Herman Veldman (1908-1997) on Luke 6:35-36

 

[Source: The Standard Bearer, vol. 25, no. 14 (April 15, 1949), p. 324]

 

We should note that the passage in Luke merely speaks of the unthankful and the evil (not the unthankful and thankful, the evil and the good), and this can surely refer to the people of God who, apart from the love and the mercy of God, are unthankful and evil. This characterizes all the people of God as they are of themselves. How could we possibly be saved if it were not for the fact that the Lord is kind to the unthankful and the evil? God loved us, indeed, as sinners; and it is only because of and through the love and mercy of God that we, sinners by nature, become saints. To quote Luke 6:35-36 as a proof for a universal love of God is, therefore, unjustifiable—this text can serve as a proof for a general mercy of the Lord only if it be supported therein by the rest of Holy Writ, and it therefore be shown that these “unthankful and evil” also refer to the reprobate unthankful and evil.