Only preaching God’s unconditional love

A common approach in modern sermons and altar calls is to attract people by emphasizing only the “love of God,” often downplaying the need for repentance. Statements like “God loves you just as you are; you don’t have to change, just come” are frequently used, creating a partial message that overlooks the call to transformation and commitment central to the gospel.

If a preacher only preaches that God loves everyone unconditionally, excluding the core aspects of the gospel (such as repentance, faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and the call to discipleship), he is playing an extremely dangerous game. The message being conveyed is ultimately that there are no conditions, which leads to false converts with little understanding of what it means to walk and grow in Christ.

This often leads to false converts would say statements like this;

“It doesn’t matter what I do, I can live in full rebellion against God. There are no conditions to meet, so I have nothing to worry about.”

“I do not need to repent or come to Jesus in order to be saved. God simply loves me as I am and there are no conditions or strings attached to his love.”

“God loves me exactly the way I am. He’s actually really glad that I have turned out to be so lovely.”

In saying this in no means are we also indicating that God isn’t loving.

In fact, there are three ways that God expresses His loving nature towards us:

• God’s love of benevolence, which is the good will or kindness of God shown towards everybody (believers and non-believers).
• God’s beneficent love, which He gives to everybody (believers and non-believers). This is also referred to as common grace, which represents the joys, blessings, and beauty of life that we all share. The rain falls on the just as well as the unjust (Matthew 5:45).
• God’s love of complacency or filial love that He has for the redeemed (believers only). This kind of love is first directed at Christ and then at all who are in Christ.

The filial love, is the salvific love of God, that He has for those who put their trust and faith in Christ, and it is this love alone that is unconditional.

The real problem with only preaching God’s unconditional love is that it completely ignores the message of wrath that awaits those who have sinned against Him.

A gospel message that only tells people that God loves them is not the whole message.

By closing our eyes to what the Bible clearly and frequently says about God’s attitude toward unrepentant sinners, we inevitably fail in our evangelism efforts.

The scriptures say that God “abhors the wicked” (Psalm 11:5). This is strong language which clearly means He is disgusted, has hatred, and detests the wicked who are unrepentant.

There is a cliché statement that that says “God loves the sinner; He just hates the sin.” But if we think of it, He doesn’t send the sin to Hell; He sends the sinner there.

We need to take into consideration the whole counsel of God when understanding theological statements like “God loves you unconditionally.” We must draw our conclusions from a biblical perspective rather than change the biblical character of God.

It is clear in the Bible that God is angry every day against the wicked, and every unrepentant sinner is exposed to the rage and fury of His wrath.

Romans 1:18 (NKJV)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

Every moment that people refuse to repent they are heaping up wrath against the day of the Lord.

Today people aren’t even afraid of the wrath of God, because there are teachers telling them “you don’t have to be afraid of God because God is so nice and loves you regardless.”

We have taken the terror out of it. The Apostle Paul said, “knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men,” (2 Corinthians 5:11) and “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

Our job should be to bring people to an understanding of their sin and the holiness of God and contrasting this bad news with the good news of what Jesus has done for us.

Jesus Christ came into a world in which human beings were already under indictment for rejecting God.

So only preaching that God loves you unconditionally is the wrong message. The sinner should be terrified of his or her condition and not be comfortable with the idea that they turned out so well.

We are used to hearing sermons that say God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. But actually, that is not true because God has a terrible plan for your life and destiny if you are not a believer in Christ.

We must preach both sides equally. Sin condemns us to eternal damnation and eternal destruction, and only God’s love through Jesus Christ can save us.

While the message of God’s unconditional love is often emphasized, we must remember that His love also calls us to repentance and transformation.

God’s kindness and grace are not intended to make sinners comfortable in their rebellion but to lead them to recognize their need for a Savior.

As Romans 2:4 reminds us, “Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

True gospel preaching presents both the reality of God’s wrath against sin and the incredible grace He extends through Christ, offering forgiveness and new life to all who turn to Him.