“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection. And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.”
~ A.W. Towzer ~
God is love, God has unlimited mercy, God is patient, God died for everyone who accepts him. These are all things we enjoy thinking about. When you think of God or Christ what is the first thing that pops in your head? It is His love. Romans 5:8 says, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Love is what Christ displayed here on earth. People followed him because of the love he displayed. But if you only know God’s love and nothing else, you don’t see the whole picture.
God is our Ancient of Days, he is our judge and jury. When we die, Hebrews 9:27 states, “..and just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Death is not the end. God is a God of justice. John Piper once said, “And it is the most terrifying prospect in the universe, that we might be met after death with a holy and angry and omnipotent God holding us accountable for whether we trusted him and worshiped him and followed his ways in this life.” You will be judged, if you trusted Christ and followed him in this life then when you are judged you will have the verdict, “paid in full.” Christ paid for your judgment, and you are set free. But if you just lived a good life but never accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. The Omnipotent God will look at you and say, “I know you not, depart from me.”
If you are like me and have family members who are not Christians this is a hard pill to swallow. I would like to believe they would not suffer the harshness of judgment, but they have heard and have chosen not to believe. It breaks my heart in more ways than I can put into words.
To believe in God’s love, is to believe in his justice also. Just like Towzer stated, we can not just accept what we like, and leave behind that which makes us uncomfortable.
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{ 13 comments }
It is hard to sometimes digest those tough words..
We too have unbelievers and it saddens me…I just keep trying to live in such a way that it ignites some spark of interest…and praying!
tough words, from an All knowing GOD!
~peace Laurel,
enjoyed it~
~lori
A tough pill to swallow, indeed, but this is “medicine” that we won’t be able to turn away from.
Great post!
I remember when my grandfather was dying, having to teach a lesson on faith is the only way to heaven. I taught, through my tears, that on that day I wanted so much to believe that being a good person who led a life of integrity was all that it took–but that it was not what Scripture told us. I was choosing to believe the Bible, even when the justice of that was breaking my heart. But God comforted me and gave me peace with the same Word that pronounced judgment. I choose to believe it all–however hard that is. Bless you for sharing how it is sometimes difficult to accept it all.
Powerful post, Laurel…You know, when I think about God’s judgment, I am a little terrified. I know that I will be judged too, my penalty is paid in full by the blood of the Lamb. But to tell you the truth–I am a little scarred of the word from His mouth…how many opportunities I might have missed to share His love with others.
When I think about the ones who have elected to not believe, I always have the hope that Christ’s love will ‘get-to’ their hearts on the eleventh hour…
Thank you so much for sharing and putting the truth out there.
Blessings to you and yours.
Amen my sweet friend.
It would seem easier to create our own rules, but you’re right, we have to swallow the bitter pill that truth isn’t always so easy. We have to pray for our loved ones to see the light of the truth instead of living in the darkness of the world. Praying with you.
My daughter just finished reading Dante’s Divine Comedy and we are working on an essay about what happens to a man after death. Trusing God with the eternity of those whom we love, realizing His judgments are righteous and true ~
I love how this quote has sent us all in different directions in our thoughts. I suppose to truly understand both God’s love and his wrath we need to know God as He reveals himself in His word and with the help of His Spirit. I pray that God will call your unsaved family members to himself and that they will no longer be strangers to God…
Thank you so much for sharing the truth. Your words were such an encouragement to me today.
Blessings to you!
Very well put! Thank you… I do have “many” many family members who do not believe and trust in Jesus…
Thank you for your words of insight this morning.
Lisa
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It was a interesting perspective, and especially touching after hearing Beth Moore speak on the Ancient of Days this morning in the Daniel video. Who God is gives such a weighty understanding to Tozer’s quote.
Blessings!
Thank you for sharing and not coloring it all pretty but sharing truth. You are a blessing~!
I have been on jury duty this week.. and that has put the fear of God in me..
I would much rather live in knowing the loving God from 1Jn4…..I would not want to even be close to the judgement without my Savior
thank you for these words
Connie
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