God is love. What churchgoer hasn’t heard this declaration? The phrase comes from I John 4:16. But what exactly does this mean? There is much confusion in our modern society about the nature of love. So it’s crucial that we clearly define our terms. According to the Oxford Dictionary, love is “an intense feeling of deep affection.” Unfortunately, this definition falls far short of what the Apostle John meant when he wrote about love. For John, love is far more than just a feeling, no matter how intense. All human emotions wax and wane. Most people would readily admit that they don’t always have feelings of deep affection towards their spouse or their kids. In fact, the nature of love is most clearly demonstrated at precisely those moments when feelings of affection desert us.
For John, love is the settled conviction to act in the best interests of the beloved. Christian love is not a feeling, but an act of will. This is not at all to claim that our emotions are unimportant. No: our emotions are God-given and therefore good. God created human beings as a unified whole; we function best when every part of our personality works together in harmony. But above all else, God formed us as rational beings. We are able to reflect on our behavior, to consider the outcome of our actions, to make choices. I can choose to engage in conduct or speech which inflicts harm on my fellow creatures, or I can choose to behave and speak in a way which brings about their good. Our will is the vital part of us which gives us the ability to make choices; it is the very core of who we are as God’s creatures. The ability to exercise our will makes us moral beings. And morality is the realm where love operates.
So when John writes that “God is love,” he is simply denoting that God will always act in the best interests of those he loves. God’s love extends to his entire creation. His desire is to see the whole created order flourish. He wants the world to become a place of beauty, joy, abundance and peace. The Bible describes how God fashioned human beings in his image. The Lord then delegated his authority to humanity, giving them the exalted role and responsibility of governing the world. By worshiping the one true God and living according to his wisdom, human beings are able to make the world the wondrous place that God desires.
People nowadays use the word love when they really mean approval. But a moment’s reflection will reveal that this is badly misguided. Humans often act in ways contrary to the wisdom of the God. Nowhere is this more true than in the area of sexuality. God designed sexual intercourse as the supreme act of intimacy to be shared by one man and one woman bound together in the covenant of marriage. Sex not only brings about the unity of husband and wife, but it is also the means by which new life is brought into the world. The children which result from intercourse require a nurturing, loving environment in order to bring them to full maturity. The Bible teaches us that the family – one woman and one man – is the environment designed by God within which children can best grow and flourish. Unsurprisingly, all unbiased social research has borne this out. By every measure, children do better when they enjoy a stable, loving home with one father and one mother.
Tragically, large swaths of our society have rejected the wisdom of God when it comes to sexuality. Rather than reserving sexual activity for marriage, people have chosen to celebrate all manner of sexual practice, whether that be homosexual relations or extra-marital heterosexual intercourse. The scriptures warn us that such activity does not bring about human wellbeing, but instead results in misery and alienation.
Those who engage in such practices appeal to the concept of love but what they’re doing is precisely the opposite. Rather than acting in the best interests of themselves, or other people or the world around them, they’re behaving in ways which will result in their own damage and destruction. They deeply desire that society would approve of their conduct and vigorously denounce those who do not bless their chosen way of life. Those who refuse to approve of their actions are castigated as unloving, hateful bigots.
Yet the most loving thing someone can do is to warn others that they are in great danger of hurting themselves and others. This principle of course extends far beyond the realm of sexuality. What loving parent doesn’t scold their kids for playing in the street? What loving parent doesn’t chastise their kids for eating too much junk food or watching too much TV? What loving parent does not warn their kids to avoid drug abuse or criminal behavior? Likewise, the parent who truly loves their child ought to prevent them from engaging in homosexual or extra-marital sexual activity.
People often speak of the unconditional love of God. But let’s pause and reflect on that a moment. We’ve already noted that the Biblical definition of love is a settled conviction to act in the best interests of the beloved. Yet already, by definition, we’ve already introduced a strict condition to the nature of God’s love: God’s love requires the best for the people he loves. But what happens when those same people reject the best for themselves? What if people insist on engaging in practices which harm themselves, wound others and corrupt the world around them? What of God’s love then?
When we consider this problem, there are really on two logical possibilities. First, God can do all he can to warn people, to turn them away from their detrimental behavior and bring them back to life according to his wisdom and goodness. Happily, there are countless examples of this happening both in the Bible and in everyday life. In every church, there are many folks who have at one time turned away from God and pursued their own dark and disastrous path. Yet the Spirit of God (often working through the people of God) has brought such wayward people to repentance and renewed loyalty to Jesus. Our God is truly full of mercy and forgiveness to those who are willing to humble themselves before him.
The second possibility is much more sobering. What happens when people obstinately refuse to repent? Sure, God is patient and kind. He is willing to play the long game. But precisely because God is love, he cannot wait forever. You see, God loves his world. When people utterly reject him and continue to abuse themselves and others, the nature of love itself demands that God eventually step in and bring an end to such evil.
So we find that God’s wrath against evil is not opposed to his love, but in fact a necessary expression of his love. When faced with violence, injustice and immorality, God’s love requires him to respond in anger and judgment. He wouldn’t be a good or loving God if he wasn’t utterly determined to bring an end to all the villainy and wickedness in the world.
In the book of Exodus, the God of Abraham reveals himself to Moses and the children of Israel. The Lord passes before Moses and proclaims, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love for thousands, and forgiving wickedness and rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.”
There we have it in a nutshell. God is love. He desperately desires to see his creation flourish. He will wait patiently for those who have gone astray. If they are willing to repent, he is full of mercy and forgiveness. But his love also compels him to bring judgment upon those who persist in iniquity.
So let’s please dispense with the talk about God’s unconditional love. When recalcitrant people continue to abuse themselves, harm others and corrupt the world around them, they are in a very dangerous position. Those who persist in evil should not delude themselves into thinking that God will always love them. Those who insist God’s love is unconditional have misjudged the character of God because his love and patience have clear limits. When people embrace wickedness God’s love turns to anger and wrath. The creator’s love for everything else demands that he bring solemn judgment upon them.
Psalm 45 declares, “Your throne, O God, will last forever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness.” Remember then, all genuine love is conditional. God’s love demands that we live according to his wisdom and goodness, for that is the only path to blessing and life.
