Psalm 119 makes plain the fact that God and His Holy Scriptures are one and the same. His Word is Him in print. Jesus, in His former God-self, was called “the Word.” He was the Word made flesh. God’s word is so important that He had it printed and preserved for thousands of years so that people of every age could have access to it. Jesus Himself wrote the condensed version of God’s Word in stone, placed it in an ark protected by two archangels and hid it so that even today, with technology that can locate most anything, man still does not know where it is. In His infinite wisdom, God knew that man would change the Law spiritually. He hid the Ten Commandments from man so that he could not take hammer and chisel to it and defile it physically. I refer to the fourth commandment which concerns God’s 7th day Sabbath. The church, not God, changed it to the first day of the week–SUNDAY–THE DAY OF THE SUN GOD WHEN SUN WORSHIPERS PAID HOMAGE TO THEIR GOD. The continue to do so until today.

Now we will indulge in a bit of remembrance in which I will list several “fine print” passages that I have used numerous times so as to remind us that God’s Holy Word is indeed holy, unchangeable and eternal.

Second Peter 1:21: “Holy men of old spoke (and wrote) as they were moved by the Spirit of God. Second Timothy 3:14-16: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for doctrine, for teaching, for rebuke for correction and for training in righteousness. Ephesians 2:20: “The church was founded on the teachings of the prophets and the apostles.” Second Timothy 2:15: “Study to show yourself approved of God.” First Thessalonians 5:21: “Prove all things of God” (by comparing them to His Word). Romans 10:14: “Faith comes by hearing the Word of God.” First Corinthians 10:11: The Old Testament was preserved to be used as instruction for the New Testament church. Romans 7:12: “The Law is holy, just and good.” Ephesians 5:26: We must cleanse ourselves by “the washing by the water by the Word.” Isaiah 28:9-13: We must study God’s Word: “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little.” Then He repeats it. Acts 17:11: The Bereans “searched the (Old Testament) Scriptures daily” to see if what the Apostle Paul was telling them was true. The apostles taught the church out of the Old Testament. The New Testament did not exist at that time. Acts 10:27: Paul preached “the whole Word of God.” James 2:10: To break one commandment is to break the entire Law. Romans 3:1: The Jews had an advantage over the Gentiles relative to serving God because they already had “the oracles (Words) of God”–the Old Testament–the only Word of God available. Galatians 3:8: The Gospel was preached to Abraham by the Scripture (Word–Jesus Christ). Acts 7:38: God gave His “lively oracles” to Moses to preserve so that they would be made available to “us”–the end-time church.

Perhaps the main lesson God teaches relative to His Word is the connection between man’s obeying Him and man’s love for Him. His Words in that regard send a clear message that obedience and love go hand-in-hand. We will now review several of His statements made through His prophets and apostles that show beyond question that if one truly loves Him, one will truly obey Him.

Jn. 14:15,23: “If you love Me you will keep (obey) My commandments (15),” meaning His Words (23). John 15:10: “If you keep My commandments you will abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father’s commandments and (therefore) abide in His love. First John 2:5: “Whosoever obeys God’s Words, in him verily is the love of God perfected, by this (loving and obeying Him) we know that we are in Him.” Matthew 19:17: “If you would have (eternal) life, obey the commandments.”

We will now enter into another realm of love as it pertains to God and man’s love for each other and how that mutual love affects both this life and the life to come. An episode that I have written about before brings out both types of love. We find this episode taking place in the tenth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. Beginning with verse 17 we find a rich man running to Jesus where he fell to his knees, called Him “Master” and asked Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him he must obey the commandments. To which the man replied that he had kept all of the commandments since childhood. Upon hearing that the man was a Law-keeper, Jesus, “beholding him, loved him.”

Jesus loved the man before He saw him because He loves all men. He loves all people because He is their Creator. I call this love “creation level” love. This is the love expressed in John 3:16,17. This is the level at which He loves the mass murderer and the saint on the same level. Creation level love is a general love which the Godhead has for every human being ever born. But notice that when Jesus “beheld” that the man was a Law-keeper, He immediately viewed Him in a different light–“He loved him.” His evaluation of the man placed him on a higher (Law-keeping) level of love. But note that he was disqualified for salvation because he lacked “one thing.” We must understand this Biblical Truth: GOD VIEWS (EVALUATES) PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY BASED ON THEIR LOVE FOR (OBEDIENCE TO) OR THEIR HATED OF (DISOBEDIENCE OF) HIS WORD (GOD HIMSELF). Again, He loves all human beings on the creation level. However, the individual’s attitude toward His Word (and Him) determines His attitude toward the individual. Recall that Psalm 5:5 states that God hates (sana–to hate, to be the enemy of) the sinner. Church sinners are not exempt from this rule. Satan has deceived the entire world, including the church world, into rejecting this Biblical Truth. Adam and Eve were his first human victims.

Adam and Eve had heard God’s Law from His lips and knew that it was the Truth. Right and wrong, good and evil were determined by God. Period. They accepted this rule. Then Eve met the Serpent who convinced her that she and Adam were better equipped to make decisions relative to good and evil, and that nothing would happen if they exercised that option. Satan (the serpent) offered them the power to make such determinations and they believed him. Man has been following in their spiritual footsteps ever since. Recall that of the first family, only one–Abel–believed God, for which Jesus called him “righteous Abel.” At one point the entirety of humanity except eight people were put to death because of the sins (transgression of the Law) of humanity. Mankind is at that point today. For that reason the Lord is going to arrange another mass extermination of humanity which He warns about in the Book of Revelation. Like righteous Noah and his family in the world of his day, few will survive the horror of the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord. Read the series by that name. Key word–Tribulation.

Why is the world in such a terrible condition? Why is everything so upside-down? Why is God cursing mankind with all types of problems? To answer those questions read Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 where God provides explanations that even a child can understand. The one-word answer to the “why” questions is: SIN–REBELLION AGAINST HIS WORD, AND THEREFORE AGAINST GOD HIMSELF. By refusing to obey God, man declares that he hates Him and His Son (Lk. 10:17/ Jn. 15:23).

In Amos 5:21-27 and Revelation 3:14-17 we find God, through the Prophet Amos and the Apostle John respectively, addressing ancient Law-hating Israelites as well as today’s Law-hating Catholic/Protestant Religions System. Notice that God “hates” the very things He commanded them and us to do: attend church, pray, sing, etc. Why? BECAUSE THEY DO NOT OBEY HIS LAW. “Beholding them,” He does not “love them” on the Law-obeying level–the level of Godly love one must attain in order to qualify for salvation. MAN MUST PROVE HIS LOVE FOR THE GODHEAD THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO THE HOLY SCRIPTURES–BIBLICALLY CALLED “WORKS.” Read James 2:10,14,17,18,20,24,26. Note especially verse 24 where the apostle tells us that faith alone cannot save the soul.

This series on God’s “fine print” is extremely important, for without knowing and believing and obeying such Scriptural passages, one cannot qualify to meet Christ in the air upon His return to earth. Let us be among the few that Christ said would qualify for the first resurrection in Matthew 7:13,14. L.J.