The Transitive Love of God
Mercy and Goodness, or Transitive Love
By mercy
and goodness, we mean the transitive love of God in its two-fold relation to
the disobedient. Scriptures such as Titus 3:4; Romans 2:4; Matthew
5:44-45; John 3:16;II 2 Peter 1:3; Roman 8:32; and John 4:10 serve as examples.
Mercy is that external principle of God's
nature which leads him to seek the temporal good and eternal salvation of those
who have opposed themselves to his will, even at the cost
of infinite self-sacrifice. Goodness is the eternal principle
of God's nature which leads him to communicate of his own life, and blessedness
to those who are like him in moral character. Goodness, therefore, is
nearly identical with the love of complacency; mercy, with the love of
benevolence.
Good People not
necessarily saved people.
The eternal and perfect object of God's love is in his own
nature. Men become subordinate objects
of that love only as they become connected and identified with its principle
object, the image of God's perfection in Christ. Only in the Son do men become sons of God. To this is requisite acceptance of Christ on
the part of man. Thus it can be
said that God imparts himself to men just so far as men
are willing to receive him. As God
gives himself to men, in all his moral attributes, to answer for them and to
renew them in character.
Truth: The Maintenance of Holiness is the Function of Divine
Justice.
The
diffusion of holiness is the function of divine love. We may grant this as substantially true,
while yet we deny that love is a mere form or manifestation of holiness. Self-impartation is different from
self-affirmation. The attribute which
moves God to pour out is not identical with the attribute which moves him to
maintain.
The
two ideas of holiness and of love are as distinct as the idea of integrity on the
one hand and generosity on the other.
The same love of compassion God feels toward the non-elect; but the
expression of that compassion is forbidden for reasons which are sufficient for
God, but are entirely unknown to the creature.
The goodness of God is the basis of reward, under God's government. Faithfulness leads God to keep his promises;
goodness lead him to make them (Romans 5:8).
Love does not necessarily imply approval, but it does imply desire that
all creatures should fulfill the purpose of their existence by being morally
conformed to the Holy One.
Justice and Righteousness, or Transitive Holiness
By
justice and righteousness, we mean the transitive holiness of God, in virtue of
which his treatment of his creatures conforms to the purity of his
nature----righteousness demanding from all moral perfection of God, and justice
visiting non-conformity to that perfection with penal loss or suffering
(Genesis 18:25; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 5:5; Matthew 5:48; I Peter 1:1; and
Romans 2:6).
It
is not true that he hates the sin, but loves the sinner. He both hates and loves the sinner himself,
hates him as he is living and willful antagonist of truth and holiness, loves
him as he is a creature capable of good ruined by his transgression. There is no abstract sin that can be hated
apart from the persons in who that sin is represented and embodied.
Talk to you soon,
Artesian Well Church
6031 Linden Avenue
Long Beach, Ca
Long Beach, Ca
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