The Severity of God

It is sad to see that many Christians pick and choose to study and emphasize the “milder” attributes of God. Many of them choose to ignore His attributes that may seem “unfair” or “unloving”—attributes like wrath, judgment, and severity. And yet, for instance, how can we praise Him for being righteous and seek to be righteous ourselves when we try to ignore the fact that, in His righteousness, God must (and does) hate sin and man’s fallen nature and that He cannot ignore unrighteousness? God would not be righteous if He did not deal with sin or expect anything less than perfection. We tend to err more towards God’s grace and think “Oh, He’ll forgive me when I sin.” And, yes, this is true, God will forgive, but that is because He poured out His wrath and judgment upon Jesus Christ as He died on the cross. God does still give consequences to sin and show His severity at times while we are alive.

In chapter 16 of J.I. Packer’s book Knowing God, he talks about the goodness and severity of God. God’s goodness is basically all of His qualities of “truthfulness and trustworthiness, His unfailing justice and wisdom, His tenderness, forbearance, and entire adequacy to all who penitently seek His help, His noble kindness in offering men the exalted destiny of fellowship with Him in holiness and love” wrapped up together. God’s severity is a little more sobering. Here are some excerpts from the chapter:

“What, now, of God’s severity? The word Paul uses in Romans 11:22 means literally ‘cutting off’; it denotes God’s decisive withdrawal of His goodness from those who have spurned it…The act of severity to which Paul referred was God’s rejection of Israel as a body—breaking them off from His olive tree, of which they were the natural branches—because they did not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Israel has presumed on God’s goodness, while disregarding the concrete manifestation of His goodness in His Son; and God’s reaction had been swift—He had cut Israel off. […]

The principle which Paul is applying here is that behind every display of divine goodness stands a threat of severity in judgment if that goodness is scorned. If we do not let it draw us to God in gratitude and responsive love, we have only ourselves to blame when God turns against us…Those who decline to respond to God’s goodness by repentance, and faith, and trust, and submission to His will, cannot wonder or complain if sooner or later the tokens of His goodness are withdrawn, the opportunity of benefiting from them ends, and retribution supervenes.

But God is not impatient in His severity; just the reverse. He is ‘slow to anger’ (Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 103:8, 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2) and ‘longsuffering’ (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 86:15). The Bible makes much of the patience and forbearance of God in postponing judgments in order to extend the day of grace and give more opportunity for repentance. […]

From the above lines of thought we can learn at least three lessons.

1) Appreciate the goodness of God. Count your blessings. Learn not to take natural benefits, endowments, and pleasures for granted; learn to thank God for them all. Do not slight the Bible, or the gospel of Jesus Christ, by an attitude of casualness towards either. The Bible shows you a Saviour who suffered and died in order that we sinners might be reconciled to God; Calvary is the measure of the goodness of God; lay it to heart. Ask yourself the psalmist’s question – ‘What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?’ Seek grace to give his answer – ‘I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord…O Lord, truly I am they servant…I will pay my vows unto the Lord now…’ (Psalm 116:12).

2) Appreciate the patience of God. Think how He has borne with you, and still bears with you, when so much in your life is unworthy of Him, and you have so richly deserved His rejection. Learn to marvel at His patience, and seek grace to imitate it in your dealings with other men; and try not to try His patience any more.

3) Appreciate the discipline of God. He is both your upholder and, in the last analysis, your environment; all things come of Him, and you have tasted His goodness every day of your life. Has this experience led you to repentance and faith in Christ? If not, you are trifling with God, and stand under the threat of His severity. But if, now, He, in Whitefield’s phrase, puts thorns in your bed, it is only to awaken you from the sleep of spiritual death, and to make you rise up to seek His mercy. Or if you are a true believer, and He still puts thorns in your bed, it is only to keep you from falling into the somnolence of complacency, and to ensure that you ‘continue in His goodness’ by letting your sense of need bring you back constantly in self-abasement and faith to seek His face. This kindly discipline, in which God’s severity touches us for a moment in the context of His goodness, is meant to keep us from having to bear the full brunt of that severity apart from that context. It is a discipline of love, and must be received accordingly. ‘My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:5). ‘It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statues’ (Psalm 119:71).”

I just thought this was such a good reminder to not take advantage of God’s grace (although we must be careful not to reject it either and try to earn our salvation). I really liked Packer’s three lessons. I so easily forget to thank God for the blessings He has given me; I am seldom content with what I have and tend to look forward to the next thing I want. I need to be reminded constantly to be thankful for what I have and to find contentment in my Savior alone. Packer’s second lesson was very convicting! I know I am thankful for God’s patience with me, but this thankfulness does not often make it out of my head, into my heart, and out to my feet; oftentimes I do not live out my thankfulness and show God’s patience to others. I except God’s patience and I expect others to be patient with me, but I fail to extend grace and long-suffering to those around me. Moment by moment, I need to ask for God’s grace to imitate His patience in my interactions with others. Lastly, Whitefield’s analogy of the thorns in our beds as believers being there to “keep [us] from falling into the somnolence [or sleepiness] of complacency” and to make sure we turn to God in humility and self-denial, was very poignant. A lot of times believers look at trials and sufferings as consequences or punishment that God is giving us because we did something sinful. Yes, this can be the case, but God also gives us these trials to ensure that we do not become prideful or independent of Him. (see 2 Corinthians 12:7-10) These thorns will prick and goad us into seeking dependency on God for our only relief from them is found in Him. The knowledge of God’s severity should make us that more thankful for His goodness for we know that we do not feel the full extent of His severity if we have received His salvation. Knowing what would happen to us without God’s grace [eternal damnation and separation from God] should cause us to run and throw ourselves down at the throne of God with hearts of worship, thankfulness, and praise for the work He has done to save us.