Question on having the correct belief of God

Julie Kimani

Help me out. Would I be correct in this statement, “Believing in a God that is loving and merciful, while rejecting the idea that He is also a God of justice who WILL punish sin is to believe in a different God and thus, idolatry.”

(The questioner asked “Is believing in an incomplete view of God (loving side only) or a wrong view of God idolatry?”)

Would I be correct in my response, or would having a correct understanding of God as both “merciful” and “just” be considered a “work” and unnecessary for salvation?

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Sarah Van Baale Since we don’t get to define God, if we intentionally redefine Him, then we have made a god of our own choosing, which I think could be idolatry. But growing in your faith and understanding God more fully is a different matter. Intentional redefinition I would consider to be idolatry.

Like · Reply · 3 · May 9 at 6:32pm

Tim White I have to agree with this too.

Like · Reply · 1 · May 9 at 6:42pm

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Tim White I have to agree with the statement.

Like · Reply · May 9 at 6:34pm

Julie Kimani My statement or Sarah’s?

Like · Reply · May 9 at 6:34pm

Tim White Julie Kimani, yours. I will have to read Sarah VanBaale’s statement.

Like · Reply · 1 · May 9 at 6:41pm

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Alyson Dreyer If God is not just and punishes sin, why would we need a Savior? We have to know what we are being saved from and that we need it.

Like · Reply · 6 · May 9 at 6:41pm

Sarah Van Baale That thought crossed my mind too. I wasn’t sure if the questioner was giving an example of an incomplete view of God or the specific example she wanted answered.

Like · Reply · May 9 at 6:48pm · Edited

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Joseph Ford Any idea of God that does not include all His attributes as found in the Bible is a god in our own image and thus idolatry.

Like · Reply · 3 · May 9 at 7:33pm

Kristen Rasor 100% correct.

Like · Reply · May 9 at 8:15pm

Michael Karpf I heard a pastor say, in response to those who don’t want to preach about the judgment of God, just the love of God. He said, “You cannot understand and appreciate the love of God until you understand the judgment of God, that we are all deserving of hell, butt God in His mercy sent His Son Jesus Christ to take our penalty so that we could have eternal life,” (or something similar to this.). I have a friend who repeatedly says, “God is a lot nicer than you think.” In reading a book he wrote, there is almost no reference to Scripture, except to downplay it. When he reminds people that God is a God of love, and they tell him He is also a God of judgment, my friend’s response is, “Stop. He’s a God of love.” I’m afraid he won’t be saying God is a lot nicer than you think, unless he comes to faith in Christ as his Savior. Only then can he truly say, and so can we, God is a lot nicer than you think. This man’s followers love him and he is leading them straight to hell

Like · Reply · 3 · May 10 at 8:40am

Robert Marx Your 1st statement is correct. We do not define God for He revealed Himself most fully in the Son.

Like · Reply · May 10 at 4:14pm

Craig Simons I do not believe having and maintaining a correct belief in God to be a work. In John 6 (I believe and I forget the verse at the moment), Jesus said, “The work of God is this, belief on the One whom He has sent.” In Romans 10, it is belief and confession that God exemplifies as something that does need “to be done.” That is far different from, “but I give alms, I work every Sunday to help feed the poor, I haven’t done this and that, etc.”

Like · Reply · 2 · May 10 at 4:45pm · Edited

Jason Finch John 6:28-29

Like · Reply · 1 · May 10 at 9:22pm

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Daniel Pasono We can not properly appreciate Heaven is we don’t fully understand Hell.

Like · Reply · 1 · May 10 at 5:46pm

Jason Finch In our Christian walk, theology is of the utmost importance because it informs us of who God is. An accurate position theologically will lead to genuine worship and adoration. But if we only choose to worship God for the things we like and not for all that He is, we have essentially created a god in our own image, which is idolatry.

I would submit, that we cannot know or even understand the love of God apart from His justice. It was the Father’s justice that was poured out on Jesus in order to express His Grace.

Like · Reply · 3 · May 10 at 9:20pm

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Question on having the correct belief of God

Julie Kimani

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Team GotQuestions Blog

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