CHAPTER III. That the great love of God in electing of us should be a strong motive and incentive to
manifest opposition unto appointing others to disobedience. The like you have 2 Thes. 2:13, 14.
CHAPTER III
That the great love of God in electing of us should be a strong motive and incentive to love and good works.
I come now to the love shewn in these acts, and shall demonstrate that all the mercies and other graces or love that are to found in election should move us to obedience: Rom. 12:1, 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.' It is a transition from doctrinal points to practical duties, and the illative therefore sends us to justification, sanctification (handled in chapters 3, 4, 5, 6); but it especially sends us to election, and the mercies in the bowels of it, of which he had treated in three chapters immediately before. This love of God bestowed on us, in and at election, the Scripture makes use of a double way to work holiness and obedience in us.
1. By way of imitation, it some way or other teacheth all sorts of graces, and is the lively pattern of them to us.
2. By way of incentive or motive, so as in such things wherein it doth not so fully serve as a pattern to be imitated (as in all it cannot), yet in those it serves as motives and inflamers thereunto.
1. By way of imitation. God's love in electing us is propounded as a motive to obedience: Eph. 5:1, 'Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love.' He speaks it of God's love, as distinct from Christ's; for of that he speaks as a further motive in the
next words. I confess he speaks it upon occasion of God's love in justification there, that we should imitate it in forgiving others, as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us, Eph. 4:32. Yet the force of the argument therein holds as strong, yea, more strong, in all considerations about his eternal love, which was the original, the spring, the fountain, the cause of justification, and all else; yea, out of which he then justified, adopted, bestowed all blessings upon us in Christ. And as the virtues in a sovereign water are stronger in the spring than in the streams, so is this love in God's heart; and though it be applied only to love to brethren, yet it extends to all obedience, the fountain whereof is love to God; and the terms he expresseth himself in this are generals, which will reach to all in his love, and to all compliance therewith in us unto all commands. For when we are exhorted to be followers of God, it is a general that comes in upon occasion of that particular act of love shewn in forgiveness; as often general rules, and reasons, and promises are brought in upon occasion of particular instances, to confirm and enforce them. Then when it follows, 'Walk in love,' what! doth he mean it in this one act of it, of forgiveness, which is a 'going forth of love? No; but in all the duties of love besides. And though the apostle instances in this as a more broad and conspicuous way of God's love in forgiving us, and thereupon more particularly exhorts us to chalk out the like path to ourselves to walk in, of forgiving others, yet this is but one of those walks his love delights in. He hath dwelt in love (as John speaks), walked in love within his own grounds, within himself (which I speak as warranted by that phrase, 'which he purposed in himself to us,'
Eph. 1:9), with infinite delight from all eternity; and in all these, all so far as he hath made known to us, the head ways of them, we should be followers of him, as well as in forgiveness or the duties of love to brethren. Thus we should walk in love, and out of love to him, in all those ways which he hath chalked out for us; and this we should do to shew our love unto him by it. This word, 'Be ye followers
of God' (that is, as one that follows another in the same step), is too dull, too flat a word, falls short of what the apostle seems to intend, and therefore is to be taken in, corresponding with those that follow,
'and walk in love'; that is, in the same steps. In the original it is, be ye imitators, μιμηταὶ. This farther sense is also aimed at, that we should be like unto God in his love, as children are to their parents in feature and disposition; let our love answer to his, as limb to limb in a parent. Therefore he adds these words, 'as children,' that resemble the father, yea, often the grandfather most. And everlasting love is as the grandfather that begat, and brings forth all these effects and fruits of love, adoption, forgiveness, &c. Yet still this word μιμηταὶ would speak something more, viz., we should act over to the life the love of God, as actors do stories; we should not only have in our hearts the image of it, but we should act to the life the postures, the passions, the gestures, the looks, and the casts of that love of God; and we should have all these continually, as far as may be, before our eyes, to imitate them in our ways.
2. We should set up God's love, not as a pattern only to us, but as an incentive to inflame us; and therefore he adds these words, 'as dear children.' The words are in the original ὡς τέκνα ἀγαπητά. 1. As children, to imitate, to act over his love in all your walkings towards himself and others. And 2. As beloved children, to take in his peculiar love to you, to invigorate and act you. Children are to imitate their parents, as they are their parents and their superiors; and so Christ urgeth it, Mat. 5:48, 'Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.' And so the apostle urgeth it, 1 Peter 1:14, 'As obedient children, fashion not yourselves;' that is, imitate not your former lusts, μὴ συσχηματιζόμενοι; that is, be not cast into the garb, the mode of them, frame not yourselves to them; but be holy as I am holy; imitate me your Father. But the apostle, in Eph. 5:1, was enforcing a point of love. 3. And therefore he adds, 'as beloved
children;' as darlings whom God loved and delighted to love; this is put in to make God's love the enkindler and incentive of this divine fire in us. Consider but how beloved, how dear you are and have been to him; consider the endearments of his love in all the singularities and eminent properties of it. What love was it you were wrapt in when brought forth? Everlasting love. What womb of love was it in which you as children were first conceived? It was in everlasting love.
By what love were you chosen and predestinated to the adoption of sons before the world was? Eph. 1:5. It was that love which made you children; neither can any come to know how dear you are to God till they come to discover and drink of this love, the fountain, the original of all. And indeed it is with respect to having been beloved with this love that they are called beloved children. As also, in 2
Thes. 2:13, he gives them this title and compellation on purpose, in reference to election: 'We are bound to give thanks always unto God for you, brethren and beloved of the Lord, because God hath chosen you from the beginning.' He contents not himself to have called them brethren, but on purpose adds the other word, 'beloved,' because it was in election they were first and chiefly beloved. And, in Col. 3:12,
Paul joins both, and makes them an argument to all graces of every kind: 'As the elect of God,' says he, 'holy and beloved, put on bowels of mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering.'
It is easy to conceive how bowels of mercy and kindness are required of us, as resemblances of that love which was accompanied with such infinite bowels and heroic kindness in God towards us; for out of these God chose you at first. It is also to be considered how much kindness, meekness, riches of long-suffering, and forbearance, and forgiveness God ordained in election to shew forth toward you. The fountain of them all was electing love, and in electing love was found all these, or it designed to shew forth these; only how humbleness of mind was shewn therein as a pattern to us may be a doubt; but it may be easily resolved by what I have said on Eph. 2,* where I
shewed the greatness of God's love, in this respect, that it was an humbling condescension in him, the great God, to look down on creatures. Ps. 113:6, 'Who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth.' If to look on them is condescending goodness, much more to love them, and ordain them sons, and friends, and companions with himself. And it was yet a greater condescension to ordain his eternal Son to dwell in human nature, and that nature to become one person with him, which was the fundamental decree of all, for we are chosen in Christ as in our head,
Eph. 1:3. Look, therefore, whatever singularities, particularities there are of graces of any kind to be found in this love, they should either be patterns or motives unto us, to answer them in love and obedience: Eph. 5:1, 'As dear or beloved children, be imitators of God.' Take the words as a motive, and judge within yourselves how forcible it is to any heart possessed with childlike love to God.
Suppose God from heaven should say, What, my child (as that mother to Solomon), my beloved child, yea, as thou art my beloved child, do this or that, and therein obey me; how should this move any of you! Set this before every command, and think that God thus speaks to thee: 'As thou art my dear child, thou shalt have no other gods; thou shalt not commit adultery, murder,' &c.
Let us now run over all those special properties and singularities by which this love is commended to us, and see how they all enforce and persuade to holiness and obedience, and the giving of all love to God.
1st, Let us view the priority of this love, that he loved us first, not we him. Upon this ground Christ first, then the apostle John, enforceth all obedience to all commands.
First, Christ doth it, John 15:16. When Christ would move his apostles to that great and hazardous work of preaching the gospel
over all the world when he was gone (as he moved Peter in those words, 'Lovest thou me?'), he urgeth this, that he had loved them first: 'You have not chosen me' (says he), 'but I have chosen you.' He mentions election to them, and therein this endearing consideration, that he had first chosen them, not they him; and then subjoins that he had ordained them to go all the world over, and 'bring forth fruit, and that their fruit should remain.' It is as if he had thus spoke to them: You did not first provoke me to set my heart on you, and single you out, but I freely chose and loved you. Then John (1 John 4) insists on the same argument, which he expresseth more takingly thus: 'Not that we loved God, but that he loved us,' ver. 10; 'and loved us first,' ver. 19; and we loved not him at all for a long while after his love and pity shewn to us. All the commandments are by Christ reduced to two heads: Mat. 22:37, &c., 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.' Now John's scope also (in 1 John 4) is to exhort to both, and to move to both. He useth this as the argument twice in that chapter: 1, in verses 10, 11; then, 2, in verses 19–21. At the 10th verse he heightens the love of God: 'Herein is love;' that is, herein is love indeed; and he doth this on purpose to draw from us obedience to that command, and love to our brethren. Ver. 11, 'Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.' Therein are comprehended all the duties of the second table: Rom. 13:8, 9, 'He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill,
Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet: and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.'
Then again, says John, 1 John 4:19, 'We love him' (so ours render it), or 'Let us love him' (so others render it, and indeed the word
ἀγαπῶμεν is indifferent to both, and favours both alike), 'because he loved us first;' and from thence, ver. 20, 21, he infers love to our brethren, and that as a commandment from that God that so loved us: ver. 21, 'This commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.' So that love to God, the sum of the first table, is enjoined, or rather sweetly flows from what the law of love requires; and we are bound to requite love with love to one that loved us first, and so highly loved us too, ver. 11. The other argument is fetched from a superadded commandment, 1 John 4:21, from him that thus loved us; and it is enforced from what Christ had said, John
14, 'If ye love me, keep my commandments.' Now in the midst between both these arguments he inserts this axiom, 1 John 4:17, 'As he is, so are we in this world.' This belongeth to the argument, why we should imitate God. The coherence carries it to God in his love, especially that love before all worlds, which he had treated of so largely before: ver. 16, 'We have known the love that God hath to us.
God is love, &c. And herein is love, that he loved us first, &c. If then, as he is, so are we in this world, we shall have boldness at the latter day, because we behave ourselves so as to be like him.' Because as he is, that is, as he is in loving us first, and giving his Son for us, such we are in this world in loving others in imitation of him; or 'as he is, we are in this world;' that is, we being imitators of that everlasting love of his, 'we shall have boldness at the day of judgment,' it being impossible God should disapprove of those that are like him in that which is most dear to him, viz., his love and the eternal acts of it.
Thus Piscator and others interpret it.
2dly. Consider the peculiarity of his love, that he hath loved you above all others, in which there is another eminency of love: Deut.
10:14, 15, 'Behold, the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is the Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that is therein. Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed
after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.' He here sets out the special love of God in choosing them.
(1.) He had choice enough; heaven and earth lay all before him, and all things in both, and he could have made every star, every pebble, so many sons to Abraham. As in the mass or chaos, the matter of all creatures, which lay alike before his power, out of the same matter he made the dull earth, he might have made the vigorous and shining sun; so he had all creatures in heaven and earth out of which to have made sons to Abraham (as John the Baptist speaks), but he chose them out of mankind, the seed of mankind.
(2.) He had before him all people of mankind, made all of one blood, Acts 17, and out of all 'he chose thy fathers and their seed,' out of all
(as choice implies), yea, above all.
(3.) And 3dly, He made this choice, not out of a bare act of will, as one resolved to choose some person with a delight to love them, and delighting to shew this peculiar love to them.
(4.) And 4thly, That love and delight was all, and the alone cause thereto him moving, as that word 'only' (in Deut. 10:14, 15) implies:
'Only the Lord had a delight in thy fathers,' &c. Now to what end is all this electing love thus set forth to us, but to the point I have in hand? Deut. 10:12, 'And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?' This Lord, the God of gods, Lord of lords, a great God, ver. 17, who is withal so good, so full of love, of all love to thee, what doth this God require of thee (the Hebrew signifies also to ask, request, entreat; so 1 Sam.
1:17, 20, 27, in the petition which Hannah put up to God, the same