One scheme of the devil is to create a twisted view of God. USA Today ran an article on a very comprehensive religion survey conducted by Baylor University. This survey showed that 96% of Americans believe in some view of God. But of this group 40% , or almost half, believe in a God who does not intervene in the daily affairs of people. We are left on our own to do as we please as long as we don’t hurt others. This is a god of license. This is a god who lets us be our own god and a law unto ourselves.
Probably the most dangerous view of God is that of the god of laws. In August I listened to two audio presentations about marriage and family. In both cases the pastors spoke for 45 minutes to an hour. They both said over and over that the key to a happy marriage and home is “commitment.” That sounds good. It sounds Biblical. But let me assure you that commitment is not the key to marriage or to any good thing on earth – not at least our commitment. The key is God’s commitment. Marriages need more than commitment – they need the crucified and risen Savior, Jesus Christ. This is what a sinful husband and a sinful wife need most so that they can begin to show committed love to one other. But that vital truth was totally overlooked by these pastors. Moses came to bring the Law, but Jesus came to bring grace and truth (John 1.17). We need the God of Law and Gospel to survive the host of evil that surrounds us.