Boston:

1) 4. His executing of his commission in an unhampered manner, administering the covenant indifferently to any sinners of mankind; not this or that party of them, under this or the other denomination, but mankind in general, Prov. viii. 4. So the gospel in which the covenant is administered, is good tidings to all people, Luke ii. 10 ; and the gospel-feast is made unto all people, Isa. xxv. 6. Accordingly he gives his apostles commission in most ample terms, than which one cannot imagine more extensive, Mark xvi. 16. ‘ Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’

5. Consider to whom Christ stands related as a Saviour by office. He is the Saviour of the body only, Eph. v. 23. being considered as actually saving from sin and wrath. But considered as an official Saviour, he is the Saviour of the world, as he is expressly called, 1 John iv. 14. John iv. 42. And his salvation is called the ‘ common salvation,’ Jude 3.

6. Lastly, If it were not so, then there would be some of mankind-sinners excepted, for whom there would be no manner of warrant to believe in Christ, or take hold of the covenant, more than there is for devils: which is contrary to the scriptures, John iii. 16. Mark xvi. 16. Thomas Boston, “An Illustration of the Doctrines of the Christian Religion,” in Works, 1:533.

2) Query X.–Whether the revelation of the Divine will in the word, affording a warrant to offer Christ unto all, and a warrant to all to receive him, can be said to be the Father’ making a deed of gift and grant of Christ unto all mankind? Is this grant made to all mankind by sovereign grace? And whether is it absolute or conditional?

Ans.–Here we are directed to that part of our representation where we complain that the following passage is condemned, viz. “The Father hath made a deed of gift or grant unto all mankind, that whosoever of them shall believe in him Son, shall not perish;” and where we my, “That their treatment of the said passage seems to encroach on the warrants aforesaid, and also upon sovereign grace, which hath made their grant, not to devils, but to men, in terms then which none can be imagined more extensive;” agreeable to what we have already said in our representation. We answer to the first part of the question, that by the “deed of gift or grant unto all mankind,” we understand no more that the revelation of the Divine will in the word, affording warrant to offer Christ to all, and a warrant to all to receive him; for although we believe the purchase and application of redemption to be peculiar to the elect, who were given by the Father to Christ in the counsel of peace, yet the warrant to receive him in common to all. Ministers, by virtue of the commission they have received from their great Lord and Master, are authorised and instructed to go preach the gospel to every creature, i.e., to make a full, free, and unhampered offer of him, him grace, righteousness, and salvation, to every rational soul to whom they may in have access to speak. And though we had a voice like a trumpet, that could reach all the corners of the earth, we think we would be bound, by virtue of our commission, to lift it up, and my, “To you, O men, do we call, and our voice in to the sons of men. God hath so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him. Should not perish, but hare everlasting life.”And though this “deed of gift and grant, that whosoever believes in Christ shall not perish,” &c. is, neither in our representation, nor in the passage of the book condemned on that head, called a “deed of gift, and grant of Christ,” yet, being required to give our judgment in this point, we think, that agreeable to the Holy Scripture, it may be so called, as particularly appears from the text last cited, John iii. 16. where, by the giving of Christ, we understood not only his eternal destination by the Father to be the Redeemer of an elect world, and him giving him unto the death for them, in the fullness of time, but more especially a giving of him in the word unto all, to be received and believed in. The giving here cannot be a giving in possession, which is peculiar only unto them who actually believe, but it must be much a giving, granting, or offering, as warrants a man to believe or receive the gift, and most therefore be anterior to actual believing. This is evident enough from the text itself: he gave him, “that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish,” &c. The context also, to us, puts it beyond controversy: the brazen serpent was given, and lifted up as a common good to the whole camp of Israel, that whosoever in all the camp, being stung by the fiery serpents, looked thereunto, might not die, but live. So here Christ is given to a lost world, in the word, “that whosoever believer in him should not perish,” &c. And in this respect, we think, Christ is a common Saviour, and his salvation is a common salvation; and it is “glad tidings of great joy unto all people,” that unto us (not to angels that fell,) this Son is given, and this Child is born, whose name is called Wonderful, &c. Isa. ix. 6.

We have a scripture also to this purpose, John vi. 32, where Christ speaking to a promiscuous multitude makes a comparison between himself and the manna that fell about the tents of Israel in the wilderness, says, “My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.” As the simple raining of the manna about their camp is called a giving of it, (ver. 31,) before it was tasted, or fed upon; so the very revelation and offer of Christ is called (according to the judicious Calvin on the place) a giving of him, ere he be received and believed on.

Of this giving of Christ to mankind lost, we read also, 1 John v. 11, “And this is the record that God hath given unto un eternal life, and this life ir in his Son.” This giving in the text in not, we conceive, a giving in possession, in greater or lesser measure, but a giving by way of grant and offer, whereupon one may warrantably take possession, and the party to whom is not the election only, but lost mankind; for the record of God here must be a such a thing as warrants all to believe on the Son of God. But it can be no such warrant to tell, “that God hath given eternal life to the elect;” for the making of a gift to a certain elect company of persons, can never be a warrant for all men to receive or take possession of it. This will be further evident, if we consider that the great sin of unbelief lies in not believing this record of God,–” He that believer not hath made God a liar,” says the apostle, ver. 10, “because he believes not the record that God gave of his Son;” and then it followeth, ver. 11, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life,” &c. Now, are we to think that the rejecting of the record of God is a bare disbelieving of this proposition, that God hath given eternal life unto the elect?” No, surely: for the most desperate unbelievers, such as Judas and others, believe this; and their belief of it adds to their anguish and torment. Or do they, by believing this; and net to their seal that God ir true? No; they still continue, notwithstanding of all this, to make him a liar, in “not believing this record of God,” that to lost mankind, and to themselves in particular, God hath given eternal life by way of grant, so as they as well as others, are warranted and welcome; and every one to whom it comes, on their peril, required by faith to receive or take possession of it. By not receiving this gifted and offered remedy, with application and appropriation, they fly in the face of God’s record and testimony; and therefore do justly and deservedly perish, seeing the righteousness, salvation, and kingdom of God, was brought so near to them, in the free offer of the gospel, and yet they would not take it. The great pinch and strait, we think, of an awakened conscience, doer not lie in believing that God hath given eternal life to the elect, but in believing or receiving Christ offered to us in the gospel, with particular application to the man himself, in Scripture called “an eating tho flesh, and drinking the blood of the Son of man.” And yet, till this difficulty be surmounted in greater or lesser measure, he can never be said to believe in Christ, or receive and rest upon him for salvation. The very taking or receiving must needs presuppose a giving of Christ; and this giving may be, and is, for the most part, where there is no receiving; but there an be no receiving of Christ for salvation where there in not revelation of Christ in the word of the gospel, affording warrant to receive him, and then, by the effectual operation of the Spirit, persuading and enabling the sinner to embrace him upon this warrant and offer. “A man,” says the Spirit of God, John iii. 27, “can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.” Hence Mr. Rutherford. in his “Christ Dying and Drawing,” &c. page 442, says, that “reprobate bare as fair a warrant to believe as the elect bare.”

As to the second part of this question, i.e. “Is this grant made to all mankind by sovereign grace? And, Whether is it absolute or conditional?” we answer that this grant, is made common to lost mankind, is from sovereign grace only; and it being ministers’ to offer Christ unto all, and peoples’ warrant to receive him, it cannot fail to be absolutely free; yet so as none can be possessed of Christ and his benefits, till by faith they receive him.  Thomas Boston, “The Marrow of Modern Divinity: Appendix,” in Works 7:485-487.

Newton:

SERMON XVI.

THE LAMB OF GOD, THE GREAT ATONEMENT.

Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world I John i. 29.

Great and marvelous are the works of the Lord God Almighty! We live in the midst of them, and the little impression they make upon us sufficiently proves our depravity. He is great in the very smallest; and there is not a plant, flower, or insect, but bears the signature of infinite wisdom and power. How sensibly then should we be affected by the consideration of the whole, if sin had not blinded our understandings, and hardened our hearts ! In the beginning, when all was dark, unformed, and waste, his powerful word produced light, life, beauty, and order. He commanded the sun to shine, and the planets to roll. The immensity of creation is far beyond the reach of our conceptions. The innumerable stars, the worlds, which, however large in themselves, are, from their remoteness, but barely visible, to us are of little more immediate and known use, than to enlarge our idea of the greatness of their Author. Small, indeed, is the knowledge we have of our own system; but we know enough to render our indifference inexcusable. The glory of the sun must strike every eye; and in this enlightened age, there are two persons but have some idea of the magnitude of the planets, and the rapidity and regularity of their motions. Farther, the rich variety which adorns this lower creation, the dependence and relation of the several parts and their general subserviency to the accommodation of man, the principal inhabitant, together with the preservation of individuals, and the continuance of every species of animals, are subjects not above the reach of common capacities, and which afford almost endless and infinite scope for reflection and admiration. But the bulk of mankind regard them not. The vicissitudes of day and night, and of the revolving seasons, are to them matters of course, as if they followed each other without either cause or design. And though the philosophers, who professedly attach themselves to the study of the works of nature, are overwhelmed by the traces of a wisdom and arrangement which they are unable to comprehend; yet few of them are led to reverential thoughts of God, by their boasted knowledge of his creatures. Thus men live without God in the world, though they live, and move, and have their being in him, and are incessantly surrounded by the most striking proofs of his presence and energy. Perhaps an earthquake, or a hurricane, by awakening their fears, may force upon their minds a conviction of his power over them and excite an occasional momentary application to him; but when they think the danger over, they relapse into their former stupidity.

What can engage the attention, or soften the obduracy of such creatures? Behold one wonder more, greater than all the former; the last, the highest effect of divine goodness! God has so loved rebellious, ungrateful sinners, as to appoint them a Saviour in the person of his only Son. The prophets foresaw his manifestation in the flesh, and foretold the happy consequences—that his presence would change the wilderness into a fruitful field, that he was coming to give sight to the blind, and life to the dead; to set the captive at liberty; to unloose the heavy burden; and to bless the weary with rest. But this change was not to be wrought merely by a word of power, as when he said, “Let there be light” and there was light,” Gen. i. 3. It was great to speak the world from nothing; but far greater, to redeem sinners from misery. The salvation, of which he is the Author, though free to us, must cost him dear. Before the mercy of God can be actually dispensed to such offenders, the rights of his justice, the demands of his law, and the honour of his government must be provided for. The early institution and long continued use of sacrifices, had clearly pointed out the necessity of an atonement; but the real and proper atonement could only be made by Messiah. The blood of slaughtered animals could not take away sin, nor display the righteousness of God in pardoning it. This was the appointed covenanted work of Messiah, and he alone could perform it. With this view he had said, “Lo, I come,” Psal. xl. 7. And it was in this view, when John saw him, that he pointed him out to his disciples, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God”

Three points offer to our consideration :

I. The title here given to Messiah,—The Lamb of God.

II. The efficacy of his sacrifice,—He taketh away sin.

III. The extent of it,—The sin of the world.

I. He is the Lamb of God.—The paschal lamb, and the lambs which were daily offered, morning and evening, according to the law of Moses, were of God’s appointment; but this Lamb was likewise of his providing. The others were but types. Though many, they were all insufficient (Heb. x. 10) to cleanse the consciences of the offerers from guilt; and they were all superseded, when Messiah, by the one offering of himself, once for all, made an end of sin, and brought in an everlasting righteousness, in favour of all who believe in his name.

This title, therefore, the Lamb of God, refers to his voluntary substitution for sinners, that by his sufferings and death they who deserved to die might obtain eternal life through him, and for his sake. Mankind were universally chargeable with transgression of the law of God, and were in a state of alienation from him. A penalty in case of disobedience was annexed to the law they had broken; to which they, as offenders, were therefore obnoxious. Though it would be presumptuous in such worms as we are, to determine, upon principles of our own, whether the sovereign Judge of the universe could, consistently with his own glory, remit this penalty without satisfaction, or not; yet, since he has favoured us with a revelation of his will upon the point, we may speak more confidently, and affirm, that it was not consistent with his truth and holiness, and the honour of his moral government, to do it, because this is his own declaration. We may now be assured, that the forgiveness of one sinner, and, indeed, of one sin, by an act of mere mercy, and without any interposing consideration, was incompatible with the inflexibility of the law, and the truth and justice of the Lawgiver. But mercy designed the forgiveness of innumerable sinners, each of them chargeable with innumerable sins; and the declaration, that God is thus merciful, was to be recorded, and publicly known through a long succession of ages, and to extend to sins not yet committed. An act of grace so general and unreserved, might lead men (not to speak of superior intelligences) to disparaging thoughts of the holiness of God, and might even encourage them to sin with hope of impunity, if not connected with some provision, which might shew that the exercise of his mercy was in full harmony with the honour of all his perfections. How God could be just, and yet justify those (Rom. iii. 26) whom his own righteous constitution condemned, was a difficulty too great for finite understandings to solve. But, herein is God glorious. His wisdom propounded, and his love afforded, the adequate, the only possible expedient. He revealed to our first parents his purpose, which in the fulness of time he accomplished, of sending forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem sinners from the curse of the law (Gal. iv. 4), by sustaining it for them. Considering the dignity of his person and the perfection of his obedience, his sufferings and death for sins not his own, displayed the heinousness of sin, and the severe displeasure of God against it, in a much stronger light than the execution of the sentence upon the offenders could possibly do. It displays likewise the justice of this sentence, since neither the dignity nor the holiness of the surety could exempt him from suffering; and that, though he was the beloved of God, he was not spared. This is what I understand by atonement and satisfaction for sin.

II. The efficacy of this atonement is complete. The Lamb of God, thus slain, taketh away sin, both with respect to its guilt and its defilement. The Israelites, by looking to the brazen serpent (Numb. xxi. 9), were saved from death, and healed of their wounds. The Lamb of God is an object, proposed, not to our bodily sight, but to the eye of the mind, which indeed in fallen man is naturally blind; but the gospel-message, enlivened by the powerful agency of the Holy Spirit, is appointed to open it. He who thus seeth the Son, and believed on him (John vi. 40), is delivered from guilt and condemnation, is justified from all sin. He is warranted to plead the sufferings of the Lamb of God in bar of his own; the whole of the Saviour’s obedience unto death, as the ground and title of his acceptance unto life. Guilt or obnoxiousness to punishment being removed, the soul has an open way of access to God, and is prepared to receive blessings from him. For as the sun, the fountain of light, fills the eye that was before blind, the instant it receives sight; so God, who is the fountain of goodness, enlightens all his intelligent creatures according to their capacity, unless they are by sin blinded, and rendered incapable of communion with him. The Saviour is now received and enthroned in the heart, and from his fulness the life of grace is- derived and maintained. Thus not only the guilt, but the love of sin, and its dominion, are taken away, subdued by grace, and cordially renounced by the believing pardoned sinner. The blood, which frees him from distress, preserves a remembrance of the great danger and misery from which he has been delivered warm upon his heart, inspires him with gratitude to his Deliverer, and furnishes him with an abiding and constraining motive for cheerful and universal obedience.

III. The designed extent of this gratuitous removal of sin, by the oblation of the Lamb of God, is expressed in a large and indefinite manner: He taketh away the sin of the world. Many of my hearers need not to be told, what fierce and voluminous disputes have been maintained concerning the extent of the death of Christ. I am afraid the advantages of such controversies have not been answerable to the zeal of the disputants. For myself, I wish to be known by no name but that of a Christian, and implicitly to adopt no system but the Bible. I usually endeavour to preach to the heart and the conscience, and to wave, as much as I can, all controversial points. But as the subject now lies directly before me, I shall embrace the occasion, and simply and honestly open to you the sentiments of my heart concerning it.

If because the death of Christ is here said to take away the sin of the world, or (as this evangelist expresses it in another place), the whole world (1 John ii. 2), it be inferred, that he actually designed and intended the salvation of all men, such an inference would be contradicted by fact. For it is certain that all men will not be saved, Matth. vii. 13, 14. It is to be feared, that the greater part of those to whom the word of his salvation is sent perish in their sins. If therefore he cannot be disappointed of his purpose, since many do perish, it could not be his fixed design that all men should be finally and absolutely saved.

The exceeding great number, once dead in trespasses and sins, who shall be found on his right hand at the great day of his appearance, are frequently spoken of in appropriate and peculiar language. They are stiled his sheep (John x. 11, 16), for whom he laid down his life; his elect (Mark xiii. 27), his own (John xiii. l); those to whom it is given to believe in his name (Phil. i. 29), and concerning whom it was the Father’s good pleasure to predestinate them to the adoption of children, Eph. v. 5. By nature they are children of wrath, even as others (Eph. ii. 3), and no more disposed in themselves to receive the truth than those who obstinately and finally reject it. Whenever they become willing, they are made so in a day of divine power (Psal. ex. 3), and wherein they differ, it is grace that makes them to differ, 1 Cor. iv. 7. Passages in the scripture to this purpose are innumerable; and though much ingenuity has been employed to soften them, and to make them speak the language of an hypothesis, they are so plain in themselves that he who runs may read. It is not the language of conjecture, but of inspiration, that they whom the Lord God did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, Rom. viii. 29. And though some serious persons perplex themselves with needless and painful reasonings, with respect to the sovereignty of God in his conduct towards mankind, they all, if truly spiritual and enlightened, stand upon this very ground, in their own experience. Many, who seem to differ from us in the way of argumentation, perfectly accord with us, when they simply speak of what God has done for their souls. They know and acknowledge as readily as we, that they were first found of him when they sought him not; and that otherwise they neither should nor could have sought him at all; nor can they give any better reason than this why they are saved out of the world, That it pleased the Lord to make them his people, 1 Sam. xii. 22.

But, on the other hand, I cannot think the sense of the expression is sufficiently explained, by saying, That the world, and the whole world is spoken of, to teach us that the sacrifice of the Lamb of God was not confined, like the Levitical offerings, to the nation of Israel only; but that it is available for the sins of a determinate number of persons, called the Elect, who are scattered among many nations, and found under a great variety of states and circumstances inhuman life. This is undoubtedly the truth, solar as it goes; but not, I apprehend, fully agreeable to the scriptural manner of representation. That there is an election of grace, we are plainly taught; yet it is not said, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save the elect, but that he came to save sinners, to seek and to save them that are lost, 1 Tim. i. 15; Luke xix. 10. Upon this ground, I conceive that ministers have a warrant to preaching the gospel to every human creature, and to address the conscience of every man in the sight of God; and that every person who hears this gospel has thereby a warrant, an encouragement, yea, a command, to apply to Jesus Christ for salvation. And that they who refuse, thereby exclude themselves, and perish, not because they never had, nor possibly could have any interest in his atonement, but simply because they will not come unto him that they may have life. I know something of the cavils and curious reasonings which obtain upon this subject, and I know I may be pressed with difficulties, which I cannot resolve to the full satisfaction of enquiring and speculative spirits. I am not disheartened by meeting with some things beyond the grasp of my scanty powers, in a book which I believe to be inspired by him, whose ways and thoughts are higher than ours, as the heavens are higher than the earth, Isa. Iv. 8. 9. But I believe, that vain reasonings, self-will, an attachment to names and parties, and a disposition to draw our sentiments from human systems, rather than to form them by a close and humble study of the Bible, with prayer for divine teaching, are the chief sources of our perplexities and disputes.

The extent of the atonement is frequently represented, as if a calculation had been made, how much suffering was necessary for the surety to endure, in order exactly to expiate the aggregate number of all the sins of all the elect; that so much he suffered precisely, and no more; and that when this requisition was completely answered, he said, It is finished, bowed his head, and gave up the ghost, John xix. 30. But this nicety of computation does not seem analogous to that unbounded magnificence and grandeur which overwhelm the attentive mind in the contemplation of the divine conduct in the natural world. When God waters the earth, he waters it abundantly, Psal. Ixv. 10. He does not restrain the rain to cultivated or improvable spots, but with a profusion of bounty worthy of himself his clouds pour down water with equal abundance upon the barren mountain, the lonely desert, and the pathless ocean. Why may we not say with the scriptures, that Christ died to declare the righteousness of God (Rom. iii. 25, 26), to manifest that he is just in justifying the ungodly who believe in Jesus? And for any thing we know to the contrary, the very same display of the evil and demerit of sin, by the Redeemer’s agonies and death, might have been equally necessary, though the number of the elect were much smaller than it will appear to be when they shall all meet before the throne of glory. If God had formed this earth for the residence of one man only; had it been his pleasure to afford him the same kind and degree of light which we enjoy, the same glorious sun, which is now sufficient to enlighten and comfort the millions of mankind, would have been necessary for the accommodation of that one person. So, perhaps, had it been his pleasure to save but one sinner, in a way that should give the highest possible discovery of his justice and of his mercy, this could have been done by no other method than that which he has chosen for the salvation of the innumerable multitudes who will in the great day unite in the song of praise to the Lamb who loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood. As the sun has a sufficiency of light for eyes (if there were so many capable of beholding it) equal in number to the leaves upon the trees, and the blades of grass that grow upon the earth; so in Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, there is plenteous redemption, he is rich in mercy to all that call upon him (Psal. cxxx. 7; Rom. x. 12); and he invites sinners, without exception, to whom the word of his salvation is sent, even to the ends of the earth, to look unto him, that they may be saved, Isa. xiv. 22.

Under the gospel-dispensation, and by it, God commands all men, everywhere, to repent, Acts xvii. 30. All men, therefore, everywhere, are encouraged to hope for forgiveness, according to the constitution prescribed by the gospel; otherwise repentance would be both impracticable and unavailing. And therefore the command to repent implies a warrant to believe in the name of Jesus as taking away the sin of the world. Let it not be said, that to call upon men to believe, which is an act beyond their natural power, is to mock them. There are prescribed means for the obtaining of faith, which it is not beyond their natural power to comply with, if they are not wilfully obstinate. We have the word of God for our authority. God cannot be mocked (Gal. vi. 7), neither doth he mock his creatures, Our Lord did not mock the young ruler, when he told him that if he would sell his possessions upon earth, and follow him, he should have treasure in heaven, Luke xviii. 22. Had this ruler no power to sell his possessions? I doubt not but that he himself thought he had power to sell them if he pleased. But while he loved his money better than he loved Christ, and preferred earthly treasures to heavenly, he had no will to part with them. And a want of will in a moral agent is a want of power in the strongest sense. Let none presume to offer such excuses to their Maker as they would not accept in their own concerns. If you say of a man, he is such a liar that he cannot speak a word of truth; so profane that he cannot speak without an oath; so dishonest that he cannot omit one opportunity of cheating or stealing; do you speak of this disability to good, as an extenuation, and because you think it renders him free from blame? Surely you think the more he is disinclined to good, and habituated to evil, the worse he is. A man that can speak lies and perjury, that can deceive and rob, but is such an enemy to truth and goodness that he can do nothing that is kind or upright, must be a shocking character indeed ! Judge not more favourably of yourself if you can love the world and sensual pleasure, but cannot love God; if you can fear a worm like yourself, but live without the fear of God; if you can boldly trample upon his laws, but will not, and therefore cannot humble yourself before him, and seek his mercy, in the way of his appointment.

We cannot ascribe too much to the grace of God; but we should be careful, that under a semblance of exalting his grace, we do not furnish the slothful and unfaithful (Matth. xxv. 16) with excuses for their wilfulness and wickedness. God is gracious; but let man be justly responsible for his own evil, and not presume to state his case so, as would, by just consequence, represent the holy God as being the cause of the sin, which he hates and forbids.

The whole may be summed up in two points, which I commend to your serious attention; which it must be the business of my life to enforce; and which, I trust, I shall not repent of having enforced, either at the hour of death, or in the day of judgment, when I must give an account of my preaching, and you of what you have heard in this place:

1. That salvation is, indeed, wholly of grace The gift of a Saviour, the first dawn of light into the heart, all the supports and supplies needful for carrying on the work from the foundation to the top-stone, all is of free grace.

2. That now the Lamb of God is preached to you, as taking away the sin of the world, if you reject him (which may the Lord forbid!), I say, if you reject him. your blood will be upon your own head. You are warned, you are invited. Dare not to say, Why doth he yet find fault, for who hath resisted his will? Rom. ix. 19. If he will save me, I shall be saved; if not, what can I do? God is merciful, but he is also holy and just; he is almighty, but his infinite power is combined with wisdom, and regulated by the great designs of his government. He can do innumerable things which he will not do. What he will do (so far as we are concerned) his word informs us, and not one jot or tittle thereof shall fail, Matth. v. 18.

Source: Works, 4:184-197.

Luther:

God Loves men:

1) Therefore when the text says: “And God saw that it was very good,” it refers to the preservation itself, because the creature could not continue in existence unless the Holy Spirit delighted in it and preserved the work through this delight of God in His work. God did not create things with the idea of abandoning them after they had been created, but He loves them and expresses His approval of them. Therefore He is together with them. He sets in motion, He moves, and He preserves each according to its own manner. I thought that this should be mentioned in brief words. It is worthwhile to learn these pious thoughts of those who have preceded us on the same course we are running now. Martin Luther, “Lectures on Genesis: Chapters,” in Luther’s Works, 1:50.

2) This was a sure proof for Noah that God actually loves man, is well disposed toward him, and has now put away all wrath. He wants human beings to be propagated through the union of a man and a woman. He could have brought them into being from stones, as in the poet’s fable about Deucalion, if He had not approved of this lawful union. This passage, therefore, deals with the honorableness of marriage, which is the source of both the family and the state, and the nursery of the church. Martin Luther, “Lectures on Genesis,” in Luther’s Works, 2:131.

3) Hence this, too, is a proof of the supreme love of God toward man, no less than is His promise that the Flood would no longer rage and His permission to use meat for sustenance. “For God made man in His own image.” This is the outstanding reason why He does not want a human being killed on the strength of individual discretion: man is the noblest creature, not created like the rest of the animals but according to God’s image. Even though man has lost this image through sin, as we stated above, his condition is nevertheless such that it can be restored through the Word and the Holy Spirit. God wants us to show respect for this image in one another; He does not want us to shed blood in a tyrannical manner. Martin Luther, “Lectures on Genesis,” in Luther’s Works, 2:141. [C.f., Calvin on Genesis 9:5.]

4) These examples are the sources on the basis of which laws, ordinances, and decrees ought to be drawn up. For God gave this age a man of unqualified rectitude, in comparison with whom Aeneas, Achilles, Agamemnon, etc., those heroes to whom the heathen give much praise, are nothing. Here you see an inimitable example of great faith toward God and of perfect justice and love toward men. Martin Luther, “Lectures on Genesis,” in Luther’s Works, 2:399.

God Loves the whole human race:

1) His way of speaking with the serpent is far different from His way of speaking with Adam and Eve, whom He affectionately calls back. “Where are you? Who told you that you are naked?” These words reveal God’s love toward the whole human race; even after sin the human being is sought and called, and God converses with him and hears him. This is a sure indication of His mercy. Although these are words which deal with Law and judgment, they nevertheless indicate a clear hope that Adam and Eve were not to be condemned eternally. Martin Luther, “Lectures on Genesis,” in Luther’s Works, 1:186.

2) Hence the Holy Scriptures declare, in the first place, that we should love all human beings equally and that we should do good to all, not only to the good and to those whom we consider worthy because of their conduct but also to the evil. For this is God’s way; He pours out His benefits without distinction, and Christ Himself refers us to this example (Matt. 5:45). Martin Luther, “Lectures on Genesis,” in Luther’s Works, 2:299.

3) But the consoling of hearts is also related to this idea. For the conscience certainly grows white and quakes with fear at the name of God. It truly recognizes its sins and fears His wrath. For this reason it shudders at the voice of God and prefers to hear the Turk or Satan. For example, this very feeling is beautifully portrayed in the history of the giving of the Law, when the people exclaimed: “You speak to us, but let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die” (Ex. 20:19). For just as the Divine Majesty cannot be seen with the eyes of man, so our ears cannot hear His voice. Christ sees this and hence always refers whatever He says and whatever He does to God the Father, so as to drive out this terror from our hearts and remove from our eyes this sad picture which we ourselves have created. For what is there in Christ that is not full of consolation, lovable, and delightful? When you see Him hanging on the cross, dripping with blood, and when you refer these things, according to His own words, to the will of God, will not this make the name of God sweet instead of horrible? Not only will you fear no evil from God, who sends His own Son for this purpose; but will you not also be filled with a sure hope of His mercy and love toward you and the whole human race? This passage is useful and serviceable toward this end. The Holy Spirit attributes this voice to the Father: “You are My Son.” Christ Himself refers everywhere to the authority and will of the Father, not for His own sake, as if it were necessary for Him to speak that way, but on account of our conscience, in order that we may believe that we have a Mediator who places Himself between us and God, who as intermediary intercedes for us, who loves us, who dies for us?and all this according to the will of His eternal Father. Martin Luther, “Selected Psalms,” in Luther’s Works, 12:50.

4) In this way the Holy Spirit with one word gathers up the whole world with all its wisdom, righteousness, merits, services, adorations, and chastisements, and transposes it all into the Sons kiss. “If you kiss the Son, good. If not, you will perish in the way. For it will come to pass,” He says, “that the Son will at last be angry. Now He offers you a kiss so that He may receive your kiss in turn. Truly He embraces the whole human race with extraordinary love. For He comes in our flesh not to judge or condemn, but in order to kiss us and show us the love with which He surrounds us. If, then, you will not kiss Him in return, no religion, no righteousness, no wisdom will save you. You will simply remain under His wrath and perish in His anger.” But the world is not concerned with these threats. It imagines that things will turn out quite differently. It hopes for God’s grace through its own works and righteousness. Certainly the judgment is definite: “He who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Martin Luther, “Selected Psalms,” in Luther’s Works, 12:89.

5) This is the first sweet and delightful thing in this lyric, which sings about and promises a kingdom with such a King. There will be no imperfections in Him, but a will full of virtues and a mind full of wisdom, with glowing love toward all miserable, damned, and sorrowful sinners. Moses is not such a king. He is a tormentor and cruel executioner and torturer, who torments us and troubles us with his terrors, threatenings, and displays of wrath. He forces us to do good outwardly; or, if we do our best, he inwardly humbles us and makes us long for grace. But our King, who is celebrated here, is full of mercy, grace, and truth. In Him love for mankind is to be found and the greatest sweetness; a person who, as we find in Isaiah 42:2, does not cry in the streets,” is not austere and rough, but patient and long-suffering. He exercises judgment against the wicked and blasphemers, and shows mercy toward sinners. Therefore He is a most pleasant and fair King, and there is no one like Him in the whole world. In Him is to be found the highest virtue and the highest love toward God and men. It is with these adornments that His person is decorated, so that there is no overweening pride, desire, lust, or any other base affection in Him. We see Him described this way in the Gospels, and the facts themselves point to His having been so. He did not keep company with the holy, powerful, and wise, but with despicable and miserable sinners, with those ruined by misfortune, with men weighed down by painful and incurable diseases; these He healed, comforted, raised up, helped. And at last He even died for sinners. He did not frighten, and He did not kill, as Moses did, but He drew, gladdened, comforted, cured, and aided all who came to Him. He is therefore the King of kings, without equal. Yet this is true only if you look at the spirit and not at the external appearance of the flesh. This is simply one aspect of the description of His person, pointed out briefly and with few words. The holy Evangelists and St. Paul in his Epistles describe it more fully and enlarge upon it; they paint this King in His true colors and point out what kind of person He is, and these things are most helpful for those of us who find ourselves in difficulties and vexations of conscience. Martin Luther, “Selected Psalms,” in Luther’s Works, 12:207.

6) No. 5497: The Love of Parents for Their Children

September, 1542

Often he [Martin Luther] repeated the words given above: “I’d like to keep my dear daughter because I love her very much, if only our Lord God would let me. However, his will be done! Truly nothing better can happen to her, nothing better.” While she was still living he often said to her, “Dear daughter, you have another Father in heaven. You are going to go to him.” Philip Melanchthon said, “The feelings of parents are a likeness of divinity impressed upon the human character. If the love of God for the human race is as great as the love of parents for their children, then it is truly great and ardent.” Martin Luther, “Table Talk,” in Luther’s Works, 54:432.

Love to the whole human race implied:

1) The whole human race was worthy of hatred, and yet Christ loved us. For if he had not loved us, he would not have descended from heaven. For the prophet says in the psalm: “There is none that does good,” except one; “they have all become corrupt and sinners” [cf. Ps. 14:3] except Christ alone. So Christ loves the sinner at the command of the Father, who sent Him for our comfort. So the Father wills that we should look to Christ’s humanity and love him in return, but yet in such a way as to remember that he did all this at the bidding of Father’s supreme good pleasure. Otherwise it is terrifying to think of Christ. For to the Father is ascribed power, to the Son, wisdom, and to the Holy Spirit goodness, which we can never attain and of which we must despair. Martin Luther, “Sermons,” in Luther’s Works, 51:46.

Bucer:

The words ‘in love’ allow of two senses: either of our kindness and love towards our neighbour through which imitating God himself as best we can through his Spirit dwelling within us, we eagerly do good to all men; or of the love of us in an objective sense, the love wherewith God has loved us–so that we have a further mention of the cause of our election, which is solely the boundless love of God with which he embraces us in his Son.

Martin Bucer, Common Places, Trans., and Ed., by D.F. Wright (England: The Sutton Courtenay Press, 1972), 113.

[Editorial note: because so much of Bucer’s writings are untranslated, the amount of information relevant to the interest of this site will be minimal.]