God’s Love is NOT Unconditional!

Jim Palmer said, “God’s Love is not a spigot that turns off and on based on how correct your theology is, how religious you are, or how far you've progressed on your growth journey. God IS Love, which means that at every moment God’s Love is the underlying, unchanging and fundamental reality. It does not fluctuate. It cannot be earned or lost. It is never threatened. God's Love is available to all people, all the time, everywhere, without condition...” (emphasis mine). I agree with Jim, but my understanding from the Bible is that God’s love is perspectively unconditional. In other words, God’s love is not totally unconditional. Let me attempt to submit my understanding here.

In the question, ‘is God’s love totally unconditional?’ the term ‘unconditional’ refers to the absence of limiting conditions. Does God love HIS people without any limiting conditions?

This subject is important to our life. Christian literature, on the subject of God’s love, teaches that God’s love is unconditional; hence man’s love for his fellow beings ought to be unconditional too. This being a fact, we need to understand the scope of God’s love, so to love each other similarly. The Bible mandates us to love each other as Christ loved us (John 15: 12). If Christ’s love for man is unconditional, then our love for each other should strictly follow Christ’s paradigm.

If love is totally unconditional, should we love evil? The Bible teaches that sincere love hates evil (Romans 12: 9, NIV). Because the Bible is replete with situations where God hated evil (Psalm 5:5, 11: 5; Proverbs 6: 16-19; Hosea 9: 15), there is the much needed consistency between Christ’s love and the Bible’s mandate for Christ’s disciple to hate evil. So, we conclude that as Christ hated evil, we ought to hate evil. We should hate Satan - the evil one. In other words, one cannot love evil and still love God, for God and evil are mutually opposing entities. Thus, hating evil / sin is a condition to sincere love.

When a condition to love is mandated, we infer that neither God’s love nor man’s, is totally unconditional. The Bible states that God loves good & evil, and righteous & unrighteous (cf. Matthew 5: 45). But HIS love for the unrighteous and the evil is only to offer their earthly provisions. Thus God’s love for the unrighteous and evil is within the perspective of their earthly living.

The unrepentant and unbelieving unrighteous man will remain in a perpetual state of evil, and so will not taste God’s provision of heaven (cf. John 3: 16 et al.). The Bible states that only the pure can ascend the eternal dwelling place of the Lord (Psalm 24: 3). Since all men are inherently evil (Job 15: 14; Proverbs 20: 9; Romans 3: 10), none can claim purity to gain heaven. To overcome this predicament, the perfect and sinless Christ sacrificed HIMSELF for the sake of the sinful mankind, so only those who BELIEVE in Christ would gain eternal life. Belief in God is mandatory to receiving the eternal benefits of God’s love. Thus, we observe another condition to God’s love, namely belief in HIM.

Although God loves men unconditionally that HE sacrificed HIMSELF to save them of their sins, God requires that man believe HIM, so to receive and enjoy HIS eternal provision of love. Without belief in God, man cannot receive all the benefits of God’s love, he can only receive some.

The Bible applies God’s love for man to the human marriage paradigm. The marriage between a man and a woman is analogous to the relationship between Christ and the church. Christ is analogous to the husband, and the church is analogous to the wife (Ephesians 5: 22-33).

Let’s pause for a moment to think through the starting point for the relationship between Christ and HIS body – the church. The church is a congregation of believers of the Lord - those who believe in Christ. If a man disbelieves in Christ, he is not part of the church. Hence, “belief” is a mandatory condition or the starting point in the relationship between Christ and HIS church.

The theology of God’s love is when man believes in God, he receives the benefits of both temporal (the needs of this world) and eternal provision (eternal coexistence with God in heaven) of God’s love for him. When man refuses to believe in God, he receives only the temporal provision of God’s love for him; he does not receive the eternal provision.

Significantly, when man believes in God, he begins to coexist with HIM (or remain in HIM – John 15). When man refuses to believe in God, he cannot coexist with HIM.

Thus the corollaries of ‘belief in man’s love for God’ are:

(1) Man cannot coexist with God without believing in HIM – belief in God is mandatory for coexistence with HIM.

(2) Without belief in God, man cannot receive the unmitigated expressions (temporal and eternal) of God’s love.

Applying this theology into the marriage paradigm fetches us similar conclusions to assert the importance of belief in a marriage to open the floodgates of love:

(1) If the partners of christian marriage believe in each other, their coexistence would be abundantly fruitful and peaceful. If one or both the partners of a marriage covenant fail to believe / trust each other, the marriage would crumble – coexistence of the partners will cease at a point in time, unless there is a divine intervention to effect a transformation – to reclaim the lost belief.

(2) If belief is existent in marriage, the partners would enjoy the total love of each other, and the unmitigated expressions of their love. If unbelief is existent in a marriage, then love, at best, would be partial. Half-baked love is a painfully conditional love, so love need not exist in a marriage where one partner does not believe the other.

Finally, I submit that God’s love is unconditional from God’s perspective, for HE has done everything, through the one-time sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, for a man to love, enjoy and live with HIM forever.

What about the condition of love to hate evil? There is no evil in God, so God and Satan are opposing entities. God only proposes good to all, but Satan disposes good to propose evil to all. Hence, God and Satan mutually exclude each other. If we are with God, we cannot be with Satan, and vice versa. Hence, hating evil / sin need not be construed as a condition but as a voluntary abandonment of evil, which is nonexistent in God and detested by HIM.

Is belief in God a condition to love God? Yes, belief in God is a condition to love God totally and to coexist with HIM unto eternity. One cannot escape this fact. Without believing God, man cannot love HIM. A wife cannot love her husband if she does not believe him and vice versa. If belief is mandatory to love, then for man to receive the unmitigated expressions of God’s love, is conditional upon his belief in God. Thus, God’s love is NOT unconditional from man’s perspective. (Man cannot love and eternally coexist with God without belief in HIM.)

In a friendly relationship, love can exist without or with partial existence of belief. But this love, at best, will only be superficial. Deep and long lasting friendships / relationships will only be a reality if there is strong mutual belief. Conversely, if belief in a relationship takes a beating, then the relationship is bound to dilute or crumble.

Thus, love is dependent on belief. Love cannot exist independent of belief. The greater the belief, the greater the love, and vice versa.

I pray that you and I will believe in the one God who gave us life through Jesus Christ to live with HIM unto eternity and love HIM with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. I also pray that in our human relationships, we will do our best, by the power of the blessed Holy Spirit, to believe our spouse /neighbor, so to establish strong and healthy relationships where godly love will reign supreme. Amen. 

Being on Fire for the Lord

“Why am I not on fire for the Lord?” This cry of the heart makes room for introspection and spiritual growth. This is a cry that longs for more of God. But it is better to ask this question, than not realizing that we are to be on fire to serve the Lord.

Although we question our ineffectiveness in God’s kingdom, we should realize that by virtue of our belief, we are safe and secure in God’s presence, and that none can snatch us from HIS hand. We should plead with God to strengthen us, for spiritual growth is a process, not a onetime experience. This is a recap of the previous blog.

We suffer from comparisons! One reason we question our ineffectiveness, is due to the magnificent testimonies we hear of our brothers and sisters in Christ. These could be about experiencing God’s power through deliverance, healing, or other material blessings. Another reason is that we see others actively working in HIS vineyard, and our lives only seem mundane in comparison. Some of us may lead hectic lives where we would not have the time to serve God and HIS people through various ministries in church. This is fairly normal! However, it is wiser to introspect instead of succumbing to comparisons.

There are two sides to “being on fire for the Lord.”Consider the words of Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcey, “Gordon Allport, the great psychologist of religion, drew a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic religion. Extrinsically religious people use religion for external purposes, like the politician who attends church to gain respectability or the person who prays for purely material benefits. But intrinsically religious people serve God without ulterior motive: They pray in order to commune with HIM and understand HIS truth; they give without any utilitarian calculation.” ¹

The Sermon on the Mount magnifies the heart of a man into a greater perspective in his relationship with God. Man cannot please God externally. Man’s external actions are a result of his heart’s disposition (Luke 6: 45b). Although man’s external actions are an outpouring of his internal being, some could fake an external without a truthful heart.

So there ought to be an intrinsic and an extrinsic fire. Intrinsic fire is to be on fire for the Lord from within our hearts. We are on fire when we possess: a deeper fellowship with God and a greater joy in intrinsic worship (not only inside the church, but significantly, outside the church). Extrinsic fire is in serving God and HIS people through the effective use of our spiritual gifts. (You could refer to my previous blog "Miraculously Blinded Church" for the list of spiritual gifts.) It is immaterial if one serves God from the forefront or from the background. Conventionally, extrinsic fire would manifest through:

·         Public prayers or attending prayer meetings.

·         Preaching / teaching biblical truths or attending bible studies.

·         Serving the underprivileged.

·         Defending our faith.

·         Use of our spiritual gifts.

However, those with deep intrinsic fire need not necessarily manifest an abundance of an extrinsic fire due to the complexities of their life. We need not be concerned about those whose difficult life situations deny them the privilege of serving in God’s kingdom through the church ministries, especially when their intrinsic love for God is stable and growing. There will come a time in their life when they can serve God through the local church.

In my opinion, intrinsic fire is more foundational to a successful Christian life than the extrinsic. If love for God, in our heart, decreases, then our separation from HIM increases. This situation should be overcome through prayer (and fasting) – pleading for God’s power to strengthen us to draw closer to HIM.

Conventionally, we are aware that to be on fire for the Lord is to possess:

·         …an immense desire for HIM (Psalm 73:25).

·         …an enormous love to know more of God through the Bible (Deuteronomy 6: 5-9).

·         …a sacrificial heart to obey the Lord and HIS commands (Romans 6: 16-18).

·         … a growing and an unshakeable faith and hope in HIM despite life’s situations (Romans 15: 13; Ephesians 6: 16 - ESV)

·         …a fullness of Joy (Psalm 16:11).This is not a constant joy for there will be times of pain and other responsibilities in this fallen world.

·         …a loving responsibility for our fellow brothers and sisters (Mark 12: 31).

In other words, to be on fire for the Lord is to live a life of constant worship of the living God. There could be ups (joy, without problems in life) and downs (pain) in one’s spiritual life, but the glorious truth is that we can win spiritual victories by the power of our Lord. Thus although the ‘low’ could be a momentary constant, that “low” will be perceived a ‘high,’ by the grace and power of our Lord, when we seek HIM with all our heart (cf. 1 Peter 1:6).

I submit an unconventional conclusion without corroding the conventional understanding. Looking into the church of Jesus Christ, we will observe Christians professing their greatness in the Lord. They are those who verbalize and vocalize their spiritual achievements (e.g. “25 people were baptized yesterday by me,” “I preached an anointed sermon,” “the prayer meeting I was a part of was so anointed” etc.). I do not think an anointed sermon, a powerful prayer, or an active service to the underprivileged, are sole manifestations of being on fire for the Lord.

Consider the gospels where the Lord emphasizes on the fruit the disciples ought to bear (Matthew 7:15-23; Luke 6: 43, 44). Let the passage on love also be in the backdrop of our minds (1 Corinthians 12: 31b-13). The “beatitudes” (Matthew 5: 3-12) and the “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5: 22-23) are the foundations to the existential excellence of a Christian life. This is where I find the essence of being on fire for the Lord. We are on fire for the Lord if we adhere to the commentary of these sections that is found below:

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith;

if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach;

if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12: 3-21, NIV).

Amen.

  

References:

¹ Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey, How Now Shall We Live? p314.

Am I on Fire for the Lord? (Our Christian Identity)

At some point, these questions may have crept into our hearts: “How can I be on fire for the Lord, when I vacillate between hot and cold?” “I was excited when I gave my life to the Lord and felt I was on a spiritual high; I was constantly adoring and worshiping God. After a while, I felt my heart grow cold….” “Sometimes I feel I am on a spiritual high, and often I feel as if I am on a spiritual low.” Some of us may wonder why we at times read the Bible and pray earnestly, but slowly and eventually cease our Bible reading and praying. A [seemingly] defeated heart cries: “God’s sick of me. I can never be right enough for HIM. Even though I assert myself to make it right the next time, I fail once again. Why do I even go to the lengths of trying harder? I am disgusted with myself.”

“Who am I in Christ?” is the foundational cry of the believer’s heart in this context. The other foundational cry is, “Is God pleased with me despite my failures?” We question ourselves and seek God’s mind about us.

These are honest questions of a believer, but blame not the questioner for asking the question. This is an existential dilemma experienced by many. Let us realize that these questions are not an aberration but more or less common. Significantly, we must acknowledge our need to overcome this problem.

We should realize that our relationship with Christ will grow and mature into an unshakeable faith and love in HIM. Growth in faith and love is a process similar to a baby learning to walk. Crawling is the first step to walking, and then the baby walks with a support. After a while the baby walks without an aid but does fall. Slowly the baby gains strength in legs, the needed balance, and the confidence to walk steadily. Until this moment, walking is an intentional event in the life of this child. When the baby grows, walking transforms from an intentional to a default event. Similarly, we are growing in holiness in Christ.

Possessing the faith of the stalwarts in the Bible - Apostle Paul, the disciples, the faith hall of famers (Cf. Hebrews 11) - is an ongoing process. This is not an aberration but a part of our Christian growth. The failures and successes of Apostle Peter and other biblical stalwarts are well documented to encourage a growing Christian. Peter grew through his failures to what he became to be – a rock on which the church is built (Matthew 16:18).

The questions mentioned earlier suspect our position in Christ. We doubt who we are in Christ, and thus doubt exists in a believer’s life. Please listen to Os Guinness, “Picture a small boy frustrated with a jigsaw puzzle because he is certain that the pieces do not fit the picture on the box. We are like this when we doubt…But shake the pieces up a little, rearrange the one or two that we have put in the wrong place and everything changes. It is not the fault of the puzzle or the picture but the boy.”¹When we doubt ourselves, the temptation is to blame and mutilate oneself. “Oh I am unable to solve the puzzle, I am a fool!” could be the cry of the heart. This is not a remedy. The effective remedy is to seek help to complete the puzzle. We should acknowledge our inward need to be strengthened in God’s presence. The cry of our heart should be, “I need God’s wisdom, confidence and strength.”

Just as a sick man visits the doctor, we ought to take our weakness to our Heavenly Father. Os Guinness says, “Any unresolved doubt will tend to thrust us away from God, but our experience of his resolving our previous doubts should encourage us to come nearer. The first reaction of our hearts should echo William Cowper’s prayer, “Decide this doubt for me.””²

The questions we pose in search for answers do not eliminate us from God’s presence. God understands human heart better than man himself (1 John 3: 20; Romans 8: 26-28 - The Message). God’s grace and love for a believer is the believer’s assurance that he will not be rejected from God’s presence on account of these honest questions. Christ said it is impossible for anyone to snatch a believer from HIS hand (John 10: 28). So even as we acknowledge the need for strengthening, let us be assured that we remain to be the children of the living God. We are God’s own, so we will take our questions to the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2, NASB). Os Guinness quotes Martin Luther’s prayer, which is very apt for this situation:

“Dear Lord,

Although, I am sure of my position,

I am unable to sustain it without Thee.

Help Thou me, or I am lost.”³

When in doubt, run to God. This song was originally sung in Tamil (one of the languages of the Indian subcontinent, and my native language). It reflects the heart of a believer who seeks God. May it be your prayer as well.

In my prayer I seek you (எந்தன் ஜெப வேளை உமை தேடி வந்தேன்) ⁴

In my prayer I seek you, LORD

Be gracious upon me – for

You are my fortress and refuge

I come seeking you, LORD!

Give me the grace to -

Interact with you always, Lord!

To listen to Your Word,

All through my life.

All through my life, LORD

I would be seated at your feet;

Listen to the tearful prayers,

Oh stream of Mercy!

I pray you may deliver all those

Who are in darkness and hopeless

Save us Oh my Jesus

Fervently we pray

Give me the spirit of intercession

To pray tirelessly

Remove all obstacles - for

I have come at the foot of the Cross.

We love the verse from the Bible that says we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2: 8-9). But let us also be equally aware of the verses preceding this verse. When God saved us, HE raised us up with Christ, and seated us with HIM in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6, NIV). A believer in Christ is seated with God in Christ in the heavenly realms. This is pivotal to the cognizance of our Christian identity. It is impossible for anyone to snatch a believer of Christ from God’s presence. If we desire to be on fire for the Lord always, we need to know and believe in this crucial truth.

I hope to conclude this theme in my next blog, but in the meantime may these verses strengthen you:

“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And My servant whom I have chosen,

So that you may know and believe Me

And understand that I am He.

Before Me there was no God formed,

And there will be none after Me.

“I, even I, am the Lord,

And there is no savior besides Me.

“It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed,

And there was no strange god among you;

So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord,

“And I am God.

“Even from eternity I am He,

And there is none who can deliver out of My hand;

I act and who can reverse it?” (Isaiah 43: 10-13, NASB)

We are God’s own and HE will bless us. Amen.

References:

¹ Os Guinness, God in the Dark, p215. 

² Ibid., 216.

³ Ibid.

⁴ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CthmBCOJRGg