God is not hidden in himself, because he says that the Spirit searches the deep things of God – God perceives and contemplates himself. But he so transcends his creatures that men cannot find him by their own methods and powers. He is not incomprehensible in himself, because he says that all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are in Christ – God comprehends himself by his own omniscience. But he is so immense in his greatness that his creatures can study him for all eternity and never know all that there is to know about him.

Thank God, therefore, for his revelation. Although we cannot find him by searching, the Spirit shows him to us. And although we cannot comprehend him, as in to possess exhaustive knowledge about him, we can comprehend all that he reveals to us, as in to possess a clear and exact understanding of what he commands us to learn. God is truth. What he thinks is true, and he tells us what he thinks in the Bible. He tells us the truth about his being, his works, his plans and priorities, and his standards and judgments. He tells us these things not in codes and puzzles, but in direct speech, and even the stories and parables that he tells contain plain teachings.

The religion that makes a show of proclaiming the greatness of God by declaring our inability to understand him, even though he tells us about himself and tells us to understand, is a lazy and unfaithful piety. True reverence studies God’s revelation and submits to all that it says, even if it challenges our prejudices and preconceptions, and even if it leaves no room for rebellion disguised as humility. This is a false humility that shouts praises in God’s face as he speaks, to drown out his voice, so as to make a way of escape from his doctrines and his commands.

The Bible is God’s revelation, and it is true and plain. We may learn from good men of faith, but if we are true Christians, then in reality we care only about what God thinks. Men at best can explain to us what God thinks, and help us consider its meaning and applications, and to admonish us to believe and obey it. And these men ought to be overturned, even physically ejected from our midst, as soon as they incite unbelief and rebellion. If we will ever hold firm to this principle, that God speaks in the Bible, and in plain and direct speech that is not subject to fanciful distortions, then we shall be on the right path to fruitfulness in the faith of Jesus Christ.

The Bible’s thinking is God’s thinking. There is no difference. And the Bible constantly contrasts the righteous and the unrighteous, the children of God and the children of Satan, Christians and non-Christians. This is how God sees the world. There are only two kinds of people. There are Christians, and we may include or exclude those who have not yet been converted, but who would later become Christians. Since we do not know their identities, when they are included, they are referred to in the abstract, and not as named individuals, except in the mind of God. And there are non-Christians. If we exclude those who would become Christians later, then this group consists of those who would never believe in the gospel of Christ, and who would be thrown into hell when their life ends and when the day of judgment comes. A more precise way to say this is that humanity is divided into the elect and the non-elect, or Christians and non-Christians, depending on the need of the discussion.

Christians are called believers, and non-Christians are called unbelievers. Christians are called wise, righteous, and the light of the world. All non-Christians are called stupid, wicked, and darkness. This is how God perceives and divides all people, and this is also how we must perceive and divide all people. We must eagerly and happily agree with God, lest we be counted among the unbelieving, the unintelligent, the rebellious, who shall burn forever in the lake of fire. As it is written, “And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever” (Revelation 14:11). But those who trust in Christ shall say, “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever” (19:3). How different are the thoughts and attitudes, and the destinies, of those who are saved by God and those who are damned by him!

This is why the righteous are bold. We should not fear men, who can destroy the body and can do no more, but we should rather fear God, who can torment both body and soul in hell. But as believers, our lives are hidden in Christ, and through him we have peace with God. As the hymn says, “Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.” The Christian’s boldness is not founded on self-approval – he knows that in himself he cannot measure up to God’s perfection, and thus to have fellowship with him. He repudiates all confidence in himself, and commits his fate entirely to Christ, so that he may have fellowship with God on the basis of Christ’s righteousness. His boldness is as strong as his belief that Christ is right with God, and that the Father approves of the Son.

My confidence does not need to fluctuate with my performance. I look entirely to Jesus Christ, for him to save me and take me before the Father, for him to vouch for me before the heavenly throne. I depend on Christ not only to be introduced to this new life, since even now if I were to face God with only my Christian deeds, there would be no hope. God demands perfection, and it would be an insult to his holiness to say, “Behold these works. Have respect for me because of these.” Even if I were a self-deluded egomaniac, my confidence would not be total and without limit. And God is not appeased by a man’s giant ego. No, I cling to Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus Christ is righteous, and that he ever intercedes for me and speaks for me before the God of Heaven. And I also see that this right standing before God is the only thing that truly matters whether in life or in death, or in life after death. Therefore, as long as my confidence in Christ is unshakable, and as long as I believe that he is good and faithful, I am as bold as a lion.

Through the Lord Jesus, then, we are bold to assume command of any situation, to speak and to do that which is right, to vindicate the gospel of God, to defeat every non-Christian thought and movement, and to shut up blasphemy and humiliate unbelief. As Paul writes, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then…I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved – and that by God” (Philippians 1:27-28). May God glorify himself by granting greater strength and boldness to his people.