God's love, better than unconditional

"God's unconditional love." Sounds nice, but is it enough? Is there more to God's love?

Describing unconditional love as detached "blanket acceptance" and "benign affirmation," David Powlison challenges our common assumption about the nature of God's love. Although wonderfully accepting, divine love is also intrusive, intimate, personal, and active. Instead of simply loving us as we are, God loves us enough to change us.

Powlison acknowledges four underlying truths of unconditional love, offers biblical improvements on the idea, and urges us to see God's love for what it really is—better than unconditional.

Publisher: P & R
Type: paperback
ISBN: 9780875526867

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David Powlison (MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary; MA, PhD, University of Pennsylvania) was executive director of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation in Glenside, Pennsylvania, and the editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling. He taught at Westminster Theological Seminary and was a board member and fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors.

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A quick, concise read that challenges us to go beyond the term "unconditional" when attempting to describe God's love, and in turn, the sort of love we are to have for one another. Powlison looks at four truths that we are trying to capture in the term "unconditional" and four biblical improvements on the term. He concludes that God's love is "contraconditional" -- contrary to what I deserve, God loves me, and He loves me enough to want to see me change. I'm free to change -- not so that I can earn His love, but because I've already received it.

Powlison doesn't waste words. I underlined at least half of the book. There's plenty to ponder in this short read. Pam