God Is Love: A Different Starting Point
A Reflection on Holiness, Love, and the God I Was Taught
The God I Was Taught
In Systematic Theology and Bible Ethics at Free Will Baptist Bible College, I was taught about the attributes of God.
God is:
- all-knowing
- all-powerful
- present everywhere
- unchanging
- eternal
And beyond those:
- loving
- just
- sovereign
- and holy
But among all these attributes, one stood above the rest:
God is holy.
Holiness was defined as:
- set apart
- pure
- without sin
- morally perfect
And from that foundation, everything else seemed to follow.
The Standard We Could Not Reach
We were taught from Scripture:
“Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16)
The implication was clear:
We were to become like God—
to the point of being without sin and morally perfect.
But in Romans, we were also taught:
- “All have sinned and fall short…”
- “There is none righteous…”
And so another message emerged:
We cannot meet the standard.
The Gospel I Preached
The solution we were given was this:
- Humanity is sinful
- The penalty is death
- Jesus died to pay that penalty
- If we believe, we receive eternal life
Looking back, I sometimes feel that as a pastor I became something like:
an insurance salesman
Offering:
- heaven as the reward
- hell as the consequence
All based on a system built from one central idea:
God is holy above all else.
When Holiness Becomes Fear
This way of thinking shaped how we interpreted the world.
After disasters like Hurricane Katrina, I heard preachers say:
- this was God’s judgment
- punishment for sin
In personal tragedy, I experienced it even more deeply.
After a stillbirth my wife and I endured, someone asked:
“What sin did you commit to cause this?”
That question has never left me.
The Weight of Perfection
This emphasis on holiness led to teachings like:
- entire sanctification
- the possibility of sinless living
It also led to strict rules—rules I experienced firsthand in Bible college—
rules that often produced the very behavior they were meant to prevent.
And alongside that came another belief:
- that salvation, once received, secured eternity
- that God’s plan determined who would be saved
Division in the Name of Purity
This focus also shaped how we saw truth.
Some believed:
- the Bible alone was the only authority
- even that one translation held ultimate purity
This contributed to division:
- Catholics
- Protestants
- Baptists
- Methodists
- Presbyterians
Groups not unlike those in Jesus’ day:
- Pharisees
- Sadducees
- Essenes
All seeking to preserve what they believed was right.
I remember one student asking a professor:
“Why are there so many denominations?”
The answer was:
“To keep the Word of God pure.”
The Tension I Could Not Resolve
All my life, I have wrestled with this:
- the God who is holy
- and the God who is love
I struggled with:
- the image of an angry God
- alongside the message of grace
I struggled when I heard:
“God hates…”
Especially when it was directed at people like me.
A Different Voice in Scripture
Then I read:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, gentleness, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control. (Galatians 5)
And I began to wonder:
Where does it say the Spirit produces holiness?
And then:
“God is love.” (1 John)
And another question began to grow in me:
What if love—not holiness—is the starting point?
Rethinking Holiness Through Love
I am not rejecting holiness.
But I am beginning to see it differently.
Maybe holiness is not:
- distance
- separation
- perfection we must achieve
Maybe it is:
love in its purest form
Love that is:
- whole
- undivided
- fully alive
The Curious Pilgrim’s Reflection
I still wrestle.
I still hold questions.
But I am learning this:
I cannot believe in a God who is love…
and then interpret everything through fear.
So I am starting here:
God is love.
And from there, I am learning—slowly, imperfectly—
what holiness might truly mean.
🌿 Closing Line
Maybe the journey of faith is not about becoming perfect…
but about becoming people who know how to love.
The Curious Pilgrim 
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