Do not mistake God’s love for tolerance

I love you so much that I will not lie to you. I love you so much that I will not withhold from you the truth that set me free, because I want you to be free from the consequence of sin too. I will love you so much that I will not quit or give in just because you say God’s truthful love is hateful. Because I know that no one really wants to endure correction, even me. I will love you so much that I will not hoard salvation all to myself, but rather share with you the truths you need to know so you can make the best choice in your life, to receive Christ into your mind and share His greatest gift of all, the cleansing love of the blood of Christ.

Galatians 5
16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

John 15
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

John 14
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

Love abounds in Jesus. God’s love is so great, no human has yet to experience in its full splendor. I look forward to the day when I travel over Jordan, and get to experience His love forever.

In the few verses from Galatians we see it declared that if you do not have God’s love in you, meaning if you commit those acts without repentance, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. These are not my words, but the words of God. You cannot willingly and happily live in sin and think you are saved. To sin and seek forgiveness is one thing. But to sin and think that you are covered by God’s love and do not need to seek forgiveness, well….that’s what we are talking about here.

Please note in the second block of scriptures that Christ himself is talking and he is telling you that if you do not have his love in you, you are like a dead vine that is ripped off and cast into the fire. The fire is a symbol of judgement in the bible. Make no mistake about it, Jesus is saying if you do not accept Him as your savior, you will not receive everlasting life. Notice again, Jesus says that if you do have his love in you, you will obey; you will do as He commands. He tells us to love each other as He has loved us. What does that look like. Did Jesus ever encourage anyone to live in sin? I don’t think so, and I would need to be led to that scripture if you would say He did. Jesus has always freed people from their sin and told people to sin no more. So if we tell people that it is okay to live in sin, are we actually doing what Jesus did? Do we really love our neighbor the way Christ loves him? Do we love him as much as we love ourselves? Salvation is not just good enough for us, it is good enough for all. So why do we understand that sin has no part in our lives, but we will stand by and allow others to live in sin just because they are our mom or dad, brother or sister, best friend or co-worker? I would challenge anyone who would say, “Well, I would never do that but live and let live.” Or “To each to his own”. No….I am sorry; you are far off the mark of what Christ says here. In fact, Jesus says that if you do not do as He has commanded; he is not with you. That is why it is dangerous to claim to be a Christian and then walk around telling people who live in sin that everything is going to be okay because God loves them. That is not the whole truth! It is a half truth that is told deceitfully, and that is not the message of Christ. Yes, god loves us. He loved Hitler and Manson and Dahmer as much as He loves us. But there is an expectation that we all share as much as we share His divine love. That is to obey. Whether your disobedience is as gross as these men, or as simple as being a great person who simply does not believe, it is all the same to our God.

Please note the final block of scripture. Christ says that he who does not do as Christ says, that person is listening to another word, and it is not the word of God. Whose word do you think Jesus is talking about. Right, I thought the same thing, Satan!

God’s love is real, and it is wonderful. Do not mistake God’s love for tolerance. We are to be obedient children to the Father. You must repent from your sin. That word means to “change your mind” If you like being drunk you are to hate it. If you like being a liar, you are to hate it. If you like being an adulterer, you are to hate it. All manners of sin. I really want to stop talking about just the issue of same sex marriage and homosexuality. It is a sin, and it does qualify here. However, there are many who point fingers and don’t understand that God hates ALL sin. Not just one, but all of it. And although we are weak in our flesh, we are to repent, and seek forgiveness for our daily failures. But we certainly are not to enjoy the sin, or live in it with some form of earthly peace. We are to hate sin, and to turn away from it. That is the fruit of God’s true love, and it should be the message of our brotherly and neighborly love.

May the divine peace from the great comforter be with you today!!