The Exclusive Love of God for His Elect

All things to all people come from God (Rom 11:36). It is God who gives good gifts to men (Jas 1:17). In His providence, He allocates what every person has in her possession at any given time. He makes one rich and another poor, materially or spiritually. It may be for their benefit or their hurt. Food is a good gift, but the glutton will suffer.

Men judge God with injustice (Jn 8:15). This is seen by the actions of those who crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8). Therefore, when men judge their own status before God, they are amiss. Most die in their sins, and where Jesus, their Judge, has gone into glory, they cannot come (Jn 8:21). The reason they cannot come is that they are not of God (Jn 8:47). They do not believe in Jesus, so as to be saved (Jn 3:16), because they are not His sheep (Jn 10:26).

Grace is the work of God to save His elect people from their sins (Mt 1:21; Eph 2:8–9). The prophets foretold of God’s predetermined plan and purpose, fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Acts 2:23; Eph 3:11; 1 Pet 1:10). He brought salvation to all men (Titus 2:11), that is, the sheep of His pasture, as we have noted above (Ps 79:13; 95:7; 100:3; Ezek 34:31; Mic 2:12).

God’s chosen race (1 Pet 2:9) has been redeemed by Christ Jesus (Rom 3:24; 1 Cor 1:30), who is God’s indescribable gift (2 Cor 9:15). It is God who causes people to receive Him (Jn 1:12–13; 1 Pet 1:3), and it is the gift of the Spirit of Christ who is received (Acts 2:38; 10:45; 11:17). God has poured out His love for His beloved (Rom 5:5), as demonstrated by their receipt of His life — the life of God, abundant and eternal (Jn 10:10; Rom 6:23). It is the Spirit who gives life (Jn 6:63), and Jesus Christ is this life (Jn 14:6).

One must believe, in order to have divine life (Jn 3:16; 3:36; 5:24; 6:40, 47; 11:25; 20:31). As many as had been appointed to eternal life do believe (Acts 13:48), and this faith comes by hearing, while hearing comes by the Word of Christ (Rom 10:17). Because Jesus is life (Jn 14:6), and it is the Spirit who gives this life, we preach Christ crucified (1 Cor 1:23). The Gospel, preached in the Spirit, is man’s only hope for salvation (Rom 1:16; Eph 1:13).

Not all men have faith (2 Thess 3:2). Faith is a gift of God (Phil 1:29), received by some (2 Pet 1:1), from the indwelling Holy Spirit (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9, 11; Gal 4:6; 2 Tim 1:14), who manifests the believer’s faithfulness as a fruit (Gal 5:22). Without the Holy Spirit, men do not have faith (Jn 14:17; Rom 8:9; 1 Cor 2:4–5, 10).

The things freely given to us by God, including faith, are known only to the Spirit, who is from God (1 Cor 2:12). We believe what we know to be true, and it is the Spirit of truth who teaches us the knowledge of the truth (Jn 16:13; Rom 2:20; 1 Tim 2:4; 2 Tim 2:25). Our Teacher is sent to us from the Father and the Son (Jn 14:26; 15:26). Does everyone, everywhere, and at all times receive the Holy Spirit and God’s love poured out?

To know God, one must know Jesus Christ (Jn 17:3). To know Jesus Christ, one must receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11; Acts 1:5; 2:38; 10:47; 11:16), who permanently abides in the soul of the ones appointed for life (Rom 8:9, 11). They were given by the Father to the Son, who loved them and gave Himself for them (Eph 5:25). All who the Father gives to Christ will come to Him (Jn 6:44, 65), and He will never cast them out (Jn 6:37), nor leave or forsake them (Heb 13:5). They were bought for a price (1 Cor 6:20; 7:23) because He intended to make them a people of His own possession (Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 2:9). Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8).

God’s love for his elect is exclusive (and this is the scandal of true Christianity). The Father predestined them to life, in love (Eph 1:4). The Son demonstrated God’s love in His sacrificial, substitutionary death for His church, which He purchased with His blood (Acts 20:28; Rom 5:8; 1 Pet 1:19). God’s love is not just for the Jews (Jn 3:16; Rom 3:29), but it is for the world of Gentile believers, too (Rev 5:9; 7:9).

God has given His Spirit to abide in His church (1 Jn 4:13). Each believer is a living stone in the temple of the Holy Spirit (Eph 2:20–22). The church/temple is being built by Jesus Christ Himself (Mt 16:18; Heb 3:4; 11:10). It is the church who believes the love which God has for us (1 Jn 4:16). He loves us, first, and for this reason, we love God (1 Jn 4:19). The Spirit of God, who is love (1 Jn 4:8), unites these living stones, who are being fitted into their place in Christ (Eph 4:16). They are being conformed to His image (Rom 8:29). This is why Christian brothers love one another (Ps 133:1–3) and each his neighbor in town. Christians are commanded to love both (Jn 13:34–35; Mt 5:43), but there is a differentiation to the manifestation of each expression. He will sacrifice his own life for his wife and children (Jn 15:13), in order to further their well-being. He will respect the law that guides his relationship with his neighbors.

In this attempt to be at peace with all men (Rom 12:18), he obeys the law as his expression of love for his neighbor. One is sacrificial, and one is earnest. In one case, his love is for people he knows, intimately, and in the other case, his love is for peace under the law.

God treats his relationship with all people, according to His Law. He always does right (Ps 71:9). In this, He cannot deny Himself, that He is love (1 Jn 4:8). In love, He does justice because He is just (Rom 3:26). He loves justice because it honors His righteousness. God is right, therefore, to judge guilty sinners, condemning them to eternal hell. His love of the Law accomplishes this execution.

God’s electing, sacrificial love for His beloved people is beyond His love for His Law. This is the love of God in Christ Jesus (agape), and it is for all upon whom He sets His love (Dt 7:7; 10:15; 1 Kgs 10:9). In love, He predestined them (Eph 1:4). In love, He redeemed them (Dt 7:8; Is 63:9; Rom 5:8). In love, he called them to come to Himself (Hos 11:1; Rom 8:28); and see how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God, and such we are (1 Jn 3:1). This is His exclusive love for His beloved elect…scandalous to some and marvelous to others.

David Norczyk

Spokane Valley, Washington

May 9, 2020