In association with Messiah Media, author & Bible teacher D. L. Dunnaville shares Kingdom insights called "Spiritual Food for Thought," updates on his Rescuca book series, Messiah Music videos & more!
Many of us have heard the saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me.” Well, that might sound cute and make a child feel better temporarily but it’s far from being true.
As believers we know that God created the entire world by the power of words. And being created in His likeness, our words as humans have the power to either build up or tear down. Never ever take this for granted. In fact, this topic is so important that our Lord took the time to teach us divine strategies and spiritual “martial arts” [so to speak] when engaging in spiritual warfare.
At Colossians 2:15 (NIV) we read,
“And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross (stake).”
The context here is humanity’s liberation from bondage to sin and death. We see here that the key to this victory was the Lord being crucified. And as followers of God, we too must be willing to die to ourselves. We must be willing to take offense rather than return blow for blow. Remember, we’re called to bless others (Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:14). We are instructed to pray for them. This makes little sense to the carnal mind but as we saw in the first movie clip, even the world is aware of the fact that we as human beings rarely feel better after we’ve torn someone down with our words. Everyone loses in that case.
And so, I urge all brothers and sisters in the faith to actually take God at His word. I know this is much easier said than done but please believe and obey God when He instructs us to pray for and BLESS those who do and speak evil against us. I can guarantee you based on the Word of God that you will feel better in the end and see far better results in the long run. Even if you find yourself yelling, make sure you’re yelling out blessings. Do this and you will NOT be sorry. Thus says the LORD in His Word.
We as humans need food or we die. We need water or we die. We need God, or we die. Per our Creator's design, a number of CONDITIONS have to be met in order for us to thrive and survive. Love, holiness, righteousness and obedience are no exception to this phenomenon. It's for our own good that we must live a certain way to keep us in right relationship with our Ultimate Source of Life - Yehovah!
You’ve probably heard a number of times that God’s love for us in “unconditional.” People will often quote verses like Romans 5:8 which states,
“But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.””
People will say “See, God loves you just the way you are, no matter what. You don’t have to be good enough for God." While there is truth in those statements, we have to be careful not to take them too far. And we must take note as to who the “us” is who God demonstrates His love toward. Far too often, writings from early church fathers are taken out of context. Let’s look at John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Notice how Romans 5:8 and John 3:16 actually parallel each other. God loves His creation universally just as we all should, but it’s those who believe who qualify themselves as beneficiaries of God’s redemptive and saving love. Believers are the “us” to whom the Apostle Paul was referring in his letter to the Romans. And like Abraham being willing to sacrifice his son Isaac, our belief is demonstrated by our actions. If you believe a $1 million check is real which you just won, then you’ll go cash it. Likewise, if you believe a train is going to hit you, you’ll move out of its way. There are a number of things a person will DO and NOT DO if he truly believes in God and His plan of salvation. This will include repenting, turning from sin, being baptized, praying, trusting God, having faith, loving God and loving his fellow person.
I specifically mentioned “saving love” earlier in order to distinguish between that and the universal love which God shows to all. We see God’s universal love at Matthew Chapter 5 where His Son Yeshua preaches:
“But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you, that you may be children of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”
This is like a person having an inner circle of close family members and friends versus an outer circle of mere associates. We as people should aim to be kind to all, but if someone is going to be close to us, then conditions are a given. If a man has a wife, he expects that wife to remain faithful and be committed to him and no one else. Think about it: All of creation started this way. Adam and Eve enjoyed one type of relationship with God while living in obedience in the Garden but once they disobeyed and broke covenant, that right standing was lost. The same was true for Israel when God’s people kept the commands of God versus the times they worshiped idols.
Believe it or not, conditional love is good for us! It keeps us honest and faithful; clinging to good rather than evil. Additionally, our own love is made worthwhile and proven by our commitment to covenant. God is love and His Son Yeshua is Salvation. We are to abide in this Salvation to live. It is love which God is trying to develop in the children He is saving. God doesn’t want robots but rather a faithful bride for His Son. Now…does our Father stop loving us when we do wrong? Of course not. But whether or not we enjoy and prosper in His love is very much so dependent upon our participation.
Some will label all of this as “works-based salvation.” On this topic, I’ll make the point that even those who believe in simply praying a prayer and “accepting Jesus” (as they say) are still preaching works. According to their own belief system, praying and accepting are still things one must DO in order to be saved.
In conclusion: God’s love might be many things to include unbiased, uncritical, unchanging and unfailing, but it definitely entails conditions. The myth of unconditional love is that God’s love is somehow free of covenantal responsibility on our part. Many are led to believe that they can come as they are, STAY as they are and God will still love and save them all the same.
I will argue that both salvation and sanctification are processes which very much so call for our commitment and faithfulness. We are to continually endure, die to ourselves daily, persevere, pray, seek, hope, trust, forgive, love and have faith in God. Kingdom living isn’t taking a walk in a park; it’s engaging in a war! And love happens to be the greatest weapon in that fight.
