Summary
Paul Fahy argues that God's love is particular rather than universal, directed exclusively toward the elect from eternity. Against the notion of common grace extended to all humanity, Fahy contends that Scripture consistently portrays God's perfect, eternal love for the elect while depicting His genuine hatred toward the reprobate (Psalm 5:5, Romans 9:13, Malachi 1:2-3), making a partial or temporary divine love logically impossible. The article emphasizes that the Synod of Dort's particularism and Calvin's theology affirm God's sovereign, discriminating love, rejecting the softened Calvinism that posits divine love for all people as pedagogically unhelpful for genuine evangelism and biblically unfounded.
Questions Answered in This Article
What does the Bible say about God's love for the elect?
The Bible affirms that God's love is directed towards the elect, established from eternity.
Romans 9:11-13
What does the Bible say about God's love for the elect?
The Bible affirms that God's love is particular and eternal, specifically directed toward the elect.
Moreover, the Canons of the Synod of Dort outline this doctrine explicitly, indicating that God's love is intrinsically connected to His electing grace. Articles within the Canons affirm that God's unmerited love is communicated only to the elect, contrasting the blessings they receive with the justice that befalls the reprobate. This understanding affirms that God's love, in its fullest sense, is tied to His divine purpose, which cannot be disconnected from His holiness and justice.
How do we know Calvinism is true regarding God's love?
Calvinism correctly interprets Scripture by asserting that God's love is selective and not universal.
Romans 9:11-13, Ephesians 1:4-5
How do we know God's love is not universal?
God's love is not universal because Scripture explicitly states His hatred towards some individuals and doesn't provide evidence of love for all.
Additionally, passages such as Malachi 1:2-3 articulate that God chose to love Jacob and not Esau, highlighting His sovereign choice in matters of divine affection. The consistent scriptural testimony shows that God's love is particular and is fundamentally tied to His redemptive plan for the elect, further establishing that He does not love all of humanity in the same manner.
Why is understanding God's love as particular important for Christians?
It clarifies the nature of God's grace and reinforces our assurance of salvation.
Ephesians 1:4-5, Romans 9:11-13
Why is the concept of particular love important for Christians?
Particular love assures believers of their secure position in Christ and shapes their understanding of God's justice and holiness.
Moreover, this concept shapes the believer's comprehension of God's justice and holiness. The distinction between the elect and the reprobate engenders a profound respect for God's sovereign authority and the gravity of sin. It instills a sense of responsibility to respond to His love through faith and repentance, as taught in the Scriptures. The doctrine of particular love encourages believers to evangelize authentically, emphasizing the necessity of repentance and faith in Christ, consistent with the apostles' teachings.
What does it mean that God hates the reprobate?
It means God exhibits perfect justice and righteous indignation towards those not chosen for salvation.
Psalm 5:5, Romans 9:13
This extract is from a larger article, ‘A response to Philip R Johnston’s A Primer on Hyper-Calvinism’ . The ‘Primer’ was published in the Sword and Trowel and previously reviewed in New Focus magazine.
There is a close connection between the idea that God loves everyone and that he provides a common grace for everyone. John Murray summarises this in his works,
There is a love in God that goes forth to lost men and is manifest in the manifold blessings which all men without distinction enjoy, a love in which non-elect persons are embraced.1
This is why Johnson links his definitions of Hyper-Calvinism together; they each dovetail into each other. God loves everybody so he gives a type of grace to everyone, desires their salvation and sends a sincere free-offer that whoever responds will be saved. This offer goes out in the Gospel call which all men have a duty to respond to. This sort of Gospel is what John Duncan called a blurring of the edges of Calvinism that approached Arminianism. Does God tell us that he loves all men?
The Bible shows us that God is perfect. When he loves, he loves fully and perfectly. The God of the free-offer loves everyone, and yet fails to achieve his desired ends since many of those loved end up being damned; sentenced by the same God. This God is not the God of the Bible who loves the elect from eternity to the uttermost; Whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. (Ecclesiastes 3:14). God only loves forever, as this verse explicitly teaches. It is impossible for God to love men for a while, offer them life, desire their salvation and then hate them in hell.
There is not one scripture that clearly states God’s love for everyone, but there are many that state that he hates certain types of people and certain individuals (Psalm 5:5; 11:5; Hosea 9:15; Malachi 1:2-3; Romans 9:13 etc.). In the face of this, it is foolish or disobedient to state that God loves the wicked when his word states clearly that he does not. Neither can we ameliorate the word ‘hate’. The original is usually a strong word which does not mean ‘to love less’; in fact the word hate regarding Esau is the same word used in John 15:25 - a hate strong enough to lead to murder!
John 3:16 is of no use to Johnson here since if ‘the world’ means everyone in it, then there is no hell since that same world is not condemned and is saved in the next verse. ‘World’ cannot mean every human being in John 3:16, just as it doesn’t in John 12:19, and there is not a single other text which implies that God loves everyone.2
The idea of a universal divine love is of no help in evangelism anyway. It was originally posited in order to make Calvinism more attractive to critics (as it still is today). If God loves everyone, why should sinners bother repenting and following Christ? A God of love won’t do anything un-loving (like condemning them) will he? If God does not love fully, but only partly, then the evangel of Johnson and others should tell sinners this. ‘God loves you a little bit, so give your life to him. If you don’t, he will send you to hell. If you receive Christ, he will love you much more.’ How can telling people that God loves them inculcate the divine fear which is the beginning of wisdom? The apostles never used this method, in fact, the word ‘love’ doesn’t appear in the Acts at all; rather they taught that man was in sin, and man had a responsibility to repent and honour the God who created him by believing in Christ the Saviour.
Calvin followed the apostles and categorically stated that God, by an eternal decree fixed the number of those whom he is pleased to embrace in love, and of those whom he is pleased to display his wrath.3 God only loves the elect, while his wrath rests above those who are not elect. Obviously, Calvinism does not imply that God loves everyone. On the contrary, God hates the reprobate:
The reprobate are hateful to God, and that with a perfect justice, since those destitute of his Spirit cannot produce anything that does not deserve cursing.4
The Canons of the Synod of Dort are also infused with particularism. The blessings of the elect are detailed throughout and are contrasted with the wrath destined for the reprobate wicked. There is no sense of a love of God poured out upon mankind in general. See: First Head (Predestination), Article 10: the text describing that God loved Jacob before he was born (Romans 9:11-13) is used to illustrate God’s love for the elect. Second Head, Article 9: everlasting love is towards the elect only. Third & Fourth Head, Article 7: the sovereign good pleasure and unmerited love of God is only communicated to the elect.
1 John Murray, Collected Writings, Vol 1, p67-68.
2 The word ‘love’ in the NIV translation of Psalm 145 does not appear at all in the Received Text.
3 John Calvin, Institutes 3:29,17.
4 John Calvin, Institutes 3:24,17
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