The gulf between God's faultless perfection and mankind's depraved condition is infinitely wide. The concept of 'holiness' is impossible for our finite mind to fully grasp, yet Scripture warns that He is uncompromising in it ... The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. (Deuteronomy 4:24)
Spurgeon - While the Lord is merciful, infinitely so, and His name is Love, yet still our God is a consuming fire, and sin shall not live in His sight.
How you interpret this definition of the Father depends on your relationship with His Son.
Fire either purifies or destroys that which is unholy:
- For the believer ... it burns the truth of the Gospel into his soul, and the gift of salvation is received by faith.
- For the unbeliever ... it is unleashed on the day of judgment, the penalty for rejecting Jesus' redemptive act.
God’s wrath is real, but so is His grace. You need not fear the 'fire to come' if your 'old man' is already dead ... I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Galatians 2:20)
Thanksgiving should flow unabated from the heart of those who know Him as Savior ... Therefore, let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29)
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