. Let us love the gospel. Let us carry the message of salvation to those who are perishing. To tell a non-believer that God is not angry concerning their sin is an absolute lie. A heresy. Un-biblical. Foolishness. Let all believers remember that Christ has absorbed the wrath of God that was rightly due to us all. When we deserve hell, He predestined us for life. I rejoice in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord. Expiation - While we were whores, Christ dresses us in white. The cross has made us white as snow!! 2 Cor 5:21 We have recieved the righteousness of Christ!! Not because of the great things we have done, but inspite of the horrible people we are!!! The real love of God is only understood correctly when viewed in light of his Holiness, our wickedness waging war against his holiness, His hatred of sin (and sinners ps 5:5), and the means in which He is rescuing the elect!!

In response to @geneoden

First, I'm not trying to bash anyone. I think that biblical truths have been ignored. It is simply my goal to respond to the original post by gene which was all fueled by his church's billboard which states that God is not mad at you. If you check out his blog, he only uses verses about the love of God. This is a characteristic of God, but not the only characteristic of God, as we will see later.

Secondly, I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but I do wish to bust your bubble. There is a growing number of folks who have abandoned the bible in place of their philosophical Jesus who acts like a hippy. This Jesus could never grow angry, nor rebuke poor sinners (oops, I mentioned sin!! sorry) Lets embrace the ENTIRE doctrine of our Lord. The Bible speaks more of God's wrath than it does His love. Yet more than any, it speaks of His Holiness. His nature is good, perfection, righteousness. Sin is against all of these things. So He rightly hates these things and his anger burns against it.
Here we go.
Is God Angry? Can God be Angry? Is He Angry at me???
Certain pastors don't seem to think that God can be angry. We'll simply start with verses deeling with this very issue.
Deut 1:37 Because of you the LORD became angry with me also and said, "You shall not enter it, either.
Deut 3:26 26"But (A)the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the LORD said to me, 'Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.
Deut 4:21 21"(A)Now the LORD was angry with me on your account, and swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deut 9:8 8"Even (A)at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.

Deut 9:20 20"The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time.

2 Sam. 22:8 8"Then (A)the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.

1 kings 11:9 9Now (A)the LORD was angry with Solomon (B)because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, (C)who had appeared to him twice

2 Ch. 25:15 15Then the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, "Why have you sought the gods of the people (A)who have not delivered their own people from your hand?"

This one is Epic......
2 Ch. 6:36 36"When they sin against You ((A)for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near,

2 Ch. 28:9 9But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and (A)he went out to meet the army which came to Samaria and said to them, "Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, (B)was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage (C)which has even reached heaven.

Is God angry with those who sin?
Ezra 9:14 14(A)shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? (B)Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?

Psa 2:12 12Do homage to (A)the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For (B)His wrath may [a]soon be kindled How blessed are all who (C)take refuge in Him!

EPIC
Psa 60:1 1O God, (A)You have rejected us You have (B)broken us; You have been (C)angry; O, (D)restore us.

Psa 79:5 5(A)How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your (B)jealousy (C)burn like fire?

Psa 80:4 4O (A)LORD God of hosts, How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?

Zec 1:2 "The LORD was very (A)angry with your fathers.

Micah 5:15 (New International Version)
15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed me.


and the list goes on and on and on. But this is just so you get the picture. God gets angry concerning sin.
But now you'll utter the phrase which none aught utter......God hates the sin, not the sinner???? That would be a wonderful saying if it weren't for the Bible. You can't and won't find it in the words of scripture. No great theologian came up with it. It was Ghandi. But what you will find is this.......

Psalm 5:5 God HATES all who do EVIL (ouch, you won't find this verse on a throw pillow at your granny's house)

Remember the story of Jesus and the disciples in Matt. 15? The Pharisees got mad because the disciples didn't wash their hands (as went the traditions). But Jesus steps in with something interesting.....

The Heart of Man 15Peter said to Him, "(L)Explain the parable to us."
16Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also?
17"Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?
18"But (M)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
19"(N)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
20"These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."

Sin isn't just something we do, it's who we are. It comes out of our heart. Our hearts are the home of the worst evils. And now some of you are saying. No No No. I'm a good person. My heart is pure......
Jer. 17:9 9"The (A)heart is more (B)deceitful than all else And is desperately (C)sick; Who can understand it?

Since we are all sinners, by word, thought, and deed. Since sin isn't just something we do, it's who we are. Then God, who is Holy and Righeous is justified in condemning us all to Hell.

We also see that God pours out His wrath on false prophets, wolves, those who distort the truth, those who misguide the weak.....
Ephesians 5:6 (New International Version) Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
A common deception throughout church history has been the notion that professing Christians can lead unrepentant, sinful lives after conversion to Christ (see 2 Tim. 3:1-9, 2 Peter 2: 1-3, Rev. 2:14, 20) and not suffer the consequences. But these practices lead to the wrath of God in judgement (e.g. Rev 2:21- 23)

Some paint Jesus as a hippy star child with all the wonderful attributes of a fairy. They refuse to believe that this Jesus was ever upset/sad/angry/mad, etc...... They can only see him as the guy who goes to live under a bridge with homeless people. Or the hip pastor who ALWAYS sits on a stool behind a cafe table as he gives life talks to his congregation while sipping on his coffee. This Jesus probably listened to "Backstreet Boys'' while feathering his hair. I personally cannot worship a man-made Jesus such as that..........But I can worship the Biblical Jesus. The one who flipped tables when they turned his Father's house into a den of theives. Or check out the Revelations style Jesus. Now that is a guy I can worship.
Rev. 19
The Rider on the White Horse
11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter."[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 14:19 (New International Version)
19The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath.

Some examples of sins that really make God angry.....
Colossians 3:5-6 (New International Version)
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a]

The Bible constantly speaks of God's love. The Bible speaks more of God's wrath. The Bible speaks even more of His Holiness. 1 Sam 2:2 “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
Isa. 47:4 Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—is the Holy One of Israel.
1 Pet. 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.
Mark 1:24 Even the demons declare that Jesus is holy What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
Luke 1:49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
Isa 6: 3-6 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory!” [2]
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Rev 4:8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,who was and is and is to come!”
Somehow, these things work together. There is definetly an aspect of God's love for humanity, but we must not ignore the hard passages with the hard truths. We must ask, "If God hates sin, and sin isn't only something I do, it's who I am, then how can I make it to heaven? How can I be pure? A child of God? How can this wrath that is rightly due to me, be removed?"

Simple...................

On the cross, It was Jesus who bore our sins. 2 Cor. 5:21 puts it so elogantly....
2 Corinthians 5:21 (New International Version)
21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Perfect Jesus came to earth, willfully went to the cross, took all our sins, and was crushed.
Isa. 53 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
He bore in his body your and my crimes. He didn't deserve it. But He was obedient to the will of the Father and it is Him alone that redeems us from the law of sin and death thereby removing the wrath that is rightfully ours. The Hate is gone. He was crushed. Look above at Isa. 53:5. It was His punishment that brought us peace. We are HEALED by his wounds. Read Isa 53. It speaks a lot about wrath. That God hates sin. The measure of how much He hates sin is the cross.

"The supremacy of Christ in truth and redemption is found in His exclusivity. There is no other means by which man can be justified. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18, ESV). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
How can what is wrong be made right? The Bible says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV). There came a day when God the Father crushed and killed His one and only Son in our stead in order to satisfy His wrath, “so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26, ESV).
The spotless, sinless Lamb of God is crushed, rejected, and killed to pay a debt that He did not owe on behalf of sinners who could never pay Him back.
Can you hear the rhetorical questions from Calvary? Was that enough for your sin? Was that enough for you to recognize the supremacy of Christ in truth as it relates to redemption? Nothing else could have been done that would have allowed God to be both just and justifier. But in the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ we find the resolution to the question, “How can what is wrong be made right?”
Listen as the hymn writer proclaims: “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains” (William Cowper’s “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” 1772).
How can what is wrong be made right? The spotless, sinless, Lamb of God is crushed, rejected, and killed to pay a debt that He did not owe on behalf of sinners who could never pay Him back." Voddie Baucham Jr. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n2/life-questions
Isa 53:10 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes [c] his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand

The punishment that is rightfully ours is now forgiven in Christ.
Ephesians 1:7-8 (New International Version)
7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

We are justified through the blood of Christ alone. And it is this very justification that removes the wrath of God from us.
Romans 5:9 (New International Version)
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!

Let us embrace the full truth of the Gospel!! Let us not be cowards or men of deception, only telling half-truths. Let us love the gospel. Let us carry the message of salvation to those who are perishing. To tell a non-believer that God is not angry concerning their sin is an absolute lie. A heresy. Un-biblical. Foolishness. Let all believers remember that Christ has absorbed the wrath of God that was rightly due to us all. When we deserve hell, He predestined us for life. I rejoice in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord. Expiation - While we were whores, Christ dresses us in white. The cross has made us white as snow!! 2 Cor 5:21 We have recieved the righteousness of Christ!! Not because of the great things we have done, but inspite of the horrible people we are!!! The real love of God is only understood correctly when viewed in light of his Holiness, our wickedness waging war against his holiness, His hatred of sin (and sinners ps 5:5), and the means in which He is rescuing the elect!!

Sorry that was so long. I had no idea I wrote so much until it was posted.

Fight for the heart of our King

Daniel
wdb0002@auburn.edu
334-759-0320

The Tower

I returned from Paris recently. What an exciting trip. This was my first international travel experience, as well as my first plane ride. We saw the city, rode the metros, encountered the depressed people who all wore black and constantly smoked. Half the team caught a virus/or/food poisoning. Ate food from shops that looked like they might not pass the health code. And....ofcourse......we saw IT. The eiffel tower. You cannot imagine the size of this thing until you see it in person. We saw it during the day. We saw it lit up at night. We saw it sparkle on the hour. We saw it from a distance. We saw it from underneath. We waited in line, rode the elevator up, and took in the view from the tower. It was amazing. These words will not convey to you how awesome this thing is. We spend an incredible amount of time at the tower. We ate crepes as we walked around from across the river, waiting for 8:00 to strike and the bulbs begin to flash creating a Christmas tree affect. We dismissed vendors who tried to sell you mini-eiffel towers for 1 euro. We did it all.

One night after visiting the tower, we decided we were hungry. We scoped out a spot to get some crepes and started toward our destination. The city surrounding the Eiffel Tower area is great. It's clean. There's great places to eat. Most of the people seem to be in a good mood (because they're tourist). As you walk around the corner of the tower on your way to the metro terminal, tucked away behind this nice building is a soccer field. You can see it from the top of the tower, but most wouldn't know it was there tucked behind the other buildings. It was dark by this point and the field was bright with the color of the lights as children gathered around for practice. It was the perfect scene. I felt like I was in a movie. The field was in the shadows of the Tower. It was the perfect view. And as we walked along I wondered, "How can these people stand beneath this creation and not even be concerned? How can you carry on a game of soccer without ever glancing up at it?" And as I walked and thought about this more, it hit me. I am exactly like those kids at the soccer field. God is so big, grand, and ever-present in my life, just like the Tower was to those kids. I find myself surrounded by his presence and I constantly live beneath his shadow, but I ignore Him. Much like the locals who had seen the tower day in, and day out. I'd grown complacent about the God I love. I go about the routine of my life without even looking up to acknowledge his presence. It was a sad realization. We all know that God is big and indescribable, but when the day comes that we meet Him, the day that His Spirit moves and we meet His Son, our definition of indescribable changes. God becomes more than we could have possibly dreamed or hoped for. We become intoxicated by our new found knowledge and it seems like we'll never come down for this high. But, unfortunately, most of us do. And all to often we're content to live beneath the shadow. The kids in the park had the initial experience where they stood in awe of the tower. But now they were to the point that it didn't matter. If you asked, I'm sure they could tell you interesting things about the tower. Share memories about the fun times they'd had near the tower. But did they really know the tower? Do we really Know?