Otes:

Mercy, which is the first thing here wished for, is ascribed to God, the Creator; Peace which is the scond, to Christ the Reconciler; Love, which is the third, to the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. For God here is called “The Father of Mercies,” Christ is called “Our Peace,”and the Holy Ghost, “Love.” The Apostle therefore in saying, Mercy, Peace, and love be multiplied, is as if he should have said; “The God of Mercy forgive your sins, the God of Peace give you Peace that passes all understanding, and the God of Love grant that your Love may abound more and more, that you may be rooted and grounded in Love.

And all this proceeds from the one and the same person; for albeit Mercy be ascribed to the Father, Peace to the Son, and Love to the Holy Ghost: Creation to the Father, Redemption to the Son, and Sanctification to the Holy Ghost, yet all these create, redeem, and sanctify. For we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, we confound neither the persons, not yet their work.

Mercy be unto you, Mercy in God is not passive, but active, Non quoad affectum, sed quoad effectum. No suffering with us in our wants, but succoring us in them.

Mercy is here taken for grace and the mere favor of God. The Apostle therefore in wishing Mercy, Peace, and Love to the Saints, teaches us, Quales esse debent Christiianorum salvutationes, nos literis nostris & epistoles, honorem, epulentiam, salutem, longan vitam amicis optamus, Iudas vero, misericordiam, pacem, charitatem, & dona caelestia, his tribus, Ecclesia opus est, aliter, actum esset. And first he begins with Mercy. For instead of Grace used by the Apostle Paul in sundry of his Epistles, Jude here names Mercy, which is all one. Mercy and Grace is that, whereby all good is conveyed to us: therefore an excellent blessing to be prayed for, and this Grace and Mercy of God is fourfold:

1. General.                                                  3. Temporal.

2. Special.                                                   4. Eternal.

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Wardlaw:

§ 12. In inquiring, then, after this principle of harmony I must begin with avowing, that, ever since I was able to think at all upon such subjects, I have felt myself far from satisfied with a common way of interpreting tome of those text which express the extent of the atonement in universal terms, by, means of a convenient supplement. According to this method of explanation, the world is, in such occurrences of it, made to signify the elect world, the word elect being inserted, as a supplement, conceived to be necessary for the consistency of scripture. An elect world, indeed, has become a phrase in common use with a particular class of commentators and divines, and, from them, among private Christians of the same caste; being employed with much matter-of-course freedom as if it had actually had the sanction of ordinary usage in the Sacred Volume. But it is not to be found there. It belongs to human systems merely. Any system, however, that requires each means to save its credit, must be considered as in straits. The supplement is too arbitrary; and while it solves one difficulty, or rather conveniently cuts a knot which it is felt hard to loose, it involves us in other difficulties, equal, if not greater, in regard both to doctrine and to principles of interpretation. I object to it on two grounds, besides its apparent arbitrariness. It is in itself forced and unnatural, and it makes the sacred penmen, in some instances, write inconsistently and absurdly.

In the first place, it is in itself forced and unnatural. I mean by this, that it is, a priori, most unlikely, that the term world should ever be used to designate the elect. It sometimes denotes the habitable globe, the residence of mankind:–sometimes mankind at large, the inhabitants of the globe:–these are senses of the word about which there is no dispute, and no room for any. There is a third application of it which is peculiar to scripture phraseology, but so frequent and so marked there as to be equally out of the range of debate:–it signifies the great mass of mankind, as distinguished from the of God. For example: “The world cannot hate you, but me it hates, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil:”–“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but Because ye are not of the World, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you: “We know that whomever is born of God sins not; but he that is born of God keeps himself, and that wicked one touches him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the wicked one.”¹ The occurrence of the word in this sense, indeed, considering how small the proportion was then, and ever has been, which the children of God have borne to the mass of mankind, is quite natural. But on this very account, I cannot but consider it as in a high degree unnatural and improbable, that it should at the same time signify the very opposite of this:–that the same term, which is so currently used to signify the great majority of mankind in distinction from the elect number or small minority, should at the same time, by the same writers, be used as a designation of the smaller number, of a character directly contrary, in distinction from the majority or the mass! The unreasonableness of this in itself has ever appeared to me to constitute a strong ground of previous unlikelihood that it should be so.–The previous improbability is strengthened to certainty, when I consider, in the second place, how inconsistently and absurdly this supposed acceptation of the term makes the sacred writers express themselves.–I must give an instance or two of what I mean.–In John iii. 16, our Savior says–“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish but have everlasting life.”’ It surely will not be questioned by, my one pretending, I do not say to critical knowledge, but even to common understanding, that in this sentence the word “whosoever” (or every one who–pas ó) has less extent of meaning than the more comprehensive word “the world” which precedes it. It restricts and limits this comprehensive term. It signifies–whosoever of the world. Suppose, then, the world to mean the elect world, or more shortly, for it is the same thing, the elect, what kind of statement will this produce?–“God so loved the elect world, or the elect, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever of the elect–namely–believes in him might not perish but have everlasting life!” This is sheer absurdity. Yet I do not see what else can be made of the verse, if ”the world” really signifies the world of’ the elect.

Ralph Wardlaw, Two Essays: I. On The Assurance of Faith: II. On The Extent of the Atonement, And Universal Pardon (Glasgow: Printed at the University Press, for Archibald Fullarton & Co., 1831), 277-280. [Some spelling modernized; italics original; and underlining mine.]

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¹John .vii. 7; xv. 18. I John v. 18, 19.

John Brown:

Q. How is the goodness of God usually distinguished?
A. Into his absolute and relative goodness.

Q. Wherein do them differ?
A . His absolute goodness is an essential property in himself, is the fountain; but his relative goodness is that kindness which flows out from that flows out from that fountain upon his creatures.

Q. How is God’s relative goodness distinguished?
A. Into his common goodness, which Be exercises towards all his creatures good and bad, and his special goodness, which he exercises towards his elect only, Ps. cxlv.

Q. What are some branches of God’s common goodness?
A. The exercise of his long-suffering patience towards sinful men, his giving them the offers of salvation and space to repent of their sin, with corn, wine, oil, fruitful seasons, and other temporal blessings, Rom. ii. 4.

Q What are the branch of God’s special goodness?
A. Saving gram, and eternal glory, Psal. xxiv. 11.

Q What are the properties of God’s special goodness?
A. It is unspeakably great, sweet, satisfying, seasonable, unchangeable, and everlasting, Psal. xxxi. 19.

Q Where is this goodness laid up for the elect?
A. In Christ, in whom all fullness dwells, Col. i 29.

John Brown, An Essay Towards an Easy, Plain, Practical, and Extensive Explication of the Assembly’s Shorter Catechism (New York: Robert Carter, 1846), 39.

Marbeck:

FAITH

What Faith is.

Faith is a sure confidence of things which are hoped for [Heb. 11:8.], and a certainty of things which are not seen. ¶ Faith and trust in Christ only, is the life and quietness of the conscience, and not trust in works how holy so ever they be or appear. Works cannot se the heart at rest, because we ever think they be not enough, nor yet good enough, but to few, and so fall we into mistrusting, after which follows despairing and so damnation, if we leave not the confidence in them, and stick to faith, which can receive and believe without mistrust, that Christ’s works no the cross, has full purged, cleansed, and loosed us from our sins.

Again, Faith is a lively and steadfast trust in the favor of God, wherewith we commit ourselves altogether unto God, and that trust is so surely grounded, and sticks so fast in our hearts, that a man would not once doubt of it, though he should die a thousand times therefore, and such trust wrought by the Holy Ghost through faith, makes a man glad, lusty, cheerful and true hearted unto God and all creatures, by means whereof, willingly and without compulsion, he is lad and ready to do good to every man, to suffer all things, that God may beloved and praised, which has given him such grace, so that it is impossible to separate good works from faith, even as it is impossible to separate heat from fire. Therefore take heed and beware of your own fantasies, which to judge of faith and good works, will seem wise, when indeed they are stark blind, and of all things most foolish. Pray God that he will vouchsafe to work faith in your heart, or else you shall remain evermore faithless, feign you imagine you, enforce you wrestle with yourself, an do what you wilt.

Again, Faith is to believing of God’s promises, and a sure trust in the goodness and truth of God, which is faith justified Abraham, Gen. 15. and was the mother of all his good works, which he afterward did, for faith is the goodness of all works in the sight of God. Good works are things of God’s commandment, wrought in faith. And to show a show at the commandment of God, to do your neighbor service with all, with faith to be saved by Christ (as God promises us) is much better then to build an Abby of their own imagination, trust to be saved by the feigned works of hypocrites. Jacob robbed Laban his uncle, Moses robbed the Egyptians, and Abraham is about to slay and burn is own son, and all are holy works because they are wrought in faith at God’s commandment. To steal, rob and murder, are no holy works before worldly people, but unto them that have their trust in God, they are holy when God commands them. What God commands not, gets no reward with God. Holy works of men’s imagination, receive their reward here as Christ testifies. Math. 6:2.                                                                       Tyndale.

Faith is an undoubted belief most firmly grounded in the mind.                           Bullinger. fo. 30.

Again, True faith is the well-spring and root of all virtues and good works, and first of all satisfies the mind and desire of man, and makes it quiet and joyful.                   Bullinger. fol. 54.

Iohn Marbeck, A Book of Notes and Common Places, collected and gathered out of the works of diuers singular Witers, and brought Alphabetically in order (Imprinted at London by Thomas East, 1581), 361-362. [Some words and spelling modernized.]