Knowing God: Chapter 12 - The Love of God

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Chapter 12 of Knowing God focuses in on the love of God. The chapter takes on two major ideas:

  1. what it means that “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16) and
  2. defining God’s love. 

For #1 Dr. Packer points out that God being love is indelibly tied to God being spirit (John 4:24) and God being light (1 John 1:5). That “God is spirit” means His love is not capricious or fickle like human love can be; it is “as strong as death.” (Song 8:6) That “God is light” means His love is “holy love” that brings about holiness in our lives, brings about sanctification because confirming us to the image of Christ, no matter what it takes, is the best thing for us and for the glory of God.


For #2 Dr. Packer defines God’s love in six parts:

  1. God’s love is an exercise of His goodness. 
  2. God’s love is an exercise of His goodness toward sinners.
  3. God’s love is an exercise of His goodness toward individual sinners.
  4. God’s love to sinners involves His identifying Himself with their welfare. 
  5. God’s love to sinners was expressed by the gift of His Son to be their Savior. 
  6. God’s love to sinners reaches its objective as it brings them to know and enjoy Him in covenant relation. 

Thus, God’s love is defined as “an exercise of His goodness toward individual sinners whereby, having identified Himself with their welfare, He has given His Son to be their Savior, and now brings them to know and enjoy Him in a covenant relationship.” (And I might add “forever!”)

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