The Lord is long-suffering, hoping all men will be saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4).
We embrace that truth, but we aren’t as fond of the “warning” passages.
Romans 1:18-32 describes wicked people and says, “God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity” (24),“God gave them over to shameful lusts” (26), and “God gave them over to a depraved mind” (28).
In 2 Thessalonians 2:5-12, God promises to send “a powerful delusion” to the unrepentant so they believe the lies of the Anti-Christ.
“Popular” Christianity(1) sidesteps these warnings thinking they don’t sound “loving.” But God did not sidestep these warnings, and He loves perfectly.
We cannot judge when someone has reached this point of "giving over," but there are important reasons to warn people that it can happen if they continue in their rebellion against God.
---------------------------
(1) One reason for the trend in Christianity is the popular use of the phrase "unconditional love." It is a description for God's love not found in Scripture because it leads people to believe there are no conditions on God's blessings, salvation, and love. These passages and hundreds of others prove that while God's love can't be earned, and He offers it to all men, He does not strive forever with unrepentant men and women (Genesis 6:3). See "God's Love is Better than Unconditional"
--------------------------
I encourage you to check out the Wisdom for Life Devotional. It contains 100 one-minute devotions to challenge, encourage, instruct, and inspire your love for God's Word. Read the story behind Wisdom for Life HERE. And find out about the two free Bible studies with purchase HERE. You can read the first 4 devotions in the book by clicking "look inside" or "read sample" on Lifeway or Amazon.
I also encourage you to sign up for a free subscription to Bible Love Notes and get a free e-booklet. Find out more HERE.
I really appreciate your posts on this concern. I see a great need for believers to understand the importance of heeding the warnings in scripture. We want everyone to be happy and feel loved, but instead these feel good preachers are leading us to hell.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. A lot of people believe and most often misunderstood about God's unconditional love. God loves us so much that he sacrificed his son to save us. BUT we cannot continue sinning and abuse God's kindness, mercy and grace. God's love is uncontional because we sin, we repent and we are forgiven. God sees our hearts when we repent.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this truth. People seem to forget that while God is living he is also a Just God. He remains faithful to His word and He hates sin. To think of Him as some old grandpa that looks the other way when we sin is so far from the truth. We must repent.
ReplyDeleteGod's love never changes, though sin will keep us from being in "good standing", just as a sinful child continues to be loved by parents but must be punished/face consequences.
ReplyDelete