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Is God’s Love Uncontrolling?

Is God’s Love Uncontrolling?

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Recently, I read a blog post that thoughtfully explored the nature of God’s love, suggesting that divine love is “inherently uncontrolling.” The author, drawing from Thomas Oord’s theology, raised important questions about how we experience God’s power and whether control is compatible with love. While I appreciate the heart behind this reflection—especially the emphasis on God’s gentleness and compassion—I believe Scripture paints a fuller picture of a God whose love is not diminished by His sovereignty, but upheld by it.

God’s Sovereignty Is Not Domination

It’s true that God doesn’t override our humanity or force us into robotic obedience. But His control is not oppressive—it’s purposeful and redemptive. The Bible consistently reveals a God who actively governs all things according to His will. As Paul writes:

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will.

Ephesians 1:11 ESV

God’s sovereignty is not passive. It’s the reason we can trust that history is moving toward His intended end. He doesn’t always act with immediate force, but nothing He wills ultimately fails.

Transformation, Not Coercion

Consider Saul’s dramatic conversion. One moment he was persecuting Christians; the next, he was proclaiming Christ. God didn’t violate Saul’s will—He revealed Himself so powerfully that Saul’s heart was changed. God gave him a new nature, one that desired Him. This is the essence of salvation: God initiates, transforms, and secures. Our response is awe and gratitude, not resistance.

If God’s will were contingent on human cooperation, salvation would be fragile. But Jesus assures us that those the Father gives Him will come to Him—and He will lose none (John 6, 10, 15). God’s love doesn’t compete with His control; it’s expressed through it.

Does 1 Corinthians 13 Deny Divine Control?

Oord’s interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13 suggests that love “does not force itself on others,” implying that God’s love must be non-controlling. But this reading stretches beyond the text. Paul’s description of love emphasizes humility and endurance—not a denial of divine authority.

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful…

1 Corinthians 13:4–5 ESV

“Not insisting on its own way” speaks to selfishness, not sovereignty. God’s love is not self-serving, but that doesn’t mean He relinquishes control over creation, redemption, or judgment. In fact, His control is what ensures that love triumphs over evil.

Power That Secures Salvation

Paul declares:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…

Romans 1:16 ESV

God’s power is not a threat to love—it’s the very means by which salvation is accomplished. Without divine sovereignty, there would be no guarantee of redemption, no assurance of resurrection, no hope in suffering. But because God is both loving and in control, we can rest secure in Him.

📘 Secure in Christ

This theme is central to my upcoming book, Secure in Christ. In it, I explore how God’s sovereign love provides the foundation for lasting assurance. His attributes don’t compete—they harmonize. God would not be God if He were not in control. And because He is, we can trust that His love will never fail.

To suggest that divine love must be powerless to be pure is to misunderstand both power and purity. God’s love is not reckless or weak—it’s decisive, holy, and unfailing. Scripture does not invite us to imagine a God who merely hopes for our salvation, but to trust in a Savior who accomplishes it. Love isn’t the absence of power; it’s the redemptive use of it.

It’s like the hand of a skilled surgeon—precise, intentional, and filled with care. The scalpel may cut, but always toward healing. God’s sovereignty is not cold control; it is love that moves with clarity and purpose. Because He governs with goodness, we can rest not in probabilities but promises.

Learn more about the nature of God’s love.
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Only God Has Free Will

Only God Has Free Will

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Many people assume that human will is free, but in reality, it is deeply bound—either enslaved to sin or surrendered to righteousness. Only God’s free will is independent of any external influence. He is accountable to no one, dependent on nothing, and remains entirely sovereign over creation. Yet even His choices are shaped by His perfect nature. This is not a limitation. After all, He cannot improve because He is already flawless.

Humans Do Not Have Free Will

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Romans 6:16 NIV

In contrast to God’s free will, the human will operates within limits. Though people make decisions, their choices are always informed by their nature, which is either corrupted by sin or renewed through righteousness. People function exactly as God created them to function.

The Human Will Depends on God

Human beings contribute nothing to their creation. They do not sustain themselves—God continues to uphold their existence. Likewise, they do nothing to prepare themselves for new life in Christ, nor do they contribute to their spiritual rebirth. Even perseverance in faith is not a human effort but the work of the Holy Spirit. Yet while God initiates and sustains salvation, He does not act without us—He works in and through believers to produce spiritual fruit that accomplishes His plans.

If God’s sovereignty is compromised in even the smallest way, the entire theological framework collapses. Once human effort is inserted into the Gospel, it distorts the truth, reducing salvation to something earned rather than given. A sovereign God must remain fully in control, or else truth itself is weakened.

God’s Free Will Reveals His Ultimate Justice

When we focus on individual suffering, we might perceive injustice and randomness. Pain feels unnecessary, hardships seem unfair, and chaos appears dominant. However, when we zoom out and step back to view the grand picture, God’s justice becomes clearer.

By experience, it does not seem right that good people suffer while evil people prosper. The world appears unbalanced, rewarding corruption while punishing integrity. It isn’t easy to reconcile these realities with the idea of fairness.

Concerning grace, it does not seem right that God holds all people responsible for sin when they are powerless to overcome it on their own. If humanity is enslaved to sin, how can anyone be expected to live righteously without divine intervention? They cannot. Scripture teaches that salvation is purely a work of God, not something earned, but something freely given.

By glory, the tension between suffering and justice will finally be resolved. When God reveals His glory in eternity, everything will make sense. Believers’ brokenness will be fully redeemed, and true justice will be made known. The suffering of the righteous will not be wasted, and the prosperity of the wicked will be fleeting. In God’s presence, all things will be set right.

Living in Light of God’s Sovereign Free Will

This truth isn’t just theological—it affects how we approach daily decisions, big and small. If suffering appears unjust now, we trust that it serves a higher purpose in God’s plan. If human effort cannot produce salvation, we rest in the assurance that God alone secures it. If the world seems chaotic, we hold onto the certainty that justice will be fully revealed when God’s glory is known.

For example, rather than despairing when we witness evil flourishing, we remain steadfast in faith, knowing that no unrighteous act escapes God’s control. Rather than feeling helpless in our failures, we depend entirely on God’s committed love to calm our anxious hearts.

Human free will is impossible because only God’s will is free. Instead of autonomy, the pathway to peace is trust and dependence upon God. With this perspective, our lives are no longer defined by frustration or fear but by confident trust in the God who is fully sovereign, fully just, and fully faithful.

Imagine someone facing a major life decision—whether to take a job in another city or stay where they are. They weigh the pros and cons, feel anxious about the unknown, and struggle with the fear of making the wrong choice.

Instead of relying solely on logic or trying to control every outcome, they surrender the decision to God. They pray, asking Him to guide their steps. They seek wisdom in scripture, trust that He knows what is best, and wait for peace about the next step. Over time, they feel clarity, and even if the path is uncertain, they rest in the confidence that God is leading them where He wants them to be.

Surrendering acknowledges that human “free will” does not solve problems (because it is dependent on God). Even so, surrendering control doesn’t mean doing nothing—it means releasing the need to control what cannot be controlled and trusting God’s sovereignty instead.

Some of the ideas for this post came from Martin Luther’s work The Bondage of the Will.
Learn how to become free from shame.
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Faith Is Assurance

Faith Is Assurance

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Faith is an indicator of spiritual life. The person with faith is certain about God’s promises. Assurance, therefore, is like the heartbeat, breathing, and blood flow. The Christian without assurance is like a body without a heartbeat.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him

Hebrews 11:1,6 ESV

Is Absolute Assurance Possible?

Christians can have complete assurance, but our feelings and worldly experiences will interfere. We know there is no condemnation for those in Jesus (Romans 8:1). Therefore, absolute assurance is possible, but the subjective side of it–human emotions–can be volatile.

Assurance based on fact is different than assurance based on feeling or experience. One is objective, the other subjective. One stands for all time, the other is circumstantial but necessary and helpful. One is constant, and the other ebbs and flows some.

Assurance of salvation is based on fact, faith, and feeling to varying degrees:

  1. Fact: the words, and ideas of what has objectively happened as the Gospel is described in the Bible. The fact of salvation is either True or False (mathematically 1 or 0).
  2. Faith: the Spirit enabled spiritual sight. If the Fact of salvation is True, then the Faith of salvation must be some positive quantity (mathematically > 0). The person can have faith as small as a mustard seed (Matthew 17:20).
  3. Feeling: the human emotion based on subjective body chemistry. The Feelings of salvation can be negative or positive (mathematically any value).

For a person to be saved, they must know it as a Fact: “I am saved because Jesus lived a perfect life and died for me,” and have Faith as small as a mustard seed or greater: “I know I am saved.” Feelings are not required; however, they are expected to be more positive the greater the person’s Faith.

Faith is neither objective (physical) fact nor subjective (sensual) feeling. It is objective spiritual knowledge relative to God’s kingdom and subjective spiritual knowledge relative to a new creation’s spiritual senses. Faith sees God with certainty (Hebrews 11:1) but the world is spiritually blind.

Confidence is viewed as a subjective conviction. But in Hebrews 11:1, it is not that at all, but ‘the reality of the goods hoped for.’ From our perspective on earth we say that what is visible or tangible is solid, but in the estimate of the writer to the Hebrews, what is visible is what is shadowy, shaky, and subject to destruction. But what is invisible is sure, solid, and to be counted on.

Sure Enough by Dr. John Gilmore, Page 95

Therefore, all of the following are essentially the same:

  • confidence
  • reality
  • assurance
  • faith

Faith is confidence in the spiritual reality. It is hoped for as nothing less than a certain future. There is no “blind faith” because faith is spiritual sight.

How to Increase Assurance

If assurance is faith, then lack of assurance is doubt. Everyone struggles with doubt at some point. Doubt thrives because of weak faith, like gravity can overpower weak muscles. Low faith is under the oppressive weight of doubt–like darkness is the absence of light. The light shines but the darkness cannot overcome it.

Training can strengthen assurance. What causes low assurance?

  • guilt or condemnation
  • negative experiences
  • lack of support
  • lack of theological understanding
  • lack of seeing God clearly
  • lack of correct application

Doubt will thrive in people who shift their focus from Christ to self. Whether they believe they are too unworthy or too worthy, their focus is off-target. Doubt grows when we value our negative experiences more than we value our God experiences. Assurance grows the more we know God for who the Bible says He is.

Deviation from the truth is possible when we sin, take our eyes off Jesus, and put our trust in worldly philosophies or treasures. When we are in the flesh, we are once again expressing our distaste for God.

The only fatal doubt is complete unbelief that rejects God as real and loving (which is impossible for a believer). The best way to overcome doubt is to refocus on the Gospel message to stir up the power of faith which will eventually produce the fruit of good works.

Learn more about full assurance of hope.
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Claim Full Assurance Of Hope

Claim Full Assurance Of Hope

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You can know with certainty that you have eternal life. God desires that you earnestly claim full assurance of hope.

What does eternal life have in common with being pregnant? Just like you can’t be a little bit pregnant, you can’t possess a fraction of eternal life. They are both all-or-nothing. You are either alive or you are dead.

Many life disappointments can stir up insecurity and doubt. You might think, “Maybe I’m not saved. Maybe Jesus doesn’t care about me. Maybe I’m beyond God’s love. Yes, I’ve fallen away and my situation is hopeless.” But God provides so much for us believers so that we do not have to doubt our salvation.

The Holy Spirit Provides Full Assurance of Hope

God wants you to feel secure in His love. If your heart has impurities like anxiety, doubt, and fear, He will want to work out the impurities. As this happens, your faith and confidence will grow. Paul’s prayer in Ephesians should convince you that it’s okay to have a goal to become more confident in your faith.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:14-19

Jesus Provides Full Assurance of Hope

Being confident in your faith requires humility as you trust God more. But being confident in yourself, in what you can do without God, is only pride. In this context, I present to you a difficult passage for many Bible readers.

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Hebrews 6:4-6

Is this saying it’s possible to fall away from a believing faith with no return path possible? No. Here’s why.

Hebrews is written to Jewish Christians (read more about this). They were raised under the old way, the law. They converted to the new way, faith in Christ. However, they were tempted to return to their old, familiar ways. They doubted the simplicity of the Gospel. In a moment of weakness, in their insecurity, they considered turning back to the OT (or falling away from the NT).

In Hebrews 6, Paul reiterates that there is no turning back. The only way is the way forward by faith in Christ. Returning to Egypt is futile. “If you come this close to the truth, but reject it and choose to keep looking elsewhere, you won’t find another way.” Paul is emphasizing an all-or-nothing truth. You’re either all-in or all-out. There is no in-between.

Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only life. If you find that one way, then you gain access to everything that comes with it. You have truth and eternal life.

You must choose which way you’ll tip. The purpose of such scriptures is exactly to sort out the issue. You must know whether you are saved or not. So which is it? State it loud. State it boldly. State it confidently.

God Provides Full Assurance of Hope

Any doubt or concern is proof you’re not one of the ones who fall away. The following verses apply to you (more on this):

Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Hebrews 6:9-12

God bless you with, “full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish.” Have unhindered energy to pursue the things of God. Amen.

Read more about Eternal Security.
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How To Make Trusting God Easier

How To Make Trusting God Easier

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Are you trusting God more or less than you were yesterday? If you are trusting Him less than you used to, perhaps something has happened to cause you to give up on God. God promises you are not wasting your time when you seek Him, trust Him, and make your requests known to Him.

Trusting God throughout your day can be challenging because of distractions. Some distractions are positive and some are negative. Either way, consider how much you have increased your trust in God today. The best thing you can accomplish each day is to end it by trusting God a little more.

Strengthen your faith requires an intentional effort to cleanse negative memories with God’s truth. If you want to trust God more, you must apply biblical truth to infected memories. Infected memories cause you to doubt God’s character.

Trust God Because He Knows Everything

In Isaiah 46, God says much about who He is and what He likes to do. God promises He will act. He isn’t a worthless idol. God doesn’t forget about you. He knows your future so of course, He knows your past. He’s been attending to you since even before you were born.

I have cared for you since you were born. Yes, I carried you before you were born.

Isaiah 46:3 NLT

Trust God Because He Keeps You Safe

But that’s not all. God proclaims that He will care for you and carry you throughout your future.

I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.

Isaiah 46:4 NLT

If you put your trust in something other than God, you will be disappointed. But God cares about you enough to rescue you from trouble.

[An idol] can’t even move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer. It can’t rescue anyone from trouble.

Isaiah 46:7 NLT

God has already rescued you and is more than capable of keeping you safe.

Trust God Because He is in Control

God is in complete control of the past, present, and future. Only God can make such bold statements as these:

Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.

Isaiah 46:9-10 NLT

God can and will do whatever He wants. For those who are friends of God, this should provide increased comfort and trust. For those who are yet enemies of God, this is likely scary and irritating. I remember the emptiness I felt when I was unable to understand who God is.

Memories Can Help You Trust God

If you are a believer, then you must have some positive memories. At the very least, God has done a work in your life to cause you to cross over from death to life. Can you remember what that felt like? I remember how uplifting and hopeful I felt when I first believed.

Remembering what God has done in your life is a source of spiritual strength. When you recall the ways God has touched your life, it helps you trust Him with current life challenges. When God breaks into your life, that’s God building trust with you. Use it for all it’s worth to make your faith solid.

As you focus on the positive, be equally willing to revisit the negative memories. These significant life events desperately need to be considered in light of the truth you now know. Learn details of how to cleanse hurtful memories so you can trust God more.

God is real. Let’s pray with anticipation of the good things He will do. No matter what is happening around us, God is still good and in control.

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Last Updated 2024/09/22

Bad Theology Leads To Poor Mental Health

Bad Theology Leads To Poor Mental Health

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Bad theology can lead to poor mental and emotional health. Bad theology results from not understanding what the Bible says. This can happen by blindly trusting other people, communities, or institutions to interpret the Bible for you, instead of allowing Holy Spirit to teach the correct meaning. For the church’s health, all Christians must seek to develop their convictions.

Having Bad Theology Means You Are Deceived

Many beliefs are implicit. This means it is possible to believe something strongly but, at the same time, not be fully aware of what you believe. You might think you know what you believe, but your actions reveal what you actually believe.

This is why it is important to make your beliefs explicit. This is done by externalizing them through writing, speaking, or other form of expression. When you put your beliefs into words, you become more aware of what you believe, so you can compare it to what the Bible says.

When seeking to understand the Bible, it’s important to see the big picture message. This is done by observing how the Bible speaks to foundational truths, like the Gospel message, across many verses, chapters, and books. The Bible does not contradict itself, so passages that seem to present opposing ideas must be studied in context and reconciled to a coherent teaching.

Imagine believing that it’s possible that God can change His mind, break His promise to never abandon us, and revoke His love. The consequences on a person’s mental and emotional health would be devastating. If this were true, it would be normal to live in constant apprehension.

Fortunately for the true believer, the Bible teaches that perfect love eliminates fear. Everything God is doing in your life, because He is love, is to reduce your anxieties and increase your faith and trust in Him.

Good Theology Sees the Gospel Correctly

Good theology starts with an accurate understanding of the Gospel. The Gospel is the foundation of biblical teaching. Once an understanding of the Gospel is established, it can interpret other, less central, passages. Everything in the Bible depends on understanding the Gospel correctly. If the understanding of the Gospel is wrong, everything else will be wrong. If the Gospel has been interpreted correctly, it will be difficult to misinterpret less central passages.

The Gospel is the foundation for mental and emotional health. An accurate understanding of who God is leads to healthy thinking, feeling, and actions. An inaccurate understanding leads to unhealthy thinking, feeling, and actions. For example, believing God’s acceptance is conditional upon performance, will encourage a fear-based relationship with God. This “bad theology” leads to fear which leads to a need to continually ask, “Have I performed sufficiently today to remain in good standing with God?”

How this is bad theology becomes clear when we consider the consequences of not performing. What happens if performance is not good enough? The Bible says that Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to cover all sins and imperfections. But bad theology would say that God might remove a believer’s salvation so that she is no longer a child of God.

Such a consequence would be traumatizing because it would mean being abandoned by God. The Gospel is only effective if, by faith, a person relies 100% on Christ’s effort and 0% on self-effort. Because a person cannot gain salvation through self-effort, any amount of self-effort (whether large or small) cannot disqualify someone as God’s child. Salvation is God’s gift that He does not take back.

Any amount of faith in Christ less than 100% would indicate a similarly sized doubt in Christ’s sacrifice. The question becomes, is Christ’s sacrifice sufficient or lacking in some way? If people conclude it is lacking, then how can they put faith in it?

It is certainly possible to be permanently saved by Christ’s efforts, and simultaneously consider it essential to continue to cooperate with Christ to work out one’s salvation. Suppose God purchased a multi-million dollar house for you. You can enjoy the house and work to maintain it without the danger of God seizing it and kicking you out. God is committed to teaching stewardship, not setting a time limit for His children to get their act together.

For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable [for He does not withdraw what He has given, nor does He change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call].

Romans 11:29 AMP

God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. But during the remainder of this life, we constantly need renovation. The born-again person is a new creation who is spiritually aligned with God. The animosity resulting from being God’s enemy has been crucified, leaving only a spirit that desires fellowship with God. Therefore, there is nothing that can separate us from God’s love (Romans 8:38). He can continue to remodel us for the rest of our lives. God finishes what He starts (Philippians 1:6).

Learn more about correct theology.
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