Inclined By Nature to Hate...God

What does the God’s law require of us?

Christ teaches us this in a summary in Matthew 22.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the great and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets.

Can you keep all this perfectly?

It is obvious that the confession of the catechism: "No. I am inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor " will face opposition.

That there is much that falls short in our love for God and the neighbor will likely not meet any resistance.
That we have given to God and men what is theirs and in that sense have practiced righteousness, only a few superficial persons would maintain.
Something completely different, however, is the question of whether we could even properly speak of hating,
or at least of being inclined by nature to hate.

When we consider Scripture there can be no doubt that this confession is possible, as we read: the sinful mind is hostile to God (Rom.8:7).

Nevertheless, there may well be difficulties also among us when we focus on the Holy Spirit’s work in all men, believers and unbelievers.
Is there only a conquering of sin through faith, when also in a life of unbelief there is yet a sin-restraining influence of the Holy Spirit?
How can we speak of being inclined by nature to hate God and my neighbor when we recognize such efforts by the Holy Spirit?

Without doubt, we need to observe here that we confess that we are inclined by nature.

With that by nature is meant of course, according to our nature as corrupted by sin.
Not for a moment may we leave room for the idea that sin would be natural, and that life according to the law of the covenant is unnatural.
Sin is abnormal and unnatural.

Moreover, the confession uses the words: I am inclined.

With that, enough room is left for the idea that such a tendency can be suppressed,
and that not only does it not need to come to deeds, but also not even to words or thoughts.
Within us, there can also be a dormant inclination.
However, thus far we have said little about the actual state of affairs.
To see this clearly, we must consider separately the relationship to God and the relationship to the neighbor.

Is it possible outside of faith in Christ to speak of any love for God at all?

That question has the appearance of having been answered by the Scriptural considerations above;
yet it seems that there is much searching for God among people without that faith.
It is even possible to point to those who devote a lifetime in service of God, as they believe Him to be.

The question is whether all of this should not be characterized as a service for payment,

something like buying, or perhaps as a giving in order to get something in return,
and therefore it essentially is pride and egoism, and not love.

It is true that also in love there is always a longing to obtain something for ourselves.

However, this is a wishing in love and not a buying or earning,
but it is a longing by faith based on the conviction that we have received everything –
in fact it is a yearning for ourselves found in the desire we have for the wellbeing of the one we love.

Does that mean that all seeking God without faith in Christ constitutes a service rendered for wages?

Although we must agree that for a great part such expressions of ‘worship’ show no other characteristic,
yet God continues to draw and to appeal to humanity.

Nothing originates exclusively with man;

but something first comes from God, of which the searching by man is but the consequence.
If nothing originated with God, Scripture would not be able to declare man guilty as it does in these words: so that men are without excuse (Rom.1: 20).

What does it mean then for men: this appeal and influence of God?

Is the result of it any sort of love?
When love is understood as a conscious surrendering – and love should be understood in this way –
the question must be answered in the negative.

Unbelieving man gives evidence of being sustained and drawn by God in spite of himself.

This may be seen in their various worship services and devotions; but such ‘worship’ really constitutes idolatry,
and made to be a representation of God that they themselves have formed, but not of the living God.

This worship always happens with the rejection of the Word-revelation, of the covenant, and of the law of the covenant –

Thus, the hate to which we are inclined by nature could remain covered by the love for a self-produced view of God.

Nevertheless, even in this worship man’s self-determination with respect to the living God becomes evident.
The more men realize such autonomy, the more intensely they devote themselves to that sort of worship:
the burnt offerings on Israel’s heights were normally better attended than the sacrifices rendered in Jerusalem’s temple!

Even today the world is full of religious devotion,

To Be Continued...

Adapted Excerpt from The True Faith by Simon Gerrit De Graaf (1889-1955)

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