God as He is

[Jacob]

Have we wondered why God who once asked Moses to execute a man who had
disobeyed the Sabbath law by collecting wood (Nu.15:32,35) and killed
Ananias and Sapphira when they lied to Peter about the price they had
sold their property for (Ac.5:3-5), does not do such things nowadays?
It is not that God has changed--as some people think--from being hard
and strict to being loving and kind. No, God does not change. He is
eternally the same. It is also not that He shows different sides of
His nature at different times. (It would be terrifying if it were like
that because we would never know what to expect!) He is loving,
merciful, just and righteous at the same time. He cannot stop being
loving, just as He cannot stop being righteous or just. It is that He
always does what is good for us, and what we need for our good varies.
We may imagine that it would be nice if God would always show His love
and mercy to us and never showed His anger towards sin against us! But
we have to agree that sometimes it is good for us to be shaken up a
bit, rebuked or even chastised (He.12:10;Ps.119:71).

In these new covenant times we tend to take God's love for granted and
treat His grace cheaply (Ga.5:13). Since God has chosen not to punish
us as soon as we sin we think there is no punishment involved (Ecc.
8:11). We know that if we confess our sins God will forgive us (1Jn.
1:9). But do we think that it doesn't matter so much if we sin because
we can always confess it afterwords (Ro.6:15)? This is not so much
about what we think but the attitude we have about sin and God. If we
have heard only about the love of God and His forgiveness and nothing
about His hatred towards sin, we don't know God as He is (1Co.15:34).

Grace is a magnificent thing. There has been nothing like this in all
the world till Jesus came. Through grace God shows us His love towards
us who do not deserve it. He takes sinners who repent from their sins
and puts their trust in Jesus, washes them with the blood of His Son,
makes them white as snow, agrees not to remember their sins against
them any more and to forgive them when they confess their sins. He
transfers blood-washed sinners from Satan's kingdom to His kingdom as
His children and makes them co-heirs along with Jesus of everything He
has. All this and more with grace. We can appreciate the magnitude of
His grace towards us when we look at examples like that of the man who
gathered wood and Ananias! If we don't suffer the same fate as they it
is just grace!

What should this revelation do for us? Fill our hearts with gratitude?
Make us want to please God all the more? Count everything else as
worthless compared to getting to walk with this God? Have a strong
desire to tell others about this God?

Can we take sin lightly or flirt with it anymore? Do we want to cause
more pain to the heart of our God who has already suffered death for
us? Can we cheat on grace and disregard His commandments?

[Mathew Enoch Mount]

Hello,

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Amen.

God Bless,

Mathew Enoch Mount
mmo...@essex1.com