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BEWARE OF THE LOVE GOSPEL This lie is almost universally believed because it is assumed to be sinful to NOT love everyone. We've had it ingrained into our souls from childhood that we should love and not hate, and rightly so; therefore, it is assumed that it would be wrong for God to hate anyone and to not love everyone. That's a huge mistake. Like it or not, God is not one of us. He is in a class all his own, and his holiness will not allow him to love everyone unconditionally. By virtue of his holiness, God must love certain people, and as harsh as it may sound, he must hate others. This is where one must move his emotions aside and allow the infallible scriptures to enlighten his mind and direct his thinking. Our feelings and traditions can have no say in the matter. What others tell us to believe is irrelevant. Knowing and respecting what God’s word says and understanding the doctrinal logic in what it says is absolutely essential. Most fall short of this requirement, so most spend their lives believing one of Satan’s biggest lies without ever realizing the damage being done. Someone says, “But John 3:16 says that God loves the WHOLE WORLD.” No it doesn’t. John 3:16 says that God so LOVED the world (past tense) that He gave His only begotten Son. When the New Testament speaks of God’s love, it either speaks of His love for sinners in the PAST TENSE at Calvary or His love for Christians in the PRESENT TENSE. The New Testament does not say that God loves Christ-rejecting sinners today. According to Hebrews 12:6, God loves his SONS, not everyone: "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Proverbs 3:12 tells us, "For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." God's love is for his SONS in particular, not everyone in general. The number one reason for lost people not receiving Christ is the fact that all urgency has been removed by Satan's lies, especially the lie that God loves everyone. If a sinner believes that God LOVES him as he is in his sins, then he reasons that God ACCEPTS him as he is, so he sees no need to repent and receive Christ. But that thought never enters the mind of the average Christian today who has been taught to take God’s love for granted and to throw it around like cheap candy. God’s love for the lost world was manifest on an old rugged cross when his Son suffered, bled and died at the hands of evil sinners, and no one can be a recipient of that love without meeting Jesus Christ at Calvary and having all sins washed away. That is, God’s love is something that God OFFERS to everyone through Jesus Christ, not something that God bestows on everyone unconditionally. Notice carefully where the Bible places God’s love: “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39) The love of God is not carelessly floating around for anyone and everyone to enjoy. To the contrary, the love of God is found only IN JESUS CHRIST. If a man has Jesus Christ, then he has the love of God. If a man rejects Jesus Christ, then that man rejects the love of God and receives the WRATH of God instead. Everyone likes John 3:16, but not much is ever said about another verse in the same chapter, the last verse in fact. John 3:36 says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” The love of God does not abide on the unbeliever, and it’s unscriptural to tell him that it does. Instead of telling a lost man, “Just remember, Jesus loves you,” we should be telling him, “Just remember, God’s wrath abides on you until you repent and receive Christ.” But you can’t make friends that way and “grow your church,” so the love gospel is preached instead and people keep believing the vain, comforting lie.