This is the final installment to this short series on “Sloppy Christian Sayings.” The purpose in doing a series like this isn’t to be harsh or critical of what Christians say. The purpose is simply to encourage us to pay more careful attention to the details of Scripture. God bothered to put it there, so let’s bother to slow down and think about what’s there and why it’s there.

Occasionally, you may hear someone say, “There's nothing I can do that will make God love me more or less than He already does.” Upon first hearing, that sounds nice. But is it true?

The Bible doesn’t describe God’s love in just one way. It’s not single dimensional. God’s love is portrayed as complex and multi-dimensional. For example, when Jesus is encouraging his followers to love their enemies, He uses one dimension of God’s love as the example to follow. He says God, “…causes his sun to rise on the evil and good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). Here God’s love is demonstrated in His general care over all of His creation. So if God’s love is being talked about in this sense, then yes, there’s nothing I can do to make God love me more than He already does.

In Ephesians 5, we’re told Jesus’ love for Christians is like a husband’s love for his wife. It’s unique, deep, and intimate. In a way, there’s nothing my wife can do to make me love her more than I already do by virtue of the fact that she, and no other, is my wife. In this sense, it’s true that if you’re a Christian, there’s nothing you can do to make God love you more than He already does by virtue of the fact that He’s adopted you as one of His children. But there’s more...

Jude 21 says, “…keep yourselves in God’s love…” This implies the potential for me not to keep myself in God’s love. For the record, I don’t believe this is talking about the loss of one’s salvation. But the verse does imply the potential of some kind of loss of love. In John 15:10 Jesus says something similar: “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love…” Which again implies, if I don’t keep Jesus’ commands I’ll lose something of His love. So when the Bible talks about God’s love in this category, the statement, “I can’t do anything to make God love me more than He already does” isn’t true. D.A. Carson illustrates something like this in the following scenario...

“I can’t do anything to make God love me more than He already does.” In one sense that’s true. In another, it’s not. 

Let me conclude with one practical takeaway. One reason you may not “feel” like God loves you, is because you’re stuck in some kind of habitual disobedience. Jesus said it so clearly and emphatically: “if you keep my commands, you’ll remain in my love.” Obedience is so tightly connected to experiencing God’s love.

This week I will be giving away two copies of the book Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters​, by Timothy Keller. To enter, simply sign in to the Rafflecopter giveaway below and enter either by following me on Twitter, on Instagram, or on both! Winners will be chosen and notified by email once the giveaway has ended. At this time, I do ask that only those living within the 48 contiguous United States enter the giveaway. Thank you for understanding.

​We are all guilty, at times, of making statements that may ring true to our ears, but upon careful reflection may not be entirely accurate. I’m doing a short series of blog posts on “Sloppy Christian Sayings.” My previous post took up the statement: all sins are the same. Today: God loves everybody the same.

Well, does He? The short answer: it depends. The Bible speaks of God’s love in multiple categories.

For example, when Jesus is encouraging his followers to love their enemies, He uses one category of God’s love as the example to follow. He says God, “…causes his sun to rise on the evil and good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45). Here God’s love is demonstrated in His general care over all of His creation. In this sense, God loves everybody the same. He loves Hitler just as much as Billy Graham.

But this isn’t the only way God’s love is talked about in the Bible. In Malachi 1:2-3, God makes a strong statement, “I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated.” What does that mean? In short, God chose Israel and no other nation to be His chosen people. He has loved Israel more than He has loved other nations. In this sense, God doesn’t love everybody the same. In this sense, presumably, God loves Billy Graham more than He loves Hitler.

This same idea is clearly demonstrated in Ephesians 5. Husbands are called to love their wives just like Jesus loved the church. Question: should a husband’s love for his wife be different than his love for other women? Absolutely! So a husband’s love for his wife is supposed to be more intimate than his love for other women. Why? Because that’s how Jesus has loved the church. A husband’s love for his wife is just like Jesus’ love for the church (i.e. Christians). Which means, a husband’s love for other women is supposed to be like Jesus’ love for those who die as non-Christians. Again, in this sense, Jesus doesn’t love everybody the same. 

One practical encouragement for Christians comes out of this: Jesus’ love for you is not general. His love for you is like a husband’s love for his wife. It’s deep, intimate, and unique.

This week I will be giving away two copies of the book Stop Asking Jesus Into Your Heart: How to Know for Sure You Are Saved, by J.D. Greear. To enter, simply sign in to the Rafflecopter giveaway below and enter either by following me on Twitter, on Instagram, or on both! Winners will be chosen and notified by email once the giveaway has ended. At this time, I do ask that only those living within the 48 contiguous United States enter the giveaway. Thank you for understanding.

This sermon was given by Rev. Brian Dainsberg at Appleton Alliance Church on Oct. 18, 2015.