Ask the Pastor 159

Does love compromise truth?

In our postmodern world, love has come to mean that there are no absolutes, no sin, no judgment, as long as there is love. If two people love each other then that is all that matters. The LGBTQ+ community has adopted the saying that love is love which is an expression of this compromise of truth. According to the Urban dictionary “it’s a phrase meaning that the love expressed by an individual or couple is valid regardless of the sexual orientation or gender identity of their lover or partner.” In their theology, it is that the Lord Jesus loves everyone, God is a God of love regardless of how they live. This, of course, is contrary to what the Bible teaches. In I John we read first that God is light (holy) (I Jn. 1:5-7) and then we read that God is love (I Jn. 4:7-10). In our Lord’s incarnation He came as both grace and truth (John 1:14). This doctrine is summarized very well in the Psalms “Mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and peace have kissed.” (Ps. 85:10). The point being that the Lord God is both righteous and love in perfect balance, the one cannot cancel out the other. In fact, the reason for our Lord’s death on the cross was because God’s righteousness demanded that the wages of sin be paid with death, the love of God provided that payment for sin with the death of our Lord Jesus. Therefore, the word most often used for love in the Bible is that of sacrificial love to atone for sin in contrast to the love of lust and self-fulfillment. In both the Old and New Testaments the life style of the LGBTQ+ (and how many other letters they add) is condemned as sin, as we read, “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions, For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise, also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. (Romans 1:26-27). What is being done is not love but sin and must be repented of and then believe on the Lord Jesus for cleansing and everlasting life.

Have questions about the Bible? Send them to Dr. Greg Koehn at gak4850@gmail.com and read the answer here in this article.