A common error in Christian society today is to think that God accepts us the way we are because of His unconditional love. Often believers have their own ideals and beliefs about God’s love towards man, and how our love for Him should look. Some might say that we love God through paying our tithes, or doing good deeds such as giving to the poor, and most would say to obey the Ten Commandments and be a morally good person. Such conclusions are come to through people’s life experience and education, and therefore seem true to the natural mind, but I would like to unveil a different view from a covenant perspective to adjust your thinking to align with God’s.

I came across a post on social media that said: “We give love the way we want love.” Many may find it comforting to think that giving love the way we want love in return has to do with an exchange. The reward that comes from that thought is that there is something valuable in your person to be able to approach God and be made worthy of Him. It makes people want to look within themselves for God’s approval. The priority then is to see how one can serve God from one’s heart and gain the peace of mind promised to all those that love Him.

But did you know God does not conform to man’s ideas of love; however, He does call us to an exchange, but one that He initiates and frames, not man. God’s design for faith is distinct in Jesus Christ. When God defined His love, He set it within the context of the covenant Jesus shed His blood to purchase for our redemption. The covenant gives context to God’s standard and expectation for love to take the form of Jesus Christ. That is the manner in which He loved us first, and the same form He desires for our faith to express our love back to Him. Jesus’ new covenant sets the terms and conditions (commandments) by which we are sanctified to approach God, robed in the righteousness of His Son.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 15:10
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

God’s kind of love is pure and without blemish – sent in the form of Jesus, and expressed in the holy knowledge He brought, called truth. Truth is facts which are consistent with God’s character, purpose and plan; the person Jesus Christ, what He says (taught), and what He does (the product of His transformative work in us). Jesus instructed His apostles in this knowledge, and they in turn instruct His people to build a relationship with God through truth – being the knowledge He has now restored to the church which is His new covenant commandments, that our love would be in kind (the same).

Jesus is the bread of life we spiritually eat as we partake of His holy knowledge to give expression to faith. This is called faith with works, in that by this sanctified labor we serve God in word and deed. The Lord is bringing distinction for faith in teaching that His love is set in Jesus Christ, and not in human emotions which drive passions to place value on moral conduct. God’s love is set in the knowledge by which He unveils Himself to us through the instruction of His apostles, and by which we reciprocate in kind to give expression to Christ; by His holy priesthood, worshiping the Lord in Spirit and truth.

God’s love is conditional to Jesus, based on the parameters of His covenant knowledge, which He makes known through His elect stewardship and sets in order by the witness of His Spirit. It cannot be formulated in the imagination where man tries to stir up passion in how he chooses to love God, but which He calls “inordinate affection”.

Inordinate meaning:
“Disproportionate, disorderly, unreasonable or unrestrained in feelings or behavior.” [Google definition]

The emotional kind of love that comes naturally to man is volatile, much as this definition describes, and therefore can stir up the passions of the beastly nature. But the Lord commanded for our affections to be set on things above (spiritual), and not on the earthly things from beneath (natural), and so He provides the scale of His knowledge by which to measure truth from error, and faith from passion (zeal apart from knowledge). The opposite of inordinate would be moderate which the Apostle Paul confirms in Philippians 4:5 “Let your moderation be made known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”

Our reasonable service to God is to glorify Him in serving Him by the commandments of His covenant, by which we bear forth a fruitful spiritual harvest, because the fruit of the Spirit is the love of God as we read in John 15:8 “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Grace is the power God uses to communicate His love to us, and faith is our response in kind which is of equal measure where the knowledge of His truth is set in order for our obedience in service to God.

John 3:12
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

Naturally, the soul desires love, peace, equity, affection and harmony. We were designed after the image and likeness of the Father in this regard. Human love gets confused for God’s love when the emotions replace faith. But it is faith that pleases God; not the emotions. When human love (emotions) replaces God’s love (called charity), then it leaves one stranded because the foundation is not of God but rather resourced from the flesh. This is why knowledge has been set in its proper order in God’s new covenant which has been restored to the church through living apostles today.

When choice education is taught through sound doctrine, ambiguity is removed to dismantle the harmful effects of the many false perceptions being fed to churches today. God is bringing a separation in the mind to understand that the human type of love does not meet His standard in righteousness. Truth set in order is the foundation we resource to reflect the likeness of Jesus back to the Father. God’s love carries no offense because it is measured to Jesus through His holy knowledge, and is offered back in kind to reflect His holiness which is how faith is made living through works of righteousness.

When love is diminished to value the reasoning of the flesh to fulfill one’s own design (desire), it does not give direction for faith; neither does it teach believers how to love God on His terms where the focus is Christ-centered. God set the pattern of His love in Christ for faith to meet His terms of engagement, and expects the same in return.

Matthew 3:17
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Once the foundation of truth is laid in the heart by Jesus’ living apostles, a believer is instructed in His spiritual priesthood wherein we daily reciprocate God’s love in kind, by offering spiritual sacrifices to Him. These expressions of Christ in His holy knowledge are called charity in that it meets the standard of God’s love in Jesus Christ. The new covenant knowledge of Jesus has been restored in His fullness for this exchange, and transition is here to get your faith back on track by way of our free online IDCCST Course.