I suppose it should not surprise me when folks who promote a false grace—making it a license to sin (see Tit. 2:11-14; Jude 4), and a false faith—that is void of works of obedience (see Rom. 1:5; 16:26; Jas. 2:14), also practice a fake love.
According to the New Testament, the primary mark of one who is truly born again is his love for others who are born again:
We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1 John 3:14-15).
John stresses both the positive and negative. Love identifies the genuinely born-again person. Lack of love, or even hatred, for those who are born again identifies the false Christian. As difficult as it may be to accept, people who promote a false gospel that advocates a false grace and false faith are not genuine believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, which explains why they are often so nasty towards those who are genuine believers. They will slander you behind your back, even as they sometimes pretend to be your friends to your face.
One way they may slander you is to accuse you of being “unloving,” all because you attempt to help others see the spiritually-deadly error of their false doctrine (hoping to save them from hell).
The Bible says that genuine love, however, “rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6). Sincere love grieves over what is deceptive and false, including false doctrine that leads people away from salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Genuine love, however, confronts false doctrine, because it genuinely cares about people.
It is no coincidence that the very first time that the phrase “loving your neighbor as yourself” is mentioned in the Bible (Lev. 19:18), we find these words directly preceding it: “You may surely reprove your neighbor” (Lev. 19:17). Love sometimes reproves. “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov. 27:6). I’ve experienced both.
What got me thinking about all this was because I was recently compared (behind my back) to James and John when they wanted to—and I quote—”call down fire upon people whose doctrine they didn’t quite agree with.” Just like those two, I’m “unloving,” because I publicly refuted a heretical and blasphemous false teaching.
Of course, James and John did not want to call down fire from heaven on a Samaritan village because of a doctrinal disagreement, but because of a personal offense. Jesus rebuked them since He taught His followers to “turn the other cheek” and “love our enemies.”
But there are plenty of examples of Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, James and Jude confronting false doctrine and those who promoted it. Practically every book in the New Testament has at least one or more references to a false doctrine or false teachers. Were Jesus, Paul, Peter, John, James and Jude unloving? No, just the opposite. They were all full of God’s love.
A false gospel of false grace produces false Christians with false faith and false assurance who attend false churches that are full of fake love. The remedy to all that falsehood is the real Jesus…the LORD Jesus!
