“How could a loving God send
anyone to Hell?” This is a question that is often asked by the skeptics of
Christianity and the Bible. We read in the scriptures of a God who is love (1
John 4:8). We see this love lived out in the example of Jesus Christ. He showed
compassion to sinners, healed the sick, and led the lost. But, we also see a
God who wasn’t so “loving”. We see a God who had the Israelites destroy the
Canaanites, who took the life of David’s child through Bathsheba, and allowed
the capture of Israel at the hands of ungodly enemies. Unfortunately, this has
led many nonbelievers and “weak” Christians to come to the conclusion that
there is a theological contradiction. In other words, that there are possibly
two Gods in the Bible: the God of the Old Testament (Yahweh), and the God of
the New Testament (Jesus). The latter being as a “hippie” from the 60’s,
prancing around holding flowers, smiling and saying “peace brother, I love
you”, and the former being as an angry judge, looking to pounce on and destroy
anything that He deems as evil. Either there are two separate God’s of the
Bible, or there is only one God who can execute justice and love at the same
time. So which one is it?
It is foolish to assume that
there are two conflicting Gods in the Bible. Jesus said “my Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is
able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”
(John 29-30, ESV). This is a very bold claim for Jesus to admit that he was
God. Erickson states that “Jesus’ power
over nature was part of what caused the disciples to recognize that he was God
(Mark 4:39-41)”[1] So,
just on these two points alone (and there are plenty more to be found) we can
see that Jesus was God incarnate. He is definitely the God of the New
Testament, but also of the Old. You may be saying “Wait, how can God and Jesus,
two distinct persons, be one person?” The answer can be found in the doctrine
of the Trinity. John MacArthur states:
Though the fullness of the Trinity is far beyond human comprehension,
it is unquestionably how God has revealed Himself in Scripture—as one God
eternally existing in three Persons. This is not to suggest, of course, that
the Bible presents three different gods (cf. Deut. 6:4). Rather, God is three
Persons in one essence; the Divine essence subsists wholly and indivisibly,
simultaneously and eternally, in the three members of the one Godhead—the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… The Scriptures are clear that these three Persons
together are one and only one God (Deut. 6:4).[2]
I don’t want to concentrate on
the role of the Holy Spirit, but we see here that the Bible clearly states that
Jesus and God are the same, however with separate roles. So it is impossible to
state that there are two Gods in the Bible. That still leaves us with the
paradox of a loving God who punishes, or chastens. Can one love and chasten at
the same time?
Hebrews 12:6 tells us that “For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and
scourges every son whom he receives” (KJV). But what exactly do we mean by
“chastening” and how and why does God do it?
Throughout Scripture, God portrays Himself as a Father. Those who have
received Jesus as Savior are His children (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26). He uses
the analogy of father/son because we understand it. He compares Himself to a
loving father who not only blesses but disciplines His beloved children for
their own good. Hebrews 12 goes on to show that those who do not receive God’s
discipline are not legitimate children (verse 8). A loving father carefully
watches his son, and when that son defies his orders and heads for danger, the
father disciplines him to keep him safe. God does that with us. When a
born-again child of God heads for sin or refuses to resist temptation, our
Heavenly Father brings chastening into his life to direct him back to holiness.[3]
Would a good father sit idly by
and watch his son do bad things or hurt others and get away with it? Would a
good father allow his son to do whatever he wants to do, despite the threat of
negative results, without directing him to the correct path? I would hope not.
So why would we expect God, who is our Heavenly Father, to be any different?
Why would we expect God to allow us to do as we please according to our will,
and there be no correction? But why discipline? Katherine Lee states: “Child discipline, when done correctly, is
not about trying to control your child but about showing her how to control her
own behavior. It is not about punishing a child for doing something wrong but
about setting clear parameters and consequences for breaking rules so that she
learns how to discipline herself.”[4]
I believe that the reason why is that we refuse to allow ourselves to believe
that God is in a position to correct us. Or maybe, just maybe, we refuse to
acknowledge that God will correct us because it means that we have to obey HIS
will.
So we have determined by the
Scriptures that there is only one God in both of the Bible’s Testaments, and we
have also determined that God does chasten us to correct our behavior (and
remind us as to Who is in control and Who’s will that we should follow). Let’s
take a moment to examine some examples from the Bible where God chastened His
people.
The first example (of many) that
I would like to mention occurred to the nation of Israel just before they were
to enter the Promised Land. After spies were sent to Canaan and reported back
about the conditions of the land (Numbers 13:27-29), the people of Israel
complained: “’Would that we had died in
the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the
Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little
ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?’
And they said to one another, ‘Let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt.’”
(Numbers 14:2-4). God responded to this complaint by saying:
How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have
heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.
Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the Lord, what you have said in my hearing I
will do to you: your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your
number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled
against me, not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make
you dwell (Numbers 14:27-30).
We see here chastening from God
because of the unbelief of Israel, even after seeing all of God’s mighty works
during their exodus from Egypt. Later, in Numbers 21, Israel again complains
against God. “’Why have you brought us up
out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and
we loathe this worthless food.’ Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the
people, and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.” (vv.
5-6). It should be noted that through God’s direction for the construction of
the bronze serpent, that Israel was spared (Numbers 21:7-9). Would an unloving
God spare an entire nation that He promised would carry on Genesis 17:5-6)? He
remembered His promise to Israel and kept back a remnant.
Another example is found in 2
Samuel 12:
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you
have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’
Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own
house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your
neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you
did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the
sun.’ David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’ And Nathan said
to David, ‘The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have
utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.’
(vv.10-14, emphasis mine).
David had committed adultery with
Bathsheba, and then had her husband Uriah killed as the cover-up. So the
preceding Scripture is God’s judgment against David, spoken through the prophet
Nathan. Notice that God did not kill David, but basically destroyed SOME of
what was important to David. God had established the Davidic Covenant and kept
His word. It was because of His love and mercy that David was spared. Of this
particular event, John MacArthur states:
David had done evil to another man’s family. Therefore, he would
receive evil in his own family, such as Ammon’s rape of Tamar, Absalom’s murder
of Ammon, and Absalom’s rebellion against David… The Lord graciously forgave
David’s sin, but the inevitable temporal consequences of sin were experiences
by him. Forgiveness does not always remove the consequences of sin in this
life, only in the life to come. Although the sins of David legally demanded his
death, the Lord graciously released David from the required death penalty. This
is consistent with justice and grace.[5]
Finally, I would like to explore
the greatest example of God’s justice being executed against those whom He
loves, yet also revealing His love by grace and forgiveness. Because of
Israel’s constant idolatry and turning their back on God, they faced the
ultimate chastening:
God used Babylon as His agent of judgment against Israel for their sins
of idolatry and rebellion against Him… Nebuchadnezzar would lead his armies
against Judah until they laid siege to Jerusalem for over a year, killing many
people and destroying the Jewish temple, taking captive many thousands of Jews,
and leaving Jerusalem in ruins. As prophesied in Scripture, the Jewish people
would be allowed to return to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile… The return
under the direction of Ezra led to a revival among the Jewish people and the
rebuilding of the temple.[6]
Even though God allowed the
capture and destruction of His own people, He did not allow their total
destruction and allowed them to return to their land. This was grace and
forgiveness in action, as well as God’s restoration. It should also be noted
that Israel no longer returned to idolatry after the exile. Lesson learned.
These examples are much like a
father who corrects his son so that he will do the right thing. There are
consequences for the son’s bad actions, but correction is necessary in order
for there to be a “lesson learned”. Some of these examples are a bit extreme
because death was involved. However, we must remember that God is in control of
both life and death. As Job said “Naked I
came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the
Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21).
We have determined that there is
one God based on the doctrine of the Trinity, and we have determined that God
executes justice by chastening those who He loves in order to correct them. So
if there is one God throughout the entire Bible, then why do we see chastening
in the Old Testament, but not the New?
Well, we do see it in the New
Testament:
But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of
property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back for himself some of the
proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet. But
Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit
and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it
remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not
at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart?
You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell
down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The
young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. (Acts
5:1-6).
Not just do we see the “Old
Testament God of Justice” bringing judgement in the New Testament, but we also
see the connection between the Holy Spirit (v.3) and God (v.4). You may think
“Oh, that’s just the other mean God doing that, Jesus would never execute
justice and judge anyone”. Well, if you are saying that then you still aren’t
convinced that the God of justice (Yahweh) is also the God of love (Jesus). Let
me illustrate for you just what the God of love is capable of delivering:
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and
the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all
out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the
money-changers and overturned their tables. (John 2:13-15).
Jesus doesn’t look much like a
peace loving hippy anymore now does He? He too is capable of delivering
judgement within the means of just and righteous anger. Again, there is only
one God who is both just and loving at the same time.
When we read the Bible as a
whole, we see the connection of justice and love. Erickson states: “The justice of God means that he is fair in
the administration of his law… What we have done or not done is the only
consideration in the assigning of consequences or rewards”[7]
Would a good judge allow a murderer or rapist to go free to commit more acts of
horror? I would hope not. There must be consequences for the crime. Erickson
states further: “In a fair number of
cases, we bring evil upon ourselves by our own sinful or unwise actions… Much
of the evil recounted in Scripture came upon people as a result of their own
sin, or that of someone close to them”[8]
Many Israelites died because of their grumbling and lack of faith. David’s
child died as a result of his sin with Bathsheba. Israel was warned by the
prophets numerous times to turn back to God, and they refused. So God allowed
them to be taken into captivity. You reap what you sow. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will
he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap
corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap
eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7-8).
By our own eyes it would appear
that there are two Gods in the Bible because there is so much judgment (or
justice) being dished out in the Old Testament than in the New. “This should not be viewed as some sort of
inconsistency or transformation… The major reason for the perceived difference
is that there are very few contexts
in the New Testament that portray rebellion and sin.”[9]
Most of the New Testament is a directive on how to live the Christian life, not
a narrative like the Old Testament.
It is simply a case of God
“spanking” His children for their disobedience. This correction is to guide
them away from their sins and onto a better path because God loves them and
wants what is best for them, not because he hates them.
This is just the sprinkle on the
icing on the cake. There is so much more that can be explored on the subject of
God’s justice and love. I hope that this article has proven, in a nutshell,
that there is only one God of the entire Bible who is fully capable of being
just and loving at the same time.
In Christ Alone.
In Christ Alone.
[1] Millard
J. Erickson. Introducing Christian
Doctrine. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids, MI.: Baker Academic, 2001. Pg.141.
[2]
John MacArthur. “Our Triune God” Gty.org. Accessed May 5, 2015. http://www.gty.org/resources/articles/A215/Our-Triune-God?Term=trinity.
[3]
Michael S. Houdmann. “What does it mean to be chastened? How does God chasten
us?" Gotquestions.org. Accessed May 6, 2015. http://www.gotquestions.org/chasten-chastening.html.
[4]
Katherine Lee. “Surprising Reasons Why We Need to Discipline Children”
About.com. Accessed May 6, 2015. http://childparenting.about.com/od/behaviordiscipline/a/Why-We-Need-To-Discipline-Children.htm.
[5]
John MacArthur. The MacArthur Study
Bible, English Standard Version (Commentaries). Crossway, 2010. Pp.
439-440.
[6] Michael
S. Houdmann. “What was the Babylonian captivity/exile?" Gotquestions.org.
Accessed May 7, 2015. http://www.gotquestions.org/Babylonian-captivity-exile.html.
[7]
Erickson, 101.
[8]
Erickson, 152.
[9] John
H. Walton and Andrew E. Hill. Old
Testament Today (Zondervan, 2004). Pg. 218.
