Love is an intrinsic attribute of God that motivated Him to reach into time and space and offer salvation to lost sinners who have offended Him. This was a voluntary act of love on the part of God, as He was in no way compelled to act. But He did act for our benefit, and this is most pronounced in the sending of His Son to die for us. In Scripture, we are told, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Here, the apostle John used the Greek verb agapao (ἀγαπάω), which speaks of God’s love for lost sinners, and His love was manifest toward us by providing His uniquely born Son as an atoning sacrifice for sin so that we might not spend eternity in the lake of fire. Instead, we might believe in His Son and come to possess eternal life. Love here is universal, extending to all of humanity. It is gracious because the object is undeserving (Rom 5:8). It is giving, as God gave His precious Son to die for us. It is simple, being received by faith alone in Christ alone (Acts 4:12; Eph 2:8-9). And it is salvific, saving those who accept God’s Son as their Savior (John 1:12; Gal 3:26). However, when referring to people possessed with negative volition, agapao (ἀγαπάω) becomes a commitment to that which is evil. John wrote, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved [agapao] the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). And, he wrote of weak believers who “loved [agapao] the approval of men rather than the approval of God” (John 12:43). In both these passages, agapao denotes a commitment to that which is selfish and sinful. This commitment to evil finds similar usage in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew OT, ca. 250 BC), where agapao is used of Samson who loved a prostitute (Judg 16:4), and Solomon who loved the wives that turned his heart away from the Lord (1 Ki 11:2). It is said that unbelievers “do not have the love of God” within them” (John 5:42). Their love is a commitment to self-interest and sin, which is characteristic of the world’s love. And Christians are warned, “Do not love the world nor the things in the world” (1 John 2:15), which shows that born again believers have the capacity to love that which is contrary to God. But God, being holy, righteous, and good, cannot love anything contrary to His nature. And because God is immutable (Mal 3:6), His love never changes. This means He does not love us more at one moment and less at another. When God loves us, it means He desires our best, and that He is committed to our wellbeing and spiritual growth. Sometimes this means comforting us (2 Cor 1:3-4), but other times it means discipling us (Heb 12:6). His love is always perfect. Robert B. Thieme, Jr., states: "Divine love, like every other attribute of God, is eternal, unchanging, and unfailing (1 Ch 16:34; Psa 57:10; 136). Even God’s complete knowledge of the sins and failures of His creatures cannot disappoint, frustrate, or diminish His love. God’s love can never be compromised, for it is governed by His perfect integrity (Psa 89:14a; Jer 9:24). Infinitely superior to human love, divine love always functions in a rational manner, free from emotion and sentimentality (Ex 34:6; Psa 86:15; Eph 2:4)."[1] God is interested in saving lost sinners because He loves them and wants what is best for them. In John 3:16, love is seen as that beneficial act of God, borne out of His eternal attribute of love, whereby He seeks to save lost sinners by directing them to Christ as their Savior. God’s love is based entirely on His character and not in the beauty or worth of the object. The apostle Paul wrote, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). According to W. E. Vine, “In respect of agapao as used of God, it expresses the deep and constant ‘love’ and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects.”[2] And Christopher A. Beetham notes, "God is essentially love (1 John 4:8), and His purpose right from the beginning has been one of love. The love of the Father for the Son is therefore the archetype of all love. This fact is made visible in the sending and self-sacrifice of the Son (John 3:16; 1 John 3:1, 16) …God’s primary purpose for the world is His compassionate and forgiving love, which asserts itself despite the world’s hostile rejection of it.”[3] The apostle John wrote, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). Our salvation was not earned by anything we did, but rather, by the love He showed to us by sending His ...
