The
confusion, contradiction, impotence, and suffering that so many Christians
contend with today, is mainly due their not knowing the truth of God’s
absoluteness in His favor toward them. Spirit-revealed understanding of
the absolute truths of God is vital if the Christian is to grow in the grace
and knowledge of the Lord in a way that establishes them with the security the
Lord intends for them.
Secular men such as Plato
and Einstein saw the need of understanding; Plato: “No law or ordinance
is mightier than understanding.”
Einstein: “Peace
cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.”
King David’s son, Solomon, wrote “Wisdom is the
principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy
getting get understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7)
Every
Christian needs to come to see and understand the totality and the
absoluteness of God and his relationship with God. They need to see the utter
sufficiency of God’s many works in gloriously saving them and in giving them
a clear picture of His unchanging and unshakable character as a reliable
foundation for their faith and living.
James 1:17
(AMP) Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full)
gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that
gives] light, in [the shining of] Whom there can be no variation
[rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse].
There is nothing gray in the
Lord; all is black or white in His unchanging character. Since we know that
the “true light” comes only from God, any variance in intensity
must come from how we see or do not see something. He, as “the
light” (John 1:4, 9), defines or exposes the light’s opposite -
the darkness. Jesus said He is the light of the world, going on here to
say; “And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness
has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it,
and is unreceptive to it].” (John 1:5 (AMP)
We can have absolute clarity
in knowing and trusting that God is faithful and consistent in His love toward
us and that our relationship with Him is sure and secure. We find this
information in the Bible where we read statements of the “allness”
or “fullness” that is of God alone. The truths of
God are sometimes seen and emphasized by their negative expressions as in the
words “no” and “none”; i.e., “God
is light, and in him there is NO darkness at all”
(1John 1:5). In God is ... All “Light”
meaning “No Darkness” at all.”
Such absolute truths do not allow
for “moderation” or that which is “nearly” true of God. He is
absolute, love, grace, light, life, comfort, wisdom, omniscience and
omnipotence,
Here
below we may note some more Bible statements of absolute truths concerning
God.
“for ye are NOT
under the law, but under GRACE. (Romans 6:14)
“The God of ALL grace”
(1 Peter 5:10) All Grace
means “No law,” which means no
external “regulation.” True believer is to be governed or regulated
only voluntarily according to their his sense of the Lord’s guidance (Philip
2:13); then obeying as an inner appreciative response to having seen and
received God’s love, grace and salvation… apart from any requirement of
works (Eph 2:8-9).
1 Peter 5:10
(AMP) And after you have suffered a little while (endured), the
God of ALL grace [Who imparts all blessing and
favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in
Christ Jesus,
WILL HIMSELF COMPLETE and
MAKE YOU WHAT YOU OUGHT TO BE, ESTABLISH AND
GROUND YOU SECURELY, AND STRENGTHEN, AND SETTLE YOU.
Why
are so many believers today unsure and confused concerning their relationship
with the Lord?
We
must understand that; though “God is one” and of one nature and
character, He has dealt with mankind differently through several different
dispensations or administrations over 6,000 years.
- Adam
lived under “innocence” in the garden, ending in “the
fall.”
- Man
then lived under his “conscience” that was gained from
Adam eating of “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” This
ended with Noah’s flood when man became continually evil (Gen 6:5).
- Then
men lived under “human government” until it ended at
Babel
.
- Then
God’s “promise” was made to Abraham, but this ended in 400
years of slavery under Pharaoh after Abraham disobeyed God’s
instructions.
- “The
law” then was given to the Nation Israel through Moses
during their 40-year wandering after God miraculously delivered them from
bondage in Pharaoh’s
Egypt
.
- After
Israel
rejected the Messiah, God then set
Israel
aside (Rom 11:25, Acts 28:28). “The gospel of the grace of God” under
the “dispensation (or administration) of the grace of God.”(Eph
3:2) then came from the ascended Lord to and through Paul for “the
church, which is His body” (Eph 1:22-23, 3:1-5). We today live under
God’s pure grace dispensation today – “not under the law” (Rom
6:14).
You
might say; how does this kind of false teaching that prevails today cause
suffering?
Though
“Promise” and “Law” are not yet fulfilled, and they will
be, none of these six administrations exist simultaneously. Erroneously, by
mixing “promise” and “the law,” which has been set aside, with the
grace gospel for today, most Christians have essentially been taught two
contrary relationships with God simultaneously – “The Law” given to
Israel’s under the economy or administration of “the law,” was
given only to the Nation Israel. Yet Christians also are often taught some
truths of “the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24). No
wonder there is confusion and contradiction in the believer’s understandings
– how can they really know and trust God?
This
error essentially sets up “two Gods” simultaneously in the believers
understanding. Two seemingly different Gods is one too many. This
makes for uncertainty, because the believer who is ignorant of
the truths of his relationship with the Lord under grace today, he never knows
the God and relationship he can rely upon. Does he fall under the requirements
of “the law” with its curses and blessing, which depends upon the
believer’s effort and performance? Or, may he live under the pure grace of
God whereby God supplies the grace and the faith to believe and trust the
Lord, without any works requirement, as his sole basis of absolute salvation
from God’s wrath.
Only
seeing the truth for today will evoke the believer’s trust in and love for
the Lord; he will then enjoy the peace, rest, and security that God intended
for His blood-bought children.