The Fallacy of Unconditional Love

The title of this article may completely shock the living daylights out of some readers—this is to be expected. But this is precisely what the concept of unconditional love is—a fallacy. Believers have been fed with the idea that God’s love is unconditional, but nothing can be further from the truth. God’s requirement for a propitiation and His conditions for man’s salvation was nothing less than perfection so that the only acceptable sacrifice for the atonement of our sins was the Lord Jesus Christ alone. So where in the world did we ever get this idea that God’s love was unconditional? The price Christ paid to freely offer us the gift of salvation was too high a price for just any man to pay!

In this article, we will explore the implications of this concept and the conflicts it brings to the life and thought of the believer. We will also look into the primary Greek word, agape (agaph, agapaw) which has been popularly rendered to represent God’s unconditional love.

Nothing more than a concept

Unconditional love sounds good as a concept, but there is no Biblical basis for this concept. Unfortunately, evangelical believers have constantly referred to unconditional love as the reason why the Lord came to die on the cross for this sins of mankind. Preachers have used this concept to spice up their Sunday sermons, in order that they may “touch the heart”, or more accurately to exploit the emotions so that their listeners respond affirmatively to their preaching. The word agape is the popular “brand” employed to mean unconditional love. In its popular state, it became the entry for heresy to penetrate the pulpits of evangelical churches. Unconditional love, as purportedly demonstrated by God, became the subtle gateway for unbelievers to influence believers and is also at the heart of the Church’s systemic departure from the foundational doctrines of the faith.

The Meaning of Agape

The noun agape is from the root verb agapao (agapaw) which technically means, “to love”. There are a couple of key words employed by the New Testament that is translated as love, these are agapao and fileo. Of the two words, agapao occurs more frequently than fileo in the New Testament. Although both words mean love, the choice of word used is largely dependent on the context. The word agape is used primarily when describing the love of God towards man and as an example of how the church should love each other. The word fileo is used primarily when describing love in human relationships.

It is interesting to note that despite the abundant occurrences of the word agape in the New Testament, nowhere does it provide the context that compels us to interpret agape to mean unconditional love. In every case, the message imparted by New Testament writers has to do with divine or sacrificial love, both of which in no way suggests unconditional love. The concept of unconditional love goes against the expressed revelation of God about Himself, His ministry, and plan for the ages.

The Fallacy of Unconditional

Nowhere does the Scripture teach us that God’s love is unconditional. The fact of the matter is that God required a perfect sacrifice that necessitated the death of Christ on the cross of Calvary. While God’s love is infinite, it is not unconditional. This is why, it was necessary for Christ to shed His blood so that those that believe in Him will be covered and reckoned righteous in the sight of the Almighty (Romans 5:8-11). To suggest that God’s love was unconditional would render the death of Christ worthless and unnecessary. The free gift of salvation, much like freedom, is not free—it is a free gift offered to us but paid by another. We can now freely avail of the gift of salvation because the Lord Jesus Christ paid for the price of our individual redemption, and now exercises the right to give it to whomsoever He will. In every essence, by His death on the cross, Christ literally purchased the title deed that reckons those that believe in Him justified and reconciled with God. Paul states: “¹Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: ²By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God... ⁸But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. ¹⁰For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. ¹¹And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:1-2,8-11)”

The condition the Almighty required was personally settled entirely and in full by the Lord Jesus Christ. The requirement for a perfect offering for the sin of mankind was paid in full by the Lord Jesus Christ. Again Paul states, “¹²Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: ¹³(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. ¹⁴Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. ¹⁵But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. ¹⁶And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. ¹⁷For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) ¹⁸Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. ¹⁹For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. ²⁰Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: ²¹That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:12-21).”

This idea of unconditional love is nothing more than a manifestation of aberrant albeit, poor theology. Not only does this go against the soteriology of the Scriptures, it also goes against the anthropology of the Scriptures and the fundamental doctrine of sin and the complete depravity of man. As long man is a free agent, choice will exist, and as long as choice is present, conditions that make choices essential will always exist. Christ Himself, stated, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. " ¹⁹"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. " ²⁰"For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. " ²¹"But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:18-21). Here, the condition required of man to be saved and escape condemnation is belief in the Son of God.

This aberrant concept, turned false doctrine, opens the gate to all sorts of heresies and, is an attempt of man to frame the Scriptures within acceptable boundaries of human thought and subjectivism. This is at the heart of pseudo-Christian movements that over-emphasize the love of God at the expense of His holiness, righteousness, and justice. This aberrant doctrine generates a great deal of confusion for the individual believer in understanding the nature and character of God as revealed in the Scriptures. For if God’s love were truly unconditional, then how will the believer understand the constructs of God’s holiness and justice that calls for every one who professes the name of Christ to depart from iniquity? How will the believer reconcile God’s purported unconditional love with the coming judgment?

This is why a lot of believers have great difficulty reconciling God’s love with His holiness, judgment and justice. Much like unbelievers they ask, “how could a loving God allow men to go to hell? how could a loving God allow mankind to suffer?” Their faith is built on subjective faith, hence they so easily become offended; they gravitate towards the emotional rather than the spiritual (based on the objective truths of the Scriptures); they emphasize emotion-driven action rather than principle-driven actions; they adhere to methods than are unscriptural and worldly; they tend to focus on form and not substance; and, they base their standards of holiness on the ways of man (touch not, taste not, do not), placing so much on ascetic constructs and entirely missing the truth that true holiness is a spiritual change, a state reckoned (not earned) to mankind by God before the sight of God.

For those of us who have been saved by the grace of God through an objective faith in the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must always remember (and not confuse) that we freely received the gift of salvation not because God’s love is unconditional, but because Christ settled in our debt in full and all the conditions for atonement required by the One True and Holy God, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Salvation is a personal matter. It is not collective. And people will go to everlasting damnation unless we tell them of the free gift offered to them by the Holy God. Our role is to tell, the Holy Spirit is responsible for conviction and conversion. We must tell, we must teach the whole counsel of God.

The Scriptural Basis for Unity

The ideal of unity has long played a vital part in the course of human history. Humanity has sought to achieve a state where the world would have achieved lasting and sustainable peace through unity; an egalitarian society, where conflict would be completely abolished and where mutual understanding and equality would govern the state of human affairs. So far humanity has yet to achieve such a state. Our history is replete with attempts, but has yet to record a single event that embodies true unity and peace.

Genesis 11 provides us with the first instance of a united humanity. The Bible states the world “was of one language, and of one speech” (Genesis 11:1). The priorities and directions of humanity was in unison for they spoke one language shared a common culture and set of traditions and understood each other. But such unity only exacerbated the depravity of humanity. Rather than being united to worship the Almighty, they instead began to devise vain imaginations. ^“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen 11:4). The intent of humanity at this stage is to exalt themselves, or make a name for themselves that is equal in prominence and importance to that of the Godhead. They wanted to build a tower that would reach the heavens, a direct path to God perhaps even make themselves equal to God.

Genesis 11:6 states, “Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” The unity in language, thought and action of a united but depraved humanity will lead to pursuits that are contrary to the Divine Plan. In the infinite wisdom and grace of the Almighty, the Godhead decided to intervene and prevent mankind from courting His judgment and eternal destruction. Genesis 11:7-9 states, “Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another' speech. Scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” A similar event of self-exaltation led to the expulsion of Lucifer from the presence of the Most High: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15).

God’s intervention was an act of grace and preservation for had He not intervened and confounded the language, hence the purposes and understanding of mankind, that humanity would have exalted itself to be like unto the most High—the ramification of which would have been immediate and permanent destruction.

Since Babel, humanity has continually worked towards the desired end of a united world—one world governed by a common set of ideals, language, and purposes. Great kingdoms have purposed to unite the entire world under a universal kingdom—from the Akkadian dynasties to the Roman Empire of ancient times to the present Colonial Empires or recent history and the Pax Americana of the present—and will stop at nothing to achieve the ideals of a united world.

Throughout history, the ideals of unity and peace is always dictated by the dominant. All those that refuse to subscribe to the dictates of the dominant will always be seen as antagonist, rebels, and even terrorists to an extreme. This pursuit has led to the creation of more conflicts throughout the world today. Dominant peoples have used everything from geographical expansion (to feed and house their people) to religion evangelism as a justification for armed occupation and conflict.

This prospect of attaining unity has also led to the destruction of cultures, to genocide, and to all forms of atrocities against humanity. Despite this, mankind has remain undeterred to achieve this objective end of “unity” even if the process or path to attain such a pursuit results in the employment of methods that are contrary to the objective end. It seems that mankind will do anything to achieve unity even at the cost of lives and their very souls.

Is unity a priority in the Divine Plan? No it is not. Unity, in its pure and unadulterated form, is simply the fruit of a Theocracy of the Millennial kingdom. Until then, the priority of the Divine Plan is the salvation of mankind. To focus on the ideal of unity is simply to strive for something that cannot possibly be achieved. Conflicts will remain until sin is completely abolished from the face of the earth. And the abolition of sin, according to the Scriptures, will only occur after the Lord has purged the heavens and earth and created the new heavens and the new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13).

Is the Church and the believers that comprise it tasked to establish peace and unity throughout the world? On the contrary, the purpose of the Church is to present a spiritual stumbling block to both Jews and Gentiles. While believers are instructed to be good citizens and to honor government, we have been charged to declare the truth that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” We are to “…sanctify the Lord God in your (our) hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

The militancy of the Church is not physical or material in nature. We are not to strive against physical structures (flesh and blood), rather we are to contend with spiritual matters. We are simply to fight the warfare for the souls of all mankind, and our implements for warfare are explicit: preaching and prayer; our primary weapon is the Word of God. This warfare is meant to divide mankind only on the basis of spiritual nature—believers from unbelievers; saved from lost; redeemed from enslaved; righteous from unrighteous; justified from condemned; eternally living from the eternally dead.

Are believers charged to remain a united community? Yes. In fact, if we look closely, the word that is directly translated “unity” in the New Testament, enothta, occurs only twice in the entire New Testament (Ephesians 4:3, 13) and is directed to the Church as a community of regenerated believers. The remainder of references imply the ideal by the use of the numeral “heis, hen, or hice” (Greek, en). But in such cases it is used to refer to an absolute number rather than to an ideal (one body, one faith, one hope, one Spirit, one baptism, etc.). In such cases too, the focus is to communicate a singularity based on the nature of God, and not to a collective characteristic.

The charge of the apostle Paul for the church to remain united is based primarily on the truth that the church serves one God, is saved by one Savior, is called unto one Calling, and is filled with one Spirit. The basis to achieve real unity are present within the ecclesia of the called or the regenerated—the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul had to constantly remind the church about this truth simply because believers are still prone to think in terms of unity and peace as conformity to their personal opinions and preferences rather than to think of unity and peace as a fruit of the singularity of salvation and the singularity of purpose of the Godhead. In contrast to the constructs of unity among the unbelieving, the constructs of unity of the believing Church is glorifying to God since the basis of this unity is to serve the purposes of the most High—towards the salvation of all mankind by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

It is time for the Church to calibrate its focus from trying to be a social club, a political group, or advocates for world peace and back to its primary purpose—the preaching of the Gospel so that all men will hear and believe. Unrest and fragmentation within the church only occurs when this purpose is confused with agendas that do not conform to the Church’s prime directive, and when its purposes are lined with personal vested interests of individual or groups, and when believers are swayed to esteem the priorities of the material over the spiritual.

There is only one way that our Churches can remain united and remain glorifying to God, and that is for the body, the ecclesia of the called, to pursue without ceasing the priorities of the most High over personal or even ecclesiastical interests—the salvation of mankind through the preaching and teaching of the word, and through fervent prayer.

The apostle Paul states in 1 Corinthians 1:18-31: “¹⁸For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. ²⁰Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. ²²For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: ²³But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; ²⁴But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. ²⁵Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. ²⁶For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: ²⁷But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; ²⁸And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: ²⁹That no flesh should glory in his presence. ³⁰But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: ³¹That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”

If you want real unity and peace, there is only one place to find this, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Call on Him today—before it’s too late. Judgment cometh.

The Context of First Instance

In order for us to understand the Scriptures, we must understand the inner workings of the culture and traditions that circumscribe the events recorded in the Bible. It is important for us to have this understanding to comprehend the idioms and idiosyncratic expressions employed by the writers of Scriptures to communicate Divine Truth. Moreover, the study of cultures and traditions is important in the study of Biblical languages (Hebrew and Greek). As far as the study of the Scriptures is concerned, understanding culture and traditions serves an important role in interpreting the Scriptures.

Understanding the context of the first instance is different from contextualization. Contextualization forces an interpretation of the Scriptures to fit the present context. The context of the first instance is key to sound biblical exegesis and interpretation, whereas the objective of contextualization is to provide an interpretation of the Scriptures that is agreeable to a specific cultural context. Employing the context of the first instance will allow us to understand what the Scriptures are communicating in its original substance and how to apply these truths to our meet our present needs. It does not allow us the latitude to change these truths just to make them palatable to present conditions. By application, culture and tradition must conform to the absolutes of Scripture and not the other way around.

The emphasis of the Scriptures is primarily spiritual reconciliation with the Almighty through the explicit means He Himself has provided—by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6). The standards concerning how “believers” should live are secondary to spiritual regeneration. A moral life is only the desired consequence of a regenerated life. Regeneration always comes first. Morality apart from regeneration is worthless.

The apostle Paul states: ^“21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; ²²Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: ²³For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; ²⁴Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: ²⁵Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; ²⁶To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. ²⁷Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. ²⁸Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. ²⁹Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: ³⁰Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. ³¹Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”(Romans 3:21-31)

In the argument that ensued between the Lord and the Pharisees concerning religion, religious tradition and popular culture, the Lord states: “…This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me…Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.…Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition…For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men…Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” (Mark 7:6-8, 13)

This order of priority must never be altered or even re-formulated to fit conventional thought or popular culture. The culture and traditions of men are rooted in individual belief systems and are basically a compendium of the belief systems of individuals comprising a community, so, unless a community is comprised of regenerated believers, even the enforcement of the strictest standards of morality and outward religious conformity will not produce a godly culture. In fact, as in the case of the Jewish community contemporary to the Lord’s earthly ministry, a community that structures culture and tradition based on the Scriptures will end up in a highly rigid legalistic society devoid of spiritual substance (Mark 7:6-8, 13).

A community, however, comprised of regenerated believers who studies and understands the Scriptures will produce a culture and set of traditions that glorifies and serves the purposes of the Almighty. This is the implicit model of the ecclesia—a group or community of believers called out from Jews and Gentiles alike to serve the purposes of the Most High, distinct from every human organization (religious or otherwise), bound not by race or religion, but by the commonality of spiritual re-birth and regeneration. It is designed to be a model of the forthcoming theocracy of the Millennium.

To attempt to reformulate Scriptural Truths to fit contemporary contexts is to deviate from the Divine Plan. The temptation to do so is strong, even for mature believers. The high standards of the Scriptures are foundational to egalitarian thinking, a world devoid of conflict and filled with love, peace, and equality, using Acts 2:44 as the basis of this model.

Students of the Word must realize that the principles (egalitarian as it may seem) taught in the New Testament have to be understood through the lens of the context of first instance. These are not universally applicable, and by universally I mean believers and unbelievers alike. The context is clear—believers only.

Another problem area that opens up the door to contextualization is the ideal of unity and peace. While mankind sees the value of these Scriptural tenets, it is understood out of context. These principles were directed to the Church, the ecclesia of the called. The basis of unity and peace, as taught in the Scriptures is the context of the common regenerated relationship shared between believers the Lord and the resulting obedience required by the Lord of His followers and children. The common foundation and basis is spiritual re-birth.

To attempt to employ these principles of equality, unity, peace, and love outside of the context of spiritual re-birth creates more problems than it solves. Why? The basis of those that seek to employ these outside of the context of spiritual regeneration is heterogeneous and subjective, whereas the basis of the Church is homogeneous and objective—the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Meaning, the unbelieving world cannot possibly come to a full realization of the intent of real peace, real joy, real unity, and real love apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace will always be designed to fit the interests of one party over another. Unity will be defined by the parameters set by a dominant party or nation (much like Pax Romana), and love will be corrupted to mean every thing else but. The natural man is unable to comprehend the foundations behind these basic principles. Paul clearly states: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)

Nowhere is this thinking more prominent than in situation ethics that evaluates action in the light of their situational context rather than by the application of moral absolutes; a view of ethics that deprecates general moral principles while emphasizing the source of moral judgments in the distinctive characters of specific situations (Source: situation ethics. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.). This is the thinking behind the phrase “the ends justifies the means.”

The intent of situation ethics is to make the ministry of the organized church relevant for this present generation. The intent is to make the ministry relevant so that by doing so make the basis of ministry relevant to this present generation. This may seem harmless, however, it is anything but.

If we were to use situation ethics to interpret the Scriptures we would end up with a version that is a half truth—and half truths are lies. Divine justice for example, would be seen not as an expression of the Holiness of God, but a means to impose His will on the world in order to meet a greater good. This would justify violence if the end result is world peace. History is replete with accounts of “Christian nations” going to war to further the kingdom of God or their version of morality. Because it puts forth a half-truth, it is evil.

Situation ethics holds the traditions of men in higher esteem than the commandments of God. Those who think this way are as guilty of vain worship as the Pharisees of Christ’s day: “…This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me…Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.…Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition…For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men…Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.” (Mark 7:6-8, 13)

It would do well for us to consider what the apostle Paul stated in Romans 9:14-32: “¹⁴What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. ¹⁵For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ¹⁶So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. ¹⁷For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. ¹⁸Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. ¹⁹Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? ²⁰Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? ²¹Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? ²²What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: ²³And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, ²⁴Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? ²⁵As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. ²⁶And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. ²⁷Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: ²⁸For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. ²⁹And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. ³⁰What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. ³¹But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. ³²Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; ³³As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

If we want to glorify God, we need to do so on the basis of how He has instructed us to worship and glorify Him—in spirit and in truth. We cannot worship Him in convenience. We cannot be eclectic as far as doctrine is concerned or as it concerns the whole counsel of God. In its absolute state, the Scriptures must be taken as a complete and absolute whole—no more, and no less. We must be resolute in our obedience to God by what He has revealed in the Scriptures even when it makes us uncomfortable.

The Disposition of the Believer

"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after 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, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God." (Romans 8:5-8, KJV)

οι γαρ κατα σαρκα οντες τα της σαρκος φρονουσιν οι δε κατα πνευμα τα του πνευματος το γαρ φρονημα της σαρκος θανατος το δε φρονημα του πνευματος ζωη και ειρηνη διοτι το φρονημα της σαρκος εχθρα εις θεον τω γαρ νομω του θεου ουχ υποτασσεται ουδε γαρ δυναται οι δε εν σαρκι οντες θεω αρεσαι ου δυνανται

The word "flesh" is used by the apostle Paul several times in the span of four verses (v.5-8). The Greek word, sarke or sarkos (σαρκος), translated "flesh" in English occurs in two primary cases throughout these four verses--the genitive and the accusative. In the genitive, the Greek word is sarkos, in the accusative the word is sarke. When the genitive case is used, the noun is possessive in nature, when occurring in the accusative it primarily functions as a direct object, receiving the action of the verb.

The noun sarke, by implication is used here to refer to human nature and is distinguished from the word, soma (or body); and is related (by affinity) to the word saroo (derivative of sairo), which means to brush or sweep, and haireomai, which means to take for oneself.

The etymology of the word provides us with a way to understand what Paul meant by flesh. Technically, this refers to the characteristic nature of sweeping towards oneself as much as could be taken for oneself. By using both the genitive and accusative cases, Paul brings the reader's focus to bear on the characteristic contrasts between a life that is spiritually inclined (v.9) against that which is of the old and sinful nature, which by definition is inclined to sweep towards oneself as much as could be taken for oneself, or doing things that benefit only the old and sinful nature.

Paul clearly states that such a disposition is antithetical and diametrically opposed to the Spirit of God who indwells the regenerated believer. Paul clearly states that such as disposition is enmity (echthra, εχθρα) against God. Paul here uses one of the strongest negative phrases (oude) "neither indeed can be", or "oude gar dunatai" (ουδε γαρ δυναται) to state the impossibility for the old nature to please God.

In verse 5, Paul argues using the word phroneo (φρονημα) which means mentally disposed (prone to), to bring the appropriate context and to set the principle believers ought to base their disposition on. They that mind, or a disposed to fulfill the desire that benefit only oneself will never please God simply because those that mind the flesh will never entertain the idea of pleasing God. This is why fulfilling selfish interests is sin, for the simple reason that the intent and disposition of those who are characteristically selfish, regardless of religious or pious packaging, will always think about their own interests above God's or anyone else.

Paul further states that if we are believers, then we ought to mind, or be disposed to matters that please God over carnal matters. We need to check our motivations and the intent of our heart. Whenever our actions sweep towards oneself as much as could be taken for oneself (be it activities, decisions, programs, finances, policy, etc.), Paul makes it clear that such a disposition cannot please God. The disposition of the carnal mind will always antagonize the life that wants to be governed by the Spirit of God.