I love Etymology unconditionally. Of course I am being facetious. I cannot write this enough: The Romans and Greeks did more harm to The Word of God than any single weapon the enemy devised.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 2 Timothy 4:3
And they shall turn away [their] ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 2 Timothy 4:4
Another word for fable is myth. The Greeks are most noted for their myths. More than any other culture aside from the Romans the Greeks made myths out of everything. They took the triune personality and spiritual manifestation of God The Father Son Holy Spirit mixed it with ancient Egyptian history and came up with the fables of the gods that they exported to the world.
Gods' Unconditional Love is one of their myths. The Word of God warned us about philosophy : See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:8
The philosophy through which the unbiblical teaching of unconditional love snaked its way into church doctrine was Humanism (human tradition) . Most "Christians" are unaware that "Agape", the love Christians are taught is the absolute (unconditional) love that God has for mankind was never used in any religious context by the Greeks. This agape love that was grafted into the early church is embraced and taught by modern church leaders like James Dobson of Focus On The Family. Critics of unconditional love point to fact that unconditional love places the focus of God's Love on man rather than God. Paul Brownbeck the author of The Danger Of Self Love said this: "...by unconditional love we are speaking of love on the basis of being rather than doing. One implication of this teaching is the place of grandeur that it gives to the human being. I am loveable just because I am human; therefore being human, in and of itself, regardless of what I do with my humanness, must have some sort of independent value or worth. It is by itself a sufficient claim to respect and esteem" (p.66). The problem with this type rationale is that there aren't any consequences to our actions that Grace cannot cover because with God all things are possible. It matters little that the wrath of God against sin is a direct consequence of sin based on the choices we make. The notion that God Loves us just the way we are can be misleading. God loves us enough in our sin to extend an invitation to escape eternal damnation. This invitation is called Salvation.
This leads to the question. What is Salvation and what is its order? Salvation simply stated is the total Trust and Belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour from sin and eternal damnation as a life long process.
Theologically speaking it involves :
- repentance
- atonement and redemption
- deliverance and justification
- confession and
- santification
In His Service
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