10.25.09
J.A. Matteson
“…and you shall know My rejection.” Numbers 14:35
The Lord, incomprehensible in grace towards those who love Him, is likewise severe in His retribution against those who hate Him. The wicked Israelites who returned from the promised land with a bad report, demonstrating open distain for the previously revealed word of the Lord, brashly revealed hearts of contempt, leading many in the congregation astray in unbelief. The tragic result was their coming to personally know a fearful aspect of the Lord’s holiness; viz., His wrath. While the Lord is longsuffering a time does come when grace transitions to justice. As the writer to the Hebrews soberly noted, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 10:31, 12:9). To this sober reality four observations may be made.
First is the certainty of God’s rejection of the wicked. The Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim. 2:19) while those who perish in a hardened state of unbelief—the reprobate—are likewise foreknown to the Lord, these being vessels of dishonor (Rom. 9:22), raised up in their proper season so that His magnificent grace to the vessels of honor might be revealed. The certainty of the Lord’s retribution will visit the wicked, and while it may appear delayed and that they are prevailing against the Lord, its inevitable consummation is assured and will be unleashed with unimaginable fury, “Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered; against them He will thunder in the heavens, the LORD will judge the ends of the earth….” (1 Sam. 2:10). Let not the wicked naively presume for a moment that their wickedness has escaped the notice of Him to whom they will one day give a full account.
Second is the justice of God’s rejection of the wicked. The Lord’s holiness demands a corresponding recompense against wickedness which is antithetical to holiness. The divine essence of the living God is pure, undefiled, glorious, and in all ways incomprehensible to man; wickedness is an affront to the divine order and viewed by the Lord as far more than merely a repugnant annoyance. Wickedness, from the Lord’s perspective, is tantamount to cosmic treason, a frontal challenge to His person and authority, and the omnipotent Lord of Hosts is just in forcefully responding to all who transgress His Law, those following in the way of Lucifer, who with a third of the angelic host, arrogantly rebelled against the Lord, with the just result being their exile upon the earth, having been cast out of His presence in heaven. Contrite king David confessed the Lord’s righteous judgments leveled against sin, “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge” (Ps. 51:4).
Third is the severity of God’s rejection of the wicked. The same king in fear of God’s rejection pleaded that His Holy Spirit not be taken from him after his sins of adultery and murder, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me” (Ps. 51:11). The Apostle Paul speaks of the terror of the Lord’s wrath as an urgent plea to unbelievers, “Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men….” (2 Cor. 5:11). But David as a beloved son of faith in the likeness of Abraham, an elect vessel of honor before the Lord, came to know His chastening and not His condemnation. The chastening leveled against the king by the King was intended for his sanctification as an object of grace, while the fury of the wrath of the Lord of Host’s towards objects of dishonor is indescribably horrifying, terrible beyond comprehension, and intended for their destruction. For just as eye has not seen nor has it entered into the heart of man all that the Lord has in store for those who love Him, in a similar fashion humanity cannot fathom the actual horrors of hell. Day by day the wicked are storing up for themselves divine wrath, with each act of wickedness the restrained vengeance of the Lord’s hot fury is further kindled, awaiting the moment in which it will be unleashed as a torrent, and the wicked will be consumed with terrors, vainly seeking to hide from the presence of the Almighty, “Therefore wait for Me," declares the Lord, "for the day I will stand up to testify. I have decided to assemble the nations, to gather the kingdoms and to pour out My wrath on them-- all my fierce anger. The whole world will be consumed by the fire of My jealous anger” (Zeph. 3:8).
Fourth is the permanence of God’s rejection of the wicked. It is appointed for man to die once and then comes judgment (Heb. 9:27). The decree of hell upon the wicked is eternal, and once the divine sentence has been enacted there is no appeal, “And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name” (Rev. 4:11). Let every man, therefore, seek the Lord while He may be found, today is the day of salvation, and harden not your heart to His loving kindness and grace. Call upon the name of the Lord this hour and be saved from the wrath to come.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Luther’s Preface to the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans
[On October 19, 1512, Martin Luther became a doctor of theology in the University of Wittenberg, a promotion which made it possible for him to assume the chair of Biblical theology. He lectured on the Psalms and then in 1515-1516 on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. His brilliant commentary on Romans, a work of genius growing from the depths of great scholarship and intense spiritual struggle, revealed his evangelical insight that man is justified by God’s grace alone through faith in Christ. During the years which followed he clarified his thought further, and shortly before the publication of his translation of the New Testament in German in 1522 he wrote the following Preface to Romans which defines clearly his understanding of the relationship of God’s law and the gospel, a religious breakthrough of momentous historical consequences. From Bertram Lee Woolf, ed., Reformation Writings of Martin Luther, II (New York: Philosophical Library, 1956), pp. 284-290. Reprinted by permission of the publishers.]
This epistle is in truth the most important document in the New Testament, the gospel in its purest expression. Not only is it well worth a Christian’s while to know it word for word by heart, but also to meditate on it day by day. It is the soul’s daily bread, and can never be read too often or studied too much. The more you probe into it the more precious it becomes, and the better its flavor. God helping me, I shall try my best to make this Preface serve as an introduction which will enable everyone to understand it in the best possible way. Hitherto, this epistle has been smothered with comments and all sorts of irrelevancies; yet, in essence, it is a brilliant light, almost enough to illumine the whole Bible.
The first thing needed is to master the terminology. We must learn what St. Paul means by such words as law, sin, grace, faith, righteousness, flesh, spirit, and the like; otherwise we shall read and only waste our time. You must not understand the term LAW in its everyday sense as something which explains what acts are permitted or forbidden. This holds for ordinary laws, and you keep them by doing what they enjoin, although you may have no heart in it. But God judges according to your inmost convictions; His law must be fulfilled in your very heart, and cannot be obeyed if you merely perform certain acts. Its penalties do indeed apply to certain acts done apart from our inmost convictions, such as hypocrisy and lying. Psalm 117 declares that all men are liars, because no one keeps God’s law from his heart; nor can he do so, for to be averse to goodness and prone to evil are traits found in all men. If we do not choose goodness freely, we do not keep God’s law from the heart. Then sin enters in, and divine wrath is incurred even though, to outward appearance, we are doing many virtuous works and living an honorable life.
In Chapter 2, St. Paul therefore asserts that the Jews are all sinners. He says that only those who keep the law are righteous in God’s eyes, his point being that no one keeps the law by “works.” Rather, Paul says to the Jews, “You teach us not to commit adultery, but you commit adultery yourselves, since you do the very things which you condemn.” It is as if he were to say, To the outward appearance, you observe the law scrupulously, condemning those who do not observe it, and being quick to teach one and all. You see the splinter in the other man’s eye, but are unaware of the timber in your own. Granted that, in appearance and conduct, you observe the law, owing to your fear of punishment or hope of reward, yet you do nothing from free choice and out of love for the law, but unwillingly and under compulsion; were there no law, you would rather do something else. The logical conclusion is that, in the depths of your heart, you hate the law. What is the use of teaching others not to steal if you are a thief at heart yourself and, if you dared, would be one in fact? Of course, the outer conduct of this kind is not continued for long by humbugs of this kind. It follows that, if you teach others but not your own selves, you do not know what you teach and have not rightly understood the nature of the law. Nay, the law increases your guilt, as Paul says in chapter 5. A man only hates the law the more, the more it demands what he cannot perform.
That is why, in Chapter 7, Paul calls the law spiritual; spiritual because, if the law were corporeal, our works would meet its demands. Since it is spiritual, however, no one keeps it, unless everything you do springs from your inmost heart. Such a heart is given us only by God’s spirit, and this spirit makes us equal to the demands of the law. Thus we gain a genuine desire for the law, and then everything is done with willing hearts, and not in fear or under compulsion. Therefore, because that law is spiritual when it is loved by hearts that are spiritual, and demands that sort of mind, if that spirit is not in our hearts, sin remains; a grudge abides together with hostility to the law, although the law itself is right and good and holy.
Therefore, familiarize yourself with the idea that it is one thing to do what the law enjoins and quite another to fulfill the law. All that a man does or even can do of his own free will and strength is to perform the works required by the law. Nevertheless, all such works are vain and useless as long as we dislike the law and feel it a constraint. That is Paul’s meaning in Chapter 3 when he says, “Through the works of the law shall no man be justified before God.” It is obvious – is it not? – that the sophisticators wrangling in the schools are misleading when they teach us to prepare ourselves for grace by our works. How can anyone use works to prepare himself to be good when he never does a good work without a certain reluctance or unwillingness in his heart? How is it possible for God to take pleasure in works that spring from reluctant and hostile hearts?
To fulfill the law, we must meet its requirements gladly and lovingly; live virtuous and upright lives without the constraint of the law, and as if neither the law nor its penalties existed. But this joy, this unconstrained love, is put into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Chapter 5. But the Holy Spirit is given only in, with, and through faith in Jesus Christ, as Paul said in his opening paragraph. Similarly, faith itself comes only through the word of God, the gospel. This gospel proclaims Christ as the Son of God; that He was man; that He died and rose again for our sakes, as Paul says in Chapters 3, 4, and 10.
We reach the conclusion that faith alone justifies us and fulfills the law; and this because faith brings us the spirit gained by the merits of Christ. The spirit, in turn, gives us the happiness and freedom at which the law aims, and this shows that good works really proceed from faith. That is Paul’s meaning in Chapter 3 when, after having condemned the works of the law, he sounds as if he had meant to abrogate the law by faith; but says that, on the contrary, we confirm the law through faith, i.e. we fulfill it by faith.
The word SIN in the Bible means something more than the external works done by our bodily action. It means all the circumstances that act together and excite or incite us to do what is done; in particular, the impulses operating in the depths of our hearts. This, again, means that the single term, “doing,” includes the case where a man gives way completely and falls into sin. Even where nothing is done outwardly, a man may still fall into complete destruction of body and soul. In particular, the Bible penetrates into our hearts and looks at the root and the very source of all sin, i.e., unbelief in the depth of our heart. Just as faith alone gives us the spirit and the desire for doing works that are plainly good, so unbelief is the sole cause of sin; it exalts the flesh, and gives the desire to do works that are plainly wrong, as happened in the case of Adam and Eve in the garden of Even, Genesis 3.
Christ therefore singled out unbelief and called it sin. In John 16, He says, The spirit will convict the world of sin because they do not believe in me. Similarly, before good or evil works are performed, and before they appear as good or evil fruits, either faith or unbelief must be already in our hearts. Here are the roots, the sap and the chief energy of all sin. This is what the Bible calls the head of the serpent and of the old dragon, which Christ, the seed of the woman, must crush, as was promised to Adam.
The words GRACE and GIFT differ inasmuch as the true meaning of grace is the kindness of favor which God bears toward us of His own choice, and through which He is willing to give us Christ, and to pour the Holy Spirit and His blessings upon us. Paul makes this clear in Chapter 5 when he speaks of the grace and favor of Christ, and the like. Nevertheless, both the gifts and the spirit must be received by us daily, although even then they will be incomplete, for the old desires and sins still linger in us and strive against the spirit, as Paul says in Romans 7 and Galatians 5. Again, Genesis 3 speaks of the enmity between the woman’s children and the serpent’s brood. Yet grace is sufficient to enable us to be accounted entirely and completely righteous in God sight, because His grace does not come in portions and pieces, separately, like so many gifts; rather, it takes us up completely into its embrace for the sake of Christ our mediator and intercessor, and in order that the gifts may take root in us.
This point of view will help you to understand Chapter 7, where Paul depicts himself as still a sinner; and yet, in Chapter 8, [he] declares that no charge is held against those who are “in Christ,” because of the spirit and the (still incomplete) gifts. Insofar as our flesh is not yet killed, we are still sinners. Nevertheless insofar as we believe in Christ, and begin to receive the spirit, God shows us favor and goodwill. He does this to the extent that He pays no regard to our remaining sins and does not judge them; rather He deals with us according to the faith which we have in Christ until sin is killed.
FAITH is not something dreamed, a human illusion, although this is what many people understand by the term. Whenever they see that it is not followed either by an improvement in morals or by good works, while much is still being said about faith, they fall into the error of declaring that faith is not enough, that we must do “works” if we are to become upright and attain salvation. The reason is that, when they hear the gospel, they miss the point; in their hearts, and out of their own resources, they conjure up an idea which they call “belief,” which they treat as genuine faith. All the same, it is but a human fabrication, an idea without a corresponding experience in the depths of the heart. It is therefore ineffective and not followed by a better kind of life.
Faith, however, is something that God effects in us. It changes us and we are reborn from God (John 1). Faith puts the old Adam to death and makes us quite different men in heart, in mind and in all our powers; and it is accompanied by the Holy Spirit. Oh, when it comes to faith, what a living, creative, active, powerful thing it is. It cannot do other than good at all times. It never waits to ask whether there is some good work to do. Rather, before the question is raised, it has done the deed and keeps on doing it. A man not active in this way is a man without faith. He is groping about for faith and searching for good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are. Nevertheless, he keeps on talking nonsense about faith and good works.
Faith is a living and unshakeable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake. This kind of confidence in God’s grace, this sort of knowledge of it, makes us joyful, high-spirited and eager in our relations with God and with all mankind. That is what the Holy Spirit effects through faith. Hence the man of faith, without being driven, willingly and gladly seeks to do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of hardships, for the sake of the love and glory of the God who has shown him such grace. It is impossible, indeed, to separate works from faith, just as it is impossible to separate heat and light from fire. Beware, therefore, of wrong conceptions of your own, and of those who talk nonsense while thinking they are pronouncing shrewd judgments on faith and works whereas they are showing themselves the greatest of fools. Offer up your prayers to God, and ask Him to create faith in you; otherwise you will always lack faith, no matter how you try to deceive yourself, or what your efforts and ability.
RIGHTEOUSNESS means precisely the kind of faith we have in mind, and should properly be called “divine righteousness,” the righteousness which holds good in God’s sight, because it is God’s gift and shapes a man’s nature to do his duty to all. By his faith, he is set free from sin, and he finds delight in God’s commandments. In this way, he pays God the honor that is due to Him, and renders Him what he owes. He serves his fellows willingly according to his ability, so discharging his obligations to all men. Righteousness of this kind cannot be brought about in the ordinary course of nature, by our own free will or by our own powers. No one can give faith to himself, nor free himself from unbelief; how, then, can anyone do away with even his smallest sins? It follows that what is done in the absence of faith on one hand, or in consequence of unbelief on the other, is naught but falsity, self-deception and sin (Romans 14), no matter how well it is gilded over.
FLESH and SPIRIT must not be understood as if flesh had only to do with moral impurity and spirit only with the state of our hearts. Rather, flesh, according to St. Paul, as also according to Christ in John 3, means everything that is born from the flesh, i.e. the entire self, body and soul, including our reason and all our senses. This is because everything in us leans to the flesh. It is therefore appropriate to call a man “carnal” when, not having yet received grace, he gibbers and gabbers cheerfully about the high things of the spirit in the very way which Galatians 5 depicts as the works of the flesh, and calls hypocrisy and hatred works of the flesh. Moreover, Romans 8 says that the law is weakened by the flesh. This is not said simply of moral impurity, but of all sins. In particular, it is said of lack of faith, which is a kind of wickedness more spiritual in character than anything else.
On the other hand, the term spiritual is often applied to one who is busied with the most outward of works, as when Christ washed His disciples’ feet, and when Peter went sailing his boat and fishing. Hence the term “flesh” applies to a person who, in thought and in fact, lives and labors in the service of the body and the temporal life. The term “spirit” applies to a person who, in thought and fact, lives and labors in the service of the spirit of the life to come. Unless you give these terms this connotation, you will never comprehend Paul’s epistle to the Romans, nor any other book of the Holy Scripture. Beware then of all teachers who use these terms differently, no matter who they may be, whether, Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose, Origen, or their like; or even persons more eminent than they.
This epistle is in truth the most important document in the New Testament, the gospel in its purest expression. Not only is it well worth a Christian’s while to know it word for word by heart, but also to meditate on it day by day. It is the soul’s daily bread, and can never be read too often or studied too much. The more you probe into it the more precious it becomes, and the better its flavor. God helping me, I shall try my best to make this Preface serve as an introduction which will enable everyone to understand it in the best possible way. Hitherto, this epistle has been smothered with comments and all sorts of irrelevancies; yet, in essence, it is a brilliant light, almost enough to illumine the whole Bible.
The first thing needed is to master the terminology. We must learn what St. Paul means by such words as law, sin, grace, faith, righteousness, flesh, spirit, and the like; otherwise we shall read and only waste our time. You must not understand the term LAW in its everyday sense as something which explains what acts are permitted or forbidden. This holds for ordinary laws, and you keep them by doing what they enjoin, although you may have no heart in it. But God judges according to your inmost convictions; His law must be fulfilled in your very heart, and cannot be obeyed if you merely perform certain acts. Its penalties do indeed apply to certain acts done apart from our inmost convictions, such as hypocrisy and lying. Psalm 117 declares that all men are liars, because no one keeps God’s law from his heart; nor can he do so, for to be averse to goodness and prone to evil are traits found in all men. If we do not choose goodness freely, we do not keep God’s law from the heart. Then sin enters in, and divine wrath is incurred even though, to outward appearance, we are doing many virtuous works and living an honorable life.
In Chapter 2, St. Paul therefore asserts that the Jews are all sinners. He says that only those who keep the law are righteous in God’s eyes, his point being that no one keeps the law by “works.” Rather, Paul says to the Jews, “You teach us not to commit adultery, but you commit adultery yourselves, since you do the very things which you condemn.” It is as if he were to say, To the outward appearance, you observe the law scrupulously, condemning those who do not observe it, and being quick to teach one and all. You see the splinter in the other man’s eye, but are unaware of the timber in your own. Granted that, in appearance and conduct, you observe the law, owing to your fear of punishment or hope of reward, yet you do nothing from free choice and out of love for the law, but unwillingly and under compulsion; were there no law, you would rather do something else. The logical conclusion is that, in the depths of your heart, you hate the law. What is the use of teaching others not to steal if you are a thief at heart yourself and, if you dared, would be one in fact? Of course, the outer conduct of this kind is not continued for long by humbugs of this kind. It follows that, if you teach others but not your own selves, you do not know what you teach and have not rightly understood the nature of the law. Nay, the law increases your guilt, as Paul says in chapter 5. A man only hates the law the more, the more it demands what he cannot perform.
That is why, in Chapter 7, Paul calls the law spiritual; spiritual because, if the law were corporeal, our works would meet its demands. Since it is spiritual, however, no one keeps it, unless everything you do springs from your inmost heart. Such a heart is given us only by God’s spirit, and this spirit makes us equal to the demands of the law. Thus we gain a genuine desire for the law, and then everything is done with willing hearts, and not in fear or under compulsion. Therefore, because that law is spiritual when it is loved by hearts that are spiritual, and demands that sort of mind, if that spirit is not in our hearts, sin remains; a grudge abides together with hostility to the law, although the law itself is right and good and holy.
Therefore, familiarize yourself with the idea that it is one thing to do what the law enjoins and quite another to fulfill the law. All that a man does or even can do of his own free will and strength is to perform the works required by the law. Nevertheless, all such works are vain and useless as long as we dislike the law and feel it a constraint. That is Paul’s meaning in Chapter 3 when he says, “Through the works of the law shall no man be justified before God.” It is obvious – is it not? – that the sophisticators wrangling in the schools are misleading when they teach us to prepare ourselves for grace by our works. How can anyone use works to prepare himself to be good when he never does a good work without a certain reluctance or unwillingness in his heart? How is it possible for God to take pleasure in works that spring from reluctant and hostile hearts?
To fulfill the law, we must meet its requirements gladly and lovingly; live virtuous and upright lives without the constraint of the law, and as if neither the law nor its penalties existed. But this joy, this unconstrained love, is put into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Chapter 5. But the Holy Spirit is given only in, with, and through faith in Jesus Christ, as Paul said in his opening paragraph. Similarly, faith itself comes only through the word of God, the gospel. This gospel proclaims Christ as the Son of God; that He was man; that He died and rose again for our sakes, as Paul says in Chapters 3, 4, and 10.
We reach the conclusion that faith alone justifies us and fulfills the law; and this because faith brings us the spirit gained by the merits of Christ. The spirit, in turn, gives us the happiness and freedom at which the law aims, and this shows that good works really proceed from faith. That is Paul’s meaning in Chapter 3 when, after having condemned the works of the law, he sounds as if he had meant to abrogate the law by faith; but says that, on the contrary, we confirm the law through faith, i.e. we fulfill it by faith.
The word SIN in the Bible means something more than the external works done by our bodily action. It means all the circumstances that act together and excite or incite us to do what is done; in particular, the impulses operating in the depths of our hearts. This, again, means that the single term, “doing,” includes the case where a man gives way completely and falls into sin. Even where nothing is done outwardly, a man may still fall into complete destruction of body and soul. In particular, the Bible penetrates into our hearts and looks at the root and the very source of all sin, i.e., unbelief in the depth of our heart. Just as faith alone gives us the spirit and the desire for doing works that are plainly good, so unbelief is the sole cause of sin; it exalts the flesh, and gives the desire to do works that are plainly wrong, as happened in the case of Adam and Eve in the garden of Even, Genesis 3.
Christ therefore singled out unbelief and called it sin. In John 16, He says, The spirit will convict the world of sin because they do not believe in me. Similarly, before good or evil works are performed, and before they appear as good or evil fruits, either faith or unbelief must be already in our hearts. Here are the roots, the sap and the chief energy of all sin. This is what the Bible calls the head of the serpent and of the old dragon, which Christ, the seed of the woman, must crush, as was promised to Adam.
The words GRACE and GIFT differ inasmuch as the true meaning of grace is the kindness of favor which God bears toward us of His own choice, and through which He is willing to give us Christ, and to pour the Holy Spirit and His blessings upon us. Paul makes this clear in Chapter 5 when he speaks of the grace and favor of Christ, and the like. Nevertheless, both the gifts and the spirit must be received by us daily, although even then they will be incomplete, for the old desires and sins still linger in us and strive against the spirit, as Paul says in Romans 7 and Galatians 5. Again, Genesis 3 speaks of the enmity between the woman’s children and the serpent’s brood. Yet grace is sufficient to enable us to be accounted entirely and completely righteous in God sight, because His grace does not come in portions and pieces, separately, like so many gifts; rather, it takes us up completely into its embrace for the sake of Christ our mediator and intercessor, and in order that the gifts may take root in us.
This point of view will help you to understand Chapter 7, where Paul depicts himself as still a sinner; and yet, in Chapter 8, [he] declares that no charge is held against those who are “in Christ,” because of the spirit and the (still incomplete) gifts. Insofar as our flesh is not yet killed, we are still sinners. Nevertheless insofar as we believe in Christ, and begin to receive the spirit, God shows us favor and goodwill. He does this to the extent that He pays no regard to our remaining sins and does not judge them; rather He deals with us according to the faith which we have in Christ until sin is killed.
FAITH is not something dreamed, a human illusion, although this is what many people understand by the term. Whenever they see that it is not followed either by an improvement in morals or by good works, while much is still being said about faith, they fall into the error of declaring that faith is not enough, that we must do “works” if we are to become upright and attain salvation. The reason is that, when they hear the gospel, they miss the point; in their hearts, and out of their own resources, they conjure up an idea which they call “belief,” which they treat as genuine faith. All the same, it is but a human fabrication, an idea without a corresponding experience in the depths of the heart. It is therefore ineffective and not followed by a better kind of life.
Faith, however, is something that God effects in us. It changes us and we are reborn from God (John 1). Faith puts the old Adam to death and makes us quite different men in heart, in mind and in all our powers; and it is accompanied by the Holy Spirit. Oh, when it comes to faith, what a living, creative, active, powerful thing it is. It cannot do other than good at all times. It never waits to ask whether there is some good work to do. Rather, before the question is raised, it has done the deed and keeps on doing it. A man not active in this way is a man without faith. He is groping about for faith and searching for good works, but knows neither what faith is nor what good works are. Nevertheless, he keeps on talking nonsense about faith and good works.
Faith is a living and unshakeable confidence, a belief in the grace of God so assured that a man would die a thousand deaths for its sake. This kind of confidence in God’s grace, this sort of knowledge of it, makes us joyful, high-spirited and eager in our relations with God and with all mankind. That is what the Holy Spirit effects through faith. Hence the man of faith, without being driven, willingly and gladly seeks to do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of hardships, for the sake of the love and glory of the God who has shown him such grace. It is impossible, indeed, to separate works from faith, just as it is impossible to separate heat and light from fire. Beware, therefore, of wrong conceptions of your own, and of those who talk nonsense while thinking they are pronouncing shrewd judgments on faith and works whereas they are showing themselves the greatest of fools. Offer up your prayers to God, and ask Him to create faith in you; otherwise you will always lack faith, no matter how you try to deceive yourself, or what your efforts and ability.
RIGHTEOUSNESS means precisely the kind of faith we have in mind, and should properly be called “divine righteousness,” the righteousness which holds good in God’s sight, because it is God’s gift and shapes a man’s nature to do his duty to all. By his faith, he is set free from sin, and he finds delight in God’s commandments. In this way, he pays God the honor that is due to Him, and renders Him what he owes. He serves his fellows willingly according to his ability, so discharging his obligations to all men. Righteousness of this kind cannot be brought about in the ordinary course of nature, by our own free will or by our own powers. No one can give faith to himself, nor free himself from unbelief; how, then, can anyone do away with even his smallest sins? It follows that what is done in the absence of faith on one hand, or in consequence of unbelief on the other, is naught but falsity, self-deception and sin (Romans 14), no matter how well it is gilded over.
FLESH and SPIRIT must not be understood as if flesh had only to do with moral impurity and spirit only with the state of our hearts. Rather, flesh, according to St. Paul, as also according to Christ in John 3, means everything that is born from the flesh, i.e. the entire self, body and soul, including our reason and all our senses. This is because everything in us leans to the flesh. It is therefore appropriate to call a man “carnal” when, not having yet received grace, he gibbers and gabbers cheerfully about the high things of the spirit in the very way which Galatians 5 depicts as the works of the flesh, and calls hypocrisy and hatred works of the flesh. Moreover, Romans 8 says that the law is weakened by the flesh. This is not said simply of moral impurity, but of all sins. In particular, it is said of lack of faith, which is a kind of wickedness more spiritual in character than anything else.
On the other hand, the term spiritual is often applied to one who is busied with the most outward of works, as when Christ washed His disciples’ feet, and when Peter went sailing his boat and fishing. Hence the term “flesh” applies to a person who, in thought and in fact, lives and labors in the service of the body and the temporal life. The term “spirit” applies to a person who, in thought and fact, lives and labors in the service of the spirit of the life to come. Unless you give these terms this connotation, you will never comprehend Paul’s epistle to the Romans, nor any other book of the Holy Scripture. Beware then of all teachers who use these terms differently, no matter who they may be, whether, Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose, Origen, or their like; or even persons more eminent than they.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Trust and Obey
10.21.09
J.A. Matteson
"The LORD said to Moses, ‘How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me….’" Number 14:11
The Lord is holy, dwelling in inapproachable light, transcendent in wisdom and power, condescending in grace to establish His covenant of redemption to a wayward and ungrateful race. Speaking to His servant, Moses, two vexing questions are posed. With regard to the first, to spurn the Lord through unbelief is to hold Him in contempt, for what a man truly believes about the Lord is not revealed in his speech, but by his actions, and what he does—or does not do—in relation to the clear Word from the Lord in Scripture.
Pilgrim, you profess your belief in the power of prayer and the prayer of power—do you pray? You profess the Lord as your provider—do you honor the Lord with the first fruits of all your increase? You profess the Lord alone as God—is there someone or something that has taken first position in your heart, stifling obedience to the Lord? You profess providence as the means by which the Lord brings to pass His sanctifying work in your life—has fear and doubt filled your heart because your circumstances are an enigma to you and the future appears foggy?
Religious men lay sport to great outward claims of piety, going so far as to accurately rehearse Scripture before the ears of mesmerized listeners, yet the fruit of their profession is bitter and lacking, not being connected to the life giving nourishment of the Vine. While the sea is calm they navigate the ship of their lives with ease, but when the winds of adversity built and the breakers beat against them the unbelief of their heart—that which serves as the foundation of their profession—becomes evident for all to behold. Truly did the Lord speak of these individuals, “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great” (Lk. 6:49).
To doubt the Word of the Lord is to engage in character assassination of the Creator of the universe, bearing false witness against Him, violating the ninth commandment of the Decalogue, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:16). For the Scripture does not speak idly when it proclaims, “…let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, ‘That You may be justified in Your words, and prevail when You are judged” (Rom. 3:4). To practice unbelief of the Word of the Lord is serious, for justification from sin is by faith alone, and yet the faith that justifies is never alone, but always accompanied with the precious fruit of obedience to the Word of the Lord, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Heb. 8:10). The writer to the Hebrews explicitly states that apart from faith it is not possible to please the Lord (Heb. 11:6).
When assailed by thoughts of unbelief in the Word of the Lord, what course of action should a pilgrim choose? Confess your weakness and sin, throw yourself down upon the mercy of the Lord, beseeching Him to increase you faith—a gift from Him, pleading Him to infuse your heart with a faith pure and undefiled by doubt. Human reason and providence are typically antithetical to each other, and the depraved mind of man presumes upon the Lord that He ought to act in prescribed orderly ways, those which seems reasonable to man. The problem is man’s mind is polluted by sin and finite, incapable of grasping the secret council of the Lord and His providences; pilgrim, the Lord has spoken to your situation, will you trust Him or not?
When the providences of the Lord run as a counterintuitive stumbling block your paradigm of “oughtness” you must disregard the appearance of your circumstance and continue forward in faith based upon the clear Word the Lord has spoken, and unlike man He cannot lie. He has given you His Spirit who will lead you into all truth. As the words to the old hymn beautifully testify, “Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.”
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"The LORD said to Moses, ‘How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me….’" Number 14:11
The Lord is holy, dwelling in inapproachable light, transcendent in wisdom and power, condescending in grace to establish His covenant of redemption to a wayward and ungrateful race. Speaking to His servant, Moses, two vexing questions are posed. With regard to the first, to spurn the Lord through unbelief is to hold Him in contempt, for what a man truly believes about the Lord is not revealed in his speech, but by his actions, and what he does—or does not do—in relation to the clear Word from the Lord in Scripture.
Pilgrim, you profess your belief in the power of prayer and the prayer of power—do you pray? You profess the Lord as your provider—do you honor the Lord with the first fruits of all your increase? You profess the Lord alone as God—is there someone or something that has taken first position in your heart, stifling obedience to the Lord? You profess providence as the means by which the Lord brings to pass His sanctifying work in your life—has fear and doubt filled your heart because your circumstances are an enigma to you and the future appears foggy?
Religious men lay sport to great outward claims of piety, going so far as to accurately rehearse Scripture before the ears of mesmerized listeners, yet the fruit of their profession is bitter and lacking, not being connected to the life giving nourishment of the Vine. While the sea is calm they navigate the ship of their lives with ease, but when the winds of adversity built and the breakers beat against them the unbelief of their heart—that which serves as the foundation of their profession—becomes evident for all to behold. Truly did the Lord speak of these individuals, “But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great” (Lk. 6:49).
To doubt the Word of the Lord is to engage in character assassination of the Creator of the universe, bearing false witness against Him, violating the ninth commandment of the Decalogue, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:16). For the Scripture does not speak idly when it proclaims, “…let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written, ‘That You may be justified in Your words, and prevail when You are judged” (Rom. 3:4). To practice unbelief of the Word of the Lord is serious, for justification from sin is by faith alone, and yet the faith that justifies is never alone, but always accompanied with the precious fruit of obedience to the Word of the Lord, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, says the Lord; I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Heb. 8:10). The writer to the Hebrews explicitly states that apart from faith it is not possible to please the Lord (Heb. 11:6).
When assailed by thoughts of unbelief in the Word of the Lord, what course of action should a pilgrim choose? Confess your weakness and sin, throw yourself down upon the mercy of the Lord, beseeching Him to increase you faith—a gift from Him, pleading Him to infuse your heart with a faith pure and undefiled by doubt. Human reason and providence are typically antithetical to each other, and the depraved mind of man presumes upon the Lord that He ought to act in prescribed orderly ways, those which seems reasonable to man. The problem is man’s mind is polluted by sin and finite, incapable of grasping the secret council of the Lord and His providences; pilgrim, the Lord has spoken to your situation, will you trust Him or not?
When the providences of the Lord run as a counterintuitive stumbling block your paradigm of “oughtness” you must disregard the appearance of your circumstance and continue forward in faith based upon the clear Word the Lord has spoken, and unlike man He cannot lie. He has given you His Spirit who will lead you into all truth. As the words to the old hymn beautifully testify, “Trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.”
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
Sunday, October 18, 2009
The Sovereignty of God in Salvation
by Jonathan Edwards
(1703-1758)
This updated and revised manuscript is copyrighted © 2000 by Tony Capoccia. All rights reserved.
This file may be freely copied, printed out, and distributed as long as copyright and source statements remain intact, and that it is not sold.
“God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” [Romans 9:18]
THE Apostle Paul, in the beginning of this chapter, expresses his great concern and sorrow of heart for the people of Israel, who were rejected by God. This leads him to observe the difference, which God made by election, between some of the Jews and others, and between the majority of the Jews and the Christian Gentiles. In speaking of this he enters into the most detailed discussion found anywhere in the whole Bible concerning the sovereignty of God in electing some to eternal life, and rejecting others. He quotes several passages from the Old Testament, confirming and illustrating this doctrine of Election:
1. In the Book of Romans (9:9), Paul reminds us of what God said to Abraham, showing His election of Isaac before Ishmael, saying,-“At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”
2. He shows in verse twelve, what God had said to Rebecca, showing His election of Jacob over Esau; “The older will serve the younger.”
3. In the thirteenth verse, he refers to a passage from Malachi, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
4. In the fifteenth verse, to what God said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
5. Finally, in the seventeenth verse, to what God said to Pharaoh, “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
From what the apostle says in the text, he seems to have a special regard for the last two cited passages: to what God said to Moses in the fifteenth verse, and to what He said to Pharaoh in the seventeenth verse. God said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.” The apostle refers to this in the first part of our text. And we also know that it often said about Pharaoh, that “God hardened his heart.” And Paul seems to have focused on this fact in the latter part of the text; “and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” Now, from all of this we can observe two basic facts:
1. God's deals differently with men-He has mercy on some, and He hardens others.
When God is spoken of as hardening the hearts of some men, it is not to be understood that God was, in any way, the agent or direct cause of the hardening any man's heart. There is no positive act by God in the hardening process. To suppose any such thing would be to make God the immediate author of sin.
God is said to harden men in two ways:
A. First, by withholding the powerful influences of His Spirit, without which their hearts will remain hardened, and grow harder and harder-in this sense God hardens them, as He leaves them in their hardness.
B. Secondly, God hardens men, by providentially ordering things which, by the continued sin of man, becomes the reason for their hardening. Thus God sends His word and commands to men and women which, they then ignore, thereby, confirming their hardening. So the apostle Paul said, that the gospel message he preached was to some people “the smell of death."
So God is represented as sending Isaiah to the people, to “Make the heart of the people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” [Isaiah 6:10] Isaiah's preaching was, in itself, a message imploring these people to turn from their ways and follow God and His word. But their rejection of God’s message caused it to be it an opportunity to further harden their hearts.
God is said to harden men, that He put a lying spirit in the mouth of the false prophets. (2 Chronicles. 18:22). That is, He “allowed” a lying spirit to enter into them. And thus He is said to have told Shimei, a man from the same clan as Saul, to curse David. (2 Samuel 16:10). God did not directly command him to curse David; for it would be contrary to God's commands, for God has expressly said in His Word, “Do not . . . curse the ruler of your people.” [Exodus 22:28] But God “allowed” the evil to work in the heart of Shimei, and then sovereignly brought about the opportunity of stirring it up, as a manifestation of his displeasure against David.
2. The second fact that can be seen in our text is the basic truth that when God deals with mankind, He does so according to His sovereign will and pleasure: “God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.”
This implies that God never shows mercy or denies it against His will, and that He is always willing to do it when He does it. A willing subject or servant, when he obeys his lord's commands, may never do any thing against his will, and yet it cannot be said that the servant does what he wills in the sense of the text, that is, according to his own will and pleasure. But in the case of God, it is His mere will and sovereign pleasure, which supremely orders the affairs of mankind. It is the divine will without any restraint, or constraint, or obligation.
The basic doctrine of our text is, that God exercises His sovereignty in the eternal salvation of men.
He is not only sovereign, but He has a sovereign right to do what He wants in the salvation of men. Nobody can charge Him with going beyond His right; He exercises the right which He has. This morning I propose to show four things,
I. What is God's sovereignty.
II. What God's sovereignty in the salvation of men implies?
III. That God actually does, in fact, exercise His sovereignty in the salvation of men.
IV. The reasons for this exercise of sovereignty.
I. What is God's sovereignty?
The sovereignty of God is His absolute, independent right of disposing of all creatures according to His own pleasure. Now let us focus on this concept of God’s “pleasure”
The will of God is called His good pleasure,
1. The will of God is called His good pleasure, in opposition to any constraint.
Men may do things voluntarily, and yet there may be a degree of constraint. A man may be said to do something voluntarily, that is, he does it by himself; and, all things considered, he may choose to do it; yet he may do it out of fear, and the very thing in itself is irritating to him, and truly against his own desires. When men do these things, it cannot be said that they did them according to their good pleasure.
2. The will of God is called His good pleasure, in opposition to its being under the will of another.
A servant may carry out his master's commands, and may do it willingly, and cheerfully, and may delight to do his master's will; yet when he does it, he does not do it of his own good pleasure. The saints freely do the will of God. They choose to do it; it is what satisfies their soul. Yet they do not do it of their own good pleasure and arbitrary will; because their will is under the direction of a superior will.
3. The will of God is called His good pleasure, in opposition to any personal obligation.
A man may freely do something which he is obliged to do; but it cannot be said that he acted from his own sheer will and pleasure. He who acts according to his own good pleasure, is at full liberty; but he who is under any personal obligation, is not at liberty, but is bound.
Now the sovereignty of God infers, that God has a right to dispose of all His creatures according to His good pleasure. And His right is absolute and independent. Men may have a right to dispose of some things according to their pleasure. But their right is not absolute and unlimited. Men may be said to have a right to dispose of their own goods as they please. But their right is not absolute; is has limits and bounds. They have a right to dispose of their own goods as they please, provided they do not do it contrary to the law of the state to which they are subject to, or contrary to the law of God. Men's right to dispose of their things as they will, is not absolute, because it is not independent. They do not have an independent right to what they want, but in some things depend on the community to which they belong, for the rights they may have; and in everything they depend on God. They receive all the rights they have to do anything from God. But the sovereignty of God means that God has an absolute, and unlimited, and independent right of disposing of his creatures as He pleases.
II. What does God's sovereignty in the salvation of men imply?
In answer to this question, I note, that it implies, that God can either bestow salvation on any man or woman, or refuse it, without any distortion to the glory of any of His attributes, except in the cases where He has been pleased to declare, that He will or will not bestow it-then He must be faithful to His word, He is now bound by His own promise.
As it stands today, it cannot be absolutely stated, that God can, without any distortion to the honor of His attributes, bestow salvation on any man or woman, or refuse it; because, concerning some, God has been pleased to declare either that He will or that He will not bestow salvation on them; and thus He is now bound by His own promise.
Now concerning those that God has been pleased to declare, that He will “never” bestow salvation on them; that is, the non-elect, those who have been left in their sins, and especially in the sin of unbelief in Christ-the sin against the Holy Spirit. In their case, God is obligated; He cannot bestow salvation on them, without violating His declared truth, since He has declared that He will not save any who have sinned against the Holy Spirit.
God exercised His sovereignty in making these declarations. God was not obligated to promise that He would save all who believe in Christ; nor was He obligated to declare, that He who committed the sin against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven. But it pleased Him to declare these things. And if God had not been pleased to obligate Himself in these cases, He could have still either bestowed salvation, or refused it, without dishonor to any of His attributes.
If there would have been any dishonor, to any of God’s attributes by bestowing or refusing to give salvation, then God would not in that matter act as absolutely sovereign. Because it then ceases to be a merely arbitrary thing. It ceases to be a matter of absolute liberty, and has become a matter of necessity or obligation. For God cannot do any thing that would dishonor any of His attributes, or be contrary to what is in itself excellent and glorious. Therefore,
1. God can, without discredit to the glory of any of His attributes, bestow salvation on any man, woman, or child, except on those who have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit.
This was the case when man fell, and before God revealed His eternal purpose and plan for redeeming men by Jesus Christ. It was probably looked upon by the angels as a thing utterly inconsistent with God's attributes to save anyone from the human race. It was utterly inconsistent with the honor of the divine attributes to save any of fallen mankind, as they were lost in their sins. It could not have been done had not God contrived a way consistent with the honor of His holiness, majesty, justice, and truth. But since God, in the gospel, has revealed that nothing is too hard for Him to do, nothing beyond the reach of His power, and wisdom, and sufficiency; and since Christ has provided the work of redemption, and fulfilled the law by obeying it completely, therefore there is no one, of all mankind, whom He can save that would ever cause any prejudice to any of His attributes, except those who have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit.
And even those who have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit could have been saved by Christ without going contrary to any of his attributes, had He not been pleased to declare that He would not. It was not because He could not have saved them consistent with His justice, and consistent with His law, or because His attribute of mercy was not great enough, or the blood of Christ was not sufficient to cleanse from that sin. But it has pleased God, for wise reasons, to declare that that sin shall never be forgiven in this world, or in the world to come. And so now it is contrary to God's truth to save such persons. But otherwise there is no sinner, no matter how great his sin has been, that cannot be saved by God, and without any prejudice to any of His attributes; if he has been a murderer, adulterer, or perjurer, or idolater, or blasphemer, God can save him if He pleases to, with no dishonor to His glory.
Even though persons have sinned for a long time, have been obstinate, have committed monstrous sins a thousand times, even till they have grown old in sin; if they have sinned while under the clear preaching of the Word; if they have been backsliders, and have sinned after receiving numerous solemn warnings and strivings of the Spirit, and after receiving numerous mercies of God’s common providence: though the danger of such is much greater than of other sinners, yet God can save them if He pleases, for the sake of Christ, without any prejudice to any of his attributes. He may have mercy on whom He will have mercy. He may have mercy on the greatest of sinners, if He pleases, and the glory of none of His attributes will dishonored in the least. Such is the sufficiency of the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ, that none of the divine attributes stand in the way of the salvation of any of them. Thus the glory of any attribute did not at all suffer by Christ's saving some of those that crucified Him.
1. God may save anyone He pleases, without prejudice to the honor of His holiness.
God is infinitely holy. The heavens are not pure in His sight. His eyes are too pure to look on evil; and cannot tolerate wrong. And if God should in any way tolerate sin, and should not give proper evidence of His hatred of it, and displeasure at it, it would be a distortion of the honor of His holiness. But God can save the greatest sinner without giving the least approval of sin. If he saves one, who for a long time has resisted the calls of the gospel; if he saves one who, fighting against the truth, has been a pirate or blasphemer, He may do it without giving any support to their wickedness; because His abhorrence of it and displeasure against it have already been sufficiently manifested in the sufferings of Christ. It was a sufficient testimony of God's hatred against even the greatest wickedness, that Christ, the eternal Son of God, died for it. Nothing can show God's infinite abhorrence of any wickedness more than this. If the wicked man himself should be thrown into hell, and should endure the most extreme torments throughout eternity, it would not be a greater manifestation of God's abhorrence of it, than the sufferings of the Son of God for it.
2. God may save any man, woman, or child without prejudice to the honor of His majesty.
No matter how much men have insulted God, no matter how much contempt they have shown to His authority; still God can save them, if He pleases, and the honor of His majesty does not suffer in the least. If God should save those who have insulted Him, without payment for the dishonor they have shown to Him, then the honor of His majesty would suffer. For when contempt is cast upon infinite majesty, its honor suffers, and the contempt leaves a darkness on the honor of the divine majesty, if the injury is not repaired. But the sufferings of Christ do, in fact, fully repair the injury. Let the contempt be ever so great, yet if so honorable a person as Christ undertakes to be a Mediator for the offender, and in the mediation suffers in His place, then it fully repairs the injury done to the majesty of heaven by the greatest sinner.
3. God may save any sinner whatsoever consistent with His justice.
The justice of God requires the punishment of sin. God is the Supreme Judge of the world, and He is to judge the world according to the rules of justice. It is not the duty of a judge to show favor to the person judged; but he is to determine according to a rule of justice without departing to the right hand or left. God does not show mercy as a judge, but as a sovereign. And therefore when mercy sought the salvation of sinners, the question was, how to make the exercise of the mercy of God as a sovereign, and of the exercise His strict justice as a judge, agree together. And this was done by the sufferings of Christ, in which sin was fully punished, and justice satisfied. Christ suffered enough for the punishment of the sins of the greatest sinner that ever lived. So that God, when He judges, may act according to a rule of strict justice, and yet acquit the sinner, if the sinner is in Christ. Justice cannot require any more for any man's sins, than those sufferings which Christ suffered. Romans 3:25, 26. “God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice; so He may be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
4. God can save any sinner whatsoever, without any prejudice to the honor of His truth.
God has declared in His word, that sin would be punished with death, which is to be understood not only of the first physical death, but also of the second death-in the eternal Lake of Fire. God can save the greatest sinner consistent with His truth in this Divine threat. For sin is punished in the sufferings of Christ, inasmuch as He is our representative, and so is legally the same person, and sustained our guilt, and in His sufferings bore our punishment. Some may object, saying that God had said, When you eat of the forbidden fruit, then you will surely die; therefore, the same person that sinned must suffer; and doesn’t God's truth oblige Him to do that? I answer, that the word then was not intended to be restricted to Adam alone. Adam most likely understood that his descendents were included, whether they sinned in their own person or not. If they sinned in Adam, their representative, those words, "When you eat,” meant, “When you yourself eat, or if your representative eats,” then you yourself will surely die.”
II. But, God may refuse salvation to any sinner, without prejudice to the honor of any of His attributes.
There is no person in their natural sinful state, whom God has determined to refuse to bestow salvation, that can ever cause any dishonor to any part of God’s glory. Let a natural person be wise or unwise, of a good or ill-natured temper, whether born of wicked or godly parents; let him be a moral or immoral person, whatever good he may have done, however religious he has been, how many prayers whatsoever he has made, and whatever pains he has taken that he may be saved; whatever concern and distress he may have for fear he shall be damned; or whatever circumstances he may be in; God can deny him salvation without the least criticism to any of His perfections. His glory will not in any instance be the least obscured by it.
1. God may deny salvation to any natural person without any injury to the honor of His righteousness.
If He does so, there is no injustice nor unfairness in it. God can take any natural man, whatever his case may be, God can deny him salvation, and throw him down into hell, and yet not be chargeable with the least unrighteous or unfair dealing in any respect whatsoever. This is evident, because all mankind have deserved hell: and it is no injustice for a righteous judge to inflict on any man or woman what they deserve. And since they have deserved condemnation, and have never done any thing to remove the liability, or to atone for the sin. They have never done anything which would obligate God not to punish them as they deserve.
2. God may deny salvation to any unconverted person without any prejudice to the honor of His goodness.
Sinners sometimes flatter themselves, that though the justice of God condemns them, yet it will not be consistent with the glory of His mercy. They think it will be dishonorable to God's mercy to throw them into hell, and show no pity or compassion on them. They think it would be very harsh and severe, and not becoming a God of infinite grace and tender compassion. But God can deny salvation to any natural person without any criticism to His mercy and goodness. That, which is consistent to God's justice, is not contrary to His mercy. If damnation is justice, then mercy may choose its own object. They mistake the nature of the mercy of God; they think that it is an attribute, which, in some cases, is contrary to justice. No, God's mercy is illustrated by it, as in the twenty-third verse of Romans, chapter 9, “He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory.”
3. God can deny salvation to anyone and never dishonor His faithfulness.
God has in no way obliged Himself to any natural man by His Word to bestow salvation upon him. Men in their natural condition are not the children of promise; but lie open to the curse of the law, which would not be the case if they had any promise to lay hold of.
III. God does actually exercise His sovereignty in men's salvation.
1. God exercises His sovereignty by calling a people or a nation, and giving them the opportunities of grace, and leaving others without them.
According to the divine appointment, salvation is bestowed in connection with the provisions of grace. God may sometimes make use of very unlikely opportunities, and bestow salvation on men who are under very great disadvantages; but He does not bestow grace wholly without any means. But God exercises His sovereignty in bestowing those means. All nations are by nature in like circumstances towards God. Yet God greatly distinguishes some nations and peoples from others by the opportunities and advantages which He bestows upon them.
The American Indians, who in our day (the 1700’s), live in the remote parts of this continent, and are under the grossest heathenish darkness, as well as the inhabitants of Africa, are naturally in exactly similar circumstances of sin towards God with us in this land. They are no more alienated or estranged from God in their natures than we are; and God has no more to charge them with, then He would us. And yet what a vast difference has God made between us and them! In this He has exercised His sovereignty. He did this long ago, when He chose only one people, to make them His covenant people, and to give them the opportunities of grace, and left all others, and gave them over to heathenish darkness and the tyranny of the devil, to perish from generation to generation for many hundreds of years.
The earth in that time was inhabited with many great and mighty nations. There were the Egyptians, a people famous for their wisdom. There were also the Assyrians and Chaldeans, who were great, and wise, and powerful nations. There were the Persians, who by their strength and policy subdued a great part of the world. There were the renowned nations of the Greeks and Romans, who were famed over the whole world for their excellent civil governments, for their wisdom and skill in the arts of peace and war, and who by their military prowess subdued and reigned over the world. These nations were rejected! God did not choose them for His people, but left them for many ages under gross heathenish darkness, to perish for lack of vision; and chose one only people, the descendants of Jacob, to be His own people, and to give them the opportunities of grace. The Bible tells us that, “God has revealed His word to Jacob, His laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His laws” (Psalm 147:19, 20). Israel was a small, insignificant people in comparison with other people, but the Bible declares this about God’s chosen people, “The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples” (Deuteronomy 7:7). And neither was it because of their righteousness; for they had no more of that than other people. God says, “Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people” (Deuteronomy 9:6). God shows them clearly, that it was from no other reason but His free electing love, that He chose them to be His people. That reason is given why God loved them; it was “because He loved them”-He simply chose to love them. (Deuteronomy 7:8). Which is the same as saying that it was agreeable to His sovereign pleasure, to set His love on them.
God also showed His sovereignty in choosing that people, when other nations were rejected, who came of the same ancestors. Thus the children of Isaac were chosen, when the descendants of Ishmael and other sons of Abraham were rejected. Likewise, the children of Jacob were chosen, when the descendants of Esau were rejected: as the apostle observes in the seventh verse, “Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned’ [Romans 9:7]: and again in verses 10, 11, 12, 13. “Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad-in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls-she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" [Romans 9:10-13].
The apostle shows that the election extends not only to the persons of Isaac and Jacob over Ishmael and Esau; but also to their descendants. In the passage, already quoted from Malachi, God chooses nations, which were the descendants of Esau and Jacob; Malachi 1:2, 3. “‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD. ‘But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Was not Esau Jacob's brother?’ the LORD says. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals’” [Malachi 1:2, 3]
God showed His sovereignty, when Christ came, in rejecting the Jews, and calling the Gentiles. God rejected that nation who were the children of Abraham according to the flesh, and had been His special people for many ages, and who alone possessed the one true God, and yet God chose the idolatrous heathen Gentiles over them, and called them to be His people. When the Messiah came, who was born of their nation, and whom they so much expected, He rejected them. “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him” [John 1:11].
When the glorious dispensation of the gospel came, God passed by the Jews, and called those who had been heathens, to enjoy the privileges of it. The Jews were broken off, that the Gentiles might be grafted in (Romans 11:17). “I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one” [Romans 9:25] And there are more children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband” [Isaiah 54:1]. The natural children of Abraham are rejected, and God raises up children to Abraham from stones. That nation, which was so honored of God, have now been for many ages rejected, and remain dispersed all over the world, a remarkable monument of divine vengeance. And further, God now greatly distinguishes some Gentile nations from others, and all according to His sovereign pleasure.
2. God exercises His sovereignty in the advantages He bestows upon individual persons.
Everyone needs salvation, and everyone is naturally, undeserving of it; but He gives some vastly greater advantages for salvation than others. To some He assigns their place in godly Christian families, where they may be well instructed and educated, and have Christian parents to dedicate them to God, and say many prayers for them. God places some under a more powerful ministry than others, and in places where there are more of the outpourings of the Spirit of God. To some He gives much more of the strivings and the awakening influences of the Spirit, than to others. It is according to His mere sovereign pleasure.
3. God exercises His sovereignty in sometimes bestowing salvation on the lowly and poor, and denying it to the wise and great.
Christ in His sovereignty passes by the gates of princes and nobles, and enters some cottage and dwells there, and has communion with its obscure inhabitants. God in His sovereignty withheld salvation from the rich man, who lived luxuriously every day, and bestowed it on poor Lazarus, who sat begging at his gate. God in this way pours out contempt on princes, and on all their glittering splendor. So God sometimes passes by wise men, men of great understanding, learned and great scholars, and bestows salvation on others of weak understanding, who only comprehend some of the plainer parts of Scripture, and the fundamental principles of the Christian religion. Yes, there seem to be fewer great men called, than others. And God in ordering it thus manifests His sovereignty. The Apostle Paul said, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are” [1 Corinthians 1:26-28].
4. God exercises His sovereignty in bestowing salvation on some who have had very few advantages in life.
God sometimes will withhold salvation from those who are the children of very devout parents, and bestow it on others, who have been brought up in wicked families. Thus we read of Abijah, the only good son of the wicked Jeroboam, and of a godly Hezekiah, the son of wicked Ahaz, and of a godly Josiah, the son of a wicked Amon. But on the contrary, of a wicked Amnon and Absalom, the sons of holy David, and that vile Manasseh, the son of godly Hezekiah.
Sometimes some, who have had obvious opportunities of grace, are rejected, and left to perish, and others, under far less advantages, are saved. Thus the scribes and Pharisees, who had so much light and knowledge of the Scriptures, were mostly rejected, and the poor ignorant tax collectors saved. The greater part of those, heard Christ preach many times, and saw Him work miracles from day after day, yet they were not chosen to receive salvation; and yet the woman of Samaria was chosen for eternal life, and many other Samaritans at the same time, who only heard Christ preach, as He occasionally passed through their city. So the woman of Canaan was elected for salvation, who was not of the country of the Jews, and only once saw Jesus Christ. So the Jews, who had seen and heard Christ, and saw His miracles, and with whom the apostles labored so much, were not saved. But the Gentiles, many of them, who, as it were, only briefly heard the good news of salvation, embraced those truths, and were converted.
5. God exercises His sovereignty in calling some to salvation, who have been dreadfully wicked, and leaving others, who have been moral and religious persons.
The Pharisees were a very strict sect among the Jews. Their religion was extraordinary. (Luke 18:11). They were not like other men, extortioners, unjust, or adulterers-that was their morality. They fasted twice a week, and gave tithes of all that they possessed-that was their religion. But yet, for the most part, they were rejected, and the tax collectors, and prostitutes, and openly vicious sorts of people, entered into the kingdom of God before them. (Matthew 21:31). The Apostle Paul describes his righteousness while he was a Pharisee, saying, “as for legalistic righteousness, I was faultless” (Philippians 3:6). The rich young man, who fell on his knees before Christ, saying, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’”-this man was a moral person. When Christ told him keep the commandments, he said, with all sincerity, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” He had obviously been brought up in a good family, and was a youth of such agreeable manners and correct behavior, that it is said, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Still he was not chosen; while the thief on the cross, that was crucified with Christ, was chosen and called. God sometimes shows His sovereignty by showing mercy to the worst of sinners, on those who have been murderers, and blasphemers. And even when they are old, some are called at the eleventh hour. God sometimes shows the sovereignty of His grace by showing mercy to some, who have spent most of their lives in the service of Satan, and have little left to spend in the service of God.
6. God exercises His sovereignty, in saving some of those who seek salvation, and not others.
Some who seek salvation, as we know both from Scripture and observation, are quickly converted; while others seek for a long time, and do not obtain it. God helps some over the mountains and difficulties which are in the way; He subdues Satan, and delivers them from his temptations: but others are ruined by the temptations with which they meet. Some are never thoroughly awakened; while to others God is pleased to give thorough convictions. Some are left to backsliding hearts; others God causes to hold out to the end. Some are brought down from a confidence in their own righteousness; others never get over that obstruction in their way, as long as they live. And some are converted and saved, who never strived after salvation, as others who, in the end, perish.
IV. I come now to give the reasons, why God exercises His sovereignty in the eternal salvation of mankind.
1. It is agreeable to God's design in the creation of the universe to exercise every attribute, and thus to manifest the glory of each of them.
God's design in the creation was to glorify Himself, and to cause creation to discover the essential glory of His nature. It was fitting that infinite glory should shine forth; and it was God's original design to manifest His true glory. It was not His design to manifest all of His glory to the point where it would bring on great fear of His creatures; for it is impossible that the minds of creatures could comprehend it. But it was His design to make a true manifestation of His glory, such as should represent every attribute. If God glorified one attribute, and not another, such manifestation of His glory would be defective; and the representation would not be complete. If all God's attributes are not manifested, then the glory of none of them is manifested as it is: for the divine attributes reflect glory on one another.
Thus if God's wisdom was manifested, and not His holiness, the glory of His wisdom would not be manifested as it truly is; for one part of the glory of the attribute of divine wisdom is, that it is a holy wisdom. So if His holiness were manifested, and not His wisdom, the glory of His holiness would not be manifested as it is; for one thing which belongs to the glory of God's holiness is, that it is a wise holiness.
So it is with respect to the attributes of mercy and justice. The glory of God's mercy does not appear as it is, unless it is manifested as a just mercy, or as a mercy consistent with justice. Likewise, with respect to God's sovereignty, it reflects glory on all His other attributes. It is part of the glory of God's mercy, that it is sovereign mercy. So all the attributes of God reflect glory on one another. The glory of one attribute cannot be manifested, as it is, without the manifestation of another. One attribute is defective without another, and therefore the manifestation will be defective. Therefore it was the will of God to manifest all of His attributes.
The declarative glory of God in Scripture is often called God's name, because it declares His nature. But if His name does not signify His nature as it truly is, or does not declare any attribute, it is not a true name. The sovereignty of God is one of His attributes, and a part of His glory. The glory of God eminently appears in His absolute sovereignty over all creatures, great and small. If the glory of a prince is His power and dominion, then the glory of God is His absolute sovereignty. In this appears God's infinite greatness and majesty above all creatures. Therefore it is the will of God to reveal His sovereignty. And His sovereignty, like His other attributes, is manifested in the exercises of it. He glorifies His power in the exercise of power. He glorifies His mercy in the exercise of mercy. So also He glorifies His sovereignty in the exercise of sovereignty.
2. The greater the creature is, over whom God is sovereign, and the greater the extent of the creature’s power, then the more glorious is His sovereignty.
The sovereignty of God in His being sovereign over men, is more glorious than in His being sovereign over the inferior creatures. And His sovereignty over angels is even more glorious that His sovereignty over men. For the more noble the creature is, then the greater and higher does God appear in His sovereignty over it. It is a greater honor to a man to have dominion over men, than over animals; and a still greater honor to have dominion over princes, nobles, and kings, than over ordinary men. So the glory of God's sovereignty appears in that He is sovereign over the souls of men, who are so noble and excellent creatures. God therefore will exercise His sovereignty over them. And the further the dominion of any one extends over another, the greater will be the honor. If a man has dominion over another only in some instances, he is not as exalted, as he is in having absolute dominion over his life, and fortune, and all that he has.
So God's sovereignty over men appears glorious, that it extends to everything which concerns them. He may dispose of them with respect to all that concerns them, according to His own pleasure. His sovereignty appears glorious, in that it reaches their most important affairs, even the eternal state and condition of the souls of men. In this it appears that the sovereignty of God is without bounds or limits, in that it reaches to a matter of such infinite importance-eternal life. Therefore, God has determined to manifest His own glory, by exercising His sovereignty over men, especially over their souls and bodies, even in this most important matter of their eternal salvation. “God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” .
APPLICATION
Let me close with five points of Application:
1. We learn how absolutely dependent we are on God in this great matter of the eternal salvation of our souls.
We are dependent not only on His wisdom to arrange a way to accomplish it, and on His power to bring it to pass, but we are also dependent on His mere will and pleasure in the matter. We depend on the sovereign will of God for everything belonging to it, from the foundation to the very top. It was because of the sovereign pleasure of God, that He designed a way to save some of mankind, and gave us Jesus Christ, His one and only Son, to be our Redeemer.
Why did God look on mankind with favor, and send us a Savior, and yet never did the same for the fallen angels? It was simply because of the sovereign pleasure of God. His sovereign grace gave us the Bible, and the truths of Christianity. His giving of those blessed things to us rather than to others, His giving the awakening influences of His Spirit, and His bestowing saving grace, are all of His sovereign pleasure. When he says, “Let there be light in the soul of that person,” it is a word of infinite power and sovereign grace.
2. Let us with the greatest humility adore the awesome and absolute sovereignty of God.
As we have just seen, it is an eminent attribute of the Divine Being, that He is sovereign over the souls of men and women, and that in every respect, even in their eternal salvation. The infinite greatness of God, and His exaltation above us, appears in nothing more, than in His sovereignty. It is spoken of in Scripture as a great part of His glory.
Deuteronomy 32:39, “See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.”
Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”
Daniel 4:34, 35, “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: ‘What have you done?’
Our Lord Jesus Christ praised and glorified the Father for the exercise of His sovereignty in the salvation of men: when He said,
Matt. 11:25, 26. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”
Friends, let us therefore give God the glory of His sovereignty, by adoring Him, whose sovereign will orders all things, seeing ourselves as nothing in comparison with Him. Dominion and sovereignty require humble reverence and honor of the subject. The absolute, universal, and unlimited sovereignty of God requires, that we should adore Him with all possible humility and reverence-He has our absolute eternal destiny in His hands and can dispose of us as He pleases.
3. Those who are have received salvation are to attribute it to sovereign grace alone, and to give all the praise to Him, who makes them to differ from others.
Godliness is no cause for glorying, except in God., The Bible says, “No one may boast before Him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31). No one, by any means, in any degree are to attribute their godliness, their safe and happy state and condition, to any natural difference between them and other men, or to any strength or righteousness of their own. They have no reason to exalt themselves in the least degree; but God is the being whom they should exalt. They should exalt God the Father, who, before they were born, and even before the world was created, chose them in Christ, who then set His love on them, and gave them salvation.
If they ask, why God set His love on them, and chose them rather than others, if they think they can see any reason apart from God’s mere sovereign pleasure, then they are badly mistaken. They should exalt God the Son, who bore their names on His heart, when He came into the world, and hung on the cross, and in whom alone they have righteousness and strength. They should exalt God the Holy Spirit, who of sovereign grace has called them out of darkness into marvelous light; who has by His own immediate and free operation, led them into an understanding of the evil and danger of sin, and stripped them of their own righteousness, and opened their eyes to discover the glory of God, and the wonderful riches of God in Jesus Christ, and has sanctified them, and made them new creatures. When they hear of the wickedness of others, or look upon depraved persons, they should remember how wicked they once were, and how much they provoked God, and how they deserved to be left forever to perish in their sin, and that it is only sovereign grace which has made the difference. In 1 Corinthians 6:9, Paul the Apostle spells out many different kinds of sinners, the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, and homosexuals. And then in the eleventh verse, the apostle tells them, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” The people of God have a greater reason to be thankful, and more reason to love God, who has bestowed such great and unspeakable mercy on them, strictly out of His mere sovereign pleasure.
4. We learn why we must admire the grace of God, that He would condescend to become bound to us by covenant;
That He, who is naturally supreme in His dominion over us, who is our absolute master, and can do with us as He pleases, and is under no obligation to us; that this same God should, as it were, relinquish His absolute freedom, and should cease to be sovereign in His dispensations towards believers, when once they have believed in Christ, and would, for their consolation, become bound. So that they can challenge salvation of this Sovereign; they can demand it through Christ, as a debt. And it would be dishonoring to the glory of God's attributes, to deny it to them; it would be contrary to His justice and faithfulness. What wonderful condescension is it in such a Being, to become bound to us, worms of the dust, for our consolation! He bound Himself by His word, His promise.
But He was not satisfied with that; but that we might have stronger consolation still, He Has bound Himself by His oath. The writer of Hebrews says, “When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:13-20).
Let us, therefore, labor to submit to the sovereignty of God. God insists, that His sovereignty be acknowledged by us, and especially His sovereignty over our own eternal salvation, a matter which so nearly and infinitely concerns us. This is the stumbling-block on which thousands fall and perish; and if we go on challenging God about His sovereignty, it will be our eternal ruin. It is absolutely essential that we submit to God, as our absolute sovereign, and the sovereign over our souls; as one who “has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and hardens whom He wants to harden.” .
5. And lastly. The doctrine of the sovereignty of God will guard those who seek salvation from two opposite extremes-presumption and discouragement.
Do not presume upon the mercy of God, and so encourage yourself in sin. Many hear that God's mercy is infinite, and therefore think, that if they delay seeking salvation for the present, and seek it later in life, that God will bestow His grace upon them. But consider, that though God's grace is sufficient, yet He is sovereign, and will use His own pleasure to determine whether He will save you or not. If you put off salvation till the end of your life, salvation will not be in your power. It will be as a sovereign God pleases, whether you shall obtain it or not. Therefore, seeing that in this matter you are so absolutely dependent on God, it is best to follow His direction in seeking it, which is to listen to His voice, which says, “Today, if you hear My voice, do not harden your hearts” [Psalm 95:7-8].
Beware also of discouragement. Take heed of despairing thoughts, because you are a great sinner, because you have persevered so long in sin, have backslidden, and resisted the Holy Spirit. Remember that, no matter what your case may be, no matter how great a sinner you are, God can bestow mercy upon you without the least prejudice to the honor of His holiness, which you have offended, or to the honor of His majesty, which you have insulted, or of His justice, which you have made your enemy, or of His truth, or of any of His attributes. Let you be what sinner you may, God can, if He pleases, greatly glorify Himself in your salvation. Amen.
(1703-1758)
This updated and revised manuscript is copyrighted © 2000 by Tony Capoccia. All rights reserved.
This file may be freely copied, printed out, and distributed as long as copyright and source statements remain intact, and that it is not sold.
“God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” [Romans 9:18]
THE Apostle Paul, in the beginning of this chapter, expresses his great concern and sorrow of heart for the people of Israel, who were rejected by God. This leads him to observe the difference, which God made by election, between some of the Jews and others, and between the majority of the Jews and the Christian Gentiles. In speaking of this he enters into the most detailed discussion found anywhere in the whole Bible concerning the sovereignty of God in electing some to eternal life, and rejecting others. He quotes several passages from the Old Testament, confirming and illustrating this doctrine of Election:
1. In the Book of Romans (9:9), Paul reminds us of what God said to Abraham, showing His election of Isaac before Ishmael, saying,-“At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”
2. He shows in verse twelve, what God had said to Rebecca, showing His election of Jacob over Esau; “The older will serve the younger.”
3. In the thirteenth verse, he refers to a passage from Malachi, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
4. In the fifteenth verse, to what God said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
5. Finally, in the seventeenth verse, to what God said to Pharaoh, “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
From what the apostle says in the text, he seems to have a special regard for the last two cited passages: to what God said to Moses in the fifteenth verse, and to what He said to Pharaoh in the seventeenth verse. God said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy.” The apostle refers to this in the first part of our text. And we also know that it often said about Pharaoh, that “God hardened his heart.” And Paul seems to have focused on this fact in the latter part of the text; “and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” Now, from all of this we can observe two basic facts:
1. God's deals differently with men-He has mercy on some, and He hardens others.
When God is spoken of as hardening the hearts of some men, it is not to be understood that God was, in any way, the agent or direct cause of the hardening any man's heart. There is no positive act by God in the hardening process. To suppose any such thing would be to make God the immediate author of sin.
God is said to harden men in two ways:
A. First, by withholding the powerful influences of His Spirit, without which their hearts will remain hardened, and grow harder and harder-in this sense God hardens them, as He leaves them in their hardness.
B. Secondly, God hardens men, by providentially ordering things which, by the continued sin of man, becomes the reason for their hardening. Thus God sends His word and commands to men and women which, they then ignore, thereby, confirming their hardening. So the apostle Paul said, that the gospel message he preached was to some people “the smell of death."
So God is represented as sending Isaiah to the people, to “Make the heart of the people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” [Isaiah 6:10] Isaiah's preaching was, in itself, a message imploring these people to turn from their ways and follow God and His word. But their rejection of God’s message caused it to be it an opportunity to further harden their hearts.
God is said to harden men, that He put a lying spirit in the mouth of the false prophets. (2 Chronicles. 18:22). That is, He “allowed” a lying spirit to enter into them. And thus He is said to have told Shimei, a man from the same clan as Saul, to curse David. (2 Samuel 16:10). God did not directly command him to curse David; for it would be contrary to God's commands, for God has expressly said in His Word, “Do not . . . curse the ruler of your people.” [Exodus 22:28] But God “allowed” the evil to work in the heart of Shimei, and then sovereignly brought about the opportunity of stirring it up, as a manifestation of his displeasure against David.
2. The second fact that can be seen in our text is the basic truth that when God deals with mankind, He does so according to His sovereign will and pleasure: “God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.”
This implies that God never shows mercy or denies it against His will, and that He is always willing to do it when He does it. A willing subject or servant, when he obeys his lord's commands, may never do any thing against his will, and yet it cannot be said that the servant does what he wills in the sense of the text, that is, according to his own will and pleasure. But in the case of God, it is His mere will and sovereign pleasure, which supremely orders the affairs of mankind. It is the divine will without any restraint, or constraint, or obligation.
The basic doctrine of our text is, that God exercises His sovereignty in the eternal salvation of men.
He is not only sovereign, but He has a sovereign right to do what He wants in the salvation of men. Nobody can charge Him with going beyond His right; He exercises the right which He has. This morning I propose to show four things,
I. What is God's sovereignty.
II. What God's sovereignty in the salvation of men implies?
III. That God actually does, in fact, exercise His sovereignty in the salvation of men.
IV. The reasons for this exercise of sovereignty.
I. What is God's sovereignty?
The sovereignty of God is His absolute, independent right of disposing of all creatures according to His own pleasure. Now let us focus on this concept of God’s “pleasure”
The will of God is called His good pleasure,
1. The will of God is called His good pleasure, in opposition to any constraint.
Men may do things voluntarily, and yet there may be a degree of constraint. A man may be said to do something voluntarily, that is, he does it by himself; and, all things considered, he may choose to do it; yet he may do it out of fear, and the very thing in itself is irritating to him, and truly against his own desires. When men do these things, it cannot be said that they did them according to their good pleasure.
2. The will of God is called His good pleasure, in opposition to its being under the will of another.
A servant may carry out his master's commands, and may do it willingly, and cheerfully, and may delight to do his master's will; yet when he does it, he does not do it of his own good pleasure. The saints freely do the will of God. They choose to do it; it is what satisfies their soul. Yet they do not do it of their own good pleasure and arbitrary will; because their will is under the direction of a superior will.
3. The will of God is called His good pleasure, in opposition to any personal obligation.
A man may freely do something which he is obliged to do; but it cannot be said that he acted from his own sheer will and pleasure. He who acts according to his own good pleasure, is at full liberty; but he who is under any personal obligation, is not at liberty, but is bound.
Now the sovereignty of God infers, that God has a right to dispose of all His creatures according to His good pleasure. And His right is absolute and independent. Men may have a right to dispose of some things according to their pleasure. But their right is not absolute and unlimited. Men may be said to have a right to dispose of their own goods as they please. But their right is not absolute; is has limits and bounds. They have a right to dispose of their own goods as they please, provided they do not do it contrary to the law of the state to which they are subject to, or contrary to the law of God. Men's right to dispose of their things as they will, is not absolute, because it is not independent. They do not have an independent right to what they want, but in some things depend on the community to which they belong, for the rights they may have; and in everything they depend on God. They receive all the rights they have to do anything from God. But the sovereignty of God means that God has an absolute, and unlimited, and independent right of disposing of his creatures as He pleases.
II. What does God's sovereignty in the salvation of men imply?
In answer to this question, I note, that it implies, that God can either bestow salvation on any man or woman, or refuse it, without any distortion to the glory of any of His attributes, except in the cases where He has been pleased to declare, that He will or will not bestow it-then He must be faithful to His word, He is now bound by His own promise.
As it stands today, it cannot be absolutely stated, that God can, without any distortion to the honor of His attributes, bestow salvation on any man or woman, or refuse it; because, concerning some, God has been pleased to declare either that He will or that He will not bestow salvation on them; and thus He is now bound by His own promise.
Now concerning those that God has been pleased to declare, that He will “never” bestow salvation on them; that is, the non-elect, those who have been left in their sins, and especially in the sin of unbelief in Christ-the sin against the Holy Spirit. In their case, God is obligated; He cannot bestow salvation on them, without violating His declared truth, since He has declared that He will not save any who have sinned against the Holy Spirit.
God exercised His sovereignty in making these declarations. God was not obligated to promise that He would save all who believe in Christ; nor was He obligated to declare, that He who committed the sin against the Holy Spirit would never be forgiven. But it pleased Him to declare these things. And if God had not been pleased to obligate Himself in these cases, He could have still either bestowed salvation, or refused it, without dishonor to any of His attributes.
If there would have been any dishonor, to any of God’s attributes by bestowing or refusing to give salvation, then God would not in that matter act as absolutely sovereign. Because it then ceases to be a merely arbitrary thing. It ceases to be a matter of absolute liberty, and has become a matter of necessity or obligation. For God cannot do any thing that would dishonor any of His attributes, or be contrary to what is in itself excellent and glorious. Therefore,
1. God can, without discredit to the glory of any of His attributes, bestow salvation on any man, woman, or child, except on those who have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit.
This was the case when man fell, and before God revealed His eternal purpose and plan for redeeming men by Jesus Christ. It was probably looked upon by the angels as a thing utterly inconsistent with God's attributes to save anyone from the human race. It was utterly inconsistent with the honor of the divine attributes to save any of fallen mankind, as they were lost in their sins. It could not have been done had not God contrived a way consistent with the honor of His holiness, majesty, justice, and truth. But since God, in the gospel, has revealed that nothing is too hard for Him to do, nothing beyond the reach of His power, and wisdom, and sufficiency; and since Christ has provided the work of redemption, and fulfilled the law by obeying it completely, therefore there is no one, of all mankind, whom He can save that would ever cause any prejudice to any of His attributes, except those who have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit.
And even those who have committed the sin against the Holy Spirit could have been saved by Christ without going contrary to any of his attributes, had He not been pleased to declare that He would not. It was not because He could not have saved them consistent with His justice, and consistent with His law, or because His attribute of mercy was not great enough, or the blood of Christ was not sufficient to cleanse from that sin. But it has pleased God, for wise reasons, to declare that that sin shall never be forgiven in this world, or in the world to come. And so now it is contrary to God's truth to save such persons. But otherwise there is no sinner, no matter how great his sin has been, that cannot be saved by God, and without any prejudice to any of His attributes; if he has been a murderer, adulterer, or perjurer, or idolater, or blasphemer, God can save him if He pleases to, with no dishonor to His glory.
Even though persons have sinned for a long time, have been obstinate, have committed monstrous sins a thousand times, even till they have grown old in sin; if they have sinned while under the clear preaching of the Word; if they have been backsliders, and have sinned after receiving numerous solemn warnings and strivings of the Spirit, and after receiving numerous mercies of God’s common providence: though the danger of such is much greater than of other sinners, yet God can save them if He pleases, for the sake of Christ, without any prejudice to any of his attributes. He may have mercy on whom He will have mercy. He may have mercy on the greatest of sinners, if He pleases, and the glory of none of His attributes will dishonored in the least. Such is the sufficiency of the satisfaction and righteousness of Christ, that none of the divine attributes stand in the way of the salvation of any of them. Thus the glory of any attribute did not at all suffer by Christ's saving some of those that crucified Him.
1. God may save anyone He pleases, without prejudice to the honor of His holiness.
God is infinitely holy. The heavens are not pure in His sight. His eyes are too pure to look on evil; and cannot tolerate wrong. And if God should in any way tolerate sin, and should not give proper evidence of His hatred of it, and displeasure at it, it would be a distortion of the honor of His holiness. But God can save the greatest sinner without giving the least approval of sin. If he saves one, who for a long time has resisted the calls of the gospel; if he saves one who, fighting against the truth, has been a pirate or blasphemer, He may do it without giving any support to their wickedness; because His abhorrence of it and displeasure against it have already been sufficiently manifested in the sufferings of Christ. It was a sufficient testimony of God's hatred against even the greatest wickedness, that Christ, the eternal Son of God, died for it. Nothing can show God's infinite abhorrence of any wickedness more than this. If the wicked man himself should be thrown into hell, and should endure the most extreme torments throughout eternity, it would not be a greater manifestation of God's abhorrence of it, than the sufferings of the Son of God for it.
2. God may save any man, woman, or child without prejudice to the honor of His majesty.
No matter how much men have insulted God, no matter how much contempt they have shown to His authority; still God can save them, if He pleases, and the honor of His majesty does not suffer in the least. If God should save those who have insulted Him, without payment for the dishonor they have shown to Him, then the honor of His majesty would suffer. For when contempt is cast upon infinite majesty, its honor suffers, and the contempt leaves a darkness on the honor of the divine majesty, if the injury is not repaired. But the sufferings of Christ do, in fact, fully repair the injury. Let the contempt be ever so great, yet if so honorable a person as Christ undertakes to be a Mediator for the offender, and in the mediation suffers in His place, then it fully repairs the injury done to the majesty of heaven by the greatest sinner.
3. God may save any sinner whatsoever consistent with His justice.
The justice of God requires the punishment of sin. God is the Supreme Judge of the world, and He is to judge the world according to the rules of justice. It is not the duty of a judge to show favor to the person judged; but he is to determine according to a rule of justice without departing to the right hand or left. God does not show mercy as a judge, but as a sovereign. And therefore when mercy sought the salvation of sinners, the question was, how to make the exercise of the mercy of God as a sovereign, and of the exercise His strict justice as a judge, agree together. And this was done by the sufferings of Christ, in which sin was fully punished, and justice satisfied. Christ suffered enough for the punishment of the sins of the greatest sinner that ever lived. So that God, when He judges, may act according to a rule of strict justice, and yet acquit the sinner, if the sinner is in Christ. Justice cannot require any more for any man's sins, than those sufferings which Christ suffered. Romans 3:25, 26. “God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice; so He may be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
4. God can save any sinner whatsoever, without any prejudice to the honor of His truth.
God has declared in His word, that sin would be punished with death, which is to be understood not only of the first physical death, but also of the second death-in the eternal Lake of Fire. God can save the greatest sinner consistent with His truth in this Divine threat. For sin is punished in the sufferings of Christ, inasmuch as He is our representative, and so is legally the same person, and sustained our guilt, and in His sufferings bore our punishment. Some may object, saying that God had said, When you eat of the forbidden fruit, then you will surely die; therefore, the same person that sinned must suffer; and doesn’t God's truth oblige Him to do that? I answer, that the word then was not intended to be restricted to Adam alone. Adam most likely understood that his descendents were included, whether they sinned in their own person or not. If they sinned in Adam, their representative, those words, "When you eat,” meant, “When you yourself eat, or if your representative eats,” then you yourself will surely die.”
II. But, God may refuse salvation to any sinner, without prejudice to the honor of any of His attributes.
There is no person in their natural sinful state, whom God has determined to refuse to bestow salvation, that can ever cause any dishonor to any part of God’s glory. Let a natural person be wise or unwise, of a good or ill-natured temper, whether born of wicked or godly parents; let him be a moral or immoral person, whatever good he may have done, however religious he has been, how many prayers whatsoever he has made, and whatever pains he has taken that he may be saved; whatever concern and distress he may have for fear he shall be damned; or whatever circumstances he may be in; God can deny him salvation without the least criticism to any of His perfections. His glory will not in any instance be the least obscured by it.
1. God may deny salvation to any natural person without any injury to the honor of His righteousness.
If He does so, there is no injustice nor unfairness in it. God can take any natural man, whatever his case may be, God can deny him salvation, and throw him down into hell, and yet not be chargeable with the least unrighteous or unfair dealing in any respect whatsoever. This is evident, because all mankind have deserved hell: and it is no injustice for a righteous judge to inflict on any man or woman what they deserve. And since they have deserved condemnation, and have never done any thing to remove the liability, or to atone for the sin. They have never done anything which would obligate God not to punish them as they deserve.
2. God may deny salvation to any unconverted person without any prejudice to the honor of His goodness.
Sinners sometimes flatter themselves, that though the justice of God condemns them, yet it will not be consistent with the glory of His mercy. They think it will be dishonorable to God's mercy to throw them into hell, and show no pity or compassion on them. They think it would be very harsh and severe, and not becoming a God of infinite grace and tender compassion. But God can deny salvation to any natural person without any criticism to His mercy and goodness. That, which is consistent to God's justice, is not contrary to His mercy. If damnation is justice, then mercy may choose its own object. They mistake the nature of the mercy of God; they think that it is an attribute, which, in some cases, is contrary to justice. No, God's mercy is illustrated by it, as in the twenty-third verse of Romans, chapter 9, “He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory.”
3. God can deny salvation to anyone and never dishonor His faithfulness.
God has in no way obliged Himself to any natural man by His Word to bestow salvation upon him. Men in their natural condition are not the children of promise; but lie open to the curse of the law, which would not be the case if they had any promise to lay hold of.
III. God does actually exercise His sovereignty in men's salvation.
1. God exercises His sovereignty by calling a people or a nation, and giving them the opportunities of grace, and leaving others without them.
According to the divine appointment, salvation is bestowed in connection with the provisions of grace. God may sometimes make use of very unlikely opportunities, and bestow salvation on men who are under very great disadvantages; but He does not bestow grace wholly without any means. But God exercises His sovereignty in bestowing those means. All nations are by nature in like circumstances towards God. Yet God greatly distinguishes some nations and peoples from others by the opportunities and advantages which He bestows upon them.
The American Indians, who in our day (the 1700’s), live in the remote parts of this continent, and are under the grossest heathenish darkness, as well as the inhabitants of Africa, are naturally in exactly similar circumstances of sin towards God with us in this land. They are no more alienated or estranged from God in their natures than we are; and God has no more to charge them with, then He would us. And yet what a vast difference has God made between us and them! In this He has exercised His sovereignty. He did this long ago, when He chose only one people, to make them His covenant people, and to give them the opportunities of grace, and left all others, and gave them over to heathenish darkness and the tyranny of the devil, to perish from generation to generation for many hundreds of years.
The earth in that time was inhabited with many great and mighty nations. There were the Egyptians, a people famous for their wisdom. There were also the Assyrians and Chaldeans, who were great, and wise, and powerful nations. There were the Persians, who by their strength and policy subdued a great part of the world. There were the renowned nations of the Greeks and Romans, who were famed over the whole world for their excellent civil governments, for their wisdom and skill in the arts of peace and war, and who by their military prowess subdued and reigned over the world. These nations were rejected! God did not choose them for His people, but left them for many ages under gross heathenish darkness, to perish for lack of vision; and chose one only people, the descendants of Jacob, to be His own people, and to give them the opportunities of grace. The Bible tells us that, “God has revealed His word to Jacob, His laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His laws” (Psalm 147:19, 20). Israel was a small, insignificant people in comparison with other people, but the Bible declares this about God’s chosen people, “The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples” (Deuteronomy 7:7). And neither was it because of their righteousness; for they had no more of that than other people. God says, “Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people” (Deuteronomy 9:6). God shows them clearly, that it was from no other reason but His free electing love, that He chose them to be His people. That reason is given why God loved them; it was “because He loved them”-He simply chose to love them. (Deuteronomy 7:8). Which is the same as saying that it was agreeable to His sovereign pleasure, to set His love on them.
God also showed His sovereignty in choosing that people, when other nations were rejected, who came of the same ancestors. Thus the children of Isaac were chosen, when the descendants of Ishmael and other sons of Abraham were rejected. Likewise, the children of Jacob were chosen, when the descendants of Esau were rejected: as the apostle observes in the seventh verse, “Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, ‘It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned’ [Romans 9:7]: and again in verses 10, 11, 12, 13. “Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad-in order that God's purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls-she was told, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated" [Romans 9:10-13].
The apostle shows that the election extends not only to the persons of Isaac and Jacob over Ishmael and Esau; but also to their descendants. In the passage, already quoted from Malachi, God chooses nations, which were the descendants of Esau and Jacob; Malachi 1:2, 3. “‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD. ‘But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ ‘Was not Esau Jacob's brother?’ the LORD says. ‘Yet I have loved Jacob, but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his mountains into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals’” [Malachi 1:2, 3]
God showed His sovereignty, when Christ came, in rejecting the Jews, and calling the Gentiles. God rejected that nation who were the children of Abraham according to the flesh, and had been His special people for many ages, and who alone possessed the one true God, and yet God chose the idolatrous heathen Gentiles over them, and called them to be His people. When the Messiah came, who was born of their nation, and whom they so much expected, He rejected them. “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him” [John 1:11].
When the glorious dispensation of the gospel came, God passed by the Jews, and called those who had been heathens, to enjoy the privileges of it. The Jews were broken off, that the Gentiles might be grafted in (Romans 11:17). “I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one” [Romans 9:25] And there are more children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband” [Isaiah 54:1]. The natural children of Abraham are rejected, and God raises up children to Abraham from stones. That nation, which was so honored of God, have now been for many ages rejected, and remain dispersed all over the world, a remarkable monument of divine vengeance. And further, God now greatly distinguishes some Gentile nations from others, and all according to His sovereign pleasure.
2. God exercises His sovereignty in the advantages He bestows upon individual persons.
Everyone needs salvation, and everyone is naturally, undeserving of it; but He gives some vastly greater advantages for salvation than others. To some He assigns their place in godly Christian families, where they may be well instructed and educated, and have Christian parents to dedicate them to God, and say many prayers for them. God places some under a more powerful ministry than others, and in places where there are more of the outpourings of the Spirit of God. To some He gives much more of the strivings and the awakening influences of the Spirit, than to others. It is according to His mere sovereign pleasure.
3. God exercises His sovereignty in sometimes bestowing salvation on the lowly and poor, and denying it to the wise and great.
Christ in His sovereignty passes by the gates of princes and nobles, and enters some cottage and dwells there, and has communion with its obscure inhabitants. God in His sovereignty withheld salvation from the rich man, who lived luxuriously every day, and bestowed it on poor Lazarus, who sat begging at his gate. God in this way pours out contempt on princes, and on all their glittering splendor. So God sometimes passes by wise men, men of great understanding, learned and great scholars, and bestows salvation on others of weak understanding, who only comprehend some of the plainer parts of Scripture, and the fundamental principles of the Christian religion. Yes, there seem to be fewer great men called, than others. And God in ordering it thus manifests His sovereignty. The Apostle Paul said, “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not-to nullify the things that are” [1 Corinthians 1:26-28].
4. God exercises His sovereignty in bestowing salvation on some who have had very few advantages in life.
God sometimes will withhold salvation from those who are the children of very devout parents, and bestow it on others, who have been brought up in wicked families. Thus we read of Abijah, the only good son of the wicked Jeroboam, and of a godly Hezekiah, the son of wicked Ahaz, and of a godly Josiah, the son of a wicked Amon. But on the contrary, of a wicked Amnon and Absalom, the sons of holy David, and that vile Manasseh, the son of godly Hezekiah.
Sometimes some, who have had obvious opportunities of grace, are rejected, and left to perish, and others, under far less advantages, are saved. Thus the scribes and Pharisees, who had so much light and knowledge of the Scriptures, were mostly rejected, and the poor ignorant tax collectors saved. The greater part of those, heard Christ preach many times, and saw Him work miracles from day after day, yet they were not chosen to receive salvation; and yet the woman of Samaria was chosen for eternal life, and many other Samaritans at the same time, who only heard Christ preach, as He occasionally passed through their city. So the woman of Canaan was elected for salvation, who was not of the country of the Jews, and only once saw Jesus Christ. So the Jews, who had seen and heard Christ, and saw His miracles, and with whom the apostles labored so much, were not saved. But the Gentiles, many of them, who, as it were, only briefly heard the good news of salvation, embraced those truths, and were converted.
5. God exercises His sovereignty in calling some to salvation, who have been dreadfully wicked, and leaving others, who have been moral and religious persons.
The Pharisees were a very strict sect among the Jews. Their religion was extraordinary. (Luke 18:11). They were not like other men, extortioners, unjust, or adulterers-that was their morality. They fasted twice a week, and gave tithes of all that they possessed-that was their religion. But yet, for the most part, they were rejected, and the tax collectors, and prostitutes, and openly vicious sorts of people, entered into the kingdom of God before them. (Matthew 21:31). The Apostle Paul describes his righteousness while he was a Pharisee, saying, “as for legalistic righteousness, I was faultless” (Philippians 3:6). The rich young man, who fell on his knees before Christ, saying, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’”-this man was a moral person. When Christ told him keep the commandments, he said, with all sincerity, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” He had obviously been brought up in a good family, and was a youth of such agreeable manners and correct behavior, that it is said, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Still he was not chosen; while the thief on the cross, that was crucified with Christ, was chosen and called. God sometimes shows His sovereignty by showing mercy to the worst of sinners, on those who have been murderers, and blasphemers. And even when they are old, some are called at the eleventh hour. God sometimes shows the sovereignty of His grace by showing mercy to some, who have spent most of their lives in the service of Satan, and have little left to spend in the service of God.
6. God exercises His sovereignty, in saving some of those who seek salvation, and not others.
Some who seek salvation, as we know both from Scripture and observation, are quickly converted; while others seek for a long time, and do not obtain it. God helps some over the mountains and difficulties which are in the way; He subdues Satan, and delivers them from his temptations: but others are ruined by the temptations with which they meet. Some are never thoroughly awakened; while to others God is pleased to give thorough convictions. Some are left to backsliding hearts; others God causes to hold out to the end. Some are brought down from a confidence in their own righteousness; others never get over that obstruction in their way, as long as they live. And some are converted and saved, who never strived after salvation, as others who, in the end, perish.
IV. I come now to give the reasons, why God exercises His sovereignty in the eternal salvation of mankind.
1. It is agreeable to God's design in the creation of the universe to exercise every attribute, and thus to manifest the glory of each of them.
God's design in the creation was to glorify Himself, and to cause creation to discover the essential glory of His nature. It was fitting that infinite glory should shine forth; and it was God's original design to manifest His true glory. It was not His design to manifest all of His glory to the point where it would bring on great fear of His creatures; for it is impossible that the minds of creatures could comprehend it. But it was His design to make a true manifestation of His glory, such as should represent every attribute. If God glorified one attribute, and not another, such manifestation of His glory would be defective; and the representation would not be complete. If all God's attributes are not manifested, then the glory of none of them is manifested as it is: for the divine attributes reflect glory on one another.
Thus if God's wisdom was manifested, and not His holiness, the glory of His wisdom would not be manifested as it truly is; for one part of the glory of the attribute of divine wisdom is, that it is a holy wisdom. So if His holiness were manifested, and not His wisdom, the glory of His holiness would not be manifested as it is; for one thing which belongs to the glory of God's holiness is, that it is a wise holiness.
So it is with respect to the attributes of mercy and justice. The glory of God's mercy does not appear as it is, unless it is manifested as a just mercy, or as a mercy consistent with justice. Likewise, with respect to God's sovereignty, it reflects glory on all His other attributes. It is part of the glory of God's mercy, that it is sovereign mercy. So all the attributes of God reflect glory on one another. The glory of one attribute cannot be manifested, as it is, without the manifestation of another. One attribute is defective without another, and therefore the manifestation will be defective. Therefore it was the will of God to manifest all of His attributes.
The declarative glory of God in Scripture is often called God's name, because it declares His nature. But if His name does not signify His nature as it truly is, or does not declare any attribute, it is not a true name. The sovereignty of God is one of His attributes, and a part of His glory. The glory of God eminently appears in His absolute sovereignty over all creatures, great and small. If the glory of a prince is His power and dominion, then the glory of God is His absolute sovereignty. In this appears God's infinite greatness and majesty above all creatures. Therefore it is the will of God to reveal His sovereignty. And His sovereignty, like His other attributes, is manifested in the exercises of it. He glorifies His power in the exercise of power. He glorifies His mercy in the exercise of mercy. So also He glorifies His sovereignty in the exercise of sovereignty.
2. The greater the creature is, over whom God is sovereign, and the greater the extent of the creature’s power, then the more glorious is His sovereignty.
The sovereignty of God in His being sovereign over men, is more glorious than in His being sovereign over the inferior creatures. And His sovereignty over angels is even more glorious that His sovereignty over men. For the more noble the creature is, then the greater and higher does God appear in His sovereignty over it. It is a greater honor to a man to have dominion over men, than over animals; and a still greater honor to have dominion over princes, nobles, and kings, than over ordinary men. So the glory of God's sovereignty appears in that He is sovereign over the souls of men, who are so noble and excellent creatures. God therefore will exercise His sovereignty over them. And the further the dominion of any one extends over another, the greater will be the honor. If a man has dominion over another only in some instances, he is not as exalted, as he is in having absolute dominion over his life, and fortune, and all that he has.
So God's sovereignty over men appears glorious, that it extends to everything which concerns them. He may dispose of them with respect to all that concerns them, according to His own pleasure. His sovereignty appears glorious, in that it reaches their most important affairs, even the eternal state and condition of the souls of men. In this it appears that the sovereignty of God is without bounds or limits, in that it reaches to a matter of such infinite importance-eternal life. Therefore, God has determined to manifest His own glory, by exercising His sovereignty over men, especially over their souls and bodies, even in this most important matter of their eternal salvation. “God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.” .
APPLICATION
Let me close with five points of Application:
1. We learn how absolutely dependent we are on God in this great matter of the eternal salvation of our souls.
We are dependent not only on His wisdom to arrange a way to accomplish it, and on His power to bring it to pass, but we are also dependent on His mere will and pleasure in the matter. We depend on the sovereign will of God for everything belonging to it, from the foundation to the very top. It was because of the sovereign pleasure of God, that He designed a way to save some of mankind, and gave us Jesus Christ, His one and only Son, to be our Redeemer.
Why did God look on mankind with favor, and send us a Savior, and yet never did the same for the fallen angels? It was simply because of the sovereign pleasure of God. His sovereign grace gave us the Bible, and the truths of Christianity. His giving of those blessed things to us rather than to others, His giving the awakening influences of His Spirit, and His bestowing saving grace, are all of His sovereign pleasure. When he says, “Let there be light in the soul of that person,” it is a word of infinite power and sovereign grace.
2. Let us with the greatest humility adore the awesome and absolute sovereignty of God.
As we have just seen, it is an eminent attribute of the Divine Being, that He is sovereign over the souls of men and women, and that in every respect, even in their eternal salvation. The infinite greatness of God, and His exaltation above us, appears in nothing more, than in His sovereignty. It is spoken of in Scripture as a great part of His glory.
Deuteronomy 32:39, “See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.”
Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him.”
Daniel 4:34, 35, “His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: ‘What have you done?’
Our Lord Jesus Christ praised and glorified the Father for the exercise of His sovereignty in the salvation of men: when He said,
Matt. 11:25, 26. “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.”
Friends, let us therefore give God the glory of His sovereignty, by adoring Him, whose sovereign will orders all things, seeing ourselves as nothing in comparison with Him. Dominion and sovereignty require humble reverence and honor of the subject. The absolute, universal, and unlimited sovereignty of God requires, that we should adore Him with all possible humility and reverence-He has our absolute eternal destiny in His hands and can dispose of us as He pleases.
3. Those who are have received salvation are to attribute it to sovereign grace alone, and to give all the praise to Him, who makes them to differ from others.
Godliness is no cause for glorying, except in God., The Bible says, “No one may boast before Him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let him who boasts boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:29-31). No one, by any means, in any degree are to attribute their godliness, their safe and happy state and condition, to any natural difference between them and other men, or to any strength or righteousness of their own. They have no reason to exalt themselves in the least degree; but God is the being whom they should exalt. They should exalt God the Father, who, before they were born, and even before the world was created, chose them in Christ, who then set His love on them, and gave them salvation.
If they ask, why God set His love on them, and chose them rather than others, if they think they can see any reason apart from God’s mere sovereign pleasure, then they are badly mistaken. They should exalt God the Son, who bore their names on His heart, when He came into the world, and hung on the cross, and in whom alone they have righteousness and strength. They should exalt God the Holy Spirit, who of sovereign grace has called them out of darkness into marvelous light; who has by His own immediate and free operation, led them into an understanding of the evil and danger of sin, and stripped them of their own righteousness, and opened their eyes to discover the glory of God, and the wonderful riches of God in Jesus Christ, and has sanctified them, and made them new creatures. When they hear of the wickedness of others, or look upon depraved persons, they should remember how wicked they once were, and how much they provoked God, and how they deserved to be left forever to perish in their sin, and that it is only sovereign grace which has made the difference. In 1 Corinthians 6:9, Paul the Apostle spells out many different kinds of sinners, the sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, and homosexuals. And then in the eleventh verse, the apostle tells them, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” The people of God have a greater reason to be thankful, and more reason to love God, who has bestowed such great and unspeakable mercy on them, strictly out of His mere sovereign pleasure.
4. We learn why we must admire the grace of God, that He would condescend to become bound to us by covenant;
That He, who is naturally supreme in His dominion over us, who is our absolute master, and can do with us as He pleases, and is under no obligation to us; that this same God should, as it were, relinquish His absolute freedom, and should cease to be sovereign in His dispensations towards believers, when once they have believed in Christ, and would, for their consolation, become bound. So that they can challenge salvation of this Sovereign; they can demand it through Christ, as a debt. And it would be dishonoring to the glory of God's attributes, to deny it to them; it would be contrary to His justice and faithfulness. What wonderful condescension is it in such a Being, to become bound to us, worms of the dust, for our consolation! He bound Himself by His word, His promise.
But He was not satisfied with that; but that we might have stronger consolation still, He Has bound Himself by His oath. The writer of Hebrews says, “When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’ And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 6:13-20).
Let us, therefore, labor to submit to the sovereignty of God. God insists, that His sovereignty be acknowledged by us, and especially His sovereignty over our own eternal salvation, a matter which so nearly and infinitely concerns us. This is the stumbling-block on which thousands fall and perish; and if we go on challenging God about His sovereignty, it will be our eternal ruin. It is absolutely essential that we submit to God, as our absolute sovereign, and the sovereign over our souls; as one who “has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and hardens whom He wants to harden.” .
5. And lastly. The doctrine of the sovereignty of God will guard those who seek salvation from two opposite extremes-presumption and discouragement.
Do not presume upon the mercy of God, and so encourage yourself in sin. Many hear that God's mercy is infinite, and therefore think, that if they delay seeking salvation for the present, and seek it later in life, that God will bestow His grace upon them. But consider, that though God's grace is sufficient, yet He is sovereign, and will use His own pleasure to determine whether He will save you or not. If you put off salvation till the end of your life, salvation will not be in your power. It will be as a sovereign God pleases, whether you shall obtain it or not. Therefore, seeing that in this matter you are so absolutely dependent on God, it is best to follow His direction in seeking it, which is to listen to His voice, which says, “Today, if you hear My voice, do not harden your hearts” [Psalm 95:7-8].
Beware also of discouragement. Take heed of despairing thoughts, because you are a great sinner, because you have persevered so long in sin, have backslidden, and resisted the Holy Spirit. Remember that, no matter what your case may be, no matter how great a sinner you are, God can bestow mercy upon you without the least prejudice to the honor of His holiness, which you have offended, or to the honor of His majesty, which you have insulted, or of His justice, which you have made your enemy, or of His truth, or of any of His attributes. Let you be what sinner you may, God can, if He pleases, greatly glorify Himself in your salvation. Amen.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Lord's Favor
J.A. Matteson
10.14.09
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26
Pilgrim, you are the object of favorable divine attention, that which is unmerited, immutable, incomprehensible, and immanent, a passive recipient of the glory of the LORD. Those living under the sun faun before human authority in the hope of receiving favor from men, they aspire to receive unto themselves a fading glory as a result of some meritorious act, yet as the wilting wildflower slowly disappears in autumn so too the glory of men vanishes as quickly as the mist of an ocean breaker.
Speaking to the Israelites Moses pronounces and proclaims divine blessing upon them, and later reminds them that the LORD’s favor is due to nothing in them but is solely by His grace, “The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your forefathers that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands” (Deut. 7:7-9).
The LORD of glory, who by the omnipotence of His seed within you, has raised you from spiritual death to life, it both has and is sanctifying you to Himself as His special possession for His purposes, as such you have been adopted into His family and granted all manor of benefits as a joint heir with Jesus Christ, and His seed within is keeping you in a state of grace, by which you were foreknown and predestined to salvation before the foundation of the world, and whereby in the fullness of time He effectually called and sealed you by His Spirit who is a deposit of your future inheritance and glorification in the Beloved. Faithful is He who called you and He will bring to completion that which He initiated in you, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thess. 5:23-24).
The shining glory of the LORD’s face upon you is evident to the world in which you have been called as His ambassador, a glory that does not fade away in the likeness of Moses, yet rather grows in intensity year by year, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). The LORD by His grace is providentially engineering the circumstances of your earthly pilgrimage for your sanctification and His glory. Beloved, knowing the LORD’s immeasurable love towards you and that He is able to transform for good any evil which touches your life, you may with great confidence join the Apostle in rejoicing, not in the adversity, but in the knowledge that the LORD is guarding you and keeping watch over your soul, not allowing anything to touch you to inflict permanent spiritual harm but to establish you in grace, “…knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (Jas. 1:3). And the LORD’s grace that shines upon you is a never ending grace, it is perpetual, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You” (Ps. 139:17-18).
What, therefore, shall we say to these marvelous promises, but that their recipient is to enjoy the intimate presence of the LORD and with it His peace which surpasses understanding. The Prince of Peace knows your name and has called you individually to enter into His rest. Let us therefore give praise to the King immortal to Whom belongs all glory, power, and honor. Amen!
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa 40:8).
10.14.09
"The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26
Pilgrim, you are the object of favorable divine attention, that which is unmerited, immutable, incomprehensible, and immanent, a passive recipient of the glory of the LORD. Those living under the sun faun before human authority in the hope of receiving favor from men, they aspire to receive unto themselves a fading glory as a result of some meritorious act, yet as the wilting wildflower slowly disappears in autumn so too the glory of men vanishes as quickly as the mist of an ocean breaker.
Speaking to the Israelites Moses pronounces and proclaims divine blessing upon them, and later reminds them that the LORD’s favor is due to nothing in them but is solely by His grace, “The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your forefathers that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands” (Deut. 7:7-9).
The LORD of glory, who by the omnipotence of His seed within you, has raised you from spiritual death to life, it both has and is sanctifying you to Himself as His special possession for His purposes, as such you have been adopted into His family and granted all manor of benefits as a joint heir with Jesus Christ, and His seed within is keeping you in a state of grace, by which you were foreknown and predestined to salvation before the foundation of the world, and whereby in the fullness of time He effectually called and sealed you by His Spirit who is a deposit of your future inheritance and glorification in the Beloved. Faithful is He who called you and He will bring to completion that which He initiated in you, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass” (1 Thess. 5:23-24).
The shining glory of the LORD’s face upon you is evident to the world in which you have been called as His ambassador, a glory that does not fade away in the likeness of Moses, yet rather grows in intensity year by year, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18). The LORD by His grace is providentially engineering the circumstances of your earthly pilgrimage for your sanctification and His glory. Beloved, knowing the LORD’s immeasurable love towards you and that He is able to transform for good any evil which touches your life, you may with great confidence join the Apostle in rejoicing, not in the adversity, but in the knowledge that the LORD is guarding you and keeping watch over your soul, not allowing anything to touch you to inflict permanent spiritual harm but to establish you in grace, “…knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (Jas. 1:3). And the LORD’s grace that shines upon you is a never ending grace, it is perpetual, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You” (Ps. 139:17-18).
What, therefore, shall we say to these marvelous promises, but that their recipient is to enjoy the intimate presence of the LORD and with it His peace which surpasses understanding. The Prince of Peace knows your name and has called you individually to enter into His rest. Let us therefore give praise to the King immortal to Whom belongs all glory, power, and honor. Amen!
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa 40:8).
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Meaning of "World" in John 3:16
By Dr. Arthur W. Pink (J.A. Matteson footnote to Pink at the conclusion)
It may appear to some of our readers that the exposition we have given of John 3:16 in the chapter on "Difficulties and Objections" is a forced and unnatural one, inasmuch as our definition of the term "world" seems to be out of harmony with the meaning and scope of this word in other passages, where, to supply the world of believers (God’s elect) as a definition of "world" would make no sense. Many have said to us, "Surely, ‘world’ means world, that is, you, me, and everybody." In reply we would say: We know from experience how difficult it is to set aside the "traditions of men" and come to a passage which we have heard explained in a certain way scores of times, and study it carefully for ourselves without bias. Nevertheless, this is essential if we would learn the mind of God.
Many people suppose they already know the simple meaning of John 3:16, and therefore they conclude that no diligent study is required of them to discover the precise teaching of this verse. Needless to say, such an attitude shuts out any further light which they otherwise might obtain on the passage. Yet, if anyone will take a Concordance and read carefully the various passages in which the term "world" (as a translation of "kosmos") occurs, he will quickly perceive that to ascertain the precise meaning of the word "world" in any given passage is not nearly so easy as is popularly supposed. The word "kosmos" and its English equivalent "world" is not used with a uniform significance in the New Testament, far from it. It is used in quite a number of different ways. Below we will refer to a few passages where this term occurs, suggesting a tentative definition in each case:
"Kosmos" is used of the Universe as a whole: Acts 17: 24 - "God that made the world and all things therein seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth."
"Kosmos" is used of the earth: John 13:1; Eph. 1:4, etc.- "When Jesus knew that his hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world He loved them unto the end." "Depart out of this world" signifies leaving this earth. "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." This expression signifies a time before the earth was founded—compare to Job 38:4.
"Kosmos" is used of the world-system: John 12:31 etc. "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the Prince of this world be cast out"— compare to Matt. 4:8 and I John 5:19, R. V.
“Kosmos" is used of the whole human race: Rom. 3: 19, etc.—"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
"Kosmos" is used of humanity minus believers: John 15:18; Rom. 3:6, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you." Believers do not "hate" Christ, so that "the world" here must signify the world of unbelievers in contrast from believers who love Christ. "God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world." Here is another passage where "the world" cannot mean "you, me, and everybody," for believers will not be "judged" by God, see John 5:24. So that here, too, it must be the world of unbelievers which is in view.
"Kosmos" is used of Gentiles in contrast from Jews: Rom. 11:12 etc. "Now if the fall of them (Israel) be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them (Israel) the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their (Israel’s) fullness." Here, again, "the world" cannot signify all humanity for it excludes Israel!
"Kosmos" is used of believers only: John 1:29; 3:16, 17; 6:33; 12;47; I Cor. 4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19. We leave our readers to turn to these passages, asking them to note, carefully, exactly what is said and predicated of "the world" in each place. Thus it will be seen that "kosmos" has at least seven clearly defined different meanings in the New Testament. It may be asked, has then God used a word thus to confuse and confound those who read the Scriptures? We answer, No! Nor has He written His Word for lazy people who are too dilatory, or too busy with the things of this world,or, like Martha, so much occupied with "serving" they have no time and no heart to "search" and "study" Holy Writ. Should it be asked further, but how is a searcher of the Scriptures to know which of the above meanings the term "world" has in any given passage? The answer is: this may be ascertained by a careful study of the context, by diligently noting what is predicated of "the world" in each passage, and by prayer fully consulting other parallel passages to the one being studied (Scripture interprets Scripture).
The principal subject of John 3:16 is Christ as the Gift of God. The first clause tells us what moved God to "give" His only begotten Son, and that was His great "love;" the second clause informs us for whom God "gave" His Son, and that is for, "whosoever (or, better, ‘every one’) believeth;" while the last clause makes known why God "gave" His Son (His purpose), and that is, that everyone that believeth "should not perish but have everlasting life." That "the world" in John 3:16 refers to the world of believers (God’s elect), in contradiction from "the world of the ungodly" (2 Pet. 2:5), is established, unequivocally established, by a comparison of the other passages which speak of God’s "love." "God commendeth His love toward US"—the saints, Rom. 5:8. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth"—every son, Heb. 12:6. "We love Him, because He first loved US"—believers, 1 John 4:19. The wicked God "pities" (see Matt. 18:33). Unto the unthankful and evil God is "kind" (see Luke 6:35). The vessels of wrath He endures "with much long-suffering" (see Rom. 9:22). But "His own" God "loves."
J.A. Matteson footnote to Pink
John’s reference to “whosoever” pertains to those who have believed, do believe, and will believe, and believers biblically speaking are the “elect”—the only ones who believe—those who by means of grace, as manifested in the Holy Spirit’s initiative through regeneration, most certainly come to repentance and faith, “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts 11:18), and “Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). The Lord Jesus Christ stressed the imperative of the divine initiative in salvation while speaking to Nicodemus, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3).
The use of the word “unless” by the Lord underscores a necessary condition. In order for a sinner who is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, in a state of bondage and rebellion, one who is spiritually blind to truth, spiritually deaf to the Word of Life, and in all ways cut off from God, in order for such a person in this hopeless condition to “choose Christ” they must first be given a new nature, one that desires Christ; they must be “born again” and the initiative of their regeneration lies with the Holy Spirit. Through regeneration the sinner is given a new nature (circumcision of the heart—a heart of flesh replaces a heart of stone), one that desires Christ, and it is at that moment sinners outwardly positively respond to the Gospel, longing for Christ and willingly coming to Him of their own accord, the One whom they formerly loathed or at best were indifferent to, “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20).
According to the Lord Jesus Christ regeneration precedes faith which is a response to the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). The Apostle Peter also underscores the divine initiative, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope….” (1 Peter 1:3).
Any who insist that the unregenerate sinner, by his own initiative will desire Christ and come to Him, thus subsequently being “born again” stands in direct opposition to the plain teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles, and the whole of Scripture, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God….” (Ephesians 2:8). With regard to salvation, grace manifested by divine initiative is the cause, the divine gift of faith is the means, spiritual life is the effect, and obedience unto sanctification and ultimate glory is the result, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3), and, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).
The Apostle Paul elaborates on the focal point of his tireless evangelistic enterprises, “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10). As the Lord Jesus in His high priestly prayer (John 17:9) did not pray for the reprobate “world”, neither did the apostle labor for them, but for the elect. Paul understood that the non-elect, those that remain in an unregenerate state, those faceless people shrouded in the mystery of the secret council of the Lord from eternity, would never come to Christ, for their wills are not free, but rather in bondage to sin and death—and by nature they will by necessity choose in accordance to their desires, and their depraved desire is independence from their Creator, which is in keeping with their fallen Adamic nature, for it does not desire Christ; therefore, left to themselves they will reject Him to their own peril and eternal damnation.
The elect, those foreknown to the Lord before the foundation of the world, represent every people group on the earth, properly representing every demographic as well: the rich and poor, educated and ignorant, mighty and lowly, young and old. In this regard “whosoever” is an acknowledgement that the true sons of Abraham in the likeness of faith are the sheep the Father gave to His Son, those given to the Son by the Father before the foundation of the earth, who in due time are “called” to faith by the ministry of the Word of the Lord through the agency of the Holy Spirit; indeed, those who represent the “whosoever” have been given “ears to hear” and a pliable will—the fruit of a new nature—to positively respond to the grace of God. In describing those who are His own the Lord Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28). Grace is amazing, indeed!
It may appear to some of our readers that the exposition we have given of John 3:16 in the chapter on "Difficulties and Objections" is a forced and unnatural one, inasmuch as our definition of the term "world" seems to be out of harmony with the meaning and scope of this word in other passages, where, to supply the world of believers (God’s elect) as a definition of "world" would make no sense. Many have said to us, "Surely, ‘world’ means world, that is, you, me, and everybody." In reply we would say: We know from experience how difficult it is to set aside the "traditions of men" and come to a passage which we have heard explained in a certain way scores of times, and study it carefully for ourselves without bias. Nevertheless, this is essential if we would learn the mind of God.
Many people suppose they already know the simple meaning of John 3:16, and therefore they conclude that no diligent study is required of them to discover the precise teaching of this verse. Needless to say, such an attitude shuts out any further light which they otherwise might obtain on the passage. Yet, if anyone will take a Concordance and read carefully the various passages in which the term "world" (as a translation of "kosmos") occurs, he will quickly perceive that to ascertain the precise meaning of the word "world" in any given passage is not nearly so easy as is popularly supposed. The word "kosmos" and its English equivalent "world" is not used with a uniform significance in the New Testament, far from it. It is used in quite a number of different ways. Below we will refer to a few passages where this term occurs, suggesting a tentative definition in each case:
"Kosmos" is used of the Universe as a whole: Acts 17: 24 - "God that made the world and all things therein seeing that He is Lord of heaven and earth."
"Kosmos" is used of the earth: John 13:1; Eph. 1:4, etc.- "When Jesus knew that his hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world He loved them unto the end." "Depart out of this world" signifies leaving this earth. "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world." This expression signifies a time before the earth was founded—compare to Job 38:4.
"Kosmos" is used of the world-system: John 12:31 etc. "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the Prince of this world be cast out"— compare to Matt. 4:8 and I John 5:19, R. V.
“Kosmos" is used of the whole human race: Rom. 3: 19, etc.—"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."
"Kosmos" is used of humanity minus believers: John 15:18; Rom. 3:6, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you." Believers do not "hate" Christ, so that "the world" here must signify the world of unbelievers in contrast from believers who love Christ. "God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world." Here is another passage where "the world" cannot mean "you, me, and everybody," for believers will not be "judged" by God, see John 5:24. So that here, too, it must be the world of unbelievers which is in view.
"Kosmos" is used of Gentiles in contrast from Jews: Rom. 11:12 etc. "Now if the fall of them (Israel) be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them (Israel) the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their (Israel’s) fullness." Here, again, "the world" cannot signify all humanity for it excludes Israel!
"Kosmos" is used of believers only: John 1:29; 3:16, 17; 6:33; 12;47; I Cor. 4:9; 2 Cor. 5:19. We leave our readers to turn to these passages, asking them to note, carefully, exactly what is said and predicated of "the world" in each place. Thus it will be seen that "kosmos" has at least seven clearly defined different meanings in the New Testament. It may be asked, has then God used a word thus to confuse and confound those who read the Scriptures? We answer, No! Nor has He written His Word for lazy people who are too dilatory, or too busy with the things of this world,or, like Martha, so much occupied with "serving" they have no time and no heart to "search" and "study" Holy Writ. Should it be asked further, but how is a searcher of the Scriptures to know which of the above meanings the term "world" has in any given passage? The answer is: this may be ascertained by a careful study of the context, by diligently noting what is predicated of "the world" in each passage, and by prayer fully consulting other parallel passages to the one being studied (Scripture interprets Scripture).
The principal subject of John 3:16 is Christ as the Gift of God. The first clause tells us what moved God to "give" His only begotten Son, and that was His great "love;" the second clause informs us for whom God "gave" His Son, and that is for, "whosoever (or, better, ‘every one’) believeth;" while the last clause makes known why God "gave" His Son (His purpose), and that is, that everyone that believeth "should not perish but have everlasting life." That "the world" in John 3:16 refers to the world of believers (God’s elect), in contradiction from "the world of the ungodly" (2 Pet. 2:5), is established, unequivocally established, by a comparison of the other passages which speak of God’s "love." "God commendeth His love toward US"—the saints, Rom. 5:8. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth"—every son, Heb. 12:6. "We love Him, because He first loved US"—believers, 1 John 4:19. The wicked God "pities" (see Matt. 18:33). Unto the unthankful and evil God is "kind" (see Luke 6:35). The vessels of wrath He endures "with much long-suffering" (see Rom. 9:22). But "His own" God "loves."
J.A. Matteson footnote to Pink
John’s reference to “whosoever” pertains to those who have believed, do believe, and will believe, and believers biblically speaking are the “elect”—the only ones who believe—those who by means of grace, as manifested in the Holy Spirit’s initiative through regeneration, most certainly come to repentance and faith, “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life” (Acts 11:18), and “Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48). The Lord Jesus Christ stressed the imperative of the divine initiative in salvation while speaking to Nicodemus, “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3).
The use of the word “unless” by the Lord underscores a necessary condition. In order for a sinner who is spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, in a state of bondage and rebellion, one who is spiritually blind to truth, spiritually deaf to the Word of Life, and in all ways cut off from God, in order for such a person in this hopeless condition to “choose Christ” they must first be given a new nature, one that desires Christ; they must be “born again” and the initiative of their regeneration lies with the Holy Spirit. Through regeneration the sinner is given a new nature (circumcision of the heart—a heart of flesh replaces a heart of stone), one that desires Christ, and it is at that moment sinners outwardly positively respond to the Gospel, longing for Christ and willingly coming to Him of their own accord, the One whom they formerly loathed or at best were indifferent to, “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God” (Ezekiel 11:19-20).
According to the Lord Jesus Christ regeneration precedes faith which is a response to the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, “who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). The Apostle Peter also underscores the divine initiative, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope….” (1 Peter 1:3).
Any who insist that the unregenerate sinner, by his own initiative will desire Christ and come to Him, thus subsequently being “born again” stands in direct opposition to the plain teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles, and the whole of Scripture, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God….” (Ephesians 2:8). With regard to salvation, grace manifested by divine initiative is the cause, the divine gift of faith is the means, spiritual life is the effect, and obedience unto sanctification and ultimate glory is the result, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3), and, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:29-30).
The Apostle Paul elaborates on the focal point of his tireless evangelistic enterprises, “Therefore I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10). As the Lord Jesus in His high priestly prayer (John 17:9) did not pray for the reprobate “world”, neither did the apostle labor for them, but for the elect. Paul understood that the non-elect, those that remain in an unregenerate state, those faceless people shrouded in the mystery of the secret council of the Lord from eternity, would never come to Christ, for their wills are not free, but rather in bondage to sin and death—and by nature they will by necessity choose in accordance to their desires, and their depraved desire is independence from their Creator, which is in keeping with their fallen Adamic nature, for it does not desire Christ; therefore, left to themselves they will reject Him to their own peril and eternal damnation.
The elect, those foreknown to the Lord before the foundation of the world, represent every people group on the earth, properly representing every demographic as well: the rich and poor, educated and ignorant, mighty and lowly, young and old. In this regard “whosoever” is an acknowledgement that the true sons of Abraham in the likeness of faith are the sheep the Father gave to His Son, those given to the Son by the Father before the foundation of the earth, who in due time are “called” to faith by the ministry of the Word of the Lord through the agency of the Holy Spirit; indeed, those who represent the “whosoever” have been given “ears to hear” and a pliable will—the fruit of a new nature—to positively respond to the grace of God. In describing those who are His own the Lord Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28). Grace is amazing, indeed!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Flee
10.01.09
J.A. Matteson
"Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 20:7
As a pilgrim you are an ordinary individual, but one who has been miraculously translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, a soul that by grace has been regenerated and converted to life in the Beloved. Instantaneously you received an imputed righteous—a righteousness not your own—by means of the atonement, and are now positionally justified by grace through faith in Christ.
Infused with a new nature by the Holy Spirit the Lord has set you free from the fetters of bondage to sin and death, although practically you must learn to walk in that freedom by struggling against the latent desires of the flesh, characterized by improper thoughts, words, and deeds. Like Israel occupying a new land you are a sojourner and the Lord calls you to abstain from the wicked practices of the pagan people who dwell among you.
You are foreigner in the land, your citizenship being in heaven, and while you sojourn you are not to be swayed into worshipping the gods recognized by the peoples around you; indeed, some that you personally may have adored before your life in Christ. You are now called to be as salt and light to a fallen world. While separate in conduct and devotion you do not have the option of physically withdrawing out of the world as the monastics, for to do so would nullify your influence as an ambassador of Christ to the nations.
The gods of the people around you today are essentially the same as those of old, although their form and names may have changed; predictably they grow in the depraved soil of minds hostile to the Lord, those in rebellion against the Lord of Hosts, dedicated to the pursuit of power over others through position; fame rooted in a vain search for significance in the eyes of others also living under the sun; sensual depravity as a result of a debased mind evidenced by a pornographic and homosexual culture, one that deceives the simple by championing and parading indecent acts as an expression of enlightened personal liberty, when bondage to sin remains the genuine outcome; and an insatiable pursuit for worldly wealth whereby its adherents pit themselves against each other in the hope of its attainment, biting and clawing their way to the top of the heap.
Pilgrim, these types of pursuits occupy the attention and fan the flames of passion among those who do not know God, but they are to have no place in your heart. Flee from them at once, run for your life when they subtlety and seductively seek to take hold of you, cleverly appealing to the old man within. Like Joseph make up your mind before the test comes that you will not willingly sin against God, when the test comes run for your life, flee immediately…right now, get going, do not tarry and thus be deceived in to thinking you are able to remain and calmly consider the merits or faults of the proposition offered, rather get out of there now, leave your garment and exit in haste, “She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me!’ And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside” (Gen. 39:12).
Beloved, spiritual syncretism is seductively subtle, able to slowly trap you in its web of lies if you remain ignorant of its intent and abilities, until one day you come to your senses only to grieve as to just how far off course you have traveled in your sojourning, and like Bunyan’s Pilgrim you find yourself backtracking a good distance, dismayed at how easily you were duped while vowing never again to be taken in by the prince of darkness.
Consider the Apostles warning, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust” (Jas. 1:14). The innate lust of the flesh remains within you and you must daily mortify its desires which wage war against the Spirit. Prevailing soldiers know the tactics of their enemy and have taken a sober assessment of their weakness before engaging their opponent. Offer to the Lord your points of weakness before the battle and He will enable you to stand on that day victorious just as Joseph on that day stood victorious as an ambassador of Christ.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
J.A. Matteson
"Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God." Leviticus 20:7
As a pilgrim you are an ordinary individual, but one who has been miraculously translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, a soul that by grace has been regenerated and converted to life in the Beloved. Instantaneously you received an imputed righteous—a righteousness not your own—by means of the atonement, and are now positionally justified by grace through faith in Christ.
Infused with a new nature by the Holy Spirit the Lord has set you free from the fetters of bondage to sin and death, although practically you must learn to walk in that freedom by struggling against the latent desires of the flesh, characterized by improper thoughts, words, and deeds. Like Israel occupying a new land you are a sojourner and the Lord calls you to abstain from the wicked practices of the pagan people who dwell among you.
You are foreigner in the land, your citizenship being in heaven, and while you sojourn you are not to be swayed into worshipping the gods recognized by the peoples around you; indeed, some that you personally may have adored before your life in Christ. You are now called to be as salt and light to a fallen world. While separate in conduct and devotion you do not have the option of physically withdrawing out of the world as the monastics, for to do so would nullify your influence as an ambassador of Christ to the nations.
The gods of the people around you today are essentially the same as those of old, although their form and names may have changed; predictably they grow in the depraved soil of minds hostile to the Lord, those in rebellion against the Lord of Hosts, dedicated to the pursuit of power over others through position; fame rooted in a vain search for significance in the eyes of others also living under the sun; sensual depravity as a result of a debased mind evidenced by a pornographic and homosexual culture, one that deceives the simple by championing and parading indecent acts as an expression of enlightened personal liberty, when bondage to sin remains the genuine outcome; and an insatiable pursuit for worldly wealth whereby its adherents pit themselves against each other in the hope of its attainment, biting and clawing their way to the top of the heap.
Pilgrim, these types of pursuits occupy the attention and fan the flames of passion among those who do not know God, but they are to have no place in your heart. Flee from them at once, run for your life when they subtlety and seductively seek to take hold of you, cleverly appealing to the old man within. Like Joseph make up your mind before the test comes that you will not willingly sin against God, when the test comes run for your life, flee immediately…right now, get going, do not tarry and thus be deceived in to thinking you are able to remain and calmly consider the merits or faults of the proposition offered, rather get out of there now, leave your garment and exit in haste, “She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me!’ And he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside” (Gen. 39:12).
Beloved, spiritual syncretism is seductively subtle, able to slowly trap you in its web of lies if you remain ignorant of its intent and abilities, until one day you come to your senses only to grieve as to just how far off course you have traveled in your sojourning, and like Bunyan’s Pilgrim you find yourself backtracking a good distance, dismayed at how easily you were duped while vowing never again to be taken in by the prince of darkness.
Consider the Apostles warning, “But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust” (Jas. 1:14). The innate lust of the flesh remains within you and you must daily mortify its desires which wage war against the Spirit. Prevailing soldiers know the tactics of their enemy and have taken a sober assessment of their weakness before engaging their opponent. Offer to the Lord your points of weakness before the battle and He will enable you to stand on that day victorious just as Joseph on that day stood victorious as an ambassador of Christ.
Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries ("...the word of our God stands forever." Isa. 40:8).
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