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Sermon Notes

False Teachings Poisoning the Church
Pt 8
“Redefining Love”

2 Tim 4:3-4 “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

This is the final message in our series on false teachings poisoning the church and its going to be about how Biblical LOVE has been redefined, and how this redefining has entered the church.

This redefined, false love message is making strong inroads into evangelical circles, and represents one of the most culturally accepted counterfeit gospel messages today.

–So here’s the lie: True love means accepting and celebrating all forms of human relationship and self-expression without moral judgment. Their favorite verse is “Judge not.”

This false concept redefines love as unconditional affirmation rather than caring enough to speak truth.

The Apostle Paul wrote a lot about love, and laid out the anatomy of genuine love in 1 Cor. 13 where he says:

“Love…does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth”–1 Cor. 13:6

ERV “Love is never happy when others do wrong, but it is always happy with the truth.”

So here’s the Bible’s big idea about love:

• Love Without Truth Is Not Love
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So let’s first answer the question–What is the danger of redefining love detached from truth?

Answer: Scripture makes it clear that if love is separated from God’s truth, it ceases to be love at all.

Our culture throws around slogans like “Love is love,” or “if love is involved, how can it be wrong?” But the Bible is clear that love does not sanctify or justify sin.

–Therefore, true love is not unconditional affirmation of someone’s choices.

True love is rooted in the character of God, revealed in His Word, and expressed by obedience to His commands.
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The God of the Bible loves the entire world enough to give His only begotten Son to die on a Cross that we might be saved.

But that same God ALWAYS tells us the truth about our sin. He never abandons truth in the name of love. In fact, his love is revealed in His call for all to repent of sins in order to be saved.

“God…commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.”–Acts 17:31

So the very beginning of our relationship with God starts with Him telling us the truth about our sin….which He does out of love.

And from that moment on He ALWAYS tells us the truth about our sin.

If we begin to drift He tells us the truth.
If we compromise with the flesh He tells us the truth.
If we commit a sin He tells us the truth.

He NEVER ignores our sin out of love, but love in fact is what causes Him to be truthful with us!
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But the redefined version of love is that love will accept and even celebrate sinful decisions in order to prove itself to be real love!

This is the curse Political Correctness has brought on our generation. PC’s golden rule is to never offend anyone. To offend is to not walk in love. True love will avoid offending a person, hurting their feelings, angering them, or in any way making them feel rejected.

Starting from the 60’s forward, this view eventually replaced the Biblical understanding of love with a false one.

PC became the reigning value of America and the western world at large. It came in under the Trojan horse of caring, of being sensitive to other’s feelings, of not causing hurt or trouble. Being peace-loving.

But it was in fact a false redefinition of love.

The truth is that true truth offends!

Jesus offended people routinely by being truthful with them. The very gospel itself causes offense.

1 Corinthians 1:23 – “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews an offense, and unto the Greeks foolishness.”

But again, God tells us the truth to save us, though it brings offense!
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Let’s look at what the Bible says about the dynamic duo of love and truth working together:

–1 Cor. 13:6–“Love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, it rejoices with the truth.”

True love can never agree with or celebrate a person’s sinful decisions!

–Eph 4:15–We are commanded to speak the truth in love.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

So spiritual growth comes in part by speaking the truth in love!

–John 14:6–Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life.”

The very essence of Christ Jesus is truth. One of his favorite sayings was “Truly, truly…” which served as a literary device Jesus used to emphasize the importance and truthfulness of what he was about to say.

He was all about uncompromised truth spoken in love!

–Romans 13:10 tells us that love fulfills the law because it seeks the good of others according to God’s standards.

“Love does no wrong to anyone. That’s why it fully satisfies all of God’s requirements. It is the only law you need.”

Love would never tell a person they don’t have cancer when they do. Love would never encourage a person to walk across a bridge that is certain to collapse.

True love tells the truth to someone in danger, or who is in any way harming themselves, offense notwithstanding!
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Let’s talk a bit more about the Dangers of Redefining Love.

FIRST, It Affirms Sin–Agreeing with sin, even calling it good out of love leaves people in the spiritual bondage that is destroying them.

Isaiah 5:20 “What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter.”

And yet, this is exactly what our nation has done!

We’ve normalized homosexuality calling it good and acceptable.
We’ve normalized the twisting and perversion of what God intended for marriage.
We’ve normalized the perversion of gender.

We’ve literally fulfilled the warning of the Prophet Isaiah.

All in the name of LOVE!
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Then a further danger of redefining love is:

–It Distorts the Gospel–A love without truth reduces Jesus to a tolerant life coach, not the Savior who calls sinners to repent and believe!

The most famous example is when a woman caught in adultery what thrown at Jesus’s feet. He forgave her sin, but then said “Go and sin no more.”

Love and truth worked together to restore her.
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A further danger of redefining love is that:

–It Undermines Holiness–God’s love is holy, and it never contradicts His standards of righteousness.

1 Pet 1:15-16, “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

True love would never recommend departing from holiness!
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The redefining of love also brings:

–A Counterfeit Unity – Unity sought by compromising truth is not biblical unity. You don’t in love mix false religions like Islam with the truth of the Christian faith in order to achieve unity.

“How can two walk together unless they be agreed?”–Amos 3:3

We love all, but true unity is found only in following the same Christ and living by the teachings of the same Bible.

–And false love brings False Hope. Love divorced from truth may bring temporary comfort, but it cannot save eternally. If you comfort a person in their sin by affirming their choices, they may find temporary peace, but one day they will meet God and that temporary peace will quickly evaporate.
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So, what is a good Biblical Response for believers to operate in:

FIRST, Define Love by God’s Word–Love is patient and kind, but it is also righteous and truthful (1 Corinthians 13). Never allow the redefinition to stand. Insist on returning to the Biblical definition.

SECOND, Speak the Truth in Love–Truth must never be wielded as a weapon, nor should love be used as an excuse to hide truth. Both belong together. Speak gently but firmly. The Bible says,

2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

2 Tim 2:25-26 “Gently instruct those who oppose the truth. Perhaps God will change those people’s hearts, and they will learn the truth. 26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from the devil’s trap. For they have been held captive by him to do whatever he wants.”

THIRD, Point to Christ–God’s greatest act of love was sending His Son to bear the penalty for sin (Romans 5:8).

FINALLY, Live Out Genuine Love–Real love seeks the eternal good of others, even when it means saying what is hard to hear.

A Concluding Thought:

The danger of redefining love apart from truth is that it ceases to be biblical love. It may appear compassionate, but in the end it deceives and destroys.

True love flows from God’s truth. It confronts sin, proclaims the gospel, and seeks the eternal good of others.

As Christians, we must never separate what God has joined together–love and truth!

LET’S PRAY