Mark 10:21, “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.”
In our text verse, the Holy Bible says that Jesus “loved” the unsaved
rich young man. You can read the entire true story in Mark 10:17-22.
This young man was very wealth, having “great possessions” (verse
22). The young man called Jesus, “Good Master,” and sincerely asked
how to “inherit eternal life.” Jesus perceived that he was
self-righteous and went along with his erroneous beliefs, for the sake
of the young man, to help him see the error of his thinking. jesus
reminded him of the Law of God. Upon hearing this the young man boasted
of his perfect record. The Lord pointed out that he was covetous, and
had not in fact kept the law perfectly. Since the young man had
“great possessions,” he went away “sad” the Bible says.
It would be wrong to assume that God hates the sin of homosexuality more than the sin of self-righteousness! In the list of sins that God hates in Proverbs 6:16-19, neither homosexuality nor self-righteousness is mentioned. Yet the Scripture tells us that Jesus “LOVED” the rich young ruler. This young man was unsaved, selfish, covetous, filled with his own goodness, a boaster, which are all horrible sins!!! How could Jesus love such a sinful person? It can only mean that Jesus does in fact love SINNERS!
Yes, God does love sinners! Consider John 3:16, “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.” How much clearer could the Scriptures be that God loves everyone? “The world” reasonably must include all humanity. There are those, particular among the followers of John Calvin (aka, “Calvinists”) who claim that God only loves the saints, and that Jesus only died on the cross for “the saints.” This popular heresy, which Dr. John MacArthur (and even Pastor Charles Spurgeon) subscribes to, is called “Limited Atonement”!
One heresy always begets
another heresy! So if it is true that God doesn't love everybody, then
it must also be true that Christ didn't die on the cross for everybody.
What saith the Scripture? 1st John 4:19, “We love him, because he
first loved us.” If you think about this Bible verse, it proves that
God loves everybody! I mean, if God only loves those who love Him, then
this verse makes no sense. The Bible truth that GOD LOVES EVERYBODY
makes perfect sense theologically. However, when you adopt the error in
your thinking that God only loves the saved (i.e., the saints), then it
presents some problems. For example: If Christians love God because He
first loved us, then that means He chose in advance only to love those
who would someday obey Him. That is really selfish!
The Theological Impossibility of God Not Loving Everybody
What
I am about to share with you is a deeper truth, but it unequivocally
PROVES that God loves everybody, and that Christ died for everybody! We
just learned in 1st John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved
us.” But wait, if God only loves those who love Him, then it renders
1st John 4:19 as nonsense! Why would God only love those who love Him,
if we only love Him because He first loved us? Think about that! It
would mean that God is basically in love with Himself! Does God only
love those, who love Him because He loves them? That's crazy!
In other words, the object of God's loves changes when you say that God doesn't love everybody! Why does God love everybody? My friend, it is because of Who our great God is! God loves everyone because He is a good God. God loves even the worst and vilest of sinners, not because of who we are, but because of Who our omnibenevolent God is! However, when Calvinists (and other false teachers) say that God only loves those who obey Him, then the object of God's great love changes to mankind himself! If God only loves those who obey Him, then He truly cannot love everybody! Therefore, God's great love is no longer based upon His goodness, but upon man's goodness. For this simple, but plain to see reason, it is utterly impossible for God not to love everyone!!! The Bible does not say that God loves us because we first loved Him. The opposite is true. 1st John 4:19, “We love him, because he first loved us.” That clearly means that God loves even those who hate Him!
In the following key passage of Scripture, Jesus' taught His disciples (all believers) to LOVE EVERYONE to emulate their heavenly Father. This vital passage of Scripture very plainly teaches all believers to love, do good, forgive and be kind to EVERYONE, just as God our Father does. We are plainly told in Luke 6:35, “But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.” We are to emulate our heavenly Father, as redeemed children of the Highest. ...
Luke 6:32-36, “For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
May I kindly say, the preceding Scripture passage applies to EVERYBODY!
God is kind to the evil and the unthankful. That sure doesn't sound like
hatred to me. We know from such Scriptures as Psalms 7:11 and John 3:36
that God's wrath is upon Christ-rejecters, and He is angry at the wicked
every day; yet the Bible says God is kind to such people, hoping that
they will come to repentance and believe the Gospel (2nd Peter 3:9).
God's patience will eventually wear out toward the wicked. Ezekiel
33:1, “Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and
live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house
of Israel?” God does not rejoice when someone perishes in their
wickedness and unbelief.
God Never Stops Loving Anyone
Does
God still love a person who is cast into the Lake of Fire forever and
ever? You better believe He does! I don't claim to comprehend it all. I
just know the great heart of God, because I have God's heart as His
adopted child. If I being a woeful sinner can love everyone, even the
vilest sinner, then so can our omnipotent holy God. Love is not a human
weakness, it is a divine “fruit” of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).
Jude:1:22, “And of some have compassion, making a difference.” This
verse doesn't mean that we ought to selectively have compassion on some
people; but rather, by having compassion on everyone, some of them will
get saved by it.
We read in 1st Corinthians 2:16, “For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.” Every born-again child of God, who is learned in the Scriptures, has Christ's mindset. This is one of the ways that I KNOW God doesn't hate sinners, because I don't hate sinners. I hate sin and evil, as I am commanded to in Psalms 97:10b, “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil...” However, I could never be right with God and hate anyone!
I realize that this ungodly
ecumenical generation has exploited the love of God, using God's love as
a sinful excuse to justify all manner of sinful compromise and
wickedness. However, it is equally as wrong to drift to the other
extreme and leave off the love of God entirely for sinners! The proper
Christian mindset is a balance of the two extremes. Yes, God hates the
sin; but He also loves the person, the sinner, if you please! Does God
love the homosexual? You better believe He does!
Jesus is the Only Begotten Son of God Who Died For Everyone
Christ
died on the cross for each and every homosexual, with just as much love,
eagerness and joy as He did for the saints. Jesus didn't just die for
the saints, He died “for the sins of the whole world” (1st John
2:2b).
It is obvious to me that the people who follow John Calvin (aka, “Calvinism”) don't really read the Holy Bible, they merely follow the teachings of corrupt men. Want proof? Well, here it is... read the simple and plain statement of the Scriptures, which clearly declares that Christ DIED for everyone's sins, “not for ours only.” 1st John 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
What's that, you'd like some more Biblical proof? Well, here you go my fine non-feathered friend... 2nd Corinthians 5:14-15, “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” The preceding Scripture very plainly reasons that since Christ “DIED FOR ALL, THEN WERE ALL DEAD”! That is, Christ died for everyone who is spiritually dead, which includes EVERYBODY!!!
Don't ever believe anybody who tries to sell you the Devil's LIE, that Jesus Christ only died for certain people. Our blessed Lord, who is the sinless Lamb of God, gave Himself as a sacrifice on the cross to pay for the sins of all humanity. Anyone who receives Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sins, believing in a risen Christ, has the gift of eternal life.
God LOVES EVERYONE, no matter who you are, or what you may have done! That doesn't mean God is not angry at you, if you have rejected His only begotten Son. That doesn't mean God approves of your sins, He surely does not. That doesn't mean you're saved and have the guarantee of eternal life. Only a born-again child of God, who has placed their trust in Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sins, has the promise of eternal life. Albeit, our great God is the very embodiment of love! God doesn't hate those who hate Him! The Scriptures tell us in Luke 6:32-36 that we are no better than the unsaved world, if we only love those who love us. Do you think our heavenly Father, who authored those words, doesn't love the unloving?
Beware of false teachers who try to sell you on a hateful God that only loves those who give Him what He wants. That is not my God. Granted, if you don't get saved, you will burn in the Lake of Fire for all eternity, and God Himself will torment you day and night without rest. Perhaps you cannot understand how a God of love could do such a cruel thing, but it is only because you utterly fail to grasp the holiness of our great God, which equals His great love for mankind. No matter how much God loves you, He cannot violate His holiness! We read of God's love in the Bible about 120 times, but over 700 times we read about God's holiness!!!
Ungodly people attempt to recreate God in man's image, wanting a God of love who never punishes sin, and lets things go because He is a nice guy. It doesn't work that way. Sin must be paid for! Crimes have been committed. Someone must suffer! That is why God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world, to die a criminal's death on the cross to pay for man's sins. Christ died on the cross, was buried, and raised up victorious for YOU my dear reader! Will you reject such a great love? Will you reject such a great gift from God? Please believe THE GOSPEL now before it is too late!
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