Do you believe in God? Yes. I think. Don’t I?

I believe in God.  That’s a common answer when someone is asked, “Do you believe in God?”  But, is that really true?  I’ve been amazed by survey results that appear to show a belief in God but then has so many contradictions in the questions that follow.  That’s the reason for the second part of the title – “Yes. I think. Don’t I?” 

Unfortunately, I think I found my answer in a Christianity Today survey.  It’s sad.  It’s depressing.  And yet, it’s also cause for hope. Really? Yes, because if Christians actually did what Jesus commissioned us to do, it’s a situation we could possibly change.

But will we?

The caption on the image says “Believe”.

But believe in what?”

Apparently, that’s a key component that has been left out of a lot of surveys to see whether or not we believe in God.  Here’s something from the PEW Research Center when the question of “in what” was more fully explored.

My source for this is 80% of Americans Believe in God. Pew Found Out What They Mean. A subscription is required to read the entire research paper.

The United States has long ranked high among the world’s nations in its level of religious belief. But the Pew Research Center recently examined just what 80 percent of Americans actually mean when they say they “believe in God.” Here’s what its survey of more than 4,700 adults found:

56% of Americans believe in God  —  “as described in the Bible”.

I hate to say it, but that number, if anything, still sounds a bit higher than I expected.

What does “as described in the Bible” mean”?

Well, for one thing, it means the “Yes. I think. Don’t I?” in the heading is all too appropriate.

For instance, here’s the breakdown of how people responded to the question, do you believe in God or not?

We’ll look at some of the attributes of God in the survey. How people answered. Or didn’t. And what the Bible really says about those attributes.

Wow. 80% of the people said yes, they do believe in God. However, when we get to “God as described in the Bible”, then we’re down to 56% of U.S. adults who claim to believe in the God of the Bible. And that’s only about 70% of those who said they even believed in God.

Now, let’s look at some details, and see what happens to the numbers after that.

Attributes of God

Of those 56% who said they believe in the God of the Bible, we see the following responses to three more questions:

• Is God all-loving?
  • Only 93% think so.  That’s 7% who either think God is not all-loving or don’t have an opinion.
• Is God all-knowing?
  • Only 87% think so.  Now we’re up to 3% who either think God is not all-knowing or don’t have an opinion.
• Is God all-powerful?
  • Sadly, we’re down to 78% on this one.  That leaves 22% who either think God is not all-powerful or don’t have an opinion.

The number that came from combining all of the responses is even worse.  From the responses only 83% believe that God is all three – all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful.  That means 17% disagree.  That’s nearly 1 out of 5 who say they believe in God, as described in the Bible – and yet apparently don’t believe what the Bible says – or something along those lines.  Maybe that sounds cold.  Like I’m overreacting.  But – what do they do with the passages below?

What do those responses mean?

It does sound bad. I mean, if we say we believe in the God of the Bible, then how come, when it comes right down to it, we actually don’t believe what God said about Himself? How can we believe in someone when we don’t even believe His own words?

Let’s take a closer look at those three attributes of God from the survey.

Only 94% who claim to believe in God, as described in the Bible, believe God is all-loving.

We cannot love the way God loves us. But does that give us the leeway to say God isn’t all-loving?

Let’s start by looking at one verse. It’s arguably the most famous verse in the Bible. Maybe we need to ask ourselves, do we believe what Jesus said in this one statement?

Jn 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Now, we do need to understand what “believe in” actually means. But even absent that meaning, what part of that can a Christian disagree with? Is Jesus dying for our salvation not love? Somehow, is it not enough love?

Or do we just flat out now believe Jesus told the truth?

If we think Jesus lied, then at least two things come to mind right away. Calling Jesus a liar isn’t very loving on our part. But even more so, why would anyone even be a Christian if they don’t believe this one thing? So the only conclusion is that God is all-loving.

Yes, there are some who think that if God was all-loving, then everyone should go to Heaven, no matter what they did, and even if they reject Jesus. There’s a problem with that kind of thinking. Well, many problems. But one simple one is that God also requires justice. A loving God must be just.

Allowing any kind of behavior without justice coming into the scenario at some point, well, it’s not loving. Even we, as people, want justice. Justice for other people, for sure. For ourselves, I dare say we’re not so keen on that. But be real, no justice isn’t loving.

A longer, more complicated view of looking at the love we show, compared to the love God has, is in the passage below.

God’s Love and Ours

1Jn 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1Jn 4:13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

1Jn 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Ultimately, how can we say that we believe in God – as described in the Bible – and at the same time claim that He is not all-loving? It is, quite simply, a failure to believe what God said about Himself. And if we don’t believe something this basic about God, why do we want to be Christian? I ask that because if we don’t believe what God said about His own love for us, how can we believe Him about anything else He said?

Only 87% who claim to believe in God, as described in the Bible, believe God is all-knowing.

To start with, let’s look at Psalm 139. Yes, it’s from David. But remember, as Christians we believe everything in the Bible is the inspired word of God. As such, even though the author is David, what David writes is inspired by God Himself.

Psalm 139

Psalm 139 starts off like this:

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

Ps 139:1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

Ps 139:2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

Ps 139:3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

Ps 139:4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

and ends with:

Ps 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Ps 139:24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

For more detail on that thought and on Psalm 139, please see: Search me, know my heart, test me.

Psalm 139 shows that God knows all about us. More than we know about ourselves.

However, we’re talking all-knowing here. Omniscient. That means God knows everything about everything. As the creator of everything, that’s kind of important. It’s not at all like us humans, who “create”/invent things, and only really learn about them after they’ve been in use for a while. And as time goes on, it seems we learn more and more, and the additional knowledge is often about bad side effects we never imagined.

So an all-knowing God is more than just important It’s critical. If God’s all-knowing, then how much better off are we relying on Him than we are when we rely only on ourselves?

To that end, there’s a rather lengthy passage in Isaiah describing God. The NIV passage title is very telling. It’s called Comfort For God’s People. And indeed, relying on an all-knowing God is/should be very comforting. Today’s topic isn’t about going into great detail on what Isaiah wrote in the passage. Even a cursory reading should be more than enough to show this attribute of God.

 

 

 

Comfort for God’s People

Isa 40:1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
Isa 40:2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD’S hand
double for all her sins.

Isa 40:3 A voice of one calling:
“In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.
Isa 40:4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
Isa 40:5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Isa 40:6 A voice says, “Cry out.”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.
Isa 40:7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.
Isa 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.”

Isa 40:9 You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
Isa 40:10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.
Isa 40:11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

Isa 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?
Isa 40:13 Who has understood the mind of the LORD,
or instructed him as his counselor?
Isa 40:14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?

Isa 40:15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.
Isa 40:16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.
Isa 40:17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.

Isa 40:18 To whom, then, will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to?
Isa 40:19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.
Isa 40:20 A man too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not topple.

Isa 40:21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?
Isa 40:22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.
Isa 40:23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.
Isa 40:24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

Isa 40:25 “To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
Isa 40:26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

Isa 40:27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
“My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Isa 40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
Isa 40:29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Isa 40:30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
Isa 40:31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

After all that, the question remains. How is it that we can say that we believe in God, as described in the Bible, and at the same time claim that He is not all-knowing? When God tells us He knows everything, how can we believe in Him, and at the same time say we don’t believe Him? I mean, how can we believe in anyone when we don’t believe what they say?

Only 8% who claim to believe in God, as described in the Bible, believe God is all-powerful.

For starters, check out the passage below.

Israel’s Only Savior

…

Isa 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,
“and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor will there be one after me.

Isa 43:11 I, even I, am the LORD,
and apart from me there is no savior.

Isa 43:12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—
I, and not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “that I am God.

Isa 43:13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he.
No one can deliver out of my hand.
When I act, who can reverse it?”

I have to ask – what kind of witness are we when we claim to believe in God, as described in the Bible, and yet disagree with this passage?

Maybe you think the Old Testament doesn’t apply to you.  Some Christians have this belief, from somewhere, but certainly not from the Bible.  Some even think they only need to read the words in the red letters. You know, the ones spoken by Jesus.  BTW – it doesn’t say that in the Bible either.  But in case you need something to show the Old Testament didn’t just go away, let’s verify that it’s still important, even to Christians.

The Fulfillment of the Law

Mt 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Oops. Guess the Old Testament does still matter.

How much power does it take to save someone’s soul?

Here’s something that gets to the heart of Christian belief. Salvation. Eternity in Heaven with God. And everything required to make that happen. We’re going to look at three passages, progressively adding to the evidence of God being all-powerful.

The power in Healing versus Saving

Jesus Heals a Paralytic – Matthew

9:2-8 pp — Mk 2:3-12; Lk 5:18-26

Mt 9:1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Mt 9:3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

Mt 9:4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . .” Then he said to the paralytic, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 And the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.

Here, Jesus compares the “relative difficulty” of saving someone, versus healing them.  Notice that Jesus heals the paralytic and is accused of blasphemy by the teachers of the law.  Jesus then asks the teacher of the law whether it’s easier to “say” you’re forgiven or you’re healed.  Then, Jesus tells the man to get up and go home.  Which is easier to say, really, is irrelevant.  At least it is to Jesus.  He’s God.  He can do anything.  But us – people – we seem to think it’s easier to heal someone.

However, all of this misses the cultural context of the scene.

your sins are forgiven People in ancient Israel commonly saw a relationship between sin and sickness (or suffering; e.g., John 9). Although Matthew does not explicitly state this connection, it could explain why Jesus begins by announcing forgiveness for the paralytic.  ¹Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Mt 9:2). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Today, we “know” this relationship isn’t the case.  And while we’d like to believe that what we “know” is actually true – I believe a Christian has to be careful about that. 

The relationship between the health of anyone and things that happen as a result of spiritual forces is one that we should not avoid.  Among other places, we see in Job where God allows Satan to cause physical ailment to Job.  We also read that all of creation is corrupted and “groaning”.

The power involved in what’s coming in the future

Future Glory

Ro 8:18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Ro 8:22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Ro 8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

Add to this the fact that Job’s physical issues were not the result of his sin, and there’s really only one conclusion we can reach.  More correctly, there’s only one conclusion we can reach, if we believe what the Bible says.  Physical ailments do come from sin.  Maybe ours.  But also, maybe someone else’s.  And of course, there’s just the general fallen condition of our world. 

But the inescapable message from the Bible is that there will be no more physical ailments (or others kinds) after Satan is defeated.  And they only exist now because of The Fall, from Adam and Eve.

So, the cultural conclusion from the Israelites is that there is a direct relationship between a person’s health and that same person’s sins.  What we should realize today is that there is a relationship between physical (and mental) ailments and sin.  Not necessarily ours, but sin.  Truth is, the Jewish people should have realized that as well, given what happened with Job. Not to mention other passages in the Old Testament Scriptures that they were well aware of.

Therefore, when Jesus tells the paralytic to get up and walk home, He is showing that He can heal physical sickness as well as saving someone’s soul.

The power in making all things possible

Just a quick note here. There are some things that are impossible. God cannot violate His own nature. And He cannot do things which, by definition, are impossible. An example of the last one is that no one, including God, can’t make a square circle. So with that in mind, let’s look at a case where Jesus said, all things are possible with God.

The Rich Young Man – Mark

10:17-31 pp — Mt 19:16-30; Lk 18:18-30

Mk 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Mk 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’’”

Mk 10:20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Mk 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mk 10:22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Mk 10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

Mk 10:24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Mk 10:26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

Mk 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

Mk 10:28 Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”

Mk 10:29 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Again – With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.

Yes, all things are possible with God.  Including and because God is all-loving, all-knowing and all-powerful.

What if God’s not all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful?

Before we get to the conclusion, let’s see something Paul wrote about the importance of the resurrection – of Jesus and for us. In other words, something about the impact to us if God isn’t all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful.

The Resurrection of the Dead

1Co 15:12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

…

That’s pretty bad. If God can’t do the things He said He can in the Bible, then we, Christians, are to be pitied more than all men.

Given that, one more time, why would anyone who claims to be Christian not even want to believe what God said about Himself? Sure, if you’re happy with this life, and you don’t mind the idea of just disappearing into nothing at your death, You have no reason to want to believe the Bible.

But if you claim to be Christian, why do you not want to believe what God said? Because if you don’t, as Paul wrote, you’re to be pitied more than anyone. Even more than the non-Christian who had no expectation. And, I believe, even more than the Christian who does believe what God said about Himself, but it turns out it’s not true.

Why? Because, in essence, someone who claims to believe in God, as He described Himself, but doesn’t actually believe God, is wanting God to fail! It makes no sense.

Conclusion – Do you believe in God? Yes. I think. Don’t I?

As I said, I’ve been amazed by the high percentage of people who respond to surveys and say they believe in God.  But now here’s this survey saying that only 56% of Americans believe in God, as described in the Bible.  But still – even that 56% who claim to believe in God, as described in the Bible – really don’t believe in God as described in the Bible.  It’s like the people who don’t believe in God at all, but still talk about someone who has died “going to a better place”.  (For more on that thought, please see The problem of “a better place”.)

How is it that some of the 56% don’t really seem to know God – as described in the Bible?  Sadly, too many reasons.  For some info on that, please see Americans want to read the Bible more, but don’t.

However, there is hope.  For those that believe in God – as described in the Bible, there is Jesus’ commission to us:

The Great Commission

Mt 28:16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We need to do just that.  Teach them about God, as described in the Bible.  Not the way too many people think He is.  The way He is really described.  After all, The Bible is from God.  And who better to describe God that Himself?

Paul wrote the following passage in his letter to the Roman church.  Some time, it would be good to write more on it.  But for now, I leave it for you to read.  And remember.  And act on.  And to live it.

The Weak and the Strong

Ro 14:1 Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. 2 One man’s faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. 3 The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Ro 14:5 One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. 8 If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Ro 14:9 For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. 10 You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. 11 It is written:

“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’ ” 12 So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Ro 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way. 14 As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean. 15 If your brother is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy your brother for whom Christ died. 16 Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

Ro 14:19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. 20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

Ro 14:22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

 

Ro 15:1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

Ro 15:5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Ro 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. 8 For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs 9 so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written:

“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing hymns to your name.” 10 Again, it says,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” 11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and sing praises to him, all you peoples.” 12 And again, Isaiah says,
“The Root of Jesse will spring up,
one who will arise to rule over the nations;
the Gentiles will hope in him.”

Ro 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, what about you?

Do you believe in God? Do you believe in God, as He described Himself?

Ultimately, this may be a question of who created who. Did God create us in His image? Or did we create God in our image?

It matters, because if the God we believe in was created by us, in our image, that God is loveless, without true knowledge, and powerless. He is going to fail. But if the God we believe in created us in His image, He will succeed. And we will share in His success.

Footnotes

• 1
  Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Mt 9:2). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.