The Gospel of "God's Love"
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth..." I Corinthians 13:4-8a
Much is done in the name of "love", and yet many of it has no basis in "love" at all. Love perhaps is one of the most distorted words in the human language, used to support & justify the most debase, selfish, and unloving things.
For me personally, nothing is more nauseating than to hear professing Christians championing a "God of love" by defining "love" in ways which are the antithesis of who God is. Why? Because we have no right to define God according to our own understandings. If God is love - and He is - then He alone can define what love is.
I briefly wrote on this by citing various Scriptures which might appear to be downright unloving to some, but were nonetheless acts of our Lord Jesus Christ. The very words of Scripture - which reveal to us the character of God - convict us about a human perspective of "love". What we need is a divine revelation of who God is. Only then can we say that "God is love" and understand what that really means.
Love is not primarily a feeling, it is action that lines up with the righteousness of God. Love is not defined by how it makes us feel, but how it aligns with the truths of God. Remember above in I Corinthians 13, love rejoices not in iniquity but rejoices in truth. Love = God's Truth. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. As soon as we separate "love" from God's truth, we have perverted it.
If your definition of "love" leads you to accept what God says is unacceptable, then you are serving a false god! If your view of "love" allows you to do what God says must not be done, then you are not motivated by love. If your understanding of "love" makes it okay to deny God's word, then you are promoting a lie.
Isn't God's love unconditional? Isn't it nonjudgmental? If God is love, why are so many suffering? How could a God of love send anybody to Hell? What about John 3:16? Doesn't that prove that God loves everyone?
The video below captures a teaching from Minister David Pawson given on August 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. In it, he answers the above questions and many more by looking to the Scriptures to define God's revelation of "love" and the nature of the true Gospel.
I THANK GOD! for giving me ears to hear! This was a revelation for me. Like most people I had the misconception of what God's "love" (God is love) really was, and for that reason, life was harder for me than it should have been. Something that I've always battled with--hearing people talk about "God is love" and if he is love why do certain things happen. People would say these things to me all the time to try to discredit the Father and I was like, "no". But after hearing this, I was truly blessed and I thank the Lord! As you mentioned in your post Ainesis, and I believe you to be absolutely right, If God is love, then we have no right to define God according to our own understandings. I really enjoyed what Minister Pawson said, when he said (correct me if I'm wrong, I'm commenting the day after lol) he could be sure that "Everything the Lord does is right!" A lot of people don't understand (and they can't because God's ways are so much higher than ours how can we?) why things happen or what not but, as true Christians, we can be sure that whatever the reason, it was the right reason because God doesn't do wrong. He's a God of righteousness and it's not in him to make mistakes or error! It's all according to his perfect will. It’s really sad to see people sit up and attack God for things they don't understand or that they don't like. That ties into your post "'Me' Runs Deep," people being selfish and blinded by their selfishness. Minster Pawson when mentioning the places where God's Love is spoken of in the Bible--every place that love was mentioned in the Bible, it was spoken of amongst believes, not the nonbelievers. He then backed it with Matthew 7:6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces." This was another revelation to me because I've read this verse several times but I never really grasped the concept of it until now. Something so precious like love should not be thrown to pigs or tossed to dogs because of the fact that people will take it and make it dirty. I liked how he was taking the words for example like "good"--words that were used in reverence to God and how people use them for just about anything and now to use those words in reverence to God now, that would be like an insult. A lot of the message he spoke of was great and I could comment all day but, nonetheless, I'm thankful for hearing this, because when people know better, they should do better!
ReplyDeleteOh, one more thing Ainesis, I wanted to share this with you. I was visiting a church around the corner from where I live, and I asked the pastor whom I thought was very knowledgeable of the Word of God some difficult questions. One of the questions in particularly was the one about a woman being silent in church. I did a blog on it, but anyway, in his support of what he thought, he said "We have to remember that the Bible was written by 'men' and so we can't be absolutely be sure of what is written and the times were different back then so things changed." (If the Bible is the Word of God, then his Word would hold to the same statue as Hebrews 13:8, Numbers 23:19, and Matthew 5:18, please correct me if I'm wrong.) I mentioned 2 Timothy 3:16 and he still stuck with his answer after a brief pause. I was shocked! I find a lot of serious flaws in a lot of the Churches I attend, but that’s another story. But also if the times so called "changed" then why does Luke the same things that were going on in Noah's time will be going on when the Son of Man is revealed? Luke 17:20-37. To me, that sounds like things are still the same so I can't see how because times changed so did God and or his Word changed. How did times change so much that God’s Word is no longer valid?
ReplyDeleteIf you don't mind, next time you have some free time, I would like to read your thoughts and opinions on it and my post entitled "A Silent Woman." Thanks!
(Also, you don't have to post the last part that was written to you I didn't see a link on the page to send you an e-mail)
Hi Estes,
ReplyDeleteI too was thankful that Min. Pawson did this message. I get such questions all the time and it is clear in those discussions that such people are serving "another Jesus" because they define Him apart from His word.
One point I felt was interesting about his sermon was that he doesn't focus on the debate of whether God loves everyone, but on why this was never used as part of the preaching of the Gospel. As you recalled, that is because someone who is not saved cannot have a proper understanding of who God is and by default what love is. Therefore such a message can only serve to give them the false assurance that they can remain as they are: in sin.
The text on women being silent has caused a lot of confusion for some it seems. I addressed this in a piece I did on Deborah (http://thelatterdays.blogspot.com/2009/04/dont-forget-deborah-part-i.html. It really has to do more with usurping Godly authority and not being mute. I will certainly try to get over to read your thoughts in this area.
I pray that you are doing well!
Thank you for this message, Mia. It was much needed. Wow! I learned something new today, added another man of God to my list of sermons, and also purchased his book. I look forward to its receipt and thank God for using you as a vessel to open my eyes over the years in various areas.
Deletei listened to the entire message and this is one thing i'm going to have to borrow~ "the gospel is good news to bad people, but bad news to "good" people". amen and praise God! thank you for posting.
ReplyDeletejoyful saint
God had to show me, How can we Love anyone if we are not in line with our Heavenly Father,Jesus Christ.
ReplyDeleteGOD IS LOVE!
Amen to this Post :)