Many people believe that God unconditionally loves every person, with the possible exception of those who commit heinous crimes, but does the Bible support this belief?  We will consider several scriptures which seem to indicate that God’s love may not be the same for everyone and may be conditional.

[Note:  When we quote Scripture in this article, we use the wording in the New King James Version of the Bible, except when we are quoting a source that uses a different translation.  And, when bold print is shown in the scriptures that we quote in this article, it is to focus on certain words that we will be addressing in our subsequent discussion.]

1.  In John 3:16, Jesus Christ declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

The Greek word agapao that is translated in this scripture as loved pertains to love in a social or moral sense, according to Strong’s Concordance of the Bible.  This scripture says that because of God’s love for the world, He sent Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, to die for the sins of mankind, so that every person can have everlasting life (i.e., eternal salvation), if they believe in His Son as their Savior.

Note that John 3:16 does not say that everyone will have everlasting life.  To the contrary, this scripture indicates that only those who believe in Jesus Christ will have everlasting life.  Other verses of scripture reveal that “believing in Christ” involves more than just an acknowledgement that He was a very good man who was unjustly crucified.  The type of belief in Jesus Christ that will result in everlasting life necessitates that a person sincerely trusts in Jesus Christ as his (or her) Savior.  Thus, although this scripture indicates that God’s gift of everlasting life through trust in Christ is conditional, it does not indicate that God’s love is conditional.

John Calvin’s Commentaries on the Bible indicates that, although the love of God that is mentioned in John 3:16 is for everyone, this love will not necessarily result in every person having eternal salvation.  Calvin states,

That whosoever believeth on him may not perish. . . .[Jesus Christ] has employed the universal term whosoever, both to invite all indiscriminately to partake of life, and to cut off every excuse from unbelievers.

Let us remember, on the other hand, that while life is promised universally to all who believe in Christ, still faith is not common to all. For Christ is made known and held out to the view of all, but the elect alone are they whose eyes God opens, that they may seek him by faith.

Similarly, John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible does not express the belief that the love of God mentioned in John 3:16 is offered to every person in the world.  Gill’s viewpoint suggests that he, like Calvin, believes that God’s choice of certain individuals to have eternal salvation has been determined solely according to God’s sovereign will.  [Note: We do not share this belief, as indicated in  our article entitled “Does God Choose Who Will Have Eternal Salvation?,” which can be accessed by clicking on its title.]  According to Gill,

The Persic version reads “men”: but not every man in the world is here meant, or all the individuals of human nature; for all are not the objects of God’s special love, which is here designed, as appears from the instance and evidence of it, the gift of his Son: nor is Christ God’s gift to every one; for to whomsoever he gives his Son, he gives all things freely with him; which is not the case of every man.

In contrast with Gill, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Bible supports the belief that the love of God that is mentioned in John 3:16 indicates that God demonstrates His love by offering eternal salvation to everyone.  Henry says,

Though many of the world of mankind perish, yet God’s giving his only-begotten Son was an instance of his love to the whole world, because through him there is a general offer of life and salvation made to all.

The Pulpit Commentaries agrees with Henry, as indicated by the following:

For God so loved the world. The Divine love is the sublime source of the whole proceeding, and it has been lavished on “the world.” This world cannot be the limited “world” of the Augustinian, Calvinian interpreters—the world of the elect; it is that “whole world” of which St. John speaks in 1 John 2:2. “God will have all men to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4).

Among the Bible commentaries that seem to agree with the viewpoints of Henry and The Pulpit Commentaries are Barnes’ Notes on the Whole Bible, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible, and David Guzik’s Commentary on the Bible.

2.  Jesus Christ says in John 14:21, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Strong indicates that, in this scripture, the meaning of both loved and love by God the Father and Jesus Christ, respectively, is the same as in John 3:16 (i.e., the Greek word pertains to love in a social or moral sense).  However, John 14:21 states that for God (or Jesus Christ) to love a person, it is necessary for that person to demonstrate their love for Jesus Christ by keeping Christ’s commandments.  This indicates that God does not necessarily love everyone (i.e., His love is conditional), which seems to be contrary to John 3:16.  So, how can this discrepancy be resolved?

In John 14:21, Jesus Christ apparently was referring to the behavior of people after they become a Christian, whereas John 3:16 pertains to the behavior of people before they become a Christian.  Therefore, John 14:21 is not inconsistent with John 3:16.  In any case, as we shall subsequently discuss with regard to this verse, there is reason to believe that God’s love for Christians is somewhat greater than His love for non-Christians.  Genuine Christians (i.e., those who have truly trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior) generally will aspire to keep Christ’s commandments, thereby demonstrating their love for Him.  However, if they fail to keep Christ’s commandments for a substantial period of time, God may love them to a lesser degree than He loves those who continue to be faithful.

Peter Pett’s Commentary on the Bible expresses the belief that the love of God that is mentioned in John 14:21 is different than the love of God that is mentioned in John 3:16.  In this regard, Pett states that God’s love for Christians is special.  According to Pett,

This is a very different love from that which God had for the world (John 3:16). That love was a general beneficence that among other things . . . provided a way of salvation towards those who would respond, and great it was for it cost Him His Son. But this is a personal, individual love, as a Father to His children. His people are His children in a way that the world is not.

But they will not only enjoy the special love of the Father, for He adds “and I will love him and will make myself known to him”. They will thus also enjoy the personal love of the Son. . . . So the one who believes fully in Him [Jesus Christ] and fully observes His commands will receive the Spirit of truth, will enjoy the special, personal love of the Father, and will be equally loved by Jesus, Who will make Himself known to him in the fullness of His glory.

Gill’s comments on John 14:21 assert that Jesus Christ loves each person even before they begin to love and obey Him, which is consistent with John 3:16.  However, based on Gill’s previous comments regarding John 3:16, we assume that he is referring to only the people whom God has “chosen” to become Christians.  Regardless, Gill states that after a person begins to demonstrate obedience to Christ, the manifestation of God’s (or Jesus Christ’s) love for them will be greater than previously.   Gill says,

He that has not merely the external revelation of [Christ’s commandments] in the Bible; but has them written on his heart, by the finger of the Spirit of God, and keeps them under the influence of grace and strength received from him: others may talk of loving Christ, but this is the man that truly does love him; for his observance of Christ’s commands is a proof and evidence that he loves him not in word only, but in deed and in truth: and to encourage souls to love and obedience, Christ adds, not that love to is the cause, condition, or motive of the Father’s love to his people; nor does his love to them begin when they begin to love Christ; but this expression denotes some further and greater manifestation of the Father’s love to such persons, and shows how grateful to the Father are love and obedience to the Son: which must be understood in the same manner; Christ does not begin to love his people when they begin to love, and obey him; their love and obedience to him, spring from his love to them. . . .

Like most of the other Bible commentaries that we consulted, Henry’s does not provide much perspective as to whether or not the degree of God’s (or Jesus Christ’s) love is affected if a Christian were to cease keeping Christ’s commandments.  The most pertinent comments by Henry are as follows:

The surest evidence of our love to Christ is obedience to the laws of Christ. . . . What returns he will make to them [His followers] for their love; rich returns; there is no love lost upon Christ. (1.) They shall have the Father’s love: He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father. We could not love God if he did not first, out of his good-will to us, give us his grace to love him; but there is a love of complacency promised to those that do love God. . . . (2.) They shall have Christ’s love: And I will love him, as God-man, as Mediator. God will love him as a Father, and I will love him as a brother. . . .

We now want to add some additional thoughts of our own regarding the continuity of God’s love.  The Bible teaches that every genuine Christian is an adopted child of God (see Romans 8:14-15; Galatians 4:4-7; Ephesians 1:3-5; Hebrews 12:7; and 1 John 3:1-2).  And, because God is loving, patient, forgiving, gracious, etc., it is reasonable to believe that He is perfect as the heavenly Father of those who have trusted in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation.  Therefore, we believe God does not stop loving any of His adopted children, even if they are not consistently demonstrating a desire to love Christ and obey His commandments.  However, as we previously stated, God may love them to a lesser degree than He loves those who continue to be faithful.

If God were to entirely stop loving any of His adopted children, He would be holding Himself to a lower standard than He has set for them, since the Bible teaches that followers of Christ should love even their enemies (see Matthew 5:44-46 and Luke 6:27-32, 35).  Therefore, we do not believe that God entirely stops loving any of His adopted children.  However, it is uncertain if God’s love for His adopted children diminishes somewhat whenever they are not earnestly trying to be faithful to Him.  In any case, we believe that God loves His adopted children more than He loves other people, just as an earthly father normally loves his own children more than he loves the children of other people.

3.  In John 15:9-10, Jesus Christ tells His inner circle of 12 disciples, “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”

Again, the Greek word that is translated as loved pertains to love “in a social or moral sense,” according to Strong.  In contrast, the Greek word that is translated as love refers to agape love, which is generally regarded as the highest (or most excellent) form of love.  Thus, Jesus Christ’s love for His 12 Disciples was the highest form of love.  Whether or not Jesus meant that He has that same degree of love for all of His followers (i.e., every Christian) is uncertain.  Nevertheless, this scripture, like John 14:21, seems to imply that if a Christian does not keep Jesus Christ’s commandments, Jesus will not continue to love that person to the same degree as before, presumably until that person sincerely repents.

However, with regard to John 15:9-10, Gill argues that after a person becomes a Christian, Jesus Christ’s love for them will not change, and apparently he believes this is true regardless of whether or not they keep His commandments, which seems to be contrary to what this scripture states.   The following comments by Gill indicate that he thinks Jesus will disregard the failures of His spiritual children (i.e., Christians) and, like a loving parent, He will continue to love them as if they had been completely obedient:

Christ loves his [devotees] as his spouse and bride, as his dear children. . . . And there is a likeness between the Father’s love to him, and his love to his disciples and followers: as his Father loved him from everlasting, so did he love them; as his Father loved him with a love of complacency and delight, so did he, and so does he love them; and as his Father loved him with a special and peculiar affection, with an unchangeable, invariable, constant love, which will last for ever, in like manner does Christ love his people.

Continue ye in my love: meaning either in his love to them, which, as he always continues in it without any variableness or shadow of turning . . . or else in their love to him. . . .

Likewise, Barnes believes that John 15:9-10 does not suggest that Christ’s love for Christians may be less if they do not keep His commandments.

And, Calvin infers that he believes Jesus Christ does not cease to love a Christian (i.e., His love is not conditional), even if a Christian fails to remain faithful.  However, Calvin seems to believe that a Christian who does not remain faithful will not have the ability to fully enjoy Christ’s love.  Calvin’s belief in this regard focuses on the phrase “abide in my love” in John 15:9-10, as follows:

Some explain this to mean, that Christ demands from his disciples mutual love; but others explain it better, who understand it to mean the love of Christ towards us. He means that we should continually enjoy that love with which he once loved us, and, therefore, that we ought to take care not to deprive ourselves of it. . . .

The Adam Clarke Commentary says with regard to John 15:9-10, that “[I]t is impossible to retain a sense of God‘s pardoning love, without continuing in the obedience of faith.”  This apparently  implies that it is not God’s (or Jesus Christ’s) love that may change, but rather a Christian’s sense of that love.  This is essentially the same as what Calvin believes.

However, Pett’s comments regarding John 15:9-10 infer that God’s (or Jesus Christ’s) love for a Christian may change if that person continues to be disobedient to Jesus’ teachings.  We tend to discount these comments, because Pett evidently believes that a person may lose their eternal salvation if he (or she) continues to be disobedient to the teachings of the Bible – a viewpoint with which we disagree, provided that the person does not apostatize.  [Note: In this regard, see our article entitled “Can Christians Forfeit Their Eternal Salvation?,” which can be accessed by clicking on its title.]  Nevertheless, we offer the following comments by Pett:

All Christians can have assurance that they are in His love if they know that they are truly looking to Him only for salvation, none can have that assurance if they are deliberately continuing in long term disobedience and neglecting His word. You will never find anywhere in Scripture where it is taught that a fruitless so-called believer who is living in a state of neglect to God’s word is given any assurance of salvation.

4. Jesus Christ says to His 12 Disciples in John 16:27,[F]or the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God.”

According to Strong, the Greek word phileo that is translated as loves in this verse refers to being a friend to or being fond of an individual, in contrast with the two other meanings of the word love that we mentioned previously with regard to other scriptures.  Nevertheless, like both John 14:21 and John 15:9-10, this scripture seems to indicate that, to at least some extent, the degree of God’s love for a person is contingent upon whether or not that person loves Jesus Christ.

In commenting on John 16:27, Calvin expresses the belief that God loves a person even before that person begins to love Him.  According to Calvin,

Because you have loved me. [I]f it is only when we have loved Christ that God begins to love us, it follows that the commencement of salvation is from ourselves, because we have anticipated the grace of God. Numerous passages of Scripture, on the other hand, are opposed to this statement. The promise of God is, I will cause them to love me; and John says, Not that we first loved Him (1 John 4:10.)

Likewise, rather than affirming that John 16:27 says that God’s love for Jesus Christ’s 12 Disciples was because they loved God, Gill asserts that the reverse was true, as follows:

The Father loved [Jesus Christ’s disciples] . . . as much as the Son did, and of himself too, without any merit or motive in them: he loved them from everlasting, and had given proofs of it in time, in the gift of his Son to them, and for them. . . .  Because ye have loved me: not that their love to Christ was the cause of the Father’s love to them; but, on the contrary, the Father’s love to them was the cause of their love to Christ; and therefore as the cause is known by its effect, they might be assured of the Father’s love to them by their love to Christ; for if the Father had not loved them, they had never loved God, nor Christ; but since they did love Christ, it was a clear case the Father loved them. . . .

In contrast to Calvin and Gill, Henry apparently believes that John 16:27 does mean that God’s love for Christ’s 12 Disciples was because they loved Christ.  However, Henry does not address whether or not God’s continuing love for Jesus Christ’s 12 Disciples depended on the perseverance of their love for Christ.  Henry states,

Why the Father loved the disciples of Christ: Because you have loved me, and have believed that I am come from God, that is, because you are my disciples indeed: not as if the love began on their side, but when by his grace he has wrought in us a love to him he is well pleased with the work of his own hands. See here, First, What is the character of Christ’s disciples; they love him. . . . Secondly, See what advantage Christ’s faithful disciples have, the Father loves them, and that because they love Christ. . . .

5.  Romans 9:13, which is an abbreviated paraphrase of Malachi 1:2-3, states,As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

As was the case in several of the previous scriptures, the Greek word translated as loved pertains to love “in a social or moral sense,” according to Strong.  With regard to the Greek word that is translated as hated, Strong states that it “basically means having a relative preference for one thing over another, by way of expressing either aversion from, or disregard for, the claims of one person or thing relatively to those of another.”  Several Bible commentaries state that the meaning of hatred in Romans 9:13 is akin to “loving less.”  Thus, the verse indicates that God does not love everyone to the same degree, even twin brothers (e.g., Jacob and Esau). [For a more comprehensive discussion of God’s esteem for Jacob versus Esau, click on “If God’s Nature Is to Love, How Can He Hate?]

The following comments by The Pulpit Commentaries explain that Romans 9:13 pertains to the two nations formed by the descendants of Jacob and Esau, not to the twin brothers as individuals, and that the term hated indicates having a lesser regard for Esau’s descendants than for Jacob’s:

As it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (Malachi 1:2, Malachi 1:3). It is here to be carefully observed that, though Jacob and Esau were individuals, yet it is not as such, but as the progenitors and representatives of races, that they are here spoken of. So it was, too, in both the passages quoted from the Old Testament. In Genesis 25:23 the words are, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.”

Also with regard to Romans 9:13, Barnes agrees with the interpretation by The Pulpit Commentaries and provides the following additional perspective regarding the phrase “have I hated:

This does not mean any positive hatred; but that he [God] had preferred Jacob, and had withheld from Esau those privileges and blessings which he had conferred on the posterity of Jacob. . . . It was common among the Hebrews to use the terms “love” and “hatred” in this comparative sense, where the former implied strong positive attachment, and the latter, not positive hatred, but merely a less love, or the withholding of the expressions of affection; compare Genesis 29:30-31; Proverbs 13:24, “He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes;” Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,” etc.; Luke 14:26, “if any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, etc.”

Matthew Henry agrees that the references in Romans 9:13 to Jacob and Esau actually pertain to Israel and Edom, respectively, the nations that were formed by their descendants, but it is not clear if Henry shares the same interpretation of the term hated.  He says,

The difference was made between [Jacob and Esau] by the divine counsel before they were born, or had done any good or evil. Both lay struggling alike in their mother’s womb, when it was said, The elder shall serve the younger, without respect to good or bad works done or foreseen, that the purpose of God according to election might stand —that this great truth may be established, that God chooses some and refuses others as a free agent, by his own absolute and sovereign will, dispensing his favours or withholding them as he pleases. This difference that was put between Jacob and Esau he further illustrates by a quotation from Mal. 1:2, Mal. 1:3 , where it is said, not of Jacob and Esau the person, but the Edomites and Israelites their posterity, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated. The people of Israel were taken into the covenant of peculiarity, had the land of Canaan given them, were blessed with the more signal appearances of God for them in special protections, supplies, and deliverances, while the Edomites were rejected, had no temple, altar, priests, nor prophets-no such particular care taken of them nor kindness shown to them.

In contrast with the previous commentaries, Gill’s comments on Romans 9:13 express his Calvinist views, with which we disagree.  Gill declares,

[T]hese words regard their persons, and express the true spring and source of the choice of the one, and the rejection of the other; and which holds true of all the instances of either kind: everlasting and unchangeable love is the true cause and spring of the choice of particular persons to eternal salvation; and hatred is the cause of rejection, by which is meant not positive hatred, which can only have for its object sin and sinners, or persons so considered; but negative hatred, which is God’s will, not to give eternal life to some persons; and shows itself by a neglect of them, taking no notice of them, passing them by, when he chose others; so the word “hate” is used for neglect, taking no notice, where positive hatred cannot be thought to take place, in ( Luke 14:26 ).

6.  What about the scriptures, particularly in the Old Testament, that indicate God would reward (or did reward) certain individuals (e.g., Noah, Abraham, Jacob, David, Solomon) on the basis of their faithfulness to Him? Are those incidents indications of conditional love by God?  Our response is that those incidents are not necessarily indications of conditional love by God.

Consider the following example involving an earthly father and his son.  If the father offers to give one of his sons a monetary reward to mow the yard of their home, but he does not make a similar offer to another of his sons, this does not infer that the father loves the first son more than his other son(s).  There may be one or more practical reasons why the father did not make a similar offer to his other son(s).  The son whom he asked to mow the yard may be older, stronger, more reliable, and/or need the money more than the other son(s).  None of these reasons imply that there is a difference in the degree of love that the father has for each of his sons.

Conclusion

Although God apparently has the same types of love for every person, the Bible indicates that He does not have the same degree of love for every individual.  An analogy would be that humans have phileo love (i.e., fondness) for their friends, but they may not have the same degree of phileo love for each of their friends.

Several of the scriptures we previously cited suggest that God’s love is greater for people who love Jesus Christ or God Himself and keep Jesus’ commandments than for people who fail to do so.  Thus, it can be said that, although God loves every person, the degree of His love is conditional, to some extent.

We believe it is crucial for those who are not Christians to understand that just because God loves them, this does not mean that He will not punish them for their sins.  Just as a loving parent will discipline his (or her) children, God will discipline His children (i.e., Christians and, perhaps, others who worship Him) when necessary.  However, the Bible teaches that anyone can receive God’s forgiveness of their sins, if they respond appropriately to God’s love.  Responding appropriately to God’s love necessitates that a person sincerely trust in God’s Son, Jesus Christ, for eternal salvation, and then sincerely confess the sins that they subsequently commit.  [With regard to the importance of sincerely trusting in Jesus Christ, click on “What Must a Person Do to Be Assured of Eternal Salvation?]