A Love Called Grace

At the intersection of infinite love and almighty power, what is mankind? How shall we stand in the way of God’s intent to save? His gracious love for His people will triumph, and none so blessed shall make bold to declare that he was overcome and wronged.

“Grace” is more than mercy and love, it superadds to them. It denotes, not simply love, but the love of a sovereign, transcendently superior, one that may do what He will, that may wholly choose whether He will love or no. There may be love between equals, and an inferior love may love a superior, but love in a superior, and so superior as He may do what He will, in such a one love is called grace: and therefore grace is attributed to princes; they are said to be gracious to their subjects, whereas subjects cannot be gracious to princes. Now God, who is an infinite Sovereign, who might have chosen whether ever He would love us or no, for Him to love us, this is grace.

—Thomas Goodwin

Grace does not pluck up by the roots and wholly destroy the natural passions of the mind, because they are distempered by sin. That were an extreme remedy, to cure by killing, and to heal by cutting off. No; but it corrects the distemper in them. It dries not up the main stream of love, but purifies it from the mud it is full of in its wrong course, or calls it to its right channel, by which it may run into happiness, and empty itself in the ocean of goodness.

—Robert Leighton

It is a rule in divinity, that grace takes not away nature; that is, grace comes not to take away a man’s affections, but to take them up.

—William Fenner

It is a greater work of God to bring men to grace, than being in the state of grace, to bring them to glory; because sin is far more distant from grace than grace is from glory.

—John Trapp

The internal call is when the Spirit of God accompanies the outward administration of the Word to call a man from ignorance to knowledge, and a state of nature to a state of grace.

—Christopher Love