There is a strange misconception about God’s love. Some Christians (often of the “very serious” variety) think we shouldn’t talk too much about God’s love. Or that it might be OK to talk about God's love a little as long as we remember to balance it out with a healthy dose of wrath and justice.
The concern seems to be that if we talk too much about God’s love we might think God is “too cozy” and unless we have a “healthy dose” of God’s wrath in the back of our mind we might live careless and sinful lives.
The problem with this thinking is simply that it’s unbiblical. God does not want us to live holy lives out of fear of punishment. In fact its quite the opposite. The Bible teaches that an awareness of just how much God loves us is what should spur us on to holy living.
God’s love does not need to be “balanced” out with a healthy dose of wrath and justice. God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus Christ on the cross and His justice was satisfied in full the moment Jesus said “it is finished”. When we accept Christ as Savior then you become a new creation and the very righteousness of God himself becomes your own. The very same God who once said “let there be light” also said “it is finished” and carried your sins to the grave. If you believe in Jesus Christ and accept him as Lord and Savior then your account is cleared and your sin no longer stands between you and God. You have been set free... free to love God and free from fear of punishment.
The Bible never tries to motivate believers to godly living by threatening us with fear of punishment. In fact Paul exhorts the Ephesians to godly living by reminding them of who they are in Christ (Eph 4:17-24). So while fear of punishment might be an effective means to change behavior it’s not the biblical model. You see God is not firstly concerned with merely modifying your outward behavior (changing what we do). He is firstly concerned with changing your heart (Hosea 6:6, Psalm 40:6-8, Psalm 51:16-17).
If all we want is a group of people who sit nice in church and say the right things then fear of punishment from a vengeful and angry god is probably effective. However God does not want us to be polished and clean on the outside but remain unchanged on the inside (Matt 23:27). He wants to change our heart. And out of our changed heart our lives will overflow with good works (Luke 6:45).
The truth that we find plainly printed in the pages of Scripture (Eph 3:16-19) is that God’s love is so vast, so deep, so wide and so perfect that it is actually quite impossible to overstate it. God cannot love you more than he already does! And he will not love you less then he already does. So go ahead and talk about God’s love! And pray for an awareness of just how much God loves you to infiltrate your entire being and spur you on to ever increasing holiness.
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