God hates you and will reject you! (NOT!!!)

Nah, I'm just playing with the title, but I got your attention didn't I? Well going with the trend recently of condemning threads saying unless you are completely perfect in thought, deed, and word you are damned forever, I thought this would be appropriate...

19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Those are the words of Jesus in one of His most famous and well known parables (The Prodigal Son) as recorded in Luke 15, I cut most out for the sake of brevity. What is something we can learn from this parable? The boy made mistakes, and even in the midst of incredible transgression, his father was full of compassion for him. Not only was he compassionate towards him:

1.) he was LOOKING for him to return
2.) he ran towards the son, and didn't wait for the son to come to him
3.) he was AFFECTIONATE towards his son

He COMPLETELY took his son in.... His son was willing to relinquish his sonship just to have a place to stay, but the father would have NONE of it, choosing instead to reinstate his son to a position of honor in his house and celebrating! There is no condemnation there! The Father didn't say, Get out of my sight you have offended me, He said My son (my child) was lost, and now is found!

In another parable, in the SAME chapter (Luke 15), Jesus said He would search for His sheep that had wondered astray until He found them! So that none would be lost! Sounds eerily familiar with what Jesus said in John 6:39, "And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day." Jesus is our Shepherd (John 10) after all right. We belong to Him and He said He would never lose us or cast us out! John 6:37 In fact Jesus made it incredibly simple to understand:

John 6:47
Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.

Yes, sin grieves God's heart. It's not okay to live in unrighteousness... The punishment for doing so does not result in damnation as a child of God though. Paul himself described this in 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 in that even if we have no works of righteousness to present to Jesus on that Day, we will be saved! Why? Because He can not deny Himself! (2 Tim 2:13) He placed His seal on us! Ephesians 1:13-14 A seal in ancient times secured the item of which it was fixed to until that item was in the possession of the individual it was addressed to.... Since we were sealed with the Holy Spirit, who GUARANTEES our inheritance in Christ, we can not be lost, in the sense of being damned with the world....

Even Paul when describing the wrongful practice of the Lord's Supper in the Corinthian church said something profound in this sense in 1 Corinthians 11:27-32. Paul says those who partake of communion unworthily are guilty of Christ's blood! Wow, talk about a sin among sins! BUT how does he finish the instruction to the carnal Corinthians?

Those who do partake of the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner were disciplined by the Lord so that they would NOT be condemned with the world! So surely if those who were found guilty of Christ's blood and yet still considered in Christ could not be condemned, how in the world can any of us find a way to be expelled from the love of the Father? Romans 8:33-39 NOTHING can seperate you or me from God's love! Nothing, nothing nothing!

When you sin, confess your sin and receive forgiveness! 1 John 1:9

He won't remember your sins once He forgives them! (Isaiah 43:25) and He will seperate you from your sin as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12) He does not hate you for sinning, He does not disown you because you make a mistake. Why oh why do those of you who spread such garbage doctrine think that is okay? When we were born again, born from above (John 3:3-7) we were given Christ's very nature! (Colossians 1:27, 1 Corinthians 2:16) Does the old nature have power and rule over the new nature? NO!

It is written!

Greater is He that is IN you than he that is in the world! (1 John 4:4)

EVERYONE born of God (who believes in Jesus 1 John 5:1) overcomes the world! (1 John 5:4)

Sure some struggle intensely with sin.... In fact some of you who spread such things have testified that you fought sin for years before you were freed. And yet you admit that you did not free yourself, but rather God freed you! So why in the world do you teach that we must free ourselves from sin, we must overcome as if it's something done in our own power.

Yes 1 John 5:18 says those born of God do not continue to sin... But if Paul can admit that he dealt with sin and was not yet perfect entirely (Romans 7; Philippians 3:13) then surely there is a great deal of discernment and spiritual understanding needed for such interpretation. I think John was speaking of those born of God being free from the power of sin, not being subject to obey sin because we have the power to overcome, because again, John starts his First Epistle by saying if we sin, confess and be forgiven! God loves His children with a love that none of us can completely understand! He wants us to depend ENTIRELY upon Him for all that we need and need to do.

I'll close with this prayer of Paul to the Ephesian church:

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.