It's not often that you find a balanced, thoughtful and deep thinking blog on the Internet that accurately speaks to the difficult topic of the love of God. Recently I came across one such blog that I have appreciated here.
Theological Meditations is deep, well researched, and does indeed cause one to meditate on the depth of Scriptural topics. It is a difficult topic though because
Here is an example from that blog discussing the love of God:
"You cannot faithfully preach the gospel message to a lost soul without at least conveying to the sinner that God stands ready, willing and prepared to receive them through repentance and faith in the gospel call. That, among other things, inevitably conveys God's goodwill to that sinner, and thus God's unconditional love of benevolence to that sinner. It is most certainly not the "wrong message." Sure, to merely say that, or to merely convey that idea, is not sufficient. One must say more than that, but not less than that. The unregenerate sinner does need to be terrified about his condition, but he also needs to know that there is hope for him while he lives in this world, and that there is hope because God, in his unconditional benevolent love to that person, has made a way for him to be saved."
Here is another:
We are hence taught to acknowledge no love to be in God, which is not effectual in doing good to the creature; there is no lip-love, no raw well-wishing to the creature which God doth not make good: we know but three sorts of love, that God has to the creature, all the three are like the fruitful womb; there is no miscarrying, no barrenness in the womb of divine love;
1. He loves all that he has made; so far as to give them a being, to conserve them in being so long as he pleaseth: he had a desire to have Sun, Moon, Stars, Earth, Heaven, Sea, Cloud, Air; he created them out of the womb of love, and out of goodness, and keeps them in being…
2. There is a second love and mercy, in God, by which he loves all Men and Angels; yea, even his enemies, makes the Sun to shine on the unjust man, as well as the just, and causes dew and rain to fall on the orchard and fields of the bloody and deceitful man, whom the Lord abhors; as Christ teacheth us, (Matt. 5:43-48). Nor doth God miscarry in this love, he desires the eternal being of damned angels and men; he sends the Gospel to many reprobates, and invites them to repentance and with longanimity and forbearance suffereth pieces of froward dust to fill the measure of their iniquity, yet does not the Lord’s general love fall short of what he willeth to them.
3. There is a love of special election to glory; far less can God come short in the end of this love…
[Christ Dying and Drawing, op. cit. p. 476f. (some copies, p. 440f., due to faulty numbering) Or see Samuel Rutherford, Christ Dying, and Drawing Sinners to Himself (Glasgow: Printed by Niven, Napier & Krull; for Samuel and Archibald Gardner, 1803), 549–50. Also cited in David Silversides, The Free Offer: Biblical & Reformed (Glasgow, Scotland: Marpet Press, 2005), 46–47.]
Personally, it's difficult to talk in terms of God's 'willingness to save all men.' In that blog post, the author stated, "... carefully observe how historic Calvinists and Puritans have common love, common grace and free gracious offers interconnected with God's willingness to save all men."
Troubling to me is the fact that God's willingness to save all men doesn't come to fruition in saving men until He saves them. There is no willingness to save outside of saving them.
Troubling to me is the fact that God's willingness to save all men doesn't come to fruition in saving men until He saves them. There is no willingness to save outside of saving them.
God's saving love for men is demonstrated in His ultimate willingness to bring His love for them to fruition.
According to Moses, "The secret things (the things that God decrees) belong to the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deut. 29:29).
We need to differentiate between the complicated notion of, on the one hand, the will of God that is hidden from us and the will of God that is revealed to us.
The will of God that is hidden from us is his secret will, that will by which he decrees and determines events that do come to pass.
It’s by this secret will that he governs the universe and determines everything that will happen. He does not ordinarily reveal these decrees to us (except in prophecies of the future), so these decrees really are God's "secret" will.
We find out what God has decreed in his secret will only when events actually happen. Because this secret will of God has to do with his decreeing of events in the world, this aspect of God's will is sometimes also called God's will of decree.
God’s revealed will is revealed in the Scriptures, and usually contains his commands or "precepts" for our moral conduct.
God's revealed will is sometimes also called God's will of precept or will of command. This revealed will of God is God's declared will in His word concerning what **we should do** or what God commands us to do.
We perceive God’s revealed will because it is known to us in His commands and precepts. But his revealed will is not necessarily his (ultimate) will.
His revealed will is only the commands and precepts he issues as the
rule for **our** conduct.
God’s revealed will we know from Scripture. In his revealed will he
does not say what he will do; it is not the rule for his conduct; it does not prescribe what God must do, but tells us what he desires that we must do.
His revealed will is the rule for our conduct. It is only in a metaphorical sense, therefore, that it is called the will of God.”
God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth in the sense that this is what he has revealed that he desires that we do.
Troubling to me is the fact that God's willingness doesn't come to fruition in saving men until He saves them.
According to Moses, "The secret things (the things that God decrees) belong to the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deut. 29:29).
We need to differentiate between the complicated notion of, on the one hand, the will of God that is hidden from us and the will of God that is revealed to us.
The will of God that is hidden from us is his secret will, that will by which he decrees and determines events that do come to pass.
It’s by this secret will that he governs the universe and determines everything that will happen. He does not ordinarily reveal these decrees to us (except in prophecies of the future), so these decrees really are God's "secret" will.
We find out what God has decreed in his secret will only when events actually happen. Because this secret will of God has to do with his decreeing of events in the world, this aspect of God's will is sometimes also called God's will of decree.
God’s revealed will is revealed in the Scriptures, and usually contains his commands or "precepts" for our moral conduct.
God's revealed will is sometimes also called God's will of precept or will of command. This revealed will of God is God's declared will in His word concerning what **we should do** or what God commands us to do.
We perceive God’s revealed will because it is known to us in His commands and precepts. But his revealed will is not necessarily his (ultimate) will.
His revealed will is only the commands and precepts he issues as the
rule for **our** conduct.
God’s revealed will we know from Scripture. In his revealed will he
does not say what he will do; it is not the rule for his conduct; it does not prescribe what God must do, but tells us what he desires that we must do.
His revealed will is the rule for our conduct. It is only in a metaphorical sense, therefore, that it is called the will of God.”
God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth in the sense that this is what he has revealed that he desires that we do.
Troubling to me is the fact that God's willingness doesn't come to fruition in saving men until He saves them.
According to Moses, "The secret things (the things that God decrees) belong to the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deut. 29:29).
We need to differentiate between the complicated notion of, on the one hand, the will of God that is hidden from us and the will of God that is revealed to us. The will of God that is hidden from us is his secret will, that will by which he decrees and determines events that do come to pass.
It’s by this secret will that he governs the universe and determines everything that will happen. He does not ordinarily reveal these decrees to us (except in prophecies of the future), so these decrees really are God's "secret" will.
We find out what God has decreed in his secret will only when events actually happen. Because this secret will of God has to do with his decreeing of events in the world, this aspect of God's will is sometimes also called God's will of decree.
God’s revealed will is revealed in the Scriptures, and usually contains his commands or "precepts" for our moral conduct. God's revealed will is sometimes also called God's will of precept or will of command. This revealed will of God is God's declared will in His word concerning what **we should do** or what God commands us to do.
We perceive God’s revealed will because it is known to us in His commands and precepts. But his revealed will is not necessarily his (ultimate) will. His revealed will is only the commands and precepts he issues as the rule for **our** conduct.
God’s revealed will we know from Scripture. In his revealed will he does not say what He will do; it is not the rule for his conduct; it does not prescribe what God must do, but tells us what he desires that we must do.
His revealed will is the rule for our conduct. It is only in a metaphorical sense, therefore, that it is called the will of God.” God desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth in the sense that this is what he has revealed that he desires that we do.
