Will The Real God Please Stand Up?
To Tell The Truth
I remember a television show when I was growing up called To Tell the Truth. In the show, celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants who have something about them that is not obvious. The panelists have to question the contestants to determine who is telling the truth and who are lying. Two of the contestants can lie all they want, but the real person must always tell the truth. After questioning the contestants, the panelists have to vote on who they think is telling the truth. At the end of the show, we have the moment of truth. The announcer asks, “Will the real Person, please stand up?” and the real person reveals himself.
As I interact with other Christians through reading their blogs, checking out their social media, or dialoguing with them in one form or another, I am amazed how different their understanding of God is from the God I read about in the pages of Scripture. At times, I get discouraged because I feel like the God many Christians believe in is so different than the one I see revealed in the Bible. I wonder how many Christians would vote for God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture if they were a panelists on To Tell the Truth.
Contrast of Gods
To illustrate my point, first I list just a few common beliefs about God that most American Christians believe. Next, I show that God says the complete opposite in the Bible. I try to make it this stark so people can see the contrast.
The American God
God loves everyone.
The God of the Bible
God hates the wicked.
Though God has a general love for the “world” and He loves His lost sheep (John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 John 4:10), He hates those who defy Him in thought, word, and deed.
Example Verse:
You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. Psalm 5:4–5
The American God
God changed His mind. Certain behaviors that were once considered sinful are now deemed holy in the eyes of God.
The God of the Bible
God does not change nor do His standards of righteousness.
Example verses:
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 3:19
For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. Malachi 3:6
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17
The American God
Everyone is going to heaven.
The God of the Bible
Jesus Christ was clear in many of His parables that there is coming a day of judgment where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 8:12)
Example verse:
The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:41+42
The American God
If you are sincere, you will go to heaven.
The God of the Bible
Sincerity will not save you. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that is manifested through Spirit-empowered obedience that will save us. This is not to say that Christians do not sometimes fall into sin. (1 John 2:1) We do. But when we do, we know that the Father is not pleased and will chastise us until we leave our sinful ways. (Hebrews 13)
Example verse:
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6
There are many more examples, but these will suffice to make my point. You may not like what the Bible says, but you cannot deny that it says what it says.
Two Views of Scripture
If I had to diagnose the difference, I have to say it comes down to people’s understanding of the Bible. It comes down to two views. The first view is that the Bible is the only self-attesting book that reveals the self-existing triune God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This view takes what God says of Himself in the Bible. God claims the Bible is infallible; that is it cannot err. God reveals in the Bible that He is the foundation for science, reason, and morals. He claims that His written word is True and is the Standard of Truth.
The second view is expressed in many different ways but can essentially be traced back to an authority other than Scripture. The authority is ultimately a person, whoever they are, who decides for himself what the Bible means.
The first view assumes God has one intended meaning in the Bible, and He is the one who has the right to determine what it means. This view uses all the literary tools available to us to get at God’s intended meaning. If those who hold to the first view encounter anything in the Bible that contradicts what they think, believe, feel, or experience, they know they must change and not the Bible.
Those who hold to the second view use another standard to determine whether what the Bible says is true or not. This takes many forms. For example, some assume that miracles are impossible, so they either dismiss the miracles in the Scripture or try to explain them away. Another example is those who want to live life according to their own standards. They don’t like that the Bible says their lifestyle is sinful. Hence, they twist the Scripture until they are satisfied that the Bible doesn’t mean what it obviously says and that Christians for thousands of years were mistaken in thinking that behavior is sinful.
The Final Authority
I can give thousands of examples, but they all boil down to one common difference from the first view. What is that difference? That Man is the final authority of truth over the Scripture. The first view does not deny that people have to use their minds. This view fully engages the mind but also considers that our minds can’t always be trusted. Romans 1:28 talks about how God “gave them up to a debased mind.” Romans 1:21 says people become “futile in their thinking”, and “their foolish hearts” become “darkened.” It is not until people, by the power of the Holy Spirit, submit themselves to God through Jesus Christ that they can be “transformed by the renewing of their minds.” (Romans 12:2)
And we can’t trust our hearts as Jeremiah says in 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Which God would you vote for if you were one of the panelists on, To Tell the Truth where different “Gods” were the contestants? Would you vote for the god that makes you feel good about yourself, or would you vote for the God who has revealed Himself in the Scripture?
The Lie Detector Test
If you were on such a panel, there is only one way you could know whether the “God” you were questioning was telling the truth or not? You would have to open your Bible and verify his answer. If it did not match up with the whole of Scripture, you would know who is lying and telling the truth.
It is time to read the Bible. Take time to examine everything you think, believe, and feel in light of the Scripture. Familiarize yourself with the entire word and not just the popular parts posted in memes on social media. And if you find anything contrary to what you think, believe, and feel or is contrary to what someone else is saying or doing, you must go with Scripture and not with man.
The real God has stood up! He has revealed Himself in the Bible. If you worship Him, you won’t just win on a tv show; you will have life for all eternity! Follow any other god and you will lose.