There are those who are saying, “SALVATION... IS OUR LIFE IN CHRIST. IT IS RELATIONAL. IT IS GROUNDED IN GOD'S LOVE WHICH HE SHARES WITH US and GOD WILL NOT FORCE US TO LOVE. Rather IT IS A RECIPROCAL RELATIONSHIP in which WE CHOOSE (FREELY) TO PARTICIPATE, OR NOT.”
Of course, God will never force anyone to love Him. And He does not need to!
If we see any physical beauty, or anything that would greatly attract our attention, our tendency is to like it, or to love it! We don’t need to be forced, be threatened, or be convinced into admiring it.
God is not only the Creator of physical and spiritual beauty. He Himself is of Supreme Attractiveness – whose Beauty and Splendour cannot be described adequately by human words! Perhaps, only our reactions could indicate how glorious He is! When Moses had a glimpse of it, his face became radiant (Ex. 34:29). When the proud king Nebuchadnezzar was made to realize it, he was humbled. King David was greatly longing for it:
“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” (Ps. 27:4).
How about the reaction of the believers, as described by Peter? They were “filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy” (1 Peter 1:8)! They did not perceive Christ with their physical eyes, but only with their “eyes of faith” – yet, they loved Him and were greatly joyful!
Now, if you have your so-called free will, yet you do not know, or you cannot perceive God’s Attractiveness, are you able to love Him? Perhaps, what you can do is to practice auto-suggestion and just repeat several times to yourself that you love God.
But how can you really love God whom you cannot see?
The Sovereign God does not force us to love Him. We can only love Him -- not by making us robots, but by making us WILLING and ABLE -- by giving us His Holy Spirit. We read in Romans 5:5, “…God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Also in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
Salvation is by grace. It is not our choice. God chose us. “It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy” (Rom. 9:16).
And we can know whom He had chosen. Paul wrote: “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction…” (1 Thess. 1:4-5) – not only they have love for God and able to rejoice in spite of various trials, they have also “with deep conviction” – they believe (Acts 13:48).
