RC Sproul thinks, "there are few things more dangerous than preachers out there preaching that God loves everyone unconditionally."
There is a LOT to respond to in this video, and I will not attempt to get to it all. I want to bring up a few main points of contention after first establishing the theological bias leading them to their conclusions.
As Reformed Calvinists, Sproul and MacArthur have painted themselves into a corner where it is impossible for God to love everyone at the same level. If God's Love was UNCONDITIONAL, how would they explain God's Election of a few for Heaven while determining the rest for hell? How would they explain Christ only dying an Atoning death for the limited few whom God has elected? If God's love is unconditional, then the offer of Salvation would HAVE to be free and available to ALL people, and that does not fit their system! With that theological background in mind, here are a few of my critiques:
SCARE THE HELL OUT OF 'EM
Preachers, Sproul says, need to focus more on the wrath of a God. People need to be motivated by the terror of punishment that awaits them! I am familiar with this method growing up under Southern Baptist, 'turn or burn,' preachers! Here's my question: Is this a Biblical approach?
Do we see Jesus trying to scare people into belief? Do we see Paul leading with terror in his evangelism? NO! Sproul asserts that if we let people believe that God's love is unconditional, then they will continue living however they want! The Council of Trent made this same case hundreds of years ago about having faith without works. Sproul makes the false assumption that everyone who preaches God's unconditional love fails to call people to repentance - as if the two can not exist together.
We do see scripture warning about judgment for continuing in sin; however, the majority of those texts are to believers. They are not trying to scare them out of Hell; they are imploring them to live in light of Heaven. MacArthur makes this mistake b using the Sanctification truth of Hebrews to make a point about Justification truth.
Does God hate sin? Yes! Does our iniquity deserve the incredible wrath of the almighty? Yes! Is that how we lead people to Christ? NO!
We point to that wrath, displayed upon God's own son, on a cross that WE deserved! That is the purest form of love. I happen to believe that God's love IS powerful enough that it can change the heart of the broken sinner and lead them to repentance and change.
Sproul seems to take the position that accepting the gift of spiritual adoption is motivated more by the parent reminding us of how bad our life will be without them, than by showing how great their love is for us. He fears that if the Children know how much their Father loves them, they may decide they don't have to obey! "Why does it matter? Our father will love us anyway!" Even on the human level, this has been PROVEN wrong. It is perfect love that casts out fear and allows us to live the life we were created to live. It is the security that comes from the love of a good parent that heals the wounds of our pre-adopted life and spurs us on to make the most of our new life.
THE PROBLEM OF POTENTIAL
(I have a more thorough post coming about the issue of potential but will give an overview in response to this video)
Sproul and MacArthur both claim that God's love is NOT unconditional. By definition, that would make God's love CONDITIONAL - meaning, it has conditions. These conditions create a massive problem in our understanding of the Nature of God.
Conditions are inherently limitations, (think 'terms and conditions' when you buy a product). If you do X, Y, or Z then God will no longer love you - those are the parameters of the conditions, (Perhaps Sproul would say that he will just love you differently. It really doesn't matter because it still require God to change based on our actions). Sproul says this is a good thing. It will keep people from settling into their sins.
Let's get back to limitations. If God has conditional aspects, then God is limited. Limits give God potential. Now, we usually think of potential in a positive sense, (i.e., "you have a lot of potential in this sport!"). However, the traditional view of God is that he is Pure Actuality. Actuality is the opposite of Potential, meaning: GOD HAS NO POTENTIAL! God is the uncaused-cause who always has been and always will be. He is pure existence and cannot be non-existent. Potential implies CHANGE. As creation, we are Pure Potential - our lives are a series of endless change. We are the imagers of a God who is Pure, unfiltered existence. On this side of eternity, we are merely partial reflections of His fullness. It is worth saying again: GOD DOES NOT CHANGE.
We see this in scripture in 1 John 4:8, "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." God IS Love. That is a statement of Pure Actuality. So whatever love is cannot be changed in God. It does not exist in degrees or different measures. God's love has no potential - it does not change!
God's love is without conditions because his nature is without potential. His love never changes because God never changes. The Calvinistic system Sproul and MacArthur subscribe to forces them to make this error. They do not believe that humankind has the capacity to CHOOSE to come out from under the Pure Actuality of God's Justice and believe in the one who can move us under the Pure UNCONDITIONAL love of God. Because of this, God's love must come with strings attached. God does not always love consistently. There is potential to his love; it changes as we change!
That is not the God of the Bible.
CONCLUSION
I believe it is a non-sequitur to posit that Unconditional Love naturally results in a sinner believing they have, "turned out so well", as MacArthur states. In fact, the overwhelming realization of the full actuality of a God who is Love should highlight our great depravity and need for a Savior! Then, to see that Savior on a cross, enduring the full wrath of God for the offense our sin has created; and, to realize Jesus hung there just for us! That is the Good News of the Gospel. That is the message we were commanded to spread!
The fear-based messaging these two giants of today's church are espousing is doing incredible damage to the message of Jesus. I understand they are painted into a corner by their broken theology and I pray you will avoid these same errors for the sake of the lost.