Feeding on the Covenant Love of God

My battle lately has been against my own thoughts, foolish fleeting thoughts, thoughts so thinly conceived that analyzing them for even a moment reveals their absurdity -- but thoughts that somehow have been stirring up discontentment, insecurity, second-guessing and fear. Comfort came rushing in on waves from the preaching of John Piper. "When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul." (Psalm 94:19) The love of God is an overwhelming flood; the love of God is effective; the love of God is utterly sufficient.

"To all who are beloved of God in Rome..." (Romans 1:7)

Doesn't this sound like [Paul] is saying, "Among all the people who live in Rome, I am writing to the ones loved by God"? In other words, doesn't it sound like he is saying that those who are called by God to belong to Jesus Christ are loved by God in a special way, not that they are loved because everybody else in Rome is also loved by God? If I write a letter to Noel and say, "I write you, my beloved Noel, be strong and be encouraged by the grace of God," would anybody really say, the reason he calls her "beloved" is because he loves every woman the way a Christian should, and, since Noel is a woman, she too is loved by Pastor John, because he loves all women? No. Nobody would say that. Rather, if I write, "To my beloved Noel," everybody would assume there is a special love that I have for Noel.

I don't think Paul wants us to miss this in Romans 1:7. I don't think he wants you, Christian, to say, "God calls me 'beloved' because he loves everybody the same, and, since I am part of everybody, I am also beloved." That's not what verse 7 means. Paul says, I write "to all who are beloved of God in Rome." But he does not mean everybody in Rome. He is writing to those who are "the called of Jesus Christ." So the love that he has in mind here must be different from the love that God has for everybody in Rome – just like I would have in mind a different love when I say, "to my beloved Noel." I don't mean that there is no love in my heart for other people. I mean I have a special love for Noel. I have a covenant love for Noel. I chose Noel to be my wife. And I made a covenant with her. And we sealed it with sacred vows. And God sealed it in heaven (Matthew 19:6). And now the love between Noel and me is utterly different from the love I have for any other woman or man. Even though there are others I would die for. ...


In the Old Testament, God promised that someday he would make what he called a "new covenant" with his people (Jeremiah 31:31), an everlasting covenant. And the wonder of this covenant is that in it the love of God does not just offer safety to people, but promises to keep them safe from destruction. So, for example, in Jeremiah 32:40 God promises, "I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me."

Do you see what kind of love this is? This is more than the general love of invitation and offer. This is a love that "puts the fear of God in the heart" (similar to 2 Corinthians 4:6). This is the kind of love that works powerfully "so that [we] will not turn from God." This is not a general love for all. It is a special love that puts the fear of God in our hearts and keeps us from turning away. This is the new covenant.

Now when Jesus comes into the world, he comes to die and purchase the privileges of this new covenant for us with his blood. So in Luke 22:20, Jesus says, at the Last Supper, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood." So the blood of Jesus, in a very special way, was poured out to secure the promises of Jeremiah 32:40 – that God will put the fear of him in our hearts and keep us from turning away from him. This is a very special and precious love. This is what you should feed on daily. This is sweet and this is strong. To know that you are loved in this way is the very heart of Christian assurance. That God has called me, that he has shone in my heart to give the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, that he will work omnipotently to keep me, and bring me to everlasting glory – this is what it means to be "the beloved of God."