I think we are dealing with semantics here. God's love is infinite, and he loves all his children, which is one definition of "unconditional love." God does not accept sin or wickedness, so another definition would suggest that God loves such people less, making "unconditional love" an oxymoron. In the current General Conference addresses, there is a talk by one of the Twelve (don't have it available here) where he talks on God the Father. Although I don't know if he uses the term "unconditional love" , he does make clear that God loves all people, including sinners.
In the Book of Moses, God's infinite love is clearly shown as he weeps before Enoch, prior to destroying the world by flood. Enoch asks him why He, the creator of all the universe, would be bothered by such an insignificant event in the history of eternity. God answers that these are the creations of his hands, and He knows each one of them. Truly, His love extends to the wicked, otherwise he would feel nothing for their destruction. God, being a god of Law and Order, must require obedience to receive all His blessings. Yet, Christ said that God loves his children enough to let the rain fall on both the righteous and the wicked. "For God so loved the world..." does not denote a righteous place, otherwise it would have said, "For God so loved Zion..." It doesn't bother me that a person use the term "unconditional love" to describe God's love for all his children. Why? Because in mortal terms, it does seem unconditional on many levels. What is important is that we don't twist that love as did Nehor and as do many today, to excuse their sinful natures. K'aya K'ama Gerald Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.geocities.com/rameumptom/ Freedom Forever The story line is: Ron Scott wrote: >There is a current piece in Ensign that confuses "unconditional love" and >"blessing." Actually, I think the current piece confuses grace/faith/works. >God's love is unconditional, according to Hinckley (many sources). But, the >blessing/rewards are very conditional up faithfulness. JWR: I would love to read one or two of these "many sources" you speak of. Stephen B: Then I suggest the scriptures also "mix up" these two concepts, because divine blessings are consistently represented as an indication of God's love, while divine cursings or divine deafness evidences God's disinclination toward or hatred of a people. Stephen ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --^---------------------------------------------------------------- This email was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] TOPICA - Start your own email discussion group. FREE! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/create/index2.html --^----------------------------------------------------------------
