Does God love all people unconditionally?

[john6809]

Homer,

You seem to often be looking for one "silver bullet" verse that answers your specific question with laser accuracy. I don't have one for you re. the question you asked. I can't imagine how much bigger the "little book" would have to be to answer every possible question under every possible scenario.

I can't say for sure that my understanding of the subject matter at hand is more or less deficient than yours, but I can live with that.

I find it necessary to take a general overview of the descriptions of God's character and form a picture of who He is. Then, when these questions come up, I have a framework to answer that question. Could I be wrong from time to time? Absolutely! I am open to correction.



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[robbyyoung]

Hi Matt, you said -

No. God IS love. I have no problem understanding everything on that list as expressions of God's love. Love seeks the good of others. Love deals severely with that which is harmful to others. Love can even be said to hate the wicked (what they have become and what they are doing).

And I said -

Matt, as I'm sure you know, this is a SHORT LIST compared to all of what GOD IS, as described in His Word. Therefore since God is LOVE, He must love to be Good, Severe, Angry, Righteous, Wrathful, Jealous, Avenging, Hateful towards His enemies and find no pleasure in the death of the wicked!

What is your disagreement?

Then you said -

Why would you choose to silence the clearest portrait and highlight the blurry one?

What part of God is Love, I confessed, did you miss? Or is it that you, personally steer clear of any questions regarding how hate conflates with His love? So I'm guilty of "highlighting" an expression of God's love, hate, in order to provide an answer to the OP? In other words, God is Love, and that's your answer, PERIOD. No need to explain how that love is expressed, and anybody who does, according to you, "choose to silence" the "lovey dovey" God we all come to know?

Of course I'm being a bit humorous about this, but I don't see any major disagreements here. No one is preaching and teaching a "God is hate" message. God's hatred is real, not imaginary, and we should be able to discuss it in the context of His love without ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist.

God Bless.

[psimmond]

robbyyoung said "No one is preaching and teaching a 'God is hate' message. God's hatred is real, not imaginary, and we should be able to discuss it in the context of His love without ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist."

I agree completely. I don't think anyone on this forum aligns with Westboro Baptist, but the fact that God is love doesn't negate all of the verses that talk about God's hatred or staying in God's love. Somehow the two can be reconciled and I believe it can be done without resorting to the Augustinian/Reformed view.

Regarding Homer's question, I think as long as we have breath in our lungs, that fact alone, means that we are recipients of God's love. After we die, I'm not so sure. And after judgment, it's hard for me to see God's love for the unrighteous. (I suppose if you believe in UR, you will see things differently.)

[robbyyoung]

robbyyoung said "No one is preaching and teaching a 'God is hate' message. God's hatred is real, not imaginary, and we should be able to discuss it in the context of His love without ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist."

I agree completely. I don't think anyone on this forum aligns with Westboro Baptist, but the fact that God is love doesn't negate all of the verses that talk about God's hatred or staying in God's love. Somehow the two can be reconciled and I believe it can be done without resorting to the Augustinian/Reformed view.

Regarding Homer's question, I think as long as we have breath in our lungs, that fact alone, means that we are recipients of God's love. After we die, I'm not so sure. And after judgment, it's hard for me to see God's love for the unrighteous. (I suppose if you believe in UR, you will see things differently.)

Hi psimmond,

Yes, I agree. UR does give hope to the lost and those who insist that God's character will not permit anything other than restoration in the end. It's a beautiful paradigm and I'm not going to actively resist it, but remain optimistic, for I see no harm in it.

God Bless!

[Paidion]

First of all, that men are all children of God is in fact what the Bible says—but it is not the only thing the Bible says on the subject. There is a difference between an estranged son and one who remains on good terms with his father. The former is not in line for the inheritance of the father's estate (and, in that sense alone, is not a "son"). The story of the prodigal seems to imply that the estranged son was still loved by his father, but had cut himself off from every benefit of that sonship by rebellion. When he repented, the father did not say, "Here comes my enemy's son, defecting to my camp." He said "My son was lost, but is now found!" While he was lost (according to Jesus) he was nonetheless his father's son.

This is precisely my own position on the matter.

[mattrose]

What is your disagreement?

My only disagreement was that you seemed to be compartmentalizing God's attributes whereas I see them all of flowing out of the core divine characteristic of love.

Then you said -

Why would you choose to silence the clearest portrait and highlight the blurry one?

Or is it that you, personally steer clear of any questions regarding how hate conflates with His love? So I'm guilty of "highlighting" an expression of God's love, hate, in order to provide an answer to the OP? In other words, God is Love, and that's your answer, PERIOD. No need to explain how that love is expressed, and anybody who does, according to you, "choose to silence" the "lovey dovey" God we all come to know?

This paragraph doesn't actually make any sense. I haven't steered clear of the issue. I've addressed the passages that were raised. Nor have I been upset with anyone for raising them. My answer hasn't been "God is Love" PERIOD. My answer has been "God is love" and here's why I say that is the core reality. I have explained my position. You don't have to agree with it.

Additionally, I think the reason you are reluctant to accept the idea that "God is love" is the core reality about God is b/c you define that view as 'lovey dovey.' That's a straw man, though. Obviously I define God is love as being capable of including things like wrath and hatred. I just don't compartmentalize wrath and hatred as competing attributes.

Of course I'm being a bit humorous about this, but I don't see any major disagreements here. No one is preaching and teaching a "God is hate" message. God's hatred is real, not imaginary, and we should be able to discuss it in the context of His love without ignoring it or pretending it doesn't exist.

Did anyone accuse anyone of saying God is hate? It seems to me we are all just answering the original question. Does God love all people unconditionally. We've each added some nuance in answering that question. As with most things, there is a sense in which it can be answered affirmatively and a sense in which it cannot.

[psimmond]

Maybe is some aspects we are more like God than we realize, so consequently, God is more like us than we realize. (Please don't take this the wrong way.)

We love some people more than others.

Scripture is clear that we should love like God and that we should love all people, so I believe we should love all people but exhibit a special (more intense) love for those who belong to the household of faith. I believe this mirrors the way God loves all in a general way yet has a special covenant love for those who are in Christ.

Should we hate? It seems from scripture we should hate sin but we should not hate people.

Since we are told that hating a person is sinful, I interpret passages that refer to God's hatred as something other than hatred--Psalm 5:5, Psalm 11:5, Proverbs 6:19, Hosea 9:15, Malachi 1:3, Luke 14:26, Rom 9:13. I suppose you could argue that God lives by different rules than we do, but that logic scares me!

[mattrose]

I think one of the reasons there was some disagreement (or apparent disagreement) in this thread is that the word 'unconditionally' was being interpreted differently. When I think of unconditional love, I think of love that is based on the character of the lover and does not cease/fail no matter what the recipient of that love does. This has nothing to do, in my opinion, with the form that love will take in a given person's life. For those in rebellion against God, love might take the form of wrath. From the perspective of wrath, love looks a lot like hatred.

But I think some might have been taking the word 'unconditional' as almost synonymous to "equally" or, more precisely, "in the same way." If one takes it that way, then clearly God's love of all people is not unconditional. Our experience of God's love is always conditional upon our response to it. And our varying responses dictate that love is experiences in a variety of ways.

[Paidion]

[robbyyoung]

I think one of the reasons there was some disagreement (or apparent disagreement) in this thread is that the word 'unconditionally' was being interpreted differently. When I think of unconditional love, I think of love that is based on the character of the lover and does not cease/fail no matter what the recipient of that love does. This has nothing to do, in my opinion, with the form that love will take in a given person's life. For those in rebellion against God, love might take the form of wrath. From the perspective of wrath, love looks a lot like hatred.

But I think some might have been taking the word 'unconditional' as almost synonymous to "equally" or, more precisely, "in the same way." If one takes it that way, then clearly God's love of all people is not unconditional. Our experience of God's love is always conditional upon our response to it. And our varying responses dictate that love is experiences in a variety of ways.

Very good summation Matt .

God Bless!