I completed a lengthy discussion about sin in context of the basic Christian message of the gospel which tells us how to receive the gift of eternal life. Sin is what keeps us from heaven because sin is breaking God’s Law. Saying it another way, we all have a legal problem before God because we are all sinners. Now lets talk about the Law Giver.

I will use this post to convey some basic Christian doctrine about the God of the Bible. Without a basic understanding of who God has revealed himself to be, it is difficult to understand the gospel. There is a fair amount of detail here because sadly, the culture and even the church has either forgotten about God or has a distorted understanding about who (as a person) and what (His attributes) God is. God has given us plenty of information about Himself in the Bible.

Do All Religions Lead to the Same God?

There are many perspectives in world religions about who or what God is. Many say that all religious paths lead to the same God. A popular but false assumption is that God is the same in all religions but simply viewed from a different cultural context. We even see Pope Francis collaborating with other religions of the world including Islam as if we all worship the same God. But a casual reading of the Bible and comparing the biblical depiction of God to what other faiths believe shows profound differences.

The truth is that descriptions of God across different religions are often contradictory. For example, some religions teach there are many gods while others teach there is only one God. They both cannot be true. But the God of the Bible has defined both himself and his own unchanging standards and moral law. None of that has changed. As God has established and declared it from the beginning, so it is today and shall always be.

Unfortunately, most churches no longer teach biblical doctrine about God. Think about it – when was the last time you heard a biblical teaching about God? The lack of good biblical teaching from those who still hold a biblical world view coupled with relentless attack on the authority of the Bible as the Word of God has been a disaster for the mission of the church. There is only a small fraction of those who claim to be Christian who continue to hold a biblical world view and have a biblical understanding of God. When the truth of scripture is suppressed, the culture redefines God on its own terms. As a result, there are now “woke”, blasphemous definitions of God that permit and even celebrate sinful behaviors.

Who is the God of the Bible?

The Bible has clear teachings about God. The purpose here is to explain the primary teachings given through the biblical prophets and apostles, recognizing much more can be said.

There is only one God.

I am the LORD, I have no peer, there is no God but me.

Isaiah 45:5

You have been taught that the LORD alone is God—there is no other besides him.

Deuteronomy 4:35

He is the God of Israel:

For this is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel says: “If you repented and patiently waited for me, you would be delivered; if you calmly trusted in me, you would find strength, but you are unwilling.

Isaiah 30:15

He is the creator of all things:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky displays his handiwork.

Psalms 19:1

All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.

John 1:3

He is the Triune God

The One God is revealed biblically as three separate and distinct persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit. This is the Christian doctrine of the trinity. While it is a mystery not fully understood, it is the teaching of scripture. Consider the following passages that show each person of the Trinity as separate and distinct:

After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my one dear Son; in him I take great delight.”

Matthew 3:16-17

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

John 5:21-23

But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and will cause you to remember everything I said to you.

John 14:26

Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

Acts 8:29

God is love. He is gracious and compassionate:

…The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness…

Exodus 34:6

And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has in us. God is love, and the one who resides in love resides in God, and God resides in him.

1 John 4:16

The love of God is not the permissive, “anything goes” love defined by the evil culture. God’s love is defined in the Bible and has an established order.

Love is patient, love is kind, it is not envious. Love does not brag, it is not puffed up. It is not rude, it is not self-serving, it is not easily angered or resentful. It is not glad about injustice, but rejoices in the truth.

1 Corinthians 13:4-6

For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down

1 John 5:3

God’s love is the attribute most people think of in their understanding of God even though their understanding of his love is not informed by scripture but instead follows the pattern of the culture.

God is also perfectly just, holy, and righteous.

… Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God, the All-Powerful, Who was and who is, and who is still to come!

Revelation 4:8

Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:5

He does not change:

All generous giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.

James 1:17

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever! Do not be carried away by all sorts of strange teachings.

Hebrews 13:8-9

Sin is an affront to God’s Holiness and He will judge the unrepentant according to their sinful deeds. Although He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, He will not leave the guilty unpunished. The unrepentant will indeed come to a day of judgement:

Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds!

Ezekiel 33:11

I will punish the world for its evil, and wicked people for their sin. I will put an end to the pride of the insolent, I will bring down the arrogance of tyrants.

Isaiah 13:11

But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed!

Romans 2:5

Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.

John 3:19

Then I saw a large white throne and the one who was seated on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then books were opened, and another book was opened—the book of life. So the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds.

Revelation 20:11-12

God’s love and compassion does not cancel out His Holiness and righteousness. Because of His holiness, His perfect moral purity, we are separated from him and are under his judgement because of our sin. But the same God offers to forgive our sins and give us eternal life in heaven as a gift. How can this happen?

Love and compassion, but also holiness and justice. Is this an unsolvable contradiction? It does seem a dilemma for us doesn’t it? The really good news is that none of us has to remain under judgement. None of us has to experience what is described above in Revelation 20:11-12. The Lord has provided a solution – the only one there is.

How did God resolve this dilemma? He resolved it once for all through His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the one who has reconciled the love and mercy of God with the justice and holiness of God so that all people could be offered the free gift of eternal life.

Summarizing to this point:

1. It is possible to know that we will go to heaven when we die.
2. Heaven, eternal life, is a free gift by God’s Grace through faith. Eternal life is not earned or deserved but our sin is an obstacle to receiving the gift.
3. God is holy and will judge unrepentant sinners.
4. We are all sinners guilty of breaking God’s Law. The penalty is death.
5. But he also promised eternal life because of his love for us.

The next post is the all important answer to how anyone can not only escape judgement but also receive the gift of eternal life.

NOTE: All Bible quotes from the New English Translation (NET Second Edition)