Wednesday, December 18, 2013

How God Is Not Santa Claus

God is not Santa Claus. Santa rewards us based on our performance, whether we are bad or good. But Santa is a soft touch; very seldom does he ever really refuse to bring a child presents. We can see God the same way. We can feel that as long as we do not do something really bad, He will reward us with a good life. And if things do not go the way we want them to in life, we blame God or stop believing in Him altogether. But the Biblical idea of God is that He is absolutely holy (Isaiah 6:3; 1 Peter 1:14-17; Romans 1:18). And He is also absolutely loving (1 John 4:7-12; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8). Therefore, He forgives those who put their faith in Christ (Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 2:13-15; 1 Peter 2:24,25), even though we fall far short of His standard (Romans 3:23; Isaiah 64:6; Jeremiah 17:9). Because of this, we can understand even bad things in view of this God and His working in our life (2 Corinthians 4:17,18; Romans 8:18; James 1:2-4). And while this does not lead to easy answers, it helps avoid the problems that too-easy answers produce.

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14 comments:

  1. kc bobDecember 18, 2013 at 1:19 PM

    Do you think that God rewards us? If so, on what basis does He do it?

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    1. Mike Erich the Mad TheologianDecember 18, 2013 at 8:49 PM

      I believe that God rewards the good things done by His people because He already loves them and forgives them and therefore rewards based on His grace, our faltering and imperfect efforts to do what is right,

      I have likened it to a mother's being pleased with a child's crayon drawing that does not have any great artistic merit, but is accepted because the mother loves the child and the picture shows the child loves the mother back.

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    2. kc bobDecember 19, 2013 at 3:33 PM

      A bit confused Mike. Are you saying that God (like Santa) "rewards us based on our performance"?

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    3. Mike Erich the Mad TheologianDecember 19, 2013 at 6:16 PM

      Salvation, the important issue, is a free gift of God. Any rewards beyond that are from grace based on that free gift. We cannot come to God based on our performance and our performance does not merit anything apart from His love for us. By based on our performance I meant that our fundamental standing before God is not based on what we do. I was not claiming God gives no consideration to what we do, but that consideration is not the basis of the relationship.

      A parent may care if their child gets good grades. They may even reward them in some way for getting good grades. But if the child starts feeling like the parent only loves them if they get good grades, or that this is the basis of the relationship, then there is a real problem.

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    4. kc bobDecember 20, 2013 at 7:01 AM

      Good points Mike. Connecting rewards with love is bad. What do you think of connecting rewards with faith?

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    5. Mike Erich the Mad TheologianDecember 20, 2013 at 7:48 PM

      I am not quite sure where you are coming from here. I see faith as the empty hand that takes the gifts of God. It is the basis of all genuinely good works. Scripture does say that we should have faith God is the rewarder of those who seek Him. I would take this that we should have faith that God is gracious and will reward us based on His grace if we seek Him. (See above) But I am not sure if I have answered your question.

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    6. kc bobDecember 21, 2013 at 5:29 AM

      Is there a reward for those who exercise faith?

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    7. Mike Erich the Mad TheologianDecember 21, 2013 at 12:46 PM

      As I said I believe faith is the empty hand that takes hold of the gifts of God, It is the requirement for God's blessings but it cannot merit God's blessings. God says He will give us these things if we will simply trust Him for them. But this is merely the response to God's promises it cannot claim to earn the things promised.

      It is like a son whose father buys a plane ticket and sends it to him. He has to trust the father and use the ticket to get on the plane. But he did not purchase the ticket.

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    8. kc bobDecember 21, 2013 at 1:49 PM

      "God says He will give us these things if we will simply trust Him for them."

      The "if" in your statement seems to indicate that there is a reward for trusting God.

      Semantics aside, I am not sure how Hebrews 11:6 can be read to not see faith (i.e. seeking) not rewarded in some way.

      Colossians 3:23-24 also seems to indicate a reward is given as a result of faithful labor.

      And what does it mean to lay up treasure in Heaven if it does not mean some sort of reward?

      I am not saying that we are faithful to get a reward. All I am saying is that rewards seem to be a part of the way that the kingdom operates.

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  2. Mike Erich the Mad TheologianDecember 22, 2013 at 7:37 PM

    I have not denied or attempted to deny the existence of rewards. But I have claimed that those were based on God's grace and go beyond the actual merit of what we do.

    God offers eternal life, forgiveness of sin and eternity in heaven with Him as a free gift for those who put there faith in Him. But He offers above and beyond that to reward them for the good things they do. But I do see salvation as the primary thing and the rewards as more the icing on the cake. And while I am not dogmatic about it, I do like the picture of our taking our rewards and casting them at Jesus' feet, giving Him the ultimate credit.

    I am not against using rewards as a motivation. But I would see it more in terms of a son desiring the well done of a father who loves him, than a simple greed for some benefit for ourselves.

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  3. kc bobDecember 23, 2013 at 6:32 AM

    "to reward them for the good things they do"

    It is hard to get away from the idea that faith and rewards are linked together. When one acts in faith they do good things and can be rewarded in some way.

    That said, I do not see rewards as a motivator as the motive would seem to be to serve to get a reward. My thinking is that we should simply live by faith and let God take care of the rewards - even the reward of hearing him say well done.

    Enjoying the dialogue Mike. ツ

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    1. Mike Erich the Mad TheologianDecember 23, 2013 at 7:13 PM

      I am not sure where we are disagreeing or even if we are disagreeing.

      I would say that faith lays hold of God's gifts, salvation, eternal life, and being declared righteousness in God's sight.

      I believe that faith results in obedience to God which leads to rewards.

      I would say that the gifts and the primary things and the rewards are the added extras,

      But I am not clear at what part you disagree, if you disagree.

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    2. kc bobDecember 24, 2013 at 7:46 AM

      If you agree with my last comment then I would say that we are in agreement. ツ

      I do think that we are saying similar things but I sense a hesitancy for you to link faith and rewards even though you seem to think that faith eventually leads to rewards.

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    3. Mike Erich the Mad TheologianDecember 24, 2013 at 6:55 PM

      We may be in agreement. At least if we are not, I am not sure where our disagreement is. So I suppose it is best just to leave it at that. : )

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