How God Is Love

Andrew Murray wrote, "God is love, and speaking with all reverence, he can't help loving. We see his goodness toward the ungodly and his compassion on the erring. His fatherly love is manifested toward all his children." 

God is love in his only begotten Son. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son (John 3:16). God's love is received as we believe his Son Jesus. His love for us as believers is everlasting. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39).

God is love as our heavenly Father. The heart of God is the heart of our loving Father. God's children are delivered from fear, receiving the fullness of his love. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. But he who fears is not made perfect in love (1 John 4:18). God the Father's perfect love gives us freedom from fear.

God is love is through the Holy Spirit. Every believer in our Lord Jesus Christ experiences the love of God our Father, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Romans 5:5). The greatest abiding gift of the Holy Spirit is love (1 Corinthians 13:13). That is God's love is forever.

Holy Spirit Conviction

Conviction by the Holy Spirit comes before conversion. Many have been under conviction who have resisted the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). They have spurned the Spirit of grace to their own just condemnation (Hebrews 10:29). Conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit is grace common to all mankind. Yet, conviction without regeneration brings no conversion. 

Those who are under Holy Spirit conviction may come to conversion. There is no conversion without conviction. God's Spirit alone brings conviction to the person who is lost without Christ. When we pray for those who are lost, we should pray that the Holy Spirit will convict them.

The Holy Spirit convicts of the sin known as unbelief. It is the sin that separates us from the grace and love of God in Christ Jesus (John 16:7-11). Only by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ are we saved from condemnation and eternal judgment (John 3:36; Acts 16:30-31).

The Holy Spirit likewise convicts of righteousness (John 16:8). He convinces us of the righteousness of Christ. This is conclusive evidence that our self-righteousness can never save us. Only the righteousness of Christ, accounted to us by faith alone, can please God (Romans 4:5). 

The Holy Spirit convicts you before regeneration and conversion. Your conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ gives all the glory to God, knowing that the Spirit of grace brings conviction and regeneration.

All to God's Glory

The reason for all things is God's glory. For of him and through him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36). We are to do all things to God's glory. Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). 

Creation is to God's glory. All things were created to the praise of God's glory. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created (Revelation 4:11). We were created to the glory of God. The Bible defines sin as falling short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).

Our salvation is to God's glory. We who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory (Ephesians 1:12). Believers give all the glory to God for our salvation. God is working in you what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, forever and ever. Amen (Hebrews 13:21).

Prayer is to God's glory. We pray, For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen (Matthew 6:13). Prayer should always be focused upon God's glory in all things. God's kingdom and power work to the praise of his glory. We pray in Jesus name to the glory of God in all things.

God's Wrath Satisfied

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world (1 John 2:2). Two words describe the propitiation of Christ for believers at the cross. Those words are substitution and satisfaction. Christ died as our substitute for our sins. Also, the sacrifice of Christ satisfied the wrath of God against our sins.

Propitiation is God's wrath against our sins satisfied at the cross of Jesus. Propitiation (Greek: hilasmos) is a New Testament word which means satisfaction. Christ crucified satisfied the holiness and justice of God to save guilty sinners. 

Propitiation is God's wrath satisfied at the cross, through the love of God in Christ. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Christ crucified is love's crowning deed, satisfying God's justice. 

Propitiation is God's wrath satisfied on our behalf as believers in Christ. Justice paid the price for believers in the sacrifice of Christ at the cross. Therefore, God is both just and the justifier of all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 3:26).

Believers in Christ our Lord receive God's love revealed at the cross. We are justified by faith in Christ alone. Those who reject the propitiation of Christ at the cross face God's justice and wrath abiding upon them (John 3: 36).

Christ with You Always

A new Christian said to a friend, "When I received Christ, I felt the love and joy of His presence, but I don't have that feeling now. It bothers me. Have I done something wrong?" His friend said, "He's still with you always. Feelings come and go, but He has promised never to leave you. Simply take Him at His word."

You may get excited through special times with the Lord, when you know He is moving in your life. However, remember the Lord is with you today and always. Jesus promised to be with you always. Feelings say, "Sometime I know He is with me. Other times, I'm not sure." Faith says, "He is with me always, whether I feel His presence or not." Faith is not a feeling, and feeling is not faith. Only faith can know the Lord is with you today and always.

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, remember that He is with you today and always. He will never leave you, because He loves you. That's a good reminder to all believers everywhere. Take the Lord at His word. Jesus said, I am with you always, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20).

Every believer is indwelt by the Spirit of the living Christ (Romans 8:9). He comes to live in you. The Spirit of Christ is your constant companion. As an expectant mother may feel the unborn baby move within her from time to time, nevertheless, most of the time she does not feel the baby move. So it is with the Spirit of Christ within you as a believer. He can move within ways you recognize. However, He lives in you today and always.

Predestined In Christ

The word predestination (proorizo) means to mark off beforehand. The death of Christ was predestined by God (Acts 4:28). Believers are predestined in Christ to adoption (Ephesians 1:5), to an inheritance (v. 11), and to be conformed to the likeness of Christ (Rom. 8:28-29).

The root word for predestination pictures the horizon of the sky and earth. At a distance, you may see where the landscape of the earth ends and the sky begins. That's a line drawn by God Himself. Your destiny in Christ draws the line between those who are saved and those who are not. God has "marked off beforehand" to save all who believe in Christ (Acts 16:31). Believers are predestined in Christ to an eternal inheritance, which is to be conformed to the likeness of Christ.

Predestination in Christ means all believers shall be glorified into His likeness (Romans 8:29-30). We shall be glorified in a body like unto that of our risen Lord. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). That's your destiny foreordained, as a believer in Christ.

As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a destiny foreordained by God. That is our security as believers. Yes, we are predestined in Christ. God's plan for us is certain. We are predestined as God's adopted children, by faith in Christ, unto an eternal inheritance to be glorified in Christ. We are predestined in Christ to an inheritance.

God's Effectual Call

F. F. Bruce wrote that the "effectual calling which is the work of God's Spirit, whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel."

God's effectual call is to Christ by the Holy Spirit through the gospel. It is the Holy Spirit's work to convince us to believe and receive Christ. Jesus said, "And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment; of sin because they do not believe in me" (John 16:8-9).

Bruce noted from Scripture that the called of God belong to Jesus Christ (Romans 1:6); called to be saints (Romans 1:7), because of his call (Romans 9:11). The Holy Spirit calls us to Christ through the gospel.

Dr. Bruce recognized that the call to Christ is offered freely to all. However, he focused upon those who respond to the gospel of Christ in the effectual call. The convincing work of the Holy Spirit makes the difference in those who come to Jesus Christ our Lord by faith.

God's call to Christ is not received by those who refuse in unbelief. Therefore, they must be responsible for their own just condemnation. Dr. Bruce explained "that the gates of God's mercy stand wide open for their entrance, that his free pardon is assured in Christ to all who claim it by faith."