Does God Love Everyone?
I Think So…
The time has arrived. We will be attempting to answer one of the most discussed and controversial topics that there is when it comes to the love of God. That topic, of course, is about God’s universal love. Does God really love everyone? Even if He does, does He love everyone the same? This is a question that I think everyone would immediately answer, ‘Of course!’ but when asked to defend your answer biblically, where would you point to? This concept and idea that God loves everyone the same is one that we seem to be taught as children but we are never really given a strong stance on why this is the case. Sure we may point to John 3:16 and claim that this passage uses the term ‘the world’ and therefore qualifies everybody, but does this mean that this love is unconditional and equal amongst all beings? What are the standards for God’s love across the board? Before we dive in, I want to say that for me personally, no one has been a better teacher on this topic than R.C. Sproul. R.C. first got me interested in this question and idea of God’s love and his answers and support of scripture are incredibly engaging. In fact, I’m going to use one of his articles as a reference for this post and I encourage you to read through it when you’re finished up with this one. All of this to say, the topic of God’s love for everyone is very popular but also very vital to answer. To answer it, we will be looking at 3 basic points; universality, unconditionally, and complacency. Let’s dive in.
Universality
To start, let’s look at God’s love from a universal standpoint. Does God really love everyone? Again, let’s look at John 3:16 “16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” While this passage may not confirm that this love being discussed here is unconditional and complacent, it does bring clarity to universality. One could easily argue that this passage says that God loves everyone, and technically, they would be right. The problem, however, is not with what the book of John has to say, but with how to interpret this scripture. All too often when we hear, ‘God loves everyone’, we think that this automatically means unconditionally and for all time. But that isn’t the case here. There are, in fact, some guidelines and conditions for this love that we will find in the Bible as well. I know this may sound blasphemous and foreign to you, but allow me to reveal what the Bible has to say on this matter.
Take a quick look with me at Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things that the Lord hates, Seven that are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who declares lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.” Right away I want you to ask yourself, how many of these points listed here can be applied to mankind? All of them. So if God can hate these people, and yet from a universal standpoint, still love the world, we see that this love that is discussed definitely comes with conditions. Now I know right away you might be thinking, ‘This isn’t true! God hates the sin but still loves the sinner!’ To that, I would politely and very humbly ask you, who goes to Hell? The sin or the sinner? If the one that never repents and follows Christ ultimately goes to Hell, then there must be hate, judgment, and wrath stored up not just for sin, but sinners as well.
Condition and Complacency
So what then are these conditions? Interestingly enough, John 3:16 leads us right to that answer. God loved the world so much that He did what? Sent Christ to save us! However, what if we reject this savior? Does God still love us? We are still a part of this world technically, aren’t we? To this, I would say that while the rejector of God’s saving grace still gets to experience the blessings and love that God pours out on mankind for their lifetime, that experience will come to a quick close as they are horribly reminded that this love of God is not unconditional once the afterlife is in play. As R.C. Sproul so beautifully puts it, “When I hear preachers stand up and say that 'God loves everybody unconditionally,' I want to scream and say, ‘Wait a minute. Then why does He call us to repent? Why does He call us to come to the cross? Why does He call us to come to Christ?' If God loves everybody unconditionally, then you can do whatever you want and believe whatever you think.” There is in fact a condition we must reach if this love of God is to be unconditional towards us. That condition, of course, is being saved by grace through faith in Christ. And this is where God’s complacent love comes into play. What do we mean by ‘complacent love’? This simply means ‘self-satisfaction’ in one's abilities. In other words, God’s love is complacent because everyone on earth who experiences this love doesn’t do so because of rank or earnings, but rather, because of who God is and the inerrancy of His character.
To get a better picture of this, look at what 1 John 3:1 says, “See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are.” That’s right, the very fact that you are able to be called God’s child is an act of love. This already shows us that our Lord’s love is not the same towards everybody. The love that Christ followers get to experience is unconditional and complacent solely because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. The only love that non-believers get to experience, is the love that is seen through the blessings that God has given this earth for the short time that they are on it. While it may seem contradictory to everything you were taught as a child, I encourage you to study the love of God in His Word and see for yourself what you will find. Because even though you would technically not be wrong in saying ‘God loves everyone’, you would be wrong in thinking that this love is the same towards everyone and that this love is without condition or end.
Sources
[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.
[2] Is it biblical to say that God loves everyone? (n.d.). Ligonier Ministries. https://www.ligonier.org/posts/biblical-say-god-loves-everyone
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