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I'm quite sure that this quote from a Christian article won't meet with much resistance: "The Bible says that God loves us completely no matter what we do." Yes, sure, we all know that. God loves unconditionally. Got it. Clear enough. We know.

But wait! Is that true? You see, we often pass off on some theological or doctrinal point without examining its veracity. Is it true? It sounds true, I suppose. But is it? If it is true, where in the Bible do you read it? Now that will be an interesting trick, because it's not in there. (Easy verification. Do a word search in the Bible for "unconditional" and you'll see.) Okay, so where do you acquire it? What in the Bible makes you think it's true? You see, I don't think most of us have even thought that far. So, why do I even ask? Well, while we are all quite sure that God loves us unconditionally, we read things like "Jacob I loved and Esau I hated" and I have to ask, "Huh??" You see, if Esau is loved unconditionally, why is he hated? And it's not just Esau. There are a lot of people whom God hates (e.g., Leviticus 20:23; Psalm 5:5; 11:5; Hosea 9:15).

"Oh, no," we will say, "God loves the sinner but hates the sin." Yes, you'll find that in Hezekiah 5:3. No, wait. That's not right. Hey, where exactly is that? You see, every time I read of God referring to sin and sinners, it appears to me that He sees the two as irrevocably connected. We're part of Adam's race, part of his sin condition, "by nature children of wrath". He calls sinners to repent. He connected the Pharisees with "your father, the devil". It seems too deeply connected -- the sin and the sinner -- to strip them apart.

Part of the problem is our hazy definitions. "Love", for instance, means "accepting, warm, affectionate". Or does it? Does love require acceptance? Does "unconditional love" mean "I embrace you in everything that you are and you do"? That certainly doesn't fit with biblical imagery (for instance, Jeremiah 18:7-11 or, say, Israel's 40 years in the desert for refusing to go into the land). Indeed, we read quite explicitly, "The Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives" (Hebrews 12:6). Further, "If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons" (Hebrews 12:8). So clearly the biblical version of love doesn't include "no conditions on how to behave or what to be in order to receive acceptance." That's not biblical love. In fact, Paul says that God's kindness, forbearance, and patience -- components of His love -- have a purpose; they lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4).

Now, clearly God's love is not earned. Moses told Israel that God chose to love them apart from any perceived merit in them; He loved them because He promised He would (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). God doesn't love us because we deserve it (Job 7:17). And we know that there are some conditions on God's love. Jesus said, "The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God" (John 16:27). See that? "Because you have loved Me." That's why "the Father Himself loves you." Conditions. In fact, one of the all time favorite passages on the love of God actually lays out a key condition. John 3:16 says, "God loved the world in this way: He sent His only begotten Son so that those who believe in that Son will not perish, but will have everlasting life." (I rephrased it slightly to avoid a couple of very common errors in understanding what it actually says.) What is the condition? "Believe in Him." If you do that, you experience His love in the form of everlasting life. If you do not, you do not experience that love, but perish instead. Conditions.

God loves His own. Of that there is no doubt. His love cannot be earned. Of that there is no doubt. Indeed, God Himself defines love. Absolutely true. But I question the concept of unconditional love. Further, I deny the concept of unconditional love as it is currently applied -- that "I embrace you in everything that you are and you do" idea. God Himself chastises those He loves. There is absolutely no doubt that He punished Israel, the people that He loved, when they violated His laws. The ever-so-popular concept of unconditional love as an equivalent of unconditional acceptance is absolutely absent in Scripture. Love without consequences, in fact, is a contradiction in terms. Oddly enough, thatkind of "unconditional love" might actually occur in human beings. It's wrong, unbiblical, a violation of the nature of God and the nature of love, but it probably does occur here and there ... you know ... as long as you aren't violating their particular threshold*. I would encourage you, on the other hand, not to look for that kind of illogical, irrational violation from God. You won't find it.
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* I followed recently a discussion about "unconditional love" in terms of a parent "embracing and accepting" an offspring who "comes out" to a Christian parent. The suggestion of many commenters was that it was required. When one was asked, "So, what if they become intolerant bigots?", she replied, "I would send him out the door and tell him he wasn't welcome in my home if he was going to talk that way. I don't allow bigots in my home." Ummm ... what was that about "unconditional love"?

"Word from Scotland" from Sandy Shaw

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