The Love Of God
It is hard for many to understand how God can save them while they are sinners. As a result, most people are running away from God out of fear. This is one way the devil, the enemy of souls, veils the good news of the gospel from mankind. For this reason, it is important for all to realise that the reason God redeemed mankind in Christ is because of His unconditional love for us, not our goodness. This is salvation by grace alone. The apostle Paul, once a persecutor of the Christian church, made this profound statement to young Timothy, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).
The reason that we sinners do not need to be afraid of God and can come to Him with full confidence is because 'God is love'. In this lesson, we are going to discover this love of God, which is the basis of our salvation. Once our eyes are opened to this fact, the gospel will become incredible good news!
01. Whom did God so love that He sent His Son to be their Savior?
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Note
The 'world' is the human race that has rebelled against God. Therefore, we are saved not because we deserve it or because we are good, but because God is love. This truth is the foundation to a correct understanding of the gospel.
02. What reason did Paul give why God redeemed sinners in Christ?
Ephesians 2:4-5
4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
Note
Although the Bible declares we are all sinners by nature and performance (see Ephesians 2:1-3), it also tells us that God’s love for us is unconditional. This is indeed good news.
03. According to this text, why did God save us?
Titus 3:3-5
3. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
5. not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit
Note
Scripture declares that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). This love is what He is by very nature, and therefore His mercy is based on this love.
04. In the time of Christ, what were the people being taught?
Matthew 5:43
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Note
The word “neighbor” here refers to fellow Jews and the word “enemy” refers to the Gentiles. Human beings know how to love one of their own, but it is difficult for us to love our enemies.
05. In contrast to this human love, how did Jesus describe Christian love?
Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you
Note
It is this kind of love that demonstrates true Christianity to the world. Such love reflects the love God has for sinners. It is the greatest proof of the power of the gospel and the fact that we are followers of Christ (see John 13:34, 35).
06. How far-reaching is God’s love?
Matthew 5:45
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Note
God’s love extends beyond all barriers. It is the opposite of human love. God even loves and cares for those who hate Him. God’s love is therefore unconditional; it does not depend on our goodness.
07. What four conditions were we still in when God redeemed us in Christ?
Romans 5:6-10
6. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Note
The four conditions we were in when God save us:
1. ungodly
2. still sinners
3. subject to God's wrath
4. enemies of God
This passage tells us that while we were in this state and incapable of saving ourselves, by God's grace we were:
1. Reconciled to Him (not a future but a past event) through:
2. the death of His Son (reconciled by His death? This is explored further in lessons 4 & 5).
Such love is beyond our comprehension, but it is real because God says so and demonstrated it when Christ willingly went to the cross.
08. How many times does the word “love” appear in the following passage?
John 21:15-17
15. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (agapao) Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love (phileo) You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
16. He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (agapao) Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love (phileo) You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
17. He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (phileo) Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love (phileo) Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love (phileo) You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep".
Note
Our English Bibles fail to bring out the real meaning of this dialogue. The English language has only one word for “love.” But in Greek, the language of the New Testament, the Bible made a distinction between God’s love and human love by using different Greek words. The word Christ used was 'agapao' (from the noun agape), referring to God’s kind of love that never fails. Peter’s response was 'phileo', human affection, which is unreliable, and which led him to deny Christ three times.
Note 2
The Greek verb “agapao” used in this dialogue is taken from the noun “agape.” This noun appears some 87 times in the Greek New Testament and always refers to God’s unconditional, unfailing, and selfless love, whereas the word “phileo” refers to human love or affection that is unreliable. Peter was grieved, not because Jesus had repeated the same question three times (as the English Bible implies), but because Jesus had switched from “agapao” to “phileo” the third time.
09. According to the prophet Jeremiah, what draws us to God?
Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Note
Most people are running away from God because they think He is out to punish them. But the truth is God loves us unconditionally and gave us His only Son so that none should be lost. This is what draws us to God. It is “the goodness of God that leads us to repentance” (Romans 2:4).
10. What endearing term does God use for His people?
1 John 3:1, 2
1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Note
Not only does God love mankind unconditionally, but in His Son believers become adopted sons and daughters of God and joint-heirs with Christ. (See Romans 8:16, 17).
11. On what should we humans rely for our salvation?
1 John 4:16
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Note
Once we know and believe that God’s love for us is unconditional, we can rely on Him for the assurance of salvation. And His love for us never fails. (See 1 Corinthians 13:8).
12. What does the knowledge of God's perfect love cast out?
1 John 4:17-18
17. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Note
Fear of the judgment is the result of our sin problem. Because all have sinned, we are all victims to the fear of death, the wages of sin. Only the knowledge of God's redeeming love can cast out this fear.
13. What are ten things Paul mentions that cannot separate us from God’s love?
Romans 8:38-39
38. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39. nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Note
As Christians we may have to face many hardships in this world, but our joy, peace, and hope come from knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God. There will never come a time when God will stop loving us, because His love is unconditional and everlasting. This love, manifested in Christ and Him crucified, is our eternal hope.
Concluding Note: How God’s Love Was Perverted, Resulting in a Perverted Gospel
In order to fully appreciate the good news of the gospel, it is important to be familiar with how Satan has perverted God’s love in order to pervert the gospel. Here is a brief history of what happened.
The Greek language, in which the New Testament was originally written, had four words for love. They were (1) eros, (2) storge, (3) phileo, and (4) agape. Of these four words, eros was considered the highest form of love. As Plato described it, eros was man seeking after God. It was the basis of all pagan religion.
The New Testament writers did not use this word eros even once. This was unacceptable to some of the Church Fathers, who became the leaders of the Christian Church after the apostles died. Some of these Church Fathers, who were of Greek origin, wanted to substitute the word eros for the word agape, the key word used in the New Testament to define God’s self-emptying, unconditional love. So began the great battle in Church history between eros and agape.
All religions based on eros love (this includes all non-Christian religions) demand that man must save himself by his own good works. This is salvation by works – legalism. In contrast, the message of the gospel tells us that God sent His Son into the world to save mankind while we were helpless, wicked, still sinners and even enemies of God (Romans 5:6-10).
It was Augustine, one of the church leaders of the fourth century, who united these two opposite kinds of love and produced a synthesis, calling it caritas. The result was a perversion of the gospel, namely, that man is saved partly by God’s grace, based on His agape love, and partly by human effort, based on human eros. This is the same heresy the false teachers tried to introduce in Galatia (see Galatians 1:6, 7; 3:1-3). This perverted gospel plunged the Christian church into what history calls the “Dark Ages.”
Thus, by modifying the true meaning of God's love, Satan managed to pervert the pure gospel from being good news to good advice – “I must do my best and God will make up the difference.” This is what robbed the gospel of its power. Justification or righteousness was no longer by faith alone but is obtained partly because of human effort and partly by God's grace.
Following is a table showing the distinction between man's eros love and God's agape love. After that is a diagram showing how 'caritas' perverted the gospel:
It is hard for many to understand how God can save them while they are sinners. As a result, most people are running away from God out of fear. This is one way the devil, the enemy of souls, veils the good news of the gospel from mankind. For this reason, it is important for all to realise that the reason God redeemed mankind in Christ is because of His unconditional love for us, not our goodness. This is salvation by grace alone. The apostle Paul, once a persecutor of the Christian church, made this profound statement to young Timothy, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).
The reason that we sinners do not need to be afraid of God and can come to Him with full confidence is because 'God is love'. In this lesson, we are going to discover this love of God, which is the basis of our salvation. Once our eyes are opened to this fact, the gospel will become incredible good news!
01. Whom did God so love that He sent His Son to be their Savior?
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Note
The 'world' is the human race that has rebelled against God. Therefore, we are saved not because we deserve it or because we are good, but because God is love. This truth is the foundation to a correct understanding of the gospel.
02. What reason did Paul give why God redeemed sinners in Christ?
Ephesians 2:4-5
4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
Note
Although the Bible declares we are all sinners by nature and performance (see Ephesians 2:1-3), it also tells us that God’s love for us is unconditional. This is indeed good news.
03. According to this text, why did God save us?
Titus 3:3-5
3. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
5. not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit
Note
Scripture declares that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). This love is what He is by very nature, and therefore His mercy is based on this love.
04. In the time of Christ, what were the people being taught?
Matthew 5:43
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
Note
The word “neighbor” here refers to fellow Jews and the word “enemy” refers to the Gentiles. Human beings know how to love one of their own, but it is difficult for us to love our enemies.
05. In contrast to this human love, how did Jesus describe Christian love?
Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you
Note
It is this kind of love that demonstrates true Christianity to the world. Such love reflects the love God has for sinners. It is the greatest proof of the power of the gospel and the fact that we are followers of Christ (see John 13:34, 35).
06. How far-reaching is God’s love?
Matthew 5:45
that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
Note
God’s love extends beyond all barriers. It is the opposite of human love. God even loves and cares for those who hate Him. God’s love is therefore unconditional; it does not depend on our goodness.
07. What four conditions were we still in when God redeemed us in Christ?
Romans 5:6-10
6. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Note
The four conditions we were in when God save us:
1. ungodly
2. still sinners
3. subject to God's wrath
4. enemies of God
This passage tells us that while we were in this state and incapable of saving ourselves, by God's grace we were:
1. Reconciled to Him (not a future but a past event) through:
2. the death of His Son (reconciled by His death? This is explored further in lessons 4 & 5).
Such love is beyond our comprehension, but it is real because God says so and demonstrated it when Christ willingly went to the cross.
08. How many times does the word “love” appear in the following passage?
John 21:15-17
15. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (agapao) Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love (phileo) You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
16. He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (agapao) Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love (phileo) You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
17. He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love (phileo) Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love (phileo) Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love (phileo) You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep".
Note
Our English Bibles fail to bring out the real meaning of this dialogue. The English language has only one word for “love.” But in Greek, the language of the New Testament, the Bible made a distinction between God’s love and human love by using different Greek words. The word Christ used was 'agapao' (from the noun agape), referring to God’s kind of love that never fails. Peter’s response was 'phileo', human affection, which is unreliable, and which led him to deny Christ three times.
Note 2
The Greek verb “agapao” used in this dialogue is taken from the noun “agape.” This noun appears some 87 times in the Greek New Testament and always refers to God’s unconditional, unfailing, and selfless love, whereas the word “phileo” refers to human love or affection that is unreliable. Peter was grieved, not because Jesus had repeated the same question three times (as the English Bible implies), but because Jesus had switched from “agapao” to “phileo” the third time.
09. According to the prophet Jeremiah, what draws us to God?
Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Note
Most people are running away from God because they think He is out to punish them. But the truth is God loves us unconditionally and gave us His only Son so that none should be lost. This is what draws us to God. It is “the goodness of God that leads us to repentance” (Romans 2:4).
10. What endearing term does God use for His people?
1 John 3:1, 2
1. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
2. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
Note
Not only does God love mankind unconditionally, but in His Son believers become adopted sons and daughters of God and joint-heirs with Christ. (See Romans 8:16, 17).
11. On what should we humans rely for our salvation?
1 John 4:16
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
Note
Once we know and believe that God’s love for us is unconditional, we can rely on Him for the assurance of salvation. And His love for us never fails. (See 1 Corinthians 13:8).
12. What does the knowledge of God's perfect love cast out?
1 John 4:17-18
17. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
Note
Fear of the judgment is the result of our sin problem. Because all have sinned, we are all victims to the fear of death, the wages of sin. Only the knowledge of God's redeeming love can cast out this fear.
13. What are ten things Paul mentions that cannot separate us from God’s love?
Romans 8:38-39
38. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39. nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Note
As Christians we may have to face many hardships in this world, but our joy, peace, and hope come from knowing that nothing can separate us from the love of God. There will never come a time when God will stop loving us, because His love is unconditional and everlasting. This love, manifested in Christ and Him crucified, is our eternal hope.
Concluding Note: How God’s Love Was Perverted, Resulting in a Perverted Gospel
In order to fully appreciate the good news of the gospel, it is important to be familiar with how Satan has perverted God’s love in order to pervert the gospel. Here is a brief history of what happened.
The Greek language, in which the New Testament was originally written, had four words for love. They were (1) eros, (2) storge, (3) phileo, and (4) agape. Of these four words, eros was considered the highest form of love. As Plato described it, eros was man seeking after God. It was the basis of all pagan religion.
The New Testament writers did not use this word eros even once. This was unacceptable to some of the Church Fathers, who became the leaders of the Christian Church after the apostles died. Some of these Church Fathers, who were of Greek origin, wanted to substitute the word eros for the word agape, the key word used in the New Testament to define God’s self-emptying, unconditional love. So began the great battle in Church history between eros and agape.
All religions based on eros love (this includes all non-Christian religions) demand that man must save himself by his own good works. This is salvation by works – legalism. In contrast, the message of the gospel tells us that God sent His Son into the world to save mankind while we were helpless, wicked, still sinners and even enemies of God (Romans 5:6-10).
It was Augustine, one of the church leaders of the fourth century, who united these two opposite kinds of love and produced a synthesis, calling it caritas. The result was a perversion of the gospel, namely, that man is saved partly by God’s grace, based on His agape love, and partly by human effort, based on human eros. This is the same heresy the false teachers tried to introduce in Galatia (see Galatians 1:6, 7; 3:1-3). This perverted gospel plunged the Christian church into what history calls the “Dark Ages.”
Thus, by modifying the true meaning of God's love, Satan managed to pervert the pure gospel from being good news to good advice – “I must do my best and God will make up the difference.” This is what robbed the gospel of its power. Justification or righteousness was no longer by faith alone but is obtained partly because of human effort and partly by God's grace.
Following is a table showing the distinction between man's eros love and God's agape love. After that is a diagram showing how 'caritas' perverted the gospel:
The following 3 loves have produced 3 gospels comprising today’s world religions:
Many well-intentioned Christians err by adopting a PERVERTED, CARITAS gospel, which is no gospel at all (Galatians 1:6, 7). Good works, or law-keeping, are kept in order to earn salvation, despite Scripture’s clear teaching that “by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Galatians 2:16).
Under the AGAPE gospel, we are saved by grace alone, and this grace is received by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8). Good works (Ephesians 2:10), motivated by God’s (agape) love for us, are the fruit of the Spirit. While glorifying God, these works do not contribute one iota to our salvation; rather they evidence the salvation that is already ours in Christ (Lesson 3).
Lessons 6-12 discuss how, by faith, the gospel is made effective in the lives of believers. Later in the course (Lesson 21), good works resulting from a saving faith are once again discussed, this time in the context of the judgment of believers.
Concluding Question
Would you like to accept the Bible truth that God’s agape love for you is unconditional and that is why He saved you in Christ, even though you are a sinner who has failed to perfectly keep His law?
Under the AGAPE gospel, we are saved by grace alone, and this grace is received by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8). Good works (Ephesians 2:10), motivated by God’s (agape) love for us, are the fruit of the Spirit. While glorifying God, these works do not contribute one iota to our salvation; rather they evidence the salvation that is already ours in Christ (Lesson 3).
Lessons 6-12 discuss how, by faith, the gospel is made effective in the lives of believers. Later in the course (Lesson 21), good works resulting from a saving faith are once again discussed, this time in the context of the judgment of believers.
Concluding Question
Would you like to accept the Bible truth that God’s agape love for you is unconditional and that is why He saved you in Christ, even though you are a sinner who has failed to perfectly keep His law?