Customer Reviews

Loved by God

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"Just as He is from everlasting to everlasting, so His love is also from everlasting to everlasting. His is not a fickle love that waxes hot and cold over time. His love has a constancy about it that transcends all human forms of love. Just as human beings often fall in love, they also often fall out of love. This is not the case with the love of God." - pg 24

The above quote taken from _Loved by God_ aptly summarizes the theme of Sproul's latest book. This book is not another pithy look at love in some whimsical sentimental sense. Rather, a deep look into scripture at the facets of God's love in all circumstances.

How can we say God is loving when Jesus says he was forsaken on the cross? How can we say God is loving when he clearly shows hatred to the wicked throughout the scriptures? How can we say God is loving when he says that "it pleased God to bruise Him (Christ)?"

RC addresses all of these issues and more. I highly rec'd this book to Christians of all stages in their spiritual pilgrimage. RC has a gift for making theology understandable, practical, and comforting.

I must be honest: I bought this book for the CD that came with it (which is a decent 17 minute intro to the book). Sproul appraoches the task of exploring God's love with humility and hopes that this book will "be a springboard for a lifelong pursuit of this love."

The overall rating is A-. The first three chapters were loaded with deep, heavy thought concerning the nature of God, and interacts with differing modern views that examine this concept. I respectfully differ with one reviewer concerning the chapter on election--I basically agree with Sproul. He delivers the basic Calvinist challenge on Romans 9. However, he does leave several questions that need to be answered. The next two or three chapters were ok; they were not the best that Sproul is capable of, thus the 4 star rating. His chapters on our love for one another are pretty good and worth a read.

Final Analysis.
THis book is a good, solid "intro" to the love of God. It is not the most exhaustive treatise on divine love, nor was it intended to be. This is a book from which the beginning and advanced student can profit from. It is overall well-written with only a few chapters that leave some to be desired. Also, the CD is an added bonus to the book

This is an awesome book for those who are troubled or confused about the justice, mercy, love and "hate" of God. It also explains passages such as God "desiring all men to be saved" or how can God hate others under reprobation. This is, ironically, one of the best defenses of the Reformed or Calvinist faith. Sproul is such and outstanding teacher, and he explains these difficult concepts using the historical church as well as a careful examination of Scripture to back his claims. This book sinks into your pysche, and after reading it, you will think of the contents well after this book goes paperback. Does Sproul speak infallibly ex cathedra on matters of faith? Sometimes i am convinced he does. Easy to understand, this book is a winner for layman, students, and clergy.

First, I must admit that this book is the first R.C. Sproul book that I have ever read. In it, he gives a detailed analysis of God's love. He attempts to answer some very tough questions about God's love, that are worthy or exploration, such as does God really love everyone? Does God really hate certain people mentioned in specific passages of the Bible? and how does a God of love require the sacrifice of His own Son for the redemption of mankind?

Overall, R.C. Sproul does an excellent job "digging deeper" into the notion of the love of God. He uses numerous Bible passages, and takes a rather academic approach when presenting his points. By that I mean, that this book is not a "feel good" Christian book about how much God loves everyone. No, it goes much more in depth than that - which makes for a challenging and engaging read.

My favorite part of the book is Sproul's exposition about the love chapter found in 1 Corinthians 13. The purchase of this book is worth it for this section alone - it is very well done. I did have one complaint about the book, but it is more about Sproul's theology than anything. R.C. Sproul is a big believer in the concept of election and predestination. He spends a large amount of this book getting into this theory which I found distracting at times, and not totally believable.

Having said all that, I do recommend this book for any Christian searching for a deeper understanding about God's love. This book will challenge, and hopefully expand your comprehension about this topic.

Loved by God written by RC Sproul
The author RC Sproul says this work was daunting and in no way claims this book to be comprehensive. I think this work is comprehensive look at the love of God and the author starts with quoting with 1 John 4:7-11.

4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
4:9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that
God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live
through him.
4:10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and
sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

The author continues with the Devine attributes of God; then goes into the nature of this love and the mystery of God's love. The covenant of redemption through the actions of two persons of the Godhead: Love of the Father by the sending of the son and the Love of the Son through the reincarnation, suffering as a sinner-but not knowing sin: That the Father's love towards us is an extension of His love toward the Son. God's love is an immutable love; God's love is eternal; God's love is a love of loyalty. What God starts He finishes: A Love that will not let me go. He author uses John 17 with Jesus prayer to the Father to illustrate these and other points.

RC Sproul does not shy away from hard sayings of scripture, but use them to further elaborate on the nature of God's love. Sayings such as Jacob I love- Esau I hate. Unless you hate your Mother & Father you cannot enter the Kingdom of God. The author defines and illustrates the word agape through first Corinthians chapter 13. e instructs how some notions of the chapter in popular culture is wrong and how the chapter should be understood in what Paul talks about in both chapter 13 and 14.


God is love, but love is not god; God is a loving god; Love is not the only attribute of God. RC Sproul encourages the reader to understand the nature of all God's attributes. Some people including scholars do not accept the notion that a being who omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, and immutable. God is in control; nothing happens without God's ability to stop or alter circumstances. Why does a loving God allow evil to happen? Popular culture argues that God either does not have these attributes or he is not a god who is love. If man suffers harm therefore God cannot be in control. Popular notion or sentimentalism does not accept the notion that wrath towards the sinner is consistent with a loving God. This book is thorough in its coverage of how God predestines some unworthy sinner unto salvation while others damned. All sinners are worthy of damnation; All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Do not be mistaken this work is Calvinistic. God is a simple being; he is not a composite of his attributes, but is his attributes.

I would not rate this work as high as I rate other works written by RC Sproul, but a good book on the topic.

I was finally able to make time to read R.C. Sproul's book "Loved by God." In his Introduction, Sproul provides the following reason for writing this book.

"I cannot imagine many tasks more daunting than the task of attempting to set forth an exposition of the love of God. It is a matter so majestic, so transcendent in its subject matter, so sweet in it implications that I lack the ability to do it justice. But my passion for many years has been to focus attention on the character and nature of God, particularly of God the Father."

Sproul divides the subject of his book into 10 chapters, each covering a different facet of the love of God. In a number of chapters, he breaks the subject even further into subcategories to broaden and focus on different nuances of the subject. The following chapter headings identify his subject matter:

1. God Is Love
2. Eternal Love
3. The Loyal Love of God
4. The Lovingkindness of God
5. The Electing Love of God
6. Love and Hate in God
7. The Threefold Love of God
8. Agape Love
9. The Greatest of These...
10. Love Abides

When reading books on God's love, we are accustomed to the author focusing on a three-part nature of love: Divine love, friendship love and sensual love. Sproul's book digs much deeper than this, delving almost exclusively on the multi-faceted Divine love. He opens the OT and NT theologically, revealing the many faces of God's love. I was personally surprised at just how diverse the love of God is revealed in scripture. Sproul takes familiar verses, fans them out, showing the specific attribute of God being reflected in the text. I had never looked at it that way before.

Before addressing the attribute of God's love, Sproul shows how important it is to first consider the nature of God. He states, "One of the first affirmations we make about the nature of God is that He is not a composite being. Rather we confess that God is a `simple' being." Surprised? Sproul goes on to say, "This does not mean that God is `easy' in the sense that a simple task is not a difficult task." "A being who is composite is made up of definite parts. As a human creature, I am composed of many parts, such as arms, legs, ears, lungs, etc. As a simple being, God is not made up of parts as we are. It is not so much that God has attributes but rather that He is His attributes. In simple terms...this means that all of God's attributes help define all of His other attributes. His love is an immutable love, an eternal love, an omnipotent love, a holy love, etc."

Although this book is a theological look at God's love, it is also nicely presented and very readable. I enjoyed this book very much and for the most part I thought Sproul was intensely involved in the material. Although at times I felt he wasn't engaged in some of the chapters and was basically just documenting the information. When he reached chapter five, The Electing Love of God, he noticeably snapped out of his mild slumber. Chapter five covers the love of God as it relates to our salvation, one of Sproul's favorite subjects. Both chapters five and six, Love and Hate in God, are, in my opinion, two of the most engaging and educational chapters in the book.

There are no footnotes, bibliography, or subject index in this book, which is rather unusual for a book written by R.C. Sproul. I wish he had of included at least a subject and scripture index. Another well-written book I would recommend on this subject is a book by John MacArthur titled "The Love of God." This one approaches a study of God's love from a different perspective and would be an excellent companion book to Sproul's "Loved by God."

The book I have is a hardback copy of "Loved by God." I was pleasantly surprised to find attached to the inside back cover a nice DVD by R.C. Sproul covering a synopsis of his book. Interestingly, the manner in which he chose to present his synopsis was by simulating a small Sunday school class setting. The video was excellent and captured the scope of the book through a very personal and casual setting. Once you have viewed the video I think you will understand my comments concerning Sproul's passion for studies like this, as well as why I thought some chapters lacked the passion in the DVD. I recommend watching the video before reading the book. I did the opposite, because I didn't know it was there, and later wished I had previewed the DVD first.