The Love of God

THIS is a great and precious theme. The Scriptures not only of the New Testament, but also of the Old have much to say on this great doctrine. The love of God to perishing sinners is one of those Bible truths that has suffered severely at the hands of men who fail to rightly divide the word of truth. God’s Word is full of the doctrine, but it is never presented there at the expense of His Holiness or His Justice. The great majority of modern preachers speak of the divine love as if it were a kind of good natured benevolence which overlooked the weighty claims of Justice, and was unconcerned of what became of Holiness. Such a presentation of this truth does grievous injury to God’s revealed will. The love of God as set before us in Scripture has certain well defined characteristics. 1. It is a love that is revealed in Christ—(1) In the gift of the Son—this is God’s unspeakable gift; (2) in the Son’s dying for sinners; (3) in the Holy Spirit applying Christ’s redemptive work and carrying on the work of sanctification in the hearts of believers. In Christ Jesus all the infinite fulness of divine love dwelt, and it is out of that unfathomable ocean that all God’s people draw—”Out of His fulness,” says the Apostle, “have we all received.” 2. It is a discriminating love. God did not set His love upon all mankind. It is the doctrine of devils to say that God loved Judas as He loved Peter. God’s benevolence is manifested to the righteous and the unrighteous, but His love is set upon those only who were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Natural men may gnash their teeth at such truths, but those taught by the Spirit of God will find sufficient here to awe and solemnize their minds and to call forth from their hearts eternal gratitude for the love that was set upon them from eternal ages. The Apostle Paul loved

to take his hearers back to the fountain head of this glorious river that makes glad the city of God. It is a most precious doctrine to the Church of the living God. 3. This love was altogether unmerited. It was not because of any good foreseen in His people that God loved them. All were children of wrath as they came into the world. There was nothing in them to call forth this love. In the outgoing of human love to its object there is always some excellence or at least fancied excellence calling it forth, but there was nothing in the creature to call forth God’s love. It was free, unmerited, sovereign love that visited His redeemed as they lay dead in trespasses and sins.

1. God’s love is unchanging. It went out to a people while they were yet sinners. It was for such Christ died, and in dying, God was commending His love. The life they led did not make God turn aside saying—”I will take away my love; they are too much the children of the devil to be loved any longer after all they have done and still intend doing.” Such is not the nature of God’s love; those that He loved from all eternity He loves on to the end. But while God’s love is unchanging that does not give licence to God’s people to commit sin or continue in sin. The greatness of this love and its unchangeableness is a mighty incentive to be done with sin forever. A nature that plays fast and loose with renewed tokens of love and forbearance and indulges its unlawful propensities is carnal, sensual and devilish.

2. God’s love being unchanging, this secures the salvation of God’s people from all hazard of being castaways at last. In the concluding verses of the 8th chapter of the Epistle of the Romans, the Apostle gives expression of his assured confidence in words that have been described as the most triumphant that were ever uttered by mortal lips. He takes a survey of all the possible causes of separation in time and in eternity, and he feels assured that none of these will ever separate them from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus the Lord. The words, though so well known to our readers, may be quoted in full:—”Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death,

nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans viii., 35-39). All the contingencies mentioned by the Apostle, great though their power is, to cause separation, cannot divert the love of God by a hair’s breadth in its outgoing to those He loved. Is it any wonder, therefore, that the love of God in Christ Jesus should call forth from the heart of the Beloved Disciple this song of praise?—”Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” (Rev. i., 5-6). The Psalmist of old drank from the same pure, deep fountain, and he longed for more from the same well. May we, too, tasting of the water of this river, “clear as crystal proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,” join him in his prayer:—

Remember me, Lord, with that love
Which thou to thine dost bear;
With thy salvation, O my God,
To visit me draw near.

That I thy chosen’s good may see,
And in their joy rejoice;
And may with thine inheritance,
Triumph with cheerful voice.

(Metrical Psalm cvi., 4, 5).

True Prayer.

It was said by the angel concerning Saul of Tarsus, after the Lord had appeared unto him, “Behold, he prayeth.” Saul had no doubt been in the habit of praying from his childhood; and, without charging him with hypocrisy or formalism, it is evident that, in the true and full sense of the word, he had never prayed to God until Jesus had appeared to him. What was the difference between his former prayers and his present approach? For as a Pharisee he had prayed to the true and living God. The difference was this: Formerly, he approached having his own righteousness. As he felt it sufficient, he drew near with an imperfect thing to the Perfect One, and therefore, unconsciously, but most really, he lowered God in his idea, and brought Him down to his own level.—A. Saphir.