Johnson:
7. God is Love or Infinite Benevolence. “He left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from Heaven and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness.” All the arrangements of God’s works are adjusted to promote happiness. For when he had ended his work of creation, he pronounced it all good. It is this love that prompts him to action. Of which the most ample proof is given in the death of his Son to redeem man. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to die for us.”
William Bullein Johnson, The Sovereignty of God and the Free Agency of Man: A Sermon Delivered Lord’s Day, May 30, 1842 (Published at the request of the Congregation, by William Bullein Johnson), 6. [Underlining mine.] [Note, Johnson was the first president of the Southern Baptist Convention.]