Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism”. Acts 10:34
Here is the truly Good News of the Gospel. It does not matter the color of your skin, it does not matter if you are Jew or Gentile.
It does not matter if you are rich or poor, able or disabled, smart or not. There are no conditions that disqualify you from the love of God. God loves you even now while you are sinning (Romans 5:8).
1. God’s love is unconditional
There are no conditions that you must meet to be worthy of the love of God. That is cardinal doctrine and yet most people in the world believe that they must obey religious rules or perform certain rituals to earn God’s acceptance. It is very hard to believe that God loves us without regard to our performance. God’s love is a gift that is received by faith in Christ not by human effort. Pride wants to take some credit for favor with God. Many religions claim to have an inside track with God based on their unique beliefs. But the truth is that no one, no denomination and no religion has any inside track! True Christianity is based on GRACE which means that it is all God and we have absolutely nothing that we can do to obligate God to love us.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9
2. Our love should be unconditional
We are the objects of God’s love not because we did anything to deserve it, it is truly a favor offered to every single human being. Since we are loved in that divine manner, we are to love every person in our lives the same way. This conflicts mightily with our sinful human nature.
We have been hurt by many and hurt deeply. We have good reasons to dislike and even hate some people. We can even be tempted to discriminate against groups of people due to their differences. The culture may try to persuade us to treat certain people with rejection for any number of compelling reasons. But, if we choose not to love as God has commanded us, we have sinned and we need to repent. If we have practiced favoritism in our family, our workplace or our world in general, we need to confess and ask for forgiveness. Holding on to unforgiveness is the mindset of the devil not God.
Notice that the exhortation below from Jesus removes all favoritism since it does not matter who the other person may be, He commands us to love them. Does that seem impossible? It is without the power of the love of God through the Holy Spirit and through Christ to love through you by your obedience. Unconditional love does not expect anything back!
Finally, we cannot assume that since God loves everyone, everyone is going to heaven. God does love everyone but those who reject His love are rebelling against His will and choosing to separate from God. God does not want anyone to perish but God gives us free will to accept or reject His love. We are responsible to God for our choice. The fact that we have a choice at all is due to the sovereign, magnanimous love of God. His mercy is totally undeserved and unmerited. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:32-36
