The love of God is expressed in various ways.
There is His benevolent love whereby He conveys His love to all people. In His beneficence, God graciously gives benefits to all. God makes the sun shine on the just and unjust (Matt. 5:45). Individuals are blessed to know the benevolent love of God. Of the Rich Young Ruler, it was said that Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21).
There is His love of complacency. When used in theology, complacency refers to God’s self-satisfaction with all His works. The Latin root of the word complacency (complacere, from com + placere) means, “to please.” The word indicates great pleasure or delight. The Bible declares that God takes delight in His Son, Jesus Christ.
When Jesus was baptized, and the dove descended, God the Father spoke and said, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17).
When Jesus preached the gospel, the Father spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying, “Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles” (Matt. 12:17).
When Jesus was transfigured, the Father declared His pleasure in Christ to Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, and John. “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him” (Matt. 17:5; 2 Pet. 1:1).
When Jesus was crucified, “it pleased the LORD to bruise Him” (Isa. 53:10). In each instance the complacency or pleasure of God for His beloved Son was articulated. The distinctive love God has for Christ is given in grace to the redeemed. It pleases God to rescue the perishing through His Son. The thoughtful Christian responds with a song in the heart.
I was sinking deep in sin,
Far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within,
Sinking to rise no more,But the Master of the sea,
Heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me,
Now safe am I.Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me!Love lifted me! Love lifted me!
When nothing else could help
Love lifted me!All my heart to Him I give,
Ever to Him I’ll cling
In His bless-ed presence live,
Ever His praises sing,Love so mighty and so true,
Merits my soul’s best songs,
Faithful, loving service too,
To Him belongs.Souls in danger look above,
Jesus completely saves,
He will lift you by His love,
Out of the angry waves.He’s the Master of the sea,
Billows His will obey,
He your Savior wants to be,
Be saved today.
The complacent love of God, the pleasure He has for those who believe, is without measure. His love is united to Christ, and then to the elect.
The love of God for the elect is displayed at Calvary, and in their regeneration by the Holy Spirit. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; Titus 3:5).
The most familiar illustration of God’s pleasure in saving the elect is found in Romans 9 where Paul, quoting Malachi, says, “As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated” (Rom. 9:13; Mal. 1:2). God’s complacent love, mercy, and favor are not rooted in human merit but in His purpose and good pleasure. Jacob receives the transcendent love of complacency while Esau is passed over.
The same is true for every person who comes to faith. The elect person is chosen and saved according to God pleasure. This complacent love differs from God’s benevolent love.
One person in a house may be saved and receive God’s complacent love, while another in the same household only receives God’s benevolent love and remains in unbelief.
In either case, no injustice is done for both are in chains of bondage to sin.
Both would be content to remain in spiritual darkness.
Both have hearts of stone.
Neither one want anything to do with God until, in grace, God sets His affection on an individual and bids the individual come to Him by the power of the Holy Spirit as the glorious light of the gospel is illuminated upon after being preached.
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:14-17).
God’s Golden Chain of Salvation
In order to understand how a person is saved, from a Divine point of view, attention must be given to Romans 8:28-30.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).
The Order of Salvation
Foreknow: It is God who knows beforehand who will be saved.
Predestinate: It is God who predestinates who will be saved.
Called: It is God who effectually calls the elect to salvation.
Justified: It is God who justifies the ungodly.
Glorified: It is God who glorifies those who are the heirs of eternal life.
The promise of all things working together for good is reserved for those who love God. This is especially true in the area of salvation. God know how to call, justify, and glorify those whom He loves in an intimate way and whom He had predetermined to be made in the image of His own dear Son.
The called of God are those who have been effectually summoned to salvation. This clarion call by the Lord is to be distinguished from the general call of the gospel who commands all men to repent.
The Bible says that “many are called but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14).
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).
The elect of God are those who are called out (ek kaleo) of the world. They are separated from the mass of humanity to be the recipients of eternal life. They receive the saving grace of God. They are the “church” (ekklesia) of the living Lord.
In the Book of Acts the apostles proclaimed the gospel to all people and call everyone to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 17:30). On the Day of Pentecost, some people, about 3,000 souls, in that hour were saved.
When the apostle Paul was preaching to the Athenians at the areopagus (marketplace), he spoke of how God has commanded all men to repent “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). When he had finished, some people believed, while others in the audience made fun of Paul and said he spoke nothing but foolishness (Acts 17:32). Still others reserved judgment to consider the gospel another day.
As the general call of the gospel goes forth, it will be effective only in the elect. Only those foreknown by God and predestined by His will definitely respond to the gracious invitation. The invitation to all is legitimate. Whosoever will may come to Christ, but who wills to come to Him? The divine answer is, only those who are efficaciously called will come to Jesus. And those who come to Jesus are justified.
“Justification has reference to those sins as forgiven and blotted out. Justification has respect to the Law, and to God’s future dealings with the sinner. It is an act by which God determines to treat him hereafter as righteous—as if he had not sinned.
The basis for this is the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ, merit that we can plead as if it were our own. He has taken our place and died in our stead; He has met the descending stroke of justice, which would have fallen on our own heads if He had not interposed” (Albert Barnes, Baptist Theologian).
“Justification is the doctrine by which the church stands or falls,” said Martin Luther. John Calvin agreed, calling justification by faith the “hinge” of the Reformation. Writing on behalf of the Puritans, Dr. J. I. Packer concluded that the Reformers’ exposition of justification boiled down to the following seven points:
First, every man faces the judgment-seat of God, and must answer to God for himself. The Church cannot shield him from this.
Second, every man is a sinner by nature and practice, a nonconformist so far as God’s law is concerned, and therefore can only expect God’s wrath and rejection.
Third, justification is God’s judicial act of pardoning the guilty sinner, accepting him as righteous, and receiving him as a son.
Fourth, the source of justification is grace, not human effort or initiative.
Fifth, the ground of justification is Christ’s vicarious righteousness and blood-shedding, not our own merit.
Sixth, the means of justification, here and now, is faith in Jesus Christ.
Seventh, the fruit of faith, the evidence of being justified, is a manifested repentance and a life of good works.
The heart of every Christian should beat faster to know their sins are forgiven and that they are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. On this solid doctrine, assurance of salvation rests.
Heavenly Father,
I do not come because my soul is free from sin and pure and whole and worthy of Thy grace;
I do not speak to Thee because I’ve ever justly kept Thy laws and dare to meet Thy face.
I know that sin and guilt combine to reign o’er every thought of mine and turn from good to ill;
I know that when I try to be upright and just and true to Thee, I am a sinner still.
I know that often when I strive to keep a spark of love alive for Thee, the powers within leap up in unsubmissive might and oft benumb my sense of right and pull me back to sin.
I know that though in doing good I spend my life, I never could atone for all I’ve done;
But though my sins are black as night, I dare to come before Thy sight because I trust Thy Son.
In Christ alone my trust I place, come boldly to Thy throne of grace, and there commune with Thee.
Salvation sure, O Lord, is mine, and, all unworthy, I am Thine, for Jesus died for me.
~Martin Luther.
Those Who are Justified are Glorified
Returning to Romans 8:28 we read that whom God justifies, He glorifies. Glorification is a process but this much is sure. The called of God can be confident of this very thing, “that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). Herein we find peace with God, freedom to pursue holiness, and enduring hope. God’s forgiving grace, transformative power, and ultimate destiny for body and soul in a renewed universe wherein dwelleth righteousness is a priceless truth. Oh what a day that will be.
“There is coming a day,
When no heart aches shall come,
No more clouds in the sky,
No more tears to dim the eye,
All is peace forever more,
On that happy golden shore,
What a day, glorious day that will be.What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.There’ll be no sorrow there,
No more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no pain,
No more parting over there;
And forever I will be,
With the One who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.What a day that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace;
When He takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.”
~Bill and Gloria Gaither
Let the Christian rejoice. We are foreknown, we are loved in a intimate way by God. To love the elect pleases Him. This is the love of divine complacency.
