Why should we fear God when He called us His friend and children?
Imagine the president or the king of your country showing up at your doorsteps and
calling you his friend. Will you then slap him on his back, put your arm
around his neck and start to play around? Or will you
pay even greater respect to the head of your country for graciously
calling you his friend? When the Creator of the universe calls us his
friends - "You are My friends if
you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a
servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you
friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to
you." (John 15:14-15) - and His children -
"He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of
God, to those who believe in His name" (John 1:11-12) - we should humble ourselves
even more and heed His command to "do whatever" He commands and to
"believe
in His name." So while God is someone for us to love, respect, honor,
rely
on, glorify and confide in, He is also someone for us to fear, which the
Bible says is the beginning of wisdom: "The fear of the
LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding" (Proverbs 9:10).
How much more does God favor an affluent Christian in a
'developed' nation compared to a poor one in a 'developing' nation?
"God shows no partiality" (Acts 10:34) and
accepts Christians from "every nation" (Acts
10:35). An affluent person who considers himself to be Christian in fact has more cause for
concern than
a poor person with the same belief: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of
a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Mark 10:25).
Is Peter saying that to be "accepted by" God, a gentile
must be one who "works righteousness" (Acts 10:35)?
Not only a gentile but everyone must work righteousness, but "righteousness"
as defined by the Bible, which is obeying God (see
Righteousness meaning), and believing in Him: And
the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God (James 2:23).
What is exceptional about the statement quoted in Acts 10:34-35?
It was made about the gentiles by someone who until just hours earlier had
considered them to be unclean. The Holy Spirit had done a quick work on
Peter's racism and nationalism.
Do you have any that needs His work?