Posted on 06/20/2005 4:38:37 AM PDT by HarleyD
”Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God" (Rom. 11:22). “
In the early part of this century liberalism took mainline Protestant churches by storm. It might be argued that the first half of the present century ushered in the most serious spiritual decline since the Protestant Reformation. Evangelicalism, which had dominated Protestant America since the days of the founding fathers, was virtually driven out of denominational schools and churches. Evangelicalism managed to survive and even thrive outside the denominations. But it never regained its influence in the mainline groups. Instead it has flourished chiefly in relatively small denominations and non-denominational churches. In a few decades, liberalism virtually destroyed the largest Protestant denominations in America and Europe.
One of the most popular spokesmen for liberal Christianity was Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor of the Riverside Church in New York City. Fosdick, while remaining strongly committed to liberal theology, nevertheless acknowledged that the new theology was undermining the concept of a holy God. Contrasting his age with that of Jonathan Edwards, Fosdick wrote,
Fosdick was never so right. He correctly saw that liberalism had led to a warped and imbalanced concept of God. He could even see far enough ahead to realize that liberalism was taking society into a dangerous wasteland of amorality, where "man's sin, his greed, his selfishness, his rapacity roll up across the years an accumulating mass of consequence until at last in a mad collapse the whole earth crashes into ruin." 2
Despite all that, Fosdick ultimately would not acknowledge the literal reality of God's wrath toward impenitent sinners. To him, "the wrath of God" was nothing more than a metaphor for the natural consequences of wrongdoing. Writing in the wake of World War I, Fosdick suggested that "the moral order of the world has been dipping us in hell."3 His theology would not tolerate a personal God whose righteous anger burns against sin. Moreover, to Fosdick, the threat of actual hell fire was only a relic of a barbaric age. "Obviously, we do not believe in that kind of God any more."
Fosdick wrote those words almost eighty years ago. Sadly, what was true of liberalism then is all too true of evangelicalism today. We have lost the reality of God's wrath. We have disregarded His hatred for sin. The God most evangelicals now describe is all loving and not at all angry. We have forgotten that "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Heb. 10:31). We do not believe in that kind of God any more.
Ironically, this overemphasis on divine beneficence actually works against a sound understanding of God's love. It has given multitudes the disastrous impression that God is kindly but feeble, or aloof, or simply unconcerned about human wickedness. Is it any wonder that people with a such a concept of God defy His holiness, take His love for granted, and presume on His grace and mercy? Certainly no one would fear a deity like that.
Yet Scripture tells us repeatedly that fear of God is the very foundation of true wisdom (Job 28:28; Ps. 111:10; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 15:33; Mic. 6:9). People often try to explain the sense of those verses away by saying that the "fear" called for is a devout sense of awe and reverence. Certainly the fear of God includes awe and reverence, but it does not exclude literal holy terror. "It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, and He shall be your dread" (Isa. 8:13).
We must recapture some of the holy terror that comes with a right understanding of God's righteous anger. We need to remember that God's wrath does burn against impenitent sinners (Ps. 38:1-3). That reality is the very thing that makes His love so wonderful. We must therefore proclaim these truths with the same sense of conviction and fervency we employ when we declare the love of God. It is only against the backdrop of divine wrath that the full significance of God's love can be truly understood. That is precisely the message of the cross of Jesus Christ. After all, it was on the cross that God's love and His wrath converged in all their majestic fullness.
Only those who see themselves as sinners in the hands of an angry God can fully appreciate the magnitude and wonder of His love. In this regard our generation is surely at a greater disadvantage than any previous age. We have been force-fed the doctrines of self-esteem for so long that most people don't really view themselves as sinners worthy of divine wrath. On top of that, religious liberalism, humanism, evangelical compromise, and ignorance of the Scriptures have all worked against a right understanding of who God is. Ironically, in an age that conceives of God as wholly loving, altogether devoid of wrath, most people are tragically ill-equipped to understand what God's love is all about!
The simple fact is that we cannot appreciate God's love until we have learned to fear Him. We cannot know His love apart from some knowledge of His wrath. We cannot study the kindness of God without also encountering His severity. And if the church of our generations does not regain a healthy balance soon, the rich biblical truth of divine love is likely to be obscured behind what is essentially a liberal, humanistic concept.
Notes
1. Harry Emerson Fosdick,Christianity and Progress (New York: Revell, 1922), 173-74 (emphasis added).
2. Ibid., 174.
3. Ibid (emphasis added).
***Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God***
Rock solid.
The Lord brought this verse to my attention very forcefully one time and it has made a lasting impression on me.
We often want to behold God's goodness - but not His severity. I'd like to see "All the Threats of the Bible" to go along with "All the Promises of the Bible"! :)
BTW - My little bro is on a cruise with MacArthur this week.
Actually, you sent it to only me. That is why I was confused.
Ouch! Your right - I'll ping stuartcr!
Pinging stuartcr!
See post #18
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1426483/posts?page=18#18
Yes there is, I do it all the time...I am alive, and I am thankful to God for it.
We obviously believe differently.
***We obviously believe differently.***
Do Christ's words hold no authority for you?
How do you worship God? How do you know it is pleasing to Him?
Yes, I believe that not all persons hear them the same.
The details are personal, but I will say that I pray and am thankful for what I have.
I don't believe anyone can truly know that. How would you know if it is not?
God has revealed to us how we should become His children and how we are to worship Him. If we are not in sync with the Word of God, then we are not pleasing Him.
As I said, I believe God speaks/communicates differently with all of us. Since we do not believe the same, then I obviously believe this is as God wants it. If/when God wants us all to believe the same, I'm sure we will.
You are free to believe what you want to believe, but you have presented no reasonable explanation for it. How do you know God is communicating with you, if you have no way of knowing how He communicates with His creation?
***Since we do not believe the same, then I obviously believe this is as God wants it.***
The rape of young children is also something that occurs in our world. Based on your reasoning above, would you say that this is also something that God wants to occur?
Along with everything else in the universe that happens, yes, otherwise, I don't believe it can happen.
I don't believe there is, nor is there a need for, a reasonable explanation when talking about God and our beliefs.
As I said before, it is self-evident to me. How do you know when God communicates with you?
God has revealed His will to mankind through His Word, which is the Bible. That is His means of communication today.
For you, and many others, I'm sure it is, but for myself, and many others, it isn't.
It is for everyone. You have nothing to back up your beliefs, while I, as a Christian, have the revealed Word of God that has existed in written form for nearly 2000 years. You claim to serve an omnipotent god, and yet claim that he has given mankind no way of knowing exactly how to serve him. The god you serve is not the God that I serve.
***Along with everything else in the universe that happens, yes, otherwise, I don't believe it can happen.***
So you are saying that you believe that God WANTS the rape, torture, beating, starvation etc. of young children to occur?
If so then your conception of God is a monster (and ultimately you have no way of telling right from wrong). This is not the God of the Bible.
***otherwise, I don't believe it can happen.***
You don't distinguish between what God wants as opposed to what he allows?????
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