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Love Compels to Discipline, but Law Compels to Punish

Love Compels to Discipline, but Law Compels to Punish

“God is love” (1 John 4:16). His law is love (Matthew 22:36–40). And love is not self-seeking (1 Corinthians 13:5)—love doesn’t seek to get for self but to give in order to uplift others. This reality has existed from eternity past and will exist to eternity future, for God never changes (Isaiah 57:15; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17), and His design laws for reality are His love built into the fabric of the universe; they are love in action, the fixed laws of heaven and earth that do not change (Jeremiah 33:25).

But what does it mean that “God is love”? Is it the same thing as “God is loving”? You and I can be loving, but we are not love. Love is more than a feeling; it is functional, and it functions by giving, by beneficence, by outward movement of energy for the good of others. Love is not selfish; it is altruistic, other-centered, healing, and restorative.

What do you think about not only God’s nature being love, but also God’s law being love? Does love function by force, coercion, threat, and inflicted punishments? Can you generate love in people by making up rules for them and then threatening to punish them if they disobey your rules? What happens if one makes up rules that we call “laws” but that are not design laws and then uses external pressures to force compliance? Fear, distrust, and rebellion result—the destruction of love! This is how reality functions. And this is why the kingdoms of the world are Satan’s—because they all function in made-up laws that are enforced by external punishment, which ultimately destroy love and incite rebellion (Matthew 4:8, 9; John 18:36). This is why throughout the history of the world, every government that has ever existed is eventually overthrown and replaced. But God’s kingdom is an eternal kingdom—it will never be replaced (Daniel 4:3; Luke 1:33; 2 Peter 1:11).

God’s design laws are expressions of His nature of love. To break that law breaks the very protocols of life and will result in pain, suffering, and death unless healed by God. As the Bible teaches, “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction” (Galatians 6:8 NIV84). Breaking the laws of God is breaking the laws upon which life is built and destroys the lawbreaker unless healed by our Creator.

One of God’s design laws for intelligent beings is the law of truth. We cannot have health in lies, in falsehood, out of harmony with truth and reality. Thus, the Bible teaches that love rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6) and God is also truth—the infinite source of truth (John 3:33, 14:6, 16:13). In God there is no darkness, no lie, no deceit (1 John 1:5). Thus, love always operates with the truth, speaks truth, applies truth, moves forward in the truth, for the truth heals and sets free (John 8:32).

Love exists only in an atmosphere of freedom. Thus, as the Bible teaches, “The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV84). This is the law of liberty, a design law that governs the operations of hearts and minds. Individuality, development, love, and growth occur only in freedom.

 

God, Discipleship, and Punishment

God’s laws are not like the laws of creatures; God does not govern by made-up rules enforced through coercion and externally inflicted penalties, because such methods violate liberty, damage love, incite rebellion, and destroy individuality.

But the Bible teaches that God disciplines those whom He loves; further, the Bible documents that God gave many different types of rules or laws (Hebrews 12:6). So, if God’s law is not like human law and God does not enforce law like humans do, how do we understand all the examples in Scripture of God using law and external power—the destruction of the world by a flood, Sodom, the firstborn of Egypt, and others—with the fact that God says He disciplines those He loves?

Discipline comes from the root word “disciple,” and it means to teach. Thus, love will intervene with artificially imposed consequences to educate, teach, illustrate, protect, and bring lessons home to the heart and mind in order to bring children, the immature, to repentance, to understanding, to comprehension so they will freely choose to turn their hearts and minds around. Such discipline is a mediation, an intercession, a stand-between, an artificial intervention that is placed between the wrongdoer and the true, ultimate results of reaping what a choice would cause without intervention. Why? Because love is other-centered; it seeks to save, protect, and redeem children from destroying themselves.

Punishment comes from the same root as “punitive” and means to exact vengeance upon, to enforce, to inflict punishment—not to redeem but to uphold the law and the authority of the ruling system. There is nothing redemptive about punishing. Punishment is not for the offender; it is for others—so the community will not rebel, so the sinful community will feel “life is fair,” so the sinful community will not seek their own vengeance, so the offended will feel satisfied that the offender got what they deserved, and so those in power can keep power and prevent the people from rebelling.

God is love, and God, when dealing with rebellious, unrighteous, selfish, sinful people, set up a system of rules with legal authorities and mechanisms to inflict artificial stand-between external punishments in order to restrain the unloving, the unrighteous, the ungodly from abusing and exploiting others, to limit the self-destruction of the wicked of hardening their own hearts through such sinful actions, and to keep open the avenue for the Messiah and the outworking of the plan of salvation.

God’s instructions in providing imposed laws, like the Ten Commandments, was for the purpose of discipline, education, restraint, and redemption of each criminal/sinner/rule-breaker—but also to protect the community from the sin in their lives leading them into greater envy, jealousy, lust, acting out on anger, desire for vengeance, and to believe in some form of accountability and fairness, to provide some social order in a sinful world while God worked out His plan to bring Jesus to heal hearts and minds back to His ideal.

All the Old Testament laws given through Moses are intended only for those who have not been reborn, for the rebellious, and for the reborn immature infants, the children who don’t yet know better, who without a rule would still play in the street, not brush their teeth, or worship Baal thinking it is right.

 

The Added Law

The apostle Paul was constantly dealing with this same conflict, the legalistic Jewish leaders who believed God’s law functions like human law and who went around trying to impose rules on people and, thereby, caused confusion. So Paul had to write to the Galatians and remind them that for the need of people, God’s written laws, including the Ten Commandments, were added because of sin (Galatians 3:19–25).

But perhaps Paul was most clear when writing to Timothy:

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk. They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm (1 Timothy 1:5–7 NIV84, emphasis mine).

Paul makes clear that God’s kingdom is the kingdom of love, which functions upon the living laws, protocols, of love, that operate in the heart. However, the teachers of the law don’t know what they are talking about. They are promoting rules and rule-enforcement, the kinds of laws creatures make up and which will lead to rebellion if the heart is not converted to love. Force violates liberty, which destroys love. And this is what all legal religions do: They destroy love and incite more rebellion against God. Thus, Paul makes it clear that God’s written law is NOT for the righteous; rather, it is for the immature, selfish, unconverted people:

We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me (1 Timothy 1:8–11 NIV84, emphasis mine).

The Bible teaches that the written law was added because of our sin to reveal that sin to us—to convict us, to diagnose us, to convince us of our terminal sin-condition—and to lead us to Jesus, our heavenly Physician, for healing. The written law, including the Ten Commandments, was added for our need and has operational benefit only in a world of sin.

In a world where God has restored His living law of love, truth, and liberty into hearts and minds and eradicated fear and selfishness (the carnal nature), there is no written law—for it is not needed! When love rules in the heart as God intends, there is no imposed law that instructs not to murder, steal, commit adultery, bear false witness, avoid other gods, etc., because the righteous are repulsed by even the thought of such things. The righteous live the law of God as the driver and motivator of their actions. The Ten Commandments law has purpose and function only in a world of sin. God’s eternal design laws (love, truth, freedom, etc.) exist and function over the entire universe through all eternity, past and future.

 

When God Destroys

Then what about the times and places in the Bible where God did use power to destroy? Isn’t that evidence of Him using imposed laws with imposed punishments? Not at all—instead, it is evidence of God working to restrain the destructiveness of sin for the purpose of fulfilling His promise in Genesis 3:15, the promised Seed to destroy sin, death, and Satan and redeem humanity.

When Adam sinned, he changed himself, taking himself out of harmony with God and God’s law for life. Adam’s condition became terminal, dead in trespass and sin. Without Jesus, the promised Seed, Adam would die eternally. But God is love, and love compels action—so God’s love compelled Him to act to save and to heal.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16, 17 NIV84).

Without Jesus coming, no human would live because all humans are infected with this terminal condition (Psalm 51:5). Thus, throughout the entire Old Testament narrative, we see God working in love, mercy, and grace to keep open the avenue for the birth of the Messiah, and Satan warred against God, seeking to destroy that branch of the human family.

For a more detailed exploration of how love works to restrain, to excise pathology, to keep open the channels of blessings, but is never the source of inflicted pain and death, see our blogs:

The Flood and Questions of Whether God Kills—Part 1

The Flood and Questions of Whether God Kills—Part 2

The Death Penalty in Old Testament Times

God’s Wrath Versus Satan’s Wrath

The Truth About Hell

I invite you to reject the worldly view of law and embrace the eternal law of love from our Creator God as your motivator for life. It is the love and truth of God, as manifest in Jesus, that heals and transforms:

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view (2 Corinthians 5:14–16 NIV84, emphasis mine).

Be transformed by the truth and love of God and you will no longer view things through the lens of this world, with its made-up, imposed-law legal system, but through the truth as it is in Jesus!

 

 

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Testimony 70

I have been watching you for many years and have learned to love God with all my heart. I was raised by a loving Christian mother that had been lied to about who God really was, so our religious upbringing was hell fire and damnation. As soon as I was old enough and moved out, I not only left the church, I ran as fast as I could to get away from it. Sad to say, it wasn’t until the past couple of years that I learned and understand who my Father really is and how much He loves me. I understand God’s Design Laws (which make sense) and when I’m teaching my church Bible study class, I’m able to really put to use the things I’ve been learning and Holy Spirit is leading. Thank you for introducing me to my Father of true, pure love. Everyday with Him is new and exciting. One thing that breaks my heart is that I didn’t know Him sooner. God Bless you and your ministry!

Judy Phelps, Reno, NV, USA

Testimony 30

God lead me to your book “The God-Shaped Brain” while I was searching for another book about the brain and then to your interview about your book on HeartWise Ministries [where] I found out about [Come And Reason Ministries]. I’m now devouring the webcasts of your Bible studies. I have been so greatly blessed and I thank God so much for your courage to speak the Truth in love no matter what. Listening to you contrast the two opposing systems (laws) and digging deep to unearth the hidden treasures in the Bible makes me so incredibly happy and I feel very blessed to be part of your Bible Study Group although I live far away. I am just so excited that there is a group of people that is spreading the Truth about the character of God and it saddens me how few realize what our Father in Heaven is really like.

Kessy B., Australia

 

Testimony 50

After coming into contact with Come And Reason Ministries, I can finally say that many of my unanswered questions have fallen into place. I discovered that my view of God’s Law was “imposed laws and rules” with “imposed punishments” and that this was the major culprit of my many unanswered questions. Thanks be to God for using you and those around you to help us who have struggled with this “infection” of thought. I have now rejected the “imposed law” concept to fully embrace “Design Law”… to look thru “Design Law,” instead of “imposed law,” is a relief.

Viliami L., Australia

 

Testimony 67

I was introduced to Come And Reason by a friend of my mother-in-law, who gave me several CD’s of Dr. Jennings. The clarity of the message and recognition that God’s is a God of love was so clear, advancing beyond Dr. Maxwell’s message. However, grappled with Maxwell saying God used emergency measures for the fallen world. Now after several years of being a regular listener of the Come And Reasoning bible study class and attending Jennings’ meetings in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX, things are becoming clearer for me. Design law versus imposed law has added so much to my personal understanding of theology. This message has really impacted my work in counseling so many people miserable because they are searching for and trusting human governments to create order and peace or believing in a God who says love Me or I will kill you. I am grateful that I have an alternative view to offer my clients that makes sense. I teach a bible study class on a semi-regular basis and I value the materials that Come And Reason so freely offers to aid me in presenting this vital message. Thank you for continuing to provide advancement in our very limited understanding of a Infinite God that is rational and believable.

Dr. Roger D, Arlington, TX, USA

 

Testimony 17

The blessings of clarity and understanding you and your class inspire me to take from the word of God have impressed upon me so greatly the true, loving character of our Creator. I have found amazing freedom and joy through building a stronger, more intentional relationship with Him. What is new is that this is now a relationship built on love, reverence and respect rather than fear and obligation, and as such my eyes have been slammed OPEN as I am continually impressed by the manifestations of God’s true character in His provisions for fallen man.

T.E.H., Salt Lake City, UT, USA

 

Testimony 65

I have been tuning into your weekly study classes for a while now and wanted express my appreciation for the teachings that ha been a huge blessing in opening up the true message of the word. Viewing scripture under an imposed law theory always, without fail, raised more questions, concerns, and conflicting scripture interpretations that were discouraging at the very least. Looking at scripture through the design law lens has brought more truth to light for me personally and an understanding of our Heavenly Father that places Him “above all others,” where I am now more than thrilled to witness and serve Him.  I “stumbled” across this ministry a year or so ago and would only watch a few minutes at a time. But the more I listened and the longer I paid attention, the more my spiritual eyes were opened to the ever present truths of scripture. The comprehension of the great controversy and it’s origin by the lies perpetrated and perpetuated throughout the Bible on the attack of God’s character and government is truly priceless. Keep up the Good Work! Your servanthood is desperately needed in such a time as this!

Jeff D., Reading, MA, USA

 

Testimony 59

I’m a native Ghanan, but am currently in France for my master’s degree. Prior to this, during my final years at undergraduate studies in Ghana, I was introduced to your ministry and I’ve been immensely blessed by what you share, especially about the Design and Imposed Laws. God richly bless you for that.

One of the first things I did when I arrived in France was to buy all four of your books. They not only helped me, but those I shared them with. I shared the message with an atheist student and I marveled at how God worked mightily in his life. Today this person shares the Love of God with others and debunks theories of who God is not. I want to share what you present in your “Heavenly Sanctuary and Investigative Judgment” pamphlet, because the message brought rest to my soul and I live today as a healthy person.

God bless you so much and your ministry.

Michael A., Ghana

 

Testimony 34

I was introduced to Come and Reason Ministries by accident, via a passing comment made in a bible study class we were visiting. I checked this website out and my life was changed. The understanding of the truth of God’s character, and how we apply it, is so right. The tricky part is consistently applying which “lens” to look through. As I began to understand, I started sharing the basics of this understanding with a discussion group I was leading and, suddenly, a lot of things started to make sense that never used to. At the same time, I enjoyed an amazing opportunity. I was able to conduct a full bible study at WORK! What an amazing experience! It is such a joy to share the truth about God and to share how it all fits in the war between God and Satan. So many people benefit when we have a correct understanding about how God works and who He really is! Thank you for this transformational understanding. Keep up the good work! God Bless you!

Tony P., CA, USA

 

Testimony 42

I am just writing to say that I have been so blessed by the teachings of Come And Reason Minitries recently. I watched last week’s bible study lesson on Youtube and am thankful that the error in the printed lesson guide you use was pointed out and this week’s study was of equal benefit, if not more so. My understanding of God’s nature has been very confused of late and I am so grateful for clarity in this matter. I have never really fully understood previously how a good God can cause bad things to happen and now I realise that He doesn’t, it’s a natural consequence of sin. May the almighty Father and His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, continue to bless your ministry.

Laura P., United Kingdom

 

Testimony 22

I have found your Bible study class lectures to be very inspiring and useful as I prepare to teach class every other week. I subscribe to the podcast and download your notes on the weeks I teach. The audio and notes are such a great help in preparing. My own understanding of God’s character has grown as I teach the class. Commendations on the thought-provoking and well-prepared material Come and Reason provides. Personally, I get excited by the tie you make between the spiritual and mental/physical domains.

A.A. Corrales, NM, USA

 

Testimony 51

I Love This Ministry!!!!!!! I see first hand how this message is desperately needed, how erroneous beliefs about God and His Character negatively affect humanity at every level. I thank God for your ministry, as I was searching on my own and was discovering some of your same beliefs and was blown away when I found your ministry. I know you hear it all the time, but it is truly life changing. May God continue to reveal His Will to you and Bless you!

Eric S., Sanford, FL, USA

 

Testimony 63

I’ve been very blessed by “The God Shaped Brain” and this ministry, through video and podcast, over the last few years. It’s truly opened up my eyes more to the truth about God and the importance of that truth in the present world. The message is so inviting, freeing and enlightening and MORE people need to know about it. I believe it is the last message that can truly, not only prepare a people for salvation and translation, but vindicate the character of God.

Michael V., Yonkers, NY, USA

 

Testimony 35

I am so pleased with the response your message is receiving at my church from the middle-aged to the young adults. I have given out 100 copies of the first two seminars and there are more request every week. One of my [class members] came to me after viewing the series, grateful and impressed with how easy the message was retained. He had been a Seventh-day Adventist in fear all his life, and felt like the scales were removed from his eyes after viewing the seminars. I am so impressed by the change I see in members who have received this message, we are in one accord. However, I am sadden by the negative response of the older people. I am verbally attacked anytime I talk about imposed laws, but I believe my mission is to enlightened everyone I can. I watch your Bible Study Class on YouTube every Friday night and I feel like I am apart of the class. All of you are in one accord and I am so blessed to have found you. I pray that all of you continue to spread this message and I am committed to doing my part.

Clara S., Westfield, MA, USA

 

Testimony 29

Thank you for all of your work to correct misconceptions about God’s character. So many people that my husband and I have talked to seem to be against the natural law construct and view it as “errant” and “dangerous.” Having learned more about it through your blogs and lessons, I don’t really understand why they view it that way, except that it means they have to relearn theology they have known for their entire lives. But I’m so excited to relearn this. For the past few years I have been questioning how I could trust a God who punishes arbitrarily and is full of wrath for those who don’t obey His commands. That view made me afraid to “mess up” or “not be good enough,” even within my relationship with God. I really appreciated the point you bring out about God not wanting us to serve Him because we are afraid, but because we love Him.

Melissa H., IN, USA

 

Testimony 37

Hearing Dr. Jennings’ presentations in person came at a pivotal moment in my spiritual journey that began about nine months ago, when the fault lines inherent in my belief system began to crack under questions that most reasonable people end up asking about God and His nature. These were questions I couldn’t find answers to, and they shook my faith. I was unable let it go any longer and be satisfied. My Christian experience became distant. I was afraid; the fear in me rose like thorns, pushing me away from Jesus. And then someone heard my questions and introduced me to this ministry, and my life has totally changed.

I can tell you that this new, “present truth” message is far grander and life-changing than when I shifted from being an agnostic and then a nominal Christian. It has radically altered my worldview, because it reveals a God that makes sense. It is a revolution. I believe that Dr. Jennings’ message is the final message that must go to the world. If any message could be called “righteousness by faith,” as abused as that term is by the right and the left, this is that message, because Jennings’ biblical message identifies a God who is different, whose character isn’t an impossible contradiction.

I walk this path now without fear. I see people differently, and the Holy Spirit burns in my heart. Many call Dr. Jennings’ message false and compromising, but it isn’t false, because I’ve seen the fruits within my mind and body. It is not compromising, because in this message is the only road to holiness that makes any sense. No longer do I behold a pagan god who is always angry and suspicious. Instead, I behold a God who is freeing and loving, always working for our good, and giving me every reason to love my enemy even to my own death, just as Jesus pleads with us. God is good.

Anthony L., CA, USA