 1)"Norm - - you are trying to earn my love. It cannot be earned. No one can earn My love. It's a free gift."
2) "How am I trying to earn your love, Lord?" Norm asked.
3) "You are trying to earn my love by doing ministry. Ministry is not something you "have to do" to receive my love. Ministry is something you "get" to do.
4) "You are also trying to earn my love by reading Holy Scriptures and trying to be obedient to them; by assembling with God's people (going to "church"); by praying; by financial giving. These are not things you have to do for Me to love you. They are something you get to do, simply because they are good for you. They are designed to bring spiritual growth in you."
5) "You need to know something about Me. I love sinner to saint equally the same. From the worst of sinner to the "saintliest" of saints, I love them equally the same. I do not love the Pope or Billy Graham or any other person whom you think I love more than someone else.
"A case in point: when Hitler was alive and was responsible for killing the millions that he killed, I did not love him any less that I loved the most godly person of his day."
6) Norm's response: "But Lord, I thought you hated sinners."
7) "Not at all! I love sinners and non-sinners equally the same. I HATE the sin that people commit against me, but not the person doing the sinning. It is the sin itself I hate (and the harmful effects it brings to the one sinning and to others) - not the one sinning."
8) "Norm - you need to know why I can love sinner to saint unconditionally - equally the same - yet hate the sin sinners commit. It is because of the death, burial and resurrection of my Son, Jesus Christ. Before the beginning of creation -- before the creation of all things ... the death, burial and resurrection of My Son, Jesus, was planned in My mind. The moment I planned it my unconditional love was forever decreed.
Nevertheless, don't confuse my unconditional love with my favor. My favor is placed in degrees on those who obey Me, and removed to degrees on those who disobey Me.
9) "Lord - does this mean that if I don't read my Bible from this moment forward until I die, you will love me just as much?"
10) "That's absolutely correct, Norm."
11) "Wow! You mean that if I don't go to church every Sunday, don't pray, don't witness to others about you -- you would love me just as much as before?"
12) "That's absolutely correct. In fact, if you never give to Me one penny from this day forward, it will not affect my love toward you. Your giving of money, or not giving of money, does not affect my love toward you or anyone else. Like I said, My love cannot be earned by what a person does or doesn't do. It is impossible for someone to receive my love by their doing. My unconditional love is given to all with no strings attached, free of charge."
As I was taking all this "unbelievable" revelation of God's love in . . . kneeling there bawling like a little baby... God then said THIS to me:
13) "You need to know something, however. Praying, reading The Word, ministry, witnessing, assembling with God's people, giving money . . . although these are disciplines that you don't have to do . . . only an unwise person would quit doing them. Though none of these disciplines will earn my love, they WILL earn eternal rewards of joy, and they can bring favor on earth when it otherwise might not come, because they fall under My law of sowing and reaping.
"Not everyone will receive the same reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ, but all will be justly rewarded.
"My people will be rewarded in part by what they sowed into My Kingdom, and into the lives of others, as opportunity presented itself, according to my Will for their lives and their obedience to it and My Word. I reward obedience, not results.
"Do not confuse my unconditional love with the laws of sowing and reaping.
"If people sow a little, they will reap a little. If they sow much, they will reap much. A poor person sowing a penny can be sowing more than a rich person sowing a million dollars. Sowing by My measure is more a heart issue than it is a percentage issue.
"It does not require money to sow, though sowing money can be the most difficult for some to sow.
"Some of the greatest rewards of joy in heaven will be given to those who purposed to sow things like this to others while they were on earth: Selfless prayer, kindness, faith, love, peace, joy, hope, encouragement, spiritual insight, wisdom, fighting for righteousness to defeat evil ... things of this nature.
IMPORTANT NOTE OF WISDOM
Understanding God's unconditional love toward humanity does NOT establish a higher importance than understanding His HOLINESS and JUSTICE.
As God is an all loving God . . . loving the worst of sinners to the most "saintliest of saints" equally the same . . . that unconditional love of God in and of itself will NOT keep a person from going to hell. It can probably be said that God will love a person in hell for eternity equally as much as He loved that person on earth . . . yet that unconditional love will not free that person from hell once they are there.
Here is why: As God is an all-loving God, He is also an all-holy God, and an all-just God. God cannot stand sin in His presence. (That's because of His holiness). And there must be punishment for sin. (That's because of His justice).
When Adam and Eve sinned, God could no longer allow them to be in His presence like they were able to be before. This was because of His holiness. Furthermore, justice had to be served against their wrongdoing. This was because of His justice. (Remember, however, God did not love them any less for their wrongdoing. It was impossible for their sin to change THAT).
God decreed before they sinned that if they disobeyed Him (just once, mind you!), they must die -- both physically and spiritually (Genesis 2:17). As the all-holy (1 Peter 1:16) and all- just Judge, this was to be His sentence of punishment against their disobedience.
And because of their sin against Him, now His WRATH needed to be executed against them (Romans 1:18; 2:5,8; 4:15; 5:5). Thus much of God's favor was removed from them while they lived out their days, and upon dying physically, they were not allowed to be in the presence of God. They were spiritually separated from Him as well.
Because of the devastating nature of sin, sin passed onto the offspring of Adam and Eve (Romans 5:12). Probably genetically -- certainly spiritually. That made the offspring of Adam and Eve sinners as well. Through no choice of their own, they were born into this world sinners, initially because of the sin of their parents. What this meant is that God's WRATH was also upon them! He could NOT allow them to be in His presence either upon their dying, (although it did NOT affect His unconditional love for them).
Hence we see why God's WRATH is upon every person to be born on this planet. But that's not the end of the matter. God is also all-merciful. In His perfect mercifulness, He devised a plan to have His wrath removed from sinners before they died (Isaiah 53:3-6; 11 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:25). He would send the second person of the eternal Godhead, The Word, (John, Chapter one) to earth to become the once and for all acceptable sacrifice to pay for the sins of humanity. If people accepted this sacrifice that God the Father provided for them (free of charge!), His wrath would instantly be removed from them. If they did not accept this sacrifice for their sins and sin nature, His wrath would remain on them.
"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the WRATH of God abides on him." (John 3:36).
To make the point: God's unconditional love toward the "worst sinner in hell" will never change. He loves that sinner in hell equally the same as He does every saint in heaven. Yet that unconditional love will not free that sinner from hell; meaning God's unconditional love toward that person will not lessen their eternal suffering and torment.
God's unconditional love does not free a person from hell and it's torment once they are sentenced there.
Why? Because God's unconditional love does not supersede, or override, His justice. Justice must be executed and served for those who refused on earth His FREE pardon to have His wrath and sentence of eternal death removed from them.
There is only ONE WAY to have God the Father's wrath removed off a person. That is to accept the sacrifice He provided, which was the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ His Son.
Scripture states: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from WRATH through Him. (Romans 5:8-9)
As one cannot earn God's unconditional love, but only receive it as the free gift that it is, neither can one be "good enough" nor "earn" God's free gift of eternal pardon of our sin and sin nature (having His wrath removed from us). It too can only be RECEIVED with appreciation. True appreciation for getting it removed will prove itself by living a life of obedience to the One who pardoned us (Romans 8:13-14) . . . knowing that if we sin after we have had His wrath removed from us, forgiveness is always granted when confessed to Him (1 John 1:9). [Though his discipline and chastisement (which can include loss of possible favor to different degrees) will most likely be executed toward us if we continue to remain in that sin. Not to mention the potential for a loss of eternal reward, (though we still have certainty of removal of His eternal Wrath, which means we will not lose our Salvation).] (1 Thessalonians 5:9).
In conclusion . . . we constantly need to remind ourselves of this Bible truth:
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