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Writer's pictureCortney Donelson

5 | "True or False?" [on Love]

Updated: Dec 2

Where We Expose Faulty Teaching to Gain Godly Wisdom in This Modern World


Each month, we prayerfully dig into God's Word to discern truth from almost truth and help you learn how to defend your faith in a world where false teaching is enticing more and more people to turn from wisdom and righteous living.


Jeremiah 14:14, ESV


And the LORD said to me: "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds."


 

But God Is Love, Right?

Yes. True. (But God doesn't love everything.)


God is love. Three little words that mean so much. It's a simple message with an immeasurably deep meaning. It is one thing to say God is loving; it is something altogether extraordinary to say God is love. The beautiful thing is that both are true.


God is love means He is the very definition of love, the source of love. We can love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). To understand God “is love” is to understand that God is the most self-sacrificial being in the universe, from whom all love flows.


1 John 4:8, NIV.

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

In this verse of Scripture, love is a noun, not a verb. As a grammar geek, I love this. Verbs show action. First John 4:8 tells us we don't have to work for God's love because we don't have to work for Him. In the noun form, we can rest. We can "be still and know" (Psalm 46:10). We need only surrender ourselves to Jesus. In other words, love cannot be compelled, manipulated, or predetermined if it is to be genuine love. It is to be freely given and freely received.


Of course, the Bible often uses love as a verb too, particularly as it talks about what God loves.


  1. God loves the world, a.k.a. all of creation (John 3: 16).

  2. God loves Israel (Isaiah 43:1).

  3. God loves every single person (John 15:12).

  4. God loves the gates of Zion (i.e., the city of God, or Jerusalem) (Psalm 87:2).

  5. God loves those who seek righteousness (Proverbs 15:9).

  6. God loves justice (Psalm 37:28).

  7. God loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7).

  8. God loves those who keep His commands (Deuteronomy 7:9).

  9. God loves those who fear Him (Psalm 103:11).


I'm going to keep serving as your resident grammar nerd for another minute. In our English language, with all its grammar rules, love is usually a transitive verb, meaning an action verb that needs a recipient (i.e., an object, something worthy of the love)—just like in the list above. Therefore, the integrity of love is found in its corresponding object. Why is this so important?


Because God is love, if you love what God loves, then love is moral and good—because God is good. But if you love what God despises, love becomes a sin-filled action. 


How does the enemy twist the simple truth of "God is love" into something false, perhaps even evil? Carefully. Craftily. And easily if we're not alert.


When we communicate that love has righteousness and honor in and of itself (without God as the source), it means we can render it an idol, twisting it from its moral foundation: the God of the Bible. 


For example, changing one word and claiming, "Love is love!"—as we hear within LGBTQ+ ideology—means we've just rejected the biblical source of love (God) and promoted idolatrous lust that goes against God's Word (1 John 2:16).


It's not just in the LGBTQ+ movement where this happens. When we support or justify any behavior that goes against biblical Truth or wisdom by claiming, "Well, I'm loving them"—e.g., engaging in any sexual relationship outside of marriage, celebrating or condoning someone else's sinful lifestyle, or enabling sinful behaviors in the name of love—we indirectly engage in porneia, the Hebrew word for "sexual immorality." First Corinthians 6:18 says, "Flee from porneia. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually sins against their own body.” God cares about our bodies and us.


Leviticus 18 tells us how God defines some sexual immorality.

"And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her [adultery]. You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God [child sacrifice, abortion, or child predation]: I am the Lord. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman [homosexuality]; it is an abomination. And you shall not lie with any animal [beastiality] and so make yourself unclean with it" (verses 20–24, ESV).

And love does not mean tolerance.

Too many Christians today have been told to tolerate evil and sin rather than fight it. Nothing has done more harm to the Body of Christ and Christians' sanctity in the last few decades than convincing Christians they must be "accepting" or "tolerant." Our collective silence, hidden in the language of "loving others" and stoked by fear and cowardice, must end if we are to rescue lost Christians from inauthentic faith—and eternal separation from God. Revelation 2:18–29 describes a tolerant church. Jesus says to Thyatira, “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality” (Revelation 2:20, ESV). It goes on to say Jesus will destroy her and her followers (i.e., her "children"). That's hard-core wrath for what we might think is "mere tolerance."


What else does God hate?

Of course, porneia isn't the only thing God hates.


God detests all sin and wickedness, specifically pride and arrogance, (Philippians 2:3 and 5:11), lies (John 8:44), unrighteous anger, hatred of someone else (Matthew 5:21–24 and 1 John 3:15), evil schemes (2 Samuel 11), yielding to the devil, giving in to sin (1 John 3:4–9), and those who encourage disunity (Proverbs 10:12). These are just a handful of many verses.


There are seven specific sins the Bible tells us God hates in Proverbs 6:16–19 (NIV) alone:

  1. Haughty eyes.

  2. A lying tongue.

  3. Hands that shed innocent blood [e.g., murder/abortion].

  4. A heart that devises wicked schemes.

  5. Feet that rush into evil.

  6. A false witness (giving false testimony in a legal context).

  7. A person who stirs up conflict.


Exodus 20:3–6 tells us God hates idol worship.

Exodus 21:15 tells us God hates violence toward our parents.

Proverbs 8:13 tells us God hates pride, arrogance, evil behavior, and perverse speech.

Zechariah 7:10 tells us God hates those who mistreat widows, orphans, strangers, or the poor.


Why Does This Matter in the Context of False Teaching?


I don't revel in calling some of this out. I'm guilty of a few of the items above. And apart from God's Word, I don't care who others marry or how they live. We have free will, and adults can choose the direction and content of their lives. But I do care about people in general—a lot. I love my fellow Christ-followers! And knowing that Christians who intentionally engage in the things God detests will experience consequences (myself included) causes me great anguish. Many of those consequences are natural; some of them are eternal. It's those latter ones I fear the most.


Sometimes obedience to our faith is not fun. It takes us dying to our desires and elevating our love for God and our aim of glorifying Him above all else. I can't ignore the parts of the Bible that are hard or that I don't like if I am to profess my devotion to the Lord. Otherwise, I make myself out to be God.


I am not God, which means I cannot cherry-pick Scripture, but I'm also not anyone's holy judge. Jesus is. I don't condemn those living apart from His Word. Instead, I choose compassion by speaking truth in love and living my life to the best of my ability, according to His Truth found in the Bible, while encouraging fellow Christians to do the same. I am not writing this to sway someone from the freedom of choice or to attack a part of anyone's identity. We all struggle with sin. I'm writing to convince those who twist the scriptures to justify their corrupt choices to stop and repent. Because what they are doing is aligning with false teaching and influencing others to do the same.


And if you choose to ignore God's Word, fine. But please don't compel others to stray from it. Your consequences will be even more severe (Matthew 18:6 and Isaiah 9:16) because you're causing others to sin. While understanding God's grace, please also have a healthy fear of God's wrath.


I want to also remind Christians that our primary identity, the most important part of us, is as a child of God. I hope you know how much He loves you.


I am not judging people who don't profess to be followers of the Christian faith. In First Corinthians 5:9–13 (NLT), Paul says:


"When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.  But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.
It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, 'You must remove the evil person from among you.'”

Non-believers live by a different playbook, and God will handle them differently. According to the Bible's direct teaching, I am calling out professing Christians who are engaging with false doctrine. Why? Because I cherish absolute truth and don't want to see anyone miss the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13–14). I know too many people who I fear think they are "safe" but are not. Another way I avoid judging non-believers is by knowing anyone (and everyone) can be transformed by the renewing of their minds and the conscious decisions of their hearts. I won't give up on anyone. People didn't give up on me. That's why I speak up. It's why I respect His Truth and voice it so loudly.


1 Corinthians 13:6, NIV.

"It [love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth."

No one can ignore portions of the Bible if they want to follow Jesus and enjoy the blessings and righteousness God promises to those who do. "For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified" (Romans 2:13, ESV).


Obedience to God proves our love for Him (1 John 5:2–3), demonstrates our faithfulness to Him (1 John 2:3–6), glorifies Him (1 Peter 2:12), and opens opportunities for Him to bless us (John 13:17) and others. That's a lot of reasons to die to ourselves and love with His love, a love that does not twist the meaning at the source.


Worldly, human-defined love, that which sits apart from God or what glorifies Him, is not true love. It’s not godly love. Because of this, this worldly love is either sin or will lead to sin. And God hates sin. 


I encourage you to listen to Melanie Holland's input. Melanie is a former youth pastor, veteran, and founder of Driven Ministries. What she says here is fantastic. I love how she uses her stories to drive home her point.


True Love Can Pierce Any Heartby Melanie Holland

Sin cannot be a part of Heaven's glory. It's the reason God banished Satan and one-third of the angels from Heaven. It's the reason for Jesus—and his love. It's the reason we must love others with the love God pours out on us.


So be careful how you use "love" to communicate choices and lifestyles that don't align with God's will or truth. After all, God also hates idolatry.


Our minds, hearts, and choices must align with His Word if we are to call ourselves Christians.


This includes our definition of love.

Language matters. Choices matter. Truth matters.


Deo Gloria,



Next Time: Are We Inherently Sinful?


 

Guidelines


As you read, learn, and possibly comment on posts, there are a few guidelines I ask you to follow. First, we are all loved by God. We must receive that love and pour it back out for others. So all comments, whether in agreement or disagreement, must be respectful. This blog will neither be for calling out false teachers by name nor to allow for ongoing debate (at least on this platform). Instead, I seek to inform readers by pointing them to biblical truth while encouraging them to think critically. Most of all, I hope readers open God's Word, perhaps more than they do now. I will use the Bible as the foundation for any statement or claim I make. However, I am open to correction and alternative thoughts and conclusions if based on a biblical worldview. There are essentials and nonessentials in the Christian faith. My goal is to stick like glue with the essentials, but there are so many non-essentials that lead to what's critical. So I ask everyone to be respectful in their responses. We're all learning. Thank you.


Cortney




Legal Stuff


COPYRIGHT (c) 2024, Cortney Donelson. If you'd like to share or quote any of this content, please credit Cortney Donelson | "True or False?" Blog | vocem LLC and the post title and date.


Not a legal requirement, but I want to give a shout-out to a co-laborer (co-struggler) in the battle to point people to the Bible and away from false teaching: Matt Dawson, lead pastor at Journey Church in Huntersville, NC. He is kind enough to spar ideas, check my biblical accuracy, and review my conclusions through a lens of compassion.


Scriptures marked ESV are taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION (ESV): Scriptures taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION ® Copyright© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.


Scriptures marked NLT are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION (NLT): Scriptures taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION, Copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Used by permission.


Scriptures marked NIV are taken from the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV): Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™. Used by permission of Zondervan.


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2 bình luận


So good!


I love this: “So be careful how you use "love" to communicate choices and lifestyles that don't align with God's will or truth. After all, God also hates idolatry.”


I think this is the cornerstone for how we interact with people, especially the lost and hurting. If we don’t understand what love truly is (and isn’t), we will either bring people to Jesus by speaking truth or we will push them in the pit by celebrating what God says will harm them. My life was saved because someone loved and spoke the hard truth!


Thank you for your obedience, Cortney.

Thích
Phản hồi lại

Yes! My life was saved because of truth spoken with love. If we love people we tell them the truth. Thanks for commenting and for your insight in the audio part!

Thích
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