iI appreciate the fact that you emphasize God's love. However, to emphasize His love at the expense of His righteous judgment is unrealistic.
If you take time to investigate what the Bible actually says about the sinful nature of humans, it should become obvious fairly quickly that while God's love is a major theme, so is God's judgment. There are at least 389 verses in the Bible that specifically use the word "sin", 90 verses in the New Testament alone. 285 verses use the word "judgement". 281 verses use the word love. 261 verses contain the word "mercy". A reading of the Scriptures that comes away with a belief that human beings are not sinful is unbalanced, blind and unrealistic.
I, too, pray that we may hope for God's love, but hoping for God's love does not require ignoring our sinful condition. The father certainly rejoices for the return of his lost son. But that does not exclude the father's recognition of his son's failing. The love of the father for his son is shown more noble by the fact that it exists in spite of the sin and the dirt and the swine-stench. The son only returned home when came to his proper senses, when he understood what he had done, that he had sinned against heaven and against his father.
I DID say that unholiness is consumed in the presence of holiness. I also added that I am thankful God has not dealt so with us yet, but has rather extended His loving grace and mercy in allowing us to continue existing. It is by God's supreme love and grace that the sinful world remains at all. I pray that God would, in His love and grace, take hold of us, bring us out of our present condition and grant us forgiveness.
My point is that a recognition of God's love does not preclude an recognition of sin and the wages of sin.
|