DOES GOD CARE HOW WE APPROACH HIM?

 

Does God care how I or we approach him?

 It is usually wrong-headed and at times even dangerous to attempt to put God in some anthropomorphic box or to otherwise limit him in any way.  See 2 Chronicles 2:6: "But who is able to build a house for him since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him."  I would simply suggest that there are three things that one should probably avoid when attempting to approach the All-Mighty.

 1.  Do not approach heaven or God or any of the heavenly blessings as something that can be bought or sold.  See the unfortunate experience of Balaam as recounted in 2 Peter 2:15.16, and the reference to Babylon in Rev. 18:11-13, where it is described as a place where human souls are bought and sold as commodities. 

 2.  Do not approach God with a smug, self-righteous attitude.  See Luke 18:9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.  See also the unfortunate experience of Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu in Lev. 10:1,2.

 3.  Do not make a big show of praying and use many words in your prayers, as if by heaping up verbiage you somehow improve your chances of being heard.  See Matthew 6:5-14.  Here I think in particular of all the weighty tomes written by philosophers and novelists (and theologians, too) through the centuries that supposedly contain much wisdom.  Is this wisdom something that God pays much attention to?  See 1 Co. 3:19: "For the wisdom of this world is folly with God."

 The Bible offers countless tips and examples of how to approach God.  I will here list simply three.

 1.  "In Christ and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence." Eph. 3:12.

 2.  "And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." 1 John 2:1.  In other words, our sin, as great as it may be, does not prevent us from approaching God.  In fact, it is quite the opposite.  See 1 Timothy 1:15: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."

3.  For some good guidance in how to approach God, see how David did it in Psalms 4 and 5.   

 Conclusion

 All I would say is that the more brokenhearted, contrite and humble, and even desperate (see Psalm 34:18, "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit"), we are in approaching God (and, despite all of that, still being bold and confident, see Hebrews 4:16, "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." ), the better off we'll be.  But, having said all that, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling."  Philippians 2:12.

HEART OR THE HEAD?

 

Do believers' emotional disposition to Jesus and his teaching take precedence over their intellectual perception, at least in the initial stages of the believer's discipleship. In other words, can a person believe in Christ without being consciously aware of that belief, just as Christ entered Jerusalem in secret during the Feast of Tabernacles. John 7:10. Is the human mind too feeble and fickle an instrument upon which to base something so important as one's eternal salvation?  Is it the "heart" or the "head" which determines one's posture toward Christ as far as salvation is concerned? 

See Romans 10:9. "If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  This passage seems to say that if the believer's head ("confess with your mouth") and heart ("believe in your heart") are aligned properly toward Christ, that believer will be saved. Is this two-pronged approach mandatory, or does it represent what lawyers like to call a "safe-harbor." In other words, are there other ways to be saved, or is this formula the exclusive test? 

What if a person's heart (see Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart") enjoys the proper disposition toward Christ, but that person's head (mind or brain) is unclear on the subject?  Is such a person saved? 

Of course, such questions don't concern us in the sense that we are not the judges of salvation, but the answers to these questions may give comfort to those left behind by people whose minds were foggy on the subject of Christ at their death but whose hearts may have been in the right place toward him.  Only God knows all the secrets of the heart.  See Psalm 44:21: "[W]ould not God have discovered it, since he knows the secrets of the heart?"  Only God knows whose names are written in "The Book of Life." Rev. 20:15. 

When in doubt on this or any other topic, we can always pray to God with our concerns. See Ephesians 6:18, Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere." 

The Law of Moses--How far did it go?

 

In Deut. 5:22 it is reported that after God spoke the Ten Commandments to "all the assembly," he "added no more." God regarded these rules as sufficient and saw no need to provide any more detail.  But the people were apparently not satisfied with these commandments, for in Ex. 20:19 they told Moses to speak to them directly from then on, because they feared to hear God's voice anymore lest they die.  See also Deut. 5:4, "The Lord talked with you (all the people, not just Moses) face to face in the mountain out of the midst of the fire."  In other words, from then on they wanted Moses to be their immediate law-giver, not God.  They did not want to speak "face to face" with God anymore, but only with Moses.  See also Deut. 5:22-28. 

All the rest of the rules and regulations in the Mosaic Law were spoken to the people by Moses as the intermediary between them and God.  In other words, the Ten Commandments were given by God to the people directly, whereas all the remaining rules passed through Moses.  Jesus underscores the essentially human and limited nature of these rules in John 10:34, "Is it not written in your law…?" and in John 8:17 Jesus said, "In your own law it is written…." But even the Ten Commandments, which came from God directly, are not the key to salvation.  Salvation is through faith in Christ, and by faith alone.