I understand the statement to mean that God does not force His creatures to receive His love, that is, to accept it and reciprocate it.

So it's only natural that you would quote from the section of the SDABC which was written by Maxwell...

I bring up a quote that was relevant to the discussion. Do you disagree with the quote as green does? I'll bet you actually agree with the quotation, while green does not.

Oh - do you have a list of who wrote what in the SDABC? Also, if someone is the primary author, did it undergo any editorial changes? If there were changes, were they documented?

It is best to see what is said, and see if what was said can be corroborated by scripture or EGW. In this case, it could! Green just can't see it.

The SDA Bible Commentary was published while I was studying for the ministry, and finished some time after that. The procedure was explained to us, and I do not think the views of a single contributor found its way to the final edition of the commentary without it being edited to reflect either a majority opinion or else more than one view is expressed as a possibility.

That is one reason I find it strange that a person can find him/herself comfortable in our church while being critical of the general tenor of this commentary. But then at least we are aware of what kind of character we are dealing with.

And why should you be translating this commentary into your own language, Rosangela, if the commentary is not deemed helpful to our people whose native language is Portuguese?

Several of the writers of the commentary were my teachers and others were fellow students who were doing graduate studies in the area where they were writing, or honing their knowledge of the Biblical languages to help them understand the text correctly.

It was great rubbing shoulders with these people of experience in a spiritual atmosphere.

God does use force to give people a chance to change from their path of evil, we see it time and time again. Here we see it with Pharaoh...
Exodus 11
King James Version (KJV)

4 And Moses said, Thus saith the Lord, About midnight will I go out into the midst of Egypt:5 And all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of beasts.6 And there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there was none like it, nor shall be like it any more.

Exodus 12
12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

29 And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.30 And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.

Now how about the example of Balaam and the Angel of the Lord, what was going to happen...
Numbers 22 (King James Version)
21 And Balaam rose up in the morning, and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.22 And God's anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.23 And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and the ass turned aside out of the way, and went into the field: and Balaam smote the ass, to turn her into the way.24 But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side.25 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall: and he smote her again.26 And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place, where was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.27 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam: and Balaam's anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?29 And Balaam said unto the ass, Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.30 And the ass said unto Balaam, Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? was I ever wont to do so unto thee? and he said, Nay.31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand: and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.

Scripture is very clear what the donkey saved Balaam from...

32 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me:33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her alive.

Rick, read ALL the scripture that describes this event of the Exodus, and what picture emerges? Read Pslams 78, remembering from Romans 1 that God's wrath is His giving up, letting go, handing over. And you read of the destruction, remember this (quoting as it is printed, I added nothing):

Psalms 78:49 He sent against them his fierce anger,
    rage and indignation and trouble,
    a band of destroying [Literally “evil”] angels.

What makes some people so uncomfortable when they hear of the love of God?

The human mind does not discern the kingdom of love, or does it?

Pastor Johann, just to clarify: my remark to APL was intended to be a humorous remark. Yes, the comments of the individual contributors were edited to reflect the opinion of the majority, and what I was told was that Maxwell didn't like the changes that were made to his original text. No, I'm not critical of the general tenor of this commentary, and I've never said I was, although there may be a few occasional remarks I'm not in agreement with. This is not the case, however, with the section APL quoted. And no, I've never said the commentary wouldn't be helpful to our people whose native language is Portuguese - I said just the opposite. I think you are confusing my remarks with someone else's. My mother is experiencing health problems and this forces me to limit my participation in the forum at this moment.