The doctrine of love is the
doctrine that people in today's Church love the most. People love to hear about
the doctrine of love, not because they are full of love, but because they want
to be loved. However, their want to be loved is derived from their self-centred
love that is vile, evil and wicked. They want to be loved, but have no love
themselves. That is the height of all self-love, which is nothing but idolatry.
The ultimate manifestation of idolatry is the love of self. It is to love oneself for being oneself which is exactly what the problem of self-love. It regards oneself as worthy of love, when one is not worthy of love at all. It is a proud love of self, that the world regards as 'self-respect'. Self-love is Adamic, full of venom and the hatred of God. For it thinks highly of itself, in thinking itself to be worthy when it is not worthy at all, but worthy only for eternal Hellfire for seeking to be independent of God.
Independence from God is the beginning of all sin. Sin in essence is not the failure to confirm to rules or commands, but that which goes against God. God is not a God of rules and commands. The commands that the Word of God sets out what is right or wrong in the eyes of God to make it clear to those who do not know God (Galatians 3:23-24). It does not apply to those who know God because those who know God walk in faith. For those who walk in faith, walk in spirit and in truth, demonstrating their love for God. This love for God is demonstrated by relying on Him and trusting in Him, as opposed to relying on one's own works or trust in one's own strength.
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth
Why should the Gentiles say,
“So where is their God?”
But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them
(Psalm 115:1-8)
Idolatry is not simply about bowing down before an object, or being obsessed with something more than God. The heart of idolatry is to trust in one's own self, one's own strength, one's own hands and one's own works. Relying on one's own works and one's own strength to keep the commands of God is idolatry. It is the work of one's own hands.
Relying on one's works and own strength to keep the commands of God does not demonstrate love for God at all. It demonstrates an independence from God, which is the hatred of God. It is nothing but idolatry, all under the guise of religion. Such as religion is nothing but dead religion that leads to death, not life. Hatred of God manifests in a lack of a true genuine faith in God. True faith is not faith that emphasises faith in keeping the law of God. True faith is faith that walks in spirit and in truth. True faith is true worship.
True worship is not religion. Being religious does not make one a true worshiper of the true living God at all. The Scriptures in John 4:19-24 testify of this:
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Only true worship is accepted by God. False worship will not be accepted by God. Most of those who claim to worship God are false worshipers of God. That does not just include those who follow false religions that do not believe in Jesus Christ as God Himself as 1 Timothy 4:1-4 speak of. It includes, more perniciously, a false worship of God that claims to worship Jesus but does not truly worship Him, as manifest in not a real and genuine love of Jesus, but carnality, often accompanied by the twisting of Scriptures of impose all kinds of man-made false rules that only ensnare people in more sin and hold them to more spiritual bondage.
All religious but carnal worship of God is based on self-love, love for oneself. Such a carnal heart cannot love God, despite all its works in trying to be faithful and love God. For such a person is not submitted to God, walking in the spirit and in truth. He cannot please God:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
(Romans 8:5-8)
Those who are carnal are only capable of seeking love, but yet not practicing it themselves. That is the height of all idolatry. The love that such people show towards God and others is nothing but a false love, a self-centred love that worships oneself, and only seek what he or she can get from Jesus, but not truly love Jesus. Such is the false love that most in the professing Church today have towards Jesus.
The ultimate manifestation of idolatry is the love of self. It is to love oneself for being oneself which is exactly what the problem of self-love. It regards oneself as worthy of love, when one is not worthy of love at all. It is a proud love of self, that the world regards as 'self-respect'. Self-love is Adamic, full of venom and the hatred of God. For it thinks highly of itself, in thinking itself to be worthy when it is not worthy at all, but worthy only for eternal Hellfire for seeking to be independent of God.
Independence from God is the beginning of all sin. Sin in essence is not the failure to confirm to rules or commands, but that which goes against God. God is not a God of rules and commands. The commands that the Word of God sets out what is right or wrong in the eyes of God to make it clear to those who do not know God (Galatians 3:23-24). It does not apply to those who know God because those who know God walk in faith. For those who walk in faith, walk in spirit and in truth, demonstrating their love for God. This love for God is demonstrated by relying on Him and trusting in Him, as opposed to relying on one's own works or trust in one's own strength.
Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth
Why should the Gentiles say,
“So where is their God?”
But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them
(Psalm 115:1-8)
Idolatry is not simply about bowing down before an object, or being obsessed with something more than God. The heart of idolatry is to trust in one's own self, one's own strength, one's own hands and one's own works. Relying on one's own works and one's own strength to keep the commands of God is idolatry. It is the work of one's own hands.
Relying on one's works and own strength to keep the commands of God does not demonstrate love for God at all. It demonstrates an independence from God, which is the hatred of God. It is nothing but idolatry, all under the guise of religion. Such as religion is nothing but dead religion that leads to death, not life. Hatred of God manifests in a lack of a true genuine faith in God. True faith is not faith that emphasises faith in keeping the law of God. True faith is faith that walks in spirit and in truth. True faith is true worship.
True worship is not religion. Being religious does not make one a true worshiper of the true living God at all. The Scriptures in John 4:19-24 testify of this:
The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Only true worship is accepted by God. False worship will not be accepted by God. Most of those who claim to worship God are false worshipers of God. That does not just include those who follow false religions that do not believe in Jesus Christ as God Himself as 1 Timothy 4:1-4 speak of. It includes, more perniciously, a false worship of God that claims to worship Jesus but does not truly worship Him, as manifest in not a real and genuine love of Jesus, but carnality, often accompanied by the twisting of Scriptures of impose all kinds of man-made false rules that only ensnare people in more sin and hold them to more spiritual bondage.
All religious but carnal worship of God is based on self-love, love for oneself. Such a carnal heart cannot love God, despite all its works in trying to be faithful and love God. For such a person is not submitted to God, walking in the spirit and in truth. He cannot please God:
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
(Romans 8:5-8)
Those who are carnal are only capable of seeking love, but yet not practicing it themselves. That is the height of all idolatry. The love that such people show towards God and others is nothing but a false love, a self-centred love that worships oneself, and only seek what he or she can get from Jesus, but not truly love Jesus. Such is the false love that most in the professing Church today have towards Jesus.
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