And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Matthew 24:12
Cold love is no love and no love is not God’s way
If anyone claims to love Jesus and hates their brother, they lie
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he hath not seen? 1 John 4:20
There are a lot of liars walking around
There are no excuses
People need to toss out their reliance on their own good works
and remember that we will answer to Jesus for each and every deed
Our own righteousness will mean nothing to Him
So, if we are hating another because we have given ourselves
an elevated position in God’s kingdom
because we think our works are great, we may very well be rejected
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31
Much of man’s doctrine contains conditional love
That is not God’s way
God wants us to love all, from our brethren to our enemies
and everyone in between
The Parables of
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
and
The Good Samaritan
remind us what God is looking for
He is not looking for self-righteousness
He is not looking for good works so we can build our stature
He is not looking for ways for us to gain merits for the Kingdom of God
He is looking for pure dedication toward Him and honor of His word