God's Love and the "Non-Elect"

"God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him" (1 John 4:9 NLT). Does God love those whom He has (allegedly, according to Calvinism) not unconditionally elected unto faith and salvation? Fritz Guy writes: 

If the preeminent characteristic of God is love, and if God is the source of all reality, there can be little doubt about the universal scope of God's love. It is unthinkable that the divine love is restricted to a fortunate part of creation and that another (perhaps even larger) part is excluded [by decree].¹ 

We believe Fritz frames this issue properly because 1) God is love (1 John 4:8): Scripture teaches that God's nature is love, not that He merely possesses love; and 2) God does not show favoritism (Acts 10:34). The Calvinistic theory of unconditional election is partial, particular, and based not on union with Christ (or lack thereof), but on an eternal, unconditional decree.² While the theory of unconditional election expresses God's love for some people, it excludes God's love for others, since electing a person to hell by a mere decree falls far short of any viable definition of love. Again, Fritz comments: 

In regard to human reality, the divine love includes absolutely all, intending the ultimate good -- that is, the eternal salvation -- of every person. Not only is this an inescapable implication of the character of God, but also the biblical revelation emphatically attests the universality of the divine intention in redemption as well as in creation.³ 

The character of God as revealed in Scripture -- and particularly in Christ -- is what the Arminian believes he or she is trying to defend and protect when engaged in this conversation. If one's claims infer that God does not love the alleged "non-elect," the Arminian protests that the theory is contrary to what Scripture plainly teaches regarding the character of God. 

Note the words of Jesus regarding rich people and the kingdom of God. Mark, the author of the gospel which bears his name, writes: "As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him, fell on his knees before him and asked, 'Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'" (Mark 10:17) The man informs Jesus that he has kept the Law all his life; and then Mark adds, "Jesus looked at him and loved him." Loved him? Does Jesus love the alleged "non-elect"? The dialogue continues at Mark 10:21-23: 

"One thing you lack . . . Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow Me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"

That man went away from Jesus sad; he could not follow Jesus. Now, according to Calvinism, this man demonstrated that he was not of the unconditionally elect due to his rejection of Christ's offer. However, the offer was made, and made to an alleged "non-elect" individual. Yet, Mark confesses that Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21). Jesus loved this alleged "non-elect" individual. Is this pure speculation on my part? After all, that man could have changed his mind later and followed Jesus. But that is highly unlikely according to Jesus' conclusion. 

Jesus states at Mark 10:23 that entering the kingdom of God is hard for rich people. What a peculiar statement. Why would entering the kingdom of God be hard for the rich if Calvinism is true? Surely, God's unconditionally elect have no trouble whatsoever entering the kingdom of God, because when God so wills it, He regenerates His unconditionally elect and they exercise faith in Christ Jesus and thus are saved. What is so hard about that? 

In Calvinism, God's grace is granted irresistibly, and it is always efficacious: it always regenerates the unconditionally elect. The grace of God, says Fritz Guy, is never irresistible:

Indeed, the term "irresistible grace" looks suspiciously like an oxymoron, like "married bachelor" or "square circle" or "causally determined free action." For grace is the offer of a gift, not the imposition of another's will; and it is in the nature of a gift that it can be rejected. It is the nature of love that it can be ignored or spurned.⁴

To demonstrate the universality of God's love, I ask: What kind of love chooses a person for eternal torment based not on that person's rejection of a genuine offer through grace bestowed on that one but merely by a decree? The Calvinist, in essence, is admitting that God must reprobate much of humanity in order to bring Himself glory. 

Thus God is more concerned about receiving glory than about gracing or enabling image-bearing creatures to trust in Christ for salvation; He must reprobate the greater part of humanity to an eternal torment in order to glorify Himself. That Calvinism is still gaining converts to any degree is quite a wonder when biblically and logically assessing its claims. Never mind that people will experience a fiery torment for eternity by a mere decree (arbitrary whim): God's alleged glory in wrath is at stake!

Not only does that last notion betray an accurate interpretation of Scripture, but it also demeans the character of God as demonstrated in the life and sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ. God's love for all people is genuine and not a benign expression -- it does not make one claim and then act contrary; it is inherently agreeing, unified, constant, consistent.

While God is not obligated to love anyone, Scripture explicitly teaches that God loves this world of sinners (John 3:16). Southern Baptist pastor Jerry Vines asks: 

What kind of world does God love? In 1 John 5:19, ["the whole world lies under the power of the evil one," NRSV]. This world is like a precious vessel sunk in a putrid stream. . . . How can God love a sinful world like ours? God's love is not conditioned by the worthiness of its object.⁵ 

I heard Calvinist pastor John MacArthur admit the same sentiment in one of his sermons: God's love is not object-oriented. If this is the case, then His hatred of some people is not arbitrary, decretal, or object-oriented. This means that when God hates a person, He does so with reason, which is due to the voluntary choices of the wicked and unrepentant sinner and not founded merely by decree.

The Psalmist writes that God hates all boasters and evildoers, and "abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful" (Ps. 5:5-6 NRSV). Also, His soul hates "the lover of violence" (Ps. 11:5 NRSV). Before his conversion, the apostle Paul violently persecuted Christians (Acts 8:1-3). Would it be accurate to admit, then, that God hated Paul? Yet Paul confesses that though he was "formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man," he "obtained mercy because [he] did it ignorantly in unbelief" (1 Tim. 1:13). 

Paul also writes that all sinners exist in ignorance and unbelief (Eph. 4:18-19). Would it not stand to reason that if God had mercy on Paul in his ignorance, then He can also have mercy on all sinners in their ignorance (cf. Rom. 11:32)? Those who argue or infer that God only loves savingly those whom He has unconditionally elected from eternity past bear the burden of proof to exegete such from Scripture. I am not convinced by their attempts at exegesis.

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¹ Fritz Guy, "The Universality of God's Love," in The Grace of God and the Will of Man, ed. Clark Pinnock (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 1989), 36.

² Arminius' views on God's twofold love (link//link) -- that of justice as well as humanity, and in that order -- further disqualifies any concept that God must reprobate and demonstrate His divine wrath, since Christ suffered for and took away the sin of the world at Calvary (John 1:29). Though there remains a condition to all being saved (i.e., by grace through faith in Christ, Eph. 2:8-9), justice has been met and satisfied in Christ, and reconciliation has been accomplished by God through Jesus. Hence God's love for all humanity has been and can be expressed in salvation for all sinners, provided sinners by grace trust in Christ for salvation (justification, sanctification, glorification). Since Christ has brought about justice, then all who are in Christ will be justified. Hence the universal offer -- of both love and salvation -- and the obtaining condition. 

³ Guy, 36-37.

⁴ Ibid., 40. As an aside, some will ask whether Jesus loved Judas Iscariot, or the Pharisees who would betray Him? Even in their rejection of Him, Jesus called the Pharisees to believe in His works so that they would know that the Father was in Him and He in the Father (John 10:37-38). This offer from Jesus to trust in Him appears loving, and shows no sign of divine hatred. If He hated them, He would not have offered them salvation by grace through faith in Him. Let us remember that Jesus shed real tears when He cried out: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Luke 13:34 NKJV) Notice how the Savior desired to gather the unbelieving and unwilling Jews unto Himself, but He did not nor would not do so irresistibly.

⁵ Jerry Vines, "Sermon on John 3:16," in Whosoever Will: A Biblical-Theological Critique of Five-Point Calvinism, eds. David L. Allen and Steve W. Lemke (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2010), 18.