Hi, Zane.
23 degrees here—clear and cold again.
I’m happy to report that I was able yesterday to get my mill put back together. It tests positive.—with positive function, that is. I wouldn’t want you to think that it has come down with COVID. Now I need to get on with a lot of lumber production. I’ll be building a warming fire nearby the operation to help cope with the cold. I typically wear thin non-insulated work gloves when running the mill since heavy gloves make it difficult to press buttons and operate the controls. So a warming fire is a great deterrent to frozen fingers.
I hope you can put on your best “thinking cap” (an expression my 2nd grade teacher used often) as you process the message below. I judge this to be an important matter to personally sort out toward building a sound practical theology.
Have a great day. Love and prayers—Tua/Ray.
A few Sundays ago, we attended a church service where the pastor’s message focused on God’s UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. If you have followed some of my views, you will not be surprised at my critical reaction. To be sure, God’s love is wonderfully available to ANYONE. So in that sense it is UNCONDITIONAL—it is available to absolutely any human CONDITION. But in a more literal and practical sense, God’s love is anything but UNCONDITIONAL—because the ANYONE who gets in on His love must be willing to embrace it on His terms—in other words, they must be willing to meet His CONDITIONS in order to get the real lasting benefits of His love. I can find no Biblical support for the implication that all God’s gifts, blessings, and even heaven, are all automatic perks for everyone. So, that church experience became one of the most glaring “feely-feely, feel-good” perversions of the Biblical Gospel—one of the most obvious demonstrations of “sloppy agape” that I have ever witnessed.
So what’s the big important CONDITION that seemed to be totally ignored in that message? How about repentance? How about believing?—believing God enough to obey Him. There are a pile of scriptures we could cite to support this vital truth. But we really need look no further than well-known John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son”—that’s the UNCONDITIONAL part—His love gift is for everyone. But not everyone is willing to line up with His CONDITIONAL provision. “…that whosoever believeth in him…”—there’s the CONDITION. It involves believing—a heart-level life-changing belief. “…should not perish, but have everlasting life.” It’s really quite clear and straight forward—those that meet the CONDITION and truly believe in Jesus and His vicarious work on the cross and embrace Him as their ongoing Master do not perish. Instead they are awarded eternal life. But those who do not meet that essential CONDITION do perish. So how can I get away with insisting that God’s love is truly and technically UNCONDITIONAL?
The description of the early church revival in our FOCUS VERSE sets a very important precedent that speaks to this imbalance. It’s an essential ingredient that resulted in collective peace and positive growth. For the fellowship “…was strengthened and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord”—as opposed to living in the pretense of “sloppy agape.”