God Is Love

In his first epistle fourth chapter the apostle known as John the beloved wrote the following:

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. . .

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

There is no fear in love; but perfect clove casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

We love him, because he first loved us.

And in John’s gospel we see an oft quoted scripture, John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

A companion verse that is found in the Doctrine and Covenants, a book of scripture that is a part of the Standard Works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the words of the Savior Himself, says:

I, the Lord God, shall say unto you, even Jesus Christ your Redeemer;

The light and the life of the world, a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not;

Who so loved the world that he gave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the sons of God. (Doctrine and Covenants 34:1-2)

It has been a fascination to me how these verses all tie themselves together and help us to understand better the character of God. What does the phrase God is love really mean. We live in a world that at times seems bereft of love.

We see nation fighting against nation for power, possession, contempt and hate. We see families broken because of infidelity, betrayal and sometimes just the loss of love. We hear of those who end the life of an unborn living fetus for what seems to be selfish reasons. We see various factions of our society attacking one another in word, in deeds, in unjustified brutality and in mindless contempt. We see the abandonment of the commandments given us of God because “they are no longer necessary or relevant in this world.” We see children abandon their parents and parents abandon their children for inexplicable reasons. We see abuse of those who should be loved and cared for at all costs. It is as though we live in time when many are past feeling, they feel no love or compassion and their very natures portray the antithesis of love which comes in the cloak of selfishness, contempt, pride, lust and many other destructive behavioral garments of this time in which we live.

As we consider the phrase “God is love” it seems the word most critical in that phrase appears to be “is.” The word “is” appropriately has been defined as “to be” or what someone does or says by their very nature, that which requires no reasoning but happens by natural response. As we apply this definition to the Savior it may help us better understand His atonement which was performed on every living soul's behalf and as we strive to apply those character traits to ourselves it may be instructive in helping us make needful changes in our own lives.

The question I have asked many times has come after considering His treatment by the Roman soldiers. After His night in Gethsemane, being shuffled through the city of Jerusalem which comprised walking several miles, these soldiers mocked Him, scourged Him to a point that a lesser man would have perished, pressed the crown of thorns on His head causing even more bleeding as if the scourging wasn’t enough. They then made Him carry His own cross up the hill to Golgotha. He arrived at His place of crucifixion and the soldiers pounded nails in His hands and also into His wrist because the weight of His body would rip the flesh of His hands. After being raised up to cross which would have brought more agonizing pain to His already ravaged body they pounded the large nails into His feet. And after all that His first utterance from the cross was to the Roman soldiers saying; “Father forgive; for they know not what they do.”

How could He do that for those who had just so brutally tortured Him if it was not His very nature to love them and see them not as torturers but as men who knew not who they were putting to death and were no part of the devilish conspiracy to kill the Son of God. How could He have endured the agonies of Gethsemane even for those who would bear responsibility for His torture and crucifixion? His love was given to all regardless of their station or condition in this life, there were no souls left out of His infinite and eternal atonement, even those who would completely reject Him and deny Him would fall under the power of His love. Every living soul who comes to this earth will receive the ultimate blessing of His atonement through His resurrection they too one day will be resurrected unto immortality.

An apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Russell M. Nelson said this about the atonement of the Savior:

In preparatory times of the Old Testament, the practice of atonement was finite—meaning it had an end. It was a symbolic forecast of the definitive Atonement of Jesus the Christ. His Atonement is infinite—without an end.  It was also infinite in that all humankind would be saved from never-ending death. It was infinite in terms of His immense suffering. It was infinite in time, putting an end to the preceding prototype of animal sacrifice. It was infinite in scope—it was to be done once for all.  And the mercy of the Atonement extends not only to an infinite number of people, but also to an infinite number of worlds created by Him.  It was infinite beyond any human scale of measurement or mortal comprehension.

Jesus was the only one who could offer such an infinite atonement, since He was born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father. Because of that unique birthright, Jesus was an infinite Being. . . . He took upon Himself the weight of the sins of all mankind, bearing its massive load that caused Him to bleed from every pore. (see: NT: And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Luke 22:44

BOM: And lo, he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people.

 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. Mosiah 3:7-8

Doctrine and Covenants: For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;

Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. D&C 19:16-19

It has been, to me, an astounding part of the Savior’s character that He could do all that He did do, not for Himself, but for all creation. How He could be spit upon, slapped in the face, subjected to the most humiliating circumstances and being God with Godly powers allowed those things to happen, He allowed it or in other words He suffered it to be so. A verse of scripture from the Book of Mormon expresses this very well:

And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men. (1 Nephi 19:9)

God brought the flood in Noah’s time, in part, because the world was filled with corruption and violence.

 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.

 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.

 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:11-13, KJV).

The time in which we live is certainly a time with its fair share of both of those things. We see acts of violence in many forms and in variety of circumstances. We see corruption at all levels of our world society, those who strive to follow the teaching of our Savior receive at times various forms of persecution which may come in form of violence. And there are acts of violence perpetrated upon some who live or believe differently from others.

This seems to be a time, that as citizens of the planet earth, we would do well to hearken unto the words of an ancient prophet who left the following admonition not long before his mortal ministry came to an end.

 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen. (Moroni 10:32-34; BOM)

So we have come full circle, He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

It was the Savior’s very nature to love, it was what He did automatically without even thinking about it, He did it naturally. Never did He think “Why me?” It was a foreign thought to Him because of who He was. For He was perfectly and wholly selfless, whatever He said, whatever he did was motivated by love. The definitions given of charity in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon may well provide a blueprint of those character traits we would need to acquire in order to become more like Him, within the capacity we personally have to do so.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity denvieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. (1 Corinthian 13:1-8)

And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen. (Moroni 7:45-48)

The Times in Which We Live

Each one of us live in our reality composed of our surrounding, our perception of those surroundings which is informed by the experiences we have had throughout our life. In the world where we live today there is heard the continual cry for tolerance by those whose agendas eschew legal and moral standards of the day. As they speak of tolerance they really are asking everyone to tolerate their aberrant behavior. The difference between tolerance and tolerate is distinctive. The definition of tolerance from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary is: sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing or conflicting with one's own. Whereas the definition of tolerate from the same source is: 1) to allow (something that is bad, unpleasant, etc.) to exist, happen or be done. 2) To allow to be or be done without prohibition, hinderance, or contradiction.

Russell M. Nelson, and apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, has said: An erroneous assumption could be made that if a little of something is good, a lot must be better. Not so! Overdoses of needed medication can be toxic. Boundless mercy could oppose justice. So tolerance, without limit, could lead to spineless permissiveness.

Also in the words of Jesus Christ as found the book of scripture called the Doctrine and Covenants we read: For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.

(Doctrine and Covenants 1:31)

Tolerance is a two-way street; it goes both ways for those who believe in and practice it and are sympathetic to that which may be contradictory to their personal beliefs. However tolerate is a one-way street where one cannot countenance something bad or unpleasant in their eyes or permit themselves any indulgences therein. An example may be a piece of legislation that is morally in opposition to what someone believes. They may have no ill feelings for those who support it but they would never vote for it or support anything like unto it their society.

We live in a time when these two concepts are so confused they have been wrapped into one package called tolerance but are defined tolerate. Four hundred years B. C. there was a prophet of God who lived upon this continent, his name was Moroni he was the son of the prophet Mormon who had abridged a sacred record that covered a thousand years. Moroni was given charge of the record after his father's death. In his custody he added some of his prophetic utterances which I will include below. He saw our time when our beloved Jesus Christ showed the last days to him in a vision. This is, in part, what he recorded about the time when the Book of Mormon would come forth which is in our season of history:

 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be heard of fires, and tempests, and vapors of smoke in foreign lands;

 And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.

 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity. . . .

 Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you.

  Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. (Book of Mormon, Mormon 8:32-36)

Maybe a few headlines from a recent newspaper may illustrate this point:

"Disgusting" case puts focus on scams targeting the elderly

Michigan gay ban struck down

4 die in New Jersey shore fire

Russia formally annexes Crimea, E.U. pulls nation closer to separate deals

And again from the Book of Mormon:

And the words which I have spoken . . . are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law.

And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out. (2 Nephi 25:28-29)

And another prophet from the Book of Mormon said this:

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

Each of these speak to the condition of the world in which we live.

And also this comment from an editorial in the local newspaper:

For the past decade, I have seen some of our policy makers appear to lose their moral sense--our caring for each other, and the love-thy-nieghbor thing. Now, we see lawmakers more concerned about material things, instead of how we live and care for each other. They say one thing and do another, especially when it comes to health and welfare of our people. They take great pride in the growth of our economy and how they are able to subsidize building hotels and attract business to our state. They tout our healthy and growing economy, our natural resources and their beauty, but what about 

the health and well-being of our people?

Any foundation we build upon other than Jesus Christ will crumble and falter in time. The Savior could have no allowance or tolerance for sin because that is the way we can return to Him. However, the Savior does have tolerance for the sinner, it is through that tolerance that He affords us the repentance process which brings us closer to Him. The world may be a very unsettled place but we need not be unsettled in it when we exercise our Faith in He who created this world and Whose hand is recognizable in all things. Therefore, it is His words found in all holy writ that teach the right way to live as spoken by the prophet king Benjamin in the Book of Mormon when he said:

And the words which I have spoken . . . are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law.

And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out. (2 Nephi 25:28-29)

And another prophet from the Book of Mormon said this:

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved. (Omni 1:26)

Thus in a world where lines between morality and immorality are fading into obscurity, there are voices crying for tolerance and are telling us we must tolerate that which is offensive to God. However we have a more clear voice inviting us to come unto Christ and to fear nothing of this world for did He not say to His apostles "In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33)

He has given us a supernal gift, "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life." (2 Nephi 10:23)

We in wisdom may choose to have tolerance but that does not suggest nor imply we must tolerate that which is offensive to us or to our God. In fact we must stand against that which is offensive and morally reprehensible without condemning the individuals supporting such things but strive to be like the Savior for, "Jesus saw sin as wrong but also was able to see sin as springing from deep and unmet needs on the part of the sinner. This permitted Him to condemn the sin without condemning the individual." (Spencer W. Kimball)