He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love
First Epistle of John 4: 8, Concordant New Testament
I glanced over an article a friend sent me this week which delved into the fact of fear based religion. As Christians, we've all been there, right? We know and understand that God loved us enough to create us in His own likeness {Genesis 1:27}. We even understand that it is God Who has given us life {Genesis 2:7, Acts of the Apostles 17:25}. However, despite knowing all of this, we often live in fear of what God has ultimately planned for us. How, if we don't live our lives in the right way, that He might just banish us into that lake of hell fire He has reserved for the devil and his cohorts. That in enough would make any believer tremble in their boots. So it is that those within the mainstream church have chosen to use fear in an attempt to get their congregations to tow the church line. This playbook has been working for thousands of years. The church will proclaim that we're all sinners, that we're deserving of the Lords punishment. But what does God tell us? When we strip away the words and Sunday sermons of a church that would rather condemn us than save us, we begin to see that this was never God intention. The apostle John says this clearly in his own words, that "He who is not loving knew not God, for God is love" {First Epistle of John 4:8}. So, God does not see us as sinners awaiting His final judgement, but as His loved and cherished children {First Epistle of John 3:1}. But, as the saying goes, if you tell a lie often enough eventually it is seen as truth. This has been the tactic used by those within the mainstream church for generations. To draw our attention away from the true nature of the Father. To convince us that we are inherently bad and deserving of His punishment. Who wouldn't be afraid of that? How can we ever trust in a God Who claims to love us, yet plans to condemn us? But this is the very message which is spoken by those within the church. Fear keeps the believers in line.
I remember back in my church days, how I lived in fear that I would never measure up to the standard which God had set before me. How could He love a sinner like me? What did I have to do in order to secure His love for me? Granted, my fears were amplified with each and every Sunday sermon I heard. Even in the day I decided that I was through with the institutional church, after speaking to the truth that Jesus died and was raised again for the forgiveness of my sin, the pastor welcomed any and all who felt they were sinners to come forward for prayer. Why wouldn't I feel the guilt of sin? This is what I had been taught from a young age. This is what we've all been taught. But it took my leaving the traditional church for my eyes to be opened to the truth. That God has never intended to condemn me, but to love me. He has never chosen condemnation, only love. We can say that everything He does is out of His true love nature. That through His love for us, we are His children. That through His love for us, He dispatched His Son not to condemn, but to save {Johns Account 3:16-17}. As the apostle has written, Jesus has not come to judge the world, but that "The world may be saved through Him." Make no mistake, God could have sent His Son into the world to judge us, but that wasn't in His nature. His desire all along has been to gather His children unto Himself. Yet this truth flies in the face of the lie spoken by those within the church. That it is our sin which has separated us from a loving God. But it is God Who desires for us to know the truth, and that truth is that we are not destined for condemnation, but salvation. Those within the church will describe this as universal salvation, and those who speak it are accused of blasphemy and lies. But I ask, why would God love me enough to save me only to condemn me? Those within the church have chosen to condemn, God chooses to love.
Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God! And we are! Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him
First Epistle of John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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