There is nothing greater that a believer can fix his or her mind upon than the expansiveness of the love of God to sinners. We do not meditate enough on all that the Scriptures teach about the love that Christ has to sinners who are undeserving of that love. In fact, many believer struggle to be assured of the love of God for them because of the greatness of their sin. Nevetheless, Scripture constantly unites these two things when speaking of the love of God in Christ: God loved us when we were ungodly and sent His Son to die for us when we were still sinners; and, Christ loves sinners and gave himself freely for us when there was nothing lovely in us. Since Jesus loved us when we were in that condition, we can be assured that he will never stop loving us despite all of our sinful failures after he redeemed us.

In the fourth gospel, the Apostle John spoke recurrently of the love of Christ to sinners. As Jesus neared the cross, we read, "having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (John 13:1). John tells us of the love of Christ to each of his people when he wrote, "Now Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus" (John 11:5). When he referred to himself, the apostle identified himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved"(John 13:23;19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20). John was not intimating that Jesus loved him more than the other disciples. Rather, he was teaching us, from his own experience, how we are to think about ourselves in light of the unmerited love of Christ. The apostle identified himself exclusively by that love. In the book of Revelation, he refers to Jesus as “him who loves us and has freed us by his blood” (Rev. 1:5). John wrote about the love of Christ in these ways so that we would think about ourselves in light of Christ’s love to us. The Apostle Paul taught the same thing from his own experience of the love of Christ. In Galatians 2:20, he writes, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." 

Nevertheless, when a believer considers the greatness of his sin before God, he can start to think that God cannot possibly love him. This is not an uncommon experience for many Christians. We may forget the marvelous truth that God acted in love toward us when we were ungodly (Rom. 5:6). That is what makes the grace of God so amazing. It is "not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:10). As Paul explained, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8). When we forget these truths, we attempt to live the Christian life in our own strength; then, we will constantly struggle to have peace in our consciences. Meditating often on the fact that Christ loved me to the point of laying down his life for me on the cross is the most necessary part of living the Christian life. Reflecting on the words of Galatians 2:20, Martin Luther once wrote, 

“Who is this ‘me’? I, wretched and damnable sinner, dearly beloved of the Son of God. . .Christ is a Lover of poor sinners, and such a Lover that He gave Himself for us. Now if this is true, and it is true, then are we never justified by our own righteousness. Read the words ‘me’ and ‘for me’ with great emphasis. Print this ‘me’ with capital letters in your heart, and do not ever doubt that you belong to the number of those who are meant by this ‘me.’ Christ did not only love Peter and Paul. The same love He felt for them He feels for us. If we cannot deny that we are sinners, we cannot deny that Christ died for our sins” (Commentary on Galatians 2:20).

There is, however, another related obstacle for believers with regard to their belief in the love of Christ for them. Christians can mistakenly feel as though the Lord is caught off guard by their sin (as if the Almighty God learns about our sinfulness with each new act). When we start to do so, many then begin to believe that the love of Christ is based solely on their performance, ebbing and flowing with each act of obedience or disobedience. To be sure, the Lord discountenances our rebellion. He disciplines His children for our obstinacy to do what is pleasing to Him. However, the writer of Hebrews explains that such discipline—painful though it may be––is a mark of God's love for His children (Heb. 12:4–11). This means that we cannot equate God’s discipline to a loss of His love. Neither can we conclude that God’s love is dependent on our obedience. In fact, Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God set His love on sinners when we were His enemies (Romans 5:10). From eternity past, He saw all of our sin and decided to freely  make sinners the object of His love. He sent His Son for sinners. The Son loved us as sinners and gave himself for us. The English Puritan, David Clarkson, made this astonishing observation about the nature and extent of the love of Christ to sinners:

“O the height, depth, breadth, and length of the love of Christ. The love of Christ is free, unchangeable, and incomprehensible. He loved us when we had no beauty to attract his affections. There is nothing lovely in man. Christ knew all this clearly."

Clarkson then explained, 

"In eternity past, Christ saw all our faults, and not one after another, but all together. This adds great wonder to the love of Christ. He saw every perverse look, every unkind gesture, every rebellious motion, every disingenuous act. Every heart was visible from eternity." 

Finally, he concluded, 

"Here is the wonder of Christ’s love—it is fixed upon man, the worst of creatures. Consider his resolution and wonder; ‘I will give eternal life to those who have dishonored me.’”1

Of course, one might seek to argue that this will lead to lawlessness in the Christian’s life. If the love of God in Christ is so strong and free, set upon sinners in all of the heinousness of their sin, then surely that may be an incentive for us to continue in sin. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. It was the love of Christ to sinners that led him to lay down his life for us to free us from our sin. It was that love that held him to the cross. It is only when we settle in our hearts that Christ loved us and gave himself for us that we will desire and strive to live for him. As the apostle noted in 2 Corinthians 5:14–15, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” May we today live in the knowledge of that love, knowing that “in eternity past, Christ saw all our faults, and not one after another, but all together” and still loved upon us and gave himself for us. 


1. David Clarkson, "The Love of Christ," The Practical Works, vol. 3., pp. 11-24