D. A. Carson outlines five different shades of God’s love in Scripture: “The peculiar love of the Father for the Son, and the Son for the Father” (John 3:35; 5:20; 14:31) “God’s providential love over all that he has made” (Matt. 6) “God’s salvific stance toward his fallen world” (John 3:16; 15:19; 1 John 2:2) “God’s particular, effective, selecting love toward his elect” (Deut. 4:27; 7:7–8; 10:14–15; Mal. 1:2–3; Eph. 5:25) “God’s love . . . directed toward his own people in a provisional or conditional way—conditioned, that is, on obedience” (Exod. 20:6; Ps. 103:8; John 15:9–10; Jude 21)13
