As I was walking and praying the other day the Holy Spirit laid this thought upon my heart. “Unless we understand the culpability of man we are not qualified to speak to the grace of God.There is an intimate connection between guilt and grace. It is when we realize the depths of our sin and rebellion against a holy God that the power of unmerited favor is truly realized.”

I went on to write about this as I felt led by the Spirit. Oftentimes I read a few books at a time. Picking up one, laying down the other and sometimes just laying them down altogether fro months and just read the Word. A good brother of mine had given me a small book by Art Katz entitled ” The holocaust:Where was God.” A heavy title for sure and a heavy subject. Today I picked up the book and read a couple of pages. Here is what jumped out at me.

“To have a view of God that exempts the judgement of God as being a central facet of God’s character and way, is to have a warped view of God. To know Him as He in fact is, in both His severity and His goodness, is to know Him in truth. And to know Him as “that,” God is to be saved by Him out of extremity and calamity of our fallen nature. To know God as Judge is therefore one of the eminent prerequisites for the true knowledge of Him. God is indivisible, and we cannot parcel Him out and enjoy certain of His attributes to the exclusion of others. The consequence of an inadequate faith and an inadequate knowledge of God is tragic beyond all describing. What are His mercies but for His judgements? And what are His judgements rightly understood but for His mercies? To see God in His acts as both the God of judgment and the God of restoration is to begin to catch a glimpse of God and His fullness.” ( Art Katz)

Brother Artz said so much in this paragraph.It is worth reading it a few times over and ponder the truth of what he is sharing. To truly know God is to know the fullness of God. We live in a generation whose favorite saying is “don’t judge me.” Now they may say it to Christians but for sure this extends to God. They are simply not interested in God or His word or His people who would draw any kind of lines in the sand when it comes to sin. This sentiment is rising into a rage because we live in the days of the great falling away. The Lord Jesus is coming back soon and the rebellion is intensifying.

This generation will bend their knee to God or they will have their knees bent for them. They may reject a God who judges but that in no way changes the goodness or the severity of God. He is a holy and righteous God, a God of both justice and of mercy. It is a dangerous thing to trifle with God for He is high and lifted up and His glory fills the temple.