God's Unconditional Love

By Gidie Nesh

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” —1st John 4:16

       God is love. Few people nowadays understand what true love is, nor can they comprehend the unconditional love of God which sent Jesus to Calvary to die for our sins. God's love is UNCONDITIONAL, i.e., it matters not who you are, nor what you have done—God loves you!
God doesn't love us for who we are; but rather, because of WHO HE IS! Likewise, we ought to love others because of who WE ARE; and not because of who they are, nor what they do, nor what they think. God's love is unconditional. We ought to love our spouse, not because of who they are or what they do; but rather, because of who we are. I love all my web visitors, even my enemies, because of the love of God shed abroad in my heart. Romans 5:5, “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” I love you, whoever you may be, and I mean that!
It is easy for visitors coming to my website to wrongly judge me, thinking that I don't love people, and am being unkind to others by preaching against sin; but nothing could be further from the truth. If your house were on fire in the wee hours of the morning, and I came banging at your door to warn you, you'd thank me and call me a hero no doubt. My ministry is no different. I am warning people about the consequences of sin, and of dangerous false prophets, and of the judgment to come in hellfire. I have great concern for the souls of men and don't want anyone to be cast into the Lake of Fire. I care.
The Bible ought to be a frightening Book to you if you're not prepared to meet your Maker. There is much false teaching today about a loving god who would never cast anyone into a burning hell; but this is not the God of the Bible Who has plainly stated in 2nd Thessalonians 1:8-9 . . . “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction...” (all Scriptures are quoted from the precious and inspired King James Bible). Jesus plainly said in John 10:35, “...the scripture cannot be broken.” You can rest assure that God will keep His Word. All Christ-rejecters will suffer eternal damnation in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone (Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8).
Only a fool would risk their eternal destiny on the assumption that God would never cast anyone into hellfire. Just look at the suffering in the world today because of sin. Do you think eternity will be any different for those who die in their sins? Oh, listen my friend, please obey the Gospel so you don't end up in Hell.
 

God Hates as Much as He Loves
Although God loves all mankind; God also equally hates sin. God has an unconditional hatred for sin. It matters not how kind, generous and loving you may be—you will be cast into hellfire on Judgment Day if you refuse to obey the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the Bible commands (Revelation 20:11-15). The Beatles sang their hit song, LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED. That is false. All the love in the world won't keep you out of Hell if you die in your sins. You had better get born-again and then you can one day die in the Lord and go to Heaven . . . “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:13). Every person will one day either die IN THEIR SINS, or else they will DIE IN THE LORD. Sadly, George Harrison and John Lennon of The Beatles likely died in their sins.
God is a holy God—a morally perfect God who is incapable of doing wrong. God is a good God, whose holiness demands justice. As such, sinful men must be punished for violating God's holy Law. This is why we read in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death...” Mankind is inherently sinful and deserves to be punished in Hell. Adam brought sin and death into the world by his own sin (Romans 5:12).
We are all sinners, incapable of pleasing God in our own self-righteousness (Romans 3:10-23; Isaiah 64:6; Ephesians 2:8,9). Thankfully, God sent His only begotten Son into the world (John 3:16) to pay for our sins with His own blood (1st Peter 1:18,19; Acts 20:28). Jesus came into the world in the flesh, i.e., the Godhead became incarnate (John 1:1-3,14; 1st Timothy 3:16; Colossians 2:9). God did this because He loves us . . .

“Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us . . .” —1st John 3:16

Having said that, I want all my web visitors to know that I love you too, with God's unconditional love that He has shed abroad in my heart... “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:5). I preach against sin because I love God, and He has commanded each believer to do so (Psalm 94:16; Ephesians 5:11). The idea that love is all that matters, and critical doctrinal differences are a minor issue, is utter apostasy. There are many people today who go around talking about God's love, who have absolutely no regard for the doctrine of Christ, the plan of salvation, nor the Christian faith. They are unsaved Modernists who know not the Lord Jesus Christ.
 

God Loves Sinners Too
Every so often someone will try to convince me that God only loves the righteous. Certainly, the righteous, i.e., the saved, are dear to God and have a right to approach the throne of grace by way of Jesus' blood sacrifice (Hebrews 4:15-16); however, the Bible plainly teaches that Christ died for ALL men because He loves ALL men... “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us . . .” (1st John 3:16). Romans 5:8 tells us, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus died for ALL MEN... “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Jesus died for every unrepentant homosexual. Jesus died for every unrepentant murderer and adulterer. Jesus died for THE WHOLE WORLD. This is what 1st John 2:2 teaches. Christ died for all men. Notice what 2nd Peter 2:1 says, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” Jesus bought those false prophets, even though they were unsaved and unwilling to get saved.
This is God's unconditional love. God has paid the price for all men to be redeemed, even for those who reject God's free gift of eternal life; but God will not force them to receive it. Salvation must be received by way of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There can be no salvation apart from faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Jesus is the One Way to Heaven. Therefore, no man can blame God for ending up in Hell. No one goes to Hell except those who CHOOSE to go there.

I have received letters from professed Christians who can't understand why I teach God's unconditional love for sinners. They argue that God doesn't love unrepentant sinners. The plainest teachings in the Bible declare “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Christ died for all the world. If God didn't unconditionally love Christ-rejecters, then they'd go straight to Hell the moment they rejected Christ. It is God's unconditional love that causes Him to be long-suffering and patient with even the vilest of sinners, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2nd Peter 3:9). That is love.

Christians are only saved by Christ's righteousness, through faith, so we certainly cannot claim that God loves us for anything we have done. The notion that God loves Christians and hates unbelievers is satanic, it is a false doctrine rooted in self-righteousness. We all deserve to burn in Hell.

Conclusion
God loves all humanity unconditionally. We're all bad in God's eyes, because all have sinned (Romans 3:23). Only the self-righteous would dare say that God only loves certain people. The truth is that God loves everyone, which is why we read in 2nd Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” God is NOT willing that any should perish, not even the worst of criminals and villains.
The Old Testament tells us in Isaiah 55:7, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” God is willing to forgive any sinner who acknowledges their guilt of sin, for violating God's holy Law, and who turns to Jesus Christ, believing upon the Savior to forgive their sins and save them. Salvation is of the Lord. Our part is simply to believe on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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