And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and
saying, Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 2:13-14).
WELL-MEANT OFFER ARGUMENT:
Q. “Aren’t the
angelic host telling us that God has ‘good will toward men’ (that is, a
‘general, favourable disposition’ toward all human beings)?”
(I)
Rev. Martyn McGeown
[Source: Born for Our Salvation: The Nativity and Childhood of Jesus Christ (RFPA, 2019), pp. 103-106]
[W]hat do the angels mean by “goodwill toward men”? We think of “goodwill” as benevolence or a favorable disposition. A popular view is that the reference is to “goodwill among men to one another.” But that would be altogether unfitting in a song of praise to God. Why would the angels begin singing God’s praises and then extol man’s goodwill toward his fellow men? Besides, there is no such thing as goodwill among men, for here is how Paul describes men: “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another” (Titus 3:3). That did not change with the coming of Christ: mankind was not improved when the Son of God became incarnate.
Nor does the expression mean “men of goodwill,” that is, men who have goodwill toward God. The idea would be that there are certain men and women who are naturally inclined toward God, and that they will receive Jesus. But the Bible knows nothing of such men and women, for all men and women are at enmity with God: they hate him, they rebel against him, and they refuse to honor him (Rom. 8:7-8). If men and women are to believe in God, God does not seek out from among them the “good-natured” ones, but works faith in his own people so that they embrace the Savior with a believing heart. If there were such men in the world, they would boast of their own goodwill, their free will, or their tendency to seek God, and then the first stanza of this beautiful song would be destroyed: glory not to God in the highest, but glory to men of goodwill in the earth! God forbid!
The other interpretation is that God has a general benevolence or goodwill toward all men. Goodwill toward men is said to be God’s general goodwill toward men. Then in this song the angels would be announcing, “Good news! God has a general, favorable disposition toward all men by which he desires to bless and save all men.” This is a very popular view among Arminians and evangelicals, and even some Calvinists, because they are committed to the notion that God loves all men, blesses all men, and is gracious toward all men in the birth of Jesus. But such a “well-meant offer,”—a general disposition of God toward all men—does not save all men; in fact, most people are lost. How would such an ineffectual display of general kindness bring glory to God? Besides that, the context of Luke 2:14 forbids such a foolish interpretation. If God wanted to announce his general goodwill toward men in the birth of his Son, why did he send a multitude of angels to only a handful of shepherds on an isolated hill outside a small Judean village? Surely he could have sent angels to many men, in many parts of the world, to make such an announcement, if that really were his intention! Clearly, God’s goodwill is particular: that is why he sends a particular message about a particular Savior to a particular people!
However, those interpretations rest on a mistranslation. In almost all places in the New Testament, and in all places where the reference is to God, the word is translated not as “goodwill,” but as “good pleasure” or “purpose.” Remember that this song is God-centered. The angels sing of God’s purpose. The word that the angels use is God’s good pleasure. God’s good pleasure is simply that which God is pleased to do. Because God’s good pleasure is that which God is pleased to do, it is something in which God delights. Because it is something in which God delights, it is something in which we his creatures—and especially now his angels—must delight.
That word, “good pleasure,” refers especially in scripture to God’s good pleasure in election. Paul in Ephesians 1:5 finds the source of our salvation in God’s decree: “Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.” In Matthew 11:25-26, Jesus praises the decreeing God: “I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.” (Or, so it was according to thy good pleasure.) God’s good pleasure is especially revealed in this: the sending of his Son into this world to be the savior: “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell” (Col. 1:19).
If goodwill refers to God’s good pleasure, and that goodwill is “toward men,” the angels mean the following: “God takes pleasure and delight in his people. His good pleasure is toward you for whom he has sent his Son to be the savior.” “God takes pleasure in you, O shepherds, to bless you and to save you. God does not take pleasure in you, O shepherds, because of who you are.” The shepherds know that there is nothing in them that is pleasing to God in which God could take pleasure. In fact, in them is everything displeasing to God because they are sinners. But God delights in these shepherds—and in all his people—in Christ. Lest the shepherds should doubt that, here is the proof: the Savior has been born in Bethlehem. God delights in these humble shepherds, and in us, and out of his mere, gracious, good pleasure, he has sent his Son, who is born in Bethlehem.
What a wonder of grace!
What glad tidings! What great joy! Out of that goodwill directed toward his
people in Christ God gives us peace, which is the final chord of the angels’
song.
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(II)
Rev. James Slopsema
[Source: The Standard Bearer, vol. 96, no. 6 (Dec. 15, 2019), p. 128]
God’s
good will is His kindness and benevolence. This good will God has towards men.
These men are His elect church that forms the heart of the human race. In His
good will, God will bring peace to them on earth.
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(III)
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop
[Source: The Standard Bearer, vol. 90, no. 6 (Dec. 15, 2013), p. 124)
“Good
will” always refers in Scripture to God’s good pleasure. God is pleased to
exercise His good pleasure to men. Divine pleasure is extended, not to every
human, but to the elect humans (who altogether make up mankind). Every
individual human is justly the object of God’s wrath because of man’s fall into
sin. But it is God’s “good will” to save to Himself a certain number whom He
unites together. In His good will God declares to them that, though their sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool (Is. 1:18). In the Baby lying in the manger we see God’s
good will towards us! He has forgiven us at the greatest price to Himself!
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(IV)
Prof. David J. Engelsma
The better translation of the text is, “peace to men of good will.” The meaning, then, is that there is peace to men of God’s good will, or good counsel.
If
the other translation is preferred, for textual reasons, the
explanation is that God certainly has good will toward men. Otherwise, He had not sent
His son into the world. But the men are those from all nations whom He has elected in Christ—all the men
of whom Jesus is the head. (DJE,
03/09/2018)
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(V)
More to come! (DV)
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