Understanding God's Love

The difficult doctrine of the Love of God. 

This is written in a Bible Study format form.

Note: Most of my thoughts are contributed to D A Carson and his book on God's love. You can click here to read the book online. 

What the culture thinks, “God is love” and what the Bible actually teach about God’s love is different.

How does the culture view love?

How does the culture view God’s love?

Is the any difference between the two.

Here are questions or comments I have heard unbelievers say concerning God’s Love:

These are common questions or statements concerning God's love that will be addressed: 

1.      The love of God, in our culture, has been purged of anything the culture finds uncomfortable.

a.       What the world needs now is love sweet love

b.      Why shouldn't God love me?

2.      Some people believe if God is love all people will go to Heaven.

3.        If God is love there would be no evil in the world. 

The Cultures view of God

• God is love, so he won’t hold this against me.
• God is love so it is His job to forgive.
• You’re too judgmental. God just wants us to love people.
• I can’t confront them about sin. We are supposed to love, not judge.
• There must be a different God in the OT than the NT.
• As long as I try hard, God will accept me. He has to.

How does the Bible speak of the Love of God?

• 1 John 4:7-21, Romans 5:6-8, Ephesians 1:4-5
• What is true about God from this passage?
• God is love. This means we must look at Him to see what true love looks like. It does not mean God has to fit into our view of love.
• God is not the great grandfather in the sky who just showers down gifts on everyone.
• Does God love us because we deserve to be loved?
• The love of God is shown perfectly on the cross.
• The love of God does not require that God love everyone exactly the same. Such a notion would practically nullify other aspects of His character.

Different Aspects of God’s Love

• God’s perfect love within the Trinity. This is an amazing thing since it shows love within the Godhead. Matthew 3:17, Luke 20:13, John 3:35, 5:20
• God loves believers. This is an electing and sanctifying kind of love that is unique. This love is not based upon what we do, but rather based on Jesus Christ alone. John 16:27, 14:21-27, 17:23. Titus 3:3-7, Ephesians 5:25, 2 Thessalonians 2:16, 1 Peter 2:9-10, Ephesians 1:4-5
• God loves all creation, even unbelievers. We see this in many ways. First, we see that He loves His enemies by providing the sun and the rain on all. This is a great model for us. Second, He actually provides for the birds and the flowers. Third, He provided a way for people to be saved from their sins. Matthew 5:43-48, 6:25-32, John 3:16
• His love in Jesus Christ is overwhelming and impossible to lose. Romans 8:37-39
• God loved us when we hated Him. Revelation 1:5, Romans 5:8

What About All the Evil?

Typically there are two main ways unbelievers view God in relation to evil…….

1. Either God is not loving and this is why there is so much evil because he doesn’t care or actually enjoys causing evil.

OR

2. He is not all-powerful. He would love to stop evil, but He just can’t.

Both of these are incorrect according to Scripture. God is clearly presented as all powerful throughout Scripture. He can bring anything to pass anything He wishes.

God’s plan (predestination), in a way we cannot understand, includes evil. Acts 4:27-28, Genesis 45:4-6, 50:20-21,1 Kings 22:19-23. Those who actually do the evil are always blamed for the evil.

Relating the Love of God to His Other Attributes

Love and immutability = He will always love

Love and wrath = He punishes sin for His Glory

Love and justice = The cross

Love and Sovereignty = He promises to always do what is best for us.

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism chapter 1 part two

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism                         chapter one part 2                               10/21/12

1.      Philippians 3: 8-9

Paul says he gives up everything for Christ sake. Everything is counted as loss. The Apostle Paul gave up everything including his reputation, history, family heritage, status, job, everything to know Christ and all for His glory. John Piper offers four practical ways he lives this out.

1.      To live this out practically means that whenever I am called upon to choose between anything in this world and Christ, I choose Christ.

2.      To live this out practically it means I will deal with things of this world in ways that draw me nearer to Christ so that I gain more of Christ and enjoy more of Him by the way I see the world.

3.      To live this out practically means that I will always deal with the things of this world in ways that show that they are not my treasure, but rather Christ is my treasure.

4.      To live this out practically means that if I lose any or all the things this world can offer, I will not lose my joy or my treasure or my life, because Christ as it all.

How would you practically live this verse out in your life? How do you count everything else as rubbish? What changes do you need to make now?

2.      1 Corinthians 9:19-23

Paul states that before God’s eyes he is free and only accountable to the law of Christ.

1.      What is Pauls motives here in verse 23?

2.      How can Paul become like a Jew?

3.      How can he become like a Gentile?

4.      How can you personally live this out? How can you become all things to all people?

3.      Twelve steps we can take to grow in sharing the Gospel with others:

 1. Pray- Have you ever prayed for opportunities to share the gospel? Pray that God would bring your unbelieving family member or friend to Himself. (John 6:44, 65)

2. plan-"we can plan to make time to build relationships or to put ourselves in positions we know will be able to talk with non-Christians. We plan for so many less important things; why not plan for our evangelism.”

Think through how you can use your time more wisely. An example may be eat lunch with friends or co-workers so you can share the Gospel with them or invite them over for dinner. 

3. Accept – God has sovereignly placed you in people in your lives. You have access to people that a pastor or other Christians will not have.  People see your lives they trust you, and it is your duty to share the Gospel with them.

4. Understand – still share your faith even though it is not your gift.

5. Be faithful – “Maybe we are more concerned about their response than God’s glory.”- Romans 1:18, Romans 15: 8-9, Romans 1:5, 2 Corinthians 4:15

6.  Risk – Are you willing to risk? One of the idols in America is comfort. (Acts 15:26)

Would you be willing to endure any discomfit so that others might hear the Gospel? If so what?     

Would you be willing to live in lesser neighborhood for the purpose of ministry?

Would you be willing to give up free time or even sleep to share the Gospel?

Would you be willing to give up a few weekends to get to know unbelievers?
Would you be willing to be disliked at work, or with family, or even mocked for sharing the Gospel to see someone come to Christ?
Would you be willing to hang around people not like you for the purpose of ministry?

7. Prepare – Have you ever written out your story of how God changed your life? (1 Peter 3:15-16)  Do you understand the basics of the Gospel? Repentance and faith (Acts 20:21, Mark 1:15).

8. Look – Look for opportunities around you and take advantage of opportunities to share the Gospel.

9. Love – “We share the Gospel because we love people. And we don’t share the Gospel because we don’t love people” (2 Corinthians 5:14-21).

10. Fear – Do you fear what others will think of you if you share the Gospel with them. What is more important God’ s glory or the fear of man?

11. Stop – “We should stop excusing ourselves from evangelism on the basis that God is sovereign.” God is Sovereign over a person’s salvation (Ephesians 1: 1-14). Paul even uses the word predestined twice in Ephesians chapter one (Ephesians 1:5 and 11). Other parts of Scripture show God’s election including John 6:65, 44, Acts 4:28, Acts 2:39,and  Romans 9. Even though God is sovereign over our salvation, we still are to accountable to share the Gospel. Biblically  predestination and human responsibility go hand in hand. We are still responsible and accountable to God for our actions, and he is 100% sovereign. Not a tear drop, cell, or molecule is free from his sovereign control.

12. Consider – A motivation to sharing the Gospel is how God, through Jesus, forgave you of your sins and changed your life. That is one of the reason why Paul says in Ephesians 3:1, “For this reason, I, Paul a prisoner for Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles” – because chapter one and two are about God’s amazing love, grace, and mercy in our lives. 

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever - Chapter one, part one

Study guide for the book, The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever.  Part one

Chapter 1 notes for Sunday school. 

1   

   How would you rate your personal evangelism?

2.       How would you define the Gospel?

3.       What is evangelism?

4.       In the past six months, how many people have you shared the gospel with?

5.       Where in the Bible does God command us to share the Gospel?

6.       Which one of the five basic excuses can you relate with the most?

The who is one person that you think, "that person will never come to Christ." P.23

1. Consider the truth. What is true of every person that has come to Christ? Every persons salvation from the beginning of time is astonishing, and all about God's love, mercy, and grace given freely to people who are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1-10). God had to breathe new life into you, by the Holy Spirit, regenerating your heart.What is going on with us when we don't evangelize?

2. Consider Jesus – Mark 2:15-17, Matthew 11:19

Jesus ate in their homes, yet did not sin. It is a very different thing to interact with those who commit evil and actually committing the evil. Christ called his followers to a radical life, which contradicted the expectations and cultural boundaries. One of the expectations from the religious leaders and the religious culture was to refrain from associating with certain “undesirable” types of people based on their appearance. This is legalism.  Jesus fought against the legalism of his day.

What is Jesus called by the Religious people of his day?

What are actions that are not sin that is called sin today by legalistic churches and pastors today?

Would others consider you a friend of sinners or a religious snob?

3. Consider the following 3 examples:

The Unbalanced Religious Immersionist

             
            "This person has a religious background and is familiar with the Gospel. He

has totally immersed himself into the secular culture and is

regularly participating in the popular sins of culture. In doing

this, he has gained an audience of non-Christian friends but has no

message to share with them because he lacks any kind of radical

difference from them. He is ineffective in his witness simply because there is

no life-change in him. There is nothing different about him that would

separate him from an unbeliever. This is someone who is not a Christian and

needs to focus on the Gospel, repentance and faith."

The Unbalanced Christian Rejectionist 

“This person has many Christian friendships, is involved in many Church

activities, and is morally pure. In doing this, she has a message to share but

has no audience of non-Christians with which to share because she lacks

any sort of radical identification with the culture. She is ineffective in her

witness not to mention disobedient because she is not sharing the Gospel.”

               

The Contagious Christian

“This person has many Christian friendships but also has many non-Christian

friendships. He or she lives a life that is authentic and he or she actively shares their faith.

They have a message and an audience. They have radically identified with the

culture while at the same time it is obvious that he or she is radically different from

their culture. He walks the tight rope between the kingdom of God and the

world just as Jesus did. He is effective in his witness, seeks the Lord in

everything.

4. Consider the appearance debate. The question is asked, “Doesn’t the Bible say to avoid the appearance of evil in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22? In context, this verse tells us to avoid evil, not the appearance of evil. The King James Version is the only version that uses the word appearance, all other verses use the word “Abstain” or “Avoid.” So it reads in the ESV, “Abstain from every form of evil.” Which means, do not participate in the sins of the world, which is evil. For example in 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 the Apostle Paul tells this church to excommunicate (perform church discipline) on a member who was having sex outside of marriage with someone inside the church. Paul writes, “I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people- not at all meaning the sexually immoral of the world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you need to go out the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexually immorality or greed’….not even to eat with such a one.” Jesus Himself, who did not sin, was called a friend of sinners, a drunkard (alcoholic) and self pleasing glutton (Luke 7:34, Matthew 11:19). Eat drink and be merry! The Bible is clear that we are to share the Gospel yet not participate in the sins of the world.