Authoritarian God vs. God of grace and truth!

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)

And Jesus came and spoke to them saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me, in heaven and on earth.’ (Matt. 28:18)

Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father the hour has come, glorify your Son that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh; that He should give eternal life to as many as you have given Him.’ (John 17:1-2)

‘I have finished the work.’ (John 17:4)

‘I have kept them in Your name. Those You have given Me, I have kept and none of them is lost.’ (John 17:12)

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word. (John 17:20)

Therefore when He came into the world, He said, ‘Sacrifice and burnt offerings You did not desire, but a body you have prepared for Me.’ (Hebrews 10:5)

Then I said, ‘Behold I have come, in the volume of the book it is written of Me, to do your will Oh God. (Heb. 10:7)

By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb. 10:10)

But this Man after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. (Heb. 10:12)

For by one offering He has perfected forever them that are sanctified. (Heb. 10:14)

‘This is the covenant I will make with them after those days,’ says the Lord. (Heb 10:16)

Then He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.’ (Heb 10:17)

According to these passages, whose authority are we under? And by whose authority are we kept? After studying these passages, do you think it’s possible for someone to lose their salvation? According to John 1:17, what authority should we live by - the law of Moses or the grace and truth of Jesus Christ?

‘For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.’ (Ephesians 2:8)

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us; through the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit; whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior. That having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7)

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory, with exceeding joy; To God our Savior who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen! (Jude 24-25)

In short, we are under the authority of Christ, kept by the will of God through grace. We do not have an authoritarian God; we have a loving Father which has secured our eternity with finality. We are saved to the utmost by the very will of God Himself.

Footnote: For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself. (Heb. 6:13)

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Heb. 10:23)

Commentary by:

G.L. Miller

There remains only truth!

From the conception of the American church our most prolific political Christian scientists have sought to deify men in power; sighting the righteous acts of man, rather than the goodness of God. Now while this approach may sound noble, it is at its core dishonest and unedifying; and in the end, gives occasion to the enemies of God to blaspheme. The bible is very clear about the righteousness of man apart from the righteousness of God in Christ. When we fail to clarify this concerning leadership and men in power, we are exalting the righteousness and goodness of man. Jesus was very clear when He stated in Matthew 19:17- ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is God.’

My point is this, we live in the age of information; we have access to more information then any other time in history. We can pull up the world with the touch of a finger. We can read between the lines of history. Our youth has access to what’s been left out. We can see the motives behind past military campaigns because they are now a matter of public record. We can look into the depths of political scandal and see first hand the depravity and self-centeredness behind bad foreign policy, crimes against humanity and the like. In other words, we can see the big picture now like never before. We have the ability to see man as he is, and as he’s always been. Therefore, there is no room left for dishonesty, no margin for the proclamation of the righteousness of man; there remains only truth! Jesus said in John 14:6- ‘I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.’

There is only one hope for man, and God is the glory of man. We need to start telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. We need to stop creating historical fairy tales based on the righteousness of man; which in the end only seek to discredit us as Christians and to undermine the core teachings of the bible regarding mans need of redemption; the fact that our righteousness can only be found in God through Christ, ‘for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.’

John 3:16- For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:9- That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:13- Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved!

Commentary by:

G.L. Miller