CE 1 YEAR: 15 God’s Compassion

Week 15

God’s Compassion

Are you living under OT law instead of NT grace?

Many harmful errors occur because some Christians live like they are still under the Old Covenant. In the OT God did not have unconditional love for His people. God told them He would bless them if they obeyed, or curse them if they disobeyed (Deut 28). God’s feelings toward His people changed depending on their performance. God was often angry with His people (Num 11:1). And the threat of His anger made God’s people live in fear of Him. Unlike people in the OT, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We now stand before Him in grace, not guilt (Rom 5:1-2).

A good way to tell if you are living under OT law or NT grace is if you struggle with being afraid of God. Everyone begins a real relationship with God in fear. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 19:10). If you have never feared God, then you do not have a real relationship with Him. Through the conversion experience we catch a glimpse of His holiness, our sinfulness, and the wrath we deserve (2 Cor 4:4-6).

But God does not want you to continue a relationship with him in fear. Awe, yes. Fear, no. This is because the grace and forgiveness revealed in the Gospel and the New Covenant moves you from fear to reverence and love.

God’s OT people were motivated by the fear of punishment. They were not generally indwelled with God’s Spirit and only had the sinful nature which is always hostile toward God (Rom 8:7). They needed fear to help them obey God.

But the New Covenant is different. Christians who think “the fear of the Lord” is a healthy, biblical thing, need to think carefully about what the Apostle John said in the NT:

God is love . . . Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. (1 John 4:16, 18)

When you fully understand the love your real Dad has for you, you will not be afraid of Him. If you are afraid of your Father in Heaven, the Bible says this shows that you have not fully experienced His perfect love. Likewise, the Apostle Paul wrote:

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. By him we cry, “Abba, Father.” (Rom 8:15)

The Apostles were clear: God does not want fear to be a part of His relationship with you. In rare cases when a Christian is addicted to a particularly harmful sin their real Dad may discipline them. We discuss this more below.

Of course, we are to always have a great sense of AWE, admiration, and reverence for God. But not fear, as in being afraid of Him because He will punish or hurt us.

Some NT references to fearing God refer to the attitude unbelievers should have (Matt 10:28; Rom 3:18; 2 Cor 5:11). But others refer to Christians. For example, the Bible says we are to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12). But the Greek word translated here as “fear” (phobō) often meant respect, reverence, or awe (Acts 9:31; 2 Cor 7:1; Eph 5:21; 1 Pet 1:17; 3:2, 16).

And in the very next verse (Phil 2:13), Paul explains why we should feel such awe towards God. The same God who killed a man for touching the Ark of His Presence (2 Sam 6:6-7), is living and working inside of us to help us obey Him. Such an awesome thing should make us tremble! Understanding references to “fearing God” as revering God fits the meaning of the Greek word phobō. And it keeps us from contradicting what verses like 1 John 4:18 and Rom 8:15 clearly teach.

Still, some preach “the fear of the Lord” to motivate people to obey Him. But the OT proves that fear never empowers long term, sincere obedience. In fact, this is essentially the whole story of the OT. The Israelites were plenty afraid of God, but did not love Him (Ex 20:18-19). Therefore, only 40 days after seeing His presence above Mount Sinai, they were worshipping a golden calf (Exod 24:18; 32:1-9).

A relationship of fear is the opposite of a relationship of love. And because God wanted to change His relationship with His chosen people from fear to love He sent God the Son to implement a New Covenant. A covenant in the Bible is simply a promise of God to His chosen people. The Old Covenant promised God’s blessing for obeying His laws and curses for disobedience. But the NT says that Jesus has abolished the old covenant and given us a better covenant based on better promises (Heb 8:6, 13).

Since the Old Covenant is “obsolete” it is a shame that many Christians still live in it. God has moved on to “a new covenant,” but they remain stuck in the old one. But the NT says you no longer live under the requirements of the OT law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace (Rom 6:14).

Do you think your relationship with your Dad changes based on your actions? No! God the Father’s love for you is never based on what you do, but on what Christ did. He paid for all your sins. Your Dad’s love for you is unconditional and perfect and can never diminish in any way.

How does your Father respond to your sin?

God your Father loves you with a perfect love. The Bible describes perfect love as always being patient and kind, never being angry, and never stopping no matter what the person does (1 Cor 13:4-7). Therefore, there are two things that will never happen when a child of God sins. The Father will never reject them, and He will not be angry.

As explained the previous week, Christ’s sacrifice purchased complete and forever forgiveness for all of your sins. To forgive means to hold nothing against the person you have forgiven. God never holds anything against you. And because He loves you perfectly He will never reject you.

Before someone is a Christian their sin separates them from God. The Prophet Isaiah said to sinners in the Old Covenant: “Your sins have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore” (Isa 59:2; cf. 1:15; Hos 5:6). Some Christians believe this applies to them and that when they sin, it breaks God’s fellowship with them. They think God responds to your sins like people who pull away and reject you.

But we no longer live under the Old Covenant. In the New Covenant your Dad promises: “Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39). And “Nothing in all creation” includes whatever you do! It may feel like you are separated from God’s love when you sin. But this is because you believe lies about His love. You are never separated from God in any way because you sin. If you believe that, it is because you do not believe in His perfect love for you and complete forgiveness for you.

Secondly, your perfect Dad is never angry with His children. Again, real love does not get angry (1 Cor 13:5). All of the anger and wrath that God could have about your sin was poured out and exhausted on Christ on the cross. That’s what the Bible means when it says Christ was an “atoning sacrifice” (1 John 4:10; Rom 3:25; Isa 53:5). The Greek word here (hilastērion, “propitiation”) means to satisfy or take away the wrath of God. Unlike sinful humans, God perfectly loves you and is never angry at you.

So what does your Father feel when you sin? SADNESS. The Bible says we make the Father’s Spirit sad when we sin (Eph 4:30). He is not angry, nor will He reject you. But because God loves you, your sin makes Him sad. This is why the Bible says our goal is to make God happy (2 Cor 5:9). Because sin hurts your life, your sin hurts God. He is concerned about you. Which is why He also feels COMPASSION when you sin.

The Bible says The LORD is like a perfect father to his children and is tender and compassionate. This is because He knows how weak we are and He remembers we are only made of dust (Ps 103:8-10, 13-14).

Jesus illustrated the COMPASSION of your Dad when you sin in the parable of “The Prodigal Son.” The son wasted all his father’s money in wild living (Luke 15:13). The word “prodigal” means to be wasteful. But the son was more than wasteful. It would be more accurate to describe him as “The Sexually Immoral Son” because he spent his father’s money to have sex with prostitutes (v. 30).

Like most people would, the son’s brother was angry with him, condemned and rejected him (cf. vs. 29-30). Even the son himself believed he was no longer worthy of being called the father’s son (v. 19).

What did the father feel toward his wasteful, ungrateful, and sexually immoral son? He was filled with love and compassion for him (v. 20). What did the father do when he saw his son returning? He joyfull ran to his son, hugged him, and kissed him. The father did not run away from his son. He ran to his son with a smile on his face. He did not correct, lecture, rebuke, or shake his head in disgust at his son.

Instead of leaving his son in shame, the father instantly treated his son like royalty, putting the finest robe on him and a ring on his finger and sandals for his feet (v. 22). Instead of requiring his son to pay back the money he wasted on prostitutes, the father spent a bunch more money to have a huge celebration for him! (v. 23). And Jesus told that story with the purpose of explaining how God your Father feels about you, His son or daughter, when you sin.

How does God discipline you for your sin?

Many Christians fear that the hardships they are experiencing are God’s punishments for their sin. This fear comes from the warnings in the NT of God’s discipline. The Bible tells us to endure hardship as God’s discipline (Heb 12:7).

Unfortunately for many, the word “discipline” automatically means “punishment,” like a spanking. But that is not the meaning of the Greek word used here. Paideian throughout the NT means to teach by instruction, not punish with pain. For example, in 2 Timothy 3:16 Paul writes: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training [paideian] in righteousness” (NIV; cf. Eph 6:4; Heb 12:5, 7-8, 11). So “training” rather than “discipline” would be a better translation of paideian throughout Hebrews chapter 12.

As mentioned above, the threat and experience of curses and punishment for sin was a major part of the Old Covenant. But the NT teaches us that God now wants to motivate us with grace, instead of fear (cf. 1 John 4:16-18; Rom 8:15).

Rather than punishing you for your sin, your Dad is usually protecting you from the potential effects of your sin. Many times in your life, your sin should have hurt you and others much more than it did. This is because God was protecting you. It is also because your Dad knows that treating your sin with grace is usually more productive than punishment. God’s love and patience motivates you to love Him more than fearing Him.

Therefore, it is a mistake to quickly interpret a hardship as divine punishment. Think about Job’s experience. His friends wrongly interpreted Job’s hardships as God’s punishment, and they were wrong (cf. Job 5:17). Actually, God was very proud of Job. Likewise, you will usually be wrong to interpret your difficulties as God’s punishment for your sin.

When God does discipline us, He uses various ways. First, the painful conviction you experience after sinning is a powerful motivator to not sin. Secondly, your Dad may simply choose not to protect you from the usually painful consequences of your sin. Therefore, the burden of your conscience about your sin, and the naturally painful consequences of your sin, are usually very effective as God’s normal methods of discipline.

Like a good human father, more strict discipline is used by your Dad as a last option. This can occur when a Christian becomes addicted to a very destructive sin like illegal drug abuse or sexual immorality (cf. Rev 2:20-22). Very painful consequences may be the only thing that will help such a person stop their behavior. In such cases, a Christian will be thankful for God’s discipline because of how much they hate their sin and the destruction it is causing in their life, and for people they love. But even in the very rare times when your Dad painfully punishes His children, He does it with compassion and sadness, never anger.

How can you know when a painful event in your life is God’s punishment for your sin? Or the attack of Satan? Or just an ordinary difficulty of life? Honestly, you usually cannot distinguish between these things. Thankfully you do not have to, because your response to difficulties, no matter the source, is the same: TRUST AND OBEY GOD.

But imagine if you thought all of your difficulties in life were God’s punishment for your sin. Your hardships would be harder because you would feel like God has something against you. Unfortunately, many Christians live this way. But remember, God loves you perfectly.

Practical Application: God has treated your sins with compassion, forgiveness, and patience. How have you treated the people who have sinned against you? Determine to forgive those who have sinned against you and have compassion on them (see Matt 6:12).

In your small group meeting this week, share praises and prayer requests and then discuss these questions:

1) What are some ways that the New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant? How does the New Covenant affect how God responds to our sin?

2) Does God want His children to be afraid of Him? How do we answer that question? What do you think?

3) How do we describe God’s response to a Christian’s sin? What do you think?

4) How does God discipline His children for their sin?

5) What was especially meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?