There are a number of things I want to get to so I'm suspending the 4-part series on How Are We to Love Jesus Christ. This blog post has been on my mind for a while so I wanted to post it. I hope it is a blessing to you. I'm currently working on an exegesis on John 3. This chapter has been used against the BBU and CWU many times as a rebuke against our evangelism efforts. It is also a popular passage to refute the historic doctrines of grace. Anyway, here are the 10 ways to improve your bible study,

1. Put in the Time (2 Tim. 2:15).

The secret to becoming much like God is to spend much time alone with Him. -R.A. Torrey in The Power of Prayer-

2. Pray - Frequently, Fervently, Specifically, and Continually.

These two things, prayer and God's Word, always go hand-in-hand, for there is no true prayer without the study of the Word of God, and there is no true study of the Word of God without prayer. -R.A. Torrey in The Power of Prayer-

3. Use Good Commentaries.

I emphasize good commentaries. I love The New Testament Commentary Series by William Hendriksen and Simon Kistemaker. It is 12 volumes and very good. John Owen's 7 volume commentary on Hebrews may be the best ever on the book. Dr. John MacArthur's commentary series in good. Anything by the late James Montegomery Boice is good as well. The reason I recommend you use commentaries, especially the old ones, is that they had more time back then and were clearly more observant than us. They saw things in Holy Writ we'd never see. And Ephesians says that God gives us these men for our edification.

4. Supplement Your Bible Reading with Good Sermons and Writings from Godly Teachers and Pastors from Church History.

These writings are to be a supplement and not a replacement of regular bible reading. Once again I'll give some recommendations. Men like A.W. Pink, John Owen, J.C. Ryle, Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Thomas Watson, Thomas Brooks, Richard Baxter, B.B. Warfield, J. Gresham Machen, ...ect.

5. Focus Your Studies (Intially) on Primarily Three Subjects.

___a. Man's Depravity

___b. The compassions, mercies, and kindnesses of Christ.

___c. Christ's attributes - greatness, authority, wisdom, knowledge, faithfulness, holiness...ect.

6. Use a Topical Concordance.

7. Meditate on What You Read.

Meditation is the best way to impove our Christianity. -Joseph Hall-

___a. Put yourself in the time and place of the passage you are reading.

___b. What is the message of the passage I'm reading.

___c. How does the passage affect you personall?

___d. What does thepassage teach us about Christ?

8. Apply What We Read, Learn, and Meditate On.

9. Stop Snacking.

More time in the world pulls us away from Christ. Spend less time on video games, politics, tv, sports, career...ect. Those things pull us away from the Lord. I don't mean neglect your duties though.

10. Always Remember : The Holy Spirit Must Quicken and Enliven Any Means o Grace, In Order For It To Be Effective.

I hope this was a blessing to you. :)

In part one I stated that we are to love Jesus Christ in sincerity (Eph. 6:24). The next way we are to love Jesus Christ is supremely. This is beautifully illustrated in 2 Kings 23. During Josiah's reign as king the book of the law was found. When it was read Josiah suddenly realized the serious sin Israel had committed. He then went about purging the land of all its idolatry for the purpose,

That he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD.

Josiah was putting God supreme. Making sure He alone was ruler in His life and of the nation of Israel. Josiah wanted to make sure that nothing and no one was above the Creator of heaven and earth. In the same way we are to make sure nothing is above Christ. Christ illustrates this in Matthew 13:44-46. Jesus tells the story of 2 men. Both men found this great treasure. They with joy sold all that they had and bought that treasure. To these 2 men that treasure was the most important thing in the world. Everything else was but dung (Phil. 3:8 ) to them compared to the treasure they had found. Do you feel that way about Christ? Are there things in your life that are more important than Christ like video games, family, friends, career, addiction...ect. If there are then Christ says you aren't worthy to be His disciple (Matt. 10:37-39). Dr. John MacArthur said,

The true gospel of Jesus Christ is not a seeker-friendly invitation. In fact, it comes with a warning: if you come to Christ, it may actually make your family life worse, not better. It may send a rift into your family, the likes of which you have never seen before. If you give your life to Jesus Christ, there will be an impossible gulf between you and people who don't give their lives to Him. And if you're not willing to pay the price of a potentially permanent split in your family...(That will stay that way, until or unless your loved ones come to Christ)...If you're not willing to pay the price of greater trauma, greater conflict, greater suffering in your family...Then you're not worthy to be Jesus disciple.

Those are stinging words by MacArthur but very true. Can that be said of you? Is Christ supreme in your life? Does His word guide your life? Christ tells us to take His yoke upon us. According to DR. John R. W. Stott a yoke was a, wooden horizontal frame laid on the necks of oxen. I think Jesus picture is clear. We wants us to submit to His authority. The apostle Paul in Romans 1 called himself a willing slave of Christ. Paul was no doubt referring back to the Old Testament where a slave, if he so desired, would have his ear pierced so that he could remain with his master the rest of his life. Paul was a willing slave of Christ. Are you? Is Christ supreme in your life? Or is Christ supreme only when you want Him to be?

In Pakistan there lives a woman named Shafia. Shafia grew up in a Christian family and became a Christian at 13-14 years old. She had a brother named Rafi who supported the family because their father died in 1990. Rafi had a reputation for defending the Christian young women in the village who were often, due to their extremely lowstatus in society,taken advantage of by the Muslim men. In 2004 he was murdered by 3 men who befriended him then shot him in the face. Why? He was a Christian. When Shafia and her family tried to get justice they couldn't. They had no money to pay for the criminal's prosecution. A man named Masood stepped in to help or so they thought. After a long deception Masood kidnapped Shafia imprisoning her for 4 months. Every day he tortured and sexually abused her in an attempt to get her to deny Christ and convert to Islam. While Masood attacked her Shafia says,

I was reciting Psalms 23, 120, and 121 in my heart. It was encouraging me that the Lord is really my shepherd, and he was going to release me soon. So I got strength.

Shafia never gave in. Despite the horrors she suffered those 4 long months she never denied her Lord. She held Him supreme above all else even above her life. Could you say that? Do you hold Christ supreme above even your life? The puritan Thomas Watson said,

God will have the whole heart. We must not divide our love between Him and sin. The true mother would not have the child divided, nor will God have the heart divided; it must be the whole heart.

God demands all of you! He deserves it for who He is. Examine yourself to see if there is anything in your life that you have placed above Him. Ask Him to open your eyes to see it. Repent. And follow Him.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. Part 3 will be in 10-14 days.

John Piper asked a great question one time. He asked,

Would you be satisfied to go to heaven, have everybody there in your family you want there, have all the health and restoration of your prime, and everything about yourself you disliked fixed, have every recreation you've ever dreamed of available to you, and infinite resources and money to spend, would you be satisfied if God weren't there?

That may seem like a trite question but it is not. Turn on the TBN's, Daystar's, and CTN's of the world and one will see people loving Christ for what He can give them rather than for who He is (John 6:24-27). I must first mention that loving Jesus Christ does not come natural to us due to man's inherent depravity (Link = Total Depravity Verse List). A love for Jesus Christ can only come from a work of the Spirit of God. Thomas Vincent stated,

"The love of Christians unto Christ is a grace wrought in their hearts by the Spirit." It is a flower most sweet and fragrant, but there is no seed of it in the nature of any man since the fall, it is planted in the Soul by the Spirit of God. Love to Christ is a divine spark that comes down from above; a fire which is kindled by the breath of the Lord, whose essence is love.

We must continually go to God for this grace. The question remains, how are we to love Jesus Christ? The first way in mentioned in Ephesians 6:24,

24Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.

That word sincerity is an interesting one. In the Greek it is aphtharsia. In the KJV, it is translated incorruption 4 times, immortality 2 times, and sincerity 2 times. That should give you a vivid image of what our love for Christ should look like. Our love should be pure and unmixed. It means we should love Christ for who He is and not for what we can get out of Him. We must love Him for Him. Thomas Vincent stated of this,

It was the great sin of Judah, Jer. iii. 10. That "she (turned not to the Lord with her whole heart, but feignedly;" so it is a great sin to love Christ with a feigned and hypocritical love. The love of Christians to Christ ought to be sincere in regard of the habit and inward workings of it; they must love him, not only in show, word, and outward profession, but their love must be cordial in the heart, and so a love in deed and truth : and the love of Christians to Christ must be sincere in regard of the object of it; they must love Christ for himself, and not chiefly for what they get by him : to love Christ only for temporal gain is hypocritical love, to love Christ chiefly for other gain is not so spiritual; but to love Christ for his own excellencies and perfections, is most sincere, and generous. This sincerity of love to Christ is every ones duty.

Do you see that? Do you see what a true love for Jesus Christ is like? We get an illustration in Luke 24. While on the way to a small village called Emmaus Jesus spoke with 2 disciples one of which was named Cleopas. Jesus spoke with them for a while but hid (verse 16) who He really was. Not long after meeting them He revealed Himself,

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:27 (KJV)

They pleaded with Him to stay with them. While eating dinner, their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. Notice what it says happened next,

And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? Luke 24:32 (KJV)

Can that be said of your love for Christ? Do your hearts burn within you when you open the scriptures and read about Him? When you hear a sermon about Christ's omniscience are you blown away? When you find out that Christ holds the universe together by His mere word do you tremble at His mighty power?

I haven't talked much about this on Gamespot, but I used to have a severe addiction. It got so bad that I considered suicide even to the point of planning it out. Despite my utter hatred for God he saved me by His grace and mercy. Since that time He has cleaned the addiction out of me. There is still some remnants here and there. The crap I used to put inmy minddoesn't go away over night. Recently severe temptation hit. For the next 3 weeks Satan whispered in my ear to go back to my former life. Each day the intensity ratcheted up. I almost gave in but couldn't. Why? I couldn't spit in Christ's face like that. I loved Him too much. My love for Him was far stronger than the uprisings of the flesh. No credit goes to me but all to Him. It was purely a work of the Spirit. Without Him I am nothing. He alone sustains me by His restraining grace.

I'll end by asking this, what is your love for Christ like? Do you love Christ like the apostles did? What about the early church fathers (Watch This - Saints and Martyrs) who were tortured severely for His sake? St. Jerome stated eloquently what our love for Christ should be like,

If my father were weeping on his knees before me, my mother hanging on my neck behind me, my brethren, sisters, and kinsfolk howling on every side, to retain me in a sinful course; I would fling my mother to the ground, run over my father, despise all my kindred, and tread them under my feet, that I might run unto Christ.

I hope part 1 blessed you. Thepart 2 (We must love Christ supremely)will be in 10-14 days. Think on this one for a while.

I meant to have this up yesterday but have been a bit delayed. So I hope to have part one up in this series on either Thursday or Friday of this weeek.This will bea 4-part series on "How Should a Christian Love Christ". It is taken rom Thomas Vincent's Classic, The True Christians Love for the Unseen Christ. A christian should love Christ in 4 ways :

1) Sincerely

2) Ardenly

3) Supremely

4) Enduringly

My text is Ephesians 6:24. I hope it will be a blessing to you. I think this is necessary since so many claim to love Christ When one looks at how we are to love Christ one finds out that much of what is spoken today about love is very wrong.

Parents are a wonder. They brought us into the world. They fed us and took care of us. When we got hurt they either bandaged us up themselves or took us to the hospital. When we were little we were completely depenedent on them for everything. Now imagine a teenager suddenly walking into his house after school. His parents have loved him and provided for him his entire life. He walks into the house spits on them. Curses at them. And says he hates them. We would be repulsed by such a thing. Yet that is what we do to God evey day. Man has a duty to worship his Creator and show Him the respect He deserves. Here's why:

1. God Created Everything -

12He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. -Jer. 10:12-

4For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. -Heb. 3:4-

28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. -Isaiah 40:28-

2. God Sustains Everything -

6Thou, even thou, art LORD alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. -Nehemiah 9:6-

14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath, 15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust. -Job 34:14-15-

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things. -1 Tim. 6:13-

Also see Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:16-17; Acts 1725 & 28; Rom. 11:36. if God were to turn His haed for a moment the universe would cease to exist. That is the power of God. The reasonwe continue to breath is that God allows it.It is Him that gives us life. And how do we repay Him? By spitting in His face and refusing to acknowledge His existence. By worshipping Him as we want to rather than as He commands.

3. God Owns Everything -

14Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. -Deut 10-

11The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them. -Psalm 89:11-

36For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. -Romans 11:36-

Everything in the universe is His. That means He gets to make the rules. Just like your parents give rules for their house. As long as you are under their roof they make the rules. The same applies to God. His house! His rules!

4. God Deserves Worship as Creator -

11Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. -Rev. 4:11-

6Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. -Psalm 150:6-

6By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. -Psalm 33:6-9-

22Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul. -Psalm 103:22-

Notice in Revelation 4:11 why they are worshipping God. It is because He created all things. In Psalm 33 the reason we are to stand in awe of Him is because He created everything just by speaking it into existence. That is the awesome power of God. Writing on this subject Paul W#asher states,

Our first response to God as Creator should be one of reverence and humility. We reverence God to the degree that we acknowledge His highest place before us as Creator and Lord of all that exists, regarding Him with the utmost respect and awe. We humble ourselves to the degree that we acknowledge our place before Him as creatures; that we are His possession, created for His glory and good pleasure. When the creation is correctly understood, it works to lay all men prostrate before God with reverence, trembling, and a real sense of utter dependence upon the One who made them...

How can the creature not worship its Creator and Sustainer? The debt that is owed Him cannot be measured. Would there be anything if He had not spoken? Would not all things immediately turn to chaos and destruction if He did not susain them? Could the constellations and planets find there way through the skies without Him? Would not the seas escape their boundaries and engulf the land if His hand did not hold them back? Could man draw even one more breath if were not granted to him by God? How then could we not worship?

I hope this has blessed you as much as it has blessed me.

Been away. New blog post coming on Monday. My topic is, Why it is Man's Duty to Worship His Creator! In the mean time, the Word never ceases to amaze me. The more I read it the more I am convinced it is the Word of Almighty God to us sinful wretches. I was studying John 1 and the topic of Christ's 2 perfect natures. He was perfectly God yet perfectly man. Do i understand that? No, it is beyond my corrupt mind to grasp. I also studied the Sonship of Christ over the week. Holy Writ teaches us that the Father loved the Son before the foundation of the world,

24Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

That fills me with awe. I sat up that night til 2 in the morning blown away. Take care! May God bless you!

When you woke up this morning why didn't you fear the wrath of God? Dr. James R. White deals with this in his short video Peace with God.

Chist is the reason I do not fear the wrath of God. That is saying something since I spent most of my life in utter terror of that just wrath. I spit in His face and went on in my sin joyfully. i knew that God at any moment could destroy my soul in hell and if He did I would most certainly deserve it. The old puritan Thomas Brooks said,

Look! As there is not a promise of God but shall surely
take place; just so, there is not a threatening of God
but shall surely take place. The faithfulness of God, and
the honor of God, are as much concerned in making good
of His dreadful threatenings-as they are concerned
in making good of His precious promises. God has given
it from His own mouth, that:
"He will by no means clear the guilty;"
"the soul that sins, shall surely die;"
"the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him;"
"He will render to every man according to his deeds."

Will God abrogate His own laws-or will He dare men to
sport and play with His threatenings? Will not every wise
and prudent king look to the execution of their own laws?
And shall not that God, who is wonderful in wisdom, and
whose understanding is infinite-see all that all His laws
are put in execution against offenders? Surely yes!

Don't spit in the face of the one who by His very goodness leads yo to repentance. Run to Christ today!

Flip on the History, Science, NatGeo, Discovery, and many other channels and often one will here something like this,

I'm a scientist so I can't be biased. I'm to look at the facts and let the facts speak for themselves. That is true science.

Recently the Discovery channel ran a series on eary man. One could hear the statement above numerous times by some of the worlds leading scientists in this field. The truth is though, unless one is born again by the Spirit of God one can't truly be unbiased. Here's why :

Are men totally depraved? Is every faculty of the person corrupted? Let's take a look,

Heart (hardened, deceitful)

Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"

Ecclesiastes 9:3 - the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.

Matthew 15:19 - "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders." (c.f. Mark 7:21-23)

Also see Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Psalm 36:1-2; Matthew 13:14; Proverbs 28:26; Ezekiel 11:19; Mark 7:21-23.

Mind (Depraved)

Romans 1:28-31 - And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being... without understanding

Titus 1:15-16 - to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled

Ephesians 4:17-18 - So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;

Jeremiah 10:7-8,14 - For among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is none like You. But they are altogether stupid and foolish. Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge

c.f. Romans 8:7, 12:2; Ephesians 4:23.

Will/Choosing (Enslaved)

John 8:34 - "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin."

2 Peter 2:19 - by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

Titus 3:3 - For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.

Galatians 4:8-9 - However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again?

Also see Romans 6; 7:14; 2 Timothy 2:25-26; Isaiah 42:6-7; Psalm 51:112; John 8:31-32,36; 2 Corinthians 3:17.

Affection and Desires Perverted

2 Timothy 3:2-4 - For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God

Proverbs 21:10 - The soul of the wicked desires evil

Isaiah 32:6 - For a fool speaks nonsense, and his heart inclines toward wickedness

John 3:19 - "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil."

John 8:44 - "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father."

Also see Romans 1:24-27; Genesis 3:16; Psalm 4:2, 52:3-4 140:8; Proverbs 10:23; 2 Peter 2:13

I could go on and on about the inherent depravity of man but you get the point. And everything in the world around you says that this is true. This explains why man destroys everything and can never get along. This explains why we all lie, cheat, kill (inlcudes with our words)...ect. We are completely corrupt.

Science is not unaffected by this. Scientists are depraved like everybody else. They don't have the ability to see things clearly. They can't reason or use true logic. They are slaves bound by sin and a hatred of God. They can't truly be scientists because they can't look at the facts honestly. Look at Daniel 4. In Daniel 4 King Neb boasts of his great accomplishments. God judges King Neb. At the end of God's judgment King Neb (a pagan king) says this,

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.

Notice that! While in a state of rebellion against his Creator Neb proclaimed himself insane. That is what sin is. It is insanity. The simple truth is that modern scientists are nothing more than members of an insane asylum running the asylum. One of my favorite authors said this,

One of the most humbling truths about man is that He is absolutely destitute of virtue or merit. Accordingto the Scriptures, the image of God in man has been seriously disfigured and moral corruption has polluted hisentire being - body (Romans 6:6,12; 7:24; 8:10,13), reason (Romans 1:21; II Corinthians 3:14-15; 4:4; Ephesians4:17-19), emotions (Romans 1:26-27; Galatians 5:24; II Timothy 3:2-4), and will (Romans 6:17; 7:14-15).

The sad part about the unregenrate scientists is he doesn't even know it and can't know it without God sovereignly opening his eyes (Read Isaiah 44:9-20). The theory of evolution is the natural result of man rejecting his Creator. It is judgment upon a people who hate God. Paul knew well the theory of evolution. It was 500 years old when he wrote Romans. He most certainly had it in mind when he said this,

because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man-and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. -Rom. 1-

May the Lord open you eyes to the truth of His Word. If He doesn't you have no hope(Eph. 2).

Martin Luther was famous for his loud, vocal rants at Satan. He did it so often many thought he was crazy. John Bunyan also talked about this in his book, Grace Abounding to the Worst of Sinners. I have been thinking about this lately because I have begun to notice something. There are times when I struggle with sin. There are other times when this struggle becomes 20 times harder all of a sudden. Thoughts I don't normally think pound my head with an unceasing ruthlessness. Often, it stops as quickly as it starts. In his book Spiritual Growth, A.W. Pink compared these times to rape. I don't know what to think at the moment. Is it just my flesh that is raging or is it something more? These times of intense temptation are few and far between. It really does seem like someone is talking to me. Wispering in my head. Sometimes it even seems like screaming. Now is this audibly? Of course not! These thoughts I'm pounded with refer to my old life beforeI was a christian. The thoughts are about leaving Christ for the pleasures of sin. These thoughts remind me of how much I enjoyed sin. As I said earlier, they come in llike a torrent and do not stop. Sometimes the only thing that stops these thoughts are when I'm finally to worn out from fighting to act on anything. Does this happen to you?I recognize these thoughts as complete lies. The truth is I don't enjoy those things any more I hate them. I have nothing to do with them. My old life is gone andI now have a new life in Christ. What do you think about this?

When one looks at modern Christianity one sees a god similar to what our modern society looks like.Yahweh is portayed as someone who winks at our sins and gives us warm, gushy feelings all over.He never judges us because He loves us so much. I've run across many professing christians on gamespot who think this very way.They think we should never mention God's wrath or sin. That we should just love them into the kingdom. Is that what the scriptures teach? Recently someone posted this in the CWU,

As born again Christians we have been called to a very unique ministry, God has called us to the ministry of reconciliation not the ministry of condemnation. Paul the apostle asked the question Who Condemns us [Rom.8].Then he goes on to say that it is God that loves us so much that He sent the most precious thing that he has, His son to die for us. It is Jesus that voluntarily came and gave His life for us and He said in John 3:17 The Son of man is not come to condemn but to save.

This is a perfect example of interpreting a passage according to your views instead of what it really says. The author says Jesus does not condemn us. Why is that? Look at the next few verses after John 3:17,

18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Notice the reason they are not condemned is because they are already condemned. The greek word for condemn in 3:17-18 is krino. Here John, thru the agency of the Holy Spirit, takes us into a court of law. Krino is a legal term used of a judge, king, or sovereign who passes sentence on the guilty. What Jesus is saying is that we are already guilty of breaking God's law. He came to take our place of punishment and be our substitute. And Jesus actually does condemn in this passage. Look at verse 19 where Jesus tells why the wicked are condemned. They are condemned because they love their sin and refuse to repent.

We must have a balanced view of God. A god who is all love but no wrath doesn't exist except in our idolatry. Look at what God Himself says He is in Jeremiah 9,

23Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: 24But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

God is a God of lovingkindness, righteousness, and justice. If you leave out righteousness and justice you are in idolatry. You do not have a correct view of God. When speaking to unrepentant Israel in the prophets God spoke of His wrath coming down upon them for breaking His laws. Paul does the same in Romans 1-3. Jesus did the same in the gospels. The author of the post I quoted said Jesus does not condemn. Apparently the author never read Matthew 11 where Jesus spends the whole chapter condemning Israel for their rebellion against Him. It is evil to not tellthose who are outside Christtheir current state before God. It is also blatant rebellion against God. Paul the apostle teaches the doctrne of the hatred of God. David, the man after God's own heart, spent more time on God's hatred of men than any other author in the bible.

The Christian Witness Union and the Bible Believers Union preach the whole gospel which includes lovingkindness, righteousness, and justice. We do that because Jesus told us to. We do it because it is God's Holy Word and we consider it a privilege to do so. God's love is not unjust. Since He is righteous, just, and holy His love is as well. I'll end this by quoting my favorite author Arthur W. Pink,

It is sad to find so many professing Christians who appear to regard the wrath of God as something for which they need to make an apology, or at least they wish there were no such thing. While some would not go so far as to openly admit that they consider it a blemish on the Divine character, yet they are far from regarding it with delight, they like not to think about it, and they rarely hear it mentioned without a secret resentment rising up in their hearts against it. Even with those who are more sober in their judgment, not a few seem to imagine that there is a severity about the Divine wrath which is too terrifying to form a theme for profitable contemplation. Others harbor the delusion that God's wrath is not consistent with His goodness, and so seek to banish it from their thoughts.

Yes, many there are who turn away from a vision of God's wrath as though they were called to look upon some blotch in the Divine character, or some blot upon the Divine government. But what saith the Scriptures? As we turn to them we find that God has made no attempt to conceal the fact of His wrath. He is not ashamed to make it known that vengeance and fury belong unto Him. His own challenge is, "See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with Me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal; neither is there any that can deliver out of My hand. For I lift up My hand to heaven, and say, I live forever, If I whet My glittering sword, and Mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to Mine enemies, and will reward them that hate Me" (Deut. 32:39-41). A study of the concordance will show that there are more references in Scripture to the anger, fury, and wrath of God, than there are to His love and tenderness. Because God is holy, He hates all sin; And because He hates all sin, His anger burns against the sinner: Psalm 7:11.

Now the wrath of God is as much a Divine perfection as is His faithfulness, power, or mercy. It must be so, for there is no blemish whatever, not the slightest defect in the character of God; yet there would be if "wrath" were absent from Him!