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Post by civic on Feb 3, 2023 11:48:54 GMT -8
God is Love
This paper is about the Trinity, and the penal substitutionary theory of the atonement (e.g., PSA), as it relates to the nature and character of God. The word Theology refers to the study of God, and God is Triune, a Trinity- Tri-Unity. All doctrine begins with God at its starting point. God’s innate attributes are Aseity (God is self-sufficient), Infinite (without limit), Eternal (God has no beginning or end, he is timeless), Immutable (God is unchanging), Love (God is love), Holy (God is set-apart), Perichoresis (the indwelling of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Divine Simplicity states God is Love because He is Love, not because He possesses that quality. God is the center of all the Divine Attributes. They point to His Being. God is not distinct from His nature.
God is Love. In love, the Father sent the Son on our behalf to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. We Love because He first loved us and sent His Son as 1 John 4:19 tells us.
We must understand how God's attributes all work in harmony together, not in opposition to each other. God's attributes and character flow from His love—for God is love.
God being love has nothing to do with His creation. That is secondary. God is love, and that love is perfect, lacking nothing within His Triune nature as God. Love, by definition, has to be expressed with another, which is why a unitarian god cannot be love. Love requires another to share and express that love, and it is what we see with the Triune God. God is love before anyone/anything existed.
Before creation, there was no sin. There was no judgment, wrath, mercy, grace, and justice. Why? Because those are God's secondary attributes concerning the creation and the fall. God's love is a primary attribute, like Holy is a primary one. Everything about God flows from His being Love which includes His secondary attributes, which were not in use until the creation and the fall.
Lets examine how this works in conjunction with Gods sovereignty and His love. God is sovereign and also love. Both sovereignty and love as they intersect with God have been revealed plainly to us by God in His word. He has done this both through his word and his works. And God has sworn never to change for He is Immutable.
God's sovereignty is never exercised in violation of his love. His love is very everlasting, for God is love. The love of God has not the slightest shadow of variation, and it, not his sovereignty, is the basis upon which his moral standards rest. Any promotion of any doctrine that represents God as acting in a way that violates his love appealing to the fact that He is sovereign is found nowhere in the pages of scripture.
The fact that God can do something is not a justification for Him doing it. The fact that God can damn everyone without a reason is not an argument for justifying teaching that he does as in the Calvinist doctrine of double predestination. All that He can do is restricted by the standard that God values most which is His love. If it will violate love, God will not and cannot do it for that would be contrary to His nature and character as a loving God. And if it will violate love then it is not right. God cannot make it right by doing it just because He is sovereign. If God does it just because He is sovereign then He would not be God but something else.
God can do anything and everything is what sovereignty means by definition. God will only do what is loving and what is righteousness. Righteousness is the foundation of his throne. In other words, righteousness is the constraint of his sovereign rule. Love is how God rules His creation. Sovereignty, Righteousness, Justice, Mercy and all the other attributes of God fall under the umbrella of His love. God being love is foundational to Gods nature, character, the gospel and the entire purpose for Christs 1st Coming. John 3:16. God rules by His love. The question we need to be asking ourselves is this, how does our Sovereign God display His love in conjunction with His rule over mankind ?
All comments are welcome both in support or criticism. My hope is we get a better understanding of what the Bible means when it declares God is love.
hope this helps !!!
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Post by Obadiah on Feb 3, 2023 12:32:56 GMT -8
Excellent post, I think that's what the Bible is... God's love letter to us. We love Him because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19Why does God love us? Not because we’re lovable by nature. Deuteronomy 7:7–8 gives us this remarkable answer: The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you.… That's the good news! “The Lord … set His love on you … because … the Lord loves you.” He loves us just because He loves us. His nature is to love. The cross was all about His love.
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Post by Aeliana on Feb 3, 2023 14:37:04 GMT -8
In every act and thought of God there is love. Every command he ever uttered, every law he ordained, every precept he laid down—anything and everything that ever came from God is an expression of his infinite love. It is the nature of God to love and God’s love will never dim or fade.
“I am the Lord, and I do not change.”. Malachi 3:6
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”. James 1:17
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Post by Redeemed on Feb 3, 2023 15:00:04 GMT -8
In every act and thought of God there is love. Every command he ever uttered, every law he ordained, every precept he laid down—anything and everything that ever came from God is an expression of his infinite love. It is the nature of God to love and God’s love will never dim or fade. “I am the Lord, and I do not change.”. Malachi 3:6 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”. James 1:17 God so loved the world that he gave... He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16
Jesus Christ came that the world might be saved. Pure love only concerns itself with giving and He gives us hope. 5. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 6. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. Romans 5:5-11 |
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Post by civic on Feb 3, 2023 15:06:19 GMT -8
In every act and thought of God there is love. Every command he ever uttered, every law he ordained, every precept he laid down—anything and everything that ever came from God is an expression of his infinite love. It is the nature of God to love and God’s love will never dim or fade. “I am the Lord, and I do not change.”. Malachi 3:6 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”. James 1:17 Amen |
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Post by Parker on Feb 3, 2023 16:50:44 GMT -8
God is Love This paper is about the Trinity, and the penal substitutionary theory of the atonement (e.g., PSA), as it relates to the nature and character of God. The word Theology refers to the study of God, and God is Triune, a Trinity- Tri-Unity. All doctrine begins with God at its starting point. God’s innate attributes are Aseity (God is self-sufficient), Infinite (without limit), Eternal (God has no beginning or end, he is timeless), Immutable (God is unchanging), Love (God is love), Holy (God is set-apart), Perichoresis (the indwelling of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). Divine Simplicity states God is Love because He is Love, not because He possesses that quality. God is the center of all the Divine Attributes. They point to His Being. God is not distinct from His nature. God is Love. In love, the Father sent the Son on our behalf to be the perfect sacrifice for sin. We Love because He first loved us and sent His Son as 1 John 4:19 tells us. We must understand how God's attributes all work in harmony together, not in opposition to each other. God's attributes and character flow from His love—for God is love. God being love has nothing to do with His creation. That is secondary. God is love, and that love is perfect, lacking nothing within His Triune nature as God. Love, by definition, has to be expressed with another, which is why a unitarian god cannot be love. Love requires another to share and express that love, and it is what we see with the Triune God. God is love before anyone/anything existed. Before creation, there was no sin. There was no judgment, wrath, mercy, grace, and justice. Why? Because those are God's secondary attributes concerning the creation and the fall. God's love is a primary attribute, like Holy is a primary one. Everything about God flows from His being Love which includes His secondary attributes, which were not in use until the creation and the fall. Lets examine how this works in conjunction with Gods sovereignty and His love. God is sovereign and also love. Both sovereignty and love as they intersect with God have been revealed plainly to us by God in His word. He has done this both through his word and his works. And God has sworn never to change for He is Immutable. God's sovereignty is never exercised in violation of his love. His love is very everlasting, for God is love. The love of God has not the slightest shadow of variation, and it, not his sovereignty, is the basis upon which his moral standards rest. Any promotion of any doctrine that represents God as acting in a way that violates his love appealing to the fact that He is sovereign is found nowhere in the pages of scripture. The fact that God can do something is not a justification for Him doing it. The fact that God can damn everyone without a reason is not an argument for justifying teaching that he does as in the Calvinist doctrine of double predestination. All that He can do is restricted by the standard that God values most which is His love. If it will violate love, God will not and cannot do it for that would be contrary to His nature and character as a loving God. And if it will violate love then it is not right. God cannot make it right by doing it just because He is sovereign. If God does it just because He is sovereign then He would not be God but something else. God can do anything and everything is what sovereignty means by definition. God will only do what is loving and what is righteousness. Righteousness is the foundation of his throne. In other words, righteousness is the constraint of his sovereign rule. Love is how God rules His creation. Sovereignty, Righteousness, Justice, Mercy and all the other attributes of God fall under the umbrella of His love. God being love is foundational to Gods nature, character, the gospel and the entire purpose for Christs 1st Coming. John 3:16. God rules by His love. The question we need to be asking ourselves is this, how does our Sovereign God display His love in conjunction with His rule over mankind ? All comments are welcome both in support or criticism. My hope is we get a better understanding of what the Bible means when it declares God is love. hope this helps !!! Divine love never ends. It was divine love that followed Peter even in his denial of the Lord. Jesus told Peter that before the cock should crow he would have denied Him. Peter didn't believe it and said that even if all the world did, he would never forsake Jesus. But he did, and he denied his Lord with a curse. Then the cock crowed and Peter remembered. But the love of God did not forsake him even in his denial, and when Peter was saw how wrong he had been, “he went out and wept bitterly.” But wouldn't you know it, God’s love was near, and God forgave him and re-established him in divine favor. Divine love followed the thieves to their crosses and gave each of them time to repent and embrace the love of God. One repented and one rejected, but love was offered to both alike. The love of God has followed every man all through his life. It has followed you and your friends. Each of us has it within his power to accept or reject, but it is extended to all of us. That's what Calvary was all about. |
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Post by rockson on Feb 3, 2023 20:24:57 GMT -8
Many men focus on God's power and ability. That's ok to do that in a sense but that alone doesn't instill within one a love and appreciation for him for an unloving being could have a certain potential. I like what Ps 100 states,
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Ps 100
It states we're to be motivated to give thanks and praise to God for a certain reason and it doesn't emphasize his power, at least in these verses but because of his goodness and grace. FOR the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations.
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Post by civic on Feb 4, 2023 4:55:45 GMT -8
Many men focus on God's power and ability. That's ok to do that in a sense but that alone doesn't instill within one a love and appreciation for him for an unloving being could have a certain potential. I like what Ps 100 states, Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. Ps 100 It states we're to be motivated to give thanks and praise to God for a certain reason and it doesn't emphasize his power, at least in these verses but because of his goodness and grace. FOR the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations. Amen brother ! |
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Post by Aeliana on Feb 4, 2023 7:00:34 GMT -8
The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself, and being placed into perfect union with Him. It means the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.—Oswald Chambers
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”—Matthew 22:37
For me being a Christian is not about doing all the right things, following a set of rules, or adhering to certain rituals. Being a Christian is a matter of the heart. It is all about a relationship with the God of the universe and the Creator of all things. Relationship with God is an intimate, up-close-and-personal relationship with the One who knows me best—and loves me still.
In 1 John 4:16 we read that “God is love.” It doesn’t say that He loves, although we know that God does love us with unconditional love. This verse says that God is love. This is His nature, who He is. He will never be anything other than love because to be so would be contrary to His own nature.
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Post by Theophilus on Feb 4, 2023 7:40:42 GMT -8
Because of God’s enduring love, we have reason to rejoice. His love is our excuse to exercise continual praise and thanksgiving. Don’t remain defeated by circumstances and negative thinking. God loves us. He has saved our souls. God loves us. He has made us whole. God loves us. He provides you work. God loves us. He has given us life. Our shouts of joy drown out the murmurings in our minds. We are His. “Owned by God” is your trademark of trust. Let gratitude govern our thinking, because God’s love endures forever.
Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Your Love Never Fails
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Post by civic on Feb 4, 2023 9:16:51 GMT -8
The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself, and being placed into perfect union with Him. It means the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself.—Oswald Chambers “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”—Matthew 22:37 For me being a Christian is not about doing all the right things, following a set of rules, or adhering to certain rituals. Being a Christian is a matter of the heart. It is all about a relationship with the God of the universe and the Creator of all things. Relationship with God is an intimate, up-close-and-personal relationship with the One who knows me best—and loves me still. In 1 John 4:16 we read that “God is love.” It doesn’t say that He loves, although we know that God does love us with unconditional love. This verse says that God is love. This is His nature, who He is. He will never be anything other than love because to be so would be contrary to His own nature. Amen sister preach it ! |
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Post by Aeliana on Mar 8, 2023 14:21:39 GMT -8
God Sings Over Us | Zephaniah 3:17
"The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 is such a beautiful verse! Not only is God all-powerful and is Mighty To Save but God rejoices over us, and we are told that He rejoices over us with singing!
Did you know that the Bible says God sings over you? In the context of our verse, Zephaniah 3:17 the meaning of the phrase "rejoice over you" literally means "dance, skip, leap and spin around in joy." God dances over us!
The word "rejoice" is translated from a Hebrew word that Strongs defines as:
A primitive root; properly to spin around (under the influence of any violent emotion), that is, usually rejoice…: – be glad, joy, be joyful, rejoice.
The Hebrew word means to “spin around under violent emotion,” or basically to dance.
God dances over us ecstatically! He spins around under violent emotion because He delights in us!
Do you ever wonder how much God loves you? When you have times of doubt, remember Zephaniah 3:17.
God takes delight in us and His love quiets us. It is a beautiful gift. We can't earn it. All you and I have to do is to accept God's gift of love and when we do, He rejoices over us with singing!
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