Dear Charlemagne, First I want to say that I find your choice in names quite interesting and would find it of interest as to how you came to choose this name, I also want to welcome you to the forum.

Now, as for your question, something my current youth minister has said comes to mind, 'Good Intentions Do Not Always Equal Good Deeds/Actions.' I think that this is true. I would say that the Bible tells us that we are to 1st Love God with all that we are and that we are to then Love our Neighbors as Ourselves, but I would point out that the Bible also says to be Perfect as the Father is Perfect (the last verse of Matthew 5). Also, love is a very general term in English and so we must understand what type of love the Bible is telling us to love with, and that I believe is the Agape (Godly love), though I do not have at this present moment a greek interliner with me. I must say that I agree with SemperReformanda and Pilgrim, the Bible is the standard given to men to judge wether an action is sin or not. I don't know that that is specific enough though, and I would point you towards Romans 14:23b which I personally use as the definition of sin. I would therefore say that anything not done in faith to glorify God is sin, and that is why I shudder at the depravity of man, b/c it is such a wide contrast between what I am and do as vs. what I should be and do.

As for God, I had to learn this the hard way, that God is sovereign. The only way God can be held back is by Himself and His desires. That means that only b/c of God's very character which He Himself has determined to have can God be in any way even remotely limited. God cannot be stopped simply b/c love compels him to stop or b/c He has said He will or will not do something, but whatever God does must flow from His very character and desire in His purposeful actions. To say that Love determines wether an act is righteouss or not means that God to be righteouss must act in love and I do not believe that to be true all of the time, God does not love sin nor does He love the devil or any hellbound creature. He may be benevolent b/c it suits His purpose, but God's love does not over ride Him or His purposes or His mental Processes. If that were the case then Love would be greater and pre-existant to God. No, God determines what is Righteouss. IF God were to love what we call sin now, then sin would be righteouss. But praise God that God has chosen to Love Mercy and Compassion and Kindness and has Chosen in His wisdom and for His purpose to have these qualities in Abundence, especially towards us who are being saved.

SO simply put, Love cannot be the objective standard for Righteoussness, not only b/c it isn't objective but b/c it would undermine God's authority. I'm quite able to go on and quite happy to, but I doubt that would be well received by everyone, so I'm just going to shut up now.
Again, welcome to the board.

-Brother Luke