God’s love
for mankind, as described in the Bible, is clearly unconditional in that His
love is expressed toward the objects of His love despite their disposition
toward Him. In other words, God loves without placing any conditions on the
loved ones; He loves because it is His nature to love (1 John 4:8). That love
moves Him toward benevolent action: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and
the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).
The unconditional nature of God’s love is most clearly seen in the gospel.
The gospel message is basically a story of divine rescue. As God considered the
plight of His rebellious people, He determined to save them from their sin, and
this determination was based on His love (Ephesians 1:4–5). Listen to the
apostle Paul’s words from his letter to the Romans:
“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for
the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good
man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for
us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6–8).
Reading through the book of Romans, we learn that we are alienated from God due
to our sin. We are at enmity with God, and His wrath is being revealed against
the ungodly for their unrighteousness (Romans 1:18–20). We reject God, and God
gives us over to our sin. We also learn that we have all sinned and fallen
short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23) and that none of us seek God; none of us do
what is right before His eyes (Romans 3:10–18).
Despite the hostility and enmity we have toward God (for which God would be
perfectly just to utterly destroy us), God revealed His love toward us in the
giving of His Son, Jesus Christ, as the propitiation (the appeasement
of God’s righteous wrath) for our sins. God did not wait for us to better
ourselves as a condition of atoning for our sin. Rather, God condescended to
become a man and live among His people (John 1:14). God experienced our
humanity - everything it means to be a human being - and then offered Himself
willingly as a substitutionary atonement for our sin.
This divine rescue, based on unconditional love, resulted in a gracious act of
self-sacrifice. As Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay
down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). That is precisely what God, in
Christ, has done. The unconditional nature of God’s love is made clear in other
passages of Scripture:
“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive
with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have
been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5).
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son
into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved
God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our
sins" (1 John 4:9–10).
It is important to note that God’s love is a love that initiates; it is never a
response. That is precisely what makes it unconditional. If God’s love were
conditional, then we would have to do something to earn or merit it. We would
have to somehow appease His wrath or cleanse ourselves of sin before God would
be able to love us. But that is not the biblical message. The biblical message
- the gospel - is that God, motivated by love, moved unconditionally to save
His people from their sin.
Also important is the fact that God’s unconditional love does not mean that
everyone will be saved (see Matthew 25:46). Nor does it mean that God will
never discipline His children. To ignore God’s merciful love, to reject
the Savior who bought us (2 Peter 2:1), is to subject ourselves to God’s wrath
for eternity (Romans 1:18), not His love. For a child of God to willfully
disobey God is to invite the Father’s correction (Hebrews 12:5–11).
Does God love everyone? Yes, He shows mercy and kindness to all. In that sense
His love is unconditional. Does God love Christians in a different way than He
loves non-Christians? Yes. Because believers have exercised faith in God’s Son,
they are saved. The unconditional, merciful love God has for everyone should
bring us to faith, receiving with gratefulness the conditional, covenant love
He grants those who receive Jesus as their Savior.
- Provided by "Got Questions"
