Navigating Misconceptions About God

There’s a lot of misinformation out there about God. Some of it comes from not understanding the Bible correctly. The key is to study and rightly interpret the Word of God.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

There is a right and wrong way to interpret the Word. Sad to say, a lot of religious teaching today presents a distorted image of God, often misrepresenting His true nature.

Understanding God’s Wrath and Love

The wrath that God released in the Old Testament is often misinterpreted as His defining nature and character today. However, no scripture explicitly states, “God is wrath.” Instead, 1 John 4:8 declares, “God is love.” Despite the instances of God’s wrath in the Old Testament, His true nature is revealed through love.

To understand this properly, we need to rightly divide the Word of truth, as stated in John 8:32: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” We can’t just believe whatever we want about God without seeking the truth. That’s actually a form of idolatry—creating a God based on our own thoughts or ideas. We need to understand and accept the truth about God exactly as He has revealed Himself to us through His Word. And when we do that, we can recognize His deep love and kindness.

Jesus: The Perfect Representation of God

The Old Testament gives us a glimpse into parts of God, but Jesus reveals the whole picture to us. Hebrews 1:3 describes Jesus as “the express image of his person,” meaning Jesus is the perfect representation of God. When we look at Jesus, we see what God is really like. Jesus said in John 14:9, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” This means that by knowing Jesus, we can know God.

Some people say that God inflicts sickness on people to punish sin and teach them a lesson. But consider this: Did Jesus ever put sickness on anyone? Did He ever deny someone healing? No, Jesus always healed those who came to Him. There is not a single instance where Jesus refused to heal a person.

Mark 6:5 recounts instances where people wouldn’t receive the healing He offered, but it was due to their unbelief, not Jesus’ unwillingness or inability. Jesus never made a single person sick or sent anybody away unhealed.

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Acts 10:38

Jesus went about doing good and setting people free from demonic oppression because it’s not God’s will for a single person to be suffering physically, mentally, or emotionally. God’s will is for all to thrive and to repent and receive the free gift of salvation (2 Pet. 3:9).

God’s Nature Revealed: Jesus Came to Give You Life

Right now, through these words, God is revealing Himself to you. He wants a close relationship with you, and He wants you to know the truth and experience life more abundantly (John 10:10).

You need to believe what the Word of God says and understand that your suffering and problems are not from God. They could stem from the devil, personal ignorance, or rebellion, but never from God. He is not withholding healing or an abundant life from you. Jesus’ mission was to bring you life, and that life starts the moment you are born again, not just after death. John 3:16 emphasizes that it was God’s love that led Him to give His only begotten Son so that believers might have everlasting life.

Experiencing Heaven on Earth

Jesus taught us to pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt. 6:10). This means we don’t have to wait for the afterlife to experience heaven’s abundance and peace. It’s not just pie in the sky by and by. It’s steak on the plate while you wait! Amen.

Reconciled to God Through Jesus: Finding Forgiveness

Second Corinthians 5:19 reveals that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.” This means that in Christ, we are reconciled unto God. How did He reconcile us? By not imputing our trespasses unto us.

This is another profound truth about God that’s often misunderstood. Many believe God holds their sins against them or is dealing with them according to their sins to some degree. Some even believe that if there’s any sin in their life, they’ve got to confess it or God won’t answer their prayers and they’ll go to hell. Others believe they might not go to hell or be hated by God, but He won’t answer their prayers, bless them, or use them. But that’s not what the Bible says!

According to 2 Corinthians 5:19, God does not impute trespasses to a believer. Jesus bore all your sins on the cross and paid the penalty you deserved so you could be forgiven. All your sins have been atoned for— past, present, and even future sins you haven’t even committed yet. You might question how God can forgive future sins. Remember, Jesus died once for all sin two thousand years ago. If He couldn’t have forgiven future sins, we couldn’t have been forgiven at all.

Free from Sin, Not Free to Sin

Being forgiven doesn’t mean you have a license to sin. Living in sin is just stupid and allows Satan to eat your lunch and pop the bag. It gives the enemy an inroad to cause a lot of damage in your life. So quit living in sin. Remember, if you do sin, God still loves you. But as a believer, there is a much better way to live.

When you become born again, you become a brand-new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) with a new heart and new desires. Your born-again self is transformed into a new being that never existed before. And because Jesus bore all your sin, God does not give you what you deserve; He gives you what Jesus deserves. Man, that’s awesome. Let that truth sink in.

Reconciling the Old with the New

It’s really important to understand God’s unchanging nature (Mal. 3:6 and Heb. 13:8) because it’ll help you reconcile the Old Testament with the New. How do you do that? First, you have to realize that God didn’t give the Law for you to keep it. This is one of the big mistakes that people make. They think the Law was given for them to keep. But the Law was never meant to be a checklist for righteousness. It was given to show man God’s holy standard and reveal their need for a Savior.

Only One Way to Get 100 Percent on This Test

James 2:10 says that if you keep the whole Law and yet offend in one point, you become guilty of everything. That’s like answering 99 out of 100 questions correctly and still getting a zero on the test. If you miss one thing or break any precept of the Law, you become guilty of it all. So, again, God didn’t give the Law for you to keep it and thereby earn your relationship with Him. He gave the Law to reveal sin to us (Rom. 3:20). God’s standard is absolute perfection, which is why we desperately need to receive the gift of grace and forgiveness by believing in Jesus and His finished work on the cross.

Meditate on These Truths

Knowing God’s true nature and your identity in Christ is the only foundation for a victorious life. There’s nothing you can do to make God love you more, and nothing you can do to make Him love you less. God’s love for you is revealed through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Your sins have been erased by His finished work:

Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.

Colossians 2:14

All the truth you need to know is in God’s Word. I encourage you to read it daily so you can experience the freedom Jesus came to bring you. I hope you’ll meditate on these truths and let them guide you into a deeper relationship with God.