Love

agapē

One of the most violent attacks on the doctrine of election is the accusation that it is cold and hard and ultimately makes a mockery of the love of God. “This view,” it is charged, “paints God as sitting on His throne spinning the wheel, arbitrarily picking and choosing people as if He were choosing up sides for a ball game.”

On the contrary, in Ephesians 1:4, Paul writes that God “hath chosen us in [Christ] . . . in love,” showing us that love is at the very root, the very heart of God’s election. Perhaps the best translation of the Greek agapē (26) is “a self-emptying self-sacrifice.” God does not deal with us only according to His sovereignty and holiness; if He did, we would be hopelessly doomed. He also deals according to love.

That God’s election flows from His love is apparent throughout the Scriptures. Why did God choose Israel? “The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the Lord loved you” (Deut. 7:7–8, emphasis added). Why did He love that stiff-necked people (Deut. 31:27; Jer. 17:23)? More importantly, why did He love me, who is just as stiff-necked, depraved, rebellious, and self-centered? We don’t know.

Christian friend, why did God choose you? Because He loves you. Deuteronomy 10:15 declares, “Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.” That is clearly implied in John 15:19: “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” But does not even a simple verse such as 1 John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us,” show us this wonderful truth?

What a blessed truth, indeed! God loved us before the foundation of the world. He loved us according to His gracious purpose, His good pleasure. We’ll continue these thoughts tomorrow.

Scriptures for Study: In Romans 5:8, what is the result of God’s love?What can separate us from that love, according to Romans 8:38–39?