Is love toward the Creator an effortless, warm sentiment, or is it an active, costly moral obligation? We deconstruct the scriptural definition of divine love and cross-examine it against secular critiques of evil, Buddhist detachment, Islamic transcendence, Christian antinomianism, and evolutionary biology.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Reactionary Love: Human devotion is never self-initiated; it is an appreciative response to God's initial love and provision (1 John 4:19).
• The Weight of the Ransom: Undeserved kindness was demonstrated when Christ died to settle humanity's unpayable debt while we were yet sinners (John 3:16; Rom 5:8).
• Love Defined as Obedience: True devotion is not mere emotion; Scripture defines loving God as observing His protective commandments (1 John 5:3; John ...