Over the next few posts I will be discussing the Doctrine of God’s Love. This is based upon a series of sermons preached at VBBC from December 2015 to January 2016 in our Wednesday evening prayer/Bible study services.
Why is the God’s love the hardest part of doctrine? It is not because God has made it difficult but because humanity has moved so far away from the biblical definition of God’s love that truly understanding this subject requires a complete rethinking of it.
This discussion must begin with the fact that basically all that call themselves Christian believe that God is love, but we too often define love by our culture and not the Bible’s definition. Here are some examples:
- Some say God’s love is totally unconditional and requires God to lay aside holiness as a requirement for daily living.
- Others would say that God is so holy that His love is simply the motivation for living holy.
- Still others would say that all forms of love are from God and there is no limitation on it. t is the ultimate command and thus saying anything is wrong when love is the basis is doctrinal heresy, IE saying same sex marriage is wrong when two people “love each other.”
These groups often use verses such as (John 3:16) to show love yet fail to remember that God will judge it (Acts 10:42). Their the emphasis is seldom on the judgment of God or His holiness just the love. Why? Because we want a God that loves us and want to downplay the judgment or holiness of God which caused the judgment to be necessary.
Sometimes doctrinal heresy is not even discussed in some churches. To be honest, some might even go as far as to say that to preach against heresy IS the heresy. As an example, I hold that that King James Version is the preserved Word of God in the English language and all other english “versions” are simply commentaries of what men think God meant. But when I say this, I am judged as legalistic and borderline heretic by some. Why? Because I have called someone else’s “doctrine” wrong and that is un-Christian in some minds. They might even say I am “unloving” and “critical.” They would admonish me to ignore the differences and love my fellow Christians because ALL English translations are okay, its just simple language differences, and to say otherwise is “unloving.”
How different this is from Paul and even Christ Himself. Jesus said that the scribes and Pharisees were teaching commandments of men and calling it doctrine (Matthew 15:9). Paul stop against Peter for teaching that Gentiles couldn’t really be saved (Galatians 2:11). Yet, I would be wrong to say that these men didn’t love people!
To say it simply, God’s love is too often romanticized and emotionalized based upon our emotions and not God’s definition. This is clearly seen when we try to defend God’s judgment in the Old Testament or trying to explain how God “allows” bad things to happen today. We are defending and explaining based upon human emotions not the truth that God has every right to judge as He sees fit because He is both loving and just!
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