God is Love

God is love

1 John 4:8 tells us that God is Love. And people love this verse. Don’t get me wrong, so do I, but we need to remember that "love" in the Bible might not align with our idea of the word "love."

I see posts and books and I hear songs and sermons about God being a loving Father. I love those books, I love those songs! They show a characteristic of Yahweh that I am forever grateful for and constantly blessed by. In His compassion, He drew me to Himself, even when I was living a lifestyle that was opposed to Him. Even as I was wandering away from Him and taking His grace in vain, He gave me another chance and changed me. Only a gracious, loving father would take a child back after they repeatedly broke His heart. Only a gracious, loving father can even have his heart broken...but my story of redemption is for another time.

Today, I want to address the danger of viewing God only as a sweet Father. He is a just God, a righteous King. He hates evil. And He will pour out His wrath on those who love what He hates. And since “God is love,” then His righteousness, justice, and discipline are love, along with his compassion, mercy, forgiveness, and tenderness.

1 John also tells us, “the one who says he abides in Him should walk just as He walked” (2:6).

In other words, if we say we are followers of Christ, then we should walk as He walked. And Jesus did NOT walk in sin. John reminds us, “if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1:7). Notice the "if." There are a lot of “if’s” in scripture. I think it would be safe to circle them.

If we are comforted by the verse that says, “God is love” and we let out a sigh and think, Oh good, I can go on with this little sin because God loves me, we are misunderstanding that verse.

The verse is not saying “God is your definition of what love is.” That would be different for each person, each culture, and each generation. And Yahweh does not change.

“God is love” means that God Himself is the very definition of love. And therefore, is the correct definition, and a definition that will never change.

If God is love, then love is righteous, holy, merciful, patient, and long-suffering. Love hates sin and loves justice. Love is infinite, unchanging, powerful, faithful, and every single other aspect of God.

"Love doesn't delight in evil." (1 Corinthians 13:6) God does not accept your sin. He died to free you from the power of sin so you no longer have to be a slave to sin. You are free to walk in righteousness! You are free to walk in the ways that are blessed! (see Deuteronomy 28) Our sins build barriers, they bring more disaster on our physical, emotional, and spiritual lives. They weigh us down and hurt us. They keep us from the life God intends for us. They stifle the voice of the Holy Spirit, who wants to lead us into all truth! So of course our loving Father does not accept sin--that would not be loving towards us at all. Instead He took our punishment, He paid the price, that we no longer have to live under the power of sin. We can choose to accept His payment, to be clothed by HIS righteousness. And when we do sin?

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

We will sin and there is such peace in knowing that Jesus Christ is our propitiation and our advocate! He will forgive us! He wants all of us to walk closely with Him! But as His followers we should clearly not be walking in habitual sin.

“The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him…” ( 1 John 2:4)

Let’s not be foolish. We know full well that if we are making up the definition of love, and living a life contrary to scripture while still calling ourselves “Christians,” and picking some verses to believe and others to discount, we have just created an idol, a false god, and called him “Jesus.” If you made this "Jesus" up, He’s not the same Jesus of the Bible; He’s not the savior and therefore not able to save you from your sins.

We have tried to make God in our image instead of transforming to His. And that's not doing us any favors. We need the real Jesus. We need to walk with Him--in the light--if we expect to be found in Him on the day we see Him face to face.

May we grow in wisdom, understanding, grace, and truth together as we come to know Him more and more. May we walk in His definition of "love", accepting His sacrifice, wearing His righteousness, and never taking His grace in vain. You were bought at a price; He gave Himself for YOU.