Lance Goodall Updated 21 April 2019
This Easter there are churches all over the world from Detroit to Texas, and Sydney promoting their Easter Services under the banner of ‘The Cross equals love”
The bible tells us God is love (1Jn 4:16). But it also tells us God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. (1Jn. 1:5)
The truth of God’s love is also the truth of His judgment against sin. This is the essence of the gospel!
Failure to understand this, accounts for many a heresy, and the prevailing cloud of misunderstanding that surrounds the atonement. We cannot talk about the judgment of God without considering something of the Atonement.
‘The vague and tenuous hope that God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly opiate for the consciences of millions’ —A W Tozer
The Atonement: There is many a person who is not clear of the doctrine, but who in particular reject outright the substitutionary aspect of the doctrine of the atonement simply because they not grasped the great statement that God’s judgment is according to truth.
God will judge sin, and because He is who He is, he must judge sin, so there will be, and must be a judgment upon sin. His love cannot just overlook, or pass over or as the bible says _ ‘wink’ at sin.
But today this is what we see, whole marketing campaigns around the LOVE OF GOD, with websites, Twitter, T- shirts and banners and special events
GOD’S love today has become nothing more than a banner, a slogan, a marketing campaign, merchandise, a catchphrase to lure the ignorant, and the gullible.
So all that happens is that our ‘Christianity’ is nothing more than enjoying Jesus, instead of being joined to Him, in a life of sacrifice, humility, and self-denial. To make it plainer, if there is nothing systematically different about our going to church, than going to a ball game for fun, to kick back and have a good time, then we are being deceived…..
A. W. Tozer writes in I Call It Heresy (pp. 9-10):
“… a notable heresy has come into being throughout our evangelical Christian circles – the widely-accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Saviour and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to!”
Arthur W. Pink writes:
The nature of Christ’s salvation is woefully misrepresented by the present-day evangelist. He announces a savior from hell rather than a savior from sin. And that is why so many are fatally deceived, for there are multitudes who wish to escape the Lake of Fire who have no desire to be delivered from their carnality and worldliness.2
- Pink, Arthur W. “A. W. Pink’s Studies in the Scriptures,” pg. 373. Sovereign Grace Publishers, 2001.
Cheap grace
In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer identifies this heresy as “cheap grace.” This “amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs.”
He continues (p. 47):
“Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”
SO IF WE ARE STILL LIVING THE SAME OLD LIFE WE WERE YESTERDAY, THEN WE ARE NOT SAVED!! IF WE STILL LOVE ALL THE THINGS THE WORLD DOES, THE TRAPPINGS OF THE WORLD, THE LIFE THE WORLD LIVES MORALLY, THEN WE ARE NOT SAVED!!
The most disturbing thing is, these new evangelicals have moved away from the Biblical truth of substitutionary atonement, to view Christ simply as the eternal Passover Lamb, focusing “on the Incarnation at the expense of the Cross” (Carson, 1990, 14).
In the new thinking, according “we have to overcome the rational theory of atonement …[as] Christ is not appeasing God’s wrath.” Referred to as creative love theism, the new model concentrates on the mutuality and openness of God and is “designed to replace” the old model developed over centuries (1994, 8, 9, 15). The evangelical attitude here is one that is formed “in dialogue with other religions and our truth must be put forward in the light of what they claim” (1994, 8, 9, 15). The new call, though, is no longer “for truth and salt” but to tolerance and “oneness” (Murray, 2000, 291).
However at no time has seeking unity first had a spiritually transforming effect on others (2000, 291).
Rather than being “an agency to save souls,” the church has become an organisation where one learns “how to love and enjoy God and their neighbours” (Brow, 1990, 13).
What does the Cross say about God?
One suggestion is
- The cross shows that God’s love for us is immeasurably sacrificial
- The cross shows that God’s love for us is completely undeserved.
These statements in themselves are true, but it seems the modern view of the atonement is that what was really happening on the cross was that God was announcing through the death of his son, that he is nothing but love, and there is NO judgment, and that He is ready to overlook sin.
This is the thinking because they do not realize that God’s holy character and God’s justice and righteousness insist upon a judgment of sin.
To many the cross is just an expression of God’s love?
http://www.turnbacktogod.com/gods-love-on-the-cross/
But even the famous verse in John 3:16 confirms the doctrine of the atonement.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whomsoever believes on Him should not perish…
Again
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whomsoever believes on him should know and appreciate God’s love.
We know this is not what it says, but it seems to be the new thinking nevertheless And isn’t this a different thing altogether
We have so sentimentalised the cross that John 3:16 no longer means anything.
The church no longer preaches the gospel of the Kingdom, but the gospel of the Beatles, love love love; love is all you need.
This years’ 2019 catch phrase from HILLSONG is “LOVE NEVER GROWS OLD”…. But what does it even mean in the light of the Cross?
Christian faith should not be passive. Perhaps for those less familiar, here is the verse:
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’
Today the great proclamation is the cross equals love.But we ignore the reality that Jesus’ death was a God-initiated act to deal with everyone’s sin. In fact when we get down to it,even though we dismiss it, the cross was a display of God’s wrath.
Therefore the cross equals God’s justice just as much as it is about HIS love.
Many know the verse. But we have made it read something like this;
A local city council purchases a brand new fire engine. Isn’t the council loving and kind to give such a fire engine?
But the fire engine is to put out the fire, not just to sit on display, but to save our lives from destruction, so we won’t be destroyed in the flames.
Note that the previous verse says – 14 ‘And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up’.
Why, because the Israelites had been severely bitten by snakes, by vipers (a picture of sin), and they needed a remedy. They needed to look (in faith) at the serpent on the pole. So we need to be saved from sin, its guilt, its sway, its corruption, and the flames of Hell, through faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.
This type of teaching is distorting the true Christian position!
Let me prove it to you; 1 John 4:9 -10 “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.”
This word propitiation means appeasement, expiation, placating, atoning, the blood of a victim covering the sin of the accused, the blood sprinkled on the mercy seat, the blood spilt satisfies the one offended. It had to be the blood of His dear son, for as we read in Hebrews the blood of bulls and goats could never satisfy and take away sins [Heb 9:12, Heb 10:4 ]
In the psalms Mercy and Truth have met together righteousness and peace have kissed each other – Ps 85:10
So the judgment of sin as we have seen must be always be according to truth.
In other words, God has said he will punish sin.
Even before the fall he told Adam that if he sinned he would die.
God said what the punishment was, and God insisted on the punishment being carried out.
But as shown today this aspect of the atonement has slipped, or been pushed aside. There are these various churches of varying degrees announcing and proclaiming that God is Love and that he is prepared to forgive their sins of anyone who repents and who says he is sorry. If you have a view of God and his forgiveness that in anyway denigrates or detracts from the justice of God, it is a denial of the scripture. It was necessary for God’s son, that’s right God’s son that you and I might not come under the wrath of God, but he did so, for the scripture said ‘for it pleased him to bruise him’, he was ‘stricken, smitten of God’ He cried out ‘my God my god why have thou forsaken me’. Is this not a striking demonstration that the judgment of God is always according to truth.
To state it more plainly, this new gospel of sentimentality that has come in believes that the cross is love in action is a direct denial of the wrath of God against sin, and the denial of the doctrine of Hell by default!
You see the vast majority today both inside and outside of the church believe they can escape the judgment of God. But the bible tells us; “It is appointed unto man once to die, and then the judgment” – Heb 9:27
How shall you escape? Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? – Romans 2:3
If you look through the New Testament you find this word Escape referred to frequently Do you think O man that you will escape the judgment of God It is a terrible word the word — ‘Escape’
The world is what it is today because it thinks that somehow it will escape the judgment of God. The world has a litany of ways in which it thinks it can do so! Yet the Psalmist shows us our warped and wayward thinking
Psalm 50:21 ‘You thought that I was altogether such a one as yourself’
And how common this thinking is! Men constantly display their ingenuity in trying to escape the judgment of God. They think God is similar in the way that he views sin. We think he will over look sin as we do. The lies, the half truths, the external appearances, all these are brushed aside by men. They think that God doesn’t see or that he overlooks things and considers that in the end God will take it easy on everyone because we only human and make mistakes.
We passively believe that somehow God in his mercy will make an exception for us.
That even though they have denied his existence, or blatantly ignored his existence all their lives , that somehow God will forgive them and pardon them in the end.
That God will forgive us all in the end, as some men have said ‘there is a wideness in the mercy of God’
But as we saw last time God’s judgement and indeed his mercy is according to truth.
The New Testament keeps asking how shall they escape?
But men still believe they can have salvation without repentance from sin. We must repent, turn from our sin, and have faith (put our trust) in God through the Lord Jesus.
To understand this further read the NEW book…..
This 440 page account outlines the strong deception that has crept into the church.
Watch Video Trailer
The author takes you on a journey through recent developments in Hillsong’s musicology, and shows the dangers of not examining or questioning. The book, which is over 400 pages, uncovers the dark secrets behind this seemingly innocent church. The book reads more like a ‘Doco-drama’.
Hellsong– See Inside
Coercion Code - "Dark Times are upon us" 
After reading your explanation and argument for hillsong’s corruption and dilution only led me to further see the cross as the greatest act of love of all time. You are absolutely correct, there is no escaping the punishment of sin, except through His sacrifice. And only once you understand that need for propitiation can you fully grasp the magnitude of His love through that act. It is because He first loved us that he chose to die on the cross for us. And because of His atonement – in my place – I don’t have to suffer under the curse of the law. Rather, I can rejoice, praising Him, because my sin has been forgiven. All of it. Every mistake; past, present, and future. Because He loves us – He loves me. When I have no reason to be loved – completely underserved. And the is the most powerful kind of love – unconditional.
Cross equals love, in my opinion, is a great message to broadcast to the world. The church is already battling too many stereotypes of judgement and hypocrisy. Today’s youth respond so much better to being told they are loved than to bring told they are sinners. And that’s what Jesus did too. Think about it, he ate with tax collectors, fellowshipped with prostitute’s, touched the unclean… He showed love to all. And adapted His message so that the recipient wouldn’t be turned off by His message of love. And when they saw that love, they wanted to know more about the source! And I think that’s what Hillsong is aiming to do.
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
“The propitiation for our sins” is the cross… “herein is love” … Cross Equals Love
Beau,
The love of God is a Holy Jealous Love, not a sentimental free grace love as you suppose.
John 8
Jesus went unto the mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Okay. Thanks for your response. I disagree, but before I offer a rebuttal I would like some clarification on you last response.
Could you please help me understand what you mean when you say “Jealous Love.”
Also, if grace is not free to us, then what does it cost us? What must one do to obtain the grace that Jesus paid for on the cross? Because from the verse you posted as support, it sounds like you’re suggesting that one would need to “sin no more” to escape condemnation.
Hi Beau,
Thanks for your added response and thinking about it more deeply.
You see Morality, is not Christianity, respectability is not Christianity. A set of rules is not Christianity.
Its very easy to walk in the path of the Pharisee, and even deceive ourselves by an outward appearance. Its easy to become comfortable in a form. Even acknowledging Him as the Messiah is not enough. We can be deceived into thinking we know Jesus, and love Jesus, but Jesus said ‘if you love me you will keep my commandments’. When modern believers hear that they start to squirm a little.
There is a church in America where the church is supporting strippers and dancers and suggest that there is nothing directly wrong with this and that can continue in their profession, and still go to bible studies.Obviously this is on the extreme, but it serves a great point to illustrate the illogical conclusion people come to about christian doctrine and belief, if the cross just equals love.
There two beams to the cross Love and Justice, and they cannot be separated. Churches like Hillsong tend to objectify God’s love at the expense of God’s hatred of sin, that put Jesus on the cross. Another way of putiing it is. God’s justice, as well as his love compelled Him to find a way to judge sin, and to overt condemning us to hell, which meant He went to the cross.
The article was to make this clear, and prominent.
Jealous love just means exclusive love.
John 12: 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
v26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will [my] Father honour.
God’s grace is a little bit more than Christmas gifts under the tree.
Rather we must come in humility, and like Thomas come and acknowledge our unbelief and coldness of heart, bow in humility, crying my Lord and my God, saying I need you again.
The question is are we truly following Him?
As you mentioned,
“if you love me you will keep my commandments”
The obedience stems from love… Not the other way around. A good tree produces good fruit.
Yes, I agree that we should NOT preach that you should just continue to live in sin because Jesus’s blood covers all. If churches are preaching that, then they are seriously missing what it means to be in a loving relationship. However, I don’t believe this is what Hillsong stands for. Hillsong is saying, Come as your are! Jesus loves you! When you learn of and experience this love, you will want to have a relationship with the source, and you will want to honor and follow this amazing, loving God. And when you love someone, you have a desire to honor that person.
Who is their message directed to? Everyone! We shouldn’t turn away the strippers and dancers because my sin is just as damning as theirs. They don’t need Jesus any more than I do. And by broadcasting Jesus’s love to all, the hope is that chains will be broken by that love and, eventually, the obedience will follow (sometimes it’s immediate… Praise God!).
Cross Equals Love isn’t meant to communicate that you can do whatever you want because Jesus died on the cross for you. However, it is meant to say that there is no one who can escape God’s love. He died for you, He loves you, and He deeply desires to have an exclusive-love relationship with you! And if you humbly accept that, and acknowledge that it is only by God’s grace that you are saved… Then yeah it’s a Christmas gift! The greatest gift! And it’s a gift that keeps on giving! And praise God that it keeps on giving, because I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve failed despite knowing that He’s worthy of all my time and focus.
My obedience is not a prerequisite to receive God’s love. Yet, if I truly love Him, my obedience will follow. And even in my worst day, after my biggest mistakes, He loves me! That’s what it means to be in a loving relationship. A Jealous love! You are mine! I love you so much! And I’m not letting go! I guarantee that as the world starts seeing Christians display this type of love, the world will want to know more!
I am not going to get in a debate about your post. I just want to say that I was truly hurt by it. To say that Hillsong corrupted the cross because they declare that “the cross equals love” is actually quite breathtaking. There are so many scriptures that I want to share in this comment, rapid fire to be exact, but like I said I will spare the debate. I only want to leave you with this. Take it how you feel, if it doesn’t resonate with you, that is fine as long as I have conviction that I did what God called me to do. The cross changes lives. The cross changed my life. Jesus loved the “hell” out of me and he displayed it by going to the cross for ALL of my sins. You persecute Hillsong for being vessels to change lives. You have a view that is different. Why can’t you agree to disagree that the cross is love? Instead you cause division and even discourage the unbelievers who read this post and are searching for love. I have to be honest I didn’t read your post and didn’t care to. The title was far too disgusting. I pray that those who read the post do not get sucked into the trap of the enemy. Trust me I am not calling you the enemy but I hope you revisit this post and revisit the scripture. By the way all of the scripture you quoted proves that the cross is love. Yes it’s judgement. Yes it’s mercy. Yes it’s wrath. Yes it’s jealous love. All in one. Why did God do such a thing? HE LOVES US!
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 NIV
Hi Donte,
Thanks for your note.
Firstly – I didn’t read your post and didn’t care to?
Really, and then you want to criticize what I possibly or what I presumably said.
As a way of simple reply –
If the Cross equals love then it can’t be anything else.
If 1 + 1 = 2, then logically it can’t equal 3.
In other words its an equation, or a formula.
So if the cross equals love, it cannot equal anything else.
The cross then can’t equal wrath, or justice or jealousy.
The whole idea of Hillsong’s cross EQUALS love is to ascribe to a new form of interpretation of the cross, which is not being understood by the unsuspecting.
I apologize. Very stupid on my end lol. Please, Please, Please forgive me
Hi Donte,
Apology accepted – there was never a concern, but that we should understand the full weight of the cross
Hi Beau,
We may be saying the same things?
However most churches love only espousing the doctrine of love, grace, mercy, kindness, the meekness and forgiveness of God. And prefer to leave off talking about the wrath and anger of God.
My thoughts (and I hope you seeing the thread) is to say that both the ‘goodness AND the severity of God’ is mentioned in the whole of the bible, both in the old and new testaments..
Notice Ex 20; 5, 6
“Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity (PUNISHMENT) of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing MERCY unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”
The previous example of the adulterous woman in John 8 experienced what?
The perfect man Jesus Christ, who spoke to her said what?
‘ I do not condemn you, but you need to leave this life of sin’ ( paraphrase)
In the same way these dancers and strippers I referred to, although they are no different from you or I, they have not been given the gospel. The ‘pastor’ is accepting them as they are, and actually saying they shouldn’t be worrying about leaving the industry, stay in your profession you are doing no wrong, otherwise they will just end up barefoot, at home with kids as single mums. He builds relationships with dance clubs on the basis that God’s love is for everybody, and promotes a ‘liberal jesus’ his words.
Charles Spurgeon declared in his sermon in 1885 to his congregation,in “Coming Judgment of the secrets of the sons of men” –
“God [has] appointed a day in which He will judge the world, and we sigh and cry until it shall end the reign of wickedness, and give rest to the oppressed. ..
Brethren, we must preach the coming of the Lord ….It is absolutely necessary to the preaching of the gospel of Christ that men be warned as to what will happen if they continue in their sins. …You hope to heal the sick without their knowing it. You therefore flatter them; and what happens? They laugh at you; they dance upon their own graves. At last they die!
Your delicacy is cruelty; your flatteries are poisons; you are a murderer. Shall we keep men in a fool’s paradise? Shall we lull them into soft slumbers from which they will awake in Hell? Are we to become helpers of their damnation by our smooth speeches?
In the name of God we will not.
I’m afraid I am of the same opinion as Charles Spurgeon. We must explain to people and warn them as well as tell them of God’s love.
We’ve used and developed a resource called the4points over the past 20 years. It is a visual representation of the gospel using four symbols which explains God’s love for us, sin and it’s consequences, the cross and resurrection, finishing with a question mark. You need to stop living for yourself and give your life to God. It is being used for mission all over the world. God bless. http://www.the4points.com/uk/story.php?cPath=14&products_id=589
So can I ask this question.
I saw the cross equals love on a sign on the side of the road. I looked it up – went to the church.
I got saved, repented of my sins – I am now In a relationship with Christ where I understand who Christ is – I understand the cross and what I means for our lives.
If I had not seen the sign I would not have looked up what it meant, been touched by the info on the website then and certainly would have never ever walked into a church where I could Hear about Jesus Christ and would have never have gotten saved and had the opportunity to repent for my sin and enter into a life with Christ.
So my question is this… if it so wrong then why now because of this sign did I, my husband, brother, mum, dad and two best friends walk into a church, hear about Jesus Christ & get saved?!
This sign isn’t the whole picture you’re right – but to average joe who is a long way from allowing God into their lives, it softens their heart.
All I had heard all my life was wrath & judgment that God was a God who hated me – but this says I love you, I hate your sin, I hate your lifestyle but I love you!! And isn’t it true?!
God loved us that’s why He sent Jesus because He LOVED us. So don’t look at the cross equals love as a math equation that cannot answer anything else, I didn’t and it changed my life forever. It drew me out of a horrible life into a brilliant one.
So I ask you when viewing this see it as something that can plant a seed in someone’s life, and ultimately change it forever.
Lance
I respect your opinion but I disagree. I am no scholar by any means, but your argument is that of legalism. My argument is simple we were all born sinners and based on the fact that God is holy and we all desire hell. But God sent his only begotten son to be sacrificed on a cross so that we can be reconciled with the Father and have eternal life. That is agape(sacrificial love) love the greatest love there is. The cross is love.
“…Our Judge and our Defender
Suffered and crucified
Forgiveness is in You….”
Noticed that they( Hillsong) used the word Judge.. hence judgement. ANd since you are generalizing all evangelicles together. Here are some more example from 1990 up to today.
Day of Judgment, Day of Wonders (John Newton)
(Probably one of the best comprehensive hymns on the day of judgment.)
At His call the dead awaken,
Rise to life from earth and sea;
All the powers of nature shaken
By His look, prepares to flee.
Careless sinner, what will then become of thee?
Almighty (Paul Baloche, from Glorious)
You will judge the nations,
You’ll reward Your servants,
Both the great and small.
Lord of All (Kristian Stanfill, from Attention)
We will respond with joy in our song
Your enemies rise, Your enemies fall
Your fire consumes them all
The Greatest of All (Pat Sczebel, from Psalms)
Now I’ll never know Your judgment
You ransomed and saved my soul
God Shall Arise (Mark Altrogge, from Psalms)
God shall arise, and his foes be scattered
God shall arise, oh, sing his praise
Warrior (Sojourn Music, from Over the Grave)
Your hand shall find out every foe
And as a fiery furnace glows
With raging heat and living coals
They will feel your wrath upon their souls
Jesus is Lord (Keith Getty & Stuart Townend)
“Jesus is Lord!”-a shout of joy, a cry of anguish,
As He returns, and ev’ry knee bows low.
Then ev’ry eye and ev’ry heart will see His glory,
The Judge of all will take His children home.
Psalm 73 (Kevin Twit)
Surely, they’re cast down
As those on slippery ground
As dreams fade when we wake, so they become
Completely swept away
Sing to the King (Billy Foote)
We’ll join in singing with all the redeemed
Cause Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King
By Thy Mercy (Indelible Grace, Words by James Cummins, Music by Greg Thompson)
In the solemn hour of dying,
In the awful judgment day,
May our souls, on thee relying,
Find thee still our Rock and Stay.
Bring on the Day (Garage Hymnal from Bring on the Day)
Fire rages, heavens vanish, all else is stripped away
His justice like the ocean consumes our broken land
God, Be Merciful (Christopher Miner)
Broken, humbled to the dust
By Thy wrath and judgment just,
Let my contrite heart rejoice,
And in gladness hear Thy voice
Great Day of the Lord (Andy Melvin from The Human Engine Waits)
When You’ll ride in victory
And darkness reigns no more
At the coming of our King
On the great day of The Lord
evangelicals … typo
after reading this it just made me sad that you could take something as beautiful as proclaiming Jesus’s love , and turn it in to a tool to bad mouth Christians and the Hillsong church. yes god passes judgment on all but that’s not even what Hillsong is talking about when they say the cross equals love . they want people to proclaim Jesus as lord over there homes, families, and cities to come back to him and be reminded on a personal level of the price that he paid so we might live. calling it a corruption of the cross is blaspheme . the cross is nothing but love Jesus came to die for each and everyone of us, to teach us and to leave us behind an example of how to love. what you have done is used his judgment as a brick to smash it in to peoples heads. judgment is mine says the lord, perhaps you need to go read the meaning of the cross equals love.
One thing I learned from True soldiers of Jesus and mostly by the Word , the cross equals death , after one dies to Himself , then he is risen up like Jesus was spiritually , like Jesus said , no one will enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again, that doesn’t just mean we enter when we die , but now serving God in His Kingdom , my pastor said something good , the church has made a heart as a symbol of Gods love , but the symbol of Gods love is Him killing His own Son for our souls , Jesus on the cross is Gods symbol of love , not a heart , that’s a soft sweet false image of love , this is not valentines , this is Jesus being stripped naked on a cross , beaten so bad that you can’t even recognize Him , The truth is Jesus dying on the cross is too bloody for the church these days so they adapt the philosophies and the ideologies of the world and just say “God understands “, The church has become cheap in spirit and mind and in teaching , The cross is a bloody story , and scary truth that no one wants to teach in truth the way God wants us too , the so called church might lose customers
The cross does not equal a heart , the cross equals death , what happened to Jesus on the cross is the true symbol of Gods love , not a cheap heart , Gods love is strong , the perspective of a heart is too soft and weak , Gods love is strong , and that’s Jesus on the cross