God of All Grace

Below is an excerpt from A.W. Pink’s book, “Election and Justification.” Though quite lengthy, I am posting it because I found that there was no better way for me to spend this Christmas morn than in contemplating the God of all grace, who is “Emmanuel, God with us.” May you be blessed as you consider this Great and gracious God.

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” ~ 1 Peter 5:10

“This verse sets forth the wondrous and mighty grace of God dispensed to His elect in effectually calling them, in preserving them from temptation and sin, in strengthening and enabling them to perseverance unto the end, and – not withstanding all the opposition of the flesh, the world, and the devil – bring them at last securely unto eternal glory; for as Romans 8:30 declares, “Whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

“When Paul was under temptation a messenger (or angel) from Satan being sent to buffet him, what was it that God did immediately set before him for relief? This: “My grace is sufficient for thee” (2 Corinthians 12:9) – the grace of God’s heart toward him and the grace working in his own heart, both to assist him effectually.”

“But there is something yet more precious here in 1 Peter 5:10 “the God of all grace,” which has reference first to the exceeding riches of grace that are in His nature, then to the benevolent designs which He has toward His own, and then to His gracious dealings with them. The grace in His nature is the fountain, the grace of His purpose or counsels is the wellhead, and the grace of His dispensations or dealings with us are the streams.”

“God is an all-gracious God in Himself, even as He is the Almighty, which is an essential attribute. There is a limitless ocean of grace in Himself to feed all streams in which His purposes and designs of grace are to issue forth. Our consolation from hence is, that all the grace which is in the nature of God is in the promise of His being “the God of all grace” to His church declared to be so engaged as to afford supplies to them, yea, to the utmost expenditure of these riches as their needs require.”

“For God to be the God of all grace unto His people is for Him to resolve to love them, and that forever; to be unchanging in His love and never to have his heart taken off them.”

“Now since there is a fullness, an ocean, all dispensatory grace to be given forth by God, what necessity follows? This, first, that there is no temptation that doth or can befall a saint that is under dominion of free grace, but God hath a grace prepared to be applied when His hour arrives. It clearly implies that God hath a grace fitted and suited as every need and occasion should arise. There is no sore in the heart but he hath a plaster ready for it, to be laid thereon in due season.”

“As God hath grace for all the manifold needs of His people, so He is the God of all grace in giving forth help as their occasions require, for such is the season for grace to be displayed. “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).”

“God has in Himself sufficient grace to meet all the varied needs of His people, and actually does so. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13). The greatest and acutest need of the Christian springs out of his indwelling sin, yet ample provision is made here, too, for “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20).”

“The superabounding of divine grace is gloriously displayed when God effectually calls His people. First, God then shows Himself to be the God of all grace in the pardon He bestows. Consider what an incalculable debt of sinning we have incurred! From the earliest infancy the carnal mind is enmity against God: “the wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking likes” (Psalms 58:3). Every thought from the first dawning of reason has been only evil continually. Our sins were more in number than the hairs of our head. Suppose, Christian reader, thou hadst lived for twenty or thirty years before God effectually called thee: during all that time thou hadst done no good – not a single act acceptable to the thrice holy God; instead, all thy ways were abominable to Him. Nor hadst thou any concern about God’s being so grievously dishonored, nor the fearfulness of thy estate. And then lo! – wonder of wonders- by one act, in a single moment, God blotted out all thy sins: “having forgiven you all trespasses” (Colossians 2:13).”

“Second, God showed Himself to be the God of all grace in bestowing on thee a righteousness which met every requirement of His holy Law: a perfect righteousness, even the righteousness of Christ, which contained in it all obedience. That infinitely meritorious righteousness was imputed to thy account wholly and at once: not piecemeal a bit at a time, but in one entire gift. “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17).

“Third, God showed Himself to be the God of all grace in sanctifying thee. This includes first and foremost the bestowment of the Holy Spirit, who takes up His residence in the heart, so that thy body is the temple of God, whereby, thou art set apart and consecrated to Him. In consequence of this, mortifying grace was bestowed, so that every lust then received is death-wound: “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts” (Galatians 5:24). Quickening grace was also imparted, whereby, the spirit is enabled to resist the flesh: “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).”

“These inestimable blessings were the pledges and earnests of the preservation, for “He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6). It is in no wise a question of thy worthiness, but solely a matter of divine grace: “I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it nor anything taken from it” (Ecclesiastes 3:14).”~ A.W. Pink

The Love of God Displayed in the Effectual Call

“The effectual call is not an invitation, but is the actual bestowment of light and life. It is the immediate fruit of God’s wondrous and infinite love to our persons when we are altogether unlovely, yea, the subjects of nothing but what renders us repulsive and hateful (see Ezekiel 16:4-8!). It is then that the Holy Spirit is given to the elect – given to make good in them what Christ wrought out for them. Let it be clearly recognized and thankfully owned that the gift of the Spirit to us is as great and grand a gift as the gift of Christ for us. By the Spirit’s inhabiting us we are sanctified and sealed unto the day of redemption.”

“As the love of the Father is chiefly spoken of under the act of election expressed by Him giving His only begotten Son to be our Head and Mediator, and as the love of God the Son shines forth brightest in His incarnation, obedience, and laying down His life for us, so the love of God the Spirit is displayed in His revealing in the Word the eternal transaction between the Father and the Son by enlightening our minds into a true, vital, and spiritual knowledge of the Father and Son.”

“It is at effectual calling that the Spirit is pleased to make an inward revelation and application of the salvation of Christ to the soul, which is indeed heaven dawning upon us, for by it dead sinners are quickened, hard hearts forgiven, and infinite mercy displayed and magnified. It is then that the Holy Spirit, who is the Lord and Giver of all spiritual life, enables great sinners to know that God is love.”

“By His Spirit Christ is pleased to shed abroad the love of God in the heart, and through the gospel He manifests the knowledge of the Father’s love to us. He gives the Spirit to make a revelation of this to our minds, and thus we are led to know and feel the love of God to be the foundation of all grace and everlasting consolation.” ~ AW Pink

“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” ~ Romans 11:36

“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.” ~ Ephesians 1:3-6

The following link is to a lecture given by Prof. David Engelsma - Oct. 29, 2010 on the doctrines taught by the Federal Vision.  Thanks goes to Southwest Protestant Reformed Church for making this lecture available.

You can listen to it here: http://talkfederalvision.com/resources.php

“The church is Reformed and always being reformed according to the Word of God.”

“It is not because the culture is always changing and we need to be up with the times, but because we are always in need of being re-orientated to the Word that stands over us, individually and corporately, that the church can never stand still. It must always be a listening church. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Personally and corporately, the church comes into being and is kept alive by hearing the gospel. The church is always on the receiving end of God’s good gifts as well as His correction. The Spirit does not lead us apart from the Word, but directs us back to Christ as He is revealed in Scripture, both the law and the gospel. We always need to return to the voice of our Shepherd. The same gospel that creates the church sustains and renews it. Our personal conformity to the Word that Paul commands in Romans 12 is never completed in this life. And the same is true of the church in this present age.”


“When we invoke the whole phrase – “the church Reformed and always in need of being reformed according to the Word of God” – we confess that we belong to a church and not simply to ourselves and that this church is always created and renewed by the Word of God rather than by the Spirit of the age. It is simply another way of saying that we are not our own (individually or collectively) but belong to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.” ~ Michael Horton

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;” ~ Proverbs 3:5

“Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:” ~ Isaiah 26:4

“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” ~ Psalm 9:10

“The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.” ~ Nahum 1:7

“Now reason why trust is so much required, is because, 1, it emptieth the soul; and 2, by emptying it enlargeth it; and 3, seasoneth and fitteth the soul to join with so gracious an object and 4, filleth it by carrying itself unto God, who presently, so soon as he is trusted in, conveys himself and his goodness to the soul; and thus we come to have the comfort, and God the glory in all his excellencies. Thus salvation comes to be sure unto us, whilst faith looking to the promises, and to God freely offering grace therein, resigns up itself to God, making no further question from any unworthiness of its own.”

“And thus we return to God by cleaving to him, from whom we fell by distrust, being under a new covenant merely of grace, Jeremiah 31:3, and no grace fitter than that which gives all to Christ.  God in Christ is full of all that is good.  When the soul is emptied, enlarged, and opened by faith to receive goodness offered, there must needs follow sweet satisfaction.” ~ Richard Sibbes

“Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.” ~ Jeremiah 17:7

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.” ~ Isaiah 12:2

If Any Man Will Come After Me

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” ~ Matthew 16:24

“There are two things that most trouble us in the way to heaven, corruption within us, and the cross without us: That which is within us must be denied, that that which is without us may be endured. Otherwise we cannot follow him by whom we look to be saved.” ~ Richard Sibbes

Denial of self is not the cause of our salvation, for Scripture clearly teaches,

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9

Grace was granted to us only because it was God’s good pleasure to do so, and for His purposes alone.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

There is within Scripture a tension between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility. We cannot stress one to the exclusion of the other. Yes, salvation is all grace; by grace alone in Christ alone through faith alone to the glory of God alone. But that truth does not negate the clear teachings of human responsibility, nor do those commands imply that we are able of ourselves to walk out what they command. But by God’s grace, the same grace which saved us, we will be enabled to deny self, to pick up whatever cross God has foreordained we are to bear, and to walk worthily of His high calling.

And we should be given pause, if there are no evidences in our life of such a transformation, for all who are truly in Christ will give evidence to His life within them.

Moreover; we should be aware of the consequences of besetting sins and disobedience.

"If we bring any ruling lust to religion, it will prove a bitter root of some gross sin, or of apostasy and final desperation.” ~ Richard Sibbes

May we hear and heed these words:

"Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  ~ 2 Peter 1:2-11

Discontentment

"A childish kind of peevishness: when they have not what they would have, like children they throw away all; which, though it be very offensive to God's Spirit, yet it seizeth upon men otherwise gracious. Abraham himself, wanting children, Genesis 15:2, undervalued all other blessings. Jonah, because he was crossed of his gourd, was weary of his life. The like may be said of Elias, flying from Jezebel. This peevishness is increased by a too much flattery of their grief, so far as to justify it; like Jonas, "I do well to be angry even unto death," Jonah 4:9; he would stand to it. Some, with Rachel, are so peremptory, that they 'will not be comforted,' Jeremiah 31:15, as if they were in love with their grievances. Willful men are most vexed in their crosses. It is not for those to be willful that have not a great measure of wisdom to guide their wills; for God delights to have his will of those that are wedded to their own wills, as in Pharaoh. No men more subject to discontentments than those who would have all things their own ways."

"The casting down of ourselves is not from humility, but from pride; we must have our will, or God shall not have a good look from us, but as pettish and peevish children we hang our heads in our bosom, because our wills are crossed."

"Men lay up their comforts too much on outward things, which being subject to much inconstancy and change, breed disquiet. Vexation always follows vanity, when vanity is not apprehended to be where it is. In that measure we are cast down in the disappointing of our hopes, as we were too much lifted up in expectation of good from them. Whence proceed these complaints: Such a friend hath failed me; I never thought to have fallen into this condition; I had settled my joy in this child, in this friend, etc. But this is to build our comfort upon things that have no firm foundation, to build castles in the air, as we use to say. Therefore it is a good desire of the wise man Agur to desire God 'to remove from us vanity and lies,' Proverbs 30:8; that is, a vain and false apprehension pitching upon things that are vain and lying, promising that contentment to ourselves from the creature which it cannot yield. Confidence in vain things makes a vain heart, the heart becoming of the nature of the thing it relys on. We may say of all earthly things as the prophet speaketh, 'here is not our rest,' Micah 2:10."

"Therefore, in all our troubles we should look first home to our own hearts, and stop the storm there; for we may thank our own selves, not only for our troubles, but likewise for overmuch troubling ourselves in trouble. It was not the troubled condition that so disquieted David's soul, for if he had a quiet mind, it would not have troubled him. But David yielded to the discouragements of the flesh, and the flesh, so far as it is unsubdued, is like the sea that is always casting mire and dirt of doubts, discouragements, and murmurings in the soul; let us, therefore, lay the blame where it is to be laid."  ~ Richard Sibbes