An Unconditional God?

An author once wrote of visiting a church where the Pastor made this bold statement. “There are three things in this church we will never do.”1 “We will never give a condemning message like some churches do. We will never make you uncomfortable or make you feel like you have to change. And we will certainly never emphasize holy living like so many legalistic churches do.”2 His words were met with thunderous applause.3 The pastor then stated emphatically, “we are a loving church not a militant one”4

In the day that we live there are two different views of God. There is the loving God who accepts and forgives all people while refusing to judge sin. And there is the militant God who judges those who do not do his will. These two views of God have split many a church and destroyed denominations. They have begun countless debates and probably ruined hundreds of relationships. But there is still no real consensus on which view is the right one.

The kind of church that is referred to in the beginning of this post clearly holds to the “loving God view”. This view basically believes that God gives to us unconditional love. This love does not have to be earned or deserved in any way. Those who take this view of God to the extreme believe that organized religion is wrong since it is a way of earning God’s love. “In this it appears that all religions are the same. They give God a name and then establish the rules that we must follow if we are to gain his favor and affection.”5 They see religions putting conditions before others as sinful because God does not do it. “When a religion is created on the subtle premise that God withholds his love and you must submit to the system to earn that love, I consider it the worst of corruptions.”6

Now most of those who hold this view today don’t feel religion is the worst of corruptions. I sincerely believe most if not all of those people are Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. But their focus is still on the unconditional love of God more than anything else. These individuals feel that a person must accept Jesus Christ as his or her savior. But following this there is nothing they really need to do for God. While this is not usually preached from a pulpit like in the church we saw earlier, this message is shared by the churches actions.

The problem with this loving God view is that there is no way to motivate Believers once they are saved. This is especially true of those who hold to the extreme view that believes religion is corrupt. So how do they remedy this problem? By contradicting their statement that God’s love is unconditional. Interestingly the author who believed so strongly in the unconditional love of God in another one of his books challenges Believers to be missionaries.7

He proceeds to share that churches have been too easy on Believers. This has resulted in, “apathy, disinterest, compromise, and even rebellion.8” Instead we must live according to the standard written in the Word of God. And specifically become missionaries to the lost souls around us. Now this looks totally different from the view of God that believes he don’t have to earn his love in any way.

The author does try to explain himself by saying that this challenge is not to what he calls legalism, or an unbearable yoke.9 Instead it is our way of bringing freedom to those who are in bondage.10 But no matter what this is called it still contradicts the God is unconditional love view.

I believe with all of my heart that God is loving. What I don’t believe is that his love is unconditional. Will God accept the sinner who comes to him? Of course he will! But that sinner must confess his sin, and live a holy life. The proof that the loving God view is incorrect can be found in those who follow it. The majority of them are unmotivated, and doing nothing in the lords work.


1 Eric Ludy, God’s Gift to Women, pg.165, par.5, ln.1
2 Eric Ludy, God’s Gift to Women, pg.165, par.5, ln.3
3 Eric Ludy, God’s Gift to Women, pg.165, par.5, ln.7
4 Eric Ludy, God’s Gift to Women, pg.166, par.1, ln.1
5 Erwin McManus, Soul Cravings, entry 10, par.3, ln.1
6 Erwin McManus, Soul Cravings, entry 10, par.8, ln.3
7 Erwin McManus, An Unstoppable Force, pg.202, par.4
8 Erwin McManus, An Unstoppable Force, pg.202, par.5, ln.1
9 Erwin McManus, An Unstoppable Force, pg.207, par.7, ln.1
10Erwin McManus, An Unstoppable Force, pg.208, par.1