The Free and Unmerited Love of Christ | The Whole Counsel

Well, second, the love of Christ is free and unmerited. We do have to be careful when we talk about Christ's love being free here. It is not free in the sense that there's no cost to it, but it is free and that there's no obligation tied to it to Him.

He's not obligated to love us, but He loves us freely.

Free Grace and the Unobligated Love of God

Yeah, when we talk about free grace, it took me a long time growing up in church to figure out what that was actually speaking of. I used to think it meant that because He paid the price, He offered it to me and I didn't have to pay anything, which there's truth there.

But free grace is that when God's love is undeserved, like you said, it's not obligated, therefore He is free to do with it what He wishes. So when we talk about the love of God for us, we're talking about His love for those who do not deserve love.

We have no claim upon that. We forfeited that in our foreparents, Adam and Eve's sin, and we've all joined in with that since birth. So if we can get that right in our mind, we can realize that every aspect of God's love is free.

That means in an unobligated, uncontrolled way, He is loving me. The old writers used to say it this way, He draws every reason for this love from Himself, nothing from us.

And that view of love, that He's free to do with it what He wishes, is made all the more wonderful when we realize that He does then place it upon us, and that when you consider that we are a people who are not just apathetic toward Him or needy, but that we are actively rebellious and He turns His love in that direction.

While we were yet sinners, Christ loved us.

Unmerited Love for Rebels and Sinners

And again, as long as we are under the delusion that something of our efforts and something of our resolutions can in any way earn this love, and therefore it's obligated, because if it's something that we deserve, then God would be sinful not to give it to us.

And it would be compelled by righteousness, so to speak. But as long as we live under that, and we all do, as long as we live under that illusion that something about us does require God to offer us love, we will never really feel the full saving weight of being loved even though we're unlovely.

Another thing he mentions is it's unsolicited. To me, this is even sweeter than unmerited. And this is not a topic that we often hear, perhaps because we don't consider it, maybe we don't agree with it, but even the phrase unsolicited love sounds strange to us.

No soliciting, that means no selling. Unsolicited love in modern language would be this, there is nothing about the love of God that the lost man, woman, child really wanted. We didn't cry out to Him and say, I don't deserve your love, but I so desperately want this pure and holy love that comes from a pure and holy God.

We really would have preferred, honestly, for God to stay at a distance. So the picture in our mind that humanity is just pleading with God, won't you love me, is actually a false picture. We didn't seek it.

We didn't want it. And yet, God brought it. God hunted us down with this love. So when we're thinking biblically of the love of God, there's a love that is infinite. It's in every moment before we're in every moment, past, present, future at once.

It's undeserved, as you mentioned. There's nothing in us that cries out for love or calls for love that merits love. And it's a love that's so pure that in our fallen self-centered state, we didn't even ask it.

But not only does He provide this love, this love storms the gates of our heart and conquers.

The Love of Christ That Conquers the Heart

Us.

That is humbling, too. I think we've talked about this before, but in what other realm of life would we accept that? That I love someone. We would be offended if someone told us, I love you, but there's nothing about you that is lovely.

I just choose to love you in spite of you. That would make us so angry and proud. God humbles us, and we hear that, and it's okay.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, it's a great test of where you're at spiritually. The proud church member hears that. There's nothing about you that I find lovely, but I've decided to love you anyway, and it is so offensive.

And the humble Christian hears it and says, I'm so glad to hear that because there's no other love I could ever have expected.