It’s easy to put other Christians and other churches who have rejected God’s commands in a different category from ourselves. We say things like, “I can’t believe they did that,” but our surprise says more about us than it does about them.

Anyone familiar with what happened to Adam and Eve should anticipate people doubting and rejecting what God has said. While Satan is persistent, fortunately, he’s also unimaginative. Novelty doesn’t seem to be one of his strengths.

When you’re tempted to reject God, you’ll probably justify it in one of five ways. Watch that you don’t find yourself beginning to hide behind one of these statements:

1. “I can’t believe that a God of love would allow that”

It’s easy to reduce God’s character to a single characteristic, but He’s far more complex than that. 1 John 4:16 says that “God is love,” but that means that He defines love not us. And we can’t use one characteristic of God to explain away the others. Believing the God of the Bible means holding in tension all of his attributes including love, holiness, grace, justice, forgiveness, and wrath. God’s Word must define that tension not “what we believe God’s love requires.”

2. “Thoughtful Christians disagree on this issue”

If the only Christians you ever speak to are the ones in your church, and the only preacher you ever listen to is your own pastor, it can come as a surprise when you learn that there are people who pray, read the Bible, and do good but also reject what seem like straightforward commands of Scripture. That should grieve us but not surprise us. Thoughtful Christians can still be wrong or disobedient. And if Satan “disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), we shouldn’t expect false teachers to come with horns or pitchforks.

3. “That’s just your interpretation”

While it’s easy to read more into a verse than is there, “that’s just your interpretation” isn’t an argument for anything. To interpret just means to give the meaning. The only question is whether the interpretation is correct or not. We’ll be held accountable to what God intended by what He said. There won’t be any free pass because “we had a different interpretation.”

4. “That was then, but this is now”

The Bible was written in a historical context, so it’s true that it does need to be interpreted against the backdrop of that context. Too often, though, we assume that our culture has the answers, and we must have a better way of seeing things than in the past. When we assume that, we don’t let God speak.

5. “I’ve met someone who is affected by this”

I think if we’re honest, many of the things that we say we believe have never been tested. It’s easy to believe something that doesn’t cost you anything. But as we experience the pain of obedience, either for ourselves or someone we know, we learn what kind of faith we really have.

May God give you grace to guard your mind and watch your motives as you see your convictions tested in the days to come.

In awe of Him,

Paul