14. The Bible speaks everywhere about God's true love and it is wonderfully stated. Our ways are not His ways and it is like saying as high as the heavens are above the earth so is His ways and our ways. God does not love men because of loveliness in them. There would be nothing wonderful about it if God loved us because we were good. We hope we can love someone who is moral. We easily love so-called "good people" but it is hard to love "bad people." If we do not love a good man it is a fault of ourselves. If there was something good in man it would be no wonder that God should love him. It would be unjust of God not to love a good man. Jesus was the only good Man that ever walked the earth. This is why the Father said "This is my well-beloved Son; listen to Him." He could not say that about anyone else. God loves us when there is no trace of goodness in man. There is only cause to hate such a man because in man is radical corruption. Rocks break their silence and hills break forth into music.
15. Let us understand the practical use of these things. We ought not to trust in establishing our own righteousness because it is not at the level of righteousness of Christ alone and His unified merit. No one should trust there works or carnal trustings. No, no! God will not love you according to personal merit. He loves in and through the merit of Christ alone. "God will love you freely." Do not labor for the food that perishes but that which endures to eternal life. God accepts the worst of men that come by faith. He never casts any out but He receives them into His heavenly kingdom. It is His promise. He welcomes the foulest sinners and accepts both small and great alike. We must rely on Jesus and His righteousness! Come to Him as you are without works or satisfaction! God will love you freely and no other way. Self-righteousness will only take you to hell but the unified righteousness of Christ will take you to heaven.
16. This dogma offers comfort to everyone who feels unfit to come to Christ. The text "I will love them freely" is a death-blow to the works of satisfaction towards men. If we rely on our performance to get saved it will fail us but if we rely on Christ's life to merit and earn heaven it will be faithful and true. Do not add anything to the freeness of God's grace. God's grace is free, "I will love them freely." We may cry out to God that our hearts are so hard but He loves us freely. We may not feel the need of Christ as we would like to because we have sinful hearts that would take us away from God. We do not feel the softening grace of Christ in our hearts and it would seem to take Jesus away from us. The covenant of grace has no conditionality whatsoever. The covenant of grace is unconditional touching the sure mercies of David. We have the promise of Christ without the meritorious works of this wicked world. God does not want our works like He told David He did not want sacrifice of bulls and goats in Psalm 51ff. He love us freely! This is truly an awesome truth of Christ and there are blind people who do not see it. There is a lot of rubbish in our world that would say we need to add to the free love of Christ. The good news is free. It requires no preparation, money or price!
17. The practical use of our doctrine does not end here. We wonder how we can be saved or that God will bless us when we feel so unworthy. But God says I love them freely. Doesn't this meet your case? If you had become the foulest of all sinners, God would still say "I love them freely." If there is no reason for the love of God in you there is no need for the love of God in anyone. The grace of God can come to the best of men or any man, because God will save the small and great. God is found of them that did not seek Him.
18. This doctrine calls backsliders to return to Christ and His family. The text, "I will love them freely" is meant for backsliders. Someone goes on a rebellious run in their lives. They abuse all privileges and destroy their lives. But God invites them back saying "Return to me. I will forgive you all. I will love you freely." The summons back had no condition; that is, if you promise or behave then I will love you. "I love them freely" means that He will love without condition or promise or behaving. This kindness makes us melt. If Jesus loved us He still does. If you were a child of God you are still a child of God. The backslider will return through free grace and mercy and kindness. The awakened sinner is loved no matter what He does. This may appear like an Antinomian doctrine but while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
19. God loves us freely, but it is nothing in man that makes
Him love us. There is nothing in man
that can cause God to love us. There is
nothing in man that can harm God’s love or prevent God’s love to us. There is no bar to God’s grace or effectual
hindrance to any of the human race. We
all were in the lions of Adam. There
was no bar in Adam. There was no block
to the human race in Adam. There is no
hindrance of God’s grace coming to man because there was no hindrance in grace
coming to Adam. There is nothing in man
that God should not show man His awesome and sovereign grace.
20. There was no block or bar of God’s grace to us because
He has saved the worst of sinners and they were undoubtedly saved. There are many evil and low sins that men have
committed but yet they were saved. David
was guilty of adultery and murder, but God did not delay His love to
David. God’s love cannot be prevented in
coming to you. God does not love because
there is excellence. He does not refuse
to show love to those who are in sin.
Manasseh was guilty of murder, idolatry, and sacrifice of children to a
false god but God’s love laid hold upon him.
We were as vile as the lost in hell but God showed His mercy upon us in
Christ.
21. It is impossible that anything can be in you that God
cannot love. The sins of the chief of
sinners cannot stop God’s forgiveness.
Paul was the chief of sinners and he truly was a great sinner. The greatest and the greatest sinners have
been saved. That leaves room for me and
for you. For if the chief of sinners
were saved, how much more us? If we
exceeded Paul in being the greatest sinners, how that would not prevent God’s
love! God’s act of love is an act of
infinite goodness. We should not say
sins are small but every sin is a great offense against God. Sins are loathsome and hellish. Spurgeon said of God’s grace “but the grace,
the love, and the pity of God, Oh! these are infinite, eternal, everlasting,
boundless, matchless, quenchless, unconquerable, and therefore the grace of God
can overcome and prove itself mightier than your guilt and sin” (CH Spurgeon, Abounding Grace). There is no bar that can prevent God’s
grace or we would have seen it in others.
Nothing can take us away from God’s grace.
22. Do you suppose there is a sinner out there that is too
great of a sinner for God to reach?
Would the devils parade around with a trophy of hell that God could not
reach? Is there more than a match for
God no matter what sin it is? Would God
say this sin was too great for God’s grace?
Would someone dare to say it?
Doesn’t the Apostle say that where sin abounds grace much more
abounds? Does condemnation abound? No, no!
Does hopeless despair abound? No,
no! But where sin abounds graces did much more abound. Man makes a mountain of sin but God
matches it. God tops it with hundred
times more grace to overtop the sin in our lives. If there are mountains of sin, it is no match
for the abundant grace of God.
23. Man is a totally depraved worm, but God shows mercy on
him. We ought to repent of our total
depravity for everyday of our lives. We
should also repent of our original sin.
We need to find a calendar for all the days of our lives and repent for
our depravity for that day and continue on.
You will notice a great load and weight will come off of you. There is no doubt that God’s grace is enough
and more than enough to overtop your sins. God covers us in the unified merit of His only-beloved Son.
24. Wouldn’t it disprove the goodness of the gospel if a man
could be found to make the gospel stop working and to have its way? If the gospel which is worthy of all
acceptation could not meet certain cases, it would be limited to its
effectiveness but the gospel is able to conquer any rebel lust. If this would be the case, we would stop
glorifying in the cross. The Apostle
gloried in the cross, but we would have to stop if salvation could not be met
for anyone. The point is, the gospel is
the power of God unto salvation and it has the power to win anyone over to it. The gospel is sufficient for every case. There is no sin so great and no sinner so
great as to render the gospel impotent.
We ought to labor for the most hopeless and help the most helpless.
This week I will finish up with this sermon. My notes came from Spurgeon’s sermon Abounding Grace and I hope to write a
little more on this issue of “free abounding grace.” You know, there is no Savior like Jesus. Amen.
