Sovereign Grace

Exodus 33:19

           

            “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy to whom I sill show mercy.”

            None of those to whom God shows himself gracious deserve the free grace of God; for God’s grace is God’s giving an individual that which he does not deserve. The same is true of God’s mercy; none deserve God’s mercy; for God’s mercy is God’s not giving an individual that which he does deserve. Neither the grace nor mercy of God can be deserved, for both are reserved for the undeserving, that is neither is merited by its recipient, for it is “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9). The grace of God is defined as; the unmerited favor of God. The free favor of God is “not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” (II Timothy 1:9).

            God’s special mercy and grace are reserved for those who are his children by election; those who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, (Ephesians 1:4). God’s common mercy and grace, is displayed toward the world in general by the fact that sinners are not immediately cast into eternal fire as were the angels that sinned, (II Peter 2:4). God is sovereign in the dispensation of his gifts; he gives his mercy and his grace to whom he will. “Why doest thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters.” (Job 33:13)

            Moses had asked “I beseech thee, show me thy glory; to which the Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness to pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee;”. God’s goodness is displayed in the objects of his grace and mercy. They are they who deserve eternal judgment and ruin; but God shows his goodness in accomplishing the “good pleasure of his goodness” (II Thessalonians 1:11) upon them. And God shows his goodness by proclaiming the name of the Lord. By proclaiming the name of the Lord; God means to declare his nature, his will, and purpose, God means to reveal himself to men, by his word, in the scriptures. But principally God reveals himself in our Lord Jesus Christ, through the gospel (John 1:18). God’s goodness is revealed in that he pardons convicted criminals; and gives them “all things that pertain to life and godliness, (II Peter 1:4), and God shows his goodness in that he gives them “all spiritual blessedness in heavenly places in Christ:” (Ephesians 1:3), “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.”(Ephesians 1:5).

Some may object, saying that God is unjust in such proceedings as to show common mercy to some and his special mercy to others. That accusation is without basis, for God exercises his justice upon all and every man without exception. Some receive their just reward in their own person. Others God deals with according to his justice in their surety. God’s justice was exercised upon the surety of the New Testament, Jesus Christ.  Our Lord Jesus stood in the stead of his elect under the justice of God; and as surety of the elect paid all they owed to divine law and justice, (Hebrews 7:22). The parable of the householder in Matthew thirteen is demonstrative of the goodness of God in his dealings with men. Some of the labors had been hired early in the morning and had worked all the day while others had been hired just before time to cease the day’s labor. As the householder paid his employees; those who had been hired early complained that they had received no more that those who were hired much later. The householder replied “Friend I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is and go thy way: I will give unto this last even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do as I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, (are you angry) because I am good?” (Matthew 13:1-15) Those who are dealt with in common mercies and grace receive their reward according to divine justice, being sinners they receive the reward of their iniquity; for the “wages of sin is death,” (Romans 6:23) everlasting punishment in the lake of fire. Those who are dealt with in special mercy and grace, are freely given life eternal, for the “gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23). “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” (Romans 9:16-18). Concerning the elect, God’s sovereign grace and mercy is magnified through their salvation. Concerning the wicked, the majesty of God’s unswerving justice is magnified through their damnation. Therefore the salvation of the elect is by the sovereign grace and mercy of God. The damnation of the wicked is of their own sin.

Reader; are you willing to be justified by the righteousness of another? Would you face the law and justice of God without the Rock of Ages; the eternal surety of the people of God? Would you stand at the judgment in the Mediator of the everlasting covenant of grace? Will you have an advocate in the final and great Assize. Flee from the wrath to come, now is the accepted time, today is the day of salvation, trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your complete and total salvation. If peradventure God will give you one saving view of the Lord Jesus Christ as yours to trust; then lay hold on eternal life in Jesus of Nazareth, whom God has declared both Lord and Christ by the resurrection from the dead, (Acts 2:36).

A.J. Ison

                       

Does God Love All Men?

  

Romans 5:8

            “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

            The subject verse states that God commendeth his love toward us. The signification of the word us is, all of some sort. It bears the force of everyone of a particular character, or all the members of a particular group. It includes all those who have a certain something in common. The defining character or common element that describes the group referred to in our subject verse is given in chapter one, verse seven.

The letter or epistle is addressed “To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:”(Romans 1:7). The Apostle did not write to all that be in Rome. But to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: From that we may gather that those who are “called to be saints” are the “beloved of God”. And from that consideration we may conclude that those who are “called to be saints” are so, because they are “beloved of God”. Similar conclusions may be drawn from Revelations 1:5 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” Christ Jesus first “loved us, and (consequentially) washed us from our sins in his own blood.” In this verse it is very clear that those who are washed, are the same persons who were before loved; and that they were washed because they were first beloved. They did not wash themselves, and they did not wash in order to be beloved, but Christ Jesus washed them in his own blood because he first loved them.

These considerations necessarily bring on the questions: were all in Rome Called to be saints? Are all persons washed in the blood of Christ? The answer to these questions is unavoidably no. Not all that were in Rome were called to be saints, and not every man is washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Since some persons in Rome were beloved, and called to be saints, but not all, and since, some are washed in the blood of Christ, but not all; and since both these effects have as their cause the eternal love of God, is therefore the love of God a distinguishing love? Does God love some, but not all? The scriptures answer; “Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” (Romans 9:13). The scriptures answer again “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” (Psalms 5:5). The answer then; according to scripture is, God does love some persons but God does not love all persons.

Many affirm that John 3:16 is a verse that declares a universal love of God; “For God so loved the world” this calls for a definition of “the world” according to the scriptures. Is the world of John 3:16 the same as the world of the ungodly in II Peter 2:5, upon which world God brought in the flood? Surely not! Is the world of John 3:16 the same world as that in I John 5:19 which is separate from the children of God and “lieth in wickedness”? Again surely not! Is the world of John 3:16 the same as that in I John 2:15 wherein the children of God are commanded “love not the world”? Again no! Is the world of John 3:16 the same as that of James 4:4? There it is written “whosoever therefore will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Again the answer is no, the two verses have different worlds in view. Since God distinguishes between different worlds that coexist on the same planet; shouldn’t we follow the pattern that is obviously used by God, and differentiate between the world that is the friend of God, and that world that is the ally of Satan. For Abraham is called the friend of God, (James 2:23) and the father of the family of faith (Romans 4:11), see also John 15:13, 14, 15. Our Lord Jesus called the Pharisees the Children of Satan, and therefore allies of Satan (John 8:44) for their doings were according to the lusts of Satan.

The separation of things that differ is called for in the reading of the scripture; consider the following examples: (1.) some were “disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.” (I Peter 2:8); while some were appointed to “obtain salvation” (I Thessalonians 5:9) (2.) some are “ordained to eternal life” (Acts 13:48) while some are “ordained to this condemnation” (Jude 4) (3.) some are “vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:” (Romans 9:22) while others are “vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,” (Romans 9:23).The wonder in these things is not that God does not love all the fallen sons of Adam; but the wonder is that God does love some of them. None of the fallen sons of Adam are (in themselves) worthy of the love of God, for, “As it is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace they have not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18). Such foolish sayings and signs as “Smile God loves you” that may be read by any passerby leave sinners with the wrong impressions of their relation to the All Mighty God of the bible who is “a consuming fire” (Deuteronomy 4:24; 9:3; Hebrews 12:29) The only people in this world that have any warrant from scripture to believe they are beloved of God are believers; for believers are “taught of God” (John 6:45).

God himself undertakes the education of his own; as it is written “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” (Isaiah 54:13). Those whom the Lord teaches are his own, they are children by electing grace, chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, (Ephesians 1:4). Their education is guaranteed in the promise of the New Testament, (Jeremiah 31:33, 34); “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write them in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, for I will forgive their iniquity, and will remember their sin no more.

The manner and power of his teaching is expressed “I will put” therefore whatsoever the Lord teaches, his people learn; and briefly put, it is the “one faith” (Ephesians 4:5) that is the “faith of God’s elect” (Titus 1:1). The Apostle John writing to the “Little children” tells them there were at that time many antichrists in the world, and that those antichrists had went out from the church, because they were not of the church. “But” (the Apostle continues) “ye have an unction from the Holy One” (Jesus Christ), the unction is the baptism of the Holy Spirit with his graces, and because of that unction “ye know all things”; that is all things that are necessary to eternal life, or the faith of God’s elect. (I John 2:18-20). For the Holy Spirit is the great effectual teacher of the covenant according to the promise of the covenant “they shall teach no more every man his  neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them”. In I John 2:27, the Apostle continues to instruct the “Little children” saying, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”

A.J. Ison