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It's not just "young people newly infatuated with Reformed doctrine".
Since the baby boom generation has discarded the concept of holiness, many think of God as little more than Santa Claus for grown-ups ("...he sees you when you're sleeping... he knows if you've been bad or good..."). Toss in some Darwinism taught as proven fact in all public schools, and what was once the foundation of our civilization is now scoffed at as childish superstition. Problem is, the society we're living in now is built almost entirely on sand.
Methinks we'll be seeing the wrath of God again very soon.
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.
I will agree that the offer of mercy to the reprobate and his call of the gospel to all who hear are sincere expressions of God's love, but only if the offer is sincere. In order to make the offer sincere, God must grant to all to whom the offer is extended the ABILITY to respond to that offer. Otherwise the offer is illusory. If the offer of salvation is illusory, then the expression of love is equally illusory.
So what exactly is MacArthur trying to say?
He's been lurking here?
How many times have we heard precisely that argument?
It is a pretty stupid idea that God somehow wants all to be saved yet he only elects some.
No, God only wants his elect saved.
He only loves his elect.
He has mercy upon the lost with his common grace, but he does not love them. A holy God can't love evil.
As is recorded in the Psalms, "GOD HATES ALL WORKERS OF INIQUITY."
Thanks for posting this article. Good read.
Ive got your DNA test back and there is a 99.9997% chance that Jhonny M. is your daddy.
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.
fyi............................ROMANS 10:17
My Google search of "GRPL" gets me the Grand Rapids Public Library.
Whats GRPL mean?
I was thinking about that just yesterday while watching the leaves gradually turn yellow and get ready to fall at the end of this growing season. Amazing that we have a planet that revolves around a stable star in a benign orbit, that has a moon to give tides and a polar tilt that provides seasons just right for the vegetation cycle, and it just goes on and on in perfect balance. Perhaps it is a total accident. I wouldn't put odds on it happening by chance.
Amen!
John 3:36 is very clear on this, if someone rejects the love of God, the wrath of God abideth on him.
That is the 'old fire and brimstone' preaching that has been lost for a 'kinder and gentler' albeit false preaching, of the 'new' seeker churches.
That is love. And He will ALWAYS be that way.
Question
There are some who teach that God loves only His elect and hates the non-elect. Please comment.
Answer
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 these mercies flow out of God’s boundless love? Yet it is evident that they are showered even on unrepentant sinners.
I want to acknowledge, however, that explaining God’s love toward the reprobate is not as simple as most modern evangelicals want to make it. Clearly there is a sense in which the psalmist’s expression, “I hate the assembly of evildoers” (Ps. 26:5) is a reflection of the mind of God. “Do I not hate those who hate Thee, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against Thee? I hate them with the utmost hatred; they have become my enemies” (Ps. 139:21-22). Such hatred as the psalmist expressed is a virtue, and we have every reason to conclude that it is a hatred God Himself shares. After all, He did say, “I have hated Esau” (Mal. 1:3; Rom. 9:13). The context reveals God was speaking of a whole race of wicked people. So there is a true and real sense in which Scripture teaches that God hates the wicked.
So an important distinction must be made. God loves believers with a particular love. It is a family love, the ultimate love of an eternal Father for His children. It is the consummate love of a Bridegroom for His bride. It is an eternal love that guarantees their salvation from sin and its ghastly penalty. That special love is reserved for believers alone.
However, limiting this saving, everlasting love to His chosen ones does not render God’s compassion, mercy, goodness, and love for the rest of mankind insincere or meaningless. When God invites sinners to repent and receive forgiveness (Isa. 1:18; Matt. 11:28-30), His pleading is from a sincere heart of genuine love. “‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’” (Ezek. 33:11). Clearly God does love even those who spurn His tender mercy, but it is a different quality of love, and different in degree from His love for His own.
Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur's Questions and Answers" by:
Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
Box 119
Columbus, New Jersey, USA, 08022
Our websites: www.biblebb.com and www.gospelgems.com
Thanks for posting this article. The article itself is interesting reading and the discussion is thought provoking. I hope you are enjoying the thread as much as I am.
"Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated." A time will come when we can ask Him "How is it that you chose, yet we're still responsible!?" Being where we'll be, I doubt we'll care...
I find it interesting, that while a lot of people can discuss/argue over why someone was or was not pulled from the stream prior to being swept over the waterfall of destruction, no one will explain why there is a waterfall of destruction, in the first place.
I have mentioned to many folks who ask about how God is forgiving and loving, and how could He ever punish anyone if that is so.
I maintain that there is a huge translation problem: it's not so much that God is all forgiving and all loving, it's more that he can be all forgiving and all loving. :-)