4.17.11 // Lie #3, God is more tolerant than He used to be.

The Adoration of the Golden Calf 

Nicolas Poussin (1594 - 1665)

  

We are on a ten-week series on 10 Lies About God  (LifeWorks, Spring 2011, LifeWay) by Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer. Please make sure to read Lutzer’s excellent work for each session. My lessons will follow the order in which those lies about God are presented in LifeWorks. However, I will take a different approach under each theme, but you already know that don't you!

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How does this erroneous view, God is more tolerant than He used to be, gain entrance into the thinking of others? People are getting away with murder. The global threat of Islamic terrorism, a world in conflict, unparalleled natural disasters, the rising threat of drug cartels along our southern borders, the implosion of our country by greed and corruption both at the corporate and government levels, a staggering national debt in double-digit trillions, the devaluing of the dollar, a lack of godly leadership at the highest levels of government, hundreds of thousands in unemployment, unprecedented foreclosures, millions of deaths by abortion over the years, the vanishing of the family unit, the widening gap between the haves and the have nots, the relativity of truth, morality, and ethics, the elevation of humanism and evolution, and the openness of sin and immorality reveal a nation that is pagan to the core and teetering on the edge of virtual collapse.  

Where is God in all of this bleakness? Has God turned a deaf ear to the cries of the godly? Good, decent, and honest folks are getting the short end of the stick while the bad people are having a field day. Even those claiming the name of Christ are justifying their sin and worshiping God on Sunday with little fear of church discipline. So either God has gone light on sin, indifferent to sin in a post-modern world, not wrathful like the ancient days. So what is causing people to buy into lie #3: God is more tolerant than He used to be? Something has to be fueling it?

We have discussed this in the past about the fallout from believers failing to learn the Word, to love the Word, and to live the Word. Instead, what is happening is a strange theological soup being prepared and consumed ongoing by post-modern Christians. This pot of homemade theology consists of homespun wisdom, oral theology (what went in the ear gate), favorite verses of Scripture, experiences, and observations on life, but experiences and observations dominate the flavor -- "O taste and see how I see the Lord," and not, Thus says the LORD from Scripture. It is opinion (based mainly on experiences and observations - E's & O's) versus reliable and solid truth (the Bible).

Many believers actually do this, though they might not readily admit to it. The rationale is "I've gotten this far in life with this approach, and God has blessed me; so if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But are experiences and observations (E’s & O’s) of life accurate gauges of a proper image of God? Well, we have to go back to the basics and see. The way God intended for us to view Him is according to Scripture, not through the E‘s & O’s of life. We must always view the circumstances of life through the lens of Scripture, not the other way around. Our view of God must always transcend our E‘s & O’s. We must listen to what the Scriptures are telling us about God, not our E‘s & O’s; I cannot stress the importance of this enough.

If our E‘s & O’s are conflicting with the truth of Scripture, then we have to conclude that it is not reliable and should not be allowed to influence our outlook on God in a negative way. Our adversary utilizes E‘s & O’s in an attempt to undermine our faith. 

Look at Job's situation. Satan always attempts to use negative circumstances to snooker us into having wrong thoughts of God, to see Him in a way that is contrary to how God revealed Himself in Scripture. Interesting side note here, Job stayed the course even though the Scriptures were not written yet. If Satan can get our eyes off the Book and onto the circumstances of life, we are going to question God's goodness. This has always been Satan's MO (modus operandi): use any and everything to get God's people away from the only Book that is the absolute and ultimate authority on all matters of faith and practice. If he succeeds we fall. D. L. Moody had it right,

The Bible will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from the Bible. 

We get tricked into this more than we realize. Just think back at the times we questioned the love of God when something terrible entered our lives or through our loved ones or dear friends. How often have we questioned the goodness of God because of negative circumstances? How often have we felt abandoned by God because of some pressing situation? What is going on with this? We are looking at God through the lens of our E‘s & O’s and formulating a wrong view of Him.

There are two major reasons why Lie #3, God is more tolerant than He used to be, thrives.

1. Allowing our E‘s &O’s of life to shape our view of God rather than by divine revelation.

The lie, God is more tolerant than He used to be, surfaces because there is an attempt to understand or conceptualize God by E‘s & O’s rather than by divine revelation. The Scriptures will only present an unchanging God in all of His perfections; E‘s & O’s may present an alternate view of God as unsettled, whimsical, and indifferent. The truth about God is not perceived by E‘s & O’s but revealed through the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation (cf. Deut 29:29).

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me (Jn 5:46, emphasis mine). 

It is far easier to look and surmise than to read and study to be wise!

2. Going beyond anthropomorphic (human-like) references to God by ascribing to Him as having a human nature.

Describing God or His actions in human terms is called anthropomorphism. We see this frequently in Scripture as a device employed by God Himself (via inspiration). For example, we read phrases like My hand … My back … My face (Ex 33:23), the hand of God (Job 19:21), the apple of His eye (Zech 2:8), arm of the LORD (Isa 51:9), the face of God (Gen 33:10), His footstool (Psa 99:5), and so forth. Since God is a Spirit (Jn 4:23), we should take this literary device no further than what was intended. 

God is being “man-sized” by injecting human nature into God’s behavior. We change our minds; God changes His mind, for instance. Because there is a tendency to bypass Scripture and think of God in human terms, God is viewed as being more tolerant of sin than He used to be; He’s changed. No longer is God seen as a God of wrath as in the Old Testament, zapping thousands here and there for sin. In the New Testament, He is seen as a God of grace and love who doesn’t judge and condemn the world. In fact, He is no longer quick to pull the trigger to the point of indifference. God might have something to say about the apples-and-oranges comparison. 

He is not a man… (1 Sam 15:29).  

God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent (Num 23:19a).  

Isa 55:8  For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.

Isa 55:9  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

If the Bible is not the absolute and ultimate source of authority in all matters of faith and practice, it would appear that God is more tolerant than He used to be; let’s quote a couple of passages in Scripture that reveal that God does not morph with the times.  

For I am the LORD, I do not change (Mal 3:6a).

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb 13:8).

…the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (Jas 1:17).

Since the Bible is the absolute and ultimate authority on all matters of faith and practice, experience is helpful but not reliable and cannot be trusted. We cannot deny a person’s experiences or observations, but we can put it to the litmus test of Scripture for truthfulness and biblical accuracy. God will never contradict His Word. The E‘s & O’s of life that conflict with the truth of Scripture are not of God and should be disqualified as possessing any spiritual value. The verses above clearly refute the proposition that God is more tolerant of sin than He used to be; no matter how it may appear in the E‘s & O’s of life.  

For God to be more tolerant of sin today would require His nature to be changeable. Regardless of what E‘s & O’s appear to teach us about God, any suggestion of change on the part of God is based on satanic deception. The refutation to this lie is found in the truth of the immutability of God’s perfections as quoted above. That’s a big six-syllable word, what does it mean?

The doctrine of immutability

Immutability means (You already counted the syllables with your fingers, didn’t you? Me, too!), as I understand it, that God is immutable or unchangeable or unchanging or incapable of change or insusceptible to change, His nature is eternally constant, forever the same; there are no variations, fluctuations, or anomalies in God’s nature due to His self-existence and eternality. Any citing of E‘s & O’s in an attempt to prove a shift in God’s tolerance of sin is an affront to His very nature; such careless statements reveal an abysmal ignorance of biblical revelation regardless whether intentional or not.  
 

The God of the Old Testament is precisely the same God of the New Testament and the same God of today, tomorrow, and forever. Amen!

This is in keeping with our understanding of God’s immutability as revealed in His Word, not by our E‘s & O’s of life. God is absolutely infinite, independent, immutable, and eternal, making it an absolute impossibility for God’s perfections to change! What does that mean to us in the here and now? Let's save that to the end of the posting, shall we?

Immutability doesn't mean inactivity or immobility 

This immutability thing doesn’t mean He is inactive or immobile for God is infinite in power and energy. We see the Godhead as very involved and active in His creation and throughout the Scripture.

Creation, Gen 1:1

Salvation (positional relationship), Jn 3:16

Fellowship (practical relationship), 1 Cor 1:9; 1 Jn 1:3, 6    

 

1Cor 1:9  God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1Jn 1:3  that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

1Jn 1:6  If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 

How can mobility have any meaning since God is everywhere present (omnipresent)? I have already blown a head gasket over this glorious truth. It’s one of those paradoxes far beyond human understanding, mine for sure. I am challenged enough with the revealed truth of God that will occupy my lifetime. I think it wise for me to leave the unrevealed stuff alone with Him.

Challenges in Scripture with Immutability  

(Gen 6:6; 1Sam 15:11, 29; Jon 3:10; Ezek 24:14)

A word pops up in Scripture connected to God like “sorry, repented, regrets,” and we think, “I’ve done that! Here it is in black and white; God repents; God regrets; God is sorrowful; God made a mistake like I did; God miscalculated and didn’t realize the consequences of His actions. Yep, God changed His mind like I did!” 

Such kind of thinking may make us feel better in the short run (misery loves company kind of thing), but in the long haul, if this kind of thinking is right, there should be much concern over this.  Would this be the only mistake God has ever made or changed His mind? Maybe He will change His mind about letting me into heaven if I keep on sinning? Maybe I do have to work my way to glory? With all that is going on in the world, maybe He doesn’t love me? Maybe He is indifferent after all and doesn’t care about me personally? Maybe the universe got too big for God to handle? There are endless proposals of what ifs and maybes if we choose to ignore the authority of Scripture.

These verses that appear to indicate God has changed His mind are given by inspiration of God (2 Tim 3:16), and our Self-Revelator (Yahweh), who revealed these situations to us through holy men of God … moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Pet 1:21), is all-powerful (omnipotent) and has all knowledge (omniscient), and is all-wise (omnisapient). Since God is immutable in His perfections, we must see this very God in all passages throughout the Scriptures even though God's revelation of Himself was a progressive revelation, culminating in Jesus Christ (Heb 1:3). Therefore, He does not repent like man repents. This is the Divine context, our frame of reference which is a composite of Scripture, that we must keep in mind whenever and wherever we approach Scripture, and not hyper-jump out of context and claim, "God is not immutable" because we intravenously read into the Divine a human nature with buzz words like repent. God knew exactly what He was saying and what He meant. It is incumbent on us to figure that out without trampling upon His nature.

Let me give you two things when approaching verses that appear to indicate God has changed His mind.

(1) Man is a sinner; God is not. God is holy and cannot sin. Therefore, whatever caused Him to “change His mind” is not because of sin. When the word, repent, is used by God what is the first thing that comes to mind: sin, mistake, regret, sorrow, or apology. But if God repents, regrets, or is sorry, it is not because of sin for He is holy. Sorrow over the wicked should not be construed as God changing His mind any more than joy in heaven over a repentant sinner. When we associate God with human terminology, we must be careful not to ascribe to Him anything that runs contrary to His perfect nature which cannot be coaxed or compromised by sin or sinful behavior.

(2) Man does not know the future; God does. Only God has foreknowledge. His foreknowledge is infinite and with absolute clarity and accuracy. God knew when He created man in His own image that Adam would rebel and things would wind up like they did by the time of Gen 6:6; God knew when He selected Saul as king he would be rejected by Him (1 Sam 15:11); God knew He would repent or relent from destroying the Ninevites when He sent Jonah to warn them that the judgment of God was forty days out (Jon 3:10); God knew when He had Ezekiel preach that God will judge sin that He would not repent from the fall of Jerusalem. I know a myriad of questions flood our minds when we contemplate this foreknowledge of God, but let’s not get off track of our rebuttal against the changeableness of God – “This old God He ain’t what He used to be” theology.

So if God repents relents, or appears to change his mind it has to mean something other than what we read into it naturally. When we come to texts like the ones cited above that suggest mutability, we decipher their meaning by what we know already about God’s eternal attributes and evaluate the matter on the basis of the context of God's self-revelation as a whole and the local context of the passage in question.

There is more going on here than our finite pea brains can figure out. When all seems like a cosmic joke or cosmic struggle, and we are the collateral damage, always go to the cross. It reveals that there is something very serious, very serious going down. Such contemplations beyond the realm of revelation are meant to undermine our faith and plant seeds of doubt in God’s goodness and motives.

We are all affected by God’s unchanging nature differently, not uniquely, just differently. We may share the same differences, like salvation, for instance. Did God change because I was a sinner heading towards hell then I repented and was saved and on my way to glory? Did God change His mind about the penalty of sin when I asked Christ to pay that for me? Did God’s nature change with the civilization prior to the global flood in Noah’s day? His heart was broken by the death of nearly all of mankind. 

God judges sin. But if He was sorrowful that He had created man, why spare Noah? Did God change His mind when He decided never to flood the world again? God judges sin but the method will not be by water but by fire. Do the laws of aerodynamics mean that the law of gravity has changed? If gravity was symbolic of God, did gravity change its mind if a plane had sustained flight? What changed was the relationship of the aircraft to the principle of gravity. Gravity remained the same, but it affects a rock and an aircraft differently flying through the air. The same sun melts snow and bakes clay, right? It is our relationship to the unchanging God that changes, not God for He is forever immutable, unchanging, absolutely forever the same.

I know this will not satisfy all the questions still swirling within our minds. But I wanted to at least impart some principles to apply when coming across those challenging the immutability of our God. Take what you learned here and reflect on the supposed differences in God in the OT and the NT. Based on what we know God judges sin in both Testaments. God is full of mercy and grace in both Testaments. God is a God of love in both Testaments. God is holy, just, and righteous in both Testaments. It is theologically accurate to say that God is the same in eternity past, in the present, and will be forever the same in eternity future. 

Such a belief will shape how you respond to Lie #3: God is more tolerant than He used to be. People believe that because they are interpreting the understanding of God by personal E's & O's rather than by the Scriptures. We have all been guilty of this, but this is just another device of the devil. See it for what it is. Learn God’s principles and apply them to real-world settings, personally and globally. Learn to interpret the E‘s & O’s of life by the Scripture and not by the senses.

If God changes (Think long and hard on this.) everything about God is suspect, and we are in a heap of trouble. Immutability assures us that none of God’s perfections change … God can never be coaxed or compromised into changing (Ryrie, Basic Theology). Thank God for His unchanging character that we call immutability.

Neat things about immutability

If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself ( 2 Tim 2:13). 

What does immutability mean to us? That is a big question that requires a big answer. Let me mention just a couple things in the context of our Lie # 3, God is more tolerant than He used to be.

• God judges sin. The lake of fire is still awaiting its occupants from the past, present, and future of unregenerate men. When judgment falls, numbers are irrelevant.  All those who shoulder the responsibility for the penalty of sin rather than placing the penalty of their sin by faith in the death of Christ at the cross will be separated from God forever. 4+ billion people learned the reality of this in the days of Noah, and tragically, it will happen again, not by a flood but by fire. The same God who decreed a global catastrophic flood for the antediluvian civilization will be the same Judge residing at the Great White Throne judgment for every unregenerate man or woman.

• God is holy. The same God Isaiah saw in a vision is the same God we worship and serve.

• The God of the patriarchs, faithful prophets, loyal priests, godly kings, and apostles is our God.

• All the promises of God made to us are better than gold; they are unchanging.

• God's love toward us will never change because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

Postscript

No nation is safe from imploding whose God is not the Lord (cf. Psa 33:12-19). The only way to have and maintain a right view of God is to make the only absolute and ultimate source of authority in all matters of faith and practice the rule of life - the Word of God. We need to be submitted and committed to its principles regardless of the circumstances of life. Christ was the supreme manifestation of God, and we are commanded to be like Christ. 

Imagine if you will what Job would have concluded about God if he evaluated God by his E’s & O’s! In one day Job went from riches to rags, lost all ten of his kids, lost his health, and his wife wanted him to curse God and die. Let’s not forget what a blessing his three consoling friends were ….  After the dust settled what did Job conclude about God Almighty?

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes (Job 42:5-6).

When crisis sweeps into our life like a renegade storm, Job's reaction is not normally ours. Worship is the furthest thing from our mind, walking away from God is! From out of the furnace of his devastating circumstances came forth humility, praise, honor, and worship, not to mention a double blessing from on High. He stayed true to the oral traditions passed down by his fathers.

Unlike Job, we have the whole shooting match of revelation. There should be no misunderstanding of God! And I don't mean that judgmentally or sarcastically. It's fact. God will hold us accountable for wrong or incorrect notions about Him. Any image other than what has been revealed through the Scripture is idol thinking. Do you know what's scary about all of this? To be a people of the Book as we claim to be, nestled in the Bible belt, ignorance makes liars of us all if we fail to learn, love, and live the Book!
 

The immutability of God is the death knell to the satanic lie that God is more tolerant than He used to be. One look at the cross will tell us sin is a very serious business, and judgment is coming. I wonder if those who advocate Lie #3 and experience the coming tribulation period will still believe that lie that God is more tolerant than He used to be? If they happen to survive through that terrible mess for seven years, when Christ returns to the earth along with the saints to reign and rule on the earth, the unregenerate still alive at that time will be raptured and consigned to death row in hell for a thousand-year span, awaiting the final sentencing to the lake of fire at the Great White Throne judgment. Nope, the truth of the matter is that God isn't more tolerant of sin; man is.

Supplication

 

Father, how easy it is for us to look at our surroundings with our finite understanding and make statements that impugn your infinite holy nature. In a world of never-ending flux, this truth of Your immutability is a reminder of just how often we forget what kind of King occupies the eternal throne in heaven. All of Your perfections are unchanging, forever the same!  

Forgive us when we foolishly doubt Your goodness because we allow our experiences and observations to question Your infinite perfections.  How foolish and insulting to Your Majesty this must be when we allow our view of You to be so narrow and judgmental at times when the written Word paints a completely different picture of You. 

When the circumstances of life kick us in the gut, taking our breath away, there is this tendency to think wrong thoughts about You. Oh, the struggles between the frailties of the flesh and the faith needed to please You! We stumble and fall over stupid, foolish, and insulting thoughts of You as we wrestle with our circumstances. 

Forgive us O LORD for failing to recognize Your authority in our lives. You asked for us to simply glory in understanding and knowing You which can only be accomplished through Your Word which we neglect so badly by misplaced priorities.

Generations, things, and times come and go with the passing, but though the grass withers, the flower fades ... the word of our God stands forever (Isa 40:8; Mt 24:35). There are no Divine revisions given to us. Your Word is unchanging because You, our great Author and Finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2), is unchanging!   

May we humble ourselves before the One who will never change in exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth (Jer 9:24). The God of Jeremiah is our God. You will never change in your delight of these things and neither should we if we are to be like You.  May we change to be more like the Changeless One, Jesus Christ, for it is in His name we ask. Amen. <><