Level: 1, Lesson: 5
THE NATURE OF GOD
OUTLINE

Romans 5:13, "For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law."

1. To have a positive relationship with God, we must know His nature.
2. There are two opinions of God.
   1. God holds man’s sins against him.
   2. God loves us just the way we are.
3. Before the law, sin was not imputed.
   1. Sin didn’t break God’s fellowship with man.
   2. Adam and Eve were sent from the garden because of mercy not anger! Genesis 3:22.
4. The purpose of the law was to show us sin and to show us our need for the Savior.
   Most religions teach that we need to keep the law to earn God’s love.
5. God’s love hasn’t changed. He offers forgiveness as a free gift.

Level I, Lesson 5
THE NATURE OF GOD

LESSON TEXT

1. To have a positive relationship with the Lord, we must know what the nature and real character of God are. Is God angry at us because of our sins, or is God merciful, wanting to give us His life and His blessing, independent of our performance?
   

   The scriptures give us two different opinions of God. Now God has never changed; He has not done anything differently, but there was a time where God held man’s sins against them (this is the terminology the Bible uses). I can liken this to raising children. When they are very young, you cannot sit down and reason with them, telling them all the reasons why they should act properly - why they shouldn’t be selfish and take toys away from their brothers and sisters. With children, sometimes you just have to tell them what the rules are, and if they break them when they are young, you just have to spank them. You have to enforce the rules. Even though they may not know that there is a God or a devil, or that they are giving place to the devil and are operating in selfishness, they can understand that if they break the rules, they will be punished.

   In a sense, that is what the Lord did with the people in the Old Testament. Before people were born again, they didn’t have the spiritual perception that they do under the new covenant. The Lord had to give laws and enforce them with punishments, even unto death, to deter people from sinning. Satan was destroying man’s life through sin. There had to be a restraint placed upon sin and it had to be enforced, but this left a false impression that God really didn’t love them because of their sins. Yet, that is not what the Word of God teaches.

2. Most people have the idea that when Adam and Eve sinned against God, that because God was holy, and man was now sinful, God could have nothing to do with sinful mankind. So He drove man out of the garden to get him out of His presence because holy God cannot deal with unholy man. Some people believe that until man cleans up his act through acting right, God cannot have any relationship with him. Yet, this is contrary to the message that Jesus brought.

   The scripture says that God commended His love towards us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). The scriptures teach us in the New Testament, that God extended His love toward us while we were still living in sin; not after we had cleaned up our acts. One of the great truths of the Gospel that will change your life, is to understand that God loves you just like you are. He loves you so much that if you will receive His love, you won’t stay as you are. You will change, but that change is a byproduct of God’s love, not a way to get God’s love.

3. In Genesis 3:22-23 it says, (after Adam and Eve sinned against the Lord) "And the Lord God said, Behold the man has become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also the tree of life, and eat, and live forever: 23Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." The reason God sent man out of the garden wasn’t to get man away from His presence, but so he wouldn’t take of the tree of life, eat and live forever. I believe that was an act of mercy because God didn’t want man to live forever in a body that was subject to depression, sickness, disease, and deformities, yet not able to die. A person who knows the Lord has the promise of receiving a glorified body, a new heaven, and a new earth where things are going to be new. The suffering that we now see in the world today is not going to last forever.

4. The sad point is that religion has manipulated and controlled things to where it is taught that the law was given for us to keep and thereby earn God’s forgiveness and acceptance, but that is not true. The law was given to magnify your sin to such a degree that you would despair of ever saving yourself, and that you would say, "God, if this is what your standard of holiness is, I can’t do it. Forgive me. Have mercy on me." That’s the purpose of the Old Testament law.

5. The overall nature of God has always been love. There was a time when He wanted to deal with people in mercy. He started holding their sins against them to show them their need for a Savior. When Jesus came, He fulfilled the law and showed us that we can be reconciled unto God without keeping the law, by throwing ourselves on the mercy of God. That’s the Good News for you today, and I pray that you will understand that God loves you. That’s the nature of God and it will cause you to enter into an intimate personal relationship with the Lord.

1. Have you ever thought that God is angry and is just waiting to get you if you mess up?
2. 1. According to Romans 5:6 God’s love was directed toward us when we were what? without strength (helpless).
   2. According to Romans 5:6 God’s love was directed toward us when we were what? ungodly.
   3. According to Romans 5:8 God loved us while we were? sinners.
   4. According to Romans 5:10 God loved us while we were? enemies. God’s love is without cause. It is not caused by anything good in us.
3. 1. According to Philippians 3:21, what is our body now called?
   2. What is it called in I Corinthians 15:53?
   3. What is it called in I Corinthians 15:44?
4. What does Galatians 2:16 say about trying to be saved by the law.
5. 1. According to Galatians 3:24, what was the real purpose of the law?
   2. How does God offer to us His righteousness today? (Romans 3:21-22 - Apart from the law and through faith in Jesus Christ).

Level I, Lesson 5
THE NATURE OF GOD
By Andrew Wommack

You are probably asking, "Well , if Jesus is the true nature of God, just exactly what was God doing in the Old Testament?" The Word of God tells us clearly what God was doing.

"For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law." Romans 5:13

When we use the term "Law," we can be referring to all of the Old Testament, but the Law used in context of this scripture is more specific. When we say law here, we are referring to the Mosaic Law, which includes the Ten Commandments, judgments, punishments, and all of the ordinances and ceremonial observances.

Romans 5:13 shows us that before the Law, or before the Law of Moses was introduced, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no Law. The word "impute" means to take what you have done and apply it to your account, or to hold transgressions against you. In other words, sin was not being held against people until God gave the Law to Moses.

Any person who really understands the goodness of God runs straight to Him when they mess up. Yet many of us, when we get into problems, and especially if we aren’t living a godly life, run from God.

What’s the first thing that happens when we sin and our conscience convicts us that we’ve done wrong? The first thing that happens to most believers when they sin is that they start feeling guilty and condemned and they begin avoiding God. They know they have broken God’s Law.

Usually when a believer knows they have broken the Law, they don’t want to be confronted by God. They are afraid He is going to reject them or bring some terrible punishment on them if they go near Him. So they forget their Bible study and skip their prayer time. They avoid church and the people of God because they are afraid they will be exposed.

Do you relate to what I’m sharing? Maybe you know somebody who got into sin and eventually stopped going to church, or maybe I am describing you. When you sin, you may not even think it through enough to verbalize what’s actually happening, but in your heart you’re fearful of coming before God. You’re a person, and you feel that He will find no value in your life.

Then there’s the punishment part. Most of us who are born again don’t believe God is going to send us to hell for a few sins, but we believe He will not continue to fellowship with us, protect us, or provide for us. We think there has to be some groveling in the dirt and major humiliation to get God to go easy on us. This attitude drives us from God. Where does this attitude come from?

The Law Brings Condemnation and Gives Strength to Sin

We have discussed how the Old Testament is not an exact representation of God, but it goes much deeper than that. The old covenant was an inferior covenant to the new covenant. The whole book of Hebrews addresses this concept in detail, but here are a few scriptures to illustrate my point.

"But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7If that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second."
Hebrews 8:6-7

"In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old, Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away."
Hebrews 8:13

". . . Jesus made a surety of a better testament."
Hebrews 7:22

The old covenant couldn’t make anything perfect, so God had to bring in something better, This was the new covenant, which shed by the blood of Jesus Christ. The new covenant brought greater glory to God than the old covenant.

"But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away: 8How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious? 9For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. 10For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. 11For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious."
II Corinthians 3:7-11

This passage of Scripture also says the Old Testament administers death and condemnation!

"O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law."
I Corinthians 15:55-56

And this passage of Scripture says that the Old Testament Law gave strength to sin! The truth we are seeing here is, if it hadn’t been for the Old Testament Law, brought into being through Moses, sin would not have had strength to destroy us. I know this may be challenging your theology. In fact, this may just make everything tilt on the inside of you. But we need to come to grips with some truths to harmonize the Old Testament Law with New Testament grace, love, and forgiveness.

"What shall we say then? is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I has not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. 9For without the Law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. 10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death."
Romans 7:7-10

Did you know there was a period of time of your life when sin was "dead"? Then you gained the knowledge of right and wrong and the Law came into your understanding. Sin was present before, but it wasn’t dominating or controlling you. Sin was "dead."

Once you were confronted with the Law and saw God’s perfect, holy standard, you realized how sinful you were. Concupiscence is uncontrolled lust or desire. Did you know that the Old Testament Law actually drew uncontrolled lust or desire out or you? You heard the commandment, "Thou shalt not covet," and you saw yourself as a covetous maniac!

The Law points to your sin, brings it to life, and condemns you for it!

"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
Romans 3:19

Have you ever felt guilty? Do you know where that came from? You got that through the Law, through the Old Testament administration. The Law makes you feel guilty. It condemns you according to II Corinthians 3:9 and Romans 3:19.

Condemnation is not to be confused with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, however. Thank God for the convicting power of the Holy Spirit! He’s on the inside of you and will let you know immediately if what you are thinking of doing or have done is sin or not God’s will for your life. Conviction draws you to God and leads you in His ways. Condemnation drives you away from the intimacy of God and makes you feel helpless to do anything but sin.

Most believers would agree that Satan is the author of condemnation, but one of the biggest things he uses to minister condemnation to us is the Old Testament Law. We frequently rebuke the condemnation of the devil, but sometimes condemnation comes from thoughts established in us through religion.

A recurring nightmare I had as a teenager was that I smoked one cigarette and went to hell for it. This is a pure example of how the law condemns us, kills us, and sends us to hell.

"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in he sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
Romans 3:20

The Bible says the purpose of the Law is to give you the knowledge of sin- - not knowledge of Jesus, God, forgiveness, or any doctrine that is so well expressed through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Law pointed your attention to yourself, your sin, and your unworthiness.

The Law and Faith

Now not everything from Genesis to Malachi is Law. There is also a tremendous amount of faith in the Old Testament, but you’ve got to look for it. This is because the Old Testament was basically an administration of Law, and the Bible says,

"So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, Cursed is the every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. 11But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12And the law is not of faith."
Galatians 3:9-12

I’m glad Paul said that instead of me! I would get in trouble with the religious crowd for saying "the law is not of faith." Put that together with Romans 14:23, which says, Whatsoever is not of faith is sin, and you can see that a New Testament believer trying to please God by living under Old Testament Law is not in faith and is actually in sin.

Correct Use of the Law

"But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."
Galatians 3:23

People had been trusting themselves for salvation thinking, "Well, I’m really pretty good. I haven’t done anything terribly wrong in a long time and surely I’m all right now." After the Law was given, they began to realize, "Even if I never sin again, I can’t do anything to atone for my past sins." They began to realize the hopelessness of their situation.

"But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; 9Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine."
I Timothy 1:8-10

There is a right purpose and use of the Law. The correct purpose of the Law is to give revelation to a person who does not see his need for God. A person who does not understand he has transgressed against God has deceived himself and the Law can be used to show that he is not going to heaven without salvation through Jesus.

I was ministering in Houston, Texas, when a man stood up in one of my services and started yelling at me. I tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t even coherent. Finally I just rebuked him and told him to sit down, and he did. After the service was over, he came up to the front and sat down in the front row. He was totally spaced out on drugs and could barely talk to me. I told him, "God loves you, and God wants to change your life. He can set you free and take you out of the bondage you’re under."

The man said, "I don’t have any problem. I’m not under any bondage. Everything’s cool with me. Everything’s fine." I could tell by looking at the guy that it wasn’t, so I said, "Look, God Himself can come live on the inside of you and set you free."

He replied, "I am God. God’s in the ceiling. God’s in the cement." He regarded God as a force and concept, not as a real person. He said, "I don’t have any sin. Sin is just relative."

This man had actually hardened and deceived himself to the point where he didn’t even understand God’s perfect standard. I had started out ministering love, trying to use the goodness of God to lead him to repentance. But the man was so deceived that his conscience was disconnected. He couldn’t recognize a true standard of right and wrong.

When I saw that, I started using the law on him. I took the Word of God and I began to reveal his sin to him. I cut him from one side to the other. "You sorry scum of the earth. You think you’re all right, but you’re not. You don’t have any power. You don’t have any joy."

I began to reveal every rotten thing on the inside of him - lust, greed, covetousness, and all the other sins God hates. I used the Word of God to whittle him down and show him that he needed a Savior, that he was headed straight for hell unless God intervened in his life. And guess what? The law cut through all his deception. The moment the Law comes, the conscience will snap back to a proper, godly standard.

I don’t care how deceived a person has become or how much they think, "Drugs are all right. Free sex is all right. Sin is just relative." You minister the Law to them in the right way, and I guarantee you they will see their sinfulness. The Lord will destroy all deception and cause their conscience to work properly.

Incorrect Use of the Law

The purpose of the Law was to show us our need for God. But once we correctly recognize our need for God, the Law is totally incapable of producing the relationship with Him we realize we need. This is where many people have missed it.

After becoming convicted of their sins, they start trying to get a right relationship with God by trying to keep the Law! The Old Testament Law was full of "Thou shalt nots." People interpreted them to say, "God is telling me what I’ve got to do to earn a relationship with Him. Now, if I’ll just keep the Sabbath, if I’ll honor my father and mother, if I won’t murder, if I won’t steal, if I won’t bear false witness, and all of these things, then I’ll be all right with God."

No, that wasn’t what God was teaching. God didn’t give the Law so you could keep it and earn your way to heaven—because nobody can keep the whole Law. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." No one has been capable of keeping the law except Jesus.

God didn’t give the Law so that by keeping it you could earn your way to heaven. Rather, God gave the Law to show you how hopeless you were. It was to show you how sinful you were so you would quit trusting in yourself and look to Him for salvation.

Religion preaches the Law. Religion says that unless you come to church and follow an exclusive list of rules, God’s not going to answer your prayers and you’ll never get to heaven. But if that was true, none of us could have been born again, because we sure weren’t living right before we were born again! The Old Testament Law wasn’t given so that by keeping it you could earn relationship with God. It was given to show you knowledge of you sin, condemn you and destroy any hope of trusting yourself for salvation.

The Law Is Like a Red Flag

If you could imagine an old bull lying in a field, saying, "I’ve been treating everybody mean. I shouldn’t be this way. I shouldn’t charge everybody who comes through this field so I’m going to change. I’m not going to be mean anymore. I’m going to be loving towards everybody." So the bull just lies there in the pasture, chewing his cud and thinking he’s changed. But just because he thinks he’s changed doesn’t mean he has. You try to walk by and that bull is just looking at you. He doesn’t charge or anything. But pull a red flag out and begin to wave it in front of his face, and suddenly that old bull nature rises up on the inside of him and here he comes charging!

Did the red flag make the bull mean? No, all it did was draw out what was in him. If a person is deceived, it can be beneficial to draw out the negative stuff on the inside of them. If they think they are all right living a sinful life, pull out the Law and wave it in front of them.

I recall an instance when I knew something was wrong between us and some people we (Jamie and I) were with. Jamie and I had prayed, and finally the last day we were with them, we just agreed together that the problem would come to the surface so we could deal with it. Do you know what happened? A woman exploded at me and started saying I was the devil. She totally flipped out of her mind. Satan tried to kill her that day and it was a terrible scene. But it was good that the negative stuff came out, because we were able to deal with it. It was good because they had been under deception.

These friends of ours didn’t understand what had been going on spiritually, but when they saw how vile that woman became towards me, they recognized something was wrong with her and not me. We countered it with ministry and we saw all those people set free. We are tremendous friends today.

The Law was used by God in the Old Testament to show mankind his problem – sin - and to reveal the hopelessness of his situation. This is explained to us in the New Testament, and we see how God will still use the Law today if He must.

It was a terrible burden to live under the Old Testament Law, but it was the best God could offer in those days. Some people may say, "Now, wait a minute. You think God wasn’t able to introduce the new covenant back then?" That’s exactly what I’m saying. The Bible says that Jesus was born in the fullness of time (see Galatians 4:4.) Jesus was born just as soon as it was possible for Him to come as the Saviour of the human race. Many prophecies had to be fulfilled, certain things had to take place, and God had to deal with mankind and sin in a temporary way by the Law.

Unfortunately, that temporary way has been interpreted by many people as the true representation of the way God is. They think the Law is the way God really wants to deal with mankind, but that is not true! From the moment Adam and Eve sinned, and long after mankind was expelled from the Garden of Eden, God showed His mercy towards mankind and sought for them to come to repentance only by His goodness, always pointing to the Savior who would come.

Here are some questions to think about for this lesson

Level 1 Lesson 5 Questions
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

1. Read Romans 5:134. What does it mean to "impute?"
2. According to Romans 7:7, what was the purpose of the law?
3. According to Galatians 3:24, what was the purpose of the law?
4. Read John 8:1-11 aloud and explain. In this story, how did Jesus deal with the woman caught in adultery?
5. According to Hebrews 1:1-3, in these last days how has God spoken to us?
6. How did Jesus, the Son, represent God?
7. Read aloud Ephesians 2:1-5. Can you see that God's nature is to show grace and mercy to us through Jesus Christ?
8. If you asked Jesus Christ to forgive you and be your Saviour, by putting your faith and trust only in His sacrifice as payment for your sin, would God show you His true nature of mercy and grace?

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