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The False Doctrine of Unconditional Love God's love is NOT unconditional! (From John 15:1-27) By Ken Raggio Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." LESSON 1: God is the husbandman of the Vine, Jesus Christ. We are Branches on the Vine of Christ. If we do not bear fruit, the Father purgeth - taketh away from - that branch. “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” LESSON 2: The Word of God cleans as it speaks. We must abide in the Vine - the WORD, Jesus Christ - or we will bear no fruit. Naturally, it is God’s will for you to bear fruit, so you must stay in the Word. If you fail to stay in the Word, you fail to be His disciple. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” LESSON 3: We must abide in the Vine - stay true to the Word of God. Fruitfulness is only possible if we abide in the Word of God. If His Words do not abide in us, our branch will be cut off and cast into the fire. If we abide in the Word, God will do wonders for us. “AS THE FATHER HATH LOVED ME, SO HAVE I LOVED YOU: continue ye in my love. IF YE KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, YE SHALL ABIDE IN MY LOVE; EVEN AS I HAVE KEPT MY FATHER'S COMMANDMENTS, AND ABIDE IN HIS LOVE.” LESSON 4: Jesus said that His Father loved Him because He kept His commandments. Jesus said that if we keep His commandments, we will remain in His love. This disproves the “unconditional love” teachings. We must abide in the teachings and keep the commands of Christ to stay in His love. The story of Jacob and Esau is a painful example. God said, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated," Romans 9:13. The sobering, even frightening fact is that God HATES the sinner. Look at the evidence: "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity," Psalms 5:4-5. We often hear people say, "Hate the sin, but love the sinner," as if that is a scriptural injunction. In fact, it is NOT. It is not a verse in the Bible, neither is it scriptural. The Bible record shows the very opposite. God hates sin and sinners. Certain sins actually provoke more of God's wrath than other sins. "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity, " Ps. 5:5. "The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth." Psalms 11:5. There is no GRACE for an unrepentant soul. Grace BEGINS at repentance. "Ye shall therefore keep all my statutes, and all my judgments, and do them: that the land, whither I bring you to dwell therein, spue you not out. And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them," Leviticus 20:22-23. SIX THINGS THAT THE LORD HATES: "These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren," Proverbs 6:16-19. We should be afraid of incurring God's wrath with our sins. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, THAT YE LOVE ONE ANOTHER, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU. GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT A MAN LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS. LESSON 5: Here is Jesus’ foremost commandment. You must love one another - your BRETHREN, the saints of God - As He loved us. The sacrifices of Christ are ineffectual for unbelievers. The sacrifice of Christ is ineffectual for those who do not obey His teachings. We must live according to the teachings of Christ to remain in His love. His sacrifices are for His chosen, those who will believe and obey the Gospel. We must love these: His FRIENDS, His CHOSEN ones. “YE ARE MY FRIENDS, IF YE DO WHATSOEVER I COMMAND YOU. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another. “ LESSON 6: Jesus’ FRIENDS are more important to Him than His ENEMIES. Jesus does not treat His ENEMIES the same way He treats His FRIENDS. His FRIENDS are those “who do whatsoever I command you.” Those who do NOT do whatsoever He commands are NOT His friends. “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. LESSON 7: If you keep the commandments of Jesus Christ, the world will hate you. The world LOVES those who do not keep the commandments of Christ. But the world HATES those who keep His commandments. The world HATED CHRIST, therefore, if you keep His commandments, The world will HATE YOU. The world persecuted Christ, so if you keep the commandments of Christ, The world will persecute you. They do that because they do not truly know God. “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth me hateth my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. LESSON 8: If Christ had not come, the world would be innocent of these rules. But because Christ has come and shown Himself by many miraculous works, they will be accountable to all His teachings, and will be judged accordingly. For this reason, they HATE CHRIST. They do not want to conform to His teachings. Anyone who hates Christ, hates the Father. Anyone who hates His disciple, hates Christ. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning." LESSON 9: When the Holy Ghost (the Ghost of Christ, God’s own Spirit) comes into you, You will know how and why all these things are true. The Holy Ghost will confirm the things that are taught here. CONCLUSION: We MUST abide in the Vine. We MUST abide in the Word of God. We MUST keep the commandments of God, especially all the teachings of the New Testament. We MUST be obedient to the Gospel if we want to abide in the love of God and save our eternal souls. "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren," 1 John 3:16. God incarnated Himself in Christ, and died for us. That is His love for us. Now, He asks us to lay down our lives in sacred, disciplined obedience for His cause. That is our love for Him. His love for us was supremely sacrificial. Our love for Him should also be supremely sacrificial. See also: Once-Saved, Always Saved The False Doctrine of Eternal Security Written on Father's Day, June 16, 2013 I am continually writing new content for this site. Please return often for more material, and tell your friends about www.kenraggio.com , too! THANKS! And God bless you! Ken Raggio 
Click here for BOOKS and VIDEOS by Ken Raggio ALL ARTICLES WRITTEN BY KEN RAGGIO, Copyright 1988-2013 Articles may not be republished on the Internet without express permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Thanks for coming by!
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