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It has been said that God’s love is unconditional. If you believe in Jesus,
there is nothing you can do to make God love you more, and there is nothing you
can do to make God love you any less. Let us examine words from the gospel of
John---and John was known as the “apostle of love”---to see whether
or not this teaching is true.
John 3:16 “For
God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal
life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the
world, but to save the world through him.
According
to a study of the Greek grammar underlying this verse, God loved
the world by performing a one-time action 2,000 years ago whereby
He gave His Son to die on the cross on our behalf. Jesus died for
us
while
we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Whoever believes in him and continues
to believe in him shall not be condemned
in
hell,
but
shall be saved and have eternal life. But what of those who choose
not to believe in Jesus?
3:18 Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands
condemned already because he has
not believed in the
name of God’s one and only Son.
It is
clear that those who choose not to believe stand condemned already
by God. The wrath of God is a subject rarely brought
up in churches
today, even when the gospel is presented. Contemporary western culture
has exiled the concept of divine wrath and judgment against sin to
the religious lunatic fringe. In order to make the gospel “seeking-friendly,” all
we hear about today from our pulpits is “God’s unconditional
love.” But is God’s love really unconditional, even to
those who profess to believe?
John 15:9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.
Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain
in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain
in his love.
Yes, Jesus
has loved us. He died on the cross for us while we were still sinners.
But if we want to remain in his love, there is a condition. We must
obey his commands.
Even Jesus himself had to obey his Father’s commands in order
to remain in his Father’s love. Is there a special provision
for us whereby we do not need to obey the commands of our Lord Jesus
Christ? No, there is not. If we truly believe and have faith in Jesus
as Lord and Savior, we will obey his commands.
John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. …23
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.
My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home
with him. 24 He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These
words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
If you
claim to believe in Jesus and to love him, then you should most definitely
obey his command and his teaching. Only
then the Father
will love you. If you do not obey his teaching, it means categorically
that you do not love him, regardless of whatever warm feelings you
may have toward him. (It would be very risky to conclude that even
if we do not love him despite His sacrificial love for us, that
he continues to love us.) Jesus states emphatically that these words
belong to
the
Father
who
is
seated
on high in Heaven.
These words must be taken with utmost gravity. God’s love is
in fact conditional. This should be obvious, but apostasy abounds in
the crowd-pleasing Church today.
John 15:4
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit
by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither
can you bear fruit
unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches.
If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart
from me you can do nothing.
If we remain in Jesus by obeying his commands, he will remain in us
and we will bear much visible fruit for him.
15:6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is
thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the
fire and burned.
If we do not obey his commands and remain in him, we will be thrown
into the fire and burned like fruitless and withered branches. Anyone
who professes to believe in Jesus Christ must understand this. There
is no security in disobedience---only divine wrath.
15:7 If
you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish,
and it will be given you. 8 This is to my
Father’s
glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Here is stark contrast. If we do not remain in Jesus and as a result
are fruitless for him, then we are thrown into the fire. But if the
words of Jesus remain in us and we remain in him by obeying his commands,
we can ask whatever we wish and it will be given to us. But what will
we ask from him? We will ask that He will enable us to bear fruit to
the glory of the Father, showing ourselves to be true disciples. We
will not ask God to bless us with earthly comfort and success for our
own personal pleasure and ambition. Rather, we will first seek His
kingdom and his righteousness. All these other things will be given
to us as well.
We can
conclude from this brief study of Scripture that God’s love
is not unconditional, even for those who profess to believe. God’s
abiding love is conditional on remaining in Jesus Christ and obedience
to his commands, teachings, and words.
"God
is Love"
(or
How to have confidence on Judgment Day)
Obedience
is not a dirty word
To
the Church in America: what should we now do?
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