“I Can’t Serve a God Who …” (Part 1)

by Chris Simmons

There are certain erroneous doctrinal positions that have always amazed me, because if true, they render God as a biased, unreliable, fallible, limited being. If any of these be true, these doctrinal positions would paint a picture of a God I could not have the faith to serve and devote my life to. As Paul wrote near the end of his life, he expressed utter confidence in God when he wrote in II Timothy 1:12, “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” Paul saw no basis for doubting God as being unreliable, fallible, or limited in any way. Yet these false doctrines, at their heart, do that very thing and I don’t understand how one can advocate any of these while maintaining his faith in God. Can I, in all good conscience serve a God …

Who couldn’t reveal an enduring will and who couldn’t anticipate the needs of mankind in future times so that we need to (continually) adapt it to our current needs? Many (if not most) people who read the bible today suggest that the word of God needs to be adapted to modern times and that it only addresses those who lived in the time it was written. Many suggest that there are 20th/21st century issues and problems that the scriptures are unable to address. They would suggest that we need a “new hermeneutics” (a methodology or system of interpretation) to apply to our current needs and problems. The upshot of such a position is that God was unable to reveal a will that would endure the test of time and that He was unable to anticipate His creations’ needs. What faith can we have in God if He wasn’t able to address the spiritual needs of mankind for all time? Can we devotedly serve Him while yet believing that His word had a limited shelf life?

But God’s word teaches otherwise!

• The inspired apostle Peter said in I Peter 1:23-25, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. For, ‘all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word which was preached to you.” The “truth” which these Christians obeyed and which “purified” their “souls” is said to be both “living and enduring … forever.” It’s particularly noteworthy that Thayer defines the word “endures” (Greek: menoo) as “2. to time; to continue to be; i.e., not to perish, to last … 3. to state or condition; to remain as one is, not to become another or different.” God’s word will both continue to endure forever and never become anything different. That is why Paul expressed his amazement and rebuke in Galatians 1:6-9 that Christians in Galatia were deserting Christ for a “different gospel” (Greek heteros: “expresses a qualitative difference and denotes ‘another of a different sort’”; Vine) which he said was “not another” (Greek allos: “expresses a numerical difference and denotes ‘another of the same sort’”).
• Paul wrote in II Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate (“fitted, complete”; Thayer), equipped for every good work.” It stands to reason that the same scripture that was profitable for making each child of God complete and fully equipped will continue to do so today. The idea that man needs to be equipped differently today is utter foolishness.
• We read in Jude 3 that these scriptures which God promised would make man complete and “equipped for every good work” are called “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” and are to be “contended” for “earnestly.” The Greek word for “once” (Greek: hapax) has the meaning of “only once and forever” (Coffman) and Vine adds “of what is of perpetual validity, not requiring repetition.” (Note the use of this same word in Hebrews 9:25.) Why would God tell Christians to “contend” for something if it was not going to be applicable in subsequent generations?
• God’s will is that we continue to ask and seek for “the ancient paths, where the good way is, and walk in it” (Jeremiah 6:16). Many understand “ancient” to mean outdated and unable to meet current needs, but the Hebrew word actually means “everlasting, evermore, perpetual” (Thayer) and refers to the enduring and eternal nature of God’s revealed will. We are responsible for seeking the original and perpetual “paths” that God has established for man today.
• A proper understanding of covenants and wills would help us to understand that, once established, they cannot be set aside or altered. Paul spoke of this in Galatians 3:15, “Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it.” This new (and “better”; Hebrews 8:6) covenant, “inaugurated” by the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9:18; 10:20) is described by the Hebrew writer as “eternal” and able to “equip” us “in every good thing to do His will” (Hebrews 13:20-21). It’s interesting that the definition of the Greek word translated “eternal” according to Strong is “perpetual (also used of past time, or past and future as well)” which is in essence the same as the Hebrew word for “ancient” in Jeremiah 6:16 referenced above.

God clearly indicated that His word, the new covenant, was intended to be eternal and continue unchanged in meeting man’s every spiritual need. If not, and God was wrong, can I have faith in, and serve, a God who could not reveal a will that would endure the test of time and address my spiritual needs today and forevermore? But the fact of the matter is, based on the scriptures and reasons noted above, the abiding and eternal word preached in the first century, and revealed to you and me today, will save our soul’s today just as it did then, if we are willing to humbly submit to it. I can, and must, serve the God who has given His eternal word to me today!

In future articles, we will address our ability to serve a God who some claim …

• Couldn’t reveal an understandable will such that we can’t know for sure what His will is (Ephesians 3:3-5; 5:17).
• Failed in carrying out His mission to establish an earthly kingdom (John 18:36).
• Is partial and biased so that it doesn’t matter what I do and don’t do (Acts 10:34-35).
• Is totally uninvolved in the affairs of men so that prayers are meaningless to a God who can’t/won’t act … does God see and care (I Peter 5:7)?