#159 The nature of divine love

From Meditations on the Epistles of John, by Samuel Froehlich

If one is born of God, love has become his nature, so that he can no longer do otherwise than to love. But it is not a human, partial, variable, whimsical, plaintive love, of which one is not for a moment sure whether it will not suddenly change into the opposite. Instead divine love is a constant, persistent, unchangeable disposition of sincere good will, for as there is no changing or even a trace of variableness in God, so also only a perfect gift comes down from Him, in order that His unchangeable nature may stamp itself upon His children, so that they are not sometimes friendly, sometimes sullen and strange but always like themselves because of love.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

And as God has undeservingly loved the ungodly, lost sinner-world and has offered up His Only Begotten Son to save it from the dominion of Satan, so also the love of the children of God extends itself impartially to all men, without regard to whether they hate or love us, do us good or harm, whether they deserve it or not, are worthy of love or hatred, i.e., just as they all by nature are;

Titus 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

for had God looked at it as the proud sinner does, He would indeed have found nothing in the world worthy of love and would have had to reject it.

But His love was a compassionate sympathy, a gracious good will, that He had purposed to Himself;

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

however not with the intention that men should remain in their inborn hatefulness (in sin), but that in Christ, His beloved Son, they should actually be presented lovable again, inasmuch as by putting Him on we are changed into His image; for to that end has the Father let His voice be heard from heaven over Christ: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” that by the acceptance of the Same we might attain to divine amicableness. For now the Father seeks and also wishes to have such worshippers whom He could love as His children and in whom He could shed His love abroad by the Holy Spirit as an indwelling, living law, by which they would work righteousness and love again and then would be well pleasing to God and men in the dignity of the love of Christ (Ephesians 1:3 ff.) (below), not that by it we would please the world, which, on this account, would rather hate, ridicule and reject us, if we are in Christ and Christ is in us.

Ephesians 1:3-14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Because the devil and the world cannot bear the true, living Christ—especially if the love of Christ compels one to save others as lost sinners from their destruction and to draw them to Christ—the devil then rouses himself up in men with such power that he would fairly devour one alive, and if we do not have a persisting love to the souls for God’s sake, like Jesus Who went so far as to die for them, by such “reward” and “thanks” from the world, we will easily be frightened away and do nothing. But even if the world does not recognize and accept us with Christ and the love of God, we nevertheless, as children of God, must unfold such loveliness in our entire character and behavior that at least the Father Himself and all His children must love us and with good pleasure can consider us saints. We must, of course, demand and expect much more of the children of God than of all other men, so that we are not mistaken about them, because two things must meet here and unite in all of them: each one must love and also must be worthy of being loved.

There is indeed nothing more distressing and more grievous than if one has to see brothers and sisters in Christ with whom one does not know how he stands, who are not lovable in their character and manner and who do not correspond to, but contradict, their holy name and profession, so that one cannot recognize them as children of God or love them as brothers and sisters in Christ as one would like to, and should do. Such incongruity hurts and cannot last. For either we must be lovable as children of God or we must relinquish the holy name of brother or sister, of which we are not worthy if we do not have His Holy Spirit as testimony that we have passed from death to life and have received a perfect gift from the Father of Lights as His children.

When sinners judge one another, none ever think that they themselves are just as hateful and abominable as they whom they judge, and each one sees only the other and not himself (Matthew 7; Romans 2). But with the children of God, in each one the image of Christ must be reflected, so that they recognize and love one another therein as brothers and sisters in Christ, and that they may not offend, but all may edify one another.