# "You can depend on God."



## Zenas (Jan 27, 2009)

I saw this on a billboard driving home tonight and I thought about it. I don't think the statement is true at all in the sense that it is likely being said. 

I take it to mean you can depend on God to be some sort of ethereal sugar-daddy, giving you gifts and generally being a nice guy. While I think you can depend on God, it's what you can depend on Him for that's at issue.

You can depend on God to be Holy. You can depend on God to be Just. You can depend on God to be Mighty. You can depend on God to save those He chose. You cannot depend on God to save you. 

This conclusion seems somewhat bleak when viewed in a vacuum, and it's nothing I would say to a child, spiritual or physical. Am I off in my conclusion though?


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## AThornquist (Jan 27, 2009)

Yeah, that is one of those warm and fuzzy phrases that is true in some senses but not true in others. It's like saying "God is love." Hmm yeah...ish.


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## py3ak (Jan 28, 2009)

Zenas said:


> You cannot depend on God to save you.
> 
> This conclusion seems somewhat bleak when viewed in a vacuum....



Is that what you meant to say?


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## OPC'n (Jan 28, 2009)

You like to rain on EVERYONE'S parade, don't you?


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## A5pointer (Jan 28, 2009)

This is an observation I have made too. It can be touchy to bring it up. Many of us rightly praise God for what we see as positives in our lives but we tack on phrases such as God is good. However we need to keep in mind that He is always good regardless of the favor we find in our circumstances. We know there are not guaranties of comfort and pleasure. We also know many brothers and sisters of faith who endure tragic circumstances. God is always good and faithful.


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## Zenas (Jan 28, 2009)

Appears to be.

If you look at that fact alone, it's bleak. But taken into account with all we know of God it's not.


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## JBaldwin (Jan 28, 2009)

I prefer what my friend used to say to me (and he had tough life). "God has never let me down."

I know what he meant by that. No matter what circumstance he found himself to be in, God was always there with him in the midst of it.


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## Jesus is my friend (Jan 28, 2009)

I would have liked "God is dependable" instead,The way it was worded seems very arminian with "YOU" as being the main emphasis of the phrase,my


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## VictorBravo (Jan 28, 2009)

Perhaps it should be: "You can depend on God, but only if he wills it. Repent."


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## JBaldwin (Jan 28, 2009)

How about God is faithful?


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## AThornquist (Jan 28, 2009)

JBaldwin said:


> How about God is faithful?



Amen to that. I like it!


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## PresbyDane (Jan 28, 2009)

Zenas said:


> I saw this on a billboard driving home tonight and I thought about it. I don't think the statement is true at all in the sense that it is likely being said.
> 
> I take it to mean you can depend on God to be some sort of ethereal sugar-daddy, giving you gifts and generally being a nice guy. While I think you can depend on God, it's what you can depend on Him for that's at issue.
> 
> ...



I do not know if I agree with the "You cannot depend on God to save you."
Eventhough I am in no doubt that we mean the same, I would not phrase it like that.
You can depend on God to save you, to do that, God is the only one you can depend on, no one else!
The question is, are you elect, make your election sure!


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## py3ak (Jan 28, 2009)

Andrew, you simply cannot tell people that they can't depend on God to _save_ them, if by _save_ you are thinking in soteriological terms. Bill said it a little while ago: the will of God should scare people into purchasing insurance. God spared not His own Son. There is terror there: there are no guarantees that your family will not die in a horrible accident, that you will not be afflicted with loathsome diseases, that all your wealth will not disappear through malice of men and natural disaster, or that your friends will not take you for a hypocrite. But you can most definitely _can_ depend on God to save you, since He is "mighty to save", since He is faithful to perform His good work until the day of Jesus Christ, since He is rich to all that call upon Him, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord *shall be saved*. _That_ is something you most definitely can depend on, because God has said it.


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## Abd_Yesua_alMasih (Jan 28, 2009)

It is something I struggle with.

In the past when a Pentecostal i had "hope".

Now that I believe God is not my sugar daddy, I loose that.

When my girlfriend was dying I prayed for her daily (hourly) that she might live. But I also realized that this might not be his will. Thus I wanted her to live while God might have other opinions. It gave me little comfort and I in the end struggled to actually pray about it because in many ways it was depressing.


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## py3ak (Jan 28, 2009)

Fraser, I think the key there is realizing that our hope is in God far more than it is in some specific outcome. Obviously, we naturally want specific outcomes: perhaps hoping in God more than hoping in a turn of events is part of that death we all must undergo. 
That, and recognizing that the horrible things that happen, happen because God is good.


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