Luke 2:14—“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men”

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).

COMMON GRACE ARGUMENT:

“Does not this text say that the gospel is, intrinsically, good news to all who hear it, and not just the elect? (Therefore teaching that there is a favour of God upon all men in some sense?)

Does God have ‘good will’ towards the non-elect/reprobate?”

QUESTION BOX:

Q. 1. “Does this text say that the gospel is, intrinsically, good news to all who hear it? The bad news is a consequence of their rejection of it (as well as their already existing and continued condition in an estate of sin and misery).”

Regarding this question, 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.  The text does not describe “men” as every human without exception.  The rest of Scripture must explain the extent of the “men.”  Elsewhere, the Bible teaches that the gospel, although good news in itself, is good news that is intended by God to harden some humans to whom it comes (see Romans 9).  Also Scripture teaches that the gospel proves to be good news only to some humans (Acts 13:48). 

If God intended it to be good news accomplishing salvation to all men, why are not all men saved by it?  Does it depend on the will of sinners?  Here again the implication is that salvation is a matter of the will of sinners, rather than the will of God. (Prof. David J. Engelsma, 03/09/2018)