“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those who by their nature are not gods.” Galatians 4:8

If we want to walk with God and avoid the constant tricks and lies of the enemy then it is imperative that we learn to understand the nature of God. So many Christians today are confused about who God is. Some believe that our God and gods of other faiths are one and the same because they fail to understand the difference. Calling something god, whether a spirit or the idols they hide behind, does not automatically make it equal to the one true God. Our God is unique, He is One and their is no other.

So what is Gods nature exactly? When I say nature what I mean are characteristics or attributes that are an innate part of something’s being. For example we have a human nature which means we have characteristics that are specific to a human being and we cannot be a dog or a bird, even though we often act like animals. They have their own nature and we have ours. So the nature of God, because He is the only true God, is unique to Him. These characteristics are things that are true about the way God acts or speaks and they are unchanging. They are automatically expressed when He moves. Scripture tells us that God is love which means that when God acts or speaks He does so out of love. He never reacts to us in hatred. God is good so He never makes or does anything that is bad. God is perfect and when He acts or speaks it is always perfect, making mistakes is something God never does. These are just a few examples of Gods character.

God made us in His image yet we have been corrupted because of sin. Some of Gods characteristics we can also express, while others we cannot. But when we do we only express them on a smaller scale and often imperfectly because we are changing while God is unchanging. And because we do not have certain attributes of His nature, namely His perfection and immutability(unchanging), we must make the choice to express love, mercy, etc. while God does so naturally.

Discernment

“Folly is joy to him that lacks sense, but a man of understanding walks straight.” Proverbs 15:21

Scripture tells us to discern between the spirits as well as to test everything, even the teachings from leaders that we trust (1 John 4:1). In order for us to do this we need to be able to recognize what is God and what is not. The devil does his best to mimic God yet because he does not have Gods nature he always speaks or acts in a way that is in line with his own nature. John 8:44 points out that the devil was a murderer from the beginning and the father of lies; his nature is opposed to God and he needs to disguise himself to trick us into believing him. We know that he wants our enslavement and destruction so even if he speaks something that seems to be true it will always be to lead us into sin and destruction.

He quoted scripture to Jesus in the wilderness yet Christ made it clear that he was wrong, not because he spoke the scriptures incorrectly but because he spoke them with the intention of leading Christ into sin. God hates sin and will never tempt us. When God speaks or acts we can recognize that it is Him by seeing if it is rooted in His character or the enemies. If something is said and we recognize that it is meant to inspire fear, doubt, selfishness or some other sinful behavior then we can assume that it is not of God. Sadly, many in the church, instead of engaging in discernment, would rather throw out everything that is said and claim that God doesn’t speak to us anymore because they fear getting it wrong. When we accept the belief that God no longer has anything to say to us anymore than the enemy has already scored a victory in our lives. I would also like to point out that the enemy used scripture against Jesus. Even our reading and understanding of scripture can be hijacked by the enemy. Just look at how many divisions we have in the church resulting from disagreements on interpreting scripture or someone developing heretical doctrines. Scripture points us to Christ and so even our reading of it must be done with Gods nature in mind.

Godliness

We also need to know His nature so that we know how to act. In the beginning God made man in His image. After the fall He sent His Son to show us the Way and to give us access to the Truth, while the Holy Spirit works within us to purify us. As Romans 8:28 points out we are to be conformed into the image of Christ. This is godliness, to be like God. Understanding Gods nature is necessary for us to recognize whether we are walking as Christ did or being misled. Many in the church suffer from self-righteousness and judgmentalism because they think themselves godly when they are in fact acting in a manner that is opposed to God. This is because they accept there own ideas of what is right as truth instead of what God has said is truth. Christ is the Truth, therefore He is the standard by which our ideas, words, and actions are to be measured. By knowing Gods character we can then have a better idea of how to act in our everyday life.

How can we walk with God if we cant recognize whether it is Him we are walking with? His nature should be the foundation of our entire understanding. There is no better role model for ourselves then Christ.