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God So Loved
“For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jn. 3:16)
One cannot deny that the Bible
teaches that God so loved the world. And one cannot deny that
the Bible also teaches that whosoever believes in Christ will
have eternal life. That is God's plan! That is what the Bible
teaches and that is what must be taught and believed. God has
determined that whosoever will believe in Christ will not
perish.
God IS
Love
And the Bible also teaches that
God is love.
“The one who does not love
does not know God, for God is love.” (1 Jn. 4:8)
God does not just contain love;
He is the very essence of love. Love is a part of God’s being.
Love is one of God's eternal attributes. Everything that finite
man can know about love is because God's image is stamped upon
him. God's love has been overwhelmingly expressed by the death
of Jesus Christ.
“By this the love of God was
manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son
into the world so that we might live through Him.” (1 Jn.
4:10)
God loved the world so much that
He gave His only unique Son in order that man might live through
Him. There can be no doubt that this is all true. There is also
no way that a human being can limit the worth of the shed blood
of Jesus Christ. His death was sufficient to satisfy God for all
of the sin of Adam's fallen race.
“And
He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for
ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
(1 Jn. 2:2)
If it had been God’s will to do
so, all of Adam’s race would be saved. Yet not all of Adam’s
race will be given life! And the unbeliever’s condemnation will
be just because of unbelief.
God will hold accountable all who
do not believe.
“He who believes in Him is
not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.” (John 3:18)
How is it possible for God to
elect some to salvation and to condemn the non-elect? This is
impossible for any human being to reconcile. God would be just
to pass over all of His creation, but He has chosen to be
gracious to some. If we could grasp this truth, we could
understand the mind of God. What we do know is that God is
righteous and just. When God’s righteousness is called into
question Paul responds;
“May
it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man
be found a liar, as it is written, ‘That You may be
justified in Your words, And prevail when You are judged.’”
(Rom. 3:4)
God is righteous in all that He
has chosen to do! That is all that we need to know.
A World of Sinners
“For God so loved the world.”
Christ died for sin in order to save sinners who are a part
of the world (1 Tim. 1:15). But because God chooses to save
some sinners and not all sinners still
means that He loves the world. After all, the world is where
sinners live! Because God did not choose to save all who would
ever live upon this earth does not mean that God did not love
the world.
What
about “the whosoever believes” part? The “whosoevers” are the
very ones that God has set His love upon. He has loved the world
in order to save the “whosoevers.” The “whosoevers” are the
ones that will hear the voice of the Shepherd (Jn. 6:37-39).
(See “Chosen
of God.”)
The “whosoevers” are those who will be drawn to the gospel by
the Holy Spirit (Jn. 6:44).
Is God's will frustrated if
people do not believe in Him? Is His will thwarted? Every one
of the “whosoevers” will come to Christ by faith. Not one of
them will be left behind or lost. Why is this true?
“The Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should
perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Pet. 3:9)
The “us” in this passage cannot
be speaking of unbelievers. Why? Because unbelievers have never
been a part of “us.” Peter is speaking of those who are not
going to perish. They are not going to perish because God has
willed them not to perish. And God's will, will be done.
Drawing All Men
“And I, if I am lifted up
from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.’ But He
was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He
was to die.” (Jn. 12:32-33)
The word “all” cannot mean that
all of Adam's race would be drawn to the gospel of grace and
believe. This is “universalism.” Universalism is the false
teaching that in the end everyone is going to have life. The
Bible makes it clear that not all are going to “have Him.”
“He who has the Son has the
life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the
life.” (1 Jn. 5:12)
God, at the end of the age in
which He dealt specifically with the nation of Israel, sent
Christ to the Jews only. Christ and the disciples preached the
gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 10:5). But following His death and
resurrection, God’s salvation was extended to all races. This
does not mean that everyone of every race will be saved. This
“drawing all men” is fulfilling the portion of the God’s promise
to Abraham that in him all of the nations of the earth would be
blessed. It means that God will draw all kinds of people from
every tribe, language, and nation to Himself (Rev. 5:9). And so
people from every nationality (not just from the Jews) will be
drawn to Christ who has been lifted up. Again, God's plan will
not be frustrated.
May or Can
The small words in the Bible many
times carry the most weight. God did not waste words in the
Bible. Read carefully these words of our Lord as He speaks to a
group of religious Pharisees.
“No one can come to Me unless
the Father who sent Me draws him;
and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in
the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to
Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who
is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to
you, he who believes has eternal life.”
(Jn. 6:44-47)
Christ used the little verb “can”
in this verse for a reason. This word implies ability, and it
means exactly what it says. The text does not that no one “may
come” but that no one “can come.”
The children may ask, “Dad, may I
drive the car?” At issue is permission to drive. However, the
child may ask, “Can I drive the car?” This is a horse of a
different color. You might respond, “Well, I don't know, can
you?”
Christ is saying that God must
make those who are unwilling to come, willing. God must break
through the darkness of the fallen heart and make us willing to
believe in Christ.
Christ was clearly teaching that
no human being has the ability to come to Jesus Christ unless
first drawn by the Father. Fallen man is simply not able to
“come to God” unless God intervenes! Man is dead in trespasses
and sins and unless God opens his eyes, they will remain that
way.
Not Popular
Because of the imprint of Adam’s
sin on our souls and Satan’s evil influence around us, the clear
facts of the gospel have often been watered down, distorted, and
compromised. During the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to
the uttermost parts of the earth a perverted gospel replaced the
genuine one. The gospel of grace focuses all attention upon the
work of God alone, but the distorted gospel allows man to share
in God’s glory.
During the extreme persecution of
the church in 300 A.D., a compromise was reached between the
persecutors (emperors of Rome) and the persecuted (those having
believed in Jesus Christ). The result was that the simple gospel
of grace was plunged for hundreds of years into a sea of
religious rituals and tradition that often blinded people to
God’s grace. (See “Religion”)
God brought this period to an end
with the Reformation in Europe during the sixteenth century. The
gospel of grace was once again brought to the surface and it
began to burn brightly.
One might ask this very important
question. What did the original reformers think about God’s
electing grace? It should come as little surprise that the
gospel that was retrieved by the reformers in Europe was the
gospel of God’s
sovereign grace.
Men like Martin Luther, Zwingli, Edwards, Calvin, Tyndale,
Bullinger, etc., all believed and preached the gospel of God’s
grace. They clarified God’s grace revealed in the Scripture.
That is why their views of the gospel today are referred to as
“reformed views.”
The reformers surfaced the gospel
of God’s electing grace because
that is the gospel.
Shortly after God’s grace reemerged, it was distorted again. And
now, after hundreds of years the gospel of God’s grace is under
siege again. Man has slowly crept back into the picture.
God’s grace has never been
popular in any generation. Martin Luther said, “All objections
to predestination proceed from the wisdom of the flesh (human
reason. Hence, whoever does not deny himself and does not learn
to keep his thoughts in subjection to the divine will, never
will find an answer to his questions.” (Commentary on Romans,
Kregel Publications, 1976, pp 130.)
During His first visit to planet
earth, the Lord Jesus Christ read this portion of the Old
Testament scriptures to some Jews in the Temple:
“The Spirit of the Lord is
upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who
are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.
And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and
sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on
Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has
been fulfilled in your hearing.’ And all were speaking well
of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were
falling from His lips; and they were saying, ‘Is this not
Joseph’s son?’” (Luke 4:18-22)
The Jews listening to Jesus were
amazed at His wisdom. Up to this point things were going fine.
Christ had favor with the crowd. But notice carefully what He
said next.
“But I say to you in
truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of
Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six
months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet
Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath,
in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And
there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the
prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman
the Syrian.” (Luke 4:23-24)
There were many widows, but God
went to only one. There were many lepers, but God chose to
cleanse only one. This was sovereign election! This was the
Creator’s right to do with His creation that which He desired.
“And all the people in the
synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these
things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and
led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been
built, in order to throw Him down the cliff.” (Luke
4:25-29)
The people were filled with rage
and they lashed out at the Lord Jesus. They despised the truth
of election. We may despise the truth of election, but we
cannot deny that the Bible teaches it.
The Bible's truth concerning the
exercise of God’s sovereign control over man will never be
popular with man because it is not of man. There is no part of
it that glorifies man in any way. No human being would have ever
invented this truth. It stands in direct conflict with man's
fallen mind. It flies in the face of man's total depravity. It
leaves no glory for man, none! It places all responsibility in
the hands of God alone. Man inherently fears the idea of not
having some control even in a small way.
Our secret desire is to assume some responsibility, even if it
is the very small amount of “having believed.” Our flesh wants
some credit for having made a “right choice.” Our humanness
wants some of the glory for having exercised some wisdom in
believing the gospel. But God will share His glory with no
creature! (See “The
Creator’s Privilege.”)
Why Preach and Pray
If God has already predetermined
His plan, then why preach the gospel? We are to preach the
gospel for the same reason that we teach God’s grace. Because
God’s word tells us to preach the gospel! God’s word teaches
that God has a people who will believe the gospel, and so God
says preach the gospel (1 Thess. 2:4). Preaching the gospel is
God’s way of calling those who belong to Him. It is the way that
God carries out His plan.
What about those who are sent to
the mission field? Should they not go? Certainly they should go!
Human beings will continue to be sent by God with the message of
grace. Missionaries will continue to go into the world.
And why pray? We are to pray
because God instructs us to pray (1 Thess. 5:18). It is through
the medium of prayer that God’s will is accomplished. God the
Holy Spirit will move us to pray because God wills us to pray
(Rom. 8:26-27).
Dr. Mal Couch, president of
Tyndale, Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, said it well: “Believers
are to live and work as if it all depends upon them, but they
are to recognize that it really doesn’t.”
“But now ask the beasts, and
let them teach you; and the birds of the heavens, and let
them tell you. Or speak to the earth, and let it teach you;
and let the fish of the sea declare to you. Who among all
these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this,
in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the
breath of all mankind?” (Job. 12:7-10)
Sources
New American Standard Bible
Mal Couch, Tyndale Theological Seminary
John MacArthur
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