Rev. Ronald Hanko
[Originally published in
the Covenant Reformed Fellowship News, vol. 4, nos. 3-5]
Question:
“I may be reading too much
into it, but I notice that you do not read into Matthew 23:37 the free offer of
the Gospel, as I would. Indeed, [in one issue of the Covenant Reformed News],
you write, ‘Are you weary because of your sins? To such Christ
says, Come to me and I will give you rest.’ Are you suggesting that there is a certain
degree of ‘weariness’ of sins before we may bid sinners fly to Christ? If so, to
what degree is that? Am I to single out in my congregation those who bear the marks
of the elect, and say that they only may freely receive Christ? Or do I
bid them come to a Saviour who ‘loved’ an unregenerate rich young ruler,
and was moved with compassion for the multitudes?”
In
answering this question, I am not going to comment on the rich young ruler,
since that passage has already been dealt with in another issue of the News
(vol. 1, no. 15). This reader has picked up on a very important point, but to
some extent misunderstands what we teach, and what Scripture teaches.
Let
us clarify.
First,
we do not believe that God shows love to all who hear the gospel. And since
Christ’s love is the love of God, we do not believe that He loved
everyone to whom He preached either.
The
idea that God shows love for all in the gospel reconciles neither with the love
Christ showed by His death on the cross (He died only for some), nor with
election (God’s eternal and unchangeable love for some); nor does it reconcile
with such passages as John 13:1 and John 17:9; nor does it reconcile with the
fact that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation—not an empty
display of love; nor does it reconcile with God’s not granting to all who hear
the gospel repentance and faith. Does He love them and not give them what they
need to repent and believe? A strange love indeed!
We
do not believe, either, that anyone can be “weary and heavy laden” (Matt.
11:28), “thirsty” (Isa. 55:1), or “willing” (Rev. 22:17) without saving grace.
To say otherwise is to deny salvation by grace alone, for how can a totally
depraved sinner do good, especially the great good of being heavy-laden for
sin, thirsty for grace, or willing to come to Christ?
Thus,
we believe that the promises of the gospel are only for the elect. They,
in time, are made weary, thirsty, and finally also willing by the grace of God.
And it is to them that the promises are addressed. And no one else but
the elect will ever be weary of sin or thirsty for grace.
However—and
this is where the reader misunderstands us—we do not deny that the gospel,
including the promises, must be preached to all. We believe both the promises of
the gospel must be proclaimed to all, and also that all men must be commanded
to repent and believe (Acts 17:30).
We
emphasize the words “proclaimed” and “commanded,” however, because we do not
believe that in the gospel God shows loving “offers” of salvation to all. The
gospel is a call, a command, a proclamation, a showing forth of Christ, but no
well-meant offer or open invitation.
Why
must this demand and proclamation be made to all? Because the gospel is not
only “the power of God unto salvation” (Rom. 1:16) but is also the power of God
unto hardening and condemnation (II Cor. 2:14-16).
*
* * *
* *
The
teaching of Scripture is that the promises are only for the elect—they are particular
promises. Particular election,
particular atonement, particular grace, and a particular promise all go
together.
We
emphatically reject the idea, however, that the promises of the gospel should
be preached only to the elect or to those who show some evidence of
being elect, i.e., “sensible sinners.” The whole gospel must be generally
proclaimed.
It
is impossible to preach only to the elect. No one can judge finally between one
who has the marks of the elect and one who pretends to have them. If we try to
apply the promises only to the elect, we will inevitably be applying them to
some who are hypocrites. Nor is this our business. The Spirit is the one who
takes the promises of the Word and Christ in the Word and apply them to those
who are truly weary, thirsty and heavy-laden. Our only business is to proclaim
the promises of Christ from the Word as the means the Spirit uses.
In
other words, it must be made clear in the preaching that the promises belong
only to the weary, and the thirsty, i.e., the elect, but this does not mean we
single out persons. That is the work of the Holy Spirit–first to make men weary
of sin, and then to apply to them the balm of Gilead. We proclaim the truth,
including the promises. We show that these promises are only for the elect,
call men to repent and believe the promises and leave the rest to the Holy
Spirit—either to use that proclamation and call for the salvation of the elect or
for the hardening and condemnation of the rest.
We
reject, therefore, both the idea that the gospel is a well-meant offer of
salvation to all who hear and the idea that the whole gospel should be preached
only to the elect or to those who give evidence of being elect.
In
bidding men come to Christ, therefore, we do not bid them come to a Saviour who
loves all men (but did not die for them or pray for them); we bid them come and
tell them that no one who comes will be cast out. And we bid them come
believing that the Holy Spirit will use that call to cause the elect to come.
Thus, even their coming will be the result of God’s grace and the saving
operations of the Holy Spirit.
To
tell all that God loves everyone and wants to save them all only breeds
confusion and hardens the sinner in his unbelief. Why should he believe and
repent if God loves Him anyway? Why should he take the threat of judgment
seriously when he is constantly reassured that God does not want anyone to
perish and is trying to save everyone? Why should he repent and believe if God
is trying to save him? If cannot save him, who can?
*
* * *
* *
Matthew
23:37 is often used as proof for a well-meant offer of salvation in the gospel.
Many see Christ here weeping with pity and compassion over those whom He had
tried and failed to gather and who were about to be destroyed by the judgment
of God. The passage is taken, then, to show both that Christ “offered”
salvation to reprobate Israel and that He did this in compassion and love for
them.
The
same thing is supposed to take place when the gospel is preached. God, in
Christ, so it is said, loves and has compassion on everyone, wants to save
everyone and so offers and tries to give salvation to everyone.
Even
if Jesus’ words do show love and compassion (Calvin says they are words of
anger), the interpretation that finds in this verse proof of a universal love
of God is based on a serious misreading of the passage. Indeed, in listening
recently to a tape defending the well-meant offer of the gospel, the speaker, a
minister, misquoted the passage three times. Nor is this uncommon. More than
once I have heard the passage misquoted as though it said, “How often would I
have gathered THEE together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her
wings, and ye would not.”
Anyone
who does not know what the verse actually says should look it up and see! If
the passage is read carefully, it will be clear that Jesus is talking about two
different groups of people—those identified as Jerusalem and those
identified as Jerusalem’s children. This is of utmost importance in
interpreting the passage.
All
Jesus says about Jerusalem is that they tried to frustrate His purpose
in gathering the children. He does not say that He tried to gather Jerusalem
or that He loved Jerusalem. Indeed, the rest of the passage shows that He is
angry with Jerusalem and pronounces judgment against her: “Behold, your house
is left unto you desolate” (v. 28).
This
Jerusalem is the same as the Jerusalem of Galatians 4:25, the Jerusalem which
now is and is in bondage. This Jerusalem, Jesus tells us in Matthew 23:37, has
always killed God’s prophets and stoned those who were sent to her. Jesus shows
no desire to gather her, nor any love and compassion for her.
Indeed,
if Jesus had tried to gather Jerusalem (which the text does not say), He would
here be expressing a frustrated compassion. Do those who hold to the well-meant
offer of the gospel really believe that the Son of God can be frustrated in His
love and compassion? I, for one, prefer to believe in a sovereign
Saviour who does what He desires and insures that not one whom He seeks is
lost. An impotent and frustrated Saviour who cannot do what He wants and is
frustrated by man’s stubbornness is no help. If He cannot save, who can?
Jerusalem’s
children, therefore, are a different group. They are those whom Jesus came to
gather and whom He does gather, so that not one of them is lost, in
spite of the opposition of unbelieving and wicked Jerusalem. Them He seeks and
saves—every one. By the power of
irresistible grace, He gathers them, preserves them and finally takes them home
to be with Himself.
*
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