Is God Selfish? Part 4: The Goodness of God

In my previous posts, I considered whether God could be rightly called selfish, and the answer was yes; God's focus in always on Himself, because He is the highest and greatest force in the universe. Because He is infinite and perfect in all His attributes, God has every right to feel superior to anything and everything else that exists, because nothing else can equal or surpass Him. In fact, God’s supremacy almost seems to conflict with His humility; if anything, God’s humility comes from a false sense of inferiority—or does it?

All this talk of God's power and limitlessness has so far been unbalanced. Let me take some time to balance it out. God is not only a God of infinite highness (Is. 55:8-9); He is also a humble God. That is, even though He is infinitely higher than His creation, God is willing to lower Himself to its level and work within it and even serve it. This is because of God's selflessness; as the most morally perfect and righteous and holy being in the universe, God is completely selfless--He is focused on the needs of others, rather than His needs. Now while this might seem to be at odds with the entire point of this series (God is selfish), bear with me for just a moment.

In addition to being a holy God (Lev. 11:44-45; 1 Sam. 2:2), a God of justice (Ps. 50:6; Is. 30:18) and wrath (Rom. 1:18, 9:22) and integrity, God is also a God of love (1 John 4:8, 16). The nature of God is that because of His love, He must love another. That need was fulfilled in eternity past through union and fellowship with the members of the Trinity. After creation, God intended for man to join Him in that perfect community with the Trinity (Gen. 3:8). Thus, because God is selfless, He is focused on us, and He wants to give us the best and greatest thing to give in the universe. However, because God is both infinitely higher than His creation and infinitely perfect, the best thing He could give us is actually Himself!

Therefore, in order to give us what we need most, God calls attention to Himself as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). There is no god other than God; He is the only one we've got. God can not only demand our love and respect and fear and obedience because He is the one most deserving of it; He can also ask for it because He knows that that is what we most need. We must taste and see the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8)! God is not only "selfish" because He is the highest and greatest being in the universe, but also because He is the most filling and fulfilling being in the universe, and He is that way because He is the Most High!

I hope that this series of posts has satisfactorily explored and explained the question, Is God Selfish?However, there is always something more to be learned, and I hope these posts have encouraged you to use this question as a starting point for more study in God's Word.

Is God Selfish? Part 3: The Supremacy of God, Part 2: Creation

In my previous post, I concluded that because of God's nature as an infinite being, He must be superior to anything finite, and equal to anything else infinite. However, God is the only infinite being--the Most High, as Scripture describes Him; thus, there is no one His equal or superior. Thus, we (as finite beings) can only come to God as an inferior being; since God is the highest, no one can try to approach Him on equal ground. Additionally, consider: God is the Creator of both the earth and the people and animals who populate it. So not only does God have the position of being the only infinite being, but He also has the authority that is His right as Landlord of earth. Thus, God is supremely important in creation, since there cannot be any creation equal to or higher than Him.

Because of this, one cannot judge God, His actions, or His motives. Why? To judge someone, you are placing yourself in a position above that person, giving you authority to affirm or condemn the motives of their actions and the actions themselves. However, if God is the Most High, you cannot be in a position above God, preventing anyone from attempting to judge Him; one cannot be greater than the Infinite Being.

It is ridiculous to believe an infinite being should have an inappropriately high or finite sense of importance; the very nature of “infinite” being it is not finite or limited. Thus, it is somewhat silly to assume an infinite being can have an opinion of himself that “crosses the limit”. So God cannot have a false sense of superiority; He has every right to feel superior to anything and everything else that exists, because nothing else can equal or surpass Him. Really, God’s supremacy almost seems to conflict with His humility; if anything, God’s humility comes from a false sense of inferiority—or does it?

Is God Selfish? Part 2: The Supremacy of God, Part 1: To Infinity...and Beyond?

In my previous post, I asked the question of whether God could rightly be called selfish,and my answer was yes. However, before you ask me anything, let me continue. In the Bible, God does hold His will and desires above those of all others. But that is not because He has a misguided sense of superiority—far from it. Rather, God's superiority is proper and appropriate for Him.

Consider: God is an infinite being, and is called the Most High in Scripture: see Genesis 14:22, Deuteronomy 32:8, and Psalm 18:13. If God is an infinite being (or rather, the Infinite Being), then by extension, He has an infinite mind, containing infinite knowledge and wisdom and possessing an infinite capacity. Thus, the infinite mind of God should produce thoughts of infinite importance and opinions of infinite value. Also, if God is the Most High, then there cannot be anyone as or more important than Him. All this combines to show us that God is infinitely higher than His limited and fallen creations, and is of infinitely greater value than them.

So if God’s value is infinite, and there is no one to equal or surpass Him, then for God to value Himself appropriately, He must consider Himself of the utmost importance, surpassing anything and everything else that exists. When one also considers that we are only finite beings, we must come to the conclusion that it would be sheer madness for God to consider something finite of equal or superior worth to Himself, because it is impossible for anything other than God to be equal to a greater than God. Thus, God must consider Himself supreme above all else. And if God is supreme above all else, then of course He has the authority to do as He wishes. However, we must also consider that God's ownership of creation entitles Him to authority over it.

Is God Selfish? Part 1: Selfish Savior?

The other day, I was at an in-home bible study after a day of VBS. The current lesson was on counting the cost of discipleship and the priority of following Jesus. At the end of the lesson, one of the students made a comment about how God must be selfish to demand so much from us. The student quickly realized what she had said, and corrected her statement to “jealous,” but her original comment started me thinking. Is God a selfish God? After all, He does claim to be above all other objects and beings, and to own all of creation. Doesn’t that make Him…well, greedy?

Not necessarily.

The dictionary definition of “greedy” is “a selfish or excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved, especially of money, wealth, food, or other possessions.” Extending from this, the dictionary definition of “selfish” is (1) “holding one’s self-interest as the standard for decision making”, and (2) “having regard for oneself above others’ well-being.” Now, as contradictory as it may sound, God (by being perfect) could be considered selfish—at least by the dictionary’s standards—but not greedy (again, according to the dictionary).

At heart, most (if not all) of us are selfish. This is primarily because our sinful nature's misguided sense of superiority. I act like I am better or greater than others because I place myself above them in my sight. I make my self-interest my standard for thinking and judging because I, at heart, am a sinful—and thus prideful—being. I regard myself above others because my sense of priority is corrupted; I place greater priority on myself than anyone else, and I am sure that I am not alone in this matter. But what about God's sense of superiority?

Defending Hell, Part 5: The Consequences of Denying Hell, Part 2: Also regarding sin

By removing the severity of sin, there is less of a need for God to forgive us of our constant sinning. If sin is not that big of a deal to God, then His punishment for it will also not be that important. That is the undermining of the forgiveness of sin. As an extension of this, if we are all going to end up in heaven because God will forgive us at no cost to Himself, then why should we even waste our time trying to reach others with the redemptive news of Christ? After all, we all end up in the same place (eternity in heaven with God). Thus, undermining the importance of the forgiveness of sin also leads to undermining the need for missions.

So, by rejecting hell, we are chipping away at the foundation for missionary work and spreading the Gospel. If we are going to go to heaven anyway, when why should we even bother repenting? Ultimately, if we deny the existence of hell, then we are giving a free license for sinning, as God will not truly punish us for what we have willfully done. Thus, undermining the forgiveness of sin also leads to undermining the restraint of sin and removes the need to repent from sin.

Additionally, this would also hold true for fallen angels. If hell does not exist, then demons will not get punished for their sins either. If hell does not really exist, then are demons to be reinstated as angels at the end of days? Is God going to pardon the unclean spirits for their evil and welcome them back into heaven? And what about Satan? Will he finally return to God as a prodigal son and rise once more as Lucifer? Well, if God is a God of love and forgiveness and nothing else, then that might be true. However, God is more than just love. He is also a God of anger.

This may come as a surprise to some, who might try to work around this free license for sinning and God's anger.

Defending Hell, Part 4: The Consequences of Denying Hell, Part 1: Regarding sin

"It's been clearly communicated to many that this belief (in hell as conscious, eternal torment) is a central truth of the Christian faith and to reject it is, in essence, to reject Jesus. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness and joy that our world desperately needs to hear." --Rob Bell

I don’t think that Rob Bell has thought through the logical implications of denying the existence of hell. To begin with, denying hell’s reality undermines other biblical doctrines; one of which is the severity of sin. By denying hell, one implies that sin is not so great as to completely alienate us from God; it is merely an obstacle that He will eventually remove from us. So if sin is not nearly as bad as it seems (that is, utterly offensive to God), then its respective punishment is not nearly as bad (that is, final and eternal). Thus, as an extension, the undermining of the severity of sin leads to the undermining of the consequences of sin. After all, if there is no such thing as hell, then there is no final and eternal punishment for sin; we have only the punishments God gives us in this life. God will not punish us in the next life, since He is "a loving God". Thus, undermining the consequences of sin also undermines the punishment of sin. But that is not all.

Logically, without hell, sin does not deserve eternal punishment. In fact, if hell is not real, then I (a Christian) and everyone else (Christian and not-Christian) can sin as much as we like without repentance in this life. We can lust and anger and hate and murder and torture and reject God in this life because we will eventually end up in heaven in the next one. (I am not sure if we even have to repent to get into heaven after we die.) Thus, the undermining of the severity of sin eventually leads to undermining the importance of the forgiveness of sin. But that is not all either.

Defending Hell, Part 3: Understanding Hell

Francis Chan speaks about Hell

In his video, Francis Chan also considers how we sometimes dismiss the reality of hell. Supposed Christians and blatant unbelievers might say, “Oh, well I don’t understand how God could do such a thing like condemning people to hell for eternity.” However, that is precisely the point: we do not understand God. And it is because of that incomplete understanding of God that leads us to misconstrue His actions, intents and purposes. God is not like man. Man naturally tries to cover his sins, and sweep the sins of others under the rug. God does not. Unfortunately, some men don’t seem to realize this.

Case in point: Rob Bell, in his recent book Love Wins, says: "It's been clearly communicated to many that this belief (in hell as conscious, eternal torment) is a central truth of the Christian faith and to reject it is, in essence, to reject Jesus. This is misguided and toxic and ultimately subverts the contagious spread of Jesus' message of love, peace, forgiveness and joy that our world desperately needs to hear." Essentially, Bell is claiming that it is possible to reject the doctrine of hell as conscious, eternal torment and still accept Jesus’ teachings. This is where Bell is fundamentally and heretically wrong. Jesus Himself talked about hell, and described it as a place of conscious and eternal torment (Mark 9:43, 48; Luke 16:19-31).

Defending Hell, Part 2: The Biblical Evidence for Hell

Francis Chan speaks about Hell

While the Bible speaks of hell by name only 14 times (per NIV, 1984), it also uses other terms for it, like outside, and darkness. In fact, Jesus used the term darkness to refer to hell specifically at least three times (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25: 30). Elsewhere, darkness is described as part of what hell is like (2 Pe. 2:17; Jude 6, 13).

However, that is not all; in fact, hell is described in far more graphic terms than simple darkness, or even “blackest darkness … reserved forever.” In Jude, fallen angels are described as being bound in “everlasting chains” in hell. Additionally, in all three of the accounts in Matthew (8:12, 22:13, 25:30), Jesus describes hell as “outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” All of these accounts portray hell as a location outside of God’s kingdom, where there will be those unfortunate enough to spend eternity in it.

In the Gospels, Jesus is very descriptive of hell, describing it as containing fire (Matt. 5:22; 18:9), a place where one’s entire body can be physically thrown (Matt. 5:29, 30; 18:9; Mark 9:45, 47; Luke 12:5), a place of condemnation (aka punishment, Matt. 23:33), a place where God can “destroy both soul and body,” (Matt. 10: 28, Luke 12:5 explains this), a place where there is "weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 8:12), a place where “the fire never goes out,” (Mark 9:43), a place of continual torment (Luke 16:23), and a place where “gloomy dungeons” are located. In Mark, Jesus quoted from Is. 66:24 three times in quick succession to illustrate the horrors of hell, where “‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’” However, all of this imagery is meaningless if one does not consider it to be real.

Defending Hell, Part 1: The Question of Hell

Francis Chan speaks about Hell

Earlier today I got an e-mail from the pastor that I work under, pointing me to this video. Initially I thought, "Alright, this is probably important--I'll get around to watching it sometime today." However, when I actually began to watch it, this fact began to sink in: people are trying to convince other people that hell is not a real place. What does the Bible really say about this, though, and what happens if the people who teach against the reality of hell are wrong?

As I watched this video, something occurred to me: this video addresses the topic of hell, but not as a straightforward approach, such as "Hell is real, and the Bible teaches it--even Jesus taught about it!" Hardly; instead, this video is an apologetic defending the validity of the topic of hell.

Francis Chan spends some of his time emphasizing the importance of hell; as one of his points, hell is not a doctrine. It is a place--a place to which some people are condemned. To address hell as an abstract concept is about as wise as talking about heaven in such a manner. Would you want your family to be comforted by the fact that your dead relative is happily living in an abstract paradise for eternity?...No. I know I wouldn't. For that same reason, none of us should be satisfied with speaking of hell as an abstract reality, almost as if it didn't really exist. Hell is real, and the Bible speaks frequently about it in the New Testament.