Understanding God's Love – Part 10

Conclusion

We must maintain a carefully balanced perspective as we pursue our study of God's love. God's passionate love for the world cannot be isolated from His particular love for the elect and vice versa. Nor is God's provisional love and His particular love in opposition to each other like some kind of yin-yang principle. The various kinds of God's love are constant, perfect, without ebb and flow.

Some people say, "I don't like this kind of tension." But here is my advice: Learn to live with the tension. People don't like the fact that the Scripture speaks to these issues with tension and they want to remove the tension, but the reality is that there is tension and we better leave it there, because the Bible leaves it there.

Where does The Shepherd's Bible College stand then? Well, we aren't Arminian because the Bible doesn't teach Arminianism. And we aren't hyper-Calvinists because the Bible doesn't teach hyper-Calvinism either. We must endeavour to maintain a biblically balanced approach.

I think that when we discuss God's love and dealings with humankind, we need to stop using sentences that begin "Yes, BUT . . ." and start using sentences that begin, "Yes, AND . . ."

Don't set these five concepts of God's love against each other as if they are mutually exclusive. Instead, embrace all of them equally, and learn to live in the tension.

God Himself is immutable – unchanging. He is not loving one moment and wrathful the next. His wrath coexists with His love; therefore the two never contradict. Such are the perfections of God that we can never begin to comprehend these things. Above all, we must not set them against one another, as if there were somehow a discrepancy in God. God is always true to Himself and true to His Word (words adapted from John MacArthur, The Love of God (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996), 18).

Ephesians 3:19 explains that Christ's love surpasses knowledge. May we rest in the knowledge of what God has revealed of Himself in Scripture, determine not to go beyond what stands written (1 Corinthians 4:6), and learn to live in the biblical tension of a love that cannot be fully understood by limited human minds.

Understanding God's Love – Part 9

Review Questions

Here are three review questions just to see if we are on the same page. . .

Question #1 – Does God love everyone in exactly the same way? Yes/No?

If we consider the five objects of God's love already mentioned, we would answer this way . . .

Yes, God loves everyone in exactly the same way when it comes to His providential love for His creation (see part 4), and yes, God loves everyone in exactly the same way when it comes to His passionate love for the world (see part 5). In other words, God shows His love for everyone by providing His common grace to both believers and unbelievers, and God shows His love through Christ's death at Calvary which was sufficient to pay for the sins of everyone who has ever lived.

But, no it is not true that God loves everyone in exactly the same way when it comes to His particular love for His chosen saints (see part 6). God chose some to be saved and therefore they experience His particular love in a way others do not. In the same way that we select a spouse for marriage, Christ also has selected a bride for Himself.

Question #2 – Is God's love always unconditional? Yes/No?

Yes, God loves unconditionally when it comes to His particular love for His elect saints (see part 6). There was nothing in and of ourselves that was worthy of God's love. He loved us unconditionally, chose us while we were yet sinners to be His forever, and placed no demands on us in order to secure His forgiveness.

But, no it is not true that God loves unconditionally when it comes to His provisional love for those who disobey Him (see part 7). If we want to experience the full blessing and expression of God's love on a daily basis then we ought to obey His commandments. By living according to His Word, we confirm in our own consciences that we belong to God, and thereby we abide in His love.

Question #3 – Can God's love be earned? Yes/No?

Yes, God's love can be earned when it comes to His provisional love for those who obey Him (see part 7). In fact, Christians are commanded to keep themselves in God's love (Jude 21).

But, it is impossible to earn God's love when it comes to His passionate love for the world (see part 5) and His particular love for His chosen saints (see part 6). In these categories, if God's love could be earned, our salvation would be based on our own effort. Any kind of works-based gospel flies in the face of Ephesians 2:8-9 which declares, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast."

As you can see, the answers to these questions are not easy. We cannot afford to reduce our responses down to dogmatic "yes/no" answers.

What then should be our response to these tensions in God's love? I will answer that question in a final post tomorrow.

Understanding God's Love – Part 8

Imbalanced Approaches

If God's love for His creation (i.e., provisional love) and for the world (i.e., passionate love) are overemphasized while His love for the elect (i.e., particular love) and for those who obey Him (i.e., provisional love) are negated, then the result is Universalism – the idea that God so loves everyone that He would never send any of them to an eternal punishment. The heresy of Universalism comes as a result of the misappropriation of God's love for sinners.

Similarly, if we overemphasize God's love for the world (i.e., passionate love) to the neglect of the other aspects of God's love and a biblical understanding of His sovereignty, then the result will be Arminianism – a man-centred approach to the gospel that robs God of His glory and exalts man and his choices.

Alternatively, if we overemphasize God's love for His elect saints (i.e., particular love) and strip God of His love for the world (i.e., passionate love), the result will be hyper-Calvinism – the view that says that God has no compassion for the lost and does not care for them in any way. This error can lead Christians to give up their evangelistic activities because they do not see their efforts as necessary.

In addition, if we overly stress God's love for only those who obey Him (i.e., provisional love) then we might be led to a works-based system of salvation and/or sanctification wherein we are constantly burdened by legalistic attempts to maintain our own salvation in our own strength.

This is just a sampling of errors which can creep in if we allow ourselves to set the various objects of God's love against each other in an exclusive manner. There are eternal consequences when we "absolutize" any one of these categories.

So, how do we know if we have all of these aspects of God's love in balance? Tomorrow, I'll provide some test questions for you to see how you're doing.

Understanding God's Love – Part 7

5. The Provisional Love of God

Now we come to the fifth object of God's love – namely, obedient saints. There is a sense in which Christians who are faithful to obey God's commands encounter God's expression of love in a way that disobedient Christians do not. We have entitled this God's provisional love – a love which is conditional, because it depends on a believer's obedience. I am not speaking at all about how one becomes a believer, but rather I am referring to the life of a believer after salvation.

In Jude 21, the brother of our Lord Jesus commanded his readers saying, "Keep yourselves in the love of God." Naturally, one must ask, "How can this be achieved?" Simply stated, since Jude's command requires our obedience, one must assume that God's love is in some way conditioned upon our conformity to His will.

Similarly, Jesus said, "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love" (John 15:10). Jesus' provisional love is conditioned upon keeping Jesus' commands.

My parents expressed their love and affection for me much more when I was obedient than when I was disobedient. Now, of course, they loved me no matter what, and that would never change, but there was an even greater expression of love to me when I lived within the boundaries of their instruction.

So it is with God's provisional love.

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In summary then, there are five objects of God's love: [1] the other members of the Trinity, [2] the creation, [3] the world, [4] the elect, and [5] those who faithfully obey him.

But our understanding and application of God's love must be balanced otherwise terrible theological and practical implications arise. See tomorrow what happens if any one of the objects of God's love are "absolutized" to the detriment of the others.

Understanding God's Love – Part 6

4. The Particular Love of God

God's particular love relates to His predetermined sovereign choice of some to be saved. God's elect saints are the fourth object of God's love. The New Testament declares;

"He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us" (Ephesians 1:4-8, emphasis added).

There are not many biblical doctrines that have met such opposition as the doctrine of election. Some Christians argue that predestination makes God an unjust and unfair god who selfishly manipulates people to forcibly respond to Him, while He passes over others with contempt. In short, they argue that sovereign election is not loving at all. But, one must not miss the fact that according to Scripture, predestination is a loving act: "He chose us . . . in love, He predestined . . ." (Ephesians 1:4-5).

When Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel in the synagogue at Pisidian Antioch, Luke records that "as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed" (Acts 13:48). In other words, those who had been chosen by God before the foundation of the world responded positively in faith to the message preached by the apostles. What a loving act of God! This was His particular love in action!

To the disciples, Jesus said, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain . . ." (John 15:16). What a shock to the disciples who had been thinking all along that they were in control of their own decisions to love and follow Christ. Actually, Jesus had first lovingly chosen them.

Now, as previously stated, some Christians do not accept the reality of the particular love of God. To these I say, it is not wrong that God would choose to love some more than He loves others. In the same way, we choose to love a life-partner as a spouse and extend particular love to that partner while not extending it to others. We love that chosen person even more than we love our neighbour, even though we are commanded in the New Testament to love both (Matthew 22:39; Ephesians 5:25-28).

Second Timothy 1:9 declares: "[God] has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity."

In 1 Thessalonians 1:4 Paul says, "knowing, brethren beloved by God, His choice of you."

Surely, we cannot deny the fact that God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) and drew us toward Him. Praise God for His sovereign particular love! Without it, we would be lost.

The everlasting and powerful continuance of God's particular love for His chosen saints is seen in Romans 8:35 when the Apostle Paul asks, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" The obvious answer to that rhetorical question is that no one can do such a thing. Paul concludes, "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

God loves His elect saints in a particular sense. They are the fourth object of His love. But is there any sense in which even believers encounter a greater or lesser expression of God's love? I believe the answer is yes. I'll transition next to a conditional love of God – one that is dependent upon obedience.

Understanding God's Love – Part 5

3. The Passionate Love of God

God loves the world. This simple statement has divided many theologians who disagree on the meaning of the noun world. The term world appears in several New Testament passages. John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. In John 1:29, John the Baptist said about Jesus, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" In 1 John 2:2, Jesus Christ the righteous "is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world." It is important to interpret the term world correctly because entire theological systems are dependent upon such understanding.

A. W. Pink promoted the idea that God did not love the world, but rather He loved the world of believers (Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1930), 314). Pink said, "God loves whom He chooses. He does not love everybody" (Ibid., 29-30), and, "The love of God is a truth for the saints only, and to present it to the enemies of God is to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs" (Ibid., 246). Pink's concern to preserve the sovereignty of God in salvation is commendable, but unfortunately he went too far.

Regarding John 3:16, John MacArthur says, "We must interpret the expression world in verses 16 and 17 as broadly as we understand the same word in verse 19. . . . Clearly the word world has a universal and corporate aspect that envelops more than just the elect alone. God's love is for the world in general, the human race, all humanity" (John MacArthur, The Love of God (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996), 86). MacArthur's caution is important. A look at the near context surrounding John 3:16 reveals that world is used elsewhere to refer to all of humankind. How then can we arbitrarily limit the general term to point to just a select group of saved believers in verse 16? We can't.

Paul was clear in Titus 3:4-5 when he said, ". . . when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us." God loves humankind and His expression of love is especially expressed to sinful men in Jesus Christ.

We have entitled God's love for the world His passionate love. He loved the world so passionately, that He was willing to send His only Son to die for that world – and of course that world included unbelievers. The world (i.e., all people) is the third object of God's love.

In Mark 12:31, Jesus commanded: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." Jesus does not ask us to walk in a manner in which He Himself does not walk. If we are to love our neighbours, and indeed love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), we can assume that God Himself does the very same for His enemies whether or not they will one day respond to His love by seeking His forgiveness for sins committed against Him. God loves His enemies, therefore God loves all people – yes, even the unsaved – yes, even the whole world.

So God has a passionate love for the world, but He also has another – more selective – kind of love also. I'll present it tomorrow.

Understanding God's Love – Part 4

2. The Providential Love of God

When God had finished creating the universe as we know it, He described it as being "very good." His love and care for His creation can be seen throughout the Bible. This feature of God's love – namely, God's providential love – is often referred to as His common grace.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "[The Father] causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). Similarly, when Paul and Barnabas were preaching in Lystra, they proclaimed to the worshipers of Zeus that "in the generations gone by [God] permitted all the nations to go their own ways, and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness (Acts 14:16-17). God's providential love was enjoyed by people of all nations and all religions.

When Jesus Christ walked on the earth, He indiscriminately healed the sick, delivered the demon-possessed, raised the dead, provided for the hungry, and showed care to outcasts. His love for people was not dependent upon their ethnicity, lifestyle, or religious affiliation. He showered thousands of people with His providential love. These thousands are representative of the billions of people that are, in a cumulative sense, the second object of God's love.

God's common grace – His providential love – means that believers and unbelievers throughout the centuries have been able to enjoy the fruit of the earth and the joys of life. God built into every single man and woman the ability to enjoy music, art, food, poetry, beauty, architecture, sexual fulfilment, laughter, scientific discovery, medical breakthroughs, the love of a child, the satisfaction of a hard day's work, and the safety of living under God-ordained government that enforces social justice. Of course, this is not to say that all people have enjoyed all of these joys all of the time in every century and in every location, but it does mean that when they have, it's because God has showered them with His providential love.

Now, while Trinitarian love may be described as God's perfect love and His providential love may be considered a natural outflow of God's appreciation for His creation, the true potential of God's agapē love remained untested until it was confronted by a fallen, hard-hearted, and unresponsive world. Next, I'll look at God's love for sinful beings.

Understanding God's Love – Part 3

1. The Perfect Love of God

The first object of God's love is seen within the Trinity. The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father. We have entitled this the perfect love of God because the loving relationships within the Godhead are entirely and equally reciprocal. Since the members of the Trinity are holy, the relationships enjoyed are entirely without sin. Therefore, the love expressed within the Trinity is never embellished by imperfection. Forgiveness, which may be thought of as an outcome of agapē love, need never been extended within the Trinity because the members of the Trinity need never be forgiven. Therefore, the love experienced is perfect in both directions.

In John 3:35, John the Baptist, speaking about the first and second members of the Trinity, said, "The Father loves the Son." In John 15:9, Jesus affirmed the same truth to the disciples, saying, "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you." Later in John 17:24, Jesus said, "Father . . . Thou didst love Me before the foundation of the world."

In the same way, the Son loves the Father. Jesus expressed this in John 14:31 when He explained that the reason why He keeps His Father's commandments was "that the world may know that I love the Father."

Wayne Grudem explains: "This eternal love of the Father for the Son, the Son for the Father, and [presumably] of both for the Holy Spirit makes heaven a world of love and joy because each person of the Trinity seeks to bring joy and happiness to the other two" (Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 199).

Love within the triune Godhead, may be considered natural and expected, but does God extend His love to objects outside the Trinity? Tomorrow, I'll address God's love for His creation.

Understanding God's Love – Part 2

Definition of God's Love

The Apostle John says, "God is love" (1 John 4:8). The text does not say "God loves", as if love was simply one of the many actions of God, and it does not say "God is loving", as if love was simply one of His many attributes. Rather the phrase, "God is love", explains that love pervades and influences all of God's attributes (John MacArthur, The Love of God (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996), 29).

Agapē, the Greek word used in 1 John 4:8 for love, refers not to a fleeting feeling or emotional attraction, but to a sacrificial commitment to the ultimate good of another person. "God's love means that God eternally gives of Himself to others" (Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1994), 198).

An agapē love "loves the object irrespective of the worth of the object and even though the love may not be reciprocated" (Paul Enns, The Moody Handbook of Theology (Chicago: Moody Press, 1989), 192). Phileo describes brotherly love. Eros describes everything from romantic love to sexual passion. "Phileo is sometimes used as a synonym for agapē, but generally the word agapē is used as a more refined and elevated term. In the sense that John uses it here, agapē is unique to God. He is the sole source of it" (John MacArthur, The Love of God, 31).

God's love may be defined as "that perfection of the divine nature by which God is eternally moved to communicate Himself. It is not a mere emotional impulse, but a rational and voluntary affection, having its ground in truth and holiness and its exercise in free choice" (Henry C. Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, revised by Vernon D. Doerksen (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1979), 86).

God's love is a wonderful expression of His character – one that He alone has manifest perfectly. But who does God love? I have five answers to that question – the first comes in my next blog post, tomorrow.

Understanding God's Love – Part 1

Introduction

Universalism, Arminianism, Calvinism, hyper-Calvinism – how do we understand these terms and what implications do they have for us? Often the words are thrown around without much understanding. We find it so easy to associate Bible teachers, churches, Bible colleges, and seminaries with one or more of these theological camps so that we can justify ourselves when we write them off as "religious nuts of a different ilk".

Which theological camp does The Shepherd's Bible College belong to? The answer is not as easy as you might think. In some ways the theological categories are an unfair way of evaluating anyone's position. First, the terms themselves are often misunderstood. Second, the Bible doesn't employ these theological categories. Caution is needed.

How then can we come to grips with God's dealings with humankind? Is everyone saved in the end? Does every individual have the same opportunity to be saved? Are we sovereign over our own destiny? Does God make this decision for us? Should we passionately preach the gospel? Should we just relax?

I think these questions are fair and I believe the Word of God answers them. I'd like to suggest that these questions can be summed up in one ultimate question: Who does God love? If we can answer that question, then our discussions regarding the gospel might go a little easier.

Over the next few days I'll post several instalments on this blog that deal with the question: Who does God love? I trust it will stimulate some good dialogue.

Much of my thinking has come as a result of listening to a sermon by Scott Ardavanis of Placerita Baptist Church in Newhall, California. If there are any misrepresentations of God's Word, I'll take responsibility for those.

Tomorrow, I'll try to briefly describe God's agapē love.

Catching Up

Well, it has been a long time since my last blog post. What an embarrassment :).

I had been planning to keep you updated with ministry activities, waiting for something significant to happen, only to look back now over the past two months and realise that many important ministry events have come and gone. Shame on me.

Let me provide a quick review:

• I finished the last round of Doctor of Ministry seminars in Los Angeles. Just a dissertation to go now!
• Sereena and I celebrated our 20^th wedding anniversary and enjoyed a vacation on the East Coast of America
• We visited two TSBC graduates who recently started studies at The Master's Seminary in LA – Grant Watson and Reuben Pickering
• Two TSBC students became engaged to be married. Congratulations Josh Powell and Michelle Ward
• I conducted a weekend block course on the subject of preaching here in Hastings
• A number of new students were enrolled in semester two at The Shepherd's Bible College
• I am teaching through the Pauline epistles right now and having a blast in the New Testament Survey course
• Two TSBC faculty members are ministering overseas right now. Russell Hohneck is preaching in several churches in Australia. Donald Stevenson is ministering in Zambia
• I conducted weekend workshops on the End Times at Wellsford, north of Auckland. We had a wonderful time at Community Bible Church, Rodney.
• I preached at Riverbend Bible Church this past Sunday on "Understanding the Love of God"

So yeah, it's been a busy time for me and the other faculty members at The Shepherd's Bible College. I constantly thank God for the privilege of ministry. Please keep praying for us.