If God is love, why do we need to have faith or worry about judgment? A popular belief in the modern church is that a loving God wouldn’t send people to hell. I’m noticing this philosophy more and more. People believe in Heaven but don’t want to believe there is a hell for those outside of the faith. This begs the question, if there is no hell, then why did Jesus need to die on the cross to save us?
In a recent X post, I wrote about our choice of where we spend eternity with the scripture reference of John 3:36 (NIV) and someone responded “Crazy text! God is infinite and unconditional love for us all. He has no wrath.” The comment stunned me, so I set out to explore the subject of why faith is still necessary and why God’s love and wrath are not contradictions but part of His perfect justice.
God Is Love. But That’s Not All He Is
Yes, 1 John 4:8 (NIV) says “God is love,” but that’s not the only description of Him. Scripture also says God is holy (Isaiah 6:3), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), and that He expresses wrath against sin (Romans 1:18). When we only acknowledge part of His character, we miss the entire purpose of Him dying on the cross for our sins. He died because He loves us but also to remove the guilty sentence for our sins.
God’s love offers us mercy; His justice demands a response to sin. But our free will allows us to decide how we will respond to that mercy. God’s love doesn’t cancel His justice. Instead, it completes it. Love is God’s nature, and accepting Jesus is our response to that love. When we don’t accept Jesus, then God is not with us and we face a different future.
Misconceptions About Hell and Wrath
Many believe a loving God wouldn’t allow hell to exist, but this misconstrues both love and justice. We find the Bible mentions God’s wrath over 600 times in the Bible, both directly and indirectly. God’s wrath is not a tantrum like a child might throw when they didn’t get their way. Instead, it’s a measured, holy response to evil and rebellion against God’s ways. Hell exists not because God is unloving, but because He honors free will and hates the destruction sin brings.
Narratives like the flood in Genesis, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the plagues in Egypt are all examples of God’s wrath in action. The New Testament also speaks of God’s wrath, particularly in relation to final judgment and the consequences of rejecting Jesus Christ. As I mentioned early, John 3:36 (NIV) shows us: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
Another way to look at this situation is with a judge in our court system. A righteous judge can love a criminal’s soul but still sentence them for justice to be served. So, when we sin, there is a sentence to be served unless we accept Christ and let Him forgive our sins. God is our bails bond and Christ’s death is the collateral that ensures our eternity in heaven.
The Cross — Where Love and Wrath Meet
The cross of Christ is the clearest picture of both God’s love and wrath. To save us through faith, God poured out his wrath on Jesus for sin. The cross is not just about love. It’s about what it cost God to extend that love justly (Romans 5:9). If there were no wrath, the cross would be unnecessary.
Why Faith Matters So Deeply?
Faith isn’t about fearing judgement. It’s about trusting in the love God showed through Jesus. Without faith, we reject the only path to escape the coming judgment as mentioned in 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV): “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” Love gives us the offer of salvation; faith accepts it. Without that faith, our final destination is eternal separation from the love of God.
Love Without Truth Is Dangerous
A “love-only” version of God is incomplete because it ignores sin, judgment, and the need for a Savior. True love tells the truth, including hard truths about sin and consequences. Jesus spoke of hell more than anyone else in Scripture (e.g., Matthew 10:28), not to scare us, but to call us to faith and rescue us from it.
Conclusion to the Theory God is Love Only
Faith isn’t just a religious checkbox. It’s the only way to enter a genuine relationship with God and without that relationship, we will face God’s wrath. God’s love is infinite, but so is His justice, and faith saves us from wrath through grace.
So let me finish up by asking this question; A loving God made a way for you to be saved; will you respond in faith today?
Prayer to Accept Jesus
Heavenly Father, I come to you as a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that Jesus Christ is your Son and the Savior of the world. And I believe He died for my sins and rose again to give me a new life. I turn away from my sins and I ask you to forgive me. I receive Jesus as Lord of my life and commit to following Him. Please forgive me for believing that God is love only. Thank you for this new beginning and the opportunity to spend eternity with you
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Yvonne M. Morgan is a Christian #author, #blogger, and #speaker. #BibleGatewayPartner
Matthew 28:19 “Therefore, GO and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
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Faith brings us closer to God. We may not always understand what and why something happens. But, our trust and faith is found in knowing God. Have a blessed day! 🙂
Thanks Melissa. So many things are hard to understand around us but faith helps get us through. Blessings to you
Your message is well written, persuasive, and spells out the truth for us. A parent loves their child, but discipline is administered in appropriate ways when the child strays from guidelines set by parents. That’s love in action. Our heavenly Father is love, but we are held accountable when we stray from His guidelines. As you point out, if we didn’t need to be saved from sin and death, God wouldn’t have sent Jesus as our Savior.
Thanks Katherine. So many people only want the loving God. We need a mighty Savior. Blessings to you
Jesus came with grace and truth. The judge of the world will do right. Great post showing why we need a Savior.
Thanks Debbie. We all do need a Savior. God bless.
Yvonne, this is such a powerful message and you did a great job unpacking this misconception and lie even. So thankful love and wrath met at the cross. And like how you note that love without truth is dangerous! Yes! God is both love and truth equally. He wouldn’t be God if He didn’t possess justice. God bless!
Thanks so much Karen. I appreciate it. It is a very important message in our culture today. God bless.
Great post, Yvonne. You cleared out the chaff and presented raw truth. Our relationship with Jesus is everything.
Thank you Priscilla. Our relationship with Jesus is our everything. God bless.
You are so right – while God is love, God is also so big we cannot possible define him, so we must remember that what we consider “love” includes other things, too! And hell is VERY much real. Jesus talked quite a lot about hell. We need faith. Sometimes we walk through difficult times, but we can have faith and joyful hope that God will see us through.
You are so right Jessica. Many have made our God so small that they think they don’t need Him. We all need Him. God bless
Thank you for this powerful, biblical teaching, Yvonne. I have run into many people who have designed their own version of God from their imagination, not from God’s Word. Thank you for laying this out plainly. Love is not really love, if we don’t tell the truth. Love is not really love without justice. Well done. May we pray for more people to understand God in His fullness as He defines Himself. For God is God.
Thank you Melissa. It is sad to see how some have reduced our Savior to a cliche. We have to accept all of God. God bless.