Speaking of God’s Love - Part 3

Can we say “God loves you” to an unbeliever? The answer depends on what you have in mind, and your understanding of God’s love. There are theological nuances that must be taken into consideration before we utter “God loves you” and or “God died for you” to an unbeliever. Here’s one of the reasons why we can’t just go around saying “God loves you” casually:

It is in His love that God saves us through Christ. In fact, we can even say that it is the love of God that saves us—saves us just as much as does the grace of God. For God’s sovereign love is the source and cause of all that belongs to our salvation. Without that love, there could be no salvation.
…
But to say that God loves all is to make the love of God ineffectual and vain. For then God’s love is so weak that it can not even save its objects. God loves all, but not all are saved. In fact, some who are loved by God are even now in the everlasting torment of hell. What kind of love is that? How can that possibly be the love of God? If I love my son, I do all in my power to keep him from harm and danger. Surely if the Sovereign God loves someone, He not only wills to save him, but He is able to and He does save him. The love of God is a sovereign love that always accomplishes what it wants, even over against the rebellious objections of wicked men. If God loves you, then God saves you.
…
God’s love for us is of such a nature that it will destroy others (Egypt, Ethiopia, Seba—Isaiah 43:3) in order that it might deliver us. For God’s love does not merely wish for our salvation; it actually accomplishes our salvation.
…
God’s love, however, does much more than simply will our salvation. That love sees to it that we are actually saved. In fact the apostle Paul makes it clear that God’s love for us is the cause of our regeneration. He says, “But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4 & 5). We by nature are dead in sin. We have no spiritual life whatsoever. But God quickens us; He makes us alive. And He does that, according to the apostle, on account of His great love with which He loved us. Just as surely as we are chosen in the sphere of God’s love, so too that love is the cause of our spiritual birth into the kingdom and family of God. The apostle John confirms this by telling us that we are sons of God on account of God’s love. “Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:1). If you want to see the kind of love with which God loves us, then consider the fact that it is God’s love that makes us His sons. We who by nature are the children of wrath, are called the sons of God because God loves us and out of that love makes us His children.

That was written by Rev. Steven R. Houck and published back in 1983. Titled, “God’s Sovereign Love for His People.” Here’s the PDF — starts on Page 20 (highly recommended!)

In this Q & A (4 min clip), John Piper shares his thought on the topic. See also: Can I Say ‘God Loves You’ to Unbelievers?.