“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jer. 31:3) That verse is not for you, unless you are a son of Jacob, of the direct lineage of Abraham, and of course serve the Lord Jesus Christ today. But we like to think that it’s for us, us Gentiles saved by grace through faith. And in part it is.
Taking verses out of context can be seriously dangerous, remember that.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Not the fish and trees and mammals, but the people of the world, souls created by Him that belong to Him, whether they live eternally in His presence or suffer eternally in the Lake of Fire.
That word love in John 3:16 has been debated by men much wiser than myself since those words were spoken, if God so loved why do so many die in their sins, wouldn’t that love be expressed in such a way that accepting it, recognizing the Almighty for who He is, that it would be impossible not to devote our lives to His glory? How does one accept the truth that He loves everyone, and then read John 3:36.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
I don’t know anyone who ever loved me whose wrath abided on me.
You can debate this all day in your mind and you will never arrive at the correct answer, no one ever has. God loved the world and then cast most of them that He said He loves into eternal damnation. Facts most people do not want to hear, much less accept.
I personally believe these truths are what formulated within the minds of men what we call the Doctrine of Election, the best possible answer the finite mind of man can reason to with the infinite mind of the Living God. No different than the anti-abortionist who will use just the first part of Jeremiah 1:5a.
“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;”
This doctrine has attempted to coalesce “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30) with for God so loved the world.
If it were true that God predestined some to hell and some to heaven, then Romans 14:12 would need to be a lie, and it is not. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
But He said that word “predestined,” didn’t He?
Contemplate these words, we may love Him, but that does not necessarily mean that He loves all of us.
Does He then only love those who have acknowledged Jesus Christ as Lord? If there is no condemnation on those who are hid in Christ, then how can He say He loved the whole world when His wrath abides on those who deny the truths of the Scriptures? Wrath and love don’t exactly go together, do they?
Entire volumes of books could be written, and stay in the context of this topic, just using those two men who hung on either side of our Savior that day. The one accepted, and lives with Him today, the other rejected, and today still wanders in the abyss of hell.
Were both loved? Are both still loved?
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
There are the whosoever wills and there are the whosoever will nots.
Man has free will and God alone is Sovereign. Both are truth.
God gives His love to whomever He will, our response is to be to return it as best as we are able. He hardens whom He will harden, and He has mercy on whom He will have mercy.
I would suggest not contemplating this too much, rest assured in the promises if you have been born-again, continue to praise His Holy name, for you have been chosen. Let God determine who He loves and who He doesn’t.
