Unfailing Love, Not Unconditional Love…
Unfailing love, not unconditional love!
There are many preachers teaching their congregations about ‘unconditional love’，which is not Biblical.
In Psalms 48, however, the unfailing (NIV, NLT), constant (Good News) and kind (Easy) love of God was mentioned.
God is faithful and love, but not unconditional.
In the first book of the Bible, in Genesis, God regarded Abraham as friend because of his faith, which is conditional.
Also, the book of laws and kings mentioned that God will be with His people if they obey and follow God.
Because of human sinful condition, Jesus died for us and was resurrected. Only those who believed would be saved. That is conditional too.
Similarly, in the New Testament, there are numerous mention of being holy and acceptable to God through the conditions of repentance, keep on believing Jesus Christ and living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
In the last book of the Bible, in Revelation, the only condition to be accepted, living and reigning with Christ is through faith.
So, where does the idea of ‘unconditional love’ come from? It is from an atheist, Eric Fromm coined the term and then many people caught on and propagated it.
Quoted from website:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=212105
Coined by German psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in 1934, the concept was developed in his 1956 book, The Art Of Loving. Fromm naively believed that a father's love was always conditional - upon success, good behaviour, etc - while a mother's was unconditional, and couldn't be forfeited by sins or transgression. His ideas were refined in the 1960s by the humanist psychologist Carl Rogers, who suggested that therapists should try and offer their clients "unconditional positive regard". Through this unjudgmental acceptance, the client would integrate the unwanted parts of their personality and become more self-accepting.
