Leaders vs Dictators

Leaders vs Dictators 

A good leader believes in and respects the ¹rule of law and seeks to enforce it. He/she sees truth and law as objective realities, not something they create. 

A strong leader is unwavering in the enforcement of the law and is guided by the ¹rule of law. Unyielding enforcement of the law is not a dictatorship. 

A dictator considers themselves the law and seeks to overthrow objective morality and true law, so they can become the law-giver.

A good leader recognizes the law and acknowledges there is an ultimate ¹law-giver (God) who is the highest (ultimate) authority and not them. 

In the dictator's eyes, they see themselves as the highest authority. This, in large part, is why they seek to be a dictator i.e. to gain power. 

Ironically, this is why a dictator will accuse a law enforcer of being a dictator. The law and those who enforce it are a direct obstacle and threat to dictators who are lawbreakers seeking to establish themselves as the only absolute authority and ruler over others. 

This is also why dictators despise followers of any religion, because followers of a religion see themselves as answering to a higher authority other than those who seek to rule over them. 

Dictators do not recognize that law comes from a source outside of themselves. They believe instead they are the law or should be if they are not.

For a discussion on the basis of morality, click here.

For a discussion on what it means to "obey the authorities" in Romans 13 Click here

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Footnotes:

¹To understand the founding of the United States of America and what distinguished it from all other governments up to that point, we must understand common law, it's historical, philosophical and theological underpinnings. If you do not know this background you can not truly understand the USA and how it has drifted away from its original moorings but seeking to return.

What did the founders of the United States mean by common law? 

The founders of the United States—figures like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and others—understood  "common law" primarily as the English legal tradition they inherited as colonists. This was the body of unwritten law developed over centuries through judicial decisions (precedents), customs, and practices in England's courts, rather than through comprehensive statutes or codes. It stood in contrast to "statute law" (enacted by legislatures) or civil law systems (like those derived from Roman law on the European continent). 

* Core Meaning to the Founders

Common law embodied principles of justice, rights, and procedures that were seen as ancient, customary, and rooted in reason and immemorial usage. Key aspects included: 

- Rights and liberties — Protections like trial by jury, due process ("law of the land"), habeas corpus, prohibitions on unreasonable searches, double jeopardy, and safeguards for property and contracts. Many viewed these as "birthrights" of Englishmen, traceable back to documents like Magna Carta (1215), which the founders often invoked. 

- Judge-made development — Law evolved case by case through court rulings, guided by precedent (stare decisis), but judges were ideally "finding" or declaring existing law based on custom and reason, not inventing it arbitrarily. 

- Limited government and rule of law — No one, including the king or Parliament, was above the law. This included remedies in equity (fairness where strict rules fell short) alongside common law courts. 

The founders were steeped in this tradition. William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765–1769) was enormously influential in America as a systematic explanation of it; many lawyers and statesmen studied it. 

* Context in the Founding Era

Before independence, colonists repeatedly appealed to common law rights against British policies they saw as violations (e.g., in petitions and the Declaration of Independence's list of grievances). The First Continental Congress in 1774 declared that the colonies were "entitled to the common law of England." After the Revolution, there was debate:

- Many saw it as their inheritance, adapted to American circumstances (e.g., rejecting feudal elements or monarchical overreach).

- Others, especially Jeffersonians, worried about federal judges imposing a national common law, fearing it could undermine republican government or states' rights. The Supreme Court later ruled in cases like United States v. Hudson and Goodwin (1812) that there was no general federal common law of crimes—federal power was limited to statutes and the Constitution. 

States generally received (adopted) English common law as it stood around the time of independence or settlement, modified by local conditions, statutes, and constitutions. The U.S. legal system remains a common law system today (with exceptions like Louisiana's civil law roots). 

* Relation to Founding Documents

- The Declaration of Independence (1776) grounded rights in "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" and "unalienable Rights" (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness). Founders often saw natural rights as underlying or harmonious with common law protections, not in conflict. Grievances against King George III frequently referenced violations of English constitutional and common law norms. 

- The Constitution and Bill of Rights built on this foundation. For example: 

  - The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to jury trial "in Suits at common law." 

  - Criminal procedure rights in the Fourth through Sixth Amendments (searches, self-incrimination, confrontation, jury, etc.) drew directly from common law practices. 

  - Terms like "judicial power" in Article III were understood against the backdrop of common law courts deciding "cases" and "controversies." 

Founders like James Wilson and John Adams emphasized common law as a bulwark for liberty under popular sovereignty, not parliamentary supremacy (which they rejected). They adapted it: America had written constitutions as supreme law, appeal to natural rights for justification of independence, and republican institutions. 

In short, when founders referred to "common law," they meant this inherited English system of customary, precedent-based law that protected individual rights and limited arbitrary power—viewed as compatible with (and informed by) natural law principles. It was not "judge-made law" in the modern pejorative sense of activism, but a reasoned evolution of customs and decisions serving justice. This background deeply shaped how they designed the Constitution and understood its terms. Debates persisted (e.g., federal vs. state application), but the core tradition endured as the foundation of American jurisprudence. 

In referring to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" what did God have to do with law in the mind of the founders 

In the minds of the American founders, God had everything to do with law—specifically as the ultimate source, author, and authority behind the moral order that undergirds legitimate human government and rights. The phrase "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" in the Declaration of Independence (1776) was not a vague or purely secular reference. It reflected a widespread founding-era understanding, drawn from classical, Christian, and Enlightenment-influenced natural law traditions, that law is not merely a human invention but rooted in a divine moral framework discoverable by reason and, for many, confirmed by revelation. 

* What "Laws of Nature and of Nature's God" Meant

Founders distinguished (yet saw as harmonious) two closely related ideas: 

- Laws of Nature: These were the moral principles and rules of human conduct implanted in creation—accessible through reason, conscience, observation of human nature, and the "moral sense." They included self-evident truths like equality in natural rights, the wrongness of harming innocents, obligations of justice, and the duty to pursue happiness without violating others. These were not primarily physical laws (like gravity) but ethical ones governing free human behavior. Thinkers like Cicero, Locke, and Blackstone influenced this view. 

- Laws of Nature's God: This emphasized that these natural laws derive their binding authority from God as Creator and Lawgiver. God established the moral order of the universe, including human relations. The phrase pointed to God's will as expressed in creation (nature) and, for many founders, also in Scripture (revelation). As James Wilson (signer of the Declaration and Constitution, Supreme Court Justice) explained, God's law for humans is communicated "by reason and conscience, the divine monitors within us, and by the sacred oracles [the Bible], the divine monitors without us." 

In short, God was the supreme Legislator. Human laws (including the adapted English common law) had to conform to this higher law or lose legitimacy. Violations of natural law—such as tyranny—justified resistance, as the Declaration argued against King George III. 

* Key Influences on the Founders' View

William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (widely read by American lawyers, including many founders) was pivotal. Blackstone wrote that the law of nature is "the will of [man's] maker" impressed upon creation. When God created humans with free will, He laid down "certain immutable laws of human nature" discoverable by reason. This law is "superior in obligation to any other" and "dictated by God himself." Positive (human) law contrary to it is invalid. Founders adapted this to reject parliamentary supremacy in favor of higher principles. 

Other figures reinforced this: 

- James Wilson: Natural law flows from God as the source of justice and moral obligation. Only God deserves absolute obedience; governments derive just powers from consent and must align with divine moral order. Wilson saw common law as ultimately rooted in this framework. 

- Thomas Jefferson (primary drafter of the Declaration): Rights come from the "laws of nature" and are "endowed by their Creator." In earlier writings, he affirmed God as the giver of life and liberty together. While Jefferson was more rationalist and skeptical of orthodox Christianity than some peers, he still grounded rights in a Creator who designed human nature with moral capacities. 

- John Adams and others: They viewed politics as a "divine science" and saw the common law as arising from the laws of nature and dictates of God. Alexander Hamilton described an "eternal and immutable law" constituted by the Deity from human relations to God and each other. 

The Declaration mentions God four times overall ("Nature's God," "Creator," "Supreme Judge of the world," "divine Providence"), showing a theistic framework where God is active in moral governance and the affairs of nations—not a distant clockmaker who abandons creation. 

* Connection to Common Law and Government

This understanding tied directly to the founders' view of "common law" (as discussed previously). Common law was seen as an inheritance of customary rights and procedures that, at its best, reflected or at least did not contradict natural law. Judges were to "find" law aligned with reason and justice, not invent it against God's moral order. Human governments exist to secure God-given rights (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness). When they become destructive of those ends, the people have a right and duty to alter or abolish them—because ultimate sovereignty rests with God, not kings or majorities. 

Founders were not uniform in theology (some leaned toward Christian orthodoxy, others toward rational theism or "theistic rationalism"), but virtually all agreed that: 

- Rights are unalienable because they come from a source higher than government (the Creator). 

- Moral law is objective, universal, and authoritative because it reflects God's design for human flourishing. 

- Just civil law must conform to this higher standard; otherwise, it becomes tyranny. 

This provided the philosophical foundation for independence, republican government, and limited power. It was "common sense" to them—not novel invention—drawing on a long tradition where God, nature, reason, and (for many) revelation converged on justice. 

In essence, to the founders, God was not incidental to law but its origin and sanction. Without this divine grounding, rights would be mere grants from government (revocable at will), and law would lack transcendent moral force. This belief helped justify revolution and shape the constitutional order that followed.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick

Proverbs 13:12-14 ESV

[12] Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

[13] Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment (¹from God) will be rewarded. [14] The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death.

The "tree of life" is mentioned in several verses (10 in total) but in only three books - Genesis (3x), Proverbs(4x), and Revelation(3x). The beginning, the "middle," and the end of the Bible. As we look closer at the above passage, we can see a connection with all three books. 

12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a ²tree of life.

How does obtaining what we desire bring us life? What constitutes life?

It is experiencing a sense of ³value, importance, significance etc.

When we obtain what we desire, it makes us feel valued, cared for, important. It gives us a sense of purpose and meaning. When we don't, we feel neglected, rejected, ignored, worthless, cast aside, forgotten i.e. it makes the heart "sick..."

13 Whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

What was the word Adam and Eve despised..."Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die."

What would have been the reward for Adam and Eve, if they had obeyed? Wisdom i.e., knowledge of good and evil learned through dependence (trust in) God not independence from (distrust in) God. Seeking to be their own god led to death, not life. 

14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. - Proverbs 13:12-14 ESV

Wisdom is knowing the difference between good and evil. To act wisely brings life and avoids harm, destruction and death.

Death and life are compared and contrasted in vs 14 just like the two trees in the center of the garden of Eden (Gen 2:9, 3:3).

Why does God say obtaining what we desire like a tree? Trees bear fruit. The tree itself is not life but eating fruit from the tree brings us life i.e. not only nutritionally but emotionally as well i.e. a sense of being valued and cared for. 

And what does that eating consist of i.e. how do we eat its fruit?

Obedience. It is through our obedience to God we experience life. Obedience addresses what we must do to have life in contrast to what we are not to do.

Obedience brings life. Rebellious disobedience brings death. Wisdom or true knowledge of good vs evil helps us see the difference.

Eating of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil represented disobedience. It was evidence that we are not wise when we act on our own and attempt to be our own god.

For a further discussion on where desire comes from click here.

Was there anything evil about the tree of a knowledge of good and evil, click here?

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Footnotes:

¹"...but he who reveres the commandment (¹from God) will be rewarded." 

To revere the words of God is to revere God i.e. "the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom." Prov 9:10

²What is the essence of life? To experience our significance, importance, value. In a word, to be loved.

How does our experiencing significance, importance and value give us life? Because God is significant, important, and valuable i.e. He is life and we experience our own value in honoring and enjoying His. In this way we are like Him i.e. in His image. 

God is Father, Son, and Spirit. The Spirit emanates from and manifests through the love and joy the Father and Son have in seeing and experiencing the infinite worth and beauty (glory) of the other. We were designed to participate in this relational dynamic. We experience our glory (significance, worth, importance etc) as bearers of His image by partaking in His glory.

"And this is eternal life, that they know (ginóskó - intimate, relational, or experiential knowledge) you, the only true God (i.e. true Source of life, love, and all things), and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." - Jn 17:3

³why do we need to experience a sense of value, importance, and significance? So we can appreciate and enjoy the value, importance, and significance of God i.e. we can only do so to the extent we experience our own in, by, and through our experiencing His.  

In order for us to appreciate and enjoy Him, we must have corresponding qualities within us that match up or align with who God is - the all-glorious Creator of life, love, and all things - in order to partake of and experience these qualities in Him. I.e. we must be like God - in His image - in this same glorious way, so we might partake of His greatness, significance, importance, and value.

Everything that is, exists because God created and sustains it. If God were not, nothing else would be. This makes Him the most significant, important, and valuable being of all other beings or things. He alone is the Alpha and Omega -  the King of kings and the LORD of lords. All things are from, through, and to him. To Him be the glory (the recognition of His infinite worth/value), forever and ever. Amen!

whats wrong with the forbidden tree?

Was there something inherently wrong with the forbidden tree?

There was nothing inherently magical, different or evil about it. Eve saw that it was good for food and beautiful to see (Gen 3:6). It probably was very similar to or the same kind as the tree of life near or next to it (Gen 2:9, 3:3) - Don't forget, God said all the trees were good for food (Gen 1:12; 2:9, 16-17).

The main purpose of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil didn't lie within the tree itself. 

The primary purpose of the forbidden tree was to see whether Adam and Eve (and now we) would follow God's direction as instructed  i.e. would they trust God and follow His directions or not?

The fear of the Lord (perfect regard and respect for God and His directions/instructions) is the beginning of wisdom. Wisdom = true understanding of right from wrong. If Adam and Eve had listened to God's direction - i.e. had proper regard for Him and respected His direction to not eat - they would have taken the first step onto the road of true wisdom and understanding of right from wrong - good and evil - the right way i.e. by following God's direction and not trying to gain this knowledge on their own i.e. through their independent (rebellious) efforts of taking it against God's instructions.

To gain knowledge of good and evil, the right way was to trust God and His word (His warning) and act accordingly. To believe (trust) God even if His word didn't make sense (the tree looked good for food, so what's the problem with eating from it?) regarding the direction He gave or circumstance(s) He allowed. We are to still trust God - believe He's good and desires our good - no matter what we encounter or how little it make sense. 

This is our struggle to this day (we are walking in the same footsteps of our original parents - or ancestors, if you wish). We either believe God is good in any and every given circumstance and situation or we don't.

The purpose of the tree was to simply test whether they trusted God or not. It was a test of whether they recognized their total dependence on God for true life and wisdom or believed they could somehow find it on their own - be their own god - and make life work without Him.

They chose to believe the lie that they could gain wisdom - and thereby life - without God by means of the forbidden tree. 

The tree was forbidden so they might acquire wisdom the right way i.e. through obedience to God's direction. 

They rebelled and rejected His direction and instructions. They did not trust God but suspected He was holding out on them (as the serpent suggested), so they turned away from Him and toward created things instead for life e.g the forbidden tree, each other, and their own understanding. As a result, they experienced just the opposite - death - exactly as God warned. 

We do this today as well and wrestle with our obedience to God daily. We regularly are faced with decisions to trust or not trust God every day.

Only by faith in His love for us - proven by Christ bearing the consequences of our rebellious disobedience - are we empowered to live for Him. Sending Christ to restore us - by living the life of obedience we should have lived and suffering the consequences of disobedience that we should have suffered - is proof on an infinitely grand scale that God loves us and wants what is best for us, even in our rebellious distrust. 

"The just (righteous) shall live by faith" is quoted in 4 different places in scripture for an important reason. God wants to be sure we "get it." It is the means by which we partake of and participate in the gospel - the "good news." We not only enter into God's kingdom by it, but we live out His kingdom daily through it. 

For a discussion on the gospel of the kingdom, click here

Words of life or death?

All God's commandments are given so we might find, expand, and preserve life. God calling us to obey Him is an invitation to advance, grow, and multiply life i.e. God - through His commandments - is calling us to flourish, not: 

Decline — gradually becoming weaker or less successful 

Wither — shriveling, fading, or losing vitality (often used for plants, success, or energy) 

Fail — not succeeding or collapsing 

¹Struggle  — having great difficulty or barely managing 

Languish — losing strength, growing weak, or remaining neglected 

Deteriorate — becoming progressively worse 

Stagnate — showing no growth or development; staying stuck 

Wane — decreasing in strength, power, or prosperity 

Flounder — struggling clumsily or failing to make progress 

Perish — dying, decaying, or coming to an end 

But when we trust and obey God, it often looks and feels like death (i.e. the above list) when in reality it is the path to life. 

"For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Cor 12:10 

When I am weak in my natural strength, I am strong in the strength God gives me.

Christ told us that if we wish to find our life, we must lose it. If we are to live as He designed us to, we must die...i.e. die to seeking life on our own terms; outside of or apart from God. 

The fact that we bristle so much at God's commandments reveals and exposes how much we distrust him and are in rebellion to Him. When we trust and love God, we gladly embrace His direction (commandments), not avoid them. 

"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." - 1 John 5:3

It is our rebellion that Christ came and bore the consequences of, with all its harm and destruction we see all around us. When we trust the work that Christ did on our behalf, we are no longer in Adam, who rebelled, but in Christ, who obeyed. 

In Christ, His obedience is assigned to us as if we were perfectly obedient to God as Christ was. We are now the righteousness of Christ i.e. we are in Christ (who obeyed) and no longer in Adam (who rebelled).

For a further discussion on going from Adam to Christ, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹Struggle is the natural consequence of our rebellion and disconnection from God, the source of life, love, and all things.

After we turned away from the Creator (Source) in rebellion, nothing worked properly as designed and intended. 

Can there be peace on earth?

Due to humanity's spiritual bankruptcy (i.e., brokenness) and the resulting inclination to first take care of "number one" (ourselves), there will never be a complete utopia in this life - the goal of ¹all economic or political systems.

To have a true utopia, the individual parts must be sound. A system, no matter how perfect, cannot work properly if the individual parts are not whole and working properly. 

If you build a wooden structure with boards eaten out by termites, the overall structure is unsound and must be reinforced or artificially propped up, or it will collapse under any sustained weight or pressure.

This does not mean we should abandon living a ²productive life and seek to love God and our neighbor as He has called and designed us to. However, the only way we can is when we are fully plugged in, united, and engaged with Him who is the Source of life, love, and all things. If we are not in union with the Source of life, we are empty vessels at best, focused on filling the void - or trying to. This results in us being takers - in need of being made whole - not givers. The emptiness must be filled in the way it was designed to be if we are to be givers. 

The solution isn't implementing (or imposing on us or others) a particular economic or political system ¹externally but being fully connected and plugged into God himself, which is an internal solution that restores wholeness, resulting in things working outwardly as designed. 

If all the individual parts of a system - i.e., you and I - are not sound, the system will not work, no matter how perfect the outward design of that system may be. Any system composed of flawed individuals (parts) can only result in flawed and inferior outcomes. 

For this reason, a perfect system will never work; only perfect values and people willing and able to pursue them. Ultimately, this can only occur through people who recognize the greatness, worth, beauty, and glory of their Creator, and their dependence on Him and accountability to Him.

The solution ultimately is spiritual, not political or economic. It is in first knowing God and then making him known (the first and second greatest commandments and motto of Columbia International University - the college I attended), not just in word but in deed. To make Him known, we must first know Him in all His infinite love to and for us.

The real question isn't if there can be peace on earth, but how and when will it occur. For more on this, click here.  

For a discussion on giving as you have received, click here.  

For a discussion on obedience as the fruit of abiding, click here.

For a discussion on being fruitful, i.e., sewing and reaping, click here.

For a discussion on the basis of morality, click here.

For a discussion on what it means to "obey the authorities" in Romans 13 Click here

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Footnotes:

¹I am referring to economic systems - such as socialism or communism - externally imposed on us by the state and not internally and organically advanced. We are social-relational creatures, and as God's image-bearers, we are designed to receive and give love, not forced to.  

However, we are also spiritually bankrupt and broken - i.e., unplugged bearers of God's image made to be in union with (plugged into) their Creator. We can no more fully be who we are designed to be than a Christmas tree, ornately decorated, sitting in a dark room, unplugged from the electrical outlet. 

For more on our brokenness, click here.  

²We are clearly instructed in many places within the bible to be "fruitful." Most of these verses address spiritual fruit. However, spiritual fruit is usually manifested by actions that often produce material fruit. In fact, any action that produces material fruit should be driven spiritually i.e. by the Spirit/Love. If it is, it is valid. It is spiritual in motivation (i.e. for God's glory) with a material outcome.  

For several posts addressing operating in the Spirit, click here. 

³There is nothing wrong with personal consumption. Not in itself. If we do not consume vital resources -- water, food, shelter etc. -- we die. Consumption is not just necessary but vital. 

A pursuit that is solely driven by personal and excessive consumption as a substitute for God (i.e. an idol) is our challenge, not consumption itself. 

*Private ownership of property and the opportunity to acquire property through diligence is assumed throughout the bible. The founding fathers who penned America's Constitution and the Declaration of Independence acknowledged this when they declared we had a "right" to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What most don't know is that the pursuit of happiness is the right to the fruits of our labor, i.e., property.  

Christ instructs us to pray for his rule and reign to come on earth as it is in heaven. 

"Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven..." - Matt 6:10 

Is this a prayer to usher in the Kingdom now or in the future? Both. 

For a discussion on what the kingdom of God is, click here. 

What is spiritual blindness?

Spiritual blindness. What is it and why does it occur? 

There are two parts.

The 1st part has to do with our being creatures (finite) and not the Creator (who is infinite). Even though we are like God in many significant ways we are not God. This is not a blindness per se but more a limitation as created beings. 

The 2nd deals with our rebellion to our creaturehood i.e. to our limits.

How do these affect our moral choices?

 

1. We are finite (limited) - which includes our understanding - and do not know everything there is to know, and must know, in order to make the right and best choices - though we often think and act as if we do. 

Only God is all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful, and everywhere present. These characteristics enable Him to know the right and best course at all times, in all things, with the unlimited ability to carry it out. We, on the other hand, are not all-knowing and do not know the best course of action or have the ability to live it out perfectly without His wisdom, enabling (power), and direction. 

2. We must recognize we are in rebellion against God, the Source of all knowledge and understanding. We have turned away and cut ourselves off from Him whenever we seek the right course on our own - i.e., when we seek to "be like God" knowing good and evil; right from wrong - without His input and direction.

Adam and Eve choosing to eat from the forbidden tree clearly demonstrated they did not know right from wrong, or have infinite knowledge, otherwise they would not have eaten from it i.e. it was forbidden for a good reason. A reason they clearly did not understand or feel the need to agree with. 

We often choose the wrong course, believing (trusting) we are right. We seek to take the role of God - i.e., to be like God in knowing right from wrong - when we clearly are not God - demonstrated by all the pain and suffering of humanity as the result of making the choice He warned them not to make (which was clearly the wrong choice).

Only God has full knowledge of good and evil i.e., He knows all things. In other words, only he knows perfectly the best course of action to take in any and all situations. We do not. 

Because He does, we must seek and follow him - His directions - to know what is truly good and evil, and not seek to ¹determine this on our own. This is what Adam tried to do in the Garden of Eden when they chose to eat from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

For us to receive understanding and direction from God, we must do the opposite of what Adam sought to do. We must humble ourselves i.e., accept our limitations and admit we are not God who knows all things. ¹We do not know right from wrong without God revealing it to us. Whatever understanding we have of right from wrong only occurs because God has told or shown us. 

As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, we are to...Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, (that He alone knows all things) and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.

¹We do not see how arrogant and flagrant a violation of reality this truly is - unless God reveals it to us. In fact we sympathize with Adams choice. We are rebels and in rebellion to God who alone knows right from wrong. 

If Adam and Eve had made the right choice and rejected the serpent's proposal (a promise to be like God in a way they aren't designed to be), they would have stepped onto the right road of knowing (understanding) good and evil the right way, i.e., in faith-filled obedience to God vs rebellious distrust of Him. The issue wasn't that God didn't want them to know good and evil, but to know it the right way, i.e., under His care and guidance, not on their own with our limitations. .

For a discussion on how God created us with choice before we rebelled against Him, click here.

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Footnotes:

¹Though over time, through trial-and-error, we learn there is design in the physical universe and act accordingly e.g. we learn that going without air or water will eventually result in our death or putting our hand in the fire will result in getting burned. This article is addressing our moral and spiritual understanding i.e. what is right and wrong and that right and wrong is a real thing - it actually exists objectly.

good and bad "obedience"

Doing what God tells us to do (obedience) out of love for and trust in God is legit - as well as commanded by Christ himself. John 14:21-23

Doing what He tells us to do for any other reason is not. It is performance-based, operating in the flesh, etc.

The key is knowing why we act and not just how we act or what we do. For example, praying in itself isn't necessarily a righteous act. We can pray to impress others or solely for our personal benefit and not out of a desire to honor God and advance His purposes.

So why do we act... when are our actions legit? Always and only when done out of love for and trust in God so we would honor Him i.e. give him glory.

1. Sometimes we obey God out of loving affections for God

2. Sometimes out of faith alone.  

As long as we do so for his honor and glory and not to secure our own honor, we are to pursue him in faithful and loving obedience. 

We can never wait for feelings/affections or use lack of them as an excuse to not pursue him in faithful obedience. 

If we are to grow and experience more and more of the beauty, majesty, love and glory of God, obedience is not optional. It is the means by which our faith is exercised and we draw near to God.

NOTE, I did not say obedience is the means by which God draws near to us. We are exhorted to draw near to God, not the other way around. God being near to us is already set because of Christ's work on our behalf. God is 100% with us and committed to us if we are in Christ. Nothing we can do or not do will change this one iota. "It is finished" to use Christ's words. His loving us is never determined by our work...ever!

The beauty however, is God, in his grace and kindness, will often stir affections toward Him once we step out in faith for the right reason.

We obey so we can better honor and glorify God and be the most effective for Him in doing so.

Obedience, submission, and trust aren't about winning God's love for us, they're evidence of our love for Him.

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What about "waiting on the Lord?"

We only wait when it is not clear what Gods will is in a given circumstance. But when it is clear (e.g. his commandments), we act and don't look back.

From Adam to Christ

Before our rebellion, it appears we were spiritually ²neutral. As image bearers we had the capacity, unlike any other creature, to fellowship with God and did i.e. we could willingly receive and return His love. But we weren't ²inclined toward or away from God. You could say we were a blank canvas yet to be painted on.

However, we were also finite. And because of our limits we had no way of verifying on our own, with ⁶absolute certainty, who was truthful and trustworthy, God or the serpent. 

Ultimately, it came down to trust. Our ¹trust in God hadn't yet been tested or confirmed. We had no reason to question God prior to that conversation with the serpent. The serpent's suggestions put into Adam and Eves mind doubt about God and His love for them for the first time. 

This is also why there were 2 special trees in Eden. (And not just anywhere in the garden but at its center). 

⁴We were given two contradictory claims or "promises" from two distinct sources and had to choose which one we believed. In God's original instructions, "do not eat..." it is clear God wanted them to have and make a choice. 

When humanity's trust was tested, we chose (and continue to choose) to trust ourselves (be our own god) instead of trusting the one true God. We believed we could - and can - decide what was (and is) best for us without God, and know ²good and evil without looking to or depending on God for input. As if we were all knowing and even smarter than God. We set ourselves up as the final arbitrator of what is good or evil - an act of rebellion towards God as the Creator of all things and also a lie which was contrary to our design. 

This continues to be the present modus operandi for all humanity to this day. We trust in ourselves with all our heart and lean not to God's understanding (wisdom). In all our ways (i.e. actions) we acknowledge ourselves wiser then God and lean on our own understanding instead of His to direct our paths.

Ever since our rebellion, we are naturally inclined towards distrust of others, God first, as well as each other.

We went from being neutral to being bent away from God, and we remain that way to this day. We (and humanity as a whole) are now broken, fragmented, and continue to come "unglued" as we seek to find life and make it work without God resulting in all the pain and suffering we see throughout the world.

Without God's help, all our actions are rooted in self-trust and distrust of God. Every time we make choices without looking to God for input, we are saying God is not necessary or trustworthy to live life at the highest level. 

The solution?

The second Adam compared to the first. 

The Spirit led Christ into the wilderness after His baptism (when the Father said He was well pleased with His Son), and thus Christ's formal ministry began. 

Christ's trust in the Father was tested 3 times in the wilderness; as was Adam's. Unlike Adam, Christ passed each time. 

Christ's trust was also ⁷tested throughout his incarnation, and culminated in Gethsemane right before his betrayal and crucifixion, when he said "...let this cup pass from me...but not my will, but yours be done..." and also on the cross "...My God, why have you forsaken me?" 

Being placed into Christ vs remaining in Adam. 

Christ's passing of these ⁷tests of trust was for us, not him. His passing them is now offered to be assigned to us as if we passed them when we didn't and haven't. Where Adam failed to be who God created mankind to be, Christ the man succeeded!

But we are asked to trust God - like Adam was asked - again and receive this offer. It is not forced on us. Yes, we can refuse to trust God, but we are left to bear the consequences of our rebellious distrust (as Adam was) and the harm it causes ³God, others, and ourselves. 

For a further discussion on the initial rebellion of man - i.e. "the fall" - click here. 

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Footnotes:

¹As finite beings, we cannot operate without trust. To do so would require us to be all-knowing, all-powerful, and everywhere present. Only God is infinite and has these attributes; we do not. 

During Christ's incarnation, he was not all-knowing. This was part of his emptying himself (known as the kenosis). He said many times there were things he did not know in his present human form. This is also why Christ, as a man, operated by faith, like we do and must.

²knowing good and evil was basically knowing right from wrong. As finite beings and before their rebellion, they needed to confide in God when presented with a choice between right and wrong. The serpent suggested they (we) could be "free" from this seeming shackle if we ate from the forbidden tree. However, we made our choice by ignoring God's instructions to not eat of the forbidden tree and have reaped the consequences of pain, suffering, and death, as God warned, ever since.

³we can not harm God personally. God needs no one or nothing outside of Himself and needs nothing from us. But we can bring dishonor to Him by our thoughts, words, and deeds, resulting on our hindering others from seeing Him as He truly is, ultimately leading to their harm. 

For us to speak and act as if God is not significanct or worthy of honor is by example leading others to do the same i.e. away from God. But He alone is worthy of all honor and glory because He is the Source of life, love, and all things. To Him all glory is deserved and should be given.

Our rejection of our dependence on God was contrary to who we are - creatures dependent on our Creator - and who is as the giver of life, love, and all things. Going contrary to this reality brings real harm and destruction to ourselves, others as well as dishonors God for who He truly is. Diminishing God in the eyes of others by our words and actions draws them away from God which leads them to harm and destruction. 

Christ honored His Father in all he said and did but was treated exactly the opposite of this. And now the Father offers to credit Christ's ⁵faithfulness to you as if this is how you now live. If we are in Christ, the Father only sees the Son's perfect faithfulness as if it was our own and He is well pleased with us, as He is with the Son.

⁴Adam and Eve represented us, not in the sense of acting on our behalf but in the sense that given the same set of circumstances we would have made the exact same choice they did. 

We prove that daily by making similar kinds of choices now i.e., we prefer being our own god and being independent of God instead of dependent on Him. We are not accountable for Adam and Eves choice but our own with one exception. We have a chance to choose God again and totally reverse the legal consequences of our distrust of God - and also the practical consequences in eternity as well - because God provided a way to be restored if we accept His offer.

⁵Keep in mind that Christ's faithfulness was not a walk in the park. He was faithful in the face of all the adversity Christ endured and all the riches He set aside to become a man so he could suffer and die, that we would not have to. 

⁶though the evidence was clearly in God's favor since Adam experienced 1st hand the creation of Eve while he saw no such demonstration of power by the serpent. 

⁷As a man , Christ went from untested to tested obedience. Unlike Adam, he passed the test and now assigns His perfect test results to all those who put  their trust in Him.

Love and/or consequences

As God's children, we are no longer ³condemned by God for our ¹poor choices. Legally there is no ³condemnation for those who are in Christ.  

But neither are we ⁴protected practically from the short-term consequences of those choices and the actions that follow. 

The creation - which includes us as bearers of God's image - operates best according to God's design (law). To violate that design results in things not operating properly or fully.

When the legal consequences of our rebellious distrust are removed, it changes us. We are now "seated in the heavenlies" in Christ. Grasping this new reality of our status with God creates within us gratitude and love for Jesus, who removed the kegak consequences. 

There is a difference between a supernaturally changed heart and a morally restrained one. Love changes us. The law restrains us. Love changes us from within. The law restrains us from without. Both are necessary in making good choices. 

God's law is good and necessary because it lays out and defines how things are designed to operate. To ignore it results in harm to us and others.

These two realities - ⁷love and law - are the positive and negative guardrails that are intended to help drive or guide all true believers' words and actions. 

Love motivates believers to make the right choices (which leads to right actions). 

Fear (respect) of negative consequences motivates us to avoid the wrong ones. 

As God's children, we have no fear of rejection by God, but should still recognize and fear that living contrary to His design always has practical - vs legal - negative consequences. 

As image bearers of God, all our choices matter because we are created to love and honor God. To live contrary to this design results in harm and destruction to ourselves and others. Consequences aren't a direct judgment of God but the organic result of violating God's design.

As God's children our choices do not matter as far as being perfectly loved and accepted by God. In Christ we are always infinitely and perfectly loved and fully accepted and embraced. 

But as the bearers of God's image our choices still must align with how God designed us and the world around us to operate.

These two realities - love and law - appear to be at ⁶odds with each other. But being fully loved and ²experiencing consequences for poor choices are each as true as if the other does not exist. But because of Christ these ⁵exist and work together. Both for our ultimate gain and benefit. 

For a further discussion on the "anatomy" of motivation, click here. 

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Footnotes:

¹By poor choices I simply mean disobedience. Disobedience is the resulting outcome (actions) of our rebellious distrust of God. (This always result in harm to ourselves and others). And distrust is at the heart of our choosing to be our own god. Our desire to be like god - in a way we are not designed to be - was the temptation our original parents bought into that brought pain and death into the world. 

We still operate this way to this day, perpetuating that pain. The present pain, suffering and death we see in the world now reminds us that our choices still matter.

²God may mercifully suspend the the full consequences of poor choices when we sincerely acknowledge them - i.e. "repent." But there is no guarantee. This would be a supernatural intervention and interference of their natural (organic) outcome. Without His mercy (intervention) the consequences will remain, hence His intervention is merciful.

Plus only God knows the sincerity of our heart (and what best aids our maturing) and when we truly abandon (turn away or repent of) a poor choice or only pretend to in order to get some kind of relief or benefit. 

God's objective is our drawing nearer to Him, which is a matter of the heart first. This results in a change in behavior.

³Why are we no longer legally held accountable and condemned for our words and actions contrary to our design and God's will? Because Christ was condemned in our place. The very fact that someone (Christ) was condemned means God's law (will, design) matters. It is vital that these are adhered to. There are always consequence for violating it (them). Because of Christ stepping in for us and taking the condemnation we rightly deserve,  the long term legal consequences no longer fall on us but fell on Him. Instead of the judgment and death rightly due us we are given forgiveness and life. These were earned for us not by us.

For those who ask why there is still pain and suffering in the world after Christ bore the legal consequence of mankinds rebellion, it is because our choices that spring forth from our rebellious distrust of God matter. 

⁴there are also benefits (positive "consequences") for operating according to God's design. Whatever we sow - both good and bad - we also reap. This is why non believers can flourish circumstantially by operating according to God's law. 

Nowhere does the Bible indicate the law is bad, but the opposite. It is seeking to justify ourselves through obedience to God's law that is wrong, not the law itself. 

⁵"Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other." - Psa 85:10 

⁶Our natural inclination is to try to earn God's love. This is why those who claim to be believers have a hard time acknowledging how they come up short. In their minds this means our rejection by God. In order to be fully honest about our rebellious condition we must see God's perfect acceptance and embrace of us because of Christ.

To believe this it is possible to earn God's love does not recognize we can never be perfect enough to earn it. This is why Christ came.

⁷giving us the law is actually an indication and expression of love. What we value most we desire is well cared for. Because everything operates best by design, giving direction on how something (someone) functions best is because we value i.e. love it (or them). Law is not our problem. Using it in an attempt to justify ourselves is our problem. It is a misuse of the law. 

AI edit...

The gift of the law reflects love, as we seek to care for what we cherish most. When we value something—or someone—we provide guidance to help it thrive according to its design. The law itself isn’t the issue; the problem arises when we use it to justify ourselves. This is misuse of the law. 

Combined...

The gift of the law is actually an indication and expression of love. We seek to care for what we cherish. Because everything operates best by design, giving direction on how something (someone) functions best is because we value it i.e. love it (or them). Law is not our problem. Using it in an attempt to justify ourselves is our problem. It is a misuse of the law. 

Freedom and the Spirit

"...Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." - 2 Cor 3:17

Why is their freedom in the Spirit's presence? Because God ¹is not only Spirit but He is also love.  Therefore, where the Spirit is present, love is also. 

How are these connected? 

As bearers of God's image we are created for love - because God is love. In order to experience His love, God knew we must be like Him to fully experience Him as love and to freely function as God designed us to. 

When we are in God's presence His love fills us up and frees us from always trying to gain or win love from God and others through our actions i.e. our good behavior.

Not only does God not demand from us certain actions in order to win His love, but He also knew we could never do enough to win it. So He made a way to remove the barrier between us - created by our ³rebellious distrust of Him - so He could freely pour out His love on us again as He did before our original rebellion. This was made possible through the efforts of Christ - efforts driven by Christ's perfect ³trust in the Father of love. 

Whenever we are in the presence of God, we are also in the presence of infinite ²love. This love energizes us to do (obey) and be who we are designed to be. His love results in our wanting to live for Him vs our feeling pressured to in order to avoid rejection. There is no risk of rejection when love is completely secured for us by the perfect actions of another - i.e. Christ's.

Obedience that springs forth from love is not action we have to take, as a legal requirement, but action we want to take. Obedience occurs supernaturally, freely and organically. Our "wanter" (will) is awakened toward our Creator in response to His love for us. A love fully secured for us by Christ's efforts alone, not ours. 

His love stirs us up to our true potential—to become again what we were originally created to be - bearers of God's image - through God's Spirit of infinite love. 

This happens when we are in the presence of God in all His love. To be all we were created to be is not only what we desire, but His love also gives us the power to do it - i.e., where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Nothing good or lasting happens in us or through us apart from the Spirit (love) of God. 

And we have God's Spirit only because we are in Christ. But also because we are in Christ we have His Spirit i.e. this is true for every one of His children with no exceptions. It is for us to believe and receive this love. 

For a further discussion on glory, and how it ties into this article, I offer the following:

Created for glory II

Crowned with glory and honor

Giving and receiving glory

Why God calls us to glorify him

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¹In fact, some argue (and I agree) that the Spirit issues forth from the perfect love between the Father and Son. For more on this click here and here. 

²We are energized in the presence of any love but most fully in the presence of the infinite love of God, who is the very Source of love.

³the opposite of our rebellious distrust that alienates us from the Father.

God energizes us

The more we see God as the source of life, love, and all things the more our focus on and attraction to Him grows. This, in turn, energizes us to pursue Him - our Creator - more instead of the ¹blessings of creation all around us. Our focus shifts away from the temporary to the eternal, infinite, and permanent.

When we see Him as the all-wise, glorious, and loving Creator that He is, following His directions - i.e. advancing His Kingdom through the faithful pursuit of His ²commandments - no longer is a chore but a delight. 

Why? Because we understand that faithful pursuit of God - who is ³life - is the primary means of drawing us closer to Him and experiencing life as we were meant to. In, by, and through Him is everything necessary to live the life He's designed us for and calls us to. 

Our design also indicates our purpose and "calling" from God i.e. what we were created for... why we exist.

At first, obeying and pursuing God feels more like death, not a means to life (and why Christ said to live, we must first die). That is because it requires us to die to our dependence on the temporary things that only give short-term life - temporary satisfaction - in the moment, instead of eternal joy and delight in the Source of life, love, and all things.  

In reality, obedience wakes us up more to see why following God is necessary to experience true life found only in Him, who alone is lasting, never-ending - eternal - life.

This doesn't mean we don't need those created things we pursue, but simply that they are temporary and exist only because He made them and grants us access to them out of His loving generosity so we might advance His glory and kingdom of love by loving others well. This is also where we find the greatest joy. 

Created things are given by God and best enjoyed when we fully understand they come to us as a gift, not as something we deserve, can or must earn, and are "rightfully" ours (when we think we've ³earned them) to use as we see fit - instead of as God directs. 

The reality is they are given to us so that we might receive them with gratitude as gifts to show us His love, and in turn are to be freely shared with others on Christ's behalf as His ambassadors in order point them to Him who alone is life. 

If we pursue God and He prospers us circumstantially - with improved finances, relationships, health etc - it is the result of our desire and pursuit to honor Him and His kingdom of love, instead of pursuing our private agenda.

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Footnotes:

¹We still enjoy creation, but not as something we idolize or worship, but as something that conveys His love for us more fully.

²And what commandments does He call us to?

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” - Matthew 22:36-40

³What exactly is life? To find the answer we must look to God himself and what defines His life i.e. what does life consist of for Him - and in turn for us as bearers of His image? For more on this click here.

Which is it... sinners or like God?!

God's love for ⁴us is without conditions. FULL STOP! i.e. to be fully accepted and embraced by God requires nothing from us. God's love for us is based on someone else meeting the requirements, ¹not us. Accepting the offer that Jesus made is the only thing required of us. 

However, that doesn't mean there is not a good reason for His infinite love for us. There is a major reason. He values and therefore loves us because we are like him - in His image. 

This has nothing to do with what we do but with who we are, who God made us to be. It is not our trying to make ourselves more acceptable and lovable to Him or others.

This is why He loved us before we lifted one finger for Him. In fact, even while we were still in our state of rebellious distrust of Him.

"...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us..." - Romans 5:8

"...But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—..." -  Ephesians 2:4-5 

Have you ever scratched your head, wondering why he would value and love us while we were still in a state of rebellious distrust toward Him (i.e. "sin")? It is because our rebellion did not cancel out or erase our being like God, it only marred and suppressed it - though severely. 

This resulted in our spiritual sight and sense going completely dormant (until His Spirit opens our eyes). We are now "unplugged" from God (the source of all things), broken, and blind to seeing His infinite worth, beauty, and love. As a result, we ascribe the worst possible intent by God on why we struggle or experience loss and pain. The Bible describes this as being spiritually blind and dead to God. 

But our capacity for love, light, and life didn't go away and is still fully intact - we are still like God - even when we don't trust Him i.e. we still are designed to love and be loved, and we long for this. We are hard-wired for love, if you will, because God is love and we are like Him, created to be in a community of love with Him. 

God values and loves our being like Him because we still have the capacity to fully partake of the community of love that God is as Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. 

This capacity for infinite love never went away after we turned away from Him in the garden; it only ceased to function properly i.e. it went dormant if you will. In our broken and spiritually blind condition, we now long for the wrong things - instead of the only true thing that can fill our longing for love - because we are blind to the true Source of love and life - i.e. our Creator.

A recap and summary 

Our being in God's image is vital to how God sees us and who we are. This means there is a good reason for Him to love us i.e. because of who we are, not what we do. 

We are not just rebellious - aka "dirty rotten sinners." This is true but only half the story - and the far lesser half - once we accept his offer. The more important half is we are also still like God with an infinite capacity to fully engage, delight in, and commune with the Infinite God and experience His infinite love, glory, and joy!!!

Being like God has nothing to do with what we do for others (God and other bearers of His image) - when it comes to establishing a good standing with Him - but has to do with something about us - i.e. who we are, not what we do. 

God's love has nothing to do with something that comes from us or is offered by us - i.e. something we do in an attempt to earn His love or appease His disapproval. 

Our only requirement is to recognize that Christ did everything necessary to fully restore us to His Father and accept this as a free gift (the essence of the gospel - good news - of grace). 

Do you receive this? If you only know this in your head but haven't fully believed it, you only need to recognize He did everything necessary to restore you so He can pour out His love on you. A love He already has for you that you are blocking by not believing this good news. Because nothing you can do will restore you to God...nothing - not your abilities or good deeds!!! 

Accept His offer of complete restoration. If you are sincere in accepting and receiving His offer of perfect love, He will legally and immediately restore you now, and ²completely upon His return.

"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price (you can't buy it or earn His acceptance of you)." - Revelation 22:17 

For God to have a relationship with us in the same way the Father and the Son have with each other, we had to be like him in one essential way i.e., we had to be able to receive and return love to God like God does between and among the Father and Son, in, by, and through the Spirit - i.e., God IS love. Love is the central and essential core of who God is!!! We are like Him i.e., we are hard-wired for this same love. 

But love for God first, not just between each other. Our love for others must flow out of our love for God. This is why the greatest commandment is to love God first, then our neighbors. 

Does God need anything from us? No! He has Himself i.e., He is complete within Himself.

But when we say he loves us without conditions, that is not to say he doesn't have longings and desires for us and from us. He yearns to commune with us. Why? Because we are like God and God is love. He longs for us to experience the fullness of who He is so, like Him, we too experience it.

He is the source of love, life, and all things and knows our greatest meaning, purpose, and joy is found only in Him!! His calling us to love Him above everything else is because He knows He is our best and desires our best i.e. God is love.

James 4:5 says:

"Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, 'He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us' ”?

Nevertheless, His love for us is without conditions i.e. no deeds are required from us in order for His love to be set on us.

This is possible only because Christ fulfilled all the conditions ³required and necessary for him to remove the barrier between us and love us freely and fully. Even to the point that the Father loves us in the very same way He loves His only eternally begotten Son. Jn 17:23.

"I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me."

So does our love and pursuit of God matter since it's not required?

While there should never be ⁴expectations or conditions put on us for the gifts freely given to ⁵us or on others for the gifts we gladly give them, it is legitimate to enjoy and eagerly anticipate the appreciation from others for those gifts.

When gratitude is shown for the gifts we graciously receive, it delights the giver because they know their gift (and love) is not just accepted but also enjoyed and appreciated.

This reminds us of the 10 lepers that Christ healed and only one returned and showed gratitude. As a result, Christ engaged him further because he demonstrated by returning to Christ that he appreciated what Christ did. Lk 17:12-19.

To hope for and enjoy someone else's appreciation for what we give them is different than ⁵demanding their gratitude.

This also happens to be how God loves us and enjoys a relationship with us. God doesn't ⁶demand our obedience in exchange for His love. He delights in it. We are this way because God is this way. We are in his image.

In order for him to have this kind of love relationship with us we had to be like him as much possible without actually being him.

For a further discussion on why God loves rebels but not rebellion click here 

Are we rebels against God? Click here 

For a further discussion on the solution to our rebellion click here. 

For a further discussion on why God delights in our love click here.

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¹Who met them? Christ!!! For only He could, not us!

²The claims of Christ and His return!! and Knowing God but not fully yet.

³this is necessary because we fail to. No one fulfills the greatest commandment to love God with everything we are and have. Do you? I certainly don't!

⁴Expectations and conditions come from those who need love. God wants our love but doesn't need it. He is love as a community of love among the Father, Son, and Spirit. And when we are filled with His love we are the same way i.e. we don't need the love of others because we already have the perfect love of God.

⁵Who is "us." Is it humanity in general or us who have trusted Christ? It is both. God values all his image bearers by virtue of them being like him. But only those who accept his offer of restoration actually participate in and experience that love as we are designed to.

⁶We demand things from others only because we believe we must have them in order to be loved. God doesn't because He is already a community of love between the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. He doesn't need us in order to be complete (whole) and therefore does not need to demand our obedience. 

However because He is love he delights in our entering into and participating in his love. He seeks - "requires" - us to love him because he knows that is where we are most complete and find greatest joy.