He Is For Us

It's from a song, but it expresses a very common theme. "God loves you just as you are." "He's not against you; He's for you." While there is a lot of truth in this, there is also an element that is easily confused and, therefore, confusing.

First, is it true? Does God love you "just as you are"? We know that John 3:16 speaks of God loving the world, so it must be true, right? Except for the fact that the text doesn't speak of God loving the world "just as it is." The word, "so," there is a modifier. The intent is "in this way." "God loves the world in this way" as opposed to "generally and without reservation or condition." What caveat does Jesus put on it? God sent His Son. The condition? "Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." It is conditional. God's special love is applied to those out of the world that believe. God's general love is applied to everyone in that the offer is to all.

So the texts are there, but there is potential confusion. The confusion doesn't rise from the texts, but from the perceptions. Coming from today's perceptions, to "love you just as you are" means "Don't ever change." Couple "loves you just as you are" with "He's not against you" and anyone from our time would conclude that you don't ever need to change at all. Any sense you have of inadequacy or shame is a false one because He loves you just as you are and He's for you. Scripture, on the other hand, is abundantly clear that change is necessary and certain for the believer.

Here's where I have my biggest concern. The glorious truth of Scripture is that, for believers, "God is for us." (Rom 8:31) (That "us" is not "everyone," but God's people.) But what does it mean to be "for us"? For that matter, what does it mean to "love us"? Our perception these days is "Let them be. Encourage them in whatever they do. Try not to bring them down, to judge." And, yet, it makes no sense from our perspective. If a boy is learning baseball and a dad just "lets him be" because "I'm for you, son," that's negligence, not love. Love requires intervention, encouragement, direction, training, exhortation, all sorts of things that our current society considers "opposed," "unloving," and even "hate."

It's not hate for God to recognize our sin condition, supply the remedy, and offer it to us. It's not hate for God to love us and work to change us. It is hate to see a loved one engaging in self-destructive choices and saying, "Don't worry; I love you. I'm not against you; I'm for you" and nothing more. It is true, then, that God loves us and is for us, but that "for us" might sometimes look like carefully administered pain (Heb 12:5-6). Of course, the difference is that it is lovingly applied for our benefit with His support and comfort to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom 8:28-29). So, perhaps, not entirely "just as you are." He is for us, just not as the world does it. He is for us, but better than you would imagine.