Dear Friend,
I hope the books I sent to you were of some help. In my letter, I said that you did not need the peripherals in order to become a Christian. They do not change your need for redemption or the truth of 1 Corinthians 15:1-5: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve."
First, I wish to comment on your struggle with depression and guilt. The feelings of guilt can be absolute or relative or false. Leviticus 5:17 describes guilt absolutely, unrelated to the conscience, and Romans 14:23 describes relative guilt.
In I Corinthians 4:4, Paul says “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.” Real guilt may be something beyond your conscience. It is also true that we can feel guilty about something that is not wrong. It is also true that a Christian’s conscience is more likely to be accurate because it has been cleaned (1 Timothy 4:2, Titus 1:15, Hebrews 9:4, Acts 24:16, Hebrews 10:19-22).
As I reread your letter, I realize that it is not just the peripherals; it is how you look at them. You may have a view of right and wrong that is senior to God’s and different from God’s. So you are judging these events by your standards, not God’s, and, consequently, God is guilty. It is not just that you do not understand them. You think you do understand them and find them evil. How can an evil God be a loving God and save sinners?
I will attempt to answer at least some of these questions, but first I would like to ask you to pray for three things.
1. That you would experience a tiny bit of how holy God is, as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:1-8.
2. That you would begin to comprehend a little bit of the magnitude of your sin in the light of God’s holiness (also Isaiah 6:1-8).
3. That you would begin to see a little bit of the great love of God for you in your great sin in the light of his holiness (see Romans 5:6-8).
Becoming a Christian is not a rational procedure. Neither is it irrational. It is beyond reason. When God answers the three prayers, and He will, you will see a great difference in the examples you bring up.
Whether you think so or not, when you ask, “Why?,” you are not asking for information; you are asking God in an accusatory way. Any answer you got would not be satisfactory because you have already judged God. God is on trial before you. That is a dangerous position to be in. Even if it is not dangerous, He does not have to answer you on your conditions. Even if you are the most intelligent person in the world, you are only one seven billionth of the current human race. Read the last four chapters of Job.
Assuming that God has already answered your prayers, I will give some answers. If He has not, it may not help to read the rest of this letter until He has. My answers will approach the questions from God’s self-declaration of His own character.
1. God is JUST. Romans 3:26
2. God is love. 1 John 4:8, 16
3. God is holy. Isaiah 5:16, 6:3, Ephesians 4:24
4. God is merciful. Deuteronomy 4:31, Jeremiah 3:12, Psalm 77:9
5. God is good. Nahum 1:7
6. All the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-24
Rather than judge the qualities of God by His actions in the Bible, I will look at His actions in the light of these qualities.
As for your questions, here are some answers.
First wonder. Why did God spurn Cain’s offering?
The Bible does not say, but we have several clues.
1. Cain was very angry.
2. Then the Lord said to him, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you but you must master it.”
3. Cain knew that he was wrong, and he did not repent.
5. He killed his brother Abel and lied about it.
6. God did not kill Cain.
This may not be satisfactory to you. If not, then we still do not know, and should not project bad motives on God. Since God IS good, if we are going to guess anything, we should guess good motives for God.
Second wonder. Why did He order the killing of Israel’s enemies?
First, God told why He would not kill them. Genesis 15:12-16 ends with, “for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Abraham would not get the promised land right away because the Amorites were not going to be bad enough until 400 years later.
Four hundred years later, the sin of the Amorites was complete. Read Deuteronomy 9:4-6.
This is the rule in the Bible. The Flood (Genesis 5:20), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:23-32). Abraham asked, “Will not the judge of all the earth do right?” Of course! He would spare the whole city if there were ten righteous people in it. There were only four, and they were allowed to escape. Of those four, one turned back and died. The other three committed incest. They were the righteous ones. They were righteous by faith, not by works.
Jerusalem: Jeremiah 5:1-2.
Third wonder: Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart?
The story starts in Exodus 3:19. Pharaoh’s heart was already known by God. The mighty hand of God compelled him. Exodus 4:21; 5:2; 6:1; 7:3, 13-14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:12, 34-35; 10:1-2, 20, 27; 11:9-10; 13:15-16; 14:4, 17. The answer is in these verses. Read each one. These are long answers to short questions.
Fourth wonder. Why did God hate Esau and love Jacob before they were born?
The Bible does not say that. It only says, “The older will serve the younger” (Romans 9:10-12). The next verse did not happen at birth; it happened 1,600 years later in Malachi 1:2-3. This is not talking about the two sons; it is talking about the two nations that resulted from those sons, proving that the older had served the younger.
With love in Christ,
Jim Wilson
I hope the books I sent to you were of some help. In my letter, I said that you did not need the peripherals in order to become a Christian. They do not change your need for redemption or the truth of 1 Corinthians 15:1-5: "Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve."
First, I wish to comment on your struggle with depression and guilt. The feelings of guilt can be absolute or relative or false. Leviticus 5:17 describes guilt absolutely, unrelated to the conscience, and Romans 14:23 describes relative guilt.
In I Corinthians 4:4, Paul says “My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent.” Real guilt may be something beyond your conscience. It is also true that we can feel guilty about something that is not wrong. It is also true that a Christian’s conscience is more likely to be accurate because it has been cleaned (1 Timothy 4:2, Titus 1:15, Hebrews 9:4, Acts 24:16, Hebrews 10:19-22).
As I reread your letter, I realize that it is not just the peripherals; it is how you look at them. You may have a view of right and wrong that is senior to God’s and different from God’s. So you are judging these events by your standards, not God’s, and, consequently, God is guilty. It is not just that you do not understand them. You think you do understand them and find them evil. How can an evil God be a loving God and save sinners?
I will attempt to answer at least some of these questions, but first I would like to ask you to pray for three things.
1. That you would experience a tiny bit of how holy God is, as Isaiah did in Isaiah 6:1-8.
2. That you would begin to comprehend a little bit of the magnitude of your sin in the light of God’s holiness (also Isaiah 6:1-8).
3. That you would begin to see a little bit of the great love of God for you in your great sin in the light of his holiness (see Romans 5:6-8).
Becoming a Christian is not a rational procedure. Neither is it irrational. It is beyond reason. When God answers the three prayers, and He will, you will see a great difference in the examples you bring up.
Whether you think so or not, when you ask, “Why?,” you are not asking for information; you are asking God in an accusatory way. Any answer you got would not be satisfactory because you have already judged God. God is on trial before you. That is a dangerous position to be in. Even if it is not dangerous, He does not have to answer you on your conditions. Even if you are the most intelligent person in the world, you are only one seven billionth of the current human race. Read the last four chapters of Job.
Assuming that God has already answered your prayers, I will give some answers. If He has not, it may not help to read the rest of this letter until He has. My answers will approach the questions from God’s self-declaration of His own character.
1. God is JUST. Romans 3:26
2. God is love. 1 John 4:8, 16
3. God is holy. Isaiah 5:16, 6:3, Ephesians 4:24
4. God is merciful. Deuteronomy 4:31, Jeremiah 3:12, Psalm 77:9
5. God is good. Nahum 1:7
6. All the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-24
Rather than judge the qualities of God by His actions in the Bible, I will look at His actions in the light of these qualities.
As for your questions, here are some answers.
First wonder. Why did God spurn Cain’s offering?
The Bible does not say, but we have several clues.
1. Cain was very angry.
2. Then the Lord said to him, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door; it desires to have you but you must master it.”
3. Cain knew that he was wrong, and he did not repent.
5. He killed his brother Abel and lied about it.
6. God did not kill Cain.
This may not be satisfactory to you. If not, then we still do not know, and should not project bad motives on God. Since God IS good, if we are going to guess anything, we should guess good motives for God.
Second wonder. Why did He order the killing of Israel’s enemies?
First, God told why He would not kill them. Genesis 15:12-16 ends with, “for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Abraham would not get the promised land right away because the Amorites were not going to be bad enough until 400 years later.
Four hundred years later, the sin of the Amorites was complete. Read Deuteronomy 9:4-6.
This is the rule in the Bible. The Flood (Genesis 5:20), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:23-32). Abraham asked, “Will not the judge of all the earth do right?” Of course! He would spare the whole city if there were ten righteous people in it. There were only four, and they were allowed to escape. Of those four, one turned back and died. The other three committed incest. They were the righteous ones. They were righteous by faith, not by works.
Jerusalem: Jeremiah 5:1-2.
Third wonder: Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart?
The story starts in Exodus 3:19. Pharaoh’s heart was already known by God. The mighty hand of God compelled him. Exodus 4:21; 5:2; 6:1; 7:3, 13-14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:12, 34-35; 10:1-2, 20, 27; 11:9-10; 13:15-16; 14:4, 17. The answer is in these verses. Read each one. These are long answers to short questions.
Fourth wonder. Why did God hate Esau and love Jacob before they were born?
The Bible does not say that. It only says, “The older will serve the younger” (Romans 9:10-12). The next verse did not happen at birth; it happened 1,600 years later in Malachi 1:2-3. This is not talking about the two sons; it is talking about the two nations that resulted from those sons, proving that the older had served the younger.
With love in Christ,
Jim Wilson
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