Is God Bipolar?

Is God Bipolar or perhaps conflicted? The paradoxical realities of His Word can make it tough on those who try to accurately relay that truth to others. I drive a bit and also suffer from "Channel Surfing Syndrome" so in the process I hear a number of other preachers. They travel the airways and crawl through my satellite dish to my aging TV. I either enjoy them or yell at the radio or television hoping they will correct what they said. I am a fallible student of the Word, and I am sure if my messages took to the airwaves, other believers would yell at their radios as well. However, there are some things that seem a bit glaring to me. Many who teach the Word of God struggle with the tension of things that seem to be paradoxical. Verses that seem at odds with each other. As I have written in a previous post we really want The right answer. In our culture we need to be "right", so those who teach often struggle with God's contradictions.

Perhaps the issue is how compartmentalized we are as a culture. In God's Word two opposing things may be true, such as election and free will, or God being immutable and yet saying He changed His mind or the "biggy" of the apparent conflict between the Law and Grace, or faith and works. These are all separate entities for most of our American and Westernized brains. Paul writes to the Romans that, "to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for Righteousness" (Rom 4:5). Likewise to the Ephesians "By grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God. Not  of works, lest anyone shall boast: (Eph 2:8-9). But Paul also tells the Romans, "Do we then make void the Law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the Law" (Rom 3:31). And James explains that, " Faith, by itself, if it does not have works is dead" (James 2:17). So which is it? Works or grace and faith? So is it Law or grace? Works or faith? Maybe it is Paul who was confused, or a conflicted James hanging onto some old Jewish stuff. But if they were inspired by the Spirit of God in what they wrote, then that brings us back to God being bipolar or just confused, or maybe we are not bright enough to understand. 
None of these possibilities are satisfying. However, if you listen to evangelical preachers on the subject, they really struggle. Recently I heard one radio preacher who was insistent on the truth that we are saved by faith without works, going as far as to say that those who speak of obedience to Christ are really preaching a salvation by works message. "If anyone tells you that you have to do anything to be a "Christian" other than asking Jesus to be your savior they are destroying the message of Christ and nullifying God's grace. You cannot speak of works and grace in the same breath." (Unless you are James or Paul who speak of both.) I should point out that before the message was done the radio preacher explained that faith and grace were not a license to sin, people born again by faith will avoid sin. But, isn't that obedience, and without the Law how do we know what sin is? He explained that we are not like the Jews, bound to the law but free from the Law so we can be led by the Spirit. But I thought the Spirit inspired the writing of the Law? Paul told Timothy that the Scriptures (OT Law and Prophets) were inspired of God and all I need to know so I can do God's work. Even without the New Testament writings.

If you are familiar with Scriptures you find both clearly presented. Abraham was saved by faith, but that is known because of his works and obedience. Just for fun you can listen to evangelical preachers on this subject and hear them wax eloquently on the truth that we are saved by grace through faith. The Law is dead and gone. The old wine skins are replaced with new ones and putting the two together destroys both. Then there is a pause and an explanation that this does not allow us to continue in sin, for true believers avoid sin. They obey the teachings of Christ. Ummmmm obey? Works?  One common explanation is that we are not saved by works but faith that works. Faith that brings obedience. So without works, faith is meaningless..... Hello James. So works are essential for salvation, for without them there is no faith. But wait, that can't be, for we are saved by faith alone. Ahhhhhh, well now you may see the problem. What is a preacher to do with such conflicting truth. Well, to be honest, most sound a bit conflicted or theologically bipolar. 

Maybe, just maybe, God, Paul, Peter, and Jesus (you know, the one who said "If you love me keep my commandments", recorded in John 14:15) saw these concepts as integrated. Faith and works are not in opposition but in union. Works demonstrate what we believe. Faith is faithfulness not just some ambivalent concept. It is a verb not just a thought or idea. True faith cannot be separated from works and works are a demonstration of faith. We cannot earn salvation by being "good enough" but salvation is not real if we have no desire to please God. So relax and know the truth, that the Spirit of God desires to change your life. As a person of faith, works will be your natural or perhaps supernatural way to live. You will be like Adam, or Noah, or Abraham or Rahab or Ruth or David or Peter or Paul or even James. They believed and obeyed. Not perfectly by any means, but they did exercise faith and works. They all demonstrated a reality of a relationship with God integrated into the fabric of their lives. 

American and Western thought processes drive us toward compartmentalized truth which God integrates. We struggle where no struggle is needed. It is not  that both faith and works are true. It is that there is no "both". They are to be an integrated reality in the lives of those who follow God, of those who are disciples of Yeshua as Messiah. How integrated is your life?