Love

[James_Lai]

Hello.
It seems to me all religions are basically a human outlook at Love.
Why is Love required by God? Why so many actions of God in the Bible are clearly unloving and how you can reconcile that with the idea that God is Love?

 

[Sketcher]

Hello.
It seems to me all religions are basically a human outlook at Love.
Why is Love required by God? Why so many actions of God on the Bible are clearly unloving and how you can reconcile that with the idea that God is Love?

God is the Judge. People need to revere and obey him, which includes being loving toward other people. So much judgment was poured out and will be poured out upon people who have been quite unloving to other people. I'd say love for those who had been harmed can motivate harsher judgments.

 

[eleos1954]

Hello.
It seems to me all religions are basically a human outlook at Love.
Why is Love required by God? Why so many actions of God on the Bible are clearly unloving and how you can reconcile that with the idea that God is Love?

God's love is a principle .... not an emotion. Love is not sinning. To Love God is a choice ... we are not forced to love God. Love is putting others before self .... something we struggle with.

God’s wrath is neither capricious nor arbitrary. It is aroused against sin, because sin is a rebellion against God’s nature and character (love).

But even in His wrath God remembers mercy (Isa. 54:7, 8); His anger lasts only for a moment (Ps. 30:5); and for His own namesake He does not execute it to the fullest (Isa. 48:9).

Through a manifestation of His anger God wants men and women to come to their senses and turn from their evil conduct (Jer. 36:7; Isa. 42:25; 12:1). Therefore, it is wrong and irresponsible to take the wrath of God and paint a picture of fear in the minds of people.

The awareness of the wrath of God creates new appreciation for God’s love. Sin has placed us in opposition to God. By nature we are objects of His wrath (Eph. 2:3). Justice demands that we receive our punishment, death. And yet God has loved us while we were still His enemies (Rom. 5:8-10). He has so loved us that He made our redemption possible by the death of His Son. His love and mercy gains new depth and meaning when placed against the background of what we deserve!

Another aspect ... the wrath of God shows that God views my individual decision seriously. If I choose to live without God, He does not overrule my decision, but lets me meet the consequences of my choice. (Rom. 1:18).

Gods wrath is the biblical way of proclaiming God’s utter opposition to sin. It tells me that God takes sin seriously and wants to bring it to an end. It creates in me a new appreciation for the cross. It helps me better understand the nature of Christ’s intercessory ministry in heaven and the nature of His final judgment. It builds my confidence in God and gives me grace and assurance to await the final outcome of His purposes at the Second Coming.

The cross ..... God subjected himself to His own wrath, no greater display of love ... lest us not forget that .... ever .... putting self (Himself) before all others.

John 15:13

Berean Study Bible
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

and ..... HE DID! AMEN! Thank you Lord Jesus!

God is love.

What does love look like? On full display by the way Jesus lived His life ending with Him giving up His life for His friends. How wonderful it is to have a friend like that.

Pretty amazing God of the universe sees us as His friends and desires friendship with everyone.

Consider being friends with God and then you will better understand His love.

 

[Greengardener]

I'm curious what actions of God in the Bible aren't loving. I think those would deserve a close inspection.

 

[lsume]

Hello.
It seems to me all religions are basically a human outlook at Love.
Why is Love required by God? Why so many actions of God on the Bible are clearly unloving and how you can reconcile that with the idea that God is Love?

I can honestly say that until I experienced God The Father’s Love, I didn’t understand. His Perfect Love is essential towards your rebirth as I understand it.

 

[Petros2015]

Love is a funny, indefinable, limitless thing. When they say that God is Love, they are correct. You rarely know what it is, you only know what it is not. It does what it needs to do.

 

[James_Lai]

I'm curious what actions of God in the Bible aren't loving. I think those would deserve a close inspection.

Well, many. Destroying humanity by flood instead of sending prophets to them. It’s like what they accuse jihadists of… Kill them if they don’t believe… God is God, He could do a million things instead of total extermination. Or killing Jesus Christ… Supposedly He forgave people by accepting Jesus’s sacrifice. Couldn’t He just forgive? If He’s omnipotent and by His word anything and everything can happen, He would have just said “you guys are forgiven” and that would settle it once and for all. No, He supposedly had to kill His own Son… Nothing loving in that act. It’s horrific even to think about it.

 

[Tolworth John]

Destroying humanity by flood instead of sending prophets to them.

Just what do you think Noah and his Ark was?

Note down the dimensi9ons, use the smallest cubit known to historians ) and measure out in your neighbourhood just how big the Ark was.


Noah is called a preacher of righteousness, which tells us that he did more than just build a 'boat' in his backyard.

Look at the spies in Jericho. The harlot who sheltered them knew about what God had done for the Jes, what he had promised.
She did what few sinners will do, seek God.
If she knew then the rest of the people also knew ad also could like the people of Nineveh did, repent.

 

[James_Lai]

Just what do you think Noah and his Ark was?

Note down the dimensi9ons, use the smallest cubit known to historians ) and measure out in your neighbourhood just how big the Ark was.


Noah is called a preacher of righteousness, which tells us that he did more than just build a 'boat' in his backyard.

Look at the spies in Jericho. The harlot who sheltered them knew about what God had done for the Jes, what he had promised.
She did what few sinners will do, seek God.
If she knew then the rest of the people also knew ad also could like the people of Nineveh did, repent.

Noah was in Israel, right? How about Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, Australia, countless islands? Science tells us humans originated from Africa.

And even in Israel, God could have sent angels show miracles etc and bam! everybody believes. Why destroy? Not only humans, but all animals, birds, snakes, spiders etc etc. Only salt water organisms survived.

God’s power and abilities are supposedly limitless. There could have been a trillion ways they all could have been saved instead

Extremely unloving. And the reasoning is unloving - God regretted creating humanity… Loving entity does not retract their love… It continues unconditionally. For example, parents of criminals still love their children… So humans are capable of bigger love than God in the Bible

 

[Albion]

God’s power and abilities are supposedly limitless. There could have been a trillion ways they all could have been saved instead

What's the point in second-guessing God? Sure, he could have done almost everything that we find in Scripture differently, but how does that reality change anything for us?

 

[James_Lai]

What's the point in second-guessing God? Sure, he could have done almost everything that we find in Scripture differently, but how does that reality change anything for us?

It shows that the decision made was unloving, considering all options at hand

 

[Albion]

It just shows that the decision made was unloving, considering all options at hand

That's the problem with second-guessing God's decisions. They don't always match up with what we who are NOT God think is fair or just...or loving.

The bigger question, however, is what we are going to do with that notion. Will it be to superimpose our judgments upon God...or will it be to believe in and trust God?

 

[James_Lai]

That's the problem with second-guessing God's decisions. They don't always match up with what we who are NOT God think is fair or just...or loving.

The bigger question, however, is what we are going to do with that notion. Will it be to superimpose our judgments upon God...or will it be to believe in and trust God?

There was a man in history, who, like God with the flood decided on a “final solution” to the problem of existence of people who were not fitting to his standard. We now equate this man to absolute evil. The Biblical God does the same, on a much larger scale. Why do we have to take this “final solution” any differently in His case?

 

[Albion]

There was a man in history, who, like God with the flood decided on a “final solution” to the problem of existence of people who were not fitting to his standard. We now equate him to absolute evil.

Yes, but we cannot "equate" any mortal (whether it's Stalin or Hitler or Mao) to God himself. The comparison is false on its face.

So, understanding that, we're back at the real issue here. Are we to be God's people or do we instead impose our own fallible judgments and thinking upon Him, our Creator? It cannot be both at once.

 

[lsume]

Well, many. Destroying humanity by flood instead of sending prophets to them. It’s like what they accuse jihadists of… Kill them if they don’t believe… God is God, He could do a million things instead of total extermination. Or killing Jesus Christ… Supposedly He forgave people by accepting Jesus’s sacrifice. Couldn’t He just forgive? If He’s omnipotent and by His word anything and everything can happen, He would have just said “you guys are forgiven” and that would settle it once and for all. No, He supposedly had to kill His own Son… Nothing loving in that act. It’s horrific even to think about it.

God is Love. He is also a consuming fire. Every imagination of man’s heart was evil prior to the flood. Remember, God The Father has you on both sides of death.

 

[Tolworth John]

Noah was in Israel, right?

No Noah was on the land mass that exsisted prior to a global flood.

Extremely unloving. And the reasoning is unloving

Really, whose fault is it if someone does not obey even ones countries laws, let alone Gods laws.
Ask your parrents about how they have fulfilled their responsibility to teach you about God?
If they did and you do not believe, who is at fault?

As for miracles please read John ch 9, the healing of a man born blind, see how it was investigated by the authorities and how the conclusion was rejected by those same authorities.

People who do not want to believe, will not believe.

 

[James_Lai]

No Noah was on the land mass that exsisted prior to a global flood.



Really, whose fault is it if someone does not obey even ones countries laws, let alone Gods laws.
Ask your parrents about how they have fulfilled their responsibility to teach you about God?
If they did and you do not believe, who is at fault?

As for miracles please read John ch 9, the healing of a man born blind, see how it was investigated by the authorities and how the conclusion was rejected by those same authorities.

People who do not want to believe, will not believe.

Even if it happened on Pangea, outright extermination for an omnipotent God is the least loving option. Like jihadists, behead them all… Why? Can’t you show mercy and patience, and go the extra mile? Do something? It should be easy for an all-powerful Being. But kill them all? No love there.

My parents were members of the communist party and their responsibility was to teach me that there is no God and that religion is a tool used by feudals or capitalists to exploit factory workers and farmers.

 

[James_Lai]

Yes, but we cannot "equate" any mortal (whether it's Stalin or Hitler or Mao) to God himself. The comparison is false on its face.

So, understanding that, we're back at the real issue here. Are we to be God's people or do we instead impose our own fallible judgments and thinking upon Him, our Creator? It cannot be both at once.

If an action can’t be described as loving and kind even for a mere man with limited abilities, then surely the same action is even more evil if perpetrated by God who has limitless options at His disposal for knowing better.

 

[Albion]

If an action can’t be described as loving and kind even for a mere man with limited abilities, then surely the same action is even more evil if perpetrated by God who has limitless options at His disposal for knowing better.

It would seem that way, but that conclusion is based upon a human value system, and it supposes that God is evil if there is anything in past history (the Flood, for instance) that we might consider to be unloving about him.

However, if this is your own standard of judgment...then it is. Those who follow Christ (who made a supreme act of love in order to grant eternal life and fulfillment to sinners), see it differently. And that's probably how things will remain.

In other words, there probably is not much of a chance that any of us is going to be able to "argue" anybody out of one group and into the other.

 

[aiki]

Hello.
It seems to me all religions are basically a human outlook at Love.

??? No. Consider Islam. Consider Hinduism. Many pagan religions involved fear and horrendous, violent rituals. All religions do not express some view of love.

Why is Love required by God?

Why shouldn't it be required by God? Is there a better alternative that He should require instead?

God requires that we be like Him, the One who made us. He created us to love Him, in fact. When we do, we find fulfillment and meaning we can't find in anything else.

Why so many actions of God in the Bible are clearly unloving and how you can reconcile that with the idea that God is Love?

Clearly unloving? By what standard? What unloving actions are you thinking of? God is not only loving but also holy and just. Some people think love requires the suspension of holiness and justice but God demonstrates to us that real love, right love, godly love must be holy and just, too.