Posted on 08/01/2005 8:16:45 PM PDT by buckeyesrule
Does God So Love the World?
by: John MacArthur
Love is the best known but least understood of all God's attributes. Almost everyone who believes in God these days sees Him as a God of love. I have even met agnostics who are quite certain that if God exists, He must be benevolent, compassionate, and loving.
All those things are infinitely true about God, of course, but not in the way most people think. Because of the influence of modern liberal theology, many suppose that God's love and goodness ultimately nullify His righteousness, justice, and holy wrath. They envision God as a benign heavenly grandfather-tolerant, affable, lenient, permissive, devoid of any real displeasure over sin, who without consideration of His holiness will benignly pass over sin and accept people as they are.
Liberal thinking about God's love also permeates much of evangelicalism today. We have lost the reality of God's wrath. We have disregarded His hatred for sin. The God most evangelicals now describe is all-loving and not at all angry. We have forgotten that "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31). We do not believe in that kind of God anymore.
We must recapture some of the holy terror that comes with a right understanding of God's righteous anger. We need to remember that God's wrath does burn against impenitent sinners (Psalm 38:1-3). That reality is the very thing that makes His love so amazing. Only those who see themselves as sinners in the hands of an angry God can fully appreciate the magnitude and wonder of His love.
In that regard, our generation is surely at a greater disadvantage than any previous age. We have been force-fed the doctrines of self-esteem for so long that most people don't really view themselves as sinners worthy of divine wrath. On top of that, religious liberalism, humanism, evangelical compromise, and ignorance of the Scriptures have all worked against a right understanding of who God is. Ironically, in an age that conceives of God as wholly loving, altogether devoid of wrath, few people really understand what God's love is all about.
How we address the misconception of the present age is crucial. We must not respond to an overemphasis on divine love by denying that God is love. Our generation's imbalanced view of God cannot be corrected by an equal imbalance in the opposite direction, a very real danger in some circles. I'm deeply concerned about a growing trend I've noticed-particularly among people committed to the biblical truth of God's sovereignty and divine election. Some of them flatly deny that God in any sense loves those whom He has not chosen for salvation.
I am troubled by the tendency of some-often young people newly infatuated with Reformed doctrine-who insist that God cannot possibly love those who never repent and believe. I encounter that view, it seems, with increasing frequency.
The argument inevitably goes like this: Psalm 7:11 tells us "God is angry with the wicked every day." It seems reasonable to assume that if God loved everyone, He would have chosen everyone unto salvation. Therefore, God does not love the non-elect. Those who hold this view often go to great lengths to argue that John 3:16 cannot really mean God loves the whole world.
Perhaps the best-known argument for this view is found the unabridged edition of an otherwise excellent book, The Sovereignty of God, by A. W. Pink. Pink wrote, "God loves whom He chooses. He does not love everybody." [1] He further argued that the word world in John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world…") "refers to the world of believers (God's elect), in contradistinction from 'the world of the ungodly.'"[2]
Pink was attempting to make the crucial point that God is sovereign in the exercise of His love. The gist of his argument is certainly valid: It is folly to think that God loves all alike, or that He is compelled by some rule of fairness to love everyone equally. Scripture teaches us that God loves because He chooses to love (Deuteronomy 7:6-7), because He is loving (God is love, 1 John 4:8), not because He is under some obligation to love everyone the same.
Nothing but God's own sovereign good pleasure compels Him to love sinners. Nothing but His own sovereign will governs His love. That has to be true, since there is certainly nothing in any sinner worthy of even the smallest degree of divine love.
Unfortunately, Pink took the corollary too far. The fact that some sinners are not elected to salvation is no proof that God's attitude toward them is utterly devoid of sincere love. We know from Scripture that God is compassionate, kind, generous, and good even to the most stubborn sinners. Who can deny that those mercies flow out of God's boundless love? It is evident that they are showered even on unrepentant sinners.
We must understand that it is God's very nature to love. The reason our Lord commanded us to love our enemies is "in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). Jesus clearly characterized His Father as One who loves even those who purposefully set themselves at enmity against Him.
At this point, however, an important distinction must be made: God loves believers with a particular love. God's love for the elect is an infinite, eternal, saving love. We know from Scripture that this great love was the very cause of our election (Ephesians 2:4). Such love clearly is not directed toward all of mankind indiscriminately, but is bestowed uniquely and individually on those whom God chose in eternity past.
But from that, it does not follow that God's attitude toward those He did not elect must be unmitigated hatred. Surely His pleading with the lost, His offers of mercy to the reprobate, and the call of the gospel to all who hear are all sincere expressions of the heart of a loving God. Remember, He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but tenderly calls sinners to turn from their evil ways and live.
Reformed theology has historically been the branch of evangelicalism most strongly committed to the sovereignty of God. At the same time, the mainstream of Reformed theologians have always affirmed the love of God for all sinners. John Calvin himself wrote regarding John 3:16, "[Two] points are distinctly stated to us: namely, that faith in Christ brings life to all, and that Christ brought life, because the Father loves the human race, and wishes that they should not perish." [3]
Calvin continues to explain the biblical balance that both the gospel invitation and "the world" that God loves are by no means limited to the elect alone. He also recognized that God's electing, saving love is uniquely bestowed on His chosen ones.
Those same truths, reflecting a biblical balance, have been vigorously defended by a host of Reformed stalwarts, including Thomas Boston, John Brown, Andrew Fuller, W. G. T. Shedd, R. L. Dabney, B. B. Warfield, John Murray, R. B. Kuiper, and many others. In no sense does belief in divine sovereignty rule out the love of God for all humanity.
We are seeing today, in some circles, an almost unprecedented interest in the doctrines of the Reformation and the Puritan eras. I'm very encouraged by that in most respects. A return to those historic truths is, I'm convinced, absolutely necessary if the church is to survive. Yet there is a danger when overzealous souls misuse a doctrine like divine sovereignty to deny God's sincere offer of mercy to all sinners.
We must maintain a carefully balanced perspective as we pursue our study of God's love. God's love cannot be isolated from His wrath and vice versa. Nor are His love and wrath in opposition to each other like some mystical yin-yang principle. Both attributes are constant, perfect, without ebb or flow. 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.
Both God's wrath and His love work to the same ultimate end-His glory. God is glorified in the condemnation of the wicked; He is glorified in every expression of love for all people without exception; and He is glorified in the particular love He manifests in saving His people.
Expressions of wrath and expressions of love-all are necessary to display God's full glory. We must never ignore any aspect of His character, nor magnify one to the exclusion of another. When we commit those errors, we throw off the biblical balance, distort the true nature of God, and diminish His real glory.
Does God so love the world? Emphatically-yes! Proclaim that truth far and wide, and do so against the backdrop of God's perfect wrath that awaits everyone who does not repent and turn to Christ.
Does the love of God differ in the breadth and depth and manner of its expression? Yes it does. Praise Him for the many manifestations of His love, especially toward the non-elect, and rejoice in the particular manifestation of His saving love for you who believe. God has chosen to display in you the glory of His redeeming grace.
[1]Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1930), 29-30.
[2]Ibid., 314.
[3]John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, William Pringle, trans. (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979 reprint), 123.
Adapted from The God Who Loves © 2001 by John MacArthur. All rights reserved.
• Grace to You (Thursday, July 21, 2005)
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It's probably easier to be a four-point pastor. But it is not sound doctrine, IMO. It's self-contradictory.
What God wills comes to pass. Period. We should be rejoicing in that fact, not challenging it.
How is that a personal attack, Doc? He says he's troubled by the view, which seems to be more prevalent among young people newly infatuated with Reformed doctrine, who insist God cannot love the reprobate. Where is he attacking anyone's character, credibility, etc?
I believe that A.W. teaches that the attribute of God is Goodness and that mercy, grace, love, long-suffering, etc. flow from Goodness but that each of the aspects of His Goodness are given as He wills and not all of His creatures receive all that flow from His Goodness, nor do the creatures, necessarily, receive what is given in the same measure.
Again, I challenge you to name ONE Calvinist who says God has no "love of any sort for the reprobate."
This disagreement has come about over semantics. But the result is to divide the Reformed. Not good.
He obviously does extend grace to everybody in the form of common grace.
I think the argument here is over word usage.
It is very clear in Scripture that contrary to our PC version of God, He HATES SINNERS.
However, he is also a God of love. It is a seeming contradiction, but it really isn't.
Now, I say God extends some measure of grace...he restrains his wrath against sinners because of mercy. I just am ancy about using the word love to describe this because the love isn't very loving to me if all God does is say "I won't let you go to hell quite yet" without doing anything to save them.
It is a measure of grace, but not love. God is love, but his full love is manifested in his saving grace.
God does not have love for the non-elect. Show me where Scripture says he does.
He has grace and mercy, but mercy and grace is not the same as full-orbed love.
It is reformed systematic theology, when teaching about the attributes of God, that Goodness is the attribute not Love.
It seems as though, MacArthur views Love as the attribute of God and that Goodness flows from Love.
Is that what you see?
It's a phony argument, and MacArthur knows it.
If "love" means the rain and sun and a satellite dish on your TV, yes, God loves the whole world. It's His creation. God rightly loves what He made, all for His glory.
See Ksen's post #233.
If "love" means saving faith in Jesus Christ, God does not love all the world, because He created some for glory and some for the fire.
Excellent post, SJ. Bump for the precision of God's word.
I sure don't believe he is a sell-out. He just has a different view. I still think MacArthur is great.
I think this is the logical effect of being a four-point Calvinist. Ultimately, it is self-contradictory.
But four outta five ain't bad. 8~)
Keeping in mind that a four-pointer is never in disagreement about the 'P', your logic would be correct.
As you know, I disagree with the 'T', so the 'U', 'L', 'I' must also fail.
I simple do not think that everything that happens is what God desires.
To quote the Pastor of the RPC we attended, "There is no one in Hell whom Jesus loved."
And FWIW, I believe if I had the time or inclination to dig around, I could find more than one such quote from some of the dear departed GRPLs.
We could start with John 3:16, but I'm sure you will tell me that that verse doesn't mean what it says.
"How often would I have gathered together thy children. This is expressive of indignation rather than of compassion"
How could God express "indignation" for something He planned and ordained? Seems He would be expressing satisfaction that, for once, people did what they were preordained to do.
I'd have to say that any direct action of God, especially the creation, would have to qualify as His active will.
Then it follows that whatever flows from the Creative act happens because God directly willed for it to happen. If He didn't then it wouldn't be part of Creation.
Jesus tells a story about a man counting the cost before he builds a tower. I think that's a good illustration of God's Creation. He didn't Create without a plan. And He didn't have only part of a plan with the blank bits to be filled in by men's choices. When God created He had a full set of blueprints to work from.
So if the above is the case, and I believe that it is, then everything that happens happens as part of God's direct planning or ordination. Of course it's easy to believe that when the good things are happening. But if we believe it then we need to be consistent and believe it about the not so good things that happen as well.
Have a blessed night Buggman.
"So if the above is the case, and I believe that it is, then everything that happens happens as part of God's direct planning or ordination."
That being the case God would not be surprised or indignant when all works out according to His plan.
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