A few years ago, I was blessed -courtesy of a local radio station- to be able to attend the Newsboys Love Riot Tour. Before they took the stage, there was a dramatization/concert performed by Rivals (*video at the end). This focused on a tug between love and truth.
All too often Christians tend to grasp one or the other.
Some only speak truth. They hold fast to the law; they focus on correcting and teaching, but leave out the love. Sometimes they can be quite rigid rule-makers or rule-enforcers.
Others only “love” (society’s version). Their love doesn’t necessarily help bring the lost from the darkness (sharing the Gospel), because they may feel that “all you need is love.” They lose the sense of bringing sin to light. Most likely they confuse the lost by blurring the line between the godly with the worldly, and they may even “love” someone to hell, because of fear to offend.
Christians must embrace both -love and truth. Equally balanced. We can be all about the commandment, all about the Gospel truth, and all about God’s love at the same time. We have to; we are commanded to, but what’s more, is that in God, you cannot have one without the other. They are one and the same.
Take time to study His Word, and check out my post True Love (this post is synonymous with my previous post).
A final thought: God loves us unconditionally, but He doesn’t love sin. He cannot even look upon it, and it is not permitted in Heaven. That’s why He entered the world in human flesh as Jesus Christ, the Son. His law is perfect, and so is His justice. When we are judged based on His law, we’ll find just results, like any good judge in a courtroom would offer a proper penalty for a crime. We can’t just be sorry and say, “I’ll be good.” Do you think a courtroom judge would say to a murderer who stated that, “Ok. Great! Now that I know you’re sorry and you’ll behave, you’re free to go.” ? NO! That wouldn’t be just at all. But Jesus Christ paid our debt, our court fines. He took the penalty of death for us. He set us free. We just have to accept His payment by repenting (asking for forgiveness and turning from our sinfulness), believing and confessing (our belief), and being baptized to receive forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit. If we don’t accept Him we will not be pardoned, and we will face the penalty (death and hell). However, when we do accept, we will find reconciliation with God, freedom from sin, and eternal life – just like Christ conquered the grave!
*Rivals, those associated with Rivals, and Newsboys do not sponsor, endorse, or is not affiliated in any way with Lights in the Darkness and its contents