Not long ago, I received a starchy email from someone whose God is all love and nothing else. She refused to believe that He’d ever judge anyone for “just being human,” and she accused me of blasphemy for implying that He would.
“He understands why we do the things we do,” she wrote. That much is true. But then she added, “He is love. That means He loves everyone and we are all going to heaven.”
I replied with the truth: Of course He is love, I said. But He is also perfectly holy, just, merciful, omniscient, and omnipotent; He is the way, the truth and the life; He is the good shepherd; He is the resurrection and the life; He is infinitely more than even a million words could convey.
Was she convinced? Beats me -- I haven't heard back from her.
So what difference does it make if she wants to limit her understanding of Him to a single word?
Just this: In the Bible, God has told us all we need to know about Himself. Yet many people – including this woman, apparently – are singularly disinterested in Him.
What does that say about her love for Him? And what impact will it have on her for all eternity?
Fact is, the Bible tells us repeatedly what's required of us: We must repent of what the Lord says is sin, and trust in Him to have paid the penalty for that sin on the cross.
Is that really asking so much? Apparently so, for some people.
I wonder what will happen to this woman if she continues to reject this truth, and instead clings to her “God is nothing more than love” theology?
When she stands before Him in judgment, will He say “Well done, good and faithful servant”? (Matthew 25:21)
Or will she hear “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness”? (Matthew 7:23)
If the latter, will she argue with Him? Will she say, as she said to me, “I’ve been a good person, I never hurt anyone”? Or will she finally be forced to acknowledge that our good works are not what gets us into heaven, and that His standards are higher than our own?
I’m glad I’m not the judge. After all, the Lord knows our hearts better than we do; it could be that hers is more submitted to Him than anyone else’s, and that she’s merely the blameless victim of some faulty instruction.
But her email really made me think about how important it is that we seek and trust the real Jesus – not some idol that we have created in our own imaginations, or that some self-proclaimed prophet has imagined for us.
He’s the only One who can save us. Why take a chance on trusting in anyone, or anything, else?
“He understands why we do the things we do,” she wrote. That much is true. But then she added, “He is love. That means He loves everyone and we are all going to heaven.”
I replied with the truth: Of course He is love, I said. But He is also perfectly holy, just, merciful, omniscient, and omnipotent; He is the way, the truth and the life; He is the good shepherd; He is the resurrection and the life; He is infinitely more than even a million words could convey.
Was she convinced? Beats me -- I haven't heard back from her.
So what difference does it make if she wants to limit her understanding of Him to a single word?
Just this: In the Bible, God has told us all we need to know about Himself. Yet many people – including this woman, apparently – are singularly disinterested in Him.
What does that say about her love for Him? And what impact will it have on her for all eternity?
Fact is, the Bible tells us repeatedly what's required of us: We must repent of what the Lord says is sin, and trust in Him to have paid the penalty for that sin on the cross.
Is that really asking so much? Apparently so, for some people.
I wonder what will happen to this woman if she continues to reject this truth, and instead clings to her “God is nothing more than love” theology?
When she stands before Him in judgment, will He say “Well done, good and faithful servant”? (Matthew 25:21)
Or will she hear “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness”? (Matthew 7:23)
If the latter, will she argue with Him? Will she say, as she said to me, “I’ve been a good person, I never hurt anyone”? Or will she finally be forced to acknowledge that our good works are not what gets us into heaven, and that His standards are higher than our own?
I’m glad I’m not the judge. After all, the Lord knows our hearts better than we do; it could be that hers is more submitted to Him than anyone else’s, and that she’s merely the blameless victim of some faulty instruction.
But her email really made me think about how important it is that we seek and trust the real Jesus – not some idol that we have created in our own imaginations, or that some self-proclaimed prophet has imagined for us.
He’s the only One who can save us. Why take a chance on trusting in anyone, or anything, else?
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