The severity of God?

When was the last time you heard about the severity of God? Churches are taken up with proclaiming the goodness of God, apparently in order to comfort and encourage people. But along with announcing eternal life through the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the New Testament is full of warnings and exhortations. Do we imagine that believers in Christ do not need warnings, that they are secure in Christ forever with no possibility of going wrong? But God says, "Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God" (He.3:12). It warns us, brothers and sisters in Christ, in no uncertain terms, that if we don't watch out, unbelief can creep into our heart and take us away from God! If we look around, we can see this happening around us, with many people dropping out of church where they once used to be active.

"Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off" (Ro.11:22). We need to be warned again and again about the severe side of God's character, lest we take His goodness for granted. But can you remember the last time you heard a message teaching you about how severe God can be, and how you need to take care to be right with Him and do everything that He tells you? (Mt.28:19.20).

This is not a mistake one or two churches are making, but a universal phenomenon that is weakening churches while they imagine that they are proclaiming the goodness of God! We cannot focus entirely on becoming good without resisting evil and overcoming in temptations. The Sermon on the Mount portrays the standard of life God expects from us, where Jesus also tells us about many wrong approaches and mistakes we must avoid. Then God has given us many epistles addressed to the people in churches with warnings and exhortations. These are all required for us because we still carry with us the remnants of our old sinful nature even after we have been born again, and we face many types of temptations every day from our desires in the flesh (Jas.1:14,15). Paul, as an apostle who had established many churches, was honest enough to admit how he faced such temptations (Ro.7:21-23). Because he knew the danger of becoming careless about the battle in his own spiritual life, he took the matter very seriously and took pains to warn others (1Co.9:26,27).

We all need comfort and encouragement as we go through the challenges of this life. But what sustains us in this journey without falling away from the path is our relationship with the Lord and the strength it gives us. What happens if we take this for granted and move away our attention from Him to other things? That is why God in His love for us and the knowledge of our weakness warns us and exhorts us again and again.

When we read the Bible shall we seek to apply things in our practical life, instead of accumulating Bible knowledge?