Is God only love?

There are many who say that God is love but very less who also say God is holy. And because God is holy, those who say that that they are children or servants of the Lord God must also be holy and full of the love of God!

Now the Holy Scripture mentions God is love and gives the context as well, which is to love another because God is love. Many a times, people take this the wrong way and run away from other Christians but love the world instead, but here’s the Scripture which you can read below for the right perspective:

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:7-8)

Here are the verses which mention that God is holy:

“Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)

“You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.” (Leviticus 20:26)

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!” (Revelation 4:8)

 

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:19)

Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. (Deuteronomy 8:5)

For the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. (Proverbs 3:12)

But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:32)

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives. (Hebrews 12:6)

Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders (Parable by Jesus)

Jesus gave us the parable of Wise and Foolish Builders in Matthew 7:24-27 in which he said the following:

“Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.  And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell;and great was the fall of it.”

 

Jesus in the above parable wants us to understand the importance of both hearing his words and also acting on them. There are people who only hear the words of Jesus but do not act on it. Then we have people who both hear and act on the Word of God. Now, both of these types of people will keep building their life and achievements.

And they will face challenges and tough times as well. Only those who have acted on the words of the Lord Jesus will prevail and those who do not act, will suffer great losses. The most dangerous of such losses is when a person loses his or her soul to the Evil One at the time of death because of not abiding by the Word of God in their thoughts, words and actions.

 

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22)

 

Wise and foolish builder; Icon fresco from Hilandari Monastery, Mount Athos

Quick Reminder: God’s not going to rewrite the Bible

1. “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle [a tiny mark in the original spelling of a word] will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18)
2. “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” (Luke 16:17)
3. “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2)
4. “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it;you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:32)
5. “…if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:9-10)
6. “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it!” (2 Corinthians 11:4) [I.e. don’t tolerate heresy]
7. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6)
8. “If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19)

An Idol is anything that takes the place of God

A true believer in the Almighty will not worship false gods be it idols, treasures or anything else.

Idols need not be only statues, but anything that people try to set up above the Lord God. In this evil and adulterous generation, therefore one must have control over one’s appetites, for anything and everything, lest you become the laughing-stock of your enemies. Your true enemies are first and foremost all those in enmity with the Lord God. Rest of your enemies are just personal and temporal enemies.

Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (1 Corinthians 10:7)

Therefore, my beloved, shun the worship of idols. (1 Corinthians 10:14)

Every evil earthly nature that causes sinfulness towards God must be eliminated from your life if you claim to truly worship the Lord God. Or else its just a waste of time. No matter how natural the world justifies sin to be, get ride of all your base desires, before they all give you the fruit of your unjust labours.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5)

Now the works of the flesh are plain: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

The Lord’s Supper

Eat of it with solemn contemplation,
Of Christ’s sacrifice for your salvation.
Eat of it never ever in vain,
In the world anywhere or Spain.

Drink of it only with holy regard,
And your faith you always guard.
Drink of it never with doubt,
Even if temptation is all about.

Have the Lord’s Supper with rejoicing,
And your trust in him clearly voicing.
Have the Lord’s Supper earnestly,
Keeping your heart worthily.

Do it in his memory, Jesus commanded,
God’s mercy to us by Christ has expanded.
Do it till Jesus comes again,
In purity for him remain.

Never trust your Church elders more than God

Disclaimer: This post is not about bashing nor maligning your Church elders but rather knowing the difference between them and God.

All praise to the Lord God who gives elders in the Church to help us in the mission of preaching the Gospel to all nations and making disciples of them. May the Holy Spirit lead and guide them in the grace of God. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. (Psalm 118:8)

Never trust your Church elders more than God. Now I do not say disrespect them but rather give due respect to them. However that being said,  never make your Church elders a god  above the Lord God. This will put you in deep error and eventual darkness if you refuse to repent in this area.

Now the Bible says in Jeremiah 17:5-8 :-

⁵ Thus says the Lord:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
    and makes flesh his strength,
    whose heart turns away from the Lord.
⁶ He is like a shrub in the desert,
    and shall not see any good come.
He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salt land.

⁷ “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
⁸ He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

By the above verses it is very obvious that we as believers in Christ are not to make flesh our strength but rather are to trust in the Lord God. To make it clear, we cannot let any man, even the one’s who are the Church elders tell us not to pray to God. It’s very obvious that any Church elder who hinders you from worshiping Jesus Christ is a manifest heretic claiming to be a Christian!

So what I just said, is this a new teaching? No, not at all but something that needs to be reiterated. The following verses of Jude 1:3-4 confirm this:

³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Each of those who profess the Christian faith are already warned about certain people who for the record; pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  And now such people might not be, each and every person you see in Church but just a few you need to beware of.  The basic thing would be to never give heed to any words and philosophies by any one at any level in the Church which contradicts the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s very rare that anyone in the church might tell you to not worship God, because they know that they will be found out and tackled very soon. However  do be on your guard against such people.

There is a higher chance of people who may misdirect all the glory which is due to God to themselves. No matter what healing you receive by anyone praying for you or laying their hands never praise them like how God is to be praised. It’s one thing to be thankful to the Church elders and another thing to give them the kind of respect which God only deserves. So do know the difference and do not put your elders above God, ever!

Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit. (Matthew 15:14)

Then there is a subtle trick that the Devil uses to mislead people and most of them fall for it. He simply causes certain gullible Church elders to downplay the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So to not offend others, they will avoid preaching against certain sins or all sins. But they are okay with offending God though,  by continuing to work their heresies. Some even show the Gospel as a guideline instead of a reality to follow. By making certain things of Gospel such a repentance, good works, prayers etc as optional by falsely assuming that doing the will of God was done away with the Cross, they lead more people to damnation that even the more common vilest of vile sins could. Stay away from their ways and words and you will do a great honor to God.

Just before I close, like I mentioned earlier, not all Church elders are into wrongdoing. In fact their service to God is commendable and their sacrifices for the Kingdom of God are fragrant and undeniable. May God reward them for this. However do be on guard against those who seek more honor for themselves than the Lord God.

Christ be with you!

Ask yourself if you are honouring God

All praise to the Lord God who is worthy of all worship, honour and adoration. Thanks be to God for sending his only begotten son Jesus Christ to redeem us from sin and death. May the Spirit of God lead us in all truth.

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

The personal responsibility to honour the Lord God rests with you alone. No one else can do it for you. There might be others who want to encourage you to love and serve the Lord Jesus. Thank God for such people. 

But you yourself have to know if you truly honour God. Because it’s very easy for others to have a wrong opinion if you are truly following the Lord or not. Some vile people can trick even their religious leaders that they are following Jesus. But all this happens when they are actually in deep sin. Some ignorant people think they are in sin though they are leading a holy life. This is because they are fearful that leaders, family and friends might contradict them. Don’t be a hypocrite nor unsure of your faith and salvation. (Being unsure of your faith may allow heresy or legalism). So check your faith and honour towards the Lord God in your own heart, without any bias to yourself.

Bible verses to reflect on:

Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.(Psalm 4:4)

When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.(Psalm 32:3-5)

“How many are my iniquities and sins? Make known to me my rebellion and my sin (Job 13:23)

Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. (1 Corinthians 11:28)

Love the Lord your God

Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
From his love never ever depart.
Love the Lord your God with all your mind,
In the Holy Scriptures his wisdom find.

Love the Lord your God with all your soul,
From all the world make Him your goal.
Love the Lord your God with all your might,
In obeying Christ be your real delight.

Priority check: Keep the commandments

[Jesus said:]If you love me, you will keep my commandments.(John 14:18)

If you are not yet aware then let me tell you this; over the Internet there are various posts, images and videos which claim if you love Jesus then you will like or share or comment ‘yes’ or ‘amen’ to what they make known to you. If you want to give in to this, then know this; these are not required to “prove” your love for Jesus Christ. Rather do what Jesus says, which is to follow his commandments and by this you are actually loving him.