After seeing God's righteousness, justice, and judgment, it might appear to be a contradiction to say that God is love. Yet the Bible is very clear that He is a God of absolute, pure love. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (I John 4:7-10; see also John 3:16). God loves the individual, though not for what he can do for God (because man can do nothing for God Who Himself is wholly self-existent). Instead, God loves man because that is God's nature. It is impossible for Him not to love. Yet, His love never contradicts His justice. His love is active and selfless, giving to man out of the abundance of His grace even though man does not deserve anything that God gives.?Dr. Phil Newton, The Way of Faith

	Thoughts on the Love of Christ, David Harsha
	The Love of Christ, Robert Murray M'Cheyne
	Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, John Bunyan

John Piper, Desiring God Ministries

	How Strange and Wonderful is the Love of Christ
	Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love of Christ
	How Is God's Love Experienced in the Heart?
	The Greatest of These Is Love
	The Called of Christ and the Loved of God
	God Demonstrates His Love Toward Us
	Dorothy Sayers on Why Hell Is a Non-Negotiable
	The Goal of God's Love May Not Be What You Think It Is
	How Does a Sovereign God Love?

Charles H. Spurgeon, Sermons on the Love of Christ

• The Death of Christ
• Love
• Love's Commendation
• Lovest Thou Me?
• Love's Complaining
• Love's Logic
• Loving Advice for Anxious Seekers

	To the Father Psalms 91:14; John 14:31
	To his church Solomon 4:8,9; 5:1; John 15:9; Ephesians 5:24
	To those who love him Proverbs 8:17; John 14:21
	MANIFESTED IN HIS Coming to seek the lost, Luke 19:10 Praying for his enemies, Luke 23:34 Giving himself for us Galatians 2:20 Dying for us John 15:13; 1 John 3:16 Washing away our sins Revelation 1:5 Interceding for us Hebrews 7:25; 9:24 Sending the Spirit Psalms 68:18; John 16:7 Rebukes and chastisements Revelation 3:19
	Passes knowledge Ephesians 3:19
	To be imitated John 13:34; 15:12; Ephesians 5:2; 1 John 3:16
	TO SAINTS, IS Unquenchable Solomon 8:7 Constraining 2 Corinthians 5:14 Unchangeable John 13:1 Indissoluble Romans 8:35
	Obedient saints abide in John 15:10
	Saints obtain victory through Romans 8:37
	Is the banner over his saints Solomon 2:4
	Is the ground of his saints love to him Luke 7:47
	To saints, shall be acknowledge even by enemies Revelation 3:9
	Illustrated Matthew 18:11-13
	EXEMPLIFIED TOWARDS Peter Luke 22:32,61 Lazarus, &c John 11:5,36 His apostles John 13:1,34 John John 13:23

THE DIFFICULT DOCTRINE OF THE LOVE OF GOD
D.A. Carson

At first thought, understanding the doctrine of the love of God seems simple compared to trying to fathom other doctrines like that of the Trinity or predestination. Especially since the overwhelming majority of those who believe in God view Him as a loving being.

But that is precisely what makes this doctrine so difficult. The only aspect of God's character the world still believes in is His love. His holiness, His sovereignty, His wrath are often rejected as being incompatible with a "loving" God. Because pop culture has so distorted and secularized God's love, even many Christians have lost a biblical understanding of it and , in turn, lost a vital means to knowing who God is.

The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God seeks to restore what we have lost. In this treatment of many of the Bible's passages regarding divine love, noted evangelical scholar D.A. Carson not only critiques sentimental ideas such as "God hates the sin but loves the sinner," but provides a compelling perspective on the nature of God and why He loves as He does. Carson blends his discourse with discussion of how God's sovereignty and holiness complete the biblical picture of who He is and how He loves.

In doing away with trivialities and clich?, this work gets to the hears of this all-important doctrine from an unflinching evangelical perspective. Yet is does so without losing its personal emphasis: for in understanding more of the comprehensive nature of God's love declared in His Word, you will come to understand God and His unending love for you more.