God Loves His Enemies |
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I like to think about God’s goodness.
Jesus said that our Heavenly Father is perfect and we are to be like Him. So what is that perfection? 1st John has on record “God is love”.[i] There are many witnesses that He is impartial, fair, just, and righteous. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne; lovingkindness and truth go before Him.”[ii] He loves even His enemies.[iii] “The LORD is good [1] to all, And His mercies [2] are over all His works.”[iv] There are many records showing His powerfulness and extensive knowledge. In these things, we can see His perfection. God allows His creatures to choose. He commands them to choose wisely according to His good commands. There are people who have chosen wisely according to God’s commands to a good extent, and they benefit in that. There is also rebellion to some extent in many people. Romans 1:21 says the following of people who chose to disobey God, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor [1] Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile [2] in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Is God worthy of us acknowledging and thanking Him? Is there any good reason to do these things? I will lay out some reasons why I believe there is good reason to… At every moment, as recorded above, He is good to all. At every moment He is at the ready to give to all who ask Him if they ask according to what’s in His name to give.[v] There is something called asking amiss[vi] which does not prevail with Him. At every moment He is blessing those who curse Him and doing good to those who hate Him and commanding His Kingdom people to do likewise as well as pray for those who mistreat them. He loves truth and hates evil. He is victorious. He is kind. He is awesome. He is excellent and praiseworthy. He truly is magnificent. He’s always ready to and does forgive those who confess their sins to Him and He cleanses them from that unrighteousness.[vii] On top of all of that, He makes those who obey Him like Himself to the extent that they obey Him. At every moment, His “eternal power and divine nature” are clearly seen[viii] so that people are without excuse. God sent His son Jesus Christ to call sinners to repentance. God despises trusting in lies. He calls sinners to stop trusting in lies and start loving the truth so they can be saved into righteous living. Loving the truth is beneficial. If we love the truth, we can know what reality is. We can have good holy fun in reality being loving toward people as God commands us to be. We can overcome evil with good if we love the truth. God really is good and really does love all of His creatures through all of their trials. He offers many benefits to those who are faithful to Him. He also commands His enemies to repent and become faithful to Him so they too can walk in blessing and continue partnering with Him to be good to all, loving their neighbor as themselves, loving their enemies, and loving the Lord their God. Full obedience to God is loving according to His commands with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. For people who do this, God’s promise to them is that “no weapon formed against you shall prevail”.[ix] People who love God even with part of their heart have in that part of their living this same promise to them. God’s wrath and indignation is rendered to evil doers[x] and the evil doing part of double-minded people. One thing I like to emphasize is that God has His good news preached even to the dead.[xi] I think this is a neglected truth in parts of what is called the church on earth today. I believe that God loves even the damned who are believing lies in Hell. I believe that He commands them to repent into obeying His commands so that they can be saved into His Kingdom. I believe this offer is always on the table for the damned. At no moment is their sin good. There is no moment in which they have a good excuse to sin. God loves them, and will continue to love all of His creatures. That is His eternal promise to us. Grace and peace to those who love the truth, and God’s blessings to all His creatures… John [i] 1st John 4:8 and 4:16 [ii] Psalm 89:14 and also partially in Psalm 97:2 [iii] Luke 6:27-28 [iv] Psalm 145:9 [v] John 15:16 [vi] James 4:3 [vii] 1st John 1:9 [viii] Romans 1:20 [ix] Isaiah 54:17 [x] Romans 2:8 [xi] 1st Peter 3:18-19 and 4:5-6
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November 2015
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