Posted on

The Word of God – Showing us that God is Righteous

The-Word-of-God-Showing-us-that-God-is-Righteous

Verses for Today

Exodus 20:5b visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Exodus 20:6 Yet showing lovingkindness to thousands of generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Psalm 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; / Lovingkindness and truth go before Your face.

1 Peter 2:23 Who being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously;

Isaiah 56:1 Thus says Jehovah, / Preserve justice and do righteousness, / For My salvation is about to come / And My righteousness is about to be revealed.

Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, both to Jew first and to Greek.

Romans 1:17a For the righteousness of God is revealed in it

Fellowship

The Ten Commandments also reveal that our God is righteous. Because He is righteous, He will visit those who hate Him for three or four generations. If He failed to do this, He would not be a righteous God. He must act in this way in order to indicate that He is righteous. If you hate Him, He will deal with you according to His righteousness. At the same time, however, He is merciful and loving. (Life Study of Exodus, p. 599)

When God says He will do something, He is bound by His righteousness to carry it out. This should encourage all of us. No matter what is happening around us, God is righteous. He will reward the loving seekers and He will judge the evil. The Apostle Peter said of the Lord Jesus: “Who being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten but kept committing all to Him who judges righteously” (1 Peter 2:23). Because God is righteous we can be like the Lord Jesus and commit all things to Him.

God is just. He judges fairly. It is therefore quite reasonable that we also come to fear God for His righteousness. This is a healthy fear of God.

God is righteous. Although He loves us, when we do something that is not right in God’s eyes, there are consequences. We should heed God’s word and be mindful that there are consequences if we do not obey His word (Church in Irvine, Lessons, God is Righteous).

With this understanding of God’s righteousness, that it is an encouragement to us in the midst of the suffering in the world, and that it is something to be feared, we want to see another awesome application of God’s righteousness. It is because God is righteous, that we are ultimately saved.

According to John 3:16, salvation is out of God’s love, and according to Ephesians 2:5 and 8, salvation is by God’s grace. But in Romans 1:17 Paul says that salvation comes by the righteousness of God. Neither love nor grace is related to the law. No law forces us to love or to give grace. Whether we love or not we are still lawful, and whether we extend grace or not we are still legal. In a sense, God is not bound to love us. Furthermore, He is not legally bound to show us grace. Righteousness, on the contrary, is very much related to the law.

Because Christ has fulfilled all the righteous requirements of God’s law, God is bound to save us. If you say, “Lord Jesus, You are my Savior,” you can turn to God and say, “God, You must forgive me, whether You like it or not. You are righteous if You forgive me, but You are unrighteous if You do not forgive me.” We can say this to God because Christ has fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law, and, as a result, God is bound by His righteousness to save us. Righteousness, therefore, is a mighty bond God cannot escape—He must save us because He is righteous. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, (Msgs. 001-020), Chapter 9, by Witness Lee)

Even if we don’t understand the depths of God’s salvation, we should all at least see this: We are saved because of God’s righteousness. 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If you want to study this application of God’s righteousness a little more, we invite you to read more on this topic.

Posted on

The Word of God – Showing us that God is Loving

The-Word-of-God-Showing-us-that-God-is-Loving

Verses for Today

1 John 4:8 He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.

1 John 4:9 In this the love of God was manifested among us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might have life and live through Him.

1 John 4:10 Herein is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God has loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

Fellowship

The 10 commandments are found in chapter 20 of Exodus. In verse 12 God commands us to honor our father and mother. In verse 13, that we shall not kill, in verse 14, that we shall not commit adultery, and in verse 15, that we shall not steal. Look through all the rest of the commandments. You will see that they strongly testify that our God is loving.

[Exodus 20,] verses 12 through 14 reveal that God is a God of love. If we do not honor our parents, it means that we do not love them. Likewise, if we love others, we shall not steal from them. In Matthew 22:37-40 the Lord Jesus answered His opposers by implying that the whole law is fulfilled in loving God and man. We must not only love the Lord with our whole being, but we must also love others as we love ourselves. In Galatians 5:14 Paul says, “For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” If we consider the Ten Commandments in depth, we shall see that God’s love is revealed in them (Life Study of Exodus, p. 598).

If the whole law is fulfilled in loving God and man, then this really is telling us that God’s law testifies that our God is a God of love.

God’s nature is love, and therefore His love is unconditional. God loves everyone, even the unlovable ones… We love those who love us but what about those who are mean to us or different from us? God loves everyone including those who are not like us or those who do not always obey Him. (Church in Irvine, Lessons, God is Love).

The highest expression of God’s love is revealed in the New testament. God loves us and does not want us to suffer the punishment for sin. It was out of His love that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to die for us. We should all realize the following three things. 

1) We are all sinners; this means that there is something in us that causes us to do the evil that we don’t want to do. The commandments show us a high standard and expose our fallen condition.

2) Jesus paid the price for our sins. When we believe in Him, He forgives us and takes away all our sins (1 John 4:10). Furthermore, He gives His eternal life to us (1 John 4:9). This is the love of God and it is real love. No other love compares to this. 

3) God does not require the sinner to become sinless before coming to Him. God loved the sinners first and took the first step in coming to them. When we consider our close family, our relatives, friends, and even our enemies, we have to realize that God loves them. He loves every human being and even came to be a man to die for them. Keeping God’s love in mind and enjoying and experiencing God’s love affects the way we see and treat others.

With a heart full of respect, honor, and worship for God’s love, you can sing hymn 30. Stanzas 1 and 3 are included here.

1
What love Thou hast bestowed on us,

We thank Thee from our heart;

Our Father, we would worship Thee

And praise for all Thou art.

3
Thou gavest Thy beloved Son

In love to come and die,

That we may be Thy many sons,

As heirs with Him, made nigh.

Posted on

The Word of God – Life to Us and a Revelation of Who God Is

The-Word-of-God-Life-to-us-and-a-revelation-of-Who-God-is

Verses for Today

Psalm 119:16 I will take delight in Your statutes; / I will not forget Your word.

Psalm 119:140 Your word is very pure, / And Your servant loves it.

Exodus 34:28c And He wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

Fellowship

God’s words are contained in the Bible. When we read a verse, we have to realize that it is God’s speaking. God carries everything out by speaking. His creation was by His speaking; God said, and there was. Today, God nourishes His seekers through His word. The Lord Jesus said that man shall not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds out through the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). Even the 10 commandments can become life-giving to us if we take them as God’s words from out of His mouth.

At least thirty-seven times in Psalm 119 the psalmist refers to the law as God’s word. Instead of simply declaring that he loved God’s law, the psalmist declared that he loved God’s word. This proves that he thought of God’s law as His living word. (Life Study of Exodus, Msg 56, Section 2)

In our Christian life, we start out by receiving the many sweet provisions God has for us. This was also the experience of the children of Israel in the first part of the book of Exodus. They were saved from slavery, separated from Egypt, given water to drink and manna to eat. For us New Testament believers, God gave us His only Begotten Son to die for us and forgive us our sins. We were saved from a life of bondage in which we served sin as slaves. God separated us from the world and gave us living water to quench our thirst and living bread that we might have His eternal life. Our salvation experience matches the salvation experience of the children of Israel coming out of Egypt.  In our experience, we are learning how to come to God’s word for life. We have to turn our heart to the Lord and exercise our spirit to contact Him. We can say, “Thank you Lord Jesus for all you’ve done for me!” May all God’s children enjoy God’s full salvation.

In addition to taking care of all our problems and nourishing us, God’s word functions to reveal to us who God is, and this is most important. Let us now get into this.

Concerning the matter of law, there is an important principle: the kind of law a person makes expresses the kind of person that one is. For example, if criminals could make laws, they would legalize crime. Furthermore, a backward country would have rather barbaric laws, whereas a highly cultured society would have highly cultured laws. This principle applies also to God Himself. God is a Law-giver. In giving the law, He would never legalize crime or sin. He would not legalize theft or adultery, for He is not that kind of God. Only the god of witchcraft would legalize such things. A law is always a revelation of what kind of person has enacted that law.

The first function of the law is…to reveal God to us….I wish to emphasize the point that the primary function of the law is to reveal God to us. After God brought His people into His presence to have fellowship with Him, to serve Him, to contact Him, to worship Him, and even to feast with Him, He made Himself known to them. Prior to this time, God had not revealed to His people what kind of God He is….Only when we come to Exodus 20 do we have a revelation of what kind of God our God is (Life Study of Exodus, pp. 592-593).

We get to know our God in His word. His laws, statutes, ordinances, and all His words are not for us to take as lists of dos and don’ts. Rather, they are there that we might know God. He wants to be known. His laws are often referred to as His testimonies, meaning that they are there because God wants to be known by us. Finally, knowing who God is through His word is not for our mere acknowledgement. When the Bible says that God is love, it conveys God as love into us. By our contacting God in His word to get to know Him, who He is gets infused into us, making us the same as He is. Let us, in a pure way, read God’s word to get to know who He is. This is altogether worthwhile.

Posted on

The Word of God – Showing us that God is Pure

The-Word-of-God-Showing-us-that-God-is-Pure

Verses for Today

Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.

Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and greediness, which is idolatry;

Luke 22:41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed,

Luke 22:42 Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet, not My will, but Yours be done.

Fellowship

The commandment that tells us not to covet reveals that God is pure. Being pure has to do with your inward person. God is pure because within Him there is no contamination, no selfishness, and no evil desire. This commandment shows us that because God is pure, He not only looks at our outward actions but also at our inward motives. You can hide your inward desires from people. But you cannot hide your inward desires from God. God looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7b says, “For it is not how man sees that matters; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart.”

To be pure is related to our motives. A pure person does not do things with an ulterior motive. When this person says something nice about another person he does not say it with the intention of obtaining something in return (Church in Irvine, Lessons, Character – Pure).

Here is something more concerning coveting. To covet means to want something that belongs to somebody else. There is a craving within for others’ possessions. Greediness is very similar to covetousness and includes selfishness. Being greedy means you want things not for the sake of anybody else but for yourself. Coveting others’ possessions includes coveting material things as well as desiring others’ skills, spiritual gifts, and responsibilities.

This commandment is such a high requirement. We should be in awe at how high God is. How noble. How pure. Psalm 113:5 says, “Who is like Jehovah our God.” This God who became a man exemplified the God who is pure. In His human life, Jesus Christ wanted nothing for Himself but only everything for God. He even gave up His own life for God’s will. Before going to the cross He prayed to the Father, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet, not My will but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42)

[The words of Exodus 20:17] also reveal that God is pure. His purity touches our inner being. Whereas the first nine commandments are related to outward conduct, the tenth is related to the sin hidden within us, mainly in our thoughts. Actually, the first commandment is also related to our inward condition. To have another God besides the true God is primarily an inward matter. However, to make an image or likeness of something is an outward deed. Hence, the first commandment touches our inward condition, and the commandment about coveting likewise touches our inward condition. The first and the last commandment together expose the idolatry and covetousness within us. Inwardly we are filled with idols and coveting. Colossians 3:5 says that covetousness [or greediness] is idolatry…

…The fact that we are covetous indicates that we are not pure. Only God is pure, for those who are pure do not covet. We covet because we are impure and unclean. If our heart, desire, and intention were pure in every way, we would not be covetous.

The commandment about coveting reveals God’s purity. Under the light of this commandment, we all need to see that inwardly we are not pure. We all have a certain amount of covetousness. But because God is pure, with Him there is no covetousness (Life Study of Exodus, Msg 51, Section 3).

God’s intention in making Himself known to us through His word is that He would be dispensed into us and make us His habitation, the place where He lives. In order for us to be purified within, we need the God who is pure to inhabit our being and fill all our inward parts. Ask Him to come in. Read His word a little, and ask Him to occupy you more. Our heart can be God’s house.

That Christ may make His home in your hearts through faith (Ephesians 3:17a)

Open up all the parts of your heart to God. Let Him do His house work. You can bring your feelings on any matter to God. That thing that you desire, God wants to hear about it. As you tell Him the things, God moves in.

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; And the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

Posted on

The Word of God – Showing us that God is Truthful

The-Word-of-God-Showing-us-that-God-is-Truthful

Verses for Today

Ex 20:16 You shall not testify with false testimony against your neighbor.

1 John 1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

Fellowship

We have previously pointed out that the 10 commandments reveal to us who and what God is. We want to see that our God is truthful and He is even light itself.

Exodus 20:16 says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” This commandment reveals that God is truthful. To refrain from bearing false witness means that we must speak the truth and not lie….As the truthful God, God is the God of light. We are even told that He Himself is light and that with Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). This means that with God there is no falsehood….With our God there is both faithfulness and truthfulness. Because He is light, He cannot lie. Light is the source of truth (Life Study of Exodus, p. 600).

Testifying with false testimony against your neighbor means to lie about someone. Such lies inflict harm. Satan, the enemy of God is behind all lies and his aim is to to kill, steal, and destroy (John 10:10). Lies and any form of falsehood are in the realm of darkness. Any time that we lie or any time that we hear a lie, it brings us into darkness. Our God is the real life giver. With Him there is life and peace. The peace and glory we receive from God gets robbed from us whenever there is falsehood. That is Satan’s work and we can all testify, we’ve been there.

The Lord Jesus is the truthful God who became a man. The Jews argued with Him many times and sought to catch something false from the Lord but they never could. Mark 12:13 says, “And they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and Herodians that they might catch Him in His speech.” and Luke 11:53 and 54 say, “And when He went out from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to provoke Him to speak concerning many things, lying in wait for Him in order to catch something out of His mouth.”

The Lord’s words are full of light and they break through the darkness. We do well to read His word and pray over it. Here are the Lord’s words, from the gospel of John, when He was dealing with the ones who rejected Him and opposed Him.

I know that you are Abraham’s seed; but you seek to kill Me because My word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; so then, you also do the things which you have heard from your father. (John 8:37-39)

You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks it out of his own possessions; for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. (John 8:44-45)

Thank the Lord for His word. Thank the Lord for the 10 commandments. Because God is light, His words are full of light. The truthfulness of God is the expression of the God of light. All the 10 commandments, like 10 words, reveal to us who God is. He is light and He is truthful. With Him is no falsehood and no darkness. When we touch the truthful God in His word, we are first enlightened of our real condition and then we are freed. We are freed from sin, falsehood, and darkness. John 8:32 says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”