Can God Fail?

God is love. God so loved the world, not just the Christians. Christ is the Savior of all! Hell is a mistranslation. God is capable of saving all of his creation. 

"Cute. I love your sentiments, but you are wrong. Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

I appreciate your candor, but based on this scripture, God does not think like us. His ways are higher than ours. Therefore, hell is real."

Thank you for sharing that scripture. Note that it starts with "For my thoughts…"

I am not a Grammar virtuoso, but whenever there is a 'for' or 'therefore' in a sentence, it is never a beginning of a topic. We need to find what the 'for' or 'therefore' is there for. 

In this context, the topic starts at verse 6: "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

Isaiah was addressing the wicked or the unrighteous.

We are not living in the times of Isaiah. We have been made righteous (Romans 5:19). If righteousness is earned by our good works, then it would be called self-righteousness. If self-righteousness is the goal, then Christ died in vain (Galatians 2:21).

Fortunately, as common sense would agree, neither can God fail, nor does he tremble at human's supposed free-will.

Who gets to throw the first stone at whom?

God loves the "sinners", just like he loves us, who sin differently than "they" do.

If we are going to live by the law, we cannot pick and choose laws. Breaking one is akin to breaking all the laws (see James 2:10).

If that's the case, who gets to throw the first stone at whom?

When the Pharisees brought a woman who was caught in the act of adultery (note that the partner was conveniently missing; but that's another topic), and when the Pharisees brought her to Jesus, with the intent of stoning her to death (which is what the Law says), Jesus did not say, "Let him who is without adultery among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” He said, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Our condemnation and finger-pointings to those who don't fit in our doctrinal boxes and our standards of righteousness will stop only when this finally sinks in. All of us are in the same boat - loved unconditionally by God.

A Tale of Two White Shirts

Imagine you were given two white shirts as gifts. Shirt 1 was soiled due to poor packaging. Shirt 2 is dazzling white. Now imagine you need a cloth to wipe the dust off of your desk. Which shirt out of the above two would you pick for the task? Obviously, you would pick the soiled shirt. Why? It’s already dirty, so you wouldn’t mind some more dirt on it. The clean shirt, which is safely kept in the closet, would not even come to your mind for the task at hand.

Acquaint with religion and pretty soon you will hear a phrase, “we’re just sinners saved by grace”. Although the phrase sounds very pious and humble, it is absolutely un-scriptural to the core.

To understand this, we need to see how a person becomes a sinner. How or when did a person become a sinner? Paul said, “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, …” (Rom 5:19). It was through Adam’s disobedience that we became sinners. We did not have to move one finger to inherit sin. In other words, it is not the sin action that makes a person a sinner, but the old self, the sin nature, which drives the person to sin.

But what happens when a person receives Jesus Christ to his or her heart by faith? I'll let Paul continue: “so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.” The same person who was a sinner by Adam’s disobedience, when He receives Jesus Christ by faith, is now made righteous (made in right-standing with God) by the obedience of Jesus Christ, because the old self of the humanity was nailed to the cross (Rom 6:6). The new creation in Christ Jesus has a brand new nature in His spirit, and is sealed by the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17, Eph 1:13). So the newly created person in Christ Jesus is no longer a sinner saved by grace.

The question that is often followed is, if the old self has be crucified when Christ died, why then does a born again person sin? First of all, not every church goer has heard the unadulterated Gospel. What is often preached from the pulpits is a gospel that is mixed with works, meaning you must do this and that to become righteous - when in fact, the liberating Message of the cross is about an exchange of lives - ours for His (Gal 2:20).

Secondly, this new birth happens in one’s spirit. We are made up of three parts – spirit, soul (mind, will and emotions), and body. Since the new-creation happens in the spirit, one cannot “feel” the amazing changes that happens in the spirit. We move and act on our dominant thought or belief. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. So when a person’s dominant belief is that he is “just a sinner”, that is exactly what he or she will be drawn to. Add law and self-effort to the mix, the same person is turbo-charged to fail, because the strength of the sin is law (see 1 Corinthians 15:56).

The law was given to reveal the human inability to attain and keep the righteousness of God by our strength. If righteousness comes by our frail attempts at keeping the law, then Christ died in vain (Gal 2:21)! I say ‘attempts’, because we are incapable to keep all the commandments in perfection, because when you break one you break ‘em all (James 2:10). 

All of us needs His grace through Jesus Christ, and praise God, it is freely available. All we do is move out of the way and receive Him; not a doctrine, not a teaching, not a theology, not an emotional high, but Him. Sin will no longer have dominion over a person if he or she is under grace and not under law (Rom 6:14). Grace is about trusting solely in the life of Jesus in and through us, for without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). It is His life that helps us bear fruit.

Look at it this way: prior to being saved, could any of our good works qualify us to be in right standing with God? No, because we cannot earn His righteousness. We are saved purely by grace through faith (see Eph 2:8-9). Likewise, one’s action does not alter the new nature in Christ Jesus. Does this mean that the message of His grace and love will be used as a “license to sin” as assumed by some? Let me answer that with another question - would anyone choose that dazzling white shirt to clean the desk? 

It is the knowledge our new identity in Christ Jesus that sets us free.


Related posts:
Purpose of the Law

Self-righteousness or His righteousness

Maintain Your Confession: I Am the Righteousness of God in Christ

by Paul White
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Self-Righteousness Or His Righteousness?

Religious people often come to the conclusion that, since they have not done big sins, they are good. And they happily condemn and judge the so-called big sinners. But the call is to seek His righteousness (right-standing with God), not ours.

Let us see how the Scripture views sin:

1. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.”Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.” - James 2:10-11 NKJV

Some may scoff at this verse, saying that they have neither committed adultery nor murdered anyone. But Jesus said, “You have heard…You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart,” (Matt 5:28). Jesus' definition of adultery is different from ours. And He was making this point to the self-righteous religious crowd who heavily gave weight to the external actions, when sin originates from within.

2. Jesus warned, “Whoever is angry with his brother without cause, is in danger of judgment,” (Matt 5:22). John says, “He who hates his brother is a murderer,” (1 John 3:15). As per the Scripture,  hatred in the heart is same as murder. It does not matter how justified we are in our sight.

3. “Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.” - James 4:17

When was the last time we saw a broken down car on the highway and passed by them without offering a helping hand when we know that we should help them?

4. “…whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” - Romans 14:23

What is my point here?

This is not a post of condemnation for there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ. The goal of this post is merely to pop the self-righteous bubble that we sometimes love to walk around in, while judging and condemning others. Not one of us are righteous by our own merits. Our righteousness is as filthy rags. All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

In God’s eyes, there is no big or small sin. Sin is sin, even if it is a “white” lie or a cold-blooded murder. To be perfect in God’s eyes, we have to score 100 out of 100. There is no silver star for 99.999 out of 100. The truth is, not one of us can achieve this with our own effort, no matter how sincere we are in our effort. This is precisely the reason why we needed a Savior. His name is Jesus.

If the perfection that God requires of us to be in His right-standing could be achieved by our good works and by keeping the Law, Jesus did not have to go through the gruesome torture and crucifixion (see Gal 2:21). Since it is humanly impossible to reach God’s righteousness with our effort, Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf and while we were sinners, Christ demonstrated the height of His love for us by paying the penalty for our sins with His own precious and sinless blood.

In the past, people sacrificed animals to temporarily cover their sins, but Jesus' perfect sacrifice on the Cross wiped away the sin - once and for all. We won't be able to experience this awesome grace for us in Christ Jesus, if we think we can earn and keep our salvation by our feeble efforts to keep the law.

Praise God for His gift that we cannot earn with our works. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph 2:8-9 NKJV).

We are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So let us  wholeheartedly stand each day in His righteousness. In Him, we are now made righteous.

Related post:

A Tale of Two White Shirts