Unconditional Love
I feel like Christendom, overall, is pretty good about explaining God’s unconditional love, EXCEPT, it appears to me they stop at the next question, which is, “Must we also unconditionally love God in return on the matter of salvation?”
So, many do think that God’s love is conditional. After all, you can’t find anywhere in the word of God where this is directly declared. Concerning the conditions of love, we will tackle today, whether God’s love is conditional or unconditional. Concerning the incomplete explanation for unconditional love, well, let’s begin with a question they might have, relating to the modern explanation of God’s unconditional love.
Is it REALLY true that God’s love for me comes with no preconditions?
Rom 5:6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Rom 5:7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
We can’t earn God’s love, because He’s always loved His human creation. But, a student of the Bible might interject, didn’t Paul tell us in Romans that God hated Esau? Does this mean God’s love is, therefore, conditional if He can also hate a person?
Rom 9:12 it was said to her, "THE OLDER SHALL SERVE THE YOUNGER."
Rom 9:13 As it is written, "JACOB I HAVE LOVED, BUT ESAU I HAVE HATED."
This is a somewhat complicated text on its face, but Paul is referencing from the Book of Malachi, which reads…
Mal 1:2 "I have loved you," says the LORD. "Yet you say, 'In what way have You loved us?' Was not Esau Jacob's brother?" Says the LORD. "Yet Jacob I have loved;
Mal 1:3 But Esau I have hated, And laid waste his mountains and his heritage For the jackals of the wilderness."
First, this reference to love and hate is actually including the nations born from Jacob and Esau, but we still have the matter of love and hate as the subject of this situation.
Returning to Romans…
Rom 9:14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!
Rom 9:15 For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOMEVER I WILL HAVE COMPASSION."
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.
Returning to the brothers, we need to remember that God chose Jacob over Esau before they were even born, and in these verses we find a more clear statement relating to God’s actions, being about God’s provided Mercy and Compassion.
Gen 25:21 Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
Gen 25:22 But the children struggled together within her; and she said, "If all is well, why am I like this?" So she went to inquire of the LORD.
Gen 25:23 And the LORD said to her: "Two nations are in your womb, Two peoples shall be separated from your body; One people shall be stronger than the other, And the older shall serve the younger."
Gen 25:24 So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.
Gen 25:25 And the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all over; so they called his name Esau.
Gen 25:26 Afterward his brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel; so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
This is where we need to appreciate the circumstances. God did not choose to reject Esau forever. Him choosing Jacob was part of the plan, a huge plan, which involves a number of temporary events to set the stage for the salvation of ALL mankind. Even in the age of Christianity, God is choosing to whom He will show mercy and compassion, for He is not calling everyone right now. This appearance of neglect of the majority could be seen by us as God’s hatred, but it is not hatred. It is simply grace and compassion given to the firstfruits of our time.
Our Father called us not because we are better people than other people, and we may not even measure up, for that matter, if compared to other people in the world.
1Co 1:26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
1Co 1:27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
1Co 1:28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
1Co 1:29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
So God has definitely shown us His mercy and compassion in spite of our sins and weaknesses. In 1 John, we see that extrapolate to the love of the Father.
1Jn 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
By God’s mercy and compassion, He draws us to Him so that we might choose repentance, forgiveness and sonship. Meanwhile, those He has not YET showed mercy and compassion do not recognize us as children of God, since they have no foundation in knowing God in the first place. We need to remember where hate and despising is borne in the realm of God and man, because it’s not from God.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
So, the complexity of God’s pure, unconditional love requires we see how He has worked in the history of man. Whether Jesus was being kind to a child, giving His attention to a Samaritan woman, or healing a stranger; whether the LORD was selecting in advance one brother over another to receive the promises to Abraham; whether the Father was selecting Christians to call while appearing to ignore the world; we must conclude that all the many behaviors of God throughout history define His pure and complete love of mankind, regardless of whether or not we love Him. His love for us does not require that we love Him. God’s love is unconditional.
So, God does not require us to love Him for Him to love us, but, unfortunately, for mainstream Christendom, thinking past that conclusion seems to become somewhat muddled. We don’t want to be muddled in our understanding of the Covenant God has made with us, for a covenant requires both parties to agree to that covenant.
What is OUR solution to this better understanding that God IS love? Do we go around saying we can do no wrong in God’s eyes, because He loves us, and we say we love Him? After all, aren’t we His children, brethren? Well, because He does love us, He chastises His children when we misbehave.
Heb 12:5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: "MY SON, DO NOT DESPISE THE CHASTENING OF THE LORD, NOR BE DISCOURAGED WHEN YOU ARE REBUKED BY HIM;
Heb 12:6 FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS, AND SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."
Heb 12:7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
Heb 12:8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
We can even apply this to Jacob and Esau. Without God’s favor on Esau, Esau was not in a relationship with God and would not endure chastening.
Jesus also clearly defines for us what proves to Him that we love Him.
Jhn 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.
Jhn 14:21 He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."
Let us recall the favor shown first to Jacob over Esau, declared while they were in the womb, then extrapolated to their generations, for it is there where God bestowed His grace and favor upon Jacob and his descendants. We know that Esau and his generations will be raised again to flesh in a great resurrection, when the God who loved them all along will also extend His grace and compassion toward them. He will bring them back to LIFE!
The dry bones prophecy of Ezekiel 37 is a great prophecy for seeing clearly how God will raise the dead during that great judgment period, but it only seems directed to Israel. We have to go to Revelation to see that it applies to all of the dead.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
Rev 20:13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
Just as there seems to be a gap between Genesis 1:1 & 2, this next verse appears to follow a gap of unwritten events as well.
Ezk 37:10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Ezk 37:11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'
Ezk 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
Ezk 37:13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. (continue…)
Ezk 37:14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.' "
Rev 20:14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Jesus, in the verses we read in the book of John, declared God’s favor to those who love Him and keep His commandments. We who have answered the call have been favored with the gift of God’s Holy Spirit, empowering us to obey and overcome; enlightening our minds and hearts to the workings of the mind and heart of God.
1Jn 3:16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Keurig K-cup story. Empty water bin. Three choices. 1. Do nothing 2. Fill to avoid judgment 3. Fill because you love
We have all sorts of ways to lay down our lives every day, even when we go to the store. And we need to keep in mind Christ’s example, which was, yes, to die for those the Father would call into the body of Christ, but we know also that He died for the “ungodly”, meaning all of mankind, each to receive God’s favor in God’s time.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments.
God’s love is without a doubt unconditional, but salvation, itself, IS conditional, being that we show God our own love returned to His perfect love by obeying God and seeking His righteousness in faith and by works of righteousness (growing and overcoming), the fulfillment of which is to lay down our lives for others.
