Whom Does God Love?

Whom Does God Love?

Now it is perfectly obvious that both of the above views cannot be true. Even a child can understand this. It is either...or. Either God loves all men; or he loves only His elect. It is also perfectly obvious that those who maintain the above views both claim to preach the gospel when they proclaim these views. Both the Arminian and the Reformed preacher will tell you that he is preaching the gospel. That is to be expected. No preacher will come right out and tell you that what he is preaching is not according to the Bible. They both claim, "The Bible says...." Further, it is also evident, unless you would maintain the impossible position that God contradicts Himself, that one or the other (not both) of the above views is according to the Scriptures, and constitutes the true preaching of the gospel. And whoever proclaims what is not according to the Scriptures has no business to pretend that he is preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What, therefore, is the test? How can we determine which of the above is the Word of Christ according to the Scriptures? Remember, the question is not what you or I would like to think about this question. It is not which of these two "gospels" is the most popular, which apparently brings the greatest fruits, which is supposedly the warmest, the most appealing, the most stirring. The question is not what this or that theologian maintains. And, though you may love your church very dearly, it is not a question of what your church teaches. In fact, if you love your church, you certainly do not want your church to walk in error. The sole question is: what does the Word of God say? And let every earnest-minded Christian, who wants to walk in obedience to the will of Christ, and who wants the church to be faithful to its calling to preach the gospel, bow before that Word. You do not have to bow before me and my word; but you must bow with me before the Word of God! And you may expect the Word of God to be very clear on this question.
In the third place, this question, "Whom does God love?" is of great importance because if there was ever a time when the Reformed community stood at the crossroads with respect to the preaching of the gospel, it is today. With ever greater boldness and bluntness it is being taught in Reformed circles today that God loves all men. It is even maintained that this doctrine, against which our Reformed fathers fought so gallantly at the Great Synod of Dordrecht, is Calvinism. More and more Reformed churches make common cause with Arminians and join them in supporting wildly evangelistic movements. As an example of this blatant Arminianism let me quote from the writings of a Reformed seminary professor concerning this very text of John 3:16:
"How much did God love? So much that He gave His only begotten Son. So much that He emptied Himself; He gave Himself. The amount of the love is indicated by the amount of the gift. That means no less than an infinite love.
"Love without limit! Can an unlimited love be limited in its scope? Can an unrestricted love be restricted in those whom it loves? Can the infinite love of the incarnation have as its object only a part of mankind? Hardly. Neither does the Bible teach this. Rather we are told, 'God so loved the world that he gave.' Whether taken as the cosmos or as the human race, 'world' in this passage clearly covers all men. By no strain of exegesis can God's redemptive love be confined to any special group. Neither the language of this verse nor the broadest context of Scripture will allow any other interpretation but that God loves all men."
And again, note this very bold statement: "If the Church is unwilling to say in any sense that Christ died for all men and refuses to say to unbelievers, in addition to 'God loves you,' 'Christ died for you,' it places the infinite love of God under an illegitimate restriction."
Now, if that is the direction in which Reformed men want to go, then let them openly disavow the Reformed position and the Reformed confessions as being unscriptural. But let no one be deceived that such Arminianism has anything in common with the Reformed faith. It does not. And let all who love the truth of God's Word and who purpose to be faithful to that Word examine this matter with me. Let us put this question to the test of Holy Scripture.
Whom does God love?

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