Is God's love unconditional? Part 2

(Me to Todd) I want to make sure I covered the question: is God's love unconditional?  I'm using the following as the definition for unconditional: (a) complete; (b) not limited by conditions.

a. Jesus is the only way to salvation; he paid it all, thus is complete.  
John 3:17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me
Romans 3:23-24
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, yes, I think scripture is clear that Jesus is the only way to salvation -- He completely fulfills salvation (and the scriptures for that matter!).  Since Jesus = God, and God = love, then God's love is complete.  Unconditional, if you will.

b. God's love is not limited by conditions.
This has been the hardest piece to wrap my mind around because there are a lot of "if, then" statements in the Bible.  So, I have to go back to God's character.  The thing that resonates over and over again is that God is just.

Deut. 32:4
"The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.

Isaiah 30:18
Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.  For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

Revelation 15:3
And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, "Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty, Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!

God's ways are just.  However, we don't like boundaries and so we tend to think He is hurting us when, in fact, He is working out justice.  I think the parent/child relationship exhibits this most clearly -- a parent may love their child unconditionally (and ideally so!), but they will still discipline and correct their children (which, in fact, is loving).

I think the crux of this is that overall, our society has a very skewed view of love.  We don't see boundaries and discipline as love.  Too often, love is seen as getting what you want and/or being happy.  But that isn't love.

1 Cor. 13:4-13
Love is patient and kind...Love never ends...So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Romans 13:10
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Love fulfills the law and only Jesus can do that; we cannot.  Since we cannot fully abide by/fulfill the law, we deserve punishment, which is death.  I think it is easier to see this for believers, yet harder to grasp for the unbeliever -- is God being loving if/when He condemns someone to hell?  I have to say yes.  I may not like it or fully understand it, but I know God is just and He is love.  And so, I trust that if He does that, it is out of love.  I have continued to find Isaiah 55:8-9 a comfort in such matters.

In conclusion, I say with a resounding "yes" that God's love is unconditional.