God’s Love is Unconditional and Never Fails to Save
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10).
We love him, because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).
John is speaking to Christians.
It is only Christians who love the true God.
But why do we love Him, while the world-at-large does not?
1 John 4 unequivocally states the cause of our love for God.
Its cause is the efficacious, merciful, sovereign love of God which came to us first, independent of our ungodly feelings for Him.
In fact, Paul tells us that God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).
In other words, Christ’s substitutionary death was on behalf of those whom God loves, despite the fact they had only feelings of animosity and hatred for Him.
Those whom God loves, He sends His Son to pay their sin debt in full.
This is the clear teaching of 1 John 4:10 cited above.
And then we have these familiar verses:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved (John 3:16-17 KJV).
Christ does not fail to save those whom the Father loves
Christ’s mission was a resounding success.
He did not fail to save those whom the Father loves.
Failure is a sign of impotence, poor planning or a fanciful wish of great expectations.
Our God is infinitely perfect in all His ways.
Therefore, failure is impossible.
Christ declared His mission successful:
I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do (John 17:4).
Furthermore, Christ loses none whom the Father loved, for whom He died:
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled (John 17:12).
Moreover, Christ prays for the salvation resulting in the glorification of those loved by the Father who have as yet not been born or who have not yet heard of Christ (John 17:20-26).
Christ’s prayers are always answered (John 11:42).
Therefore, it is impossible for even one person loved by the Father to be lost.
With these precepts in mind, we can now interpret John 3:16-17.
God sent His Son to save the world (verse 17).
The world Christ came to save is the same world loved by the Father (verse 16).
It must of necessity be the same world because Christ’s mission was 100% successful.
Christ paid the sin debt of all those loved by the Father.
They were given to Christ for that express purpose.
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (2 Cor. 5:21).
The world Christ came to save did not consist of every human ever born.
For Christ did not/does not save all persons.
Most are either in perdition or on their way to perdition (Matthew 7:13; 21-23).
Furthermore, Christ did not come to save a people in a certain region of the known world.
He came to save a people in all regions of the world yet unknown in John’s time.
And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).
CONCLUSION:
Those whom the Father loves, He elects unto salvation.
His love is like His Election — free from any outside influences, independent of anything foreseen in man, determined by no counsel outside of Himself, and all according to His good pleasure alone.
In love having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will (Ephesians 1:5).
Is not God’s love more wonderful than words can express?
Election Signifies the Love of God (Part 2)
The Efficacy of God’s Love in Saving His Elect (Part 3)
The Love of the Father and Work of the Son are Coterminous (Part 4)
The Good Shepherd Loses None So Loved By the Father (Part 5)
Christ’s Mediation Coterminous with the Love of God (Part 6)
The Holy Spirit Regenerates Those Loved by the Father (Part 7)
The New Birth Proof of God’s Love (Part 8)
God’s Sovereign Unconditional Love of Jacob (Part 9)
The Love of Christ is for His Bride (Part 10)
Christ Knows All Those Loved by the Father (Part 11)
Which Comes First: Our Love for God or God’s Love for us? (Part 12)
Why Does God Not Choose All Mankind for Salvation (Part 13)
Why Doesn’t God Save Everybody? (Part 14)
A Common Objection Answered (Part 15)