You cannot fix a problem unless you are willing to admit the problem and not be in a state of denial.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
~ Ro 8:7
This is a world held captive, and, as such, it is not normal for humans to respond to God in a positive manner. In fact, as the above verse says, the “natural” state of man in this world is to be diametrically opposed to God. Of course, the irony is that those who would deny this fact the most are the ones who hate God the most.
How did this all come to be?
Like most all things of substance, we can trace it back to being one of the consequences of what happened in the very beginning of the history of mankind. The book of beginnings, the Book of Genesis explains so much of how we got here, and yet it is often one of the most contested books in the Bible. Why? Because of unbelief!
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
~ Heb 11:6
Simply put, a lot of people claim to have faith “in” Jesus Christ or to believe “on” Jesus Christ. Faith is simply believing on a deep level. It is a synonym for trust. It is not enough to believe God exists, as Paul explains in Hebrews. Trust that God rewards those who seek Him out is also required.
We must believe Him! We must trust Him!
Ironically, by not believing God, by rejecting what He tells us in Genesis, the unbeliever reproduces the exact same sin that Adam and Eve committed!
Eve already committed a sin before reaching for the fruit. She allowed the words of Satan to whisper doubts in her ears. She chose to doubt God!
“Hath God said …?” Raised the specter of misunderstanding and/or holding something back. “Did God really say to not eat of a piece of fruit? Really? How can a piece of fruit harm you? Surely, He didn’t mean that!”
In every justification of disobedience, the same reasoning applies at first. It is incredulous to believe that God would require something so minor as to avoid unclean meats, to rest on the Sabbath or to actually calculate ten percent of your income to give to Him. Did God really say those things? Did He mean them? Weren’t they for the Jews? Would He really require something so silly today?
Life can seem so much easier if we recreate “God” in our own image, after all. We humans do not like change in general, but we particularly like change when it requires work or means putting something aside that seems enjoyable. “Wouldn’t God want me to be happy?” is a common refrain of the man or woman living with someone outside of marriage. “I’m not hurting anyone” reasons the person viewing entertainment with questionable content. “It tastes good” justifies the person who loves bacon.
No, it seems so much easier to make God change instead of ourselves, and so we create a “Savior” that came along to free us from the bonds of “burdensome” commandments rather than pointing us in the direction of righteousness.
The results, of course, are that we are simply fooling ourselves. As I have written so many times, we are to be children of truth. We cannot be as long as we are opposed to God and trying to stuff Him into a box we made, however. Instead, by disbelieving God, we prove ourselves to actually be God haters.
You may find that a rather strong phrase, but I mean it. If we believe God, we will echo His desires and His words accurately. We will, simply put, believe Him. If we are not doing this, then we are spreading the lies, propaganda and slander of the enemy.
If you love someone, you do not lie, campaign against or slander that person. Yet, the anti-COG community continually does this.
And, sadly, too many of us tolerate and encourage it and are stained by it.
As long as we are carnal and as long as we sin, then we might as well admit that we are still driving nails into the stake upon which our Savior died, and that we ourselves hate God.