Why God Judges Unbelief
Now that we have looked at what the love of God is, let’s look at why a loving God would allow people to die in their sins if they do not believe on Christ. What we fail to realize is that through our sinful nature, we are fallen from grace. It is not that God is angry because we haven’t believed. It is that we are already under condemnation as part of our natural state. Look at John 3:17-19
17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 "He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
The Bible tells us that Jesus wasn’t sent to condemn the world, yet any who don’t believe are under condemnation. We are already under condemnation, or as Romans 3:23 puts it, we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. By nature, man falls short of God’s glorious nature and cannot enter into the perfect fellowship of God’s love. We are already under condemnation because we have sinned from the time we could act upon our own will, and anything that contradicts or rebels against the nature of God cannot have fellowship with God.
Sin is anything that rebels against God’s nature and character. There are those who love sin and choose to remain under condemnation because they love evil. Evil is anything that opposes the goodness of God. Each sin marks us for condemnation, and since we have a fallen nature, we cannot produce the righteousness necessary to stand in God’s presence. The commandments in scripture are the instructions that lead us to God’s character so that we can conform to his image, draw near to him, and abide in his love. And the first command we must obey is to come to Christ so our sins can be lifted from our burden, and born by him.
Those who oppose God say, “How can God condemn me for not believing in him?” But the truth is that they are already under condemnation, and faith calls them to redemption. When man loves his fallen state, he will not love the goodness of God. Unless we believe and surrender to the redemption of Christ, we remain in our current state. We are fallen, born in sin, and have minds that naturally oppose God. We may be born with a fallen nature, but it is our own sin that condemns us. From birth, we are selfish and sinful. Even a toddler rebels against what is good, and continues to grow in rebellion as they reach adulthood. We may learn to curb our behavior through the fear of consequences and the desire for benefits, but in our heart, we remain self-serving.
Jesus declared, “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved.” Jesus, God in the flesh, entered into our world, fulfilled the law that man could not keep, and bore the penalty of our sins so we could be reconciled to God. It is the love of God, poured out for us on the cross that created a door for us to pass from fallen humanity, and into a redeemed life where we can become partakers of God’s own divine nature. Or as the Bible puts it in 2 Peter 1:3-4
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
It is God’s divine power that transforms us so that we are partakers of his nature. We, who are not divine, become partakers of God’s divine nature. God reaches out his loving hand to guide us into fellowship with him through Christ. We then have the incredible privilege to enter into the fellowship of agape love. It isn’t our love, it is God’s love that we are walking in and experiencing. We then take the commandments (that are not a burden) and obey them so we are guided deeper into the love of God, which puts us deeper into fellowship with our Creator.
God’s love is not greater for one person than another. The difference is how we experience the love of God. As we grow closer to God, we experience a deeper fellowship of love. When we walk contrary to God, we lose that fellowship. This is explained in 1 John 1:6-9
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
It is impossible to have fellowship with God and walk in our own self-centered ways. When we sin, we are stepping out of the fellowship of God’s love, and walking into darkness. It’s not a loss of salvation; it’s a loss of fellowship. God guides us back, convicts our heart, and even chastises us so we see the futility of our own ways and repent. Repentance is turning from our ways, confessing our sins, and allowing God to restore us into fellowship with him.
The glory of God is the central theme of the gospel. The Bible says that works cannot please God because the flesh cannot produce good (Romans 7:18, John 6:63), and God will not allow anything of the flesh to glory in his presence (1 Corinthians 1:29). Instead of bringing what we hope will make God accept us, we are laying down all that is of the flesh, and receiving the love of God into our lives by taking on the new nature he as created for us. We are answering the call to enter into the union of perfect love so we can have fellowship with God. We are receiving the love of God, abiding in it, and giving his love back through our obedience and keeping his commandments.
Continued on Part 4.
Eddie Snipes
http://exchangedlifediscipleship.blogspot.com
Posts
friend, a comment and my opinions:
ReplyDeletei agree with this: 'God’s love is not greater for one person than another. The difference is how we experience the love of God.'
but i do not agree with this: 'As we grow closer to God, we experience a deeper fellowship of love. When we walk contrary to God, we lose that fellowship. This is explained in 1 John 1:6-9'
...we are in union with Christ, permanently; we cannot grow closer or further away from Him; we are as close as we can get and can never separate from Him in the least. ...we only have emotional experiences that make us believe we are closer/further from God. part of faith is believing this instead of the emotional roller coaster.
...your interpretation of 1 John 1:6-9 is a common one. but, in my opinion, this is a salvation passage for gnostics and has nothing to do with believers. John begins to really address the believers in 1 John 2:1.
Unfortunately, these statements aren’t accurate. John is clearly addressing the doctrines of the Gnostics, but this is not limited to the first chapter, but continues throughout the book of 1 John. He continues to stress the importance of walking in the light and abiding in the light well into chapter 2. The passage in question (verse 7) makes it clear this is the church for John states, “We have fellowship with one another.” He is not saying ‘you’, but ‘we’.
ReplyDeleteThis same teaching is given to the church in the book of James. Look at James 4:8
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
The word ‘sinners’ doesn’t refer to the unredeemed, for he makes it clear he is talking to the church and those brethren who have sinned with their fightings and wars within the church. In verse 10 he calls them ‘brethren’. And throughout the epistle, James is directly speaking to the church, in fact, the beginning of chapter 4, the church is being instructed as to how to pray and not ask for things according to our own fleshly desires.
It is not accurate to say the Christian can never grow closer to the Lord, for in the above passage, the Bible clearly states that if we draw near to God, he will draw near to us. This was written to the believer, plus it cannot apply to the unredeemed. The Bible teaches that man cannot find God without being first sought by the Lord. The lost person can’t draw near to God for he has no capacity to even understand the things of the Spirit. Jesus attested to this by saying, “You did not choose me, I have chosen you,” and “No man comes to me unless the Father draws him.” It is the Christian alone that has the power to draw near, and he does so through the word. Also, Jesus teaches that we must abide in Christ to experience the love of God. Look at John 15:4-10
4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 " As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
10 "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
You can see that Jesus specifically states that you MUST keep his commandments in order to abide in his love. Jesus reiterates this again when he says that we are friends WHEN we obey God’s commands. John 15:14-15
14 "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
15 "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Once again, there is a condition upon our experiencing friendship with our Savior. It isn’t a matter of salvation, but fellowship. He calls us friends IF we obey his commands. IF you keep his commandments, you will abide in his love. So you can see, this is not a passage taken out of context, but a doctrine that is consistently taught throughout the New Testament.