Infinite Love

We've likely heard, "There is nothing you can do to cause God to love you any more than He already does—and there is nothing that will cause God to love you any less."
Let's unfold that.

This is no way God will love you any less. Why? Because His love is pure love, real love, unconditional love.
His love is not based on what you have done or what you could do. His love is the perfect version of a parent's love for their child, a parent's love for their adopted child, a sibling's love for their siblings, a friend's love for their friends. You & Your Father's love for you are inseparable.

There is no way God can love you any more. Why? Because He loves you an infinite amount.
Jesus Himself said that God your Father loves you as much as He loves Jesus and Jesus loves you as much as the Father loves Him (John 17:23,15:9). That is an infinite amount. An amount beyond "amount." Ephesians 3:19 tells us that God's love surpasses all knowledge. That means if you literally knew everything about everything all of that knowledge would seem minuscule compared to the unlimited love God has for you, YES YOU!

What is the Greatest Command?

Even people who claim to walk under the new covenant & its grace still point to old covenant commands as the most important things in life.

The Greatest Old Covenant Commands (Luke 10:27):
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, & all your mind.
Love your neighbor as yourself.

The Only Universal New Covenant Command (1 John 3:23, John 13:34-35, 14:1):
Trust in God. Trust in Jesus. Love one another as God has loved us.

The old covenant is by the letter of the law. The new covenant is by the spirit.
The old covenant is external. The new covenant is internal leading to external.
Under the old covenant everything must be up to you. Under the new covenant everything is freely done WITH God.

Old covenant:  Love.
New covenant:  Be loved & love together.

This is where all religions fall short, including Judaism & atheism. They all tell you to love but none of them let you be loved first. They all leave you unloved & alone. But Jesus' message was, "You have a Father who loves you & wants to know you."


Related Posts

Trust and Love, Everything We Need

Love God?If you love Me, you will keep My commandments † I Will Love You So You Will Trust Me

Being Changed by Love

God doesn't have to guilt trip you to make you change your behavior. Romans 2:4 says it is His kindness that leads us to change our minds for the better. You never have to feel guilty about anything you've done. But understand having empathy, sympathy, hurting feelings, etc for someone you've hurt isn't guilt, its compassion. Guilt & shame are when you turn in on yourself & make everything you do wrong about you & your goodness or performance instead of it being about anyone else. It is also when you feel like you've lost favor with God because of what you've done.

Titus 2:11-12,14 says, "God's love for us trains us to reject godless ways & worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. His love for us makes us eager to do what is good. He gave Himself for us to restore us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people who belong to Him as His very own dearly loved children."

God doesn't change us by demands, punishment, & guilt. He changes us by walking with us in love. If you're evaluating your life as to what you should change about yourself you need instead to listen to God for what He wants to change first. He knows you may need to learn things & unlearn other things before you could ever be ready to legitimately stop behaving certain ways.

So don't approach your life as, "that's a sin, I need to stop doing that sin." Instead ask God everyday, "What do you want to do with me today Lord?" And don't assume what He always wants to do with you will involve making you sin less often. We can have a rich journey with God but we limit the richness by our beliefs, assumptions, & expectations.

God holds nothing against you (2 Corinthians 5:19) so don't hold anything against yourself. Consider yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11), that means you stop keeping track of sins (dead men can't count) & just focus on being alive to God by listening to Him & talking to Him. "Trust in God at all times. Pour out your heart before him." (Psalm 62:8)

Fear Behind the Curtain

One reason people oppose the "grace message" is because they are afraid of God. They think He will be angry with them, punish them, or break fellowship with them if they aren't vigilant to avoid sin & diligent to obey Him.

Another reason people oppose the "grace message" is because they are afraid of sin. They don't believe that Christians are dead to sin or free from sin. They believe sin still has power over us. They think we have to avoid sin like perpetually falling acid rain. Romans 6:14 says sin is powerless against someone who lives under grace (the recognition that God desperately loves you no matter what, y'know like a loving Father would). It also says that when you put yourself under law you give sin power over you that it otherwise would never have.

If you fear either of these things you doubt or limit God's love for you. 1 John 4:18 says there is no fear in a relationship where you know that you are loved. Knowing you are loved actually pushes away any fears that may come up. Zechariah said the very proclamation of the coming of the Messiah was "Fear not, your King is coming." Zacharias prophesied, "The Lord God of Israel has granted us the freedom to serve Him without fear." Every Christian that believes in the power of sin also believes they must fear God. They are living as if Jesus has never come to this earth. If you reject the grace message, you at least in part are rejecting Jesus & the suffering He has done on your behalf.

God has not given us a spirit of fear. If you are fearful you are not walking by the spirit He has given you. The spirit He has given us causes our hearts to cry out, "Daddy! Papa! Father!" What father demands fear? What father angrily punishes? What father abandons you whenever you make a mistake? Not Jesus' Father. Not my Father. What child wants to run to a father that does those things?

Great Scriptures for All Christians & Christian Groups

God is Love. God is not self seeking. (1 Corinthians 13:5/1 John 4:8)
Jesus says, "I reveal Myself to you so that in knowing Me you may have peace." (John 16:33)
God has stopped counting people's sins against them. (2 Corinthians 5:19)
God the Father loves you as much as He loves Jesus. Jesus loves you as much as the Father loves Him. (John 17:23,15:9)
Since God is for us God cannot also be against us. (Romans 8:31)
The Lord says, “I promise to never be angry with you or offended at you.“ (Isaiah 54:9)
Jesus says, “I do not call you my servants. I call you my friends. You are not God's servants. You are God's children.” (John 15:15/Galatians 4:7)

Nothing, including yourself, can separate you from the love of God. (Romans 8:35)
Jesus says, "I will never leave or forsake you. Look for me in your life because I will always be with you." (Hebrews 13:5/Matthew 28:20)
There is no fear in love. Love gets rid of fears. Fear involves punishment. Love does not punish. (1 John 4:18)
Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and He knows He has made us innocent. (1 John 3:20)
Jesus says, "I will treat you with gentleness & humility. I will not make you feel like a slave & I will not make you fearful. I want to give you rest, wisdom, & ease." (Matthew 11:28-30/Romans 8:15)

Whoever trusts that Jesus is the Christ is born of God & is one spirit with Him. (1 John 5:1/1 Corinthians 6:17)
Because we have trusted in Christ Jesus who rose from the dead we are not in our sins, we are in Christ instead! He has perfected our spirits forever & is purifying our flesh by renewing our minds with His kindness. (1 Corinthians 15:17/Hebrews 10:14/Romans 12:2,2:4)
Because the Spirit of God lives in you, you are never in the flesh, instead you are always in the spirit. God will never identify you by the flesh. (Romans 8:9/2 Corinthians 5:16)
Your new spirit has been created in the likeness of God. You truly are right with God. You were made righteous, pure, guiltless, innocent, faultless, and holy. (Ephesians 4:24)

By his divine power, God has already given us everything we need for life and godliness. All we have to do is discover and enjoy those things. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)
Do you want the riches of God's glory? Well the riches of God's glory is Christ in you! Jesus fills us with the hope of seeing God's glory unfolding throughout our lives. (Colossians 1:27)

Jesus abolished the Law of commandments contained in written rules. Those commands were against us & stood opposed to us. He took them away and nailed them to the cross (Colossians 2:14, Ephesians 2:15)
You cannot become righteous by keeping the commands in the scriptures. If you could then Christ died for nothing. Righteousness instead comes as a gift you receive from God by trusting in Christ. (Galatians 2:21/Philippians 3:9)
Trying to keep the law is like slavery & it is a burden too great for any person to bear, even the apostles & prophets of old. Christ set you free so you could stay free. Don't make yourselves slaves of the law by trying to keep the law. (Romans 7:6/Acts 15:10/Galatians 5:1)
You cannot be trying to keep the Law & be led by the Spirit of God at the same time. (Galatians 5:18)

Jesus says, "This is the will of God, that you trust Me so you can know Me forever." (John 6:40)
Jesus says, "The only work God wants from you is to trust in Me. Everything else flows from that." (John 6:28-29)
Love doesn't happen by us trying to love God. Love starts with God loving us & ends with us loving one another. (1 John 4:7-11)
Listen to God & value Him. You can be secure if you stop trying to make yourself feel secure. Instead of trusting yourself to bring about your own security know that it is God who works in you to desire & to act according to His heart's desire. His heart desires the best for you. (Philippians 2:12-13)

Do not let anyone condemn you by insisting on self-denial in the name of humility. (Colossians 2:18)
Rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, strict self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in stopping the harmful desires of the flesh. (Colossians 2:23)
You'll be happy if you don't condemn yourself by choosing what you think is good to do & bad to do. Trust God & then don't doubt yourself. If you doubt yourself you'll feel guilty. (Romans 14:22-23)
God's kingdom is not a place of demanding & forcing. God is a giver who rules over us by giving to us. He gives us freedom, purity, peace, & joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
Satan cannot touch someone who is born of God. (1 John 5:18)

God does not live in buildings made by people (Acts 17:24)
We are God's House (Hebrews 3:6)
Jesus says, "You do not need to go anywhere to worship. If you do go somewhere to worship it is irrelevant because true worship is done in spirit and truth." (John 4:23)
Each person should give what he has decided in his own heart to give. He should neither give reluctantly nor give because he feels forced. (2 Corinthians 9:7)

The Lord God declares, "I myself will shepherd my sheep and give them rest." (Ezekiel 34:15)
Jesus says, "Do not be called leaders because you only have one leader, Christ." (Matthew 23:10)
Jesus says, "You shall not have authority over one another. You are all equal brothers." (Luke 22:25-26/Matthew 23:8)
Do nothing to seek an office for yourself but with humility of mind regard others as more important than yourselves. (Philippians 2:3)
All who are in Christ are equally in Him. (2 Corinthians 10:7)
You do not need anyone to teach you. The Spirit teaches you about all things. (1 John 2:27/John 16:13)
No person is to act as your judge in regards to what you do. God accepts all of His children. He died for all of them. Don't judge your brother, only be careful not to stand in his way or cause him to stumble. All of you have been made complete in Christ. (Colossians 2:10,17/Romans 14:13,15)

The Gifts of A Great Father

Grace means "favor." Grace is God's love for you. "We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us." (Romans 12:6)

Some think this scripture means some people are superior to others because of the gifts God gives them but when we look at grace as God's love we see that is not the case. "We have gifts that differ according to the love given to us by God" (Romans 12:6). This means God looks at who we are & what we like. As a lovingly wise Father He gifts His children according to their personalities. Despite the insistence of religion He doesn't force you to be something you don't want to be. God has perfect unconditional love for His children but because His children are not all the same He loves each one of us differently for our benefit & enjoyment.
   
"Out of the immeasurable magnitude of the gift of Christ God has given each one of us His love with personalized gifts accompanying it." (Ephesians 4:7-8)

Jesus Goes to Prepare a Place in His Father's House † We Live in The Father

This is part 2 of a series. Click here for Part 1.

“Let your heart not be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in Me. In My Father's house there are many rooms. And if not, I would have told you. For I go on to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and I will receive you to Myself, that where I am you might also be. And you know where I am going and you know the way.”

Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how are we able to know the way?”
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, if not through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. And from this time you have known Him, and have seen Him.”

Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and that is enough for us.”
Jesus said to him, “I have been with you such a long time, and you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. And how do you say, ‘Show to us the Father?’ Do you not trust that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I speak to you, I do not speak from Myself, but the Father Who is abiding in Me does the works. Trust Me, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me. And if not, trust because of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, he who trusts in Me, the works that I do, he will also do, and he will do greater than these, because I go to the Father. And whatever you ask in My name, I will do, so that the Father would be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name I will do it.” (John 14:1-14)

The first portion of this is usually taught as referring to Jesus' ascension & His preparation of a mansion for His people. That interpretation is wrong and ignores the context. Firstly Jesus says "I go away so you can be where I AM." Where is Jesus? He is not in heaven. He is in the Father. At one point Jesus outright says, "I am in the Father" & later says, "I go to the Father." Jesus is saying that He is going to the cross which will, in death, take Him to the Father. His work of salvation on the cross "prepares a place" in the Father for those who trust Him.

Secondly Jesus says, "I will come again" If this was speaking of His second coming, as most assume it does, then Jesus would have carelessly been ignoring the plight that came for His disciples while He was arrested, crucified, & in the grave. His promise to come back again speaks of the resurrection! Jesus said, "I will receive you to Myself." He received His disciples to Himself after His resurrection and gave them the Holy Spirit (John 20:22).

What Jesus later says in John 16:16 further confirms this, “A little while, and you will no longer see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.” Jesus said it would be "a little while" before they would see Him again after He had gone away. This again confirms that He was talking about His resurrection because He was in the grave only a little while, especially when compared to the thousands of years & counting we are waiting for Him.

Thirdly, the thought of going to heaven wouldn't haven been encouraging to His disciples because, while He was dead, they would be doubting that Jesus was who He said He was and that He spoke the truth. Jesus was speaking of the resurrection, His return in a "little while." None of them trusted in the resurrection until they saw Him. Why would Jesus be trying to encourage them about going to heaven when they die or about His second coming if they were facing His imminent death which seemed to invalidate Him & everything He said?


Being in heaven is nothing compared to being in the Father! Those who are not in the Father will go to heaven for judgment and will not rejoice about it. Those who are already in the Father have endless reasons to rejoice right now! A place in the person of the Father is more important than the place of heaven. We are in the Father's house. We have been received by Jesus. We are with Him in the Father.

"You have been raised to life with Christ, so think about the realities of heaven, where Christ sits on his throne at the right hand of God. Keep your minds fixed on things there, not on things here on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Christ is your life, your real life. When He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory!" (Colossians 3:1-4)


This Side of the Cross:  The Night of Jesus' Arrest
1. Intro
2. Jesus Goes to Prepare a Place in His Father's House † We Live in The Father
3. If you love Me, you will keep My commandments † I Will Love You So You Will Trust Me
4. Remain in Me † You are in Me

A World Without Law

The Bible says in Romans 5:13 says, "Sin is not charged when there is no law."

Imagine you lived in a society where there was no law or judicial system. Could you break the law or commit a crime? No, but you could still harm people. How then is destructive behavior handled in a society with no law? By relationships and consequences. Consequences play out in a sowing and reaping fashion. If you are watchful and compassionate you can learn from them. Relationally your Father says to you, "I want you to make amends for the harm you've done to that person." Your Father will teach you how to love others.

Where there is no system of law there is no punishment. God will not punish us. He wants to relate to us and help us in our relationships. Law is not necessary when you have a loving Father to guide you and embrace you. You don't have to follow the manual when you are living with the expert. Let the Lord love & lead you and leave the law on the cross where Christ left it.

The Discipline of the Lord, Our Loving Father Helping Us Grow

"My son, do not lightly regard the discipline of the Lord, nor be irritated or grieved when refuted by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves like a father disciplines a son he is pleased with.” (Proverbs 3:11-12/Hebrews 12:5-6)

Refute (sometimes translated as rebuke) here means to correct, to lead you out of false beliefs. It hurts our ego to be corrected or to find out that we are wrong but God wants us to live in the truth. Discipline here means "the whole training and education of a child." The loving Father raises us as His own beloved children. He nurtures us. He helps us grow.

It is for discipline (God spurring you to growth) that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline (help grow, teach, train, nurture)? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline does not seem to be joyful but sorrowful or irritating, but afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:7-11).

We are already holy because of our birth in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:17). Jesus Himself is our holiness (1 Corinthians 1:30). To "share His holiness" means to share in the experience of His holiness. To reap the benefit of good, pure living as God intends. God may be very harsh with us at times to help us grow but it is never out of anger. God swore to never be angry with us again because of the blood of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 54:9). He disciplines us for our good. He has our best interests in mind.

We are already righteous (Romans 3:22). We are a good tree (Matthew 7:18). God wants righteous and peaceful fruit (love) to come out of us. God walks along side of us in love showing us affection, helping us grow, teaching us, & training us. Him doing this results in us trusting Him more and securely resting in Him (abiding). When we abide in Him we yield much fruit (John 15:5). That fruit is love (Galatians 5:22-23). Our abiding is the result of Him showing His loving kindness (grace) towards us and proving Himself to be trustworthy. His training results in our trusting which He uses to produce our loving. He loves us and His love (raising us as His child) causes us to love.

Jesus said in Revelation 3:19, "I refute and discipline those I love therefore be earnest and change your mind."
Here refute still means to correct, to lead you out of false beliefs. Discipline is a slightly different word that means "to teach and cause to learn." So Jesus was saying, "I lead those I love out of false beliefs and cause them to learn the truth. Let my love motivate you to eager sincerity to change your mind." In other words, Knowing that Jesus' love causes us to learn the beneficial truth. There is no reason for us not to be eager to allow Him to renew our mind.

See Also This Excellent Teaching on The Discipline of the Lord

Shouting to Rest!

Romans 8:15 says, "You did not receive the spirit of bondage leading to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"

What are most Christians afraid of?
That God is not pleased with them. That they will lose favor with God. That they have offended God. That God will break fellowship with them. That God is cursing them because of something they've done. That sin separates them from God. That God won't protect them. That God won't provide for them. That they aren't doing enough, aren't praying enough, aren't witnessing enough, aren't reading the bible enough. That God doesn't love them very much if at all.

Every one of those fears is a lie. Jesus didn't commit the ultimate act of love for you to sit and wonder, "How can God really love me after all I've done and keep on doing?" He loves you more than you'll ever know because "his love surpasses all knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).

Cry out, "Abba! Father! Jesus! .. Deliver me from believing these lies that make me think 'yeah, you'd die for me but you wouldn't live for me.' Jesus I never again want to feel like your death wasn't good enough so I have to add to it. I don't ever again want to think that your love for me is conditional or that your pleasure in me comes only from my performance. God I want to recognize your love for me every moment I possibly can. May I always know that the gospel is the good news of your graciousness not the bad news of all I have to struggle to give back. I'm tired of trying to earn what I already have and reaching for what is not mine. I want to live in what you give, who you gave. I want your promises to reshape my perceptions. Jesus after you finished offering yourself as the sacrifice for sins you sat down at the right hand of the Father. My life is now hidden with Jesus in you Father because you raised me up with Jesus and sat me with Him. The work is done, it is finished, paid in full! I want to rest with you. You said 'come to me and I will give you rest.' Here I am Lord. Here I am Father. Here I am friend."

How do you rest with someone? You trust them, you feel secure with them, and you relax!

The Father of Light Looks to Love

Christianity sometimes imagines God as an absent Father who left a set of rules for us to follow.

Imagine you are a parent who did this. You leave your children alone with a set of rules and a few stories that seem to teach principles. Where is the love in that? Where is the relationship in that?

Imagine you are the child who is left with these rules. You feel like you need to please your absent father by obeying the rules in order to get him to "show up" once in a while. Do you feel loved by your father? Do you think you have a relationship with him?

Many of us think of God as someone who did this. God is not that kind of father. He gives us His Spirit to live in us at all times so we may have a loving relationship with Him. God is not just the author of the bible. He is the author of our trust in Him (see Hebrews 12:2). Our trust is built by experiencing His love. We have a Father who loves us more than we know.

God loved the world so greatly that He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who trusts in His Son will not perish but have eternal life. Now this is eternal life – to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He sent.