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Is God's Love Unconditional? (Part Two)
by Calvin Burrell
"Yes, God's love is unconditional," many say, and with
good reason. It's the right answer for every repentant sinner and
every struggling believer. Though we've failed God a thousand
times, His mercy to the humble is not limited by our sins; His
love endures forever (Psalm 136).
For most of us, this assurance of unconditional love does not
become a license to sin. Rather, it frees us from a focus on
performance and orients us to a grace-based faith, actually
energizing us for greater obedience!
This understanding, true enough as far as it goes, is what most
people have in mind when they speak of God's unconditional love.
All of us will need it often along the journey.
But more must be said. What follows will not negate the free flow
of God's grace to every humble heart but will speak of His love
in closer context and with finer nuance.
Unconditional means without requirements or limits—no
strings attached. If God's love is fully unconditional, then it
is universal in scope, eternal in duration, and unaffected by
human response. It implies that God does not love anyone more
because of faith and conduct or less by the lack thereof, and He
never will.
One can make a fair case that God loves like this. He is generous
to all His creatures (Acts 14:17; 17:24-27; 1 Timothy 6:17b). His
love for Israel was not contingent, but constant through their
unfaithfulness (Deuteronomy 7:7, 8; Hosea 3:1; 14:4). God loves
strangers—even His enemies (Deuteronomy 10:18; Matthew
5:44-48). He loved the whole world and paid the ultimate price
for sinners (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). Love is God's essence
(Jeremiah 31:3; 1 John 4:7-19), and He loves us in these
ways—no strings attached— just because He is God.
In this context, love, it must be noted, means God's good will
and common blessings toward all, His desire and provision for the
salvation of all. These are elements of His unconditional love.
We don't have to do anything to receive it; we just have to be!
On the other hand, another level to God's love is not universal
and indiscriminate. We will now show that God's special love goes
beyond creation care and His offer of redemption to all.
• God's special love is elective. He chose Jacob instead of
Esau: "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated"
(Romans 9:13; Malachi 1:3).
• God's special love is redemptive. It operates toward those
who trust Him in a way that it does not toward those who choose
iniquity (Isaiah 63:9; Ephesians 2:4-10).
• God's special love is filial—inherited. His love for
His children means that they experience nurture and correction
from the Father in a way that others do not: "Whom the Lord
loves, He chastens ..." (Hebrews 12:6, 7; Proverbs 3:12).
• God's special love for the generous is different from His
love for the greedy: "God loves a cheerful giver" (2
Corinthians 9:7).
• God's special love is reciprocal: "He who loves me
will be loved by My Father" (John 14:21, 23; 16:27; also
Proverbs 8:17), and its maturity in us is conditional: "If
we love one another ... His love has been perfected in us"
(1 John 4:12).
• God's special love is discriminatory between good and evil
(Psalm 45:7; Isaiah 61:8). He uniquely loves those who love Him
and keep His commandments (Exodus 20:6; Jeremiah 32:18). To those
who persist in evil, He says, "I hated them.... I will love
them no more" (Hosea 9:15; Proverbs 6:16-19).
These are the conditions God's Word imposes on God's love. Far
from causing despair, they lead us to Christ by whom God's love
is poured into us through the Spirit (John 3:16; Romans 5:5). As
we continue to receive His love through Christ, nothing can
separate us from Him (Romans 8:35).
God generously loves everyone as Creator, Sustainer, and
Provider. Beyond that, He graciously loves believers as their
Savior and King. The special favors of His love—forgiveness,
eternal life—are given only to His redeemed children, those
who walk in faith and obedience. Thus, these favors are
conditional.
Calvin Burrell is the editor of the Bible
Advocate and a board member of the Bible Sabbath Association. ©
Church of God (Seventh Day). Reprinted with permission from the
Bible Advocate, April 2004.
TSS
May
- June 2005 The Sabbath Sentinel
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