Doubting Christ’s Willingness To Save
Written by: Paul Greendyk and Bill Tanis II
Perception:
Perhaps one of the most devastating effects of hyper-Calvinistic teaching is that it tends to distort the very character of God in the eyes of a sinner. Through the one-sided emphasis of God’s justice and election, and the simultaneous neglect of the preaching of the gospel, the sinner begins to view the Lord as an “austere man” (see Luke 19:21) and as an “unjust judge” (see Luke 18:1-8). The sinner views God as One who randomly chooses who to save or not to save, who will only hear the prayers of His elect, and who is reluctant to forgive. Although he may not admit it, he begins to view God as a tyrant, who, though he is very rich, yet is stingy in dispensing His gifts. He views God as One unwilling to save; One who needs to be persuaded to forgive. The sinners see no hope but to pray that he may be one of God’s elect and that the Lord would one day have mercy upon him. And so, when he reads the wonderful promises and invitations of God to sinners, he buries them in the ground as we read in Matthew 25:24, 25, and does not trade them in for gain as the wise stewards did.
God’s Word:
The scriptures, on the other hand, represent the Lord in a far different light, showing us the beautiful perfection of His person. God is just (Deuteronomy 32:4). He is holy (Isaiah 6:3). He is sovereign (Matthew 20:15). He is Lord of lords, and King of kings (Deuteronomy 10:17). He does what He will (Daniel 4:35). And at the same time, He is full of grace (John 1:14). He has bowels of mercies (Philippians 2:1), His is love itself (I John 4:8), He readily forgives sin (Psalm 86:5), and He is full of compassion (Psalm 111:4). Notice, that He is all these things at the same time. These attributes do not strive together, but are in perfect agreement. As we read in Exodus 34:6, 7, He is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, AND that will by no means clear the guilty.” That little word “and” is so precious, for it points to the Lord Jesus Christ. Because God’s wrath for sin has been poured on Him, therefore, He can be just and the justifier of the ungodly (cf. Romans 3:26).
Therefore, He can pour out His Spirit upon us (Zechariah 12:10), and because of Jesus, the Lord will freely give us all things (Romans 8:32). We are more than welcome to come to Him just as we are and drink (Proverbs 9:5, John 7:37). “I will pour water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground” (Isaiah 44:3).
The scriptures represent the Lord to us as a loving Father1 who will give us all good things we ask of Him; “And shall not He give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:13). He is not willing that any should perish, but that all come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). The whole book of Jeremiah is the story of God’s love, faithfulness, and care for such rebellious sinners as we (refer to chapters 3:1,12, 4:14, 5:1, 32:34-38, 51:5). The Lord’s willingness to save is also seen through His command to send the word of the gospel into all the world (Mark 16:15); “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” He invites sinners, yes, sinners to come to Him just as they are. And what does He willingly do for them? Why, he frankly forgives them all (see Luke 7:42). Be their sin great or small, He frankly forgives.2
Indeed, the very character of God is manifested so clearly to us through the incarnation and passion of the Son of God. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son…” Why? What was His goal? “….that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world…..” Why, then, did He send Him? What was His aim? “….but that the world through Him might have life” (John 3:16, 17). In the very passion of Jesus, we see how God is just and yet at the same time full of love to men (Romans 3:26). Through the satisfaction of Jesus, He can now pour out His Fatherly love upon sinful men. The very heart of God is manifest in the rending of the temple veil when Jesus gave up the Ghost. It is as if the Lord could not wait to welcome sinners into His very presence. As soon as His justice was fully satisfied, He rent the veil in twain from the top to the bottom (Matthew 27:51).
O reader, taste and see that the Lord is good. Trust also in Him (Psalm 37:5). Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for all our sins (I John 4:10). O, He says to you, “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28). “Your words have been stout against me” (Malachi 3:13), but “hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness” (Isaiah 46:12,13). “Come now, and let us reason together.” “Your sins shall be as white as snow.” “Yea, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). “What wilt thou that I shall do unto thee?” (Mark 10:51).
We are commanded to call Him “our Father” 15 times in Matthew 5-7! See also the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32.
And what a madness is this in many, to stand a-back from Christ, because of their infirmities; and to scar at him, because of their weakness, when the more corruption we find the more we should run to him? -- John Brown, Christ: the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria, p. 48.
I feel, when I have sinned, an immediate reluctance to go to Christ. I am ashamed to go. I feel as if it would do no good to go, - as if it were making Christ a minister of sin, to go straight from the swine-trough to the best robe, - and a thousand other excuses; but I am persuaded they are all lies, direct from hell. John argues the opposite way: "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father;" Jer. iii. 1 and a thousand other scriptures are against it. I am sure there is neither peace nor safety from deeper sin, but in going directly to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is God's way of peace and holiness. It is folly to the world and the beclouded heart, but it is the way. -- Robert M. M' Cheyne, as found in Andrew Bonar’s, Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M' Cheyne, Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1987 ed, p. 151.
The arms of Christ were nailed wide open, when he hung upon the cross; and this was a figure of his wide willingness to save all, as he said: ‘I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.’ -- Robert Mc Cheyne, From The Preacher’s Heart, Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1993, p. 295.
God is willing to receive me on the footing of His perfection; and if I am willing to be thus received, in the perfection of another with whom God is well pleased, the whole transaction is completed. I AM JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD.- - Horatius Bonar, The Everlasting Righteousness, Carlisle, PA; The Banner of Truth Trust, 1993 Edition, p. 44.
If you are willing, He never was otherwise. -- John Mason, as quoted in Tom Wells, Come to Me! An Urgent Invitation to Turn to Christ, Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1986, p. 113 xxx check this reference.
Believe in Christ’s willingness, and that will make you willing. – Thomas Willcox, “Honey out of the Rock,” Chapel Library Booklet, p. 6.