“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” – Ephesians 5:1

This verse comes right after Paul provides instructions in Ephesians 4:17-31 on what the Christian walk should look like. The instruction is to imitate God so that we can live in accordance with God’s Word. In order to imitate God, we must know Him. In order to know God, we must immerse ourselves in His Holy Word… ALL of it!

According to research performed by LifeWay reported in April 2017, only 20% of Americans have read all of the Bible and only 9% of those have read it all more than once. Other studies show that less than 3% of practicing Christians have read the entire Bible cover to cover. While that number seems extremely low, it does not surprise me. I was raised by Christian parents and attended church my whole life. I was there Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night… every time the doors were open. Yet, until two years ago I had never actually read the entire Bible all the way through myself. I had probably heard MOST of what is in the Bible at some point or other, but I definitely had not read all of it (especially some Old Testament passages). Because most people have not read the complete Scriptures, many conjure up an image of God that simply isn’t true. Many people develop an image of God based upon experiences with their own earthly father and/or husband.

I don’t know the source of this quote, but I love it: “God is not who you think He is, He is who He says He is.” It doesn’t matter what we think we know about God, it matters what He tells us about Himself.

The following are five common misconceptions about God and what the Bible reveals as truth:

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Misconception 1:

God’s love is conditional. If I am not “good” then He won’t love me anymore. I have to strive to earn God’ love.

Truth:

God loves you unconditionally. No matter what you have done in your past, He still loves you, it is not something that you have to earn.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

“But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.” – Titus 3:4-5

Misconception 2:

God is waiting for me to make a mistake so He can punish me and He takes pleasure in giving me that punishment.

Truth:

God disciplines you, but it is because He loves you. It is for your own benefit and correction. He is not an abusive Father, but one that wants what’s best for you.

“My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord or loathe His reproof, For whom the Lord loves He reproves, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.” – Proverbs 3:11-12

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.” – Revelation 3:19

“All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.” – Hebrews 12:11

“Behold, how happy is the man whom God reproves, So do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.” – Job 5:17

Misconception 3:

If I do good deeds, give to the poor and/or go to church on Sunday, then I will go to heaven.

Truth:

There is nothing you can do to deserve heaven. I personally know a lot of people that believe this. They don’t see how a loving God would prevent them from going to heaven because they have been a “good” person. The truth is that everyone has sinned and therefore deserves hell, but God sent Jesus to pay the debt for your sin. Jesus was without sin and is the ONLY one who is “good enough” to pay that debt.

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23

“As it is written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, there is not even one.’” – Romans 3:10-12

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9

Misconception 4:

I believe Jesus was real so I will go to heaven.

Truth:

Even Satan believes Jesus is real, and he shudders! Head knowledge of Jesus is not saving knowledge. You must accept Him as Lord of your life. I was raised in a Christian home and never doubted that Jesus was real or that he was God’s son or even that He died on the cross and rose three days later. However, that intellectual knowledge about Jesus does not provide salvation. It is not until you see yourself as a sinner, confess those sins, turn from them and choose to follow Christ, acknowledging Him as the Lord of your life, that you will enter heaven.

“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” – James 2:19

“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.” – Romans 10:9-10

Misconception 5:

God helps those who help themselves.

Truth:

This is not in the Bible! It sounds like it is something that might be in there, but it is not. God’s grace covers you because you cannot help yourself.

“He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered.” – Proverbs 28:26

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” – Ephesians 2:8-9

Knowing and Defending the Truth

One of the first problems in the early church was defending truth because lies had penetrated the congregation. Peter addresses heresy in the church in 2 Peter:

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.” – 2 Peter 2:1-3

In Acts 15 we read of some teaching that “unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” We face this same problem today. Maybe not that circumcision is a requirement for salvation, but other misconceptions which often appear as if they could be truth. The only way to know the truth is to read and search God’s Word.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” – 2 Timothy 2:15

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We encourage you to spend time with Him daily and read the ENTIRE Bible so that you will know the truth! If you signup for our Read Through the Bible email list we will send you a weekly reading assignment and snippet highlight for that week’s reading. Stick with us for one year and you will have read through the entire Old and New Testaments. Don’t worry, we will never sell your information and you can unsubscribe at any time using the link at the bottom of each of our emails.

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Additional Resources

A printable pdf version of the information in this article can be downloaded from our Resources page.

This topic was presented at the Coastal Community Church 1st Annual Marriage Retreat. Additional topics presented included The 5 W’s and H of Marital Conflict and The Jewish Wedding and Redemption.

If you don’t have a Bible or need a new one, our Affiliate Partner Christianbook Distributors has a good selection at great prices.