Jul 18
23
If my wife asked me if I loved her, and I replied that I did in a sense,
it would not be received well. I hear preachers speak of God loving all
men in a sense, and sincerely offering mercy and forgiveness to all men
– that is quite simply not true! The apostles never told an unbelieving
crowd that God loved them and offered them forgiveness. The unbeliever
needs to know that he has offended a holy God by his sin and has become
God’s enemy by his hatred of God. But there is salvation in Christ! God
has made a way to be just and yet justify the ungodly. If you trust
Christ alone as your only grounds of acceptance, you will be saved. To
say there is a sense in which God loves is degrading to the character of
the love of God. To say He offers forgiveness puts my forgiveness
dependent on my acceptance or rejection of the offer. That is salvation
by works! -Todd Nibert