The Love of God to the Elect Part II

The Love of God to the Elect Part II

In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  I John 4:9-10

            In this article we will, the Lord willing, take up the second assertion made in the first article of this series; that the doctrine of the Universalists is degrading to the true love of God. Oh Lord our God, we beseech thee to be to the writer and to the reader the “spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of our understanding being enlightened; that we may know the hope of his calling” (Ephesians 1:17, 18) Amen.

            First we should seek to find to whom the first epistle general of John is written, the subject verse being taken from that epistle. The epistle is called a general epistle because it is not written to any particular person as were the epistles to Timothy and that to Titus, nor to a particular church of Christ. But it is written to those who have fellowship with the Father and the Son, for “That which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.” (I John 1:3). The fellowship here spoken of is that of the believer with God in the three persons of the GODHEAD. This epistle is written to the Church of God, and in that respect it is like the rest of books of the Bible. The Bible is written to the children of God, this should be kept in view at all times when the Holy Scriptures are read, and not only that, but a proper understanding of the Holy Scriptures is only found by the guidance of the Holy Ghost. This being noted it becomes abundantly clear that “we” and “us” of the subject verse has reference to the children of God, who are said to be loved by God Himself.

The epistle to the Romans is addressed “to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:” (Romans 1:7). Reader, if this verse is taken to mean that everyone in Rome is called to be saints and that all the residents of Rome are beloved of God, it will be the same misinterpretation as is given to John 3:16 where the word world is taken for all the sons of men without exception or distinction. The Roman epistle, however, is addressed to all that were in Rome who were beloved of God, and therefore called to be saints, these are certain individuals that were at that time in Rome who were of the “remnant according the election of grace.” and to the Church of God in all ages, (Romans 11:5).

The first Corinthian epistle is addressed “unto the Church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:” (I Corinthians 1:2), this epistle is to the Church of God exclusively. But some may object by saying, well, it is to all who call on the name of Jesus Christ, that is true, and how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed, (Romans 10:14) and if they believe they are in possession of eternal life, (John 6:47) and therefore are of the Church of God. The “we”, “us”, and “our” of I John 4:9-10 do not speak of the entire population of planet earth, but do speak to the Church of the elect scattered through out the planet. And it is that particular group of elect individuals that is beloved of God, and called to be saints, let men protest as they will, there stands the scripture.   

           

            The Bible is a book of mysteries and is written in mysterious form, on the one hand it is a self revelation of God in three Persons, and on the other, its mysteries are hidden (Matthew 13:13; 11:25-27; Romans 16:25; I Corinthians 2:7; 4:1; Ephesians 1:9; 3: 3, 4, 9; 6:19; Colossians 1:25-27; 2:2; 4:3; I Timothy 3:9, 16) to whom He will God “revealeth secrets” (Daniel 2:28,  29, 47; Psalm 91:1 compared to Psalm 90:1) but to the world these things are hidden (I Corinthians 2:7) it is as our Lord Jesus Christ said “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes,” (Matthew 11:25). “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14).   

           

            The love of God to His elect is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39) it is an everlasting or eternal love because it is of the nature of God Himself and from His most Holy Nature, therefore the love of God cannot be thwarted nor over come in any degree or respect. Those whom God has loved He has loved eternally as the Father hath loved Christ, God has loved the elect in Christ as He has loved Christ Himself, for our Lord saith “I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 17:23). The eternal union that exists between Christ Jesus and His spiritual members is based on that eternal love of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to the elect in Christ. The fall of Adam did not turn that love from the elect, and the ruin of our nature by the fall did not over come that love. But Gods elect shall be made willing in the day of His power, for “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: (that is the gospel) rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth,” (Psalm 110:1-3). The enemies of God, that is, the elect in their unregenerate condition are made suppliants by the almighty power of God in regeneration. They are given of the life that is in Christ Jesus, for the Apostle John saith “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son, (I John 5:11). This life, New to the child of God makes all things new, the recipient is himself made a new creature in Christ Jesus. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are past away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17). With this new life comes a new heart, new affections, and a new will, and the new will instead of being rebellious, is made willing to serve and worship the fountain from whence it came, that is God , the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost in Christ Jesus, “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the God head bodily” (Colossians 2:9).

              The love of God being of the nature of God is unchanging, “I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). This is the love of God to the remnant according to the election of grace among the sons of Jacob, for Isaiah saith “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:” (Romans 9: 27). And the Apostle Paul writes “That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed” (Romans 9:8). The children of the promise are the children of the covenant who were chosen in Christ before the world began, from among both Jews and Gentiles. These were beloved of God from everlasting and God had resolved in himself to deliver them from the clutches of death spiritual, ruin of nature, and imprisonment of Satan, and to glorify them in and by His only begotten Son, “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Ephesians 1:6). For the love of God is never frustrated and cannot be frustrated; for, the love of God is such that it must in every case deliver its object, regardless of circumstances (I John 3:17). God the Father so loved the world of the elect in Christ, that he gave his only begotten Son, to be a Sin Offering for them, in order that Jesus Christ might satisfy the law and justice of God on their behalf, and make them to be the righteousness of God in Himself, (II Corinthians 5:21). God the Son so love the world of the elect, that He joined our human nature (sin excluded) to Himself in eternal, and inseparable union, and in joining human nature to His GODHEAD He became the “true tabernacle” (Hebrews 8:2; Colossians 2:9) where God and man can and do “gather together in one” (Ephesians 1:10) and have fellowship together (I John 1:3). God the Holy Ghost so loved the world of the elect in Christ Jesus that He condescends to make His abode in them, and teach the elect of their ruined condition in their natural state, He convinces them of their sins, He informs of their unrighteous and ruined nature, and He teaches them of how righteousness is attained in Christ alone. He instructs them of judgment to come. His presence influences their lives, in their inclinations, and motives, and His grace alters their desires; for Christ is to the soul resurrected from spiritual death “the desire of all nations” (Haggai 2:7). Our Lord Jesus Christ promised that after His glorification, when all dominion over all things was put in His hand, He would send the Holy Spirit to comfort His beloved Church and be their guide on their journey to final glorification. The mediatorial glory of Christ Jesus is an acquired glory, and is given of the Father because of the completion of the redemption and salvation of the Church of the Elect. His mediatorial glory is not His essential and personal glory of His GODHEAD that glory is not capable of change or of increase for it is perfect in Him as the Son of God. But His mediatorial glory is the glory He merited by His finishing the salvation of the elect.

            “Here in is love” that God the Father Sent His only begotten Son into the world to save the Church of His elect. And “Here in is love” that God the Son came into this world to suffer and die, the Holy, Harmless, and Undefiled GODMAN in the room and stead of His elect. And “Here in is love” that God the Holy Ghost comes into the heart of the elect to effectually teach them of their eternal inheritance in Jesus Christ, and to make them able and willing to believe on Christ Jesus who has provided all things that pertain to salvation. The elect of God believe because God has saved them in Jesus Christ. He who has everlasting life is a saved person, and our Lord Jesus Christ said “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). That is, those who believe on Jesus Christ, as their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, do so because they were: (1.) Chosen to salvation before the world began, (II Thessalonians 2:13), (2.) they were redeemed, justified, and pardoned by the precious blood of Jesus Christ when He died for them in Particular at Calvary (Colossians 1:14; Romans 5:9; Jeremiah 50:20), (3.) they were regenerated by the Holy Ghost, when He gave them a new heart of faith in Christ, by writing the law of God in their mind and imprinting it in their heart (Hebrews 8:10), it is the office of the Holy Ghost to apply the salvation which was purposed by the Father, and purchased by the Son, to the heart of the elect in Christ.   

              Many religious people in our day believe that God loves all men without exception and that if persons die in unbelief they are cast in to hell fire regardless of the love of God. If that were the case, God would be as impotent to save the objects of His love as King Darius was to save Daniel from the Lions Den. But God did deliver Daniel from the Lions Den (Daniel 6:27) and God has delivered His own elect from the curse of His own law and justice through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:13). Just as the justice of God cannot be satisfied until sin is punished, and the sin of the elect was punished in Jesus Christ who sanctified Himself to be a sin offering (John 17:19) just so, the love of God cannot be satisfied until the objects of Gods love are delivered to safety in Jesus Christ. Reader, what parent would allow his child to perish if he had the means to save the child? “Whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” (I John 3:17). That love that does not deliver its object from evil is not the love of God.

            Many actually believe that God loves all men regardless of their evil actions; this provokes the question whether such people have read the books of Joshua, Leviticus Chapters 18 and 20; or I Samuel Chapter 15 through out? Have Universalists considered the flood in the days of Noah? In that day God destroyed the entire world of the ungodly (II Peter 2:5) was that act an act of love for those who were destroyed, no it was an act of justice, God giving evil men their just desert. But as the Holy Scriptures have said “the love of God is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:39) and Gods love is of the nature of God Himself, and therefore can never change, and the love of God will in every case “devise means, that His banished be not expelled from him” (II Samuel 14:14). No son of Adam has just ground to think that he is beloved of God, if he is not a believer. “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealing with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Hebrews 12:5-8). Those whom the Lord of Heaven and Earth has loved from everlasting, He has also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29), and He treats them with special grace, in love chastening them for their eternal benefit, but first and foremost for His eternal glory. This chastening of the Lord in the school of His grace is for those who are His beloved children in Jesus Christ.  

A.J.Ison          

The Love of God to the Elect In Christ Jesus - Part I

The Love of God to the Elect In Christ Jesus - Part I

"The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea I have loved thee with and everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

Jeremiah 31:3

        The love with which God loves His elect is in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:39). Christ Jesus is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 5:6; 13:8). Therefore “John (the Baptist) seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). The Lamb that John saw was the Lamb that had been the sin offering from eternity by the sovereign will of God which will was declared in the everlasting covenant of grace (Titus 1:2; Hebrews 10:10; 13:20; Revelation 13:8). The Lamb of God that John saw was the Man Christ Jesus, with all His members in Him (Psalm 139:16). The members are Christ’s spiritual members (I Corinthians 12:12, 13, 27) of that one spiritual body (Romans 12:5) the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16) also called the Church of God (I Corinthians 1:2). All the members of that one body are one with Christ and reckoned so by God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and by them are loved with the love of the Father to the Son, for thou “hast loved them, as thou hast loved me” (John 14:20; 17:21-26).

            The church of God is one church in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:4-6). “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Hebrews 13:8). Before the church of God had being in themselves by experiential existence they had being in Jesus Christ in the mind and will of God. And they, being chosen in Christ had eternal union with Christ, and were loved with love incomprehensible to our understanding, immutable, infinite, inseparable from its object, and those who were thus loved were and still are that world which God so loved “that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). And it is that world and that world alone, whose sin the Lamb of God took away, for the Baptist saith “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

            The common presupposition of our time is that the world for which God has declared His love is the world which includes all and every man, without distinction or exception. That notion is clearly unscriptural, degrading to the true love of God, and destructive of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The faith of God’s elect is based on the word of God (Titus 1:1). God’s children of the covenant (Acts 3:25), and of the promise (Galatians 4:28) can be satisfied with nothing less than thus saith the Holy Ghost for “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” (II Timothy 3:16). The words of Isaiah the prophet are very fitting for our times and for this inquiry “Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (Isaiah 1:18-20).

Consider the two distinct worlds that are set before us in the Revelation 12:9 and John 8:32. The “whole world” of Revelation 12:9 is deceived by the Devil, while those spoken of in John 8:32 know the truth, those who know the truth are not deceived. We are commanded in I John 2:15; “Love not the world, neither the things that in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. The love of the Father is not toward that world, but that world is His enemy (James 4:4). Consider as well the two distinct worlds set before us in this verse of Holy Scripture, “And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness,” (I John 5:19).  Here are two worlds, each entire and complete, but separate from each other, the former is of God and “not of the world” (John 17:16), the latter is of this world and lieth in wickedness.

          There is that world that cannot receive the Spirit “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14:17). Here again we have two separate and distinct worlds, the former cannot receive the Spirit of truth, and the latter with whom the Spirit dwelt before the day of Pentecost and in whom the Spirit dwelt after that day (see John 7:39). The world that cannot receive the Spirit is the world of the reprobate (see II timothy 3:1-9 for a description) the world in whom the Spirit of God now dwells is the world of God’s elect, who “are sanctified by God the Father, (that is they are set apart in the eternal decree of election of grace) preserved in Jesus Christ, (in Jesus Christ by covenant relation for their preservation form all eternity) and called” (the children of God are effectually called by the Holy Ghost by His giving them of the life which is in Christ Jesus [I John 5:11] this is the sanctification of the Spirit which is the effectual working of the Spirit of Christ in causing His body (the church) to live by His life which is given  them (Jude 1:1; Colossians 3:3).

            There is that world for which the Great High Priest of the everlasting covenant will not pray. “I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine” (John 17:9).  The Great High Priest of the Everlasting Covenant, Christ Jesus, strictly stipulated “I pray not for the world.” That world for which Christ Jesus refused to pray is the world our Lord referred to when He said “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as destruction, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel: they despised all of my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whosoever hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil, (Proverbs 1:24-33).  

All the blessedness of the people of God depends on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ in His office of the Great High Priest Those who were committed to His care were given by the Father and they were given for their preservation to all eternity, and our Lord testified “none of them is lost” (John 17:12. 20). The world for whom Christ Jesus did pray is the world of the elect who were chosen in Christ Jesus before the world was made “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,” (Ephesians 1:3-5). It is this world, the world of the elect, the world of the children of the covenant, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ is Mediator, Surety, Prophet, Great High Priest, King, Sacrifice, Alter, Eternal Life, Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption. Reader, believest thou this? Is Christ Jesus Himself your everlasting covenant (Isaiah 42:6)?  Have you any other to plead your case before the throne of God? Are you one for whom Christ Jesus must be all and in all?

But let us continue; the doctrine of the Universalists (Universalists are those who believe in the universal love of God to all and every man, and that Jesus Christ came into this world to save all and every man) is of the spirit of error, for it is unscriptural. They boldly declare that God loves all men without exception, is that the truth? Do you think that God loves all rapists, murders, liars, thieves, and robbers? If you believe that He loves all and every man, then why are some that are of that sort given pardon by the blood of Christ while others are committed to the everlasting burnings? For consider these two verses; “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murders, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8). Now compare this group with that of the following verse “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God,” (I Corinthians 6:9-11). Those listed in both verses were in themselves of the same characters, they were unrighteous, ungodly, and evil persons, but “who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?” (I Corinthians 4:7). Those who are listed in Revelation 21:8 were dealt with in strict justice, and were given judgment according to their works. Those listed in I Corinthians 6:9-11 were dealt with in strict justice in their surety our Lord Jesus Christ who suffered the wrath of God in their stead, but in themselves they were dealt with in free and sovereign grace, (Luke 7: 36-50) they were washed in the blood of Christ, they were sanctified in the holiness of Christ, they were justified by His blood, they were frankly forgiven, and who made the difference? He who made the difference is the triune Jehovah, the Father made the difference by electing or choosing His people in Christ before the world was made; God the Son made the difference as the GODMAN Mediator when He redeemed His people by His blood shedding and death in their room and stead. God the Holy Ghost made the difference when He effectually called the chosen of God in regeneration. 

The elect themselves admit that they themselves “were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hatful, and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). But by grace the elect had covenant interest in the blood of Christ from everlasting, for they had union with Christ from everlasting, being chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, and therefore they had their true identity in Christ before their fall in Adam, or their kinship to Adam, “for as in Adam all die” (I Corinthians 15:22). The elect confess that God “hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, 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). In our Lords Great High Priestly Prayer, He declared the reason of His absolute dominion over all flesh is that He should give eternal life to all that the Father had given Him (John 17: 2). Reader; do you have eyes prepared to see, ears prepared to hear, a heart to understand these gospel truths; or are these things a strange sound to you? (Psalm 89:15). For “if our gospel be hid, it is hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (II Corinthians 4:3, 4). From these things it is clear that the gospel of Christ is contrary to the doctrine of the Universalists and that their testimony is unscriptural, and therefore to be denounced as untrue and contrary to the word of God. In the next article of this series we will consider the second assertion made above; that the present day persuasion that God loves all and every man is degrading to the true love of God.

A.J. Ison