The elect are stated to be holy and beloved in Colossians 3:12. This is significant. They are saved as set apart for God and liberated as loved by God. The common claim that all men without exception are objects of God's love is problematic and would evacuate this verse of its specific meaning and reassurance of God's sovereign choice in salvation manifested in the saints being set apart and beloved. What is the point of telling the Colossian Christians that they are beloved if all men are beloved of God? The love of God is efficacious. The love of God terminates on the elect alone and is savingly beneficial for the objects of that love. John puts it thus: "Behold what manner of the love the Father has given unto us: that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1). Love makes us children of God. God's love is saving, selective and sure. Indeed, the elect are holy and beloved. They are loved with an everlasting love.
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