The God Who Loves : He Will Do Whatever It Takes To Draw Us To Him

"God is love." It's the most basic definition of God in Scriptures, but so profound that it's often misunderstood. In this probing book, a brilliant Bible expositor brings us into the very heart of God by answering such questions as: If God is love, how could He send anyone to hell? What's the difference between the loving God of the New Testament and the angry God of the Old Testament? If God is love, why did He require His Son to die such a cruel death on the Cross? How can God be both loving and jealous? The author argues against the two polar views of God as a sentimental grandfather whose doting love could not bring him to punishment of the disobedient and God as an angry tyrant who would rule by threats. "Both extremes paint a distorted picture of God and further confuse the issue of understanding God's love," Dr. MacArthur writes. He insists that what God loves is actually defined by what He hates, and that neither His love nor His wrath can be understood in isolation from the other. Although the author is clearly aware of the way great men have grappled with these issues in the history of the Church, his doctrinal presentations arise more from the biblical text than from dogmatic theology. He examines in detail the way John?"the apostle of love"?treats love in his First Epistle, then fleshes out the doctrine of God's love in vivid representations of real people interacting with divine love. 'God is love.'It's the most basic definition of God in Scriptures, but so profound that it's often misunderstood. In this probing book, a brilliant Bible expositor brings us into the very heart of God by answering such questions as:If God is love, how could He send anyone to hell?What's the difference between the loving God of the New Testament and the angry God of the Old Testament?If God is love, why did He require His Son to die such a cruel death on the Cross?How can God be both loving and jealous? The author argues against the two polar views of God as a sentimental grandfather whose doting love could not bring him to punishment of the disobedient and God as an angry tyrant who would rule by threats.'Both extremes paint a distorted picture of God and further confuse the issue of understanding God's love,'Dr. MacArthur writes. He insists that what God loves is actually defined by what He hates, and that neither His love nor His wrath can be understood in isolation from the other.Although the author is clearly aware of the way great men have grappled with these issues in the history of the Church, his doctrinal presentations arise more from the biblical text than from dogmatic theology. He examines in detail the way John -'the apostle of love'- treats love in his First Epistle, then fleshes out the doctrine of God's love in vivid representations of real people interacting with divine love. The cry of the human soul has always been to be loved faithfully, deeply, and completely. In The God Who Loves, John MacArthur gives a passionate, well-argued defense for what the love of God is-and what it is not. He explores the persistent themes of God's love and goodness throughout the Old and New Testaments and tackles the difficult questions head-on with frank, thoroughly biblical answers. Gospel according to the Apostles: Ever since the days of the apostles Paul and James, who seemed to be in contradiction, Christians have struggled to define the proper tension between faith and works. Salvation, Paul stresses, is "not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). But James argues, "Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18)