The Proper Response to God’s Love is Obedience

God’s Love is the Prime Motivator. Love invites, love encourages, and love energizes. Love is what we all crave deep down inside whether things are good or things are not. Love is what everyone wants and needs but love is hard to find in this present evil world. When love draws you, you respond instantly. It’s built into you. You cannot refuse it. Love is God’s great calling card.

The second and lesser motivator is fear. This is what laws are all about. By exacting a penalty for a misdeed, people are more inclined to obey the law in question. The stiffer the penalty, the more obedient people are. Therefore the more heinous the crime, the stiffer the penalty prescribed by the law. Lesser offenses carry a lesser penalty in a society the embraces and advocates justice.

Fear of penalty or harm is indeed a good motivator, but love is better. Love inspires people to act in the right way while fear scares them into it. Which form of motivation do you think leads people to repentance?

II Corinthians 5:11-14   Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences. 

For we commend not ourselves again unto you, but give you occasion to glory on our behalf, that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart. 

For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. 

For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: 

And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

We see both types of motivation in these verses from II Corinthians 5. First, the “terror” of the Lord motivated Paul and his companions to preach Christ to unbelievers. Paul understood that God is Just and justice is what governs God’s judgments and sentences. Not wanting anyone to go through sentences that can be avoided, Paul preached the gospel.

On the other hand, he states, “For the love of Christ constrains us…” While the terror of the Lord motivated Paul and others to preach the gospel, it was the love of Christ that constrained them to live according to the gospel and to teach others to do the same.

God Uses Both Types of Motivation but Love is Strongest

We can see throughout the Scriptures that God uses both love and fear motivation, but I believe it states that what leads people to repentance is not their fear of God but their love for Him because of His goodness.

Romans 2:4  Or despise you the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

I John 4:7-10  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

To love God is to keep His commandments.

John 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

His commandments are to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor (as much) as you love yourself. When these are in place in your life, there is nothing you will do to harm or take advantage of anyone else.

The Fear of God Is Meant to Enforce Obedience

As you read God’s Word you will find many references to God’s judgments. Throughout Israel’s history, God warns them that if they are not obedient, they will suffer “the curse of the law.” The motivation to do what God wants is obvious here. God’s promise was that if they did obey Him by obeying His commandments, they would be blessed. The choice was given to them to obey or not with corresponding blessings and curses depending upon their decision. But love is the very reason God gave them the law in the first place — not to make them righteous but to convict them all of sin so they could see the need for their Savior, Jesus Christ who was prophesied to come. The love of God showed them they couldn’t attain to His standards no matter how hard they tried so God would provide a sacrifice for them by giving His only begotten Son.

The Love of God Leads to Repentence

We quoted Romans 2:4 above, “knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” That God is good is undeniable. He gave us all we need, in this world to not only survive but to live abundantly. God wants His people to be in health and prosper

John 10:10  The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

II John 1:2  Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.

The key to health and prosperity then is in “your soul” prospering. Your soul is your inner life. As you feed your soul, so to speak, with God’s Word, it prospers. As your soul prospers, so does your health and prosperity in this life.

Vine’s Dictionary of Greek words defines the soul as “the seat of Intellect”: the seat of the sentient element in man, that by which he perceives, reflects, feels, and desires. Basically, the soul is the place that houses our will, our emotions, and our intellect (the thinking, reasoning part of us: The Mind).

Here is how your soul prospers:

James 1:21  Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.

The word “save” in the above verse is the same Greek word, “”, as used to translate “prosper” in III John 1:2. Receive God’s Word with meekness and your soul will prosper. It’s that simple.

Romans 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Prove God’s will in your own life. Respond to God’s love by meekly receiving His Word of truth. Transform your mind by renewing it to God’s Word. Your soul will prosper and you will be in better health and you’ll be more prosperous in everything you do.  Praise God for his loving kindness to us His children!

 

 

 

The original article is published here.

The Joy When One Repents Testifies of God’s Love

Matthew 18:12-14  What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 

And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 

In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

God’s love is individual and personal. The entire reason for the Creation is so God could have intimate fellowship with mankind. Adam didn’t supply it. Nobody from Adam supplied it. But God’s only begotten Son did supply it and opens the way for us to do the same.

I see God’s love exhibited in this parable of the lost sheep. God is not willing that any should perish. If you were a good Father and one of your children didn’t come home from school one day, how would you feel?  I’d be combing the countryside by my house until I found my child, how about you?

God is no less loving that we are and is in fact infinitely more. He longs for fellowship with His children. If one was to go missing, look out! He would leave no stone unturned.

God is Love

The Bible teaches us God is love.

I John 4:8  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God’s love is unconditional. We understand this because He says He loves all people in John 3:16.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God gave His only begotten son for the entire world, so it it is everyone, everywhere who He is referring to in this verse. God loves everyone even if they don’t love Him in return.

Man Needs Salvation

The only reason anyone doesn’t love God is because they don’t know Him. Once you get to know the Creator God, your love for Him will grow so much you’ll find it hard to contain your emotions. This is the God who is in the process of saving the world from what we ourselves, with the help of a spiritual entity named Satan, have made it to become.  Originally the world wasn’t in the condition it is found in now. There were no thorns and thistles in the garden of Eden and pain, suffering and death were absent also.

When man disobeyed God, as recorded in Genesis 3, he handed his God-given dominion of the earth over to God’s adversary, Satan. The very word Satan means “adversary.” Since then, Satan is called, “the god of this age.”

II Corinthians 4:4  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Those are very revealing words. There is a spiritual power, a spiritual entity orchestrating things in this world to distract us from what really matters, which is getting to know our Father God. But we don’t want to dwell on Satan, we want to dwell on God. He’ll take care of that old serpent for us in due time.

Jesus is the Savior

God could have just forgotten the whole idea when man disobeyed Him and went his own way, but God knew if man really understood what life was about, no-one on earth would not want to live the right way. Because of that, instead of giving up on us when Adam disobeyed Him, God had already devised an ingenious plan to save mankind.  He would have His own son and offer His own son’s life in payment for Adam’s disobedience.

To illustrate what God’s son, Jesus, would accomplish during his life, God commanded Israel to carry out certain sacrifices. Those sacrifices were a “shadow of things to come” meaning they were examples that would one day be fulfilled by Jesus himself. Until Jesus came, God had His people participate in feasts, sacrifices and other observances that taught about the coming Savior and what he would accomplish.

The name Jesus means “Savior.” It is the same name as Joshua in the Old Testament. It is given to our Lord because “He saves His people from their sins.” This is His special role.

Because man can’t save himself, God had to provide a way to save us Himself. Jesus is the only way. The name of Jesus is the only name given under heaven by which men must be saved.

Acts 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name [Jesus] under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved.

Notice the two main things in the above verse:

1. Men must be saved
2. Jesus is the only one that can save anyone

God Doesn’t Want Any to Perish

II Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

God is busy right now, working with His people to save all of mankind. Right now this world is no comparison to the one that shall follow. This world shall be done away with and a new one put in it’s place and the people on that new earth will know what love is and who love is. We will live their lives the way God wants us to live them, loving Him and loving our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.

Until then things can be hard down here on planet earth. Everything seems to be messed up or end that way. None of our worldly leaders are going to solve any significant problems because they have neither the wisdom nor the love of God. All they can do is put band-aids on things and in so doing they often make things worse.

I can assure you, from the truth revealed in God’s Holy Word that all things will be made right eventually. We are in the process of that now, but it will take the return of the Lord Jesus Christ from heaven to earth in order to accomplish it.

Why is God waiting?

Simply to bring more people in the His family before He winds everything up.

But we are closer than you might think to Jesus’ second coming. Have no doubt about it — it will happen just as it is prophesied in the Bible. Over 2/3 of the prophecies in the Bible are about Christ’s second coming while only 1/3 were about his first coming when he was born. Over 300 prophecies were fulfilled in his first coming. The rest will be fulfilled at his second coming just as the first 300 were fulfilled. Nothing is going to stop it because nothing can stop it.

Come God’s Way Today

God wants all men to be saved. Read it for yourself:

I Timothy 2;3-6  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; 

Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. 

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 

Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 

If God has touched your heart and you feel He is calling you to get right with Him, I encourage you to do so right now.

Here’s how you can become joined to God for eternal life so you can begin building an intimate relationship with Him.

Romans 10:9,10  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

 

God’s Love is.