God loves us but is his grace unconditional?

There is a qualifier that I often hear when people discuss their faith and describe the characteristics of the God they follow. This qualifier allows them to mold and shape God into one they can comfortably believe in and one that may be easier to share with others. The qualifier is: "For me. . . ."

"For me, God is love."

"For me, God is universal energy."

"For me, Hell is our time on earth."

"For me, Jesus' teachings can be boiled down to 'love your neighbor as yourself."

But here is the problem: Sincerity does not equal truth. I had a group of senior high school students in a room when we were discussing the concept of truth. I focused on the law of gravity. I was specific. "In Grand Rapids, Michigan, on January 23, 2009 gravity does indeed exist and a coin dropped from the balcony will fall to the ground. So the statement, 'For me, gravity isn't real.' is invalid even if you really, emotionally, and sincerely believe it.

Maybe God is not a personal creator being but instead is universal energy but the answer has little to do with you and me, at least the truth is not determined by our beliefs. Truth just is.

With that in mind, I want to share a concept that was discussed recently in a spirited dialogue I had with a group of people online. It centers around the concept of grace. Now the idea of a God who provides unlimited and unconditional grace is one that is appealing because it really takes the pressure off and negates any responsibility on my part. God loves me and he would never withhold his grace from me, right? Well, I think we need to first find out what in the heck grace is. When I was growing up I thought grace was the cursory prayer we said before chow and I guess that definition still holds true for some. But, in a greater context, "grace" is God's unmerited favor bestowed on an individual or a group of individuals. It is Jesus taking our sins and our punishment even though we didn't deserve it. God's grace is just that grace. But some will receive it and others will die in their sins, never having known his grace.

The discussion began with a comment describing God's grace as being unconditional. Is it? Is that what the Bible says about the grace of God? I want to first make a distinction between God's love and God's grace. Love is God's character and his motive. I love my kids. I love my wife. Now God's love is perfect and not flawed with sin or selfishness like my love. The Bible says God loves the world (The people not the planet).

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

You've probably heard John 3:16 before. But what about his grace and forgiveness. Well some would move down to the next verse and conclude God's grace is universal and unconditional.

John 3:17 "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." So then is grace just a given for the world? No worries. We're all forgiven, we're all under his grace and mercy. Or is it still conditional?

Let's first look at the next verse of John chapter three remembering that when Jesus spoke these words they weren't divided into chapters and verses but he spoke the statement as a unit.

John 3:18 "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."

OK, Jesus was saying that he came into the world to save us because we, by nature were in a condemned state to start with. He puts a qualifier to the receiving of grace - "believes". "Whoever believes" Jesus says. God loves the world but the grace which is by definition not deserved or earned is received by faith or by belief. This belief is not an intellectual accent but a heart's belief based on the understanding of the need for it.

In Jonah chapter two there is a great example of God's grace being conditional:

Jonah 2:8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs."

God's grace available for them . . . idolatry prevents them from claiming it.

Here is the deal friends. You and I do not deserve God's love. We certainly don't deserve his forgiveness. God is just and doesn't just say, "Hey no worries, just don't do it again." Jesus said he came to prevent us from perishing. Why were we perishing? Because we sinned. Here is where grace comes in. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of man not after we cleaned up our acts but "while we were yet sinners." Grace says, "You don't deserve it but I'll do it for you because I love you" God says, my grace is available to you through faith in my one and only Son. That is a condition of grabbing hold of the promise.

One last thing. Who comes to the Son by faith? Those who know they have a need to come. (Jesus also said, those who the Father draws to him but that is the topic of another post) Grace and forgiveness requires a humble and contrite spirit. Now I know this will open a discussion and I look forward to it but for now I hope you can see that love is more of who God is and grace is more of a thing he offers. This isn't a "For me . . . " issue. It's an issue of what is true. It is not that clean and neat but it's generally a reasonable way to look at it. God can not fail to love but because he is just, is not obligated to provide grace. I'm glad he loves us and oh, how he does!

Peace ,

David