Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

A love that grows must have boundaries. Boundaries do not suffocate love. They protect it. They define it. They nourish it and guard it from all that would corrupt, distort, or destroy it. The world labors to erase the very boundaries that protect love while insisting that love cannot thrive unless every boundary is removed.

Yet the world also sets its own boundaries. Its love flows from corrupt hearts, and in order to preserve that corrupt version of love, it must protect it from anything that exposes it. They do not see their hypocrisy. They claim that love must have no limits and that whatever grows should be allowed to flourish. But in order to sustain this claim, they must redefine love itself. What is truly love must be called hate. What is holy must be torn down. Its boundaries must be dismantled, and it must be denied a place to grow and thrive.

The love of God and the love of the world cannot coexist. Only those blind to the holiness of God imagine such coexistence is possible.

Those who know the love of God remain in the world until He calls them home, yet their love cannot perish, cannot die, and cannot be uprooted by wicked men. The love of God is preserved in heaven, in Christ, for all who are His. His bride will suffer. She will endure hardship. Her own heart will at times be tempted. She will fall short in her love, loyalty, and faithfulness. Yet it is He who preserves her. He keeps her. He remains faithful to her. He will not allow that love to be taken from her because He has set His love upon her.

He is working in her an assurance rooted not in her constancy but in His character. He is sanctifying her. He is shaping her heart. He is conforming her to His image so that she grows increasingly beautiful, not by the world’s standards but by His.

The world draws at her heart. It entices her in ways that expose her weakness. Left to herself she would wander. The natural heart never wanted to be chosen. It loved the world. But sovereign grace overcame her rebellion. He made her willing in the day of His power. He opened her eyes. He turned her affections. He caused her to love what she once despised and to despise what she once loved.

And when she stumbles, when her knees are bruised not from prayer but from falling, when her heart is heavy not for others but for her own failure, when she lifts her head and feels ashamed to look toward Him, He reminds her of His grace. He raises her up again. He restores her. He keeps her. That is love. That is grace. That is mercy.

The world knows nothing of saving grace, covenant mercy, or truth as defined by God. It has counterfeits. It has sentiment. It has moral language. It has not redemption. It has not the cross. It has not the holy love of a God who satisfies His own justice in order to save sinners. It is an exceedingly wicked counterfeit.

Let the world have its love and its lovers. It cannot satisfy. It cannot endure. Those in Christ possess that which can never be taken away. It was never merited by His bride. It was never earned. He purchased her. He redeemed her. He set His love upon her. He will not lose her. No man can snatch her from His hand. Her assurance rests not in herself but in who He is. She has come to know a love that was never native to her sinful heart and could never be found in the world.

It is this love that Christ works in the hearts of His own. It is this love that the world hates because of its purity, its strength, its truth, and its boundaries. The love of Christ compels us to proclaim such love even to those who despise it. Many claim to be inclusive while showing themselves enemies of this love. They do not see their own ignorance.

You cannot unite what is holy with what is opposed to it. You cannot merge truth with falsehood and call it peace. A choice must be made. That is the line those who think themselves more loving than God cannot bear to examine. Their conscience tells them they are morally superior. They imagine themselves kinder, broader, and more compassionate than the God who is love.

The love of God does not unite with the corrupt love of wicked men. Christ has a bride. He chose her. He redeemed her. He called her. He sealed her. She loves Him because He first loved her.

The world objects. It asks what if she did not want to be chosen? What if she preferred the world? Yet the natural heart always preferred the world until grace intervened. They claim no one should have to choose, yet they demand that she choose the world. They proclaim tolerance, yet they hate that she belongs to Christ. They accuse God of exclusivity while demanding their own.

Christ is inclusive in His external call. He commands all men everywhere to repent. Yet He is exclusive in His effectual call. Not all will hear. Not all will believe. Not all will come. Those whom He effectually calls will respond in faith and repentance. Those whom He redeems, He keeps.

The world demands that Christians redefine grace, mercy, justice, truth, and love. Gullible souls will comply. Christ’s bride cannot. She belongs to Him. We may share space in society. We may work together, vote together, shop together, and live alongside one another. But we do not share allegiance. Our differences are not superficial. They are fundamental. To set aside those differences is to set aside Christ, His Word, His kingdom, and His promises.

The Christian loves those of the world with the love of God and with the message of Christ, calling them to repent and trust in Him alone. The world demands silence about that message. It demands affirmation of its rebellion. It demands a form of love stripped of truth.

The line is drawn. The world demands inclusivity where Christ demands loyalty. You will choose.

Saint, you are not more loving than God. No matter what those who compromise and profess the name of Christ may say. If others compromise, do not follow their error. Follow Christ. It will cost you. And when you fall short, whether privately or publicly, repent. His grace is sufficient. His love does not fail.