The Church Formed By God - The Motive - Love

"...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,..." (Ephesians 1:4 )

God elects those who are saved because of His love. Properly spoken of, God elects, not just because He felt like it, but because of His love. This is important for us to understand. His election is rooted in His own character, particularly in His attribute of love. He loved His people such that He desired to elect them, that is, call them into relationship with Himself. God’s love didn’t, by itself, save or otherwise convey on the objects of His love any benefit. That benefit is conveyed by election, and the resulting activity of God in making the election of His chosen ones a reality in time and space. It is a marvelous thing that God loved His own before the world began. It is a more wondrous thing that He acted on that love and sent His only begotten Son to purchase their redemption! In love He predestined us to adoption as sons. Just as He chose Israel to be His special people only because of His love (Deut. 7:8), so He also chose the church, the family of the redeemed.

Biblical love is not an emotion but a disposition of the heart to seek the welfare and meet the needs of others. “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends,” Jesus said (John 15:13). And that is exactly what Jesus Himself did on behalf of those God has chosen to be saved. In the ultimate divine act of love, God determined before the foundation of the earth that He would give His only Son to save us. “God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5). He loved us, and will eternally continue to love us, according to the kind intention of His will.

It is important for us to see that this love is a permanent love, if we can speak of it in that fashion. It is love which, in eternity, prompted God to elect and then to act to accomplish that purpose. Because this all “occurred” in eternity, it is not something that can change, for it is not temporal. It is Permanent because it transcends time the inherent quality of changeableness. God’s love is as immutable as any other aspect of His being. We ought to note that to say that God is love does not mean that He simply is loving. When we say that God is love, we are talking about action, about what He did that demonstrated or put that love into action. In this sense, God does not “love” everyone in the same fashion. He is lovingly disposed toward all men, but the sacrifice of Christ did not pay the penalty for every person, else all men would be saved for they would have no penalty to pay for themselves. God loves His elect in a special and very powerful sense – He loved them in such a fashion as to actually see that their sin was paid for by His only Son. This is marvelous and truly asto8unding! What wondrous love is this Oh my soul!