When it comes to the subject of God’s love, many people are a bit fuzzy.

They believe that God is loving but aren’t quite sure about the particulars. Who exactly does God love? How can we be sure that God loves us? Does God love all people in the same way?

It’s important to get answers to these questions because they shape our understanding of God. If we get these questions wrong, we get God wrong.

Thankfully, the Bible isn’t silent on the subject of God’s love. It provides clear answers about the nature of God’s love and who God loves in particular.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Does God love me?” or, “Is God’s love unconditional?” then this post is for you.

Let’s see what Scripture has to say about the love of God.

Does God Love Everyone?

Let’s start with the big picture. Does God love everyone or does He only love specific people?

The Bible makes it very clear that He does love all people. In 1 John 4:8 we read,

“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”

God is love, and His deep love flows out to every person. There is no one who is beyond the love of God. Even the worst of sinners is deeply loved by God.

The Apostle Paul is a prime example of God’s love for sinners. Before Paul was saved, he persecuted Christians, even trying to kill them. Nevertheless, God rescued Paul from his sins in dramatic fashion.

In 1 Timothy 1:15-16, Paul wrote:

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.

Paul shows us that God truly does love everyone, including those who rebel against Him.

John 3:16 says,

“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.”

God’s love is so wide that it covers every person in the world. There are some people who talk as though God is disgusted with the world. And while it’s true that God does hate sin, He doesn’t look on the world with disgust. He feels strong love and affection for each person that He has created.

Pastor Adrian Rogers said:

"There’s no one He doesn’t love. East and west, north and south. A man may go to hell unsaved, but he’ll not go to hell unloved. Oh, the grace that drew salvation’s plan. Oh, the love that brought it down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary. Never let circumstances or Satan cause you to doubt the love of God. For you."

If God did not love everyone, He would not have sent Jesus as Savior. God sent Jesus to live a sinless life and die a sacrificial death so that every person would have the opportunity to repent and be saved from their sins.

God truly does love all people everywhere and desires that they be saved. As it says in 1 Timothy 2:4, God, “...desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

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Does God Love Me?

Now let’s move to a much more personal question: Does God love me?

You may not have any trouble believing that God loves everyone in a broad, generic sense. But do you believe that God loves you personally?

Again, the Bible makes it abundantly clear that God has a deep, personal affection for you.

In Galatians 2:20, it says,

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Why was the Apostle Paul so confident that God loved him? Because Jesus died for him. Paul knew that the cross is the greatest proof of God’s incredible, overwhelming love. Even though Paul had sinned greatly against God, Jesus still died for Paul.

The cross is proof that God loves you with an overflowing love. In Romans 5:6-8, we read:

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God sent Jesus to die in your place so that you could know God personally and intimately. Because God loves you so very much, He sent Jesus to pay for your sins and open the way to God.

Not only has God forgiven your sins, He has also adopted you into His family.

As it says in Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

In biblical times, “Abba” was an intimate term used between a child and his loving father. You are God’s child and you can call Him, “Abba, Father.” You don’t have to earn God’s love. You don’t have to work your way into His presence. You can come freely, just as a child comes into the presence of their warm and loving dad.

Satan wants you to doubt God’s love. He wants you to believe that you’re too bad and sinful to be loved by God. He wants you to feel like you need to stay away from God. Don’t believe these lies.

When you’re tempted to doubt God’s personal love, look to Jesus. Follow the advice of the old hymn that says:

"When Satan tempts me to despair,
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look, and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin."

God didn’t just say that He loves you. He proved His love for you by sending Jesus as your Savior.

God loves you deeply and Jesus is evidence of that incredible love.

Is God’s Love Unconditional?

Now let’s look at a slightly trickier question: does God love everyone unconditionally?

The answer depends on your perspective.

Perhaps the best way to put it is that God loves all people unconditionally but doesn’t save people unconditionally.

God loves everyone with profound, unconditional love. No matter what their personal background and past behaviors have been, God loves them the same and has plans for hope and a future for each and every person in this world. However, in order to be saved and have their sins forgiven, a person must believe in Jesus Christ. Salvation is conditional upon faith in Christ.

Acts 4:12 puts it this way:

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Now, to be clear, faith in Christ is not a work that somehow earns salvation. Rather, faith is the “hand” that reaches out to receive the free gift of salvation from God.

Think of it this way. Say you owed the bank a large sum of money and a friend offered to give you a check to pay off the debt. The gift is free but you still have to take it. Faith operates in a similar fashion. Salvation is a free gift from God and you receive that gift by faith in Christ.

So is God’s love unconditional? Yes, it is. But salvation is only found in Jesus Christ.

God’s Amazing Love

God’s love truly is amazing. It is broad, covering every person in the world. It is deep, reaching you personally. There is no person beyond the reach of God’s love. Even in your weakest, darkest moments, God still greatly loves you.

How should we respond to God’s amazing love? With worship. We should be in awe of the fact that God loves us. As the classic hymn says:

And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love indeed.

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