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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Why do i need to love god? | John 3:16 | Inquisitor | 223404 | ||
As you have stated, we are to love God but He would much rather that we love Him on a voluntary basis rather than feel a "requirement" to do so. The biggest, most powerful reason we SHOULD love God is so we can go to Heaven. In the beginning as provided by Genesis, mankind had a very special, face-to-face relationship with God. But we lost that special relationship when sin was introduced into the world. Now God has sent His Son to fulfill a promise God made after closing down that Garden of Eden. He provided the ONLY Way for any human being to go to Heaven and that is done by obeying God's Commandments or His Son's Last Will and Testament which was executed by the Holy Spirit through His Apostles. Again we find ourselves loving God as described in 1 John BUT we MUST also love our fellow man in obedience to God. If we don't love our fellow man and claim to love God, He calls such a person a liar. So you see this loving of God most probably comes upon us in a gradual sort of way, like refining of silver. That process takes a lot of heat and much patience as depicted in Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. As you grow in maturity and experience, you will realize the value of these words far more than you do at this moment. BTW, welcome to the Forum. It's so refreshing to see such a young person come to the Forum in this way. Praise the Lord and God bless you. Inquisitor |
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2 | Why do i need to love god? | John 3:16 | DocTrinsograce | 223431 | ||
Dear Inquisitor, If I may, I would like to add my thoughts to those of Pastor Beja and Brother Brad: In order to properly interpret the Scriptures, one must distinguish the descriptive (that which characterizes a thing) from the prescriptive (directions or injunctions). Behavior arises out of the nature of a thing, behavior does not change the nature of a thing. For example: When a child obeys you, he does not become your son. When your son disobeys you, he does not cease to be your child. Offspring may be more or less obedient, deriving the benefits or disadvantages of that behavior, without effecting their status as an offspring. In the same way, those who love the Lord, were birthed from God. Jesus said, "If God were your Father, you would love Me." Note well what He says in John 8:33-47. Belief is not being prescribed, instead it is being described. Children of God believe the words of Christ (cf 1 John 5:1). Children of the devil do not believe the words of Christ (cf 1 Corinthians 16:22). In addition, our Lord even describes how His own love Him: "Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me." (John 14:23-24 NASB) You see, the sons of God are not born of man's will, but Gods (John 1:13). Nevertheless, one of their characteristics is belief (John 1:12), even though all men are commanded to believe (cf John 3:36; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17). Indeed, Christ clearly asserts that lack of belief is descriptive of those who do not belong to Christ (John 10:25-30). Those belonging to Christ hear His voice and follow Him. Human beings were created to derive their life from the Word of God (Deuteronomy 8:3; John 15:4). Even man in his sinless, perfect state needed to be told who he was, why he existed, what and how he was to do the tasks God gave to him (Genesis 2:16-18). God's provision always proceeds our need. Our salvation is a work of God -- start to finish -- not a matter of even the tiniest amount of merit. Scripture spends much time giving the description of a believer (see post #153858). The tares don't know they are tares (Matthew 13:30), but armed with these descriptions, we can and ought to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). Therefore, when you see someone who loves the Lord, you see a believer. When you see someone who does not love Him, you see a non-believer. As Dr Tim Keller puts it, it is the acid test of our faith. http://www.monergism.com/acidtest.html In Him, Doc |
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