One might argue the point that the fashioning of a ribbon or medal trinket to symbolize appropriate degrees of combat valor is only a matter of maintaining chivalrous military morale. Interestingly enough, an obsolete definition of chivalry has to do with the condition of being a knight in fact—knighthood being bestowed as meritorious recognition to […]
Can we see for a moment just what dilemma this poor father is going through? He has one son that obeys him like a servant and expects to get his inheritance as though it can be earned, and he has another son that doesn’t want to obey him and expects his inheritance before his father dies. […]
Let’s get back to the parable of the prodigal son. While the prodigal son is out in the world–living out what the world lives, and loving it–we get a different picture from the parables given just before. You see, unlike the parable of the lost sheep, or the lost coin, in the parable of the prodigal […]
Before continuing with the parable of the prodigal son, let’s spend a moment understanding something of how God’s love works. For most assuredly, God’s puts love into motion. He loves us first because He created us. He also loves us first because He chose to act as a Reconciler toward those who rebelled against Him. […]
When describing the love of God for the sinner, Jesus told a beautiful parable that gives a great deal of enlightenment on the issue. However, many try to force upon this parable the concept of unconditional love. There really is no true application of that concept in this parable except where Scripture is misapplied. The […]
Knowing how Satan works through spiritualism to cause people to doubt what the Bible says, we need to be careful to be aware and to avoid those who are working as agents of Satan while giving the appearance of being ministers of light. This is a matter of such great importance that Paul wrote to […]
God’s love and wisdom are the special targets of Satan. If he can get us to misunderstand, doubt, and question these attributes of God, then he can lead us to wrongly influence others by misguided love. When he successfully perverts our feelings by misguided love, then he knows that such sentimentalism will powerfully ensnare us […]
Did Jesus have any choice when it came to being our Savior? Did He unconditionally love us, and therefore had no choice but to offer Himself as our Atoning Sacrifice? We have these statements to help us understand how faith and hope are conditions of love just as much as righteousness and time. “Christ would […]
So far we have seen how the commencement of rebellion and sin have affected God’s power of choice. God’s moral law of love was of so much more value to Him that, if the whole host of His angels rebelled against His law He would rather choose to keep His law in place at the […]
The problem with unconditional love is that it robs God of the power of choice. It forces Him to abdicate His throne. He loses His supremacy when we make Him love/serve us unconditionally. The whole basis of unconditional love is found in the destruction of the law that convinces of sin, the wages of which […]