The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
“Perfect Heart, Perfect Way”
However God may work in our lives, and however finely tuned we conclude His involvement to be in accordance with His Word, we must take every precaution to never directly or implicitly assign sin or evil to the righteous, holy, and perfect Lord of all things.
"He is the Rock, His work is perfect. His ways are judgment. Without iniquity is He, just and right is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4).
Nor only will God not sin. He cannot sin. Governed in holiness by the pristinely pure nature of who He is, our Lord dwells in a righteousness that precludes anything but complete consecration to His spiritual and moral perfection. Thus, He will not and cannot cause sin, or even tempt others to sin. James states the matter in unmistakable terms:
"Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren" (James 1:13-16).
James clearly warns that we do not make the mistake of assigning evil and sin as originating with God in any way, shape, or form. This is a mistake we cannot make in our doctrine, understanding, and response to our perfect Lord. To do so would render the Bible as untrue, and its God as either nonexistent or false in His revelation of Himself. Our confidence in Biblical truth would vanish if the Lord of Scripture were not who He declares Himself to be, and if it were not true that "As for God, His way is perfect” (II Samuel 22:31).
"The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (Psalm 145:17).
Are our lives so finely tuned by God that "all things work together for good to them that love God?" Unequivocally, yes! (Romans 8:28). But not in the sense that the sins of others or ourselves originate with Him. They do not because they cannot. Thus, as we seek to understand how our Heavenly Father works in all things, and how nothing approaches us apart from His promised involvement, we ponder the truth with much care. We must not besmirch God’s character, His perfect character. We cannot err in this matter as we seek to rightly know and communicate our Lord and His truth. We rather determine to bear witness to the perfection of His way - His perfect way - fulfilled amid the imperfections of a fallen creation. How He does this, no one knows. That He does this we know with absolute certainty, based on God’s flawless character, integrity, truth, and virtue. Perfect heart indeed, and perfect way.
"My tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness and of Thy praise all the day long."
(Psalm 35:28)
Weekly Memory Verse
And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
(Matthew 13:58)
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