The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Extent of God's Love

Pilgrim,

Actually, If I'm not mistaken, Thomas Boston, John Brown, Andrew Fuller, W.G.T. Shedd, R.L. Dabney, B.B. Warfield, John Murray, R.B. Kuiper to name a few also held to a similar view. I learned this through John MacArthur's, "The God Who Loves". As I said, it will be necessary to get clear in my mind the difference between His Love, Mercy and Grace.

Othere questions I want to search out are: Can God's love be separated from His Mercy and Grace? If so, then is it possible for His love to be objective in Jesus Christ for all men where His Mercy and Grace is selective applied only to the elect? Is the love of God revealed in Christ the same love as that which is applied to the elect?

I also looked at the verses you provided concerning His love not being for all men, but that is where the difference of objective and subjective love plays in.

Honestly, I'm not trying to be the devil's advocate here, I really want to know for sure. Something that MacArthur said, (I don't agree with everything MacArthur teaches, so he isn't my authority, just gave me reason to think) that sometimes the reformed position goes the opposite extreme, lifting God's sovereignty over God's attributes such as love. It is a real consideration. I would call myself pretty much reformed, so this question is important to me.

Thanks for your time in replying, it is all going into my thought processes.

In Christ