Is a Distorted View of God Dangerous?

It’s not a secret that many brothers and sisters, during their time in church, have encountered various inaccurate or even heretical teachings. It’s a real problem when believers are unable to recognize false teaching or false ideas about God. But the situation becomes even worse when a person themselves is drawn into false teaching. So, how can someone know if what they believe is true? Simply put: Only Scripture is the correct, authoritative, and final measure. We must always personally reexamine our understanding through the Scripture. We need brothers and sisters who, out of love, are able to point out our inaccurate understanding or judgments (Gal. 2:14). But in all these situations, the authority lies within the Scripture, not with a person!

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Ps. 119:105)

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)

“Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11)

Today we will examine the danger of a wrong understanding and view of God! This is a foundational principle that shapes everything else. A false understanding of God will lead to all kinds of problems in a person’s life, as well as in society and the church.

The best illustration of this principle is found in the behavior of Israel during their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.

While Moses is receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, and God is explaining to him the laws and the design of the tabernacle, during that time the people, not seeing God, begin thinking of making a god who would go before them, because they don’t know what happened to Moses (Ex. 32:1). Why would they do that? On the surface, it may seem like they got tired of Yahweh and decided to invent another god. But that’s not the case. They wanted a visible representation of the God of Israel! They wanted their God to be like the gods of the surrounding nations. All they needed to do was reshape Him a little to fit their preferences.

“And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said: ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.’” (Ex. 32:4-5)

This wasn’t a replacement of the God of Israel with another god, but a reinterpretation of who the God of Israel is. That means they moved from a true understanding to a false one! They literally made a god that was convenient for them.

A few principles that lead people to distort the doctrine of God:

1. The desire to reshape God according to human understanding. Make Him according to how we imagine Him, not how He truly is.

2. The tendency to compare God to someone or something. Notice: they didn’t make a god unlike anything on earth. They made a god in the form of a calf. Yes, this came from idol worship and pagan views of deity at the time. Today, people may not imagine God as a calf, but we still hear things like: “My god wouldn’t do that,” or “My god is a god of love,” etc.

3. The tendency to use God rather then worship Him. The center of this way of thinking is not God but the human self. In such a system, a person uses god however they see fit. “…make us gods who shall go before us…” (Ex. 32:1)

4. The insatiable desire to live for oneself. It’s no accident that the text describes step-by-step what happened next: “And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” (Ex. 32:6) In other words, a wild and immoral party broke out right in front of this idol. That’s what the people were longing for—parties. And by reshaping God, by making a new version, they were now free to do what they truly wanted—live for their own pleasure. This is the expression of the sinful nature of humanity!

So, what is the result of a wrong understanding of God? What happens in the life of someone who does not worship the Living and True God Who has revealed Himself through Scripture?

1. People drink sin like water (v. 6). When God is reshaped to fit human preferences, there are no moral boundaries left. This is exactly what we see in society, and what will happen in the life of any person who rejects the God of the Bible. A god invented by man does not hold man accountable. A morally decaying society is the proof of that.

2. People abandon the Living God (vv. 7-8). This is the most dangerous, the most serious thing that happens when someone doesn’t care to worship and serve the true God! “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” (Rom. 1:28) When people turn away from God, they are automatically choosing a life of sin.

3. People have no future. All that awaits them is destruction. People who worship a god not revealed in Scripture are worshipping an idol. No idol, no matter how golden it is, can promise eternal life. Only the Living God of the Bible can receive a believer into heaven after death. “But the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my Angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.’” (Ex. 32:33-34)

We can make a very important, and very tragic conclusion: A false understanding of God shuts the door to heaven. No matter how sincere a person’s faith may be, entry into heaven is not based on the sincerity of one’s faith, but on the truthfulness of the object of their faith!

Continue supporting the churches working among the people who have suffered from the war in Ukraine:

"Behold, how good and pleasant it is
    when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head,
    running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
    running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon,
    which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
    life forevermore."
Psalm 133