Does God REALLY love us UNCONDITIONALLY? (Part 2)

God expects our trust, love, and obedience.  He loves us whether or not we trust, love, and obey Him.  This is His “unconditional love;” in this way He does love us no matter what we do.  But we cannot be His children or experience intimate connection with Him no matter what we do. To become His children, we must actively, consciously, and deliberately put our total trust in Him and His Son.  To experience intimacy with Him, we must obey Him.  These are the CONDITIONS of being “born again” and being one with God.

Now, deep down inside we not only know this, but appreciate this.  What relationship, what REAL relationship, has no conditions or expectations?  Think of your closest friends or relatives, even the relationships that seem the easiest.  Does it matter what our closest relationships do or don’t do?  Can I be married without the first condition of exclusive commitment?  Can my wife be physically intimate with me and any man she chooses?  Will we remain married no matter what we do?

So it is with God, the most valuable relationship in our lives.

God cares about what we do because He genuinely loves us.  And love that is genuine has conditions.

Does God REALLY love us UNCONDITIONALLY?

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Luke 17:17-18

Jesus asked this after only one of the ten lepers he healed came back to praise and thank God for his healing.  Of course Jesus healed the ten before they proved themselves “worthy or unworthy.”  But this doesn’t change what He said.  He still seemed to expect them to thank and praise God.

In other words, His “unconditional love,” expressed in unconditional healing, didn’t seem to be without ANY expectations.  For God to love us unconditionally simply means He loves us, and does good towards us, whether we thank Him or not.  But this doesn’t mean He could care less if we thank Him.

The same is true for me as a husband and father.  I love my wife and children whether they return my love or not, but I definitely want them to return my love.  Not only this, I EXPECT them to.  I think they are WRONG if they don’t. 

So what does unconditional love mean then?  Or is love really without conditions? 

Jesus said in another place, “IF you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  The word IF is a CONDITIONAL WORD, which shows that the CONDITION of loving Jesus is obedience.

Some one may give this objection:

“Of course, that is the case for us, but HE loves US without conditions, as it is written, ‘God commended His love to us in that while we were sinners, Jesus died for our sins.  AND it is written that God first loved us, and that we did not first love God.” 

Both of these things are true, but for salvation to be EXPERIENCED we must meet a CONDITION:  FAITH!

So God’s love, ultimately expressed in the death of His Son, happened whether we believe in Jesus or not. BUT WE IT WILL NOT BE EXPERIENCED IN US FOR OUR SALVATION UNLESS WE BELIEVE!

Therefore, to love God, and experience His love, we must meet the conditions of obedience and faith.