Defining God's Love...

Love has been defined as doing what's in the best interest of another, and it doesn't necessitate the presence of emotion or passion but an attitude.  God's love is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom. 5:5) and as believers, we desire to pass it on and express it in a brotherly manner.

The Bible says twice in 1 John 4 (vv. 8, 16) that "God is love."  I might add, "God is love, period."  That is God's essence and what defines Him.  He knows only how to be loving and wants to express it towards a stubborn, rebellious world.  That doesn't mean He doesn't get angry at sin but His love never wavers.  But man confuses this with the expression, "Love is God," which means that as long as love is involved, it's merited and approved by God.  Note that today's New Morality defines anything as right or moral that has a good motive--that one meant well or had the intention of a loving heart.  In God's economy, something is only right if the motive, the method, and the end result or goal is pure and right in God's eyes.

We truly don't limit love to God, for love is part of the image of God He has bestowed on us, but God is the One who delimits what it is.  Love is to be consistent with God's character and essence.  And God defines how we should express our love; for instance, hugs for brotherly love, discipline can be its expression for wrongdoing, and sex the expression of marital love.  There is the natural and unnatural expression of love:  love for children, parents, siblings, friends, and others not having sexual relations with is natural; however when there is pedophilia or lust of any kind, which is unnatural desire, it's not an appropriate expression of love.

Homosexuals believe they have a right to express their love their own way; however, no one has the right to do their own thing--which is the essence of sin. There's nothing wrong when a man loves a man, but when sex is involved it becomes perverted and wrong.  Sex is reserved for the marital state and its fulfillment can only be by God's design.  Any perversion of God's standards is breaking faith with the Designer.  God is no celestial killjoy just trying to stop us from having fun either, but this is for our own good and we are hard-wired this way and can only find true fulfillment and meaning following God's will.

We are not to define ourselves or who we are by our sexual identity either.  Saying "I was born this way," or "I am just who I am," or "You must accept me," all are misleading and fail the truth test. They are implying that God made a mistake and made other expressions of sex besides in the marriage of a man and a woman, as Jesus endorsed.  God made man male and female and defined two states of bliss:  marriage and celibacy.  There is no excuse in saying we are born this way because we are all born sinners and must confess and repent of our sins, even heterosexual ones such as adultery and fornication and sexual immorality of any kind.  We cannot say that we just cannot help ourselves any more than a liar saying he cannot help but lie and is therefore justified, or a rapist in raping.

Another thing about transcendent law or objective, moral law is that it never changes:  what Moses said was wrong is still valid and times may change but morals don't in God's economy.  Common law is usually based on historical precedent such as the Bible.  Just because a society has accepted something as moral, doesn't mean God has put His stamp of approval on it when it's condemned in Scripture.  The Bible deals in absolutes and there is no changing His mind on the issues from the giving of the Law.

Such expressions as "love is love," "make love, not war," and "free love" are not biblical and against the Christian worldview that love is a gift of God to be cherished and nurtured in the state of matrimony in its sexual expression.  We wouldn't have known love had not God sent His Son and the point is that we didn't love Him but He loved us!  If we love not we know not God for God is love and He who loves fulfills the law for there is no law against love.

We must never accuse God or the Bible of being wrong and leave the applications and definitions of love to man.  The Bible was not written by merely fallible authors but was God-breathed or inspired by God.  People think they are in a position to judge God, but don't realize that on Judgment Day they will be the ones judged by God. We are not His judge, He is our judge!   In sum, to oppose God's definition of love is a form of hatred, and should be called a hate crime; i.e., not to oppose man's convention, traditions, or laws; God's not against love, just how it's expressed within the boundaries and rules He has made.       Soli Deo Gloria!

Oh, Theophilus (Lover Of God)!

Jesus said that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.  Our love is contingent upon obedience, not feeling or maudlin sentimentality, which can fluctuate like a weather vane in a whirlwind.   Some believers are more demonstrative than others, while some timid or inhibited believers are sometimes stoical, even with secular matters they show restraint at showing motion publicly--they may be too self-conscious or don't want people to notice them or deflect attention off Christ.  The focus of our worship and love should be Christ and not how we express it--there is a no-size-fits-all way to worship!  We're all hard-wired uniquely to complement the body!

The measure of faith is our obedience and its only yardstick. "Only he who believes is obedient; only he who is obedient believes" (Bonhoeffer).  Love is not merely a sentiment or getting a spiritual high or intoxication on Jesus--though it may be a preoccupation!  We don't walk in the glow of some religious experience all our lives. It's not about walking on Cloud Nine all day!  We have to have our valleys to test our faith, as God withdrew from Hezekiah to see what was really on his heart (2 Chron. 32:3not 1).

God wants to know how we will act by faith, not feeling!  (not paying "lip service," Isa. 29:13; Jer. 12:2).   For we walk by faith, not by sight! (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17).  It is faith that pleases God (cf. Heb. 11:6)--He will not say to us, "How great awesome your feelings!"  Some people just have no control over their feelings and give full vent to them regardless of them being good or bad.  Jesus commended the Canaanite woman for her faith!  The Roman centurion was also commended for his faith!

What does it mean then to love God with all our hearts?  It means all that we are:  our wills or volition; our emotion or sentiment; and, of course, our intellect or mind.  Everyone seems to be strong in some areas and weak in others--for we all fall short and are works in progress.  The point is that we are sincere in our love and worship and don't feign love or try to be someone or something we are not to impress others.

Our faith isn't how much we believe, but how well we obey.   Our obedience is measured by how we love with our volition and submit to God's will; our emotions may be expressed by outbursts and feelings shared with others, and loving with our intellect measured by how we use or don't use our God-given brains and talents.  We cannot say that someone is an intellectual and is just wired that way to be insensitive and impassive in other ways, no more than we can say one is emotive and foolish and reckless in expression.

We must seek to love God with our full and complete personality--all that we are and strive to be in Christ (OUR SOUL, MAKEUP, OR PERSONHOOD--WHAT DEFINES US!).  That's why Scripture says to love God with all our soul, all our mind, all our strength, and all our heart!  That just about covers all the bases and shows that we all have room for improvement and growth, for God isn't finished with us yet and we all must enroll in His school of love!

Christians are in love with Jesus (not just the idea of Jesus) and He is the Great Lover of our soul, who loves us for who we are and accepts us with baggage, flaws, and blemishes, and all!   The believer's walk is a romance with God and we grow in our love by means of obedience and communion or fellowship on a daily basis.

We are to grow in our love of the Lord and it's a thrill meant to last a lifetime.  All believers have a different strong suit or forte of how they express their love for God--we might do it through our spiritual gift and in our service to Christ either in our mission to the unsaved or in ministry to the body.  At the Bema of Christ, we all await the final verdict:  "Well done, thou good and faithful servant!"  And we must never divorce faith and faithfulness!

The important lesson to glean is that we should never compare ourselves to others and get jealous of their gift or abilities, talents, responsibilities, or opportunities.  There are two common errors in the body:  gift projection, whereby we expect others to be like us; and gift envy, whereby we wish we had someone else's gift--we will all be judged individually and personally!  CAVEAT:  Don't let someone belittle your gift!   Christians are lovers in essence and what the world needs is more Christian love (our primary gift), according to Bertrand Russell, British mathematician, and an atheist philosopher.

Christ didn't found an empire on war or the sword, but by being the Emperor of Love, according to Napoleon Bonaparte.  NB:  Christ never asks us to do anything He didn't do--He gave all for us and we must return the favor by denying ourselves, taking up our cross, and following Him, as our expression of love.  The expression of love is self-sacrifice, the opposite of being selfish and living for oneself--love gives of oneself sacrificially!  Remember who gave the ultimate sacrifice for us--His all!

A measure of our love for God can be seen in how we love our neighbor and especially the brethren too!   This is love in action and love applied!   He who loves another has fulfilled the law, according to Romans 13:8.  "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command:  "Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Gal. 5:14, NIV).  "Love does no harm to a neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law" (Rom. 13:10, NIV).  We have no right to claim a love of God if we do not love one another, for love is the fruit of the Spirit in all believers, which is shed abroad in our hearts (cf. Rom. 5:5).  The institution of matrimony is meant to be the image of Christ's love for the church and this is one vehicle for learning and applying the love we experience in Christ.  Soli Deo Gloria!

"Many Waters Cannot Quench Love" (Compare SOS 8:7, KJV)

"This is how we have come to know love:  He laid down His life for us..." (1 John 3:16, HCSB).
"God's love was revealed among us in this way:  God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:9, HCSB).
"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits"  (Psalm 103:2, ESV).
"What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?" (Psalm 116:12, ESV).
"I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11, HCSB).

When we survey the cross of Christ we see the unbounded, unrestricted love of Christ to the max, both human and divine intermingled, cooperative, and coexisting to full expression.  Oh, to know the love of God manifest in sending His Son:  "to know this love that surpasses understanding" (Eph. 3:19, NIV).  The concept of God's love must be seen in light of the fact that Jesus laid down His life for us, and it was not only sacrificial but generous.  God truly offers His love to a wayward world (cf. Titus 2:11) through the substitutionary death of His Son on the cross.  While we were enemies, He died for us (cf. Rom. 5:8)!

We often think that we merit God's love, but we don't and we are unworthy. The more unworthy our self-appraisal, the closer we are to God.  It is said that "love that reaches up is worship, love that extends outward is affection, but love that stoops is grace" and God condescended to us in reaching out and down to us when we didn't deserve it.  We have no claim on God's love and friendship, yet He offers it freely.  It is free, but not cheap!  God expects us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices; i.e., living our lives to His glory and service.  We must surrender to God's love, and the refusal of the love of God is the epitome of Sin, according to Karl Menninger, M.D.

When we resist God's love, we become callous or hardened in our souls and insensitive to His ministry in our hearts and cannot love others: God wants to love others through us!   The extent of God's love is demonstrated by all the people He can reach through us--no ethnicity, category, or class of man is excluded.  In this day and age politics plays a vital role in our social life and we must realize that God loves Democrats as well as Republicans, even if they are wrong--God doesn't love us because we are right or moral or decent, respectable and distinguished citizens who have achieved the American dream, God loves the have-nots as well as the haves; the proletariat as well as the bourgeoisie!

Financial prosperity is not the litmus test of God's love and approval--the wicked also prospers, if they are wise and play by the rules.  But we believers must realize that our reward is not in this life and the unbeliever's reward ["portion" in ESV] is in this life (cf. Psalm 17:14).  Prosperity theology, or that God guarantees and promises financial gain as a result of piety is heresy, and we are not to think of godliness as a means of gain in this life (cf. 1 Tim. 6:5).  "But godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Tim. 6:6, NIV).

The uniqueness of God's love is that we cannot escape it: no matter where we go it follows us; angels and demons cannot separate us from it; the stars have no power over us; death and hell cannot divide us from it; we ourselves cannot outlast it or negate its power over us.  The Hound of Heaven chases us down and dogs us till He finds us!  God is in love with us and is determined to express it through Jesus living in us!

We can find out for ourselves by experience as we know the love of God (2 Cor. 13:14).  The proof is in the pudding and we are challenged to invite Christ into our hearts so we can know it for ourselves.  Indeed, the love of God is shed into our hearts according to Rom. 5:5.  The primary fruit of the Spirit is love (cf. Gal. 5:22), and the "only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love" (cf. Gal. 5:6, NIV). The point is not that we loved God, but that He loved us and "we love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).  That's why Karl Barth was asked what was the most profound truth in Scripture:  "Jesus loves me!"

God's love must be seen characteristically and can be qualified:  it's universal, in that it applies to all without discrimination, favoritism, or partiality--God is no respecter of persons; it's gracious, in that we don't deserve it, can't earn it, nor ever be able to pay it back; it's sacrificial, in that it cost Christ His death on the cross on our behalf; and it's beneficial, in that we receive multifold bounties and blessings by virtue of being reconciled to God and recipients of the love, that has fringe benefits or perks--it pays to know God!  The wonderful news is that God loves us despite ourselves, and knew all about us before we were born, so He is never surprised by our behavior and can love us eternally--God loves us anyway.

Realizing our unworthiness and being grateful for God's love is the first step to finding God in Christ through the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross by virtue of grace via a personal exercise of faith in the person and work of God's Son.  In effect, at the crucifixion, Christ was reaching out His hands and saying, "This is how much I love you!"  It was not the nails that kept Him on the cross, but His eternal love!  And this is the crux of the matter:  Once you've experienced it, you want to pass it on! God saves us to be in turn a blessing (cf. Zech. 8:13)!

In the final analysis, there's no one God cannot love or reach out to through us when He lives in us by the Holy Spirit's anointing. The heart of the matter, it's said, is that its a matter of the heart!  In sum, the essence of God's nature is love, and to know God is to know the love of God; love defines Him and it is written thus: "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16).

   Soli Deo Gloria!

Our God Of Love

"[And] to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God"  (Ephesians 3:19, ESV).

"This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us..." (1 John 3:16, NIV).

"This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10, NLT).

God expressed His love in giving us His Son to die on our behalf--there isn't any greater love than to lay down your life for another.--God did it for us while we were His enemies!  Muslims, on the other hand, deny that God is a God of love, or specifically, that God is love, meaning that the essence of God is love, i.e., His defining attribute.  What do you say to someone who doesn't believe in love? The Word says that he who loves another has fulfilled the law, and we ought to love the brethren like Jesus loved us--sacrificially and faithfully.  Muslims believe that it's okay to hate people and even to murder in the name of Allah--the concept of love being the gift of God is foreign to them and their dogma.

This is how we know we are believers: by the love, we have toward one another, and the New Commandment Jesus gave was to love another like He loved us (cf. John 13:35).  As it is written:  "Herein in love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us!" (Cf. 1 John 4:10).   We cannot limit this love, for Jesus' love is beyond comprehension.--the finite cannot contain the infinite!  The love God showed to us can never be repaid, and we don't deserve it and didn't earn it--that's grace or love that condescends to our level.

This is how we know that we belong to Christ: by love, we have for one another.  Spread the word; the word is love!  Mother Teresa was right:  It doesn't matter what you do, but how much love you put into it!  Even Bertrand Russell, the famed British atheist philosopher-mathematician said,  "... What the world needs is more Christian love."  "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19, NIV).  In fact, we only know what love is because God chose to reveal it in the giving of His Son, who laid down His life for us! (Cf. 1 John 3:16).  What expression of love in the Father calling us His children (cf. 1 John 3:1)!  It's not that we loved God, but that He loved us!

What we know from Scripture is that he who loves knows God--and love is the fruit of the Spirit--in fact the fruit (the other eight winsome graces of Gal. 5:22-23 are just manifestations of love in action).  Once you've experienced the love of God, you want to pass it on!  Just like you cannot disprove God, because it's irrational to prove a universal negative, you cannot prove there is no love in the universe, even if you say you don't believe in love!  Poor souls who've never experienced love and are therefore skeptics!  Love still objectively exists, regardless of whether one agrees with it or not--it just exists! The soul to be pitied is the one that is unloved by his fellow man or who never finds true love in life!  This is the ultimate sign that we are born again:  We have experienced love and know what love is on a personal level, not just second-hand.   The bottom line is that the worst insult one can receive is that the love of the Father does not dwell in him.

God, nevertheless, exists whether we affirm His existence or deny it as unbelievers.  The infidel has blind faith, not the believer because the believer has sound reasons to believe, and not knowing why you don't believe, or having no legitimate reason is blind faith.  There is ample evidence for those willing to do God's will, while there's never enough evidence for the hardened heart and stubborn skeptic. God and love can be distinguished, but not separated, since God is a God of love and God is love.  As Paul says in Gal. 5:6, NIV, "... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Beloved, as John says, "... [Let] us not love [merely] with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth" (1 John 2:18, NIV).  In conclusion, I cannot but recall the cherished song by The Beatles:  "All You Need Is Love."    Soli Deo Gloria!