God's Love Misunderstood (Part 3)

Because love means so many different things to so many different people, it is at risk of losing its meaning altogether. To some, love is a feeling of infatuation, to others it is a willingness to sacrifice, and to others it is an unconditional acceptance of everybody. But how does God define His love?

GOD'S LOVE AND HITLER
To many people (including a majority of Christians), God's love is unconditional. And so according to them, God loves Hitler in the same way that He loves a follower of Christ. But imagine that someone tells a follower of Christ, "God loves you just like he loves Hitler." How is that person to take this 'compliment'? Does this statement bring immense value to God's love or does it cheapen it? And more importantly, is it true? Does this statement accurately represent God's love?

Some would resoundingly say, "YES! God's love is so great that it cannot be fathomed. God loves both believers and Hitler in the same way." They would then quote Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

But is Romans 8:38-39 saying that God's love is limitless toward everybody? I guess the answer lies in the details. Who is the 'US' referring to in the phrase, "[nothing] will be able to separate US from the love of God in Christ Jesus?" Not only this but can someone experience the love of God that is IN CHRIST JESUS if they themselves are not IN CHRIST JESUS?

My take on this passage is that the 'US' is referring to those IN CHRIST JESUS (8:1), who are living according to the Spirit (8:4), and in whom the Spirit lives (8:9-11). In short, you can only experience the love of God that is described here if you are in Christ Jesus. And so because Romans 8:38-39 only applies to those in Christ Jesus, the security of God's love is only available to authentic Christ followers!

So does God NOT love sinners like Hitler? ANSWER: It depends. John 3:16 tells us that God sacrificed for everybody through Jesus to demonstrate His love. In this way, God loved Hitler. But Psalm 5:5 seems to indicate that God hates ALL who do wrong [in the sense that they are defiantly living in rebellion toward God]. In this way, God hated Hitler. This is why John 3:16 also teaches that belief in Jesus is a requirement for eternal life with God [versus perishing apart from God]. And so as we can see, God's love is multifaceted. He sacrificed for all but he does not accept all people.

GOD'S LOVE AND CHRIST FOLLOWERS

So, does God accept ALL people unconditionally who claim to be Christ followers? After all, if nothing can separate Christ followers from God's love in Christ Jesus, can't they just live however they want without putting God's love toward them in jeopardy? NO. Remember that Christ followers by definition have the Spirit of God living in them (8:9-11). If God lives in a person, He will ultimately manifest Himself in that person's life. Think of it this way, if the spirit of Mother Theresa lived in me, don't you think that I would have a desire to feed the poor and a passion to commit my life to issues of social justice? If I didn't, don't you think that it would be legitimate for people to question my claim that I possess her spirit? In the same way, people who do not manifest God in their lives (at all) do not have the Spirit of God living in them. 

And so does God accept ALL people unconditionally who claim to be Christ followers? NO. God's love isn't unconditional even in relation to Christ followers! However, the Spirit of God and the death of Jesus satisfy God's conditions on their behalf. In other words, God's love and grace satisfy His requirements in us! This is the reason nothing can separate us from God's love IN CHRIST JESUS.

CONCLUSION

So why are Christians so hesitant to distance themselves from the idea that God's love is unconditional? SIMPLE. It causes people to question their salvation! And to many, this is an unhealthy insecurity to place in the life of a professing Christian. But the apostle Paul seems to see things differently when he says in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves." Some professing Christians need to examine themselves to make certain that the Spirit of God is truly living in them. This was certainly the case with the church in Corinth.

But there are believers who are carrying with them the weight of guilt from past sins that the Spirit of God and the death of Jesus have conquered. These Christ followers need to embrace the reality of God's love as described in Romans 8:38-39. God wants us to be driven by His love and not burdened by the guilt of our past sins.

And so may God give you the grace you need to conquer sin in your life and live in the security of His love!