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Old 10-17-2021, 08:00 AM   #143
boxcar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dnlgfnk View Post
(emphasis mine)

"Dreadful", you say? Perhaps at first blush. But to a pious Jew, with a good working knowledge of the OT scriptures, Jesus' words would not only have rang true, but would have been very comforting and reassuring that Jesus was truly the Holy One of Israel -- the promised Messiah! To this kind of Jew, Jesus' words in Jn 10:17 would inspire genuine faith in and love for the Messiah because what Jesus said comports so well with numerous OT scriptures. "The reason my Father loves me" -- right here and now -- in my God-incarnate form -- as the God-Man -- is because I obey him. I was sent here to this dark, forlorn world, in time and space, to perform my Father's will. To execute his redemptive plan for his chosen people. Let's think about this for a few moments.

Scripture teaches that Jesus is the [morally] spotless Lamb of God, without any [moral] blemish. Jesus knew no sin! There was never a time here on earth that Jesus even remotely entertained the thought of sin. And we know from scripture that God hates sin, c.f. Prov 6:16-19). He hates sin because it is antithetical to his holy character -- in fact to his thrice holy nature (Isa 6:3; Rev 6:8)! Holiness being the most exalted of all of God's attributes. God's holiness governs all that he is.

And as we saw yesterday, God must hate every unrepentant sinner because sin itself resides in the heart of every such sinner. All men are sinners by nature. In fact, I'll go even further and say that God cannot love any sinner, apart from the holy character of his Son and his atoning work on the Cross. God's love for any sinner, therefore, is based entirely on the merits of Christ! This is why God can love only those whom he predestined in eternity to be in Christ. This is precisely why so many scriptures qualify God's love (for the righteous, blameless, God-fearers, etc., while others explicitly state his hatred for unrepentant sinners -- because all such sinners are outside of Christ -- outside of a personal covenant relationship with God! God's Word is totally consistent with itself!

So...to a pious, God-fearing Jew, Jesus' words in John 10 would have been very comforting and reassuring because Jesus was affirming numerous OT scriptures about who God loves and who and what he hates. Jesus was reassuring his listeners that his Father loved him because he resolved to do his Father's will. That teaching would have soundly resonated with any pious, God-fearing, upright Jew.

Finally, we should not forget that Jesus often told his disciples and others that he was sent by the Father. That he actually came from the Father! That only He has seen God! And scripture teaches that no evil can dwell with God (Ps 5:4). So, couple this truth with Jn 10:17 and we have a very powerful picture of just who Christ is.
Again, I don't think you've had much exposure to deliberations on the inner life of the Trinity. It's a contemplative path that isolates certain words in scripture like "Word", "Son", "Father" that the sacred authors employed to convey something analogous to the relations of the Persons of the Trinity. The point of my addressing them is to state that the Father and Son, and Spirit are of one mind and will, else there would be something one has that the other didn't, an impossibility if each Person possess wholly in Himself the Divine Nature. The Father's love for the Son could never be "conditional".[/QUOTE]

Well then...you need to take that up with Jesus because he clearly qualified His Father's love for him. In fact, that teaching, too, in John 10 was received by Jesus from the Father, so you'll have file a formal complaint with him, as well.

Meanwhile, not only can the Father's love be conditional, but it must be conditional due to the Father's holy character. Meditate on this: God can only delight in, rejoice over and express his everlasting lovingkindness to those whose lives reflect his holy character and whose hearts delight in Him and love Him. This is precisely why the scriptures contain so many passages that either qualify God's love that he has for his covenant people or that expresses his hatred toward unrepentant sinners. As stated previously, Jesus' teaching in John 10 is perfectly consistent with a large body of scripture.

Just as God cannot swear by anyone except himself, since no one is greater than he, neither can he love anyone whose character does not measure up to His. Since only the Son has ever loved the Father perfectly and always kept his commandments perfectly, then only those in Christ can in turn be loved by the Father. In other words, the Father loves his covenant people strictly on the basis of the person and work of Jesus Christ. And that, sir, is the very essence of conditional love! You can take this incredible truth to the bank!
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