Forgetting God

8 February, 20148 February, 2014Marissa

I was reading Hosea early this week when two phrases jumped out at me from this verse:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. (Hos. 4:6)

The phrases were “rejected knowledge” and “thou hast forgotten the law of God.” I also accidentally loaded an NIV translation which renders the word “forgotten” as “ignored.” I’m not sure which translation I like better — forgetting makes me think of gradually letting something slip your mind because you don’t think about it, while ignoring sounds more like a conscious choice. Either way, it is a dangerous thing to do with God’s law.

Hear the word of the Lord, you children of Israel, for the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.” (Hos. 4:1)

Destruction comes upon those who reject knowledge of God, and who forget God’s law. It is so very important that we continue to grow in knowledge of God and keep His commandments.

Knowledge of God

According to my study Bible, the Hebrew word translated “knowledge” is H1847 dha’ath. it refers to knowledge gained through the senses, and is the opposite of “folly.” Meanings include knowledge, insight, intelligence, understanding, and wisdom. “Knowledge of God,” Zodhiates writes, “describes the proper relationship between God and a man who truly obeys Him.”

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:23)

Knowledge of God increases as we grow into a closer relationship with Him. They are inseparably connected. If we reject knowledge of God, we reject a relationship with Him. As pointed out in the definition of dha’ath, a relationship with Him is dependent on keeping His laws. God cannot be in fellowship with a person who is walking contrary to Him.

And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. (Lev. 26:27-28)

Do Not Forget

Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. (Deut. 4:23)

The Israelites were commanded, multiple times, to remember all God had done for them, and to teach their children His laws “That they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments” (Ps. 78:7). But “they forgot God their Savior,” and did not teach His laws to their children (Ps. 106:21). This set up generational cycles of forsaking God, punishment, repentance and forgiveness, and then forgetting God again.

Can a virgin forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet My people have forgotten Me days without number. (Jer. 2:32)

Can you feel God’s heartbreak in this verse? His presence is what made His people beautiful and His grace clothed them in dignity, yet they cast Him away (Ezk. 16:8-14). It’s as unthinkable as a bride forgetting to put on her wedding dress before walking down the aisle, but it happened over and over again.

In Psalm 50, God addresses the wicked who “hate instruction” and “cast My words behind you,” asking them “What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth?” (Ps. 50:16, 17). These people were thieves, adulterers, liars, slanderers, and evil supporters of others who committed sin (Ps. 50:18-20). Though they knew God’s law, they thought He would overlook their sins — an error He corrects.

These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes. “Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: whoever offers praise glorifies Me; and to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.” (Ps. 50:21-23)

As this last verse hints, there is an antidote to forgetting God. On the night of His betrayal, Jesus promised His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit, which would “teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26). Keeping God’s commandments puts us into a right relationship with Him, and gives us access to aid through the Holy Spirit.

The Law of God

To recap (since this has become a long post), God says in Hosea 4:6, “because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” Keeping God’s law close to our hearts and minds, holding it in remembrance, is key to knowing Him and maintaining a lasting relationship.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. (Ps. 19:7-11)

This is why it makes no sense to say Jesus Christ did away with the law under the New Covenant. Keeping the commandments is how we show God and Jesus that we love Them (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10, 14). We can’t pick-and-choose which parts of the commandments we want to obey, either: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 5:17-19)

Jesus warns that breaking “the least of these commandments” will make us “least in the kingdom of heaven.” Other scriptures reveal that a pattern of sin will block us from the kingdom all together (Gal. 5:19-21). Forgetting and rejecting God by turning our backs on keeping His laws is like asking Him to forget about and reject us. But, thankfully for us, the flip-side of this is that showing our love for God by obeying Him puts us into a personal relationship with Him that has incredible, lasting rewards.

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him. … If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. (John 14:21, 23)

Purpose of the Law

17 August, 2013Marissa

Once again, I’m going to pull a topic from my Bible study on covenants. In the first chapter of Romans, Paul begins by commending his readers for their faith, which is “spoken of throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8). He goes on to talk about the importance of belief. Lest any think he is going to present a “one saved, always saved” doctrine, they are immediately refuted.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Rom. 1:16-18)

He goes on to list a number of sins and concludes “those who practice such things are deserving of death” (Rom. 1:32). Obviously, the emphasis on faith does not exclude commandment keeping. With this foundation, we move into the second chapter.

Judged According To Our Deeds

God expects us to live by faith, keeping the law and worshiping Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23). “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets,” Jesus said. “I did not come to destroy but to fulfill,” or fill to the fullest extent (Matt. 5:17). Under the New Covenant, we are still expected to keep the commandments and will be judged by a righteous God,

who will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil (Rom. 2:6-9)

How we conduct ourselves in obedience to God is the basis for how we will be judged. However, this does not simply refer to a rigid obedience to the letter of the law. Physical adherence to the law means nothing if you are not keeping the law from the heart (Rom. 2:25-29). To illustrate this point, Paul writes,

(for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. (Rom 2:13-16).

In essence, this is repeating a statement made in 1 Samuel: “the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Outward appearance means nothing if our hearts are not right with God.

Knowledge of Sin

In chapter 3, we read that human beings “are all under sin” (Rom. 3:9). No one is inherently righteousness, not matter how closely they have adhered to the letter of the law. The law lets us know that we have sinned, but does not give justification from that sin.

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. (Rom. 3:19-20).

It is only through Christ’s sacrifice that we can be cleansed of our sins. Human being cannot earn eternal life by keeping the law because the law was missing a vital aspect. Rather than replacing the law, Jesus Christ’s sacrifice supplied that missing piece.

What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. But the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (Gal. 3:19-24)

Faith does not negate the importance of the law. It adds to the law, giving it new meaning and layers. Because we have been redeemed from sin by Jesus Christ’s sacrifice (1 Cor. 6:19-20), we have an obligation to obey His commandments. These commandments include the updated law, followed in spirit and in truth. Distilled to it’s most basic level, this means we must love God and love our neighbor as ourselves.

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Rom. 13:8-10)

Those Who Never Knew

10 August, 201327 August, 2013Marissa

Since I was very young, I’ve been taught what happens after death. At a basic level, I understood what our faith teaches and believed it — those who die in faith will be resurrected when Christ returns and live and reign with Him for 1000 years, then those who did not believe during their lifetime will be resurrected and given a chance to learn before the final judgement. I could not, however, give anyone who asked about my beliefs a more thorough explanation than the brief outline I just gave here.

Recently, I’ve been spending most of my study time in Romans as I work on a paper about Old and New Covenants — the differences and similarities, what was changed/updated by Christ’s sacrifice, what stayed the same, things like that. I think my prayers for guidance in studying this topic are being answered, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to learn more about other aspects of my faith as well. I’m sure my understanding is still shallow, but I feel like I can finally start writing about both the covenants (the subject of future blog posts, I’m sure) as well as today’s subject, which is an aspect of the question, What happens after death?

Going to hell?

One thing I’ve always wondered about groups I would call “mainstream Christianity” is how they are comfortable believing that God would condemn people to hell simply for never having heard the truth. I know some wonderful people who do believe this, but it puzzles me. Think how many people that includes throughout history. There were people in the years before Christ who never even heard of the God of Israel, much less understood Him. There were people beyond the reach of the early Christian church who never heard the gospel preached. There were people whose first encounter with “Christianity” was a forced baptism before they were enslaved to mine gold or work plantations. There are children who were aborted or killed as infants who never had a chance to live at all or learn anything.

Why would a God who loved the world so much “that He gave His only begotten Son” and Who “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” condemn people who have never understood His truth? (John 3:16; 2 Pet. 3:9).

Those who “perish without law”

Ever since creation, all human beings have sinned (Rom. 3:9). No one is inherently righteous, not matter how closely they adhere to the letter of the law — “by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). In other words, the law given in the Old Testament lets us know we are sinning, but until Jesus Christ’s sacrifice there was no way for us to be cleansed of sin.

So, what about people who never understood or heard the law which gives “knowledge of sin”? In Romans 5:13, it states that “until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” This hearkens back to a statement made in Romans 2:12: “For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law.”

These verses give us key insight regarding how God will judge the world. He is not unrighteous or cold-hearted, and does not delight in seeing people perish because of ignorance. For many, this means He will be patient beyond their deaths and give them a chance to know Him in the resurrection.

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books (Rev. 20:11-12)

Reason for hope

The incredible grace that God and Jesus offer includes not condemning people who don’t have a clue what they are doing. While Their righteousness does demand a penalty for sin, They are also defined by love (1 John 4:8, 16) and allow for repentance once people acknowledge the truth and turn from their sin (2 Tim. 2:25). For some, that is happening now or will happen in their physical lifetimes. For others, this will not be until the resurrection.