The Holy Spirit had me listen to David Pawson's lecture on "The Goodness and Severity of God," which is a reference to Romans 11:22. You can listen to the lecture by clicking the title link. I made some notes and have summarized them, below.
What kind of a god is God? That is the primary question of the lecture.
Many Christians preach "God is love" to unbelievers, but that immediately begs the question, "Then why all the suffering?" The unbeliever ends up complaining about the job God is doing and implies they could do a better job.
The next thing the unbeliever will ask is, "How can a loving god send anyone to hell?" But Yeshua said that God would do exactly that. In fact, what we know about hell comes from Yeshua himself. Nobody else in the Bible talked about it.
Some people talk about the "unconditional love of God," but that adjective does not even show up in the Bible. That notion is a lie, and it communicates to unbelievers that God will never judge them.
There is very little in the Bible about God's love, and not a single verse about it is directed at unbelievers. It is only directed at God in praise, or as encouragement between believers. God's love is one of the "pearls" Yeshua referred to in Matthew 7:6.
Many people use John 3:16 to evangelize, but that is a mistake because it is always taken out of context. David talks about how the verse is poorly translated. The word "so" is in the wrong place and implies God's love is vast, but the word should be at the beginning of the sentence and means "thus" in the Greek. Also, the word "loved" has a "d" on the end, meaning it is past tense, and the Greek word is special and means it only happened once. A more correct translation would be "once loved." The Greek also says God gave his Son once.
The actual context of the verse is a comparison to the bronze snake Moses made in the wilderness. God said the people could look at the snake on the pole and be healed from the snake bites. They had complained about the food God provided, and God sent snakes as judgement. The people asked Moses to ask God to remove the snakes, but God left the snakes because the people deserved the punishment. He provided a way out because he was merciful. Likewise, the whole human race is under the threat of death because of how they have treated God, but he has provided a way out through Yeshua. Yeshua is the "antidote."
The Greek language is richer than English, and there are at least four different words that we call "love." There is the "love of addiction," the "love of attraction," "brotherly love," and "love of action." The last one is agape, and it is the kind of love God practices. We may take action to love those who love us, but God takes action to love those who hate him. While we were still enemies, Yeshua died for us.
Those who are redeemed are the only ones who appreciate agape. Only the forgiven understand what God's love is like. We need to keep that pearl from the pigs.
David cited a survey that asked people why they were leaving church. Many said they were tired of hearing about "love." Instead, they wanted to hear more about holiness and righteousness.
God is a raging fire.
Part 2
God is good. In Genesis 1, everything God did was good. The word "good" has been devalued, like "love." Good should mean "absolutely perfect." That is what God is, absolutely perfect.
When the rich young man called Yeshua "good," Yeshua responded and said there is only One who is good (Matthew 19:17).
David asked if there is an English word that is not overused and can better describe God's absolute perfection. He cited the word "righteous." In the prayer in John 17, Yeshua called God "Holy Father" in verse 11 and "Righteous Father" in verse 25.
God cannot ever do anything wrong. David said that he had once listed 30 things God cannot do. He cannot lie, cannot have impure thoughts, cannot break a promise. He has no favorites; he cannot be bought or bribed. His judgement will be absolutely fair because he knows the whole truth. God said to David, "I know the worst [about you], but I still love you and use you."
Everything God does is absolutely right. The God who runs the universe cannot do anything wrong, and will always do what is right.
Some people asked David if their baby was in heaven, and David said that he did not know. The Bible doesn't say anything about that, but David told them whatever God has done with their baby is absolutely right. Whatever God does about anything will be absolutely right. That's comforting to realize and know.
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...In other words, none of us stands a chance of getting in.
David cited a Gallup poll in the USA that said 70% believe they are going to heaven, and 70% know someone going to hell. When people try to be righteous, they end up being proud and having contempt for others.
There is good news, however. The offer is righteousness from God. He is offering his righteousness to us. This is done in two stages:
- Stage 1 -- Imputed righteousness. This is through Yeshua. It is justification by faith. Once we do that, God treats us as if we are already righteous. In God's view, his forgiveness wipes out our past.
- Stage 2 -- Imparted righteousness. This is through the Holy Spirit. He is God, and he helps us practice God's righteousness. This is why we need both Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
It would be immoral for God to overlook sin in our lives. It would be wrong for him to forgive sin unless it had already been paid for. God paid that cost at the Cross.
We must also repent. It would be absolutely immoral for God to forgive us without our repentance.
If God is love, repentance goes out the window.
"Repentance is being sorry enough to stop."
Paul said in Acts 26:20 that we must prove repentance by our deeds. [John the Baptist also said the same thing in Matthew 3:8.]
The Gospel (good news) is an offer of righteousness. It is an offer to make bad people into good people. Sinners into saints. Repentance is turning our back on the way we've lived. The Holy Spirit will guide us how to do it, if we listen to him.
Telling people God is love does not get the job done. Telling people God is righteous and will eventually deal with all evil can get it done.
The Law can punish a wrongdoer, and that punishment can deter other wrongdoers, but the Law cannot make a bad man into a good man. That's what the Gospel does. What the Law could not do, God did.
Unrighteousness is no problem for God. If a person repents, God can make them into a saint.
The relationship between Yeshua and us is two-way. He imparts his righteousness onto us, and he takes on our sin. It's not fair, but it's a great deal for us!
Many people are happy to take on God's righteousness, but they are reluctant to give up their unrighteousness.
One of the most difficult things to repent from is our good deeds. They won't help us get into the Kingdom.
Isaiah: Our righteousness is like a used menstrual cloth to God (v. 64:6).
Paul: I counted my righteousness as shit [yes, he used that word in the Greek], that I might gain Christ (Philippians 3:8).
David said that self-righteousness is like a little boy going to God with a handful of his own poop. Self-righteousness keeps many people out of the Kingdom.
I highly recommend listening to David Pawson. He passed away last year, but his material has been preserved and is freely given. He seems like a very kind and humble man.
The photographs are my addition. I think they accentuate the contrast between God's righteousness and our evil. We may not participate in those things ourselves, but we condone them by not exposing them and by not preaching the true Gospel. We must repent.
All glory to God.
UPDATE, September 24, 2023...
I would like to elaborate a bit more about the English word, "love." We use that word to describe our attitudes and actions towards others in relationships, but the context of those relationships is important.
The "love of addiction," the "love of attraction," "brotherly love," and "love of action" are four distinct words in Greek, and I believe I expressed all four towards my wife.
I used to tell her, "I love living with you," and she would reply, "I love living with you, too." It was a "love of addiction" kind of thing, like loving dark chocolate cake with cherries. Being with her was like that for me.
We obviously were sexually attracted to each other, and I discussed that elsewhere. That's "love of attraction."
And, of course, there was agape love, the "love of action." I did everything I could to provide for her and help her in every way possible, and much of this blog is devoted to discussing that love.
Agape love, the "love of action," is what we are called to have for everybody. It is what the Godhead has for us, and we are called to do the same.
My mother tells me she loves me, and I reply that I love her, but it is not the love I had for my wife, and my mother does not expect that. What I really have for my mother is honor. I honor my mother, and that is right. It is what The Book commands me to do (Exodus 20:12), and I gladly do it.
My children tell me that they love me, or at least they did the last time I heard from them, and I believe that, but what I really want from them is respect. Again, Exodus 20 says children owe their parents honor, whether they think their parents deserve it or not. This is God's expectation, and it is what I deeply crave. If we cannot honor our parents, who we can see, how are we ever going to honor God, who we cannot see?
I wish my kids would listen to me. I have their best interests at heart, and The Book says if they do listen to their parents they have a better chance of living a long life. I am afraid my children have made some tragic decisions concerning their health that may compromise how long they live, and I tried to warn them about those things. I know that Jesus can heal all sicknesses and diseases, but if people do not believe that, he won't.
I believe the LORD has used my spiritual sibling and me to teach people in the coffee shop about koinonia, which is a transliteration of the Greek word describing the fellowship of Yehoshua-believers. When we both first started frequenting the coffee shop, many people referred to each other as "brother" and "sister," as is the common practice among Christians who participate in the Institutional Church, but when my spiritual sibling and I realized we had a special relationship, she started talking about it all of the time. Everyone heard about it; it was priceless. She is very outspoken.
Today, there seems to be a common understanding and acceptance that she and I have a special relationship. I think this has caused some people to become envious, which is probably a good thing. It has exposed hearts and hypocrisy, which I think was The Father's intent all along. Fellowship in Him (koinonia) is special, and only those who are in Him have it.
Others are starting to join us. The light shines in the darkness, and some are beginning to understand it.