DOES GOD LOVE EVERYONE?

PROVERBS 15:9, 26, 29; 16:5

The Lord is far from the wicked

(Prov. 15:29).

Has anyone ever told you “God loves everyone”? While such a conception might be tremendously appealing, it is contrary to Scripture. God clearly does not love everyone. God is benevolent to all His creatures. He causes the sun to shine on the righteous and the unrighteousness. Heathen and infidels can prosper and live in relative peace without bearing one mark of true religion. We see God’s benevolence in His dealings with Hagar and Ishmael. God granted worldly prosperity and success to Ishmael and his descendants, but did this mean that God loved him as He loved Isaac—the true heir to the promise given to Abraham? Just because God governs and cares for His creation, does this mean that He loves every person? To say “yes” contradicts Scripture.

God said that He loved Jacob, but He hated Esau—before they were even born. Psalm 5 says God hates workers of iniquity. He considers them an abomination. Solomon reinforces this teaching in Proverbs: “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord” (15:26); “The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous” (15:29). Clearly, God maintains a different relationship with those who are His covenant children in Christ than those who remain alien to His covenantal promises. The children of Satan, the wicked, the reprobate, the pagans of this world, are enemies against God. They are rebels who will one day be crushed by the just and mighty hand of the Lord.

This is a picture of God that many in the church prefer to ignore. But to reject the clear teaching of Scripture on this point robs the child of God of a true spirit of humble thankfulness, and it undermines a truth that can serve as a means to bring an unbeliever to consider his separation from God and, as a result, come to faith. If you tell people that God loves them, when He does not, what motive do they have to put their faith in Christ? If God loves them, He will not curse and punish them. What need, then, do they have of a savior if they already have a loving relationship with God? None. But the truth is that the wicked are an abomination to the Lord and in need of divine reconciliation that only comes through the saving, redeeming work of Christ.

CORAM DEO

1 Kings 6–7

Luke 23:26–43

Have you ever been in physical proximity with someone, and yet they still seemed miles away? Have you ever said to someone, “You’re not with me,” even though they were sitting right next to you? What did that feel like? How can you use this illustration to tell an unbeliever that “The Lord is far from the wicked”?

For further study: Ps. 5 • Matt. 5:43–48 • Rom. 9

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