CONDITIONAL LOVE

 

There is a dangerous philosophy that we often hear in the Church and that is that God’s love is unconditional. The danger of the word ‘unconditional’ gives us a mistaken belief that we can do whatever we want and we will still be loved and accepted by God hence no need for restrictions and commandments as repeated offences against God will be excused. (see President Russell M. Nelson’s “Divine Love” Ensign, Feb 2003, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson, “Abide In My Love” GC Oct 2016)

This is where the philosophy of ‘unconditional love’ began: “During the last several decades, a heresy regarding God’s love has surfaced. The heresy states that God’s love is unconditional. The heresy first started with humanist psychologists who invented the term. Unconditional love, they taught, is the love parents ought to have for their children.  Eventually, the term was adopted into Christian dialogue to describe God’s love. This is a classic example of mingling the philosophies of men with scripture. This has been true even within the dialogue of the Church. And this is why President Nelson wrote his article.” (Bruce Satterfield, Gospel Doctrine Lesson 44: God Is Love, Nov 2, 2015)

I recently came to understand this philosophy on a deeper level and it is this: there is an important component of God’s love that makes ‘unconditional love’ an impossibility and that is mercy.

I know of someone in the Church who believes that all of God’s children will in the end live with Him again because of His mercy. And this is the problem…. When we believe that God’s love is unconditional, we not only think we can get away with anything, we also believe because He loves us, He will be merciful when the time comes.

If God’s love encompasses mercy and if His love was unconditional then mercy would have to be extended to the unrepentant on Judgment Day and that can never be because of three reasons: 1. Mercy cannot rob justice (Alma 42:25); 2. No unclean thing can enter the Kingdom of Heaven (3 Nephi 27:19); and 3. We cannot be saved in our sins (Alma 11:37).

The third reason seems the most important because it has to do with the Plan of Salvation. If God saved us in our sins, we would not be prepared for eternal life and exaltation. We would not have developed godly attributes that come only through repentance. If God showed mercy to the unrepentant and saved them in their sins, this would negate the purpose of the Plan of Salvation and ultimately His love which put that Plan into effect.

The more righteous we are, the more love we can receive and ultimately, more mercy. Mercy has to be our over-riding goal, a goal bigger than love because it is mercy that will save us in the end. It is mercy that will sanctify us and lift us out of our probationary state of imperfection to the Saviour’s status of perfectness to be co-heirs with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven. This is what He suffered for, this is what He died for.

This is love. God is not the Father of spoilt children. He is the Father of eternal joy and happiness, not short-term indulgence. If we really want to be loved, we will strive to be the children He intends us to be.

“….whose keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected….” (1 John 2:5)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Lord is Good by Chris Brazelton)