April 2, 2019

Good Morning Fellow Travelers

Read: I John 3:1 and I John 4:8-19

“God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

God loves us with an unconditional love. It seems that He would require more from us before He risks loving us, but then, those are only man’s thoughts. The text scripture is clear: God commends His love to sinners.

What does this mean? It means that His love for us did not depend on us first meeting His standard of holiness. It means that the one criteria to receive His unconditional love is to be a sinner. Christ came to call sinners to repentance. It means He did not come to call the righteous to repentance, but rather those in sin were called. So if you are a sinner, His unconditional love is for you.

We have wasted too much time as Christians, loving conditionally. Admit it. You and I have a standard of acceptance that, if others don’t meet it, disqualifies them for our love. We must love as Christ loved. When Christ received the woman who wept on His feet and then wiped off the tears with her hair, there is one thing that stands out: He loved her unconditionally. He did not recoil as we tend to do because of all the undertones of risk and fear of accusation.

People have been turned away from churches where they do not feel unconditional love. The little things that so often separate brothers or sisters in a church could often be settled by unconditional love. What a loss this is to the church! Do you, as I, see it in yourself? I confess it, I deplore it, and I repent of it.

How can I criticize unconditional love, when this is the way God loves? We will lose nothing by exercising it in the body of Christ. The world of ungodly men will lose everything if we fail to love this way.

— James Baer