The slogan “Smile, God loves you” appearing on bumper stickers, buttons, and etc, is this true? On one popular TV program the announcer confidently tells all his listeners at the close of each show, “God loves you, He really does.” Is it Biblical to tell men in general that “God loves you?” Is it right for them to think that God “loves” them while the Bible says that God is angry with the wicked everyday; is it honest to tell men that God “loves” them no matter what they think of Christ or how they live? What does the Bible say? Often John 3:16, “For God so loved the world”, is cited as proof that God loves “all men.” But one important fact is overlooked, John 3:36 is also in that chapter. This verse tells us that if you are not believing in Christ then you have nothing but the “wrath” (anger) of God resting over your head. If you are not at this moment “in Christ” then you are not under God’s “love” but rather under His “anger”. Why is this so? How can God be “angry” with you? The answer is simple. God is holy. Anything sinful cannot stand in His presence. “For you are not a God that has pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with you. The foolish shall not stand in your sight, you hate all workers of iniquity” (Ps.5:4-5). As God looks down on earth and sees men practicing sin, the only reaction God can have to such a sight is “anger.” The Apostle Paul made it clear in I Corinthians 16:22 that God is not “in love” with all men. “If any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema (accursed).” If you do not love and follow God’s dear Son, then do not be deceived into thinking, “God loves you.” Rather, He must be angry with you, for He has said that if you do not “kiss the Son”, His wrath is against you, and you will perish in the way (Psalm 2:12). The New Testament teaches that the “love of God is in Christ Jesus” to all those who are “in Christ Jesus” by faith (Romans 8:1, 39). Those who are not “in Christ,” are “in the flesh” (Rom.8:5-8) and need to “flee from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7; Luke 3:7; I Thessalonians 1:10). But why would one need to “flee” to Christ if everything is “O.K”? That’s the point. Something is wrong and until one, from the heart, forsakes his sins and follows Christ, they need not think they can “smile” because God loves them. If the God of heaven is angry with you, then you had better seriously search the Scriptures and without delay “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.” Only parts of the gospel are being presented by the imbalanced voices of those who tell men “Smile, God loves you”: deceiving many. They skip over the obvious fact of Scripture that God is against the unconverted. He is only for the elect who are safe “in Christ” (Romans 8:31, 33). God’s “love” is reduced to sentimental gush unless you see that He “in wrath remembers mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). God’s mercy comes only upon those who look outside themselves to Christ and live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17). God’s wrath is the portion of all those who fail to look to Christ (Col.3:6). This is the clear teaching of the Bible, therefore is the bumper sticker true or false. I stand with the Bible and condemn the bumper sticker. ~~WTW [Articles found in SermonAudio, in the Blog Section]
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