Love was not the core of Jesus" message.

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Churinga

Active member
Nov 12, 2018
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#81
Thanks for this. Love all on it's own, when we don't have truth in us, can look an awful lot like enabling bad behavior. I've heard Christians say things to the effect of, "If you're not a Christian, it's okay, as long as you love." Um, excuse me? I've always thought of the missing part of that equation as truth (we must love in a truthful way), but I like where you're coming from with the emphasis on the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God and its immanence threatened the power structure of the pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus' day. They liked the power they had, the respect they had in the eyes of the people (some of them), and really wanted to keep their monopoly on "truth."

That's also a relevant observation for today. The Kingdom of God still opposes the kingdom of this world. The scriptures tell us that we can't love the Father if we love the world. This doesn't mean we can't enjoy our lives, but it means we must have the right outlook on life, the right "worldview," which means we don't ascribe to the "spirit of the age," which, in my opinion, is always wrong. The "spirit of the age" sweeps a lot of "love centered" Christians along in its wake because the arguments of the world are often based on emotional appeal (a logical fallacy). The world says things like, "How can you be insensitive to the homosexual community? That's an unloving thing to say," when in reality, having compassion for the person but identifying the behavior as obviously sinful is one of the most loving things we can say. The spirit of the world will confuse people who aren't based in truth, and, I think you are right to point out, an understanding the Kingdom of God, of the Father, is something other than the kingdom of the world.
http://www.inplainsite.org/html/message_of_the_bible.html
 

calibob

Sinner saved by grace
May 29, 2018
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Anaheim, Cali.
#82
That statement doesn't sound right.
Sounds like something Joel would say.
Well the other options are basically those that don't won't or can't agree are going to hell. Agreeing with any stance beyond saved by grace is deciding who get's to go to heaven and who dosn't or how the Lord will make that decision.

God understands our hearts and motives better than we do and he by his own authority will decide. I think people that never had loving parents or never had disobedient children misunderstand Gods love.

Did the prodigals sons father tell him to get lost or go away because he was a drunken, rebellious bum? No! The fathers love trumped tradition and obedience. The father welcomed him home, with honor and Jesus taught our only true father feels the same way about us. We should learn how too.
 

Churinga

Active member
Nov 12, 2018
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#87
I would have to say he does teach on a lot of things, but surely why he teaches is out of the love for people. the OP was about him teaching on other things besides love and indeed he does but the OP doesn’t quite get that everything he teaches is out of love not wanting to see people lost but we all know some just didn’t want to see it that way.
http://www.inplainsite.org/html/Page1_choose_life.html
 

know1

Senior Member
Aug 27, 2012
3,071
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#88
Love" Was Not The Core of Jesus' Message
Sadly, the average person thinks Jesus' main message was about love. While it is true that love figured prominently in His message, it was not the core of his proclamation and certainly wasn't what got Him crucified. Neither the Romans nor the Jewish authorities would have been particularly bothered by a Jewish prophet who ran around telling people to love God and love people.
In a nutshell, Jesus' message is summarized in Mark's description of His ministry. (Emphasis Added)
  • Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:14-15 NASB)
In fact, Jesus never stopped talking about the "kingdom of God", which phrase is used over 50 times in the four Gospels alone. Matthew, however, used it only four times, apparently preferring the synonymous "kingdom of heaven", which occurs 32 times in his book. This coming kingdom was not only at the heart of many of Jesus' parables (likened to a mustard seed, a pearl of great price, a banquet given by a king, etc), but He even said that the proclamation of the Kingdom was the reason He was sent to earth.
  • But He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43 NASB)
Unfortunately, most people, including most Christians, are absolutely in the dark about what the Scriptures mean by the phrase kingdom of God/Heaven.
1Jn 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.