If God loves everybody unconditionally...

[Ivan Hlavanda]

If God loves everybody unconditionally, then why does He call us to repent? Why does He call us to come to the cross? Why does He call us to come to Christ? If God loves everybody unconditionally, then you can do whatever you want, and believe whatever you think. But that's just not true that He loves us unconditionally, He has placed an absolute condition by which He requires. He doesn't just invite people to come to His Son, He commands all people everywhere to repent of their sin and come to Christ, and if you want to enjoy the love of complacency, you have to be in Christ.

When we look at the concept of the love of God in Scripture, we see distinctions that have to be made. Historically and theologically, we distinguish among three types of divine love. There is the love of benevolence, where God has a kind spirit to the world and His benevolent will, His benevolent will falls on everybody. But there's also the sense in which in the Bible, the love of God is defined in terms of God's beneficence. That's not just simply His attitude towards the world, but how He displays that goodness universally. The rain falls upon the just, as well as the unjust, and so that universal dimension of the love of God is manifest.
The third term is the love of complacency. Now, the Biblical term of love of complacency is not used in the way which we use the term complacency in our age, in our culture. Our term of complacency means smugness, self-satisfaction. That sort of thing. But rather when the Scriptures indicate the love of complacency, it's that special love that God has for His Son and all of those who are in His Son and who are adopted into His family. And if we talk about the love of God and His terms of the love of complacency, and talk about it universally, that's blasphemy, because God does not love the whole world in the love of complacency. The fact the Scriptures tell us that there are many ways in which God is at enmity with the world. He hates the world. He hates those who are swift to shed blood, and we have to take that into account.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

If God loves everybody unconditionally, then why does He call us to repent? Why does He call us to come to the cross? Why does He call us to come to Christ? If God loves everybody unconditionally, then you can do whatever you want, and believe whatever you think. But that's just not true that He loves us unconditionally, He has placed an absolute condition by which He requires. He doesn't just invite people to come to His Son, He commands all people everywhere to repent of their sin and come to Christ, and if you want to enjoy the love of complacency, you have to be in Christ.

When we look at the concept of the love of God in Scripture, we see distinctions that have to be made. Historically and theologically, we distinguish among three types of divine love. There is the love of benevolence, where God has a kind spirit to the world and His benevolent will, His benevolent will falls on everybody. But there's also the sense in which in the Bible, the love of God is defined in terms of God's beneficence. That's not just simply His attitude towards the world, but how He displays that goodness universally. The rain falls upon the just, as well as the unjust, and so that universal dimension of the love of God is manifest.
The third term is the love of complacency. Now, the Biblical term of love of complacency is not used in the way which we use the term complacency in our age, in our culture. Our term of complacency means smugness, self-satisfaction. That sort of thing. But rather when the Scriptures indicate the love of complacency, it's that special love that God has for His Son and all of those who are in His Son and who are adopted into His family. And if we talk about the love of God and His terms of the love of complacency, and talk about it universally, that's blasphemy, because God does not love the whole world in the love of complacency. The fact the Scriptures tell us that there are many ways in which God is at enmity with the world. He hates the world. He hates those who are swift to shed blood, and we have to take that into account.

God does love us unconditionally, but it’s our love to Him that is conditional. Jesus said, if you love Me, keep My commandments John 14:15 God never lets go of us, we let go of Him, when we choose our will over His. When we love Him, we want to do everything He asks of us though our faith and trust what He asks is for our own good.

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

God does love us unconditionally

Then why did He say He loved Jacob, but Esau He hated? Why are some people in Heaven, while others are in hell when He loves everyone unconditionally? Why does Psalm 5 verse 5 say ' The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers?

He loves everyone, true, but He does not love everyone intimately. He loves His Son intimately and all those who are in Him. So for God love you intimately, you must, and that is a condition, come to Christ and repent of your sin.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

Then why did He say He loved Jacob, but Esau He hated? Why are some people in Heaven, while others are in hell when He loves everyone unconditionally? Why does Psalm 5 verse 5 say ' The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers?

He loves everyone, true, but He does not love everyone intimately. He loves His Son intimately and all those who are in Him. So for God love you intimately, you must, and that is a condition, come to Christ and repent of your sin.

I don’t believe anyone is in hell as God’s Word says Judgment is the last day John 12:48. There will be a hell, which really means the grave and there will be a judgement on the last day, those in Christ will receive eternal life, those not, will receive death Rom 6:23- choose life!

God’s love is unconditional, but His promises are conditional. God didn’t really hate Esau, but he preferred Jacob - God judges the heart. Not all of His ways we will understand just yet, but He loved all of us enough to give His only Son not only to die so we can go to Him when we stumble and confess our sins, but lived as our example to follow. 1 John 2:6. We just need to believe in the promise and in doing that will transform our lives in His image. Draw closer to Him and He will draw closer to us. James 4:8

 

[returntosender]

If God loves everybody unconditionally, then why does He call us to repent? Why does He call us to come to the cross? Why does He call us to come to Christ? If God loves everybody unconditionally, then you can do whatever you want, and believe whatever you think. But that's just not true that He loves us unconditionally, He has placed an absolute condition by which He requires. He doesn't just invite people to come to His Son, He commands all people everywhere to repent of their sin and come to Christ, and if you want to enjoy the love of complacency, you have to be in Christ.

When we look at the concept of the love of God in Scripture, we see distinctions that have to be made. Historically and theologically, we distinguish among three types of divine love. There is the love of benevolence, where God has a kind spirit to the world and His benevolent will, His benevolent will falls on everybody. But there's also the sense in which in the Bible, the love of God is defined in terms of God's beneficence. That's not just simply His attitude towards the world, but how He displays that goodness universally. The rain falls upon the just, as well as the unjust, and so that universal dimension of the love of God is manifest.
The third term is the love of complacency. Now, the Biblical term of love of complacency is not used in the way which we use the term complacency in our age, in our culture. Our term of complacency means smugness, self-satisfaction. That sort of thing. But rather when the Scriptures indicate the love of complacency, it's that special love that God has for His Son and all of those who are in His Son and who are adopted into His family. And if we talk about the love of God and His terms of the love of complacency, and talk about it universally, that's blasphemy, because God does not love the whole world in the love of complacency. The fact the Scriptures tell us that there are many ways in which God is at enmity with the world. He hates the world. He hates those who are swift to shed blood, and we have to take that into account.

Agree

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

God didn’t really hate Esau, but he preferred Jacob

He did not hate Esau, He loved Esau but not intimately. He chose Jacob for intimate relationship, not because Jacob was better, not because Jacob's deeds, but because God chose to love Him intimately.

to give His only Son not only to die so we can go to Him when we stumble and confess our sins, but lived as our example to follow. 1 John 2:6. We just need to believe in the promise and in doing that will transform our lives in His image.

Jesus died for the and paid for the sins of God's elect. He did not die for everyone and neither did He paid for everyone's sins otherwise all would be saved which is not true. The world belongs to God, who made it, and humanity as His images were made to reflect His glory back to Him by worshipping Him. But having refused to do so, we have become slaves to sin, unable to escape its guilt or its power over us. God's plan has been to redeem out of humanity a redeemed nation, called back to His true worship in a covenant relationship with Him.

So it does not depends on us who is saved, but on God, otherwise none would be saved.

I don’t believe anyone is in hell as God’s Word

In Hebrew you have two words for hell, sheol and gehenna. Gehenna is the hell you are speaking of, that is the lake of fire. For now, dead people are in sheol which is split between two parts, one for unrighteous and one for righteous, the unrighteous suffer there already.

We just need to believe in the promise and in doing that will transform our lives in His image.

This is not something that depends on us, but God. Regeneration precedes faith.

 

[SabbathBlessings]

He did not hate Esau, He loved Esau but not intimately. He chose Jacob for intimate relationship, not because Jacob was better, not because Jacob's deeds, but because God chose to love Him intimately.

Agree, which is what I was trying to say.

Jesus died for the and paid for the sins of God's elect. He did not die for everyone and neither did He paid for everyone's sins otherwise all would be saved which is not true.

1 John 2:2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Not everyone collects on this free gift.

So it does not depends on us who is saved, but on God, otherwise none would be saved.

I disagree that we have no part of our salvation. We can’t save ourselves, only the blood of Jesus saves, but it is through our faith. Eph 2:8

In Hebrew you have two words for hell, sheol and gehenna. Gehenna is the hell you are speaking of, that is the lake of fire. For now, dead people are in sheol which is split between two parts, one for unrighteous and one for righteous, the unrighteous suffer there already.

That means judgement already happened, but thats not what the scriptures teach. Judgement is the last day when Jesus comes- Jesus has not come yet.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

If God loves everybody unconditionally, then why does He call us to repent? Why does He call us to come to the cross? Why does He call us to come to Christ? If God loves everybody unconditionally, then you can do whatever you want, and believe whatever you think. But that's just not true that He loves us unconditionally, He has placed an absolute condition by which He requires. He doesn't just invite people to come to His Son, He commands all people everywhere to repent of their sin and come to Christ, and if you want to enjoy the love of complacency, you have to be in Christ.

When we look at the concept of the love of God in Scripture, we see distinctions that have to be made. Historically and theologically, we distinguish among three types of divine love. There is the love of benevolence, where God has a kind spirit to the world and His benevolent will, His benevolent will falls on everybody. But there's also the sense in which in the Bible, the love of God is defined in terms of God's beneficence. That's not just simply His attitude towards the world, but how He displays that goodness universally. The rain falls upon the just, as well as the unjust, and so that universal dimension of the love of God is manifest.
The third term is the love of complacency. Now, the Biblical term of love of complacency is not used in the way which we use the term complacency in our age, in our culture. Our term of complacency means smugness, self-satisfaction. That sort of thing. But rather when the Scriptures indicate the love of complacency, it's that special love that God has for His Son and all of those who are in His Son and who are adopted into His family. And if we talk about the love of God and His terms of the love of complacency, and talk about it universally, that's blasphemy, because God does not love the whole world in the love of complacency. The fact the Scriptures tell us that there are many ways in which God is at enmity with the world. He hates the world. He hates those who are swift to shed blood, and we have to take that into account.

If God <insert here, one or more attributes of God from a list of God's attributes> then why <insert here, one or more issues that upset and perplex the writer of this question>. <Insert here, a set of claims and theories that the author believes resolves the tensions created by his question(s) and the upsetting issues related to the question(s)>.

The above is a pattern seen many times in books, casual conversations, and on CF.

What causes it?

It arises from insufficiently accurate catechesis, and from errors in the teaching that the author received, and from the author having too strong a reliance on individual effort being the proper way to come to a sound understanding of the meaning of the scriptures.

The resolution is not to be found in the claims and theories propounded by the author.

The resolution is, however, found in the Teaching of Christ, which is found in the Teaching of the ancient churches, and in patience coupled with submission. And in humbly grasping with faith the truth that there are limits to human knowledge.

---

Is God Love? Yes. Does he love everything he has created? Yes. How do I know? I know it because the Church teaches me that it is so, and the Church teaches it because she has in her keeping the fullness of truth thus far revealed in Christ. And on this specific question the Church offers to me this passage of Holy Scripture.

For great power always belonged to thee alone: and who shall resist the strength of thy arm? For the whole world before thee is as the least grain of the balance, and as a drop of the morning dew, that falleth down upon the earth. But thou hast mercy upon all, because thou canst do all things, and overlookest the sins of men for the sake of repentance. For thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which thou hast made: for thou didst not appoint, or make any thing hating it. And how could any thing endure, if thou wouldst not? or be preserved, if not called by thee? But thou sparest all: because they are thine, O Lord, who lovest souls. ​

Wisdom 11:22-27 DRB

The Catechism of the Catholic Church comments:

God upholds and sustains creation​

​

301 With creation, God does not abandon his creatures to themselves. He not only gives them being and existence, but also, and at every moment, upholds and sustains them in being, enables them to act and brings them to their final end. Recognizing this utter dependence with respect to the Creator is a source of wisdom and freedom, of joy and confidence:​

For you love all things that exist, and detest none of the things that you have made; for you would not have made anything if you had hated it. How would anything have endured, if you had not willed it? Or how would anything not called forth by you have been preserved? You spare all things, for they are yours, O Lord, you who love the living.160​

 

[Fervent]

How, exactly, are you defining "unconditional love?" And if you don't believe God loves unconditionally, why did Christ while we were yet sinners? What conditions did we satisfy for Him to show us such love?

 

[Clouds-of-heaven.com]

Hell know.

Hell is commonly thought to be a place where God punishes "bad people" for eternity.

It is described as a place of eternal punishment, characterized by flames of fire, torment, darkness, separation from God, and destruction.

But could a God, Who is defined by love, torture humans for eternity? Can we really truly grasp that concept?

Think about family members that don't make it to heaven. Think about their lives in hell in the most pain imaginable. Can you find peace with that?

Sadly, many people have turned away from believing in God for that very reason.

Hell is not a place where God tortures and torments bad people forever and ever. It is simply not true.

So how did a torturous hell become mischaracterized? Several reasons.

The idea of eternal torment was a prime tool for controlling the average churchgoer with fear. Later, pop culture added fuel to the fire (pun intended) through imaginative works like Dante’s Inferno.

Greek philosophers believed in an eternal soul that could not be destroyed. They believe that man's soul or spirit cannot die ever. They believed in the immortality of the human soul. This belief is at the very root of the misunderstanding of hell.

Immortality is defined as the quality of being able to live or last forever.

Now, let's look at what the bible says about immortality and who has it and who doesn't have it.

Paul, writes about Jesus.

1 Timothy 6:16 NKJV
(Jesus) who alone has immortality.

Can this verse be anymore clearer about our supposed human immortality?

If God sent us to an eternal hell to be tortured forever, wouldn't that make us immortal?

We are born in the flesh and are not immortal.

Where do those who do not believe in Jesus go after they die?

They perish and die forever. Their mortal life was all there is. Eternal death.

All humans including Christians will die a mortal death.

Eternal life is promised to those who believe and obey Jesus Christ. Those who do not believe or obey will die after their mortal death.

Hundreds of verses make this point.

Here are but a few.

John 10:28 NKJV
And I (Jesus) give them (His followers) eternal life, and they shall never perish.

John 3:16 NKJV
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him (Jesus) should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:15 NKJV
That whoever believes in Him (Jesus) should not perish but have eternal life.

2 Corinthians 4:3 NKJV
But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

There are many other verses that speak about death, dying, perishing and destruction.

What is the definition of hell in the bible?

The modern English word hell is derived from Old English hel, helle (first attested around 725 AD to refer to a nether world of the dead) reaching into the Anglo-Saxon pagan period.

To the point, hell is all about "the dead" or those in "the grave".

Now let's focus on Jesus and His interactions with the Pharisees and scribes and pay close attention to his He uses the terms grave or tomb and the dead to describe those who do not believe or follow Him.

Look how Jesus responded to a disciple who said he would follow Him, but first he wanted to go home to bury his father.

Luke 9:60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."

Dead people cannot bury dead people. Jesus is emphatically stating that those who do not wish to follow Him are dead. Not dead physically but dead spiritually.

The Pharisees and scribes prided themselves on their strict observance of the Law of Moses. They were proud and self righteous and looked down on sinners.

Jesus called the Pharisees and scribes like graves, white washed tombs and sons of hell.

Why would Jesus be so blunt to them?

The Pharisees rejected God’s provision for their salvation, attempting to justify themselves through their own self righteous deeds.

Jesus's sacrifice is God's provision for salvation. There is no other way, period.

Luke 11:44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are (like graves) which are not seen.

Matthew 23:27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are (like whitewashed tombs) which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of (dead) men's bones.

Matthew 23:15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win a new convert to Judaism and when he is won, you make him twice as much (a son of hell) as yourselves.

Graves, tombs, sons of hell and those not following Jesus symbolize dead people. Hence the term, "Hell".

When someone is in the hospital and is close to death, a common term doctors use to describe their serious nature is, "grave condition"

Those who don't believe in or follow Jesus are also considered in "grave condition"

Do you now see the connection between the definition of hell and those who do not believe in Jesus?

Those who are in their graves or are dead in a spiritual sense here. That's why Jesus likened those who had rejected Him as graves and tombs and sons of hell or simply "the walking dead"

This "grave condition" "is a current condition as we live and breathe because of nonbelief in the Son of God.

John 5:25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and (now is) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.

Jesus announced the hour was coming and now is.

To hear Jesus is through the word of God.

Romans 10:17 So, then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Hell is a destination of a current condition. Right now or now is, as Jesus proclaimed. Those who would hear His words and believe in Him would live (spiritually) and those who would reject Him would be spiritually dead and condemned to die in their sins.

They (non believers) were in hell. They were in a state of condemnation (right now) Their sins would remain because of nonbelief.

Jesus was speaking about their current spiritual condition because of sin.

Sin separates us from a relationship with God.

Hell is NOT a destination where non believers go after a mortal death, but a classification of a broken relationship with God because of sin.

When people don't believe in Jesus, you can say they are in the darkness of hell. They don't see Him (blind) as the Son of God.

Hell is a spiritual condition of condemnation or (held guilty) from God because of sin.

How to get out of the condemnation of hell?

The key to understanding the meaning of hell is the following interaction from Jesus towards the Pharisees and scribes.

Jesus asked the Pharisees and scribes the following: Matthew 23:33 How can you escape the condemnation of hell?

Here is the answer He gave several verses later in Matthew 23:39 For I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' "

Romans 8:1 NKJV - There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

To be in Christ Jesus through faith by believing.

That's how to get out of the (condemnation) of "the grave" or "the dead".

When someone believes in Jesus.

We do not see Jesus physically.

We see Jesus by belief through faith by NOT seeing.

John 20:29 Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Peter writes about faith in Jesus Christ by not seeing but believing.

1 Peter 1:7-8 Jesus Christ, [8] whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy.

1 John 3:6 Whoever abides in (Jesus) does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him (faith) nor known Him.

Sinners yes, but sins forgiven. That's the key to understanding this verse.

We don't remove sin on our own, God forgives and forgets our sins through our faith in Jesus.

John 3:18 "He who believes in Jesus 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.

Condemned already because of non belief in Jesus, Who is the only way to have sin forgiven.

Condemnation is a guilty verdict from a judge.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Free from guilt and the condemnation of sin. Not guilty.

Christ is the sole basis for believers having no condemnation of hell. He gives us the Holy Spirit, who brings light and life (born again) where there was once darkness and death.

Clouds-of-heaven.com

 

[Jonathan_Gale]

If God loves everybody unconditionally, then why does He call us to repent?

Because everybody rebels against God unconditionally, that's the default. Loving God is learnt, it's a conscious choice.

 

[Strong in Him]

If God loves everybody unconditionally, then why does He call us to repent? Why does He call us to come to the cross? Why does He call us to come to Christ?

Do you think that loving someone means turning a blind eye when they do wrong? Being willing to ignore/overlook their faults; not wanting what's best for them, or that they be the best they can be?

If God loves everybody unconditionally, then you can do whatever you want, and believe whatever you think.

If you had a really good friend/sibling/child whom you loved, would you say to them, "I love you so I'm going to let you believe what you want - even though it's wrong"? Or "I love you, so I'm going to let you say what you want, trash my beliefs/character"?

When we look at the concept of the love of God in Scripture, we see distinctions that have to be made. Historically and theologically, we distinguish among three types of divine love.

There are 3 kinds of love - and 3 completely different Greek words for love. Eros - sexual love, Philio - brotherly love and Agape.
Agape love is divine love - the love which says "love your enemies", "Father forgive them, they do not know what they are doing" and "Christ died for sinners". The love which is defined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 - not rude, not happy with evil, does not dishonour others, always hope, etc - is shown to enemies and people that cause hurt.

The fact the Scriptures tell us that there are many ways in which God is at enmity with the world. He hates the world. He hates those who are swift to shed blood, and we have to take that into account.

God loves people - because he made them, ALL, in his image. He hates sin which gets hold of people and changes them or turns them away from him.
Just as a mother may love a child but hate what he is doing - theft, drug addiction or whatever. There have been stories of people who've turned their kids into the police, while saying that they still love them. Occasionally criminals have reformed and been grateful that someone showed them tough love.

 

[Xeno.of.athens]

Do you think that loving someone means turning a blind eye when they do wrong? Being willing to ignore/overlook their faults; not wanting what's best for them, or that they be the best they can be?

Yes, it does mean overlooking their sins for a time. The scriptures say so.

 

[tonychanyt]

If God loves everybody unconditionally, then why does He call us to repent?

Is God's love unconditional?

That's a matter of definition. The Bible does not use the term "unconditional love".

John 3:

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God's love is unconditional in the sense that his love is open to anyone who wants it. God's love is extended to the unlovable.

After that, God's love is conditional in the sense that to remain in his love, you have to remain in Christ.

John 15:

10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

God's love may be unconditional. Salvation is not unconditional.