GOD’S RIGHTEOUS LOVE (Part II of II)

God’s love is of a quality that is greater than unconditional love. God’s love is a righteous love and it causes one to lay down his life for another, just as He did. God’s love comes with eternal promises, it is a saving love, it definitely was not free, and God’s love certainly has conditions. Wait, God’s love has conditions? That means it’s not unconditional. That’s right. Again, God’s love is a righteous love which greatly supersedes so-called unconditional free love and, yes, God has conditions. In fact, unconditional love is not a Bible term or concept.

In short, the main conditions that God puts on us are that we must love Him and be obedient. Make no mistake, these are serious conditions. In fact, God assures us that we will not have eternal life without them. As a people though, just like with each other, we want God’s full acceptance of the way we are with no strings attached, no responsibility, or accountability on our part. We want blessed assurance that all is well with our soul regardless of how we act, behave, or think. It’s another incidence of crying peace, peace, when there is no peace. Let’s all hold hands, sing Kumbaya, and we’ll all go to heaven.

It’s good to remember that God always loves us; He freely gives His love to us. However, God’s love is righteous and requires our obedient love in response. Our eternal security has more to do with our obedient love for God than it does God’s love for us. We already have God’s love. The only question is the quality of our love for God. The quality of our love for God is certainly a condition that God places on His righteous love. Otherwise, we could all behave the way we want and God’s unconditional love would send everyone to heaven!! It sounds good but it contradicts everything the Bible teaches us about eternity.

It’s important to understand that righteous love greatly supersedes unconditional love. In fact, love without accountability and responsibility (unconditional love) is a very cheap love which requires no righteousness, discernment, or virtue. It’s like giving freedom to a teenager without accompanying responsibility. Not only is it irresponsible but it’s developmentally injurious to the teen. Likewise, unconditional love is not only irresponsible but it’s injurious to the eternal welfare of mankind.