“Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” – Romans 11:22
It’s very common today to reduce God to just a single of His many attributes. For example, we may say, “God is love.” That’s certainly true, but it’s also radically incomplete. Having reduced God to that one attribute, we can proceed to rationalize away every standard and moral expectation He has for us, as many have. This whole process is dishonest, because God is more than just one of His attributes! He’s also righteous. He’s both merciful and holy. He’s both gracious and just. He’s both all-knowing and forgiving. And the list goes on…
God is all of His attributes. Even when they seem incompatible to our limited human understanding, they come together perfectly in Him. The apparent tensions between the various attributes of God are resolved at the cross of Jesus Christ. At the cross, God’s infinite love is reconciled to His perfect justice, His utter holiness is reconciled to His limitless mercy, and His kindness is reconciled to His severity. This is the testimony of Scripture.
When we reduce God to a single attribute, we no longer live as people made in His image, but instead remake God in our image. When that happens, what we call God isn’t God. Instead, what we call God is an imaginary idol Who cannot help or save. We must understand and embrace God as He is in all His perfection. Thus, as Paul writes, God is both kind and severe. He is severe to all who have sinned and fallen short of His glory (that’s everyone). He is severe toward all who reject His authority over their lives. He is severe toward those who have rejected His grace and His path of reconciliation in Jesus Christ.
However, God is also and always kind. He desires all to come to Him through faith in His beloved Son. When we do, He forgives everything and welcomes us into His eternal family. When we yield our life to Christ, the severity of God that we rightly deserve because of our rebellion is instantly and permanently transformed into kindness toward us as His beloved sons and daughters.
We must come to know God as He is, in all of His severity and His kindness. As we read, study, and pray to the true God, not the God of our imagination, our love, awe, honor, respect, and worship will rightly increase. May you continue to fall more deeply in love with the One True God!