From the Desk of Yesterday For the Record

COMING SOON! ~ "Affirmation Yes" by Dr. Frederick Drummond of Destiny Ministries

Exhortation

The Goodness and the Severity of God

by Frederick Drummond, Sr.

Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off.

Rom. 11:22

“goodness,” Gk. chrestotes—excellence in character, gentleness, kindness, benevolence.

“severity,” Gk. apotomia—rigor, harshness.

It seems that the lawlessness of these end times has crept into the Christian message in a grand way. Because of it, the last twenty years have witnessed a shift in our priorities as believers. Churches are less centers of worship where the living God is exalted and His people gather together to praise His holy name, and more centers of self-worship with the emphasis on personal gratification and gain. We have turned inward and not upward. What was once the overflow of living a God-blessed life—personal satisfaction and prosperity on every level—has now become what the Christian life is all about. This error has influenced our priorities and values and made churches more man-centered than God-centered. They have become a complement to a greedy society rather than a counterculture.

Please don’t misunderstand me. The God-life is tremendous. Its advantages are innumerable. God does want to bless you and prosper you in every way. Nevertheless, the Christian life is about Christ first of all, and then who we are in Him and what He wants to do for and through us. God’s people need a fresh revelation of how one-sided in their favor it has become. Who among us can afford to forget that we are believer-priests in the temple of God and that He is the center of worship, and not us?

In this first article on the subject, I would like us to review the holiness of God and the helplessness of man to come into His presence, but for the grace of God brought to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. We owe Him everything. In doing so, I wish to remind us all that we are disciples of the truth first and foremost, and that all else falls into a distant second place.

There is a consistent interplay between the goodness and the severity of God in both testaments, and everyone needs to know how to respond to them. They are an important revelation of who God is and how He deals with us all. Doing so will open your eyes to the tremendous privilege of knowing God and release in you a fresh anointing to praise and worship Him 24/7.

The first thing to be settled is, God is not one or the other—He is both. There is goodness and severity in God. Romans 11:22 is a practical example of this. The Jews lost everything because of their unbelief, and the Gentiles gained the advantage because of their faith.

Our confession of faith declares that He must judge the unbelieving and impenitent (Ex. 34:6,7; Num. 14:18) even though He is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Pet. 3:9). Those who turn their backs on His forbearance and goodness (Rom. 2:4) and reject His offer of forgiveness and salvation forfeit the hope of eternal life and will have to face the severity of God instead. God is not to be blamed for the decisions we make.

No one should make the mistake of overlooking how much we matter to God, in spite of His goodness and severity. His response to rebellious, unbelieving Jerusalem is proof enough of this: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’” (Matt. 23:37-39).

Both the severity and the goodness of God are a reminder of the realities of the God-life. They both exist, and in a very practical sense we get to choose for ourselves which side of God we want to respond to. To assist in the decision-making process, we will go deeper: (1) “the fear of God is the beginning of all wisdom” (Ps. 111:10; Prov. 9:10), and (2) the love of God (1 Cor. 16:14; 2 Cor. 5:14) should be our highest motivation. There is no balancing these two. Our wisdom comes from the fear of God, and our walk comes from the love of God.

Therefore, the fear of God is the basis for all sound wisdom, and the love of God our best motivation in all that we do. In these two, you have the foundation—the fear of God—and the building—the love of God—that is erected upon it.

The fear factor is a continual reminder of how holy God is and how absolute His judgments always are, while the love factor ever reminds us of the amazing sacrifice of His Son for our sins and how far He is always willing to go to forgive, heal, deliver, redeem from destruction, and bless those who repent and embrace His solution to their sin problem—the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is very important for you to separate these two in your mind. Fear will make you wise—it is the basis for common sense. Nevertheless, as a motivating force it is very unhealthy. Fear-based wisdom keeps us ever aware of the consequences—right and wrong. On the other hand, while fear may make us prudent and wise in the ways of God, on its own it will soon introduce you to unbelief and bitterness if it becomes your only motivation, because fear cannot sustain faith. In fact, I’ll go one step further and say that fear is a faith-killer, and if all you know about God is fear-based, you will soon hide yourself from Him and look at Him as a cruel taskmaster.

On the other hand, with the introduction of the love of God brought to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, another side of Him is revealed. He loves us, and He wants to bless us and take care of us as our Heavenly Father. To do so He has paid a tremendous price through the sacrifice of His Son, and He wants this—His love—to draw us to Him and become our basic motivation. God wants you to settle the fear issue and become wise, and move over into the lifestyle of love He wants you to live by.

When the fear of God is the basis for our wisdom and love is our motivation, faith and all of its rewards will soon be released in us. God wants you to live by His love.

Jesus calls us to abide in God’s love: “As the Father loves Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9).

John reminds us of the principle of abiding in God’s love—living by it: “And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16). There is a definite connection between abiding in the Word and abiding in the love of God (John 15:4-10; 5:38-47).

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face.

Psalm 89:14 (15-18)

Illustration for "The Goodness and the Severity of God" by Frederick Drummond, Sr.

Sometimes we forget that the throne of grace, which welcomes us all into the presence of God at the expense of Christ, is built on a foundation of righteousness and justice, which He satisfied for us. It is a real mistake to act as though it doesn’t matter how we are living because grace has us covered. This is only half the story. Yes, we are saved by grace through faith alone, and this is the Dispensation of Grace, which has afforded us all tremendous opportunities. Nevertheless, this doesn’t change the fact that if we want to have fellowship with God and enjoy the benefits of the New Covenant administration, we need to walk in the light as He is in the light. God is holy and cannot fellowship with or endorse sinful living. When our practice doesn’t match up with our position in Christ, we are in danger of making ourselves vulnerable to the enemy of our souls and beyond the help of God until we repent.

The throne of grace never ceases being mounted on righteousness and justice, which were satisfied on our behalf by Jesus.

Psalm 89:14 is a revelation of the principle upon which a righteous God is able to receive sinners, and reveals how important it is to respond properly to the truth when it is presented to us.

Because His throne of grace is founded on righteousness and justice, no sinner can approach it without experiencing His wrath unless they receive His merciful offer of the truth found in Christ Jesus.

This is how we get saved, and this is how we live for God after we are saved. We are a people of the truth. This is a tremendous revelation. As I have just stated, Christians are a people of the truth who love the Bible, because it is the closest thing to embracing their Lord Jesus.

The Severity of God

(Fear)

The Goodness of God

(Love)

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; . . .

. . . Mercy and truth go before Your face.

Ps. 89:14, 15-18

. . . Righteousness . . .

Mercy and truth have met together; . . . and peace have kissed.

Ps. 85:10

But I have trusted in Your mercy; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.

Ps. 13:5,6

All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

Ps. 25:10

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Ps. 23:6

But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

Ps. 86:15

“Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,

Because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke,

I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, . . .

Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord,

They would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.

Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.

For the turning away of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; . . .

But whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”

Prov. 1:24-26,29-33

. . . For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, . . .

but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Ex. 20:5-6

. . . by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

Ex. 34:6-7

And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,

keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, . . .

“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:”

Deut. 28:15

“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.

And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: . . .”

Deut. 28:1-2

“Because you did not . . .

therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you.”

Deut. 28:47,48

. . . serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, . . .

Or do you despise . . .

. . . not knowing . . .

But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: . . .

but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath,

tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; . . .

. . . the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering,

. . . that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;

but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Rom. 2:4-10

For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy.

Mercy triumphs over judgment.

James 2:13

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. . . .

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

and did not spare the ancient world, . . .

bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;

and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; . . .

. . . and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

2 Pet. 2:1-9

but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness,

and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked . . .

then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations . . .

God is good, and He loves being good to His people (Ps. 84:11). He knows that an environment of love is the best way in which to grow us all up into the image of His Son. This is why church life is so vital to raising normal people—it is a community of believers that live by love, enjoying the goodness of God. Christian, you need to recognize this and make sure that you speak with grace and only season with salt (Col. 4:6) when dealing with others.

It was never God’s intention for us to have to face the severity of His righteousness and justice in judgment. Keep in mind that even hell itself was created for the demons that rebelled against Him, and not for us (Matt. 25:41; 2 Pet. 2:4). Nevertheless, those who choose to continue on in their sinful ways and reject the goodness of God and His loving offer of mercy (what we don’t deserve), and the grace (what we can’t do for ourselves) needed to receive the love of the truth so that they might be saved, have only themselves to blame, because by their poor choices they have left God with no other option. Who can deny that even in believers’ lives God chastens those whom He loves when they need a reality check (Heb. 12:5-11)?

God’s throne is founded upon righteousness and justice, and only a fool would want to face its wrath. The better option is to receive the love of the truth and His mercy and embrace Him and His love.

While we should never forget who God is and how He deals with those who turn their backs on His goodness, it is His love for us and our love for Him (Jn. 15:9,10; 1 Jn. 4:7-11,18,19) that is our finest motivation, and not His severity. Those who live by love don’t have to even think about the severity factor, because it doesn’t apply to them (1 Cor. 13; 2 Cor. 5:14).

Christians serve the God of hope (Rom. 15:13). This speaks volumes to the outlook that God wants us to have on life. His love should release believers to live optimistic, faith-filled lives, abounding in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Herein is found true freedom.

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