“But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith”
Galatians 5:22.
“For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men.” Titus
2:11.
“But God commendeth his love
toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8.
In
the Bible we read of the love of God, the grace of God and also of faith
in God. These three things are all involved in the work of God in the
salvation of sinners.
God’s word tells us that God’s
elect people are saved entirely by God because He loved them with an
everlasting LOVE which He set upon them, as seen in Christ, from all
eternity. God loved His people whilst they were yet sinners. This love is
particular to the elect and is not shown to the reprobate.
The elect are saved entirely
because of God’s saving GRACE towards them. Grace is Unmerited Favour and
Mercy and it is because of God’s grace towards His elect that Christ died
for them and saved them, blotting out all their sins. Again this grace,
shown through Christ’s saving work for sinners, and the application of
that work to them in time by the Holy Spirit (“the grace of God which
brings salvation” – Titus 2:11) is particular to the elect and is not
shown to the reprobate.
Also,
the work of the Spirit in the elect is to quicken them into life, eternal
life, granting them faith (saving faith) that they might believe the
Gospel and rest in Christ’s finished work for their salvation. The elect
are dead in trespasses and sins by nature and have no true faith by
nature. They may have some sort of ‘natural’ faith whereby they trust in
certain things and hope in certain things and believe certain things, but
by nature they DO NOT and CANNOT trust in Christ’s blood alone for
salvation. By nature they don’t truly believe the Gospel, nor their own
particular interest in it (ie. that Christ’s blood was shed for them
particularly), neither do they trust in God alone for salvation, or even
believe the truth, for such things are spiritually discerned and cannot be
seen or believed by the carnal mind – such things are only revealed to the
eye of faith. Yet FAITH, saving FAITH, is a fruit of the Spirit brought
forth in all those elect children of God who are born again by God the
Holy Spirit. Hence faith is given by God PARTICULARLY to the elect and not
to reprobates.
So we
see that these three things, love, grace and faith are particular to the
elect and not shown to, or given to, the reprobate.
However some ‘theologians’ and
preachers today, whilst acknowledging by word the particular nature of
these things with regard to those elect sinners who are saved by God,
nevertheless see a general aspect to God’s love, God’s grace and also
faith which they feel applies to all, both elect and reprobate. They feel
that scripture speaks of a general love of God to all men, of God’s
‘common’ grace to all men, and of a duty of all men to exercise
faith.
But
are these ‘theologians’ rightly dividing the word of God in making such
claims? Does God’s word really use these terms, love, grace and faith, to
describe the concepts which these theologians attach them
to?
Passages are brought forward
to show that God grants certain blessings to all men, such as rain and
sunshine, food and water. But does scripture use the words ‘love’ and
‘grace’ with respect to these ‘blessings’ to all? Is it right to use the
same words (love, grace) for these things as are used to describe those
particular blessings granted to God’s elect people only? Or does this just
breed confusion?
Certainly scripture DOES tell
us that God grants rain and sunshine to all. See Matthew 5:43-48. There is
no dispute about that. Certainly God IS good. He has shown goodness to all
His creation, whether elect or reprobate. Any anger or wrath shown to man
is a response of God’s perfect justice and anger at man’s rebellion and
sin against Him. Yet man cannot point the finger at God and claim that God
has been anything but good and fair towards him. No, the judgement which
God will exact upon the reprobate is entirely merited by their own sin and
wickedness. The law of God condemns them. Their own consciences condemn
them yet they continue to sin and God judges them accordingly. But
nevertheless God is longsuffering to the ‘vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction’ (Romans 9:22) and shows them much good
during their lifetimes on earth, giving them health, food, water, sun,
rain and so forth.
All
of this is true, but none of these temporal blessings granted to the
reprobate compares at all with that eternal salvation, eternal life,
eternal rest which is freely granted to God’s elect people whom He has
loved with an everlasting love since before the world was created. Such
eternal love brings everlasting blessing and everlasting forgiveness for
their sins, which God blotted out by the blood of His own Son who died in
that people’s place at the cross. This love is unique and particular to
God’s people. Their salvation is an act of pure mercy, unmerited favour.
In a word - GRACE.
But
does the Bible ever refer to that temporal goodness shown unto ALL men
(reprobate included) as GRACE or God’s LOVE towards
them?
I
think not. Certainly the word GRACE is used in passages regarding the
elect and their salvation, but is not used in passages such as Matthew
5:45 regarding all men and common blessings to all.
But
are such blessings an evidence of some love of God towards the reprobate?
Again, I’d say no, for it certainly isn’t the same meaning of ‘love’ as is
used elsewhere with regard to the elect. When God speaks of loving His
people with an everlasting love, that love is shown by saving that people
with an eternal salvation. Whatever temporal blessings are granted to the
reprobate during their short sojourn upon this earth, they cannot be
compared to these eternal blessings shown to God’s people whom He LOVES.
God’s love is SET upon His people always, but not upon the reprobate. The
reprobate may receive good things for a short time in this world but their
eventual destiny is an eternity of suffering under God’s wrath because of
their wickedness and rebellion towards Him. There is no ‘love’ shown to
the reprobate in their eternal suffering, so whatever goodness is shown to
them during their short time on earth should not be taken to mean that God
‘loves’ them.
It is
true that God shows acts of love, of goodness, of loving-kindness towards
the reprobate. But performing a loving act towards someone is NOT the same
as saying that you love them. It is to SHOW them love, but not to set
one’s love upon them. There is a distinction. It is better to speak of
God’s longsuffering or loving-kindness towards all his creation (reprobate
included) and of His electing, saving love and grace towards His own
people.
Believers are, however, called
upon to ‘love’ their enemies. This fact causes some to conclude that God
must also ‘love’ His enemies (all of them). Well God does love the elect
who are His enemies before they are brought to saving faith. But does God
love ‘all’ His enemies? Can that be concluded from the teaching of Jesus
to His disciples to love their enemies? This exhortation is immediately
expounded by teaching that we should do good to them that hate us. Romans
12:17-21 also speaks of returning good for evil. The result of which is
what? The salvation of our enemies? No, not always, Romans 12 tells us
that in so doing we heap coals of fire upon their heads, because despite
our goodness towards them they are still evil towards us and God and are
judged for that evil.
Hence the meaning of ‘love your enemies’ in scripture is really
related towards SHOWING them loving acts; doing them good turns; returning love
for evil; turning the other cheek. It does not mean that we ‘love’ them as
we would love our brethren. The love the believer has for Christ and His
people is far different from any love he ‘shows’ to his enemies. Likewise God
‘shows’ love to all men in that He shows His goodness and loving-kindness to
all, and yet all rebel against Him. In the case of the reprobate this
rebellion leads to their everlasting destruction because they are never washed
in the blood of the Lamb of God in order to be saved. But this display
of loving-kindness to the reprobate is NOT the same as the love of God
shown to and set upon the elect, and really the use of the word ‘love’ should
be watched carefully for the two things are distinct. Scripture
clearly speaks of God loving His elect, and in John’s Gospel we clearly read
that Christ loved His sheep but not the goats - not the world. He
prayed not for the world (John 17:9). So whatever goodness and kindness He
showed to others was not the ‘love’ shown to His
own.
I freely grant that there may be
some discussion about the usage of the word ‘love’ in relation to
God’s general goodness to all. However I believe that if scripture is read
carefully that one will see that the wording used for God’s love to His
elect is generally different and is more clear than that wording used
with respect to all men. Generally scripture speaks of
‘longsuffering’ and ‘loving-kindness’ with respect to all. Also scripture should be
compared with scripture. Passages such as the Psalms which speak of God’s hatred of
the wicked, or Romans 9:13 where we read that God loved
Jacob but hated Esau, or exhortations elsewhere in scripture to not love the
world, must be weighed against any impression of a general ‘love’ to all which may
be given by the fact that God is long-suffering and good to all
men. We must note the distinction. One may show love to those one does not ‘love’.
One can be good to one’s enemies whom one hates.
As
far as the word GRACE goes I think scripture is even clearer. Grace or
‘common grace’ is never used with respect to those general ‘blessings’
granted to all men. GRACE is used with particular reference to God’s
undeserved favour shown to His people in SAVING them eternally. Matthew 5
does not use the word grace with regard to the rain and the sunshine given
to all. So we should refrain from using the term in that context as it
merely confuses it with SAVING grace shown to the
elect.
Likewise scripture invariably uses the word FAITH with regard to the faith of God’s elect
and that faith which is wrought in them by the Spirit through which
they believe on Christ and rest in His finished work of salvation. Whilst
there IS a general call to all men to repent and believe the gospel,
that belief is not a particular belief in Christ’s blood being shed
for the individual but a belief in the facts, the truth of the Gospel. All
men SHOULD believe the gospel for it is TRUE, it is God’s word, and God is true.
It is men’s duty to believe that, just as it is their duty to repent of
their sin and turn from it, but only the elect are granted saving FAITH
to believe that Christ died for THEM particularly. Scripture speaks of faith
invariably with reference to this saving faith, a fruit of the Spirit in
those born of God. Hence it is wise not to use the word ‘faith’ with
respect to that general belief in the truth of the Gospel which is
expected of all who hear it. All men have a duty to believe God’s word as
being true. Even the devils believe and tremble. Yet not all men have a
duty to believe SAVINGLY and to exercise saving faith. The devils can’t
believe that way as Christ never died in their place and neither can the
reprobate for saving faith is a gift of God, a fruit of the Spirit,
granted freely to the elect and to them only.
So, I
believe we should be careful to be guided by the language of scripture and
speak of faith as being that saving faith, that fruit of the Spirit in the
believer, and of there also being a general call to all men to believe,
demanding a natural ‘belief’ or consent to the truth. But it is best to
use ‘faith’ in relation to that faith which is given to the elect which
gives them spiritual sight and understanding and enables them to believe
on Christ, to trust in Him alone for salvation, to rest in His finished
work. Hence I disagree with the usage of the term ‘duty faith’ as real
faith is a gift of God, not a duty (…of course there is also the faith
which Christ had and the truth of the Gospel is summarised objectively as
THE Faith).
Also,
grace is a word used in scripture with regard to God’s salvation of
sinners. We read of “the grace of God which bringeth salvation”. That
grace has nothing to do with the common goodness shown to all men as
spoken of in Matthew 5. For that we should use other terms such as God’s
loving-kindness or goodness to all. But grace, true grace, is shown to
God’s elect only.
The
same goes for ‘love’. Scripture clearly speaks of God's love being set upon
His people whilst they were yet sinners (Romans 5:8); and that saved
people are called to love the brethren and not the world. Christ says He
loves His sheep and prays not for the world. God says He loves His people
and hates the wicked – He loves Jacob and hates Esau. So whatever goodness
or loving-kindness is shown to others should not be confused with the love
of God to His elect, and it is best to avoid the use of the word ‘love’.
‘Loving’ your enemies means you show love towards them, knowing that if
they are reprobate then you heap coals upon their head by so doing, but if
they are the elect then God will eventually reveal His salvation to them.
But such ‘loving’ is not to say that you ‘set your love upon them’. You
don’t love them as you love the brethren. Such true love is only set upon
Christ and His sheep. One can hate the wicked whilst showing love to them
by good deeds towards them, just as one can love a son whilst chastising
him for his waywardness. If one chastises his son he does not cease to
love him as his son. Likewise if you ‘love’ your enemy by doing them good
that does not mean that you have set your love upon the wicked. The
righteous man will rightly hate the wicked, but may nevertheless show them
love by good deeds.
Another point about God’s love
is this. God hates the sins of His elect people, so much so that He judged
those sins in the person of His own Son by pouring out all His righteous
anger, fury and wrath upon Him at the cross. Yet God always loved His
elect people. He loves them, but hates their sin. Likewise God hates the
reprobate and will condemn them for eternity because of their sin and
rebellion. Yet God has shown goodness towards them during their lifetimes
which they don’t deserve, and which only heightens their condemnation as
ungrateful creatures of the Creator. Nevertheless such acts of goodness
towards all His creation does not mean that God’s love is set upon all,
including the wicked – for we read that “Esau have I
hated”.
So,
in conclusion, I ask why then do some ‘theologians’ choose to use the
words love, grace and faith with respect to all men? Why not be more
distinct in their language? Why not draw a clear distinction between God’s
dealings with His own children and His dealings with the
wicked?
Why
not? I believe because such ‘theologians’ wish by ambiguity to blur the
line between God’s love of His own people and His hatred of the wicked in
order to make their ‘gospel’ more ‘palatable’ to men. They wish to set
forth a view of an all-loving God and dampen down the clear teaching of
His hatred of the reprobate. They wish to be able to preach the ‘gospel’
in a manner which allows them to blur the distinctions between God’s
particular love and grace shown to His elect, and the faith granted to
them by the Spirit, and those general blessings shown to all men. By
speaking of those general things (rain, sunshine etc) and using the terms
‘grace’, ‘love’ and a general duty to exercise ‘faith’, the clarity of the
Gospel is lost, the separation in the Gospel of sheep and goats, precious
and vile, good and evil, light and darkness, elect and reprobate is
blurred.
Hence a
‘gospel’ is presented which sets forth an all-loving God who shows ‘love’
to all, ‘grace’ to all, and demands ‘faith’ of all. It presents a God who
‘desires’ the salvation of all. By using the SAME WORDS as those things
which are particular to the elect (love, grace and faith), the hearer does
not comprehend what is only for the elect and what is for the reprobate.
He is left thinking that God just loves all, shows grace to all, and
expects faith of all. The hearer is not left knowing a clear distinction
between that love and grace shown to the elect and that wrath which is set
upon the reprobate. The alarm is not sounded clearly to warn the hearer
to flee from the wrath to come because he is given the impression that
God’s love is upon all men
– the hearer is not clearly brought to the point of crying out to God for
MERCY.
Neither does he clearly realise that he can only
exercise faith to believe savingly if GOD GRANTS HIM FAITH as a result of
God’s causing him to be BORN AGAIN. No, such a ‘gospel’ leaves the hearer
thinking that God just generally loves all men, shows all men grace and
expects all men to exercise faith. Thus salvation simply lies in man’s
‘receiving’ a Jesus freely offered to all, an act of believing supposedly
desired of all, expected of all, and apparently achievable by all if THEY
but will. Hence
under such a scheme who is truly sovereign in salvation? God or man?
...Surely man?
This
is a false gospel. I believe its presentation is a real danger and a real
undermining of the true Gospel. Hence I believe we should keep to Biblical
words and the correct usage of those words, in order to avoid the slippery
slope which leads to an erosion of the truth, and we should seek to be LED
BY THE SPIRIT in how to rightly DIVIDE the word of
God.
“Common Grace”, “Universal
Love”, the “Free Offer of the Gospel” and “Duty Faith” all are
interrelated teachings which centre upon taking particular words of
scripture which have particular application and meaning to God’s elect,
and applying them to all men. These teachings blur the ‘gospel’ in such a
way that it no longer divides. Rather than presenting the word of God
clearly, as that sharp two-edged sword which divides asunder, even
dividing bone from marrow and spirit from soul, instead a ‘gospel’ is
presented by many today which muddies everything together, which presents
an uncertain sound, gives the impression that blessings unique to the
elect are offered freely to all and can be apprehended by all, and
ultimately such a ‘gospel’ promises salvation to all but actually saves
none.
But
as for me I’ll say this – “I am NOT ashamed of the Gospel of CHRIST for it
is the power of God unto salvation” Romans 1:16. Why? “Because therein is
the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written,
the just shall live by faith.” THAT is what gives the Gospel its power –
the revelation of the righteousness of God, from faith to faith. Such a
righteousness, such justice draws a clear distinction between the elect
and the reprobate. The Gospel reveals grace unto the elect, and the wrath
of God (Romans 1:18) to others. A division is
made. The elect are saved because that Gospel reveals the righteousness of
God unto their FAITH. What faith is this? A duty demanded of all? No the
faith granted to them by the Spirit after He has caused them to be born
again, as an act of God’s grace. For the Spirit’s work is to bring
salvation, through the Gospel, unto the elect - to make known God’s
everlasting love for them unto them in particular. It is the “grace of God
which BRINGETH salvation”. Yes, SALVATION! That is what true grace brings
- not simply the ‘common’ things of life such as food, water, sun and
rain…..
Oh,
may we pay heed to such a Gospel – the Gospel of CHRIST. The power of God
unto SALVATION.
