“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. –John 3:16: It’s one of the best known and most beloved […]
Tag: Love of God
The greatest commandment: the love of God
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:5).
We shouldn’t follow God’s ways because we think that will make him love us. That’s not the basis for God’s love for us. We shouldn’t follow God’s ways because we feel that God will forgive us. Our forgiveness is rooted in our faith in the gospel. We should follow God’s ways and live for God because we have a love for God.
Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)”
There are a lot of rules that we can force ourselves to follow, perhaps even if we don’t want to do them.
The Greatest Commandment: the love of God
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:5).
We shouldn’t follow God’s ways because we think that will make him love us. That’s not the basis for God’s love for us. We shouldn’t follow God’s ways because we feel that God will forgive us. Our forgiveness is rooted in our faith in the gospel. We should follow God’s ways and live for God because we have a love for God.
Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. (John 14:15)”
There are a lot of rules that we can force ourselves to follow, perhaps even if we don’t want to do them.
Can a loving God allow hell to exist?
Originally published: November 14, 2016
Hell is a tough doctrine.
In his book the Problem of Pain, CS Lewis sums up what I think many would agree with: “There is no doctrine which I would more willingly remove from Christianity than this, if it lay in my power. But it has the full support of Scripture and, specially, of our Lord’s own words; it has always been held by Christendom; and it has the support of reason.”
We’re fine with the idea of a loving God, but we’re less accepting of a God who judges.
With the idea of hell, It can seem unfair. We can feel tempted to justify why hell doesn’t exist. Or maybe we think that hell is really just for people who are really, really bad.
Josh Benner 