God Loves All Persons Equally

[The Remonstrant]

God Loves All Persons Equally

"God loves all persons or people equally, saved or lost." Have you ever heard or read anything saying something to that effect? Unfortunately, it's not well-substantiated biblically. Oftentimes, Calvinists will present a text such as Ephesians 5:25-27 as a passage teaching Christ's unique love for his people, the church: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (ESV). (A lot of times also, they use this text erroneously to narrow the scope of the atonement. The extent of atonement is not the issue being addressed in this passage, however, so that argument can be tossed into the dung heap.)

This Ephesians passage does teach a special love Christ has for his people (though it doesn't address the issue of how certain persons came to be his people and why others are not [as through unconditional election and irresistible grace or some other means]). While there are NT passages which make explicit the truths of God's universal saving will and universal love (not to mention Christ's universal atonement), it cannot be denied that God is said to have a unique love for those who are his. Generally I have not seen Arminians stress this (as Calvinists typically do [for their own purposes, of course]), which is unfortunate.

If you are a genuine follower of Christ, God has a love for you he that he doesn't have for the impenitent lost. Within an Arminian framework of theology, however, we must keep in mind also that we are not God's "pets" either. God hates pride (and the proud, for that matter) and he will cut off any who do not continue in his kindness. But if presently you are a genuine believer, God does love you in a way different than if you were not. The sentimental (though perhaps appealing) notion that God loves all persons equally and in the same way must be rejected on scriptural grounds. Thankfully, this does not necessitate that you come to embrace Calvinism in your attempt to attain biblical fidelity in arriving at this truth.

[Littlejoe]

God Loves All Persons Equally

"God loves all persons or people equally, saved or lost." Have you ever heard or read anything saying something to that effect? Unfortunately, it's not well-substantiated biblically. Oftentimes, Calvinists will present a text such as Ephesians 5:25-27 as a passage teaching Christ's unique love for his people, the church: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish" (ESV). (A lot of times also, they use this text erroneously to narrow the scope of the atonement. The extent of atonement is not the issue being addressed in this passage, however, so that argument can be tossed into the dung heap.)

This Ephesians passage does teach a special love Christ has for his people (though it doesn't address the issue of how certain persons came to be his people and why others are not [as through unconditional election and irresistible grace or some other means]). While there are NT passages which make explicit the truths of God's universal saving will and universal love (not to mention Christ's universal atonement), it cannot be denied that God is said to have a unique love for those who are his. Generally I have not seen Arminians stress this (as Calvinists typically do [for their own purposes, of course]), which is unfortunate.

If you are a genuine follower of Christ, God has a love for you he that he doesn't have for the impenitent lost. Within an Arminian framework of theology, however, we must keep in mind also that we are not God's "pets" either. God hates pride (and the proud, for that matter) and he will cut off any who do not continue in his kindness. But if presently you are a genuine believer, God does love you in a way different than if you were not. The sentimental (though perhaps appealing) notion that God loves all persons equally and in the same way must be rejected on scriptural grounds. Thankfully, this does not necessitate that you come to embrace Calvinism in your attempt to attain biblical fidelity in arriving at this truth.

Interesting premise...but, I just don't see it using this passage alone, do you have any corroborating scripture to build upon? I mean, if we take John 3:16-17, and see that Christ's atonement was meant to reconcile the world to God, then, the Love God has was for all mankind, not just the "elect"...therefore, I'm still unconvinced you can "toss the argument into the dung heap" and narrow the passage as you are here.

LJ

[The Remonstrant]

Interesting premise...but, I just don't see it using this passage alone, do you have any corroborating scripture to build upon? I mean, if we take John 3:16-17, and see that Christ's atonement was meant to reconcile the world to God, then, the Love God has was for all mankind, not just the "elect"...therefore, I'm still unconvinced you can "toss the argument into the dung heap" and narrow the passage as you are here.

First, I should make myself clear that a special divine love would not exist between the saved (believers) and lost (unbelievers) under the condition that all individuals were not sinners (obviously then, no one would be lost, as clumsy as that sounds). One could surmise that God would love all his human creatures equally if it weren't for sin and the need for redemption. But, thankfully for all of us, God does indeed love all persons without exception, and hence the outworking of God's universal salvific will toward all mankind resulted in the universal atonement (propitiation) of Christ, so that all who repent and believe in him will be saved from eternal ruin.

So no, I am not arguing at all against the typically (and correctly) held view that God loves all people without exception and that Christ gave himself as for a ransom for all people (and not just the "pre-chosen" or those who persevere to final salvation). My point in offering up this passage from Ephesians 5 as inferring a special love God has for his people, the church, is simply taken for granted in Calvinistic circles (but as I noted above [post #1], they often seem to employ this text in a strained attempt to narrow the scope of the atonement [as with John 10 and the like], as if this where Paul's primary purpose in writing this passage).

Your question, "Interesting premise...but, I just don't see it using this passage alone, do you have any corroborating scripture to build upon?" Is a valid one, but before proceeding to specifically addressing it, I would ask you the following question: Do you not believe that God has a special love or relationship with his people? I could appeal broadly to the OT, where Israel is clearly demarcated from the pagan or Gentile peoples who worship idols and false gods. Also, in the NT the metaphor of the church being depicted as "the bride of Christ" denotes a special love God has for those who believe and obey him, as opposed to those who are perishing. (As in the Ephesians 5 text and Revelation: "Let us rejoice and exult and give [God] the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready"; "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb" [19:7; 9a, ESV]. The invitation to the Lamb's marriage supper is not extended to the lost in this context) Honestly, I don't see how it could be denied that God has a special love for his elect (and of course I don't mean "elect" in the Calvinian sense, as in unconditional divine election to salvation). The lost, the finally impenitent will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14, 15), whereas the saved, the bride of Christ, will be God's people, he will be their God and make his tabernacle (or dwelling) with them (21:3). I am not claiming I know precisely how all these truths correlate or that I understand them perfectly, but merely attempting to point them out, to the best of my ability. It just seems to be one that is virtually ignored by those in the non-Calvinist camp.