What do we mean by describing God’s love as unconditional?

While the term “unconditional” is not used in the Bible, the actions, descriptions, and illustrations of God’s love point to his unchanging attitude toward the creatures he made in his image. God’s immutability (unchanging and unchangeable nature) emphasizes that, like every one of his attributes, God’s love remains.

Deuteronomy 33:27“The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’”

Psalm 6:3-4I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me? Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love.

David expressed the contrast that always exists between God’s unchanging consistency and our all-too-changeable experiences. In our perception, God’s love may seem as fluctuating as our own, but faith calmly asserts what is true about God’s nature, including his unfailing love.

Psalm 93:2Your throne, O Lord, has stood from time immemorial. You yourself are from the everlasting past.

Psalm 106:48Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!

Psalm 145:13For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The Lord always keeps his promises; he is gracious in all he does.

The psalm writers reveled in God’s greatness and surpassing attributes. We can grasp at God’s unchanging nature and unconditional love, but our practice of anything similar is only a faint imitation.

Isaiah 54:8In a burst of anger I turned my face away for a little while. But with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer.

Hebrews 12:4-11After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin. And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you. For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

Our understanding of God’s unconditional love for us is challenged by such realities is God’s judgment and anger. But the Bible makes clear that God is perfectly consistent within himself, so that even our experience of God’s anger is actually an expression of God’s love. His anger over our sin is a consistent response based on his deep care for us. If God did not discipline us, he would not be demonstrating his unconditional love for us.

Jeremiah 31:3Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

Romans 5:6-8When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Both Old and New Testaments depict God consistently acting out of his unconditional love. Paul describes this in practical terms by drawing the distinction between dying for someone because they merit our sacrifice and dying for someone because we love them. God ultimately expressed his unconditional love by dying for us before we even knew we needed a savior.