Putting God To The Test

by Chris Simmons

In Acts chapter 15, Paul and the rest of the apostles meet with the elders of the church in Jerusalem to look into the matter of the false teaching that had spread from Jerusalem up to Antioch in which Jewish Christians were seeking to bind the law of Moses and circumcision upon the Gentile believers in order that they might be saved. Peter notes that it was God who had made the choice that by his mouth the Gentiles should hear the gospel proclaimed and who “made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9). Paul then asked those Jewish Christians in Jerusalem this very pointed question in verse 10, “now therefore why do you put God to the test?”

How does man “put God to the test”? In the most fundamental sense, man puts God to the test by simply challenging what He says. In Acts chapter 15, they were doing so by imposing what God had clearly shown was not required by Him for the Gentiles to be saved or to be accepted by God. We read in Matthew 4:7 that as Satan was tempting Christ to throw Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple that Jesus replied “it is written, ‘you shall not put the Lord your God to the test’.” Satan was tempting Jesus to challenge what God had said in His promise that “He will give His angels charge concerning You” and “on their hands they will bear You up, lest You strike Your foot against a stone.” Jesus’ reply indicates that He would not challenge or doubt what His Father had said and thus put Him to the test. In I Corinthians 10:9 Paul cites some lessons that we need learn from the mistakes that the Israelites made after their deliverance from Egypt including their sin of “try(ing) the Lord” in the wilderness. The Israelites “tried” the Lord by again challenging what He said in regards to His promise that He would bring them to and give them the promised land. They doubted God’s ability to provide them with what they needed (food and water) and with His ability to give them the victories over the nations that stood in their way.

Anytime we take what God has revealed and say, “I know, but…” and then try to impose our will, our wisdom and our desire upon God, and think we can escape judgment for it, we are putting Him to the test. In the context of our physical families, we sometimes refer to disobedient children as kids who are “testing” their parents. By that we mean children who are challenging the will and the resolve of their parents. We can be guilty of the very same thing with our Father in heaven. How can we be guilty of putting God to the test in our lives today? We put God to the test…

When we willfully get as close to sin as we possibly can and then expect God to keep us from succumbing to temptation. God promised a way of escape from the temptations that we face but we test God when we deliberately place ourselves in situations that provide for the lusts of the flesh and when we fail to flee those situations that provide the temptations (I Corinthians 10:12; Romans 13:14; II Timothy 2:22).

When we think we can sow to the flesh and yet reap eternal spiritual rewards. We are challenging the will of God when we devote our lives to the things of this world and (falsely) expect to reap a spiritual reward (Galatians 6:7-8). It’s been rightly said that it eternally foolish to think that we can sow our wild oats and then pray for a crop failure. Another way of putting it is, we can not invest our heart and our lives in the treasures of this world and hope to inherit the treasures of heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). Why do we put God to the test by thinking we can have one foot in the church and keep one foot firmly planted in the world?

When we exercise the sorrow of this world rather than godly repentance and refuse to make the changes in our lives that His word requires (II Corinthians 7:10-11). Man is guilty of putting God to the test when he thinks that an outward show of remorse and guilt is accepted by God in the place of true biblical repentance. Without “vindication,” without the “avenging of wrong,” and without the “demonstration” of our making things right, repentance is simply not complete or acceptable to God.

When we choose not to give our very best and expect that God will still give us the very best of what He has prepared (I Corinthians 9:24-27; Matthew 6:33; 25:24-27). God expects that we “run in such a way that you (we) may win.” God expects that we seek Him first and above all else. God expects that we make the most of what we have been blessed with. Will we put God to the test by offering Him anything less than our 110% effort? How can we expect to receive the eternal inheritance when we are not willing to allow it to cost us anything (cf Luke 14:25)? David, however, had the attitude that “I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing” (II Samuel 24:18-25).

When we think that God is not concerned about the “inside of the cup” (Matthew 23:25-26) and that He isn’t concerned about or doesn’t know our heart. David exhorted his son Solomon to “serve Him (God) with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts” (I Chronicles 28:9). Any changes to our lives must begin with our heart, even as Joel recorded, “rend your heart and not your garments” (Joel 2:13; cf Matthew 15:18-20).

When we call Him “Lord” and do not conform our lives to His will (Luke 6:46). It is futile to claim that Jesus is our Lord when we are unwilling to do what He (or those He authorized and commissioned) have commanded us to do. John wrote in I John 2:4-5, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him.” We might claim to know God but the truth will be determined on the day that we meet face-to-face and we either hear the words “come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34) or “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:23).

Finally, why does man put God to the test by doubting that He has “fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31)? Peter addresses this specific erroneous notion in II Peter chapter 3 where some were teaching that God would never come again in judgment of man. Central to Peter’s refuting of this false teaching were the facts that God is not bound by time as we are and that all that remains for God to bring an end to this physical life is His word. We, therefore, are called upon to thank God for His patience and His provision of time for us to repent and make our lives right with God (II Peter 3:9-15).

There are countless ways that Satan tempts us to put God to the test by doubting and challenging what He says.

May we ever resolve to “humble (ourselves) under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us at the proper time” (I Peter 5:6).