DECEMBER 13TH, 1928

DECEMBER 13TH, 1928

MY DEAR BROTHER, — I do not believe that any conditions on the part of men change the attitude or disposition of God as a “Saviour God who desires that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth”. The Man Christ Jesus “gave himself a ransom for all”. There are no exceptions to this, and the Saviour-God regards all men from this standpoint. “All the creation” gives the scope of the glad tidings, and the “world” is provisionally in reconciliation — all viewed by the blessed God in relation to Christ and His precious death.

If men turn away from all this wilfully, and in despite of all the grace of a Saviour-God, their blood is entirely on their own heads. The warning is there, too, to put every possible deterrent in the way of apostasy. But wilful rebellion does not change the character of the dispensation: it brings out in a dreadful way the enmity of a heart that is unaffected by a righteous and measureless grace. But God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”.

“The testimony to be rendered in its own times” is that of a Saviour-God, and a Mediator who has given Himself a ransom for all. The warnings of Scripture are not to shut the door of blessing against anyone, but to bring every motive to bear upon men that they should not imperil their own blessing. God remains what He is in spite of what men may be, and He waits to be gracious, as we may say, to the very last moment. If one is actually apostate, as in Hebrews 6, it is in spite of all that God has done to secure blessing for him. The warning is there to prevent anyone from such a dreadful ^[p. 177] thing, and it is only known to God when such conditions are present as to make renewal again to repentance impossible. It would be in Christianity a very extreme case of having full measure of light, but deliberately giving it up and becoming, say, a Mohammedan. But even in such a case the light that is turned away from remains as the only light in which God is making Himself known to men at the present time, however solemn may be the consequences of final unbelief or apostasy from it. It is like the sun in the heavens shining for all. Men may be so wicked that they deliberately deprive themselves of the light that shines for them, but it still shines, though perhaps to their condemnation, as proving that they love darkness rather than light because their works are evil.

I do not know that I need add more, save my love in the Lord Jesus.

Yours affectionately in Him,

December 13th, 1928.