Lesson 21: God's Love is Eternal, part 1

Psalm 136:1-9 "Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for His steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who alone does great wonders, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who by understanding made the heavens, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who spread out the earth above the waters, for His steadfast love endures forever; to Him who made the great lights, for His steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for His steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for His steadfast love endures forever."

This might be a silly question, especially considering our text, but when it comes to the issue of God's love, how long does it last? His love endures forever!

Especially considering our imperfect behavior, that is some very good news! But sometimes we forget and think God's love does not endure forever.

Some think we can start out being a child of God but somehow end up being a child of the devil again! Therefore, the question is, "Why would people say God's love is not eternal, especially when the Bible clearly says it is?" Those Christians who believe they have lost their salvation were people who never had salvation in the first place!

The first reason why some people say God's love is not eternal is because they have forgotten about the context.

You see, it is bad enough this belief that God's love is not eternal contradicts the Bible, but these same people will turn around and say they derive their belief from the Bible. What they do not realize is that, although certain passages may seem to say our salvation is not secure, they have forgotten the context in which they occur. Let me show you what I mean.

The first passage taken out of context is:

Revelation 3:15-16 "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."

Oh no! Here we have it. A Christian can be spit out of the mouth of God. They could lose their salvation, right? Wrong! On the surface it may seem to say that, but when we look at the context, we find John is writing these letters to seven churches. He draws a distinction between two groups of people. Christian and non-Christian. Do non-Christians ever go to church services? The answer, of course, is yes. John draws this distinction by using terms like "you" and "they." And the reason we know these people were non-Christians is because Jesus said you will know a false teacher by their fruit.

How much fruit did these people have? None. They were neither cold nor hot. They were making Jesus want to vomit because they were posing as Christians when in reality they were imposters.

Do people do that today? Yes. Therefore, this passage is not talking about Christians losing their salvation, but about people who never had been saved.

Thought Question: Do you truly believe God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?