God Loves… Himself

Luke 6:31 Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

The selfish love of sinners has no moral goodness in it because it is no obedience to the divine law. The law requires them to love God with all the heart, and to love their fellow men as themselves. But when they love themselves because they are themselves, and love others only because they have received or expect to receive benefit from them, do they obey the divine law? Do they feel towards God as they would that He should feel towards them? Or do they feel towards others as they would that others should feel towards them? Does their selfish affection in the least degree answer the demands of that law which requires pure, disinterested love? It is morally impossible for sinners to love God supremely, and their fellow men impartially, from a selfish heart. Let their love to God or man rise ever so high, it can have no moral goodness in it, because it is not obedience to the divine law which requires nothing but pure, holy, disinterested love. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

It is vital to understand the nature of selfishness if we are to understand sin and true holiness. It is also vital if we are going to understand what Christ saves sinners from and of the nature of assurance. When sinners have nothing but selfish love in their hearts, which is the case with all unregenerate human beings, they have no moral goodness in them which means they have no love for God or their neighbor and as such they have no obedience to the divine law at all. While it is true that we hear warning of those who only keep the law in the externals of it, apart from understanding the selfishness of the fallen heart a person can keep some aspects of the law out of selfishness and have some selfish love in his or her heart and be deceived into thinking that s/he is keeping the law to some degree.

In the 8th commandment we are commanded not to steal, but the Great Commandments teach us that we are not to steal because we love God and our neighbor. The difference is simply huge and has eternal consequences. It is possible not to steal because we don’t want to go to jail or because we are concerned that if we are caught it will ruin our reputation. It is possible not to steal because we are proud of our self-righteousness and as such we want to consider ourselves as keepers of the law. But all of those reasons can simply be nothing but the products of a selfish heart who does what it does and does not do what it does not do out of love for sinful self. That is without question, then, idolatry. It is not the external refraining from stealing that is at the heart of the 8th commandment, but instead it is love for God and our neighbor. If we do not steal out of love for self and a selfish heart, then we have not kept the commandment out of love for God. Instead, we are stealing the obedience we owe God and the absolute devotion to Him and give it to self.

This is the real issue of the heart. All human beings are born dead in sins and trespasses and their hearts are born in selfishness and self-love. This is a terrible bondage and yet part of that bondage is that sinners are blind to their own bondage. They do on their way in their self-love and selfishness just doing all out of self-love not realizing that they are under the wrath of God and are violating His holy commandments moment after moment. As Emmons notes, it is utterly impossible for those who are in the bondage of selfish hearts to love God supremely (above themselves) and their fellow man impartially (without regard to their own selfishness). Those two things are completely and diametrically opposed to the Greatest Commandments. These people live their whole lives violating and breaking the Greatest Commandments in all they do, even their most religious actions.

When we view things in that light, the enormity of a selfish heart should be clear to all. It should also be clear that a selfish heart cannot be overcome by trying to be better, but instead it must be made new. Why would God save such vile wretches? He will only save them to the glory of His grace. He will only save them for the sake of His own name. In other words, the only thing that can move God to save such wretches is Himself. Sinners are saved by free-grace alone or they will not and cannot be saved. Behold the grace of God in saving such wretches! Behold the fierceness of the proud hearts which oppose Him in saving them. Behold Christ who saves sinners because He loved the Father and went to the cross so that the Father would be glorified in the salvation of sinners.

Luke 6:31 Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

The selfish love of sinners has no moral goodness in it because it is no obedience to the divine law. The law requires them to love God with all the heart, and to love their fellow men as themselves. But when they love themselves because they are themselves, and love others only because they have received or expect to receive benefit from them, do they obey the divine law? Do they feel towards God as they would that He should feel towards them? Or do they feel towards others as they would that others should feel towards them? Does their selfish affection in the least degree answer the demands of that law which requires pure, disinterested love? It is morally impossible for sinners to love God supremely, and their fellow men impartially, from a selfish heart. Let their love to God or man rise ever so high, it can have no moral goodness in it, because it is not obedience to the divine law which requires nothing but pure, holy, disinterested love. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

We see and hear encouragement for men to be moral based on selfish reasons. We see and hear encouragement for men to make a decision for Christ based on selfish reasons. A professing Christianity that is based on sinful self-love and selfishness is not Christianity at all. Jesus told Nicodemus (the very religious Jew) that he must be born from above. The same is true of all who will be saved. The heart must be changed from a selfish and self-centered heart that does all out of self-love to a heart that does what it does out of love for God. This is not just a mere outward or external change; it is a change of nature.

Once again Emmons strikes at the very heart of what modern people think of as Christianity. They think of it as Christianity because they have been deceived and pastors and elders have been deceived about this for many years. A few hundred years ago the ministers would seek to show men their hearts and try to help them see that they were sinners by nature and that their sinful self-love and self-seeking was to be a child of the devil rather than a child of the living God. But today we have professing Christian ministers who try to use the sinful hearts of men as a basis for them to make choices. It is what they use to entice men to pray prayers and it is what they use to entice men to make better moral decisions. It truly boggles the mind when one comes to the realization of this. What men used to think of as the very nature of sin men now try to use to get men to be moral or even for them to choose Christ for salvation. This should never have happened, but it has.

Augustine battled with Pelagius over these same issues sixteen hundred years ago. Pelagius thought it was in the power of man to be moral and to be involved in his own salvation. Luther and the Reformers fought the same idea in the time of the Reformation. Charles Finney also thought that he could talk men and use rational arguments to get men to make decisions for Christ in the 1800’s. We live in a day where that type of thinking has virtually swallowed up the professing Church. Where can one go to hear the clear preaching of the glory of God’s sovereign grace in salvation? Where can one go to hear preaching that exposes the sinfulness of the heart and leaves men without any hope but in the sovereign work of Christ? Where can one go to hear men stripped of all hope in themselves and to hear that their best efforts at morality and religion is based on selfishness and as such their best efforts are sinful? Where does one go to hear that men must look to God to give them a new heart so that they can truly believe?

The selfish love of sinners that sinners are encouraged to is not the Gospel at all, but rather is the opposite of it. The background of the Gospel is such that sinners should see that they are unable to perform any part of it and need Christ to deliver them from their best efforts at keeping the law, but instead at the very least sinners think that they have some love for God and their neighbor in them. The very best effort that unconverted men make toward God and others is in direct violation of the Great Commandments. It is a terrible deception to tell men only of the good things of God and then try to get them to pray a prayer as that does nothing but deceive them. It is to use the sinful heart that men must be delivered from in order to be saved to try to get them to save themselves. It is the anti-Gospel.

Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

It remains to inquire, why there is no moral goodness in the love which sinners exercise towards themselves and others. Christ supposes that they all know the nature of their love, and that there is nothing virtuous or praiseworthy in it…Is there any thing truly virtuous or amiable in men’s loving themselves, or in loving others from mere selfish, mercenary motives? All men in the world know that there is no moral goodness in such selfish affections, and they are always unwilling to acknowledge that they are actuated by mercenary motives. Who is willing to allow that he loves himself merely because he is himself? Or that he loves others merely because they love him? Or that he does good to others only when he thinks it will be for his private advantage?…Who is willing to be seen in doing any act of selfishness? Who ever thanked another for doing him a benefit only for the sake of gaining a much greater benefit? We never thank men for loving themselves, nor for loving us merely for their own sake. It is the unanimous sentiment of mankind that there is no virtue in that love which flows entirely from mercenary motives. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

If it is true that there is no moral goodness in the love which sinners exercise towards themselves and others, then we should know that there is nothing righteous in our acts. This must sink into our hearts that this is true of us and not just of others. If I looked at the acts of another and could know for sure that they proceeded from a selfish heart, I could know that those acts were sinful and without the least shred of righteousness. I must take that truth to my own heart as well, which means that I should seek the Lord to send His Spirit in my heart to enlighten me and drive this truth into the depths of my soul. The judgments that we pass on others should tell us that we believe those things to be true and that I must see that it is true of myself as well.

If there is nothing morally virtuous about love from mercenary motives, and indeed we would say harsh things about others in that regard, then we must seek the Lord to show us our own hearts in this matter. My mercenary motives are sinful and wicked as well. All the so-called love that I show that comes from love for self is nothing but an abomination before God. This too must be driven into the depths of our hearts by the Spirit. Our very love for ourselves makes us want to deny this or remain blind to it, but we must cry out to the Lord to give us eyes to see our own hearts and the depths of our own sin.

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “YOU SHALL NOT COVET.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died;

Here we see the great truth that Paul teaches in Romans 7 and yet has applications beyond that. We must see that the Law teaches us about sin, but the Law has to come into the depths of our souls and the righteousness we think we have and we must die to our own righteousness. Oh how easy it is to be full of pride and not see that pride. Oh how easy it is to be a slave of self-righteousness and be blind to our self-righteousness. From what Emmons wrote above, it should be without question that multitudes walk around proud of their righteous deeds when in fact those deeds were moved by a mercenary law that they themselves would condemn in others. This should cause terror in our own hearts, or at least some sense of what we have done and to some degree are still doing. When Christians just cruise on auto-pilot (so to speak) and just go about their outwardly good lives, they need to see that auto-pilot is the pilot of self or it is self-pilot. We must be piloted by grace and we are to seek grace rather than just assume it is there. We must seek the death of self in ourselves so that we would no longer love from mercenary motives and seek the Lord to work the fruit of His Spirit in us which is love. We must seek Him to do this not because we deserve it in the slightest, but we should seek it in the way of free-grace. We should seek it because it glorifies Him and seek Him to show it to us for that reason and no other.

Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. 32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

It remains to inquire, why there is no moral goodness in the love which sinners exercise towards themselves and others. Christ supposes that they all know the nature of their love, and that there is nothing virtuous or praiseworthy in it…Is there any thing truly virtuous or amiable in men’s loving themselves, or in loving others from mere selfish, mercenary motives? All men in the world know that there is no moral goodness in such selfish affections, and they are always unwilling to acknowledge that they are actuated by mercenary motives. Who is willing to allow that he loves himself merely because he is himself? Or that he loves others merely because they love him? Or that he does good to others only when he thinks it will be for his private advantage?…Who is willing to be seen in doing any act of selfishness? Who ever thanked another for doing him a benefit only for the sake of gaining a much greater benefit? We never thank me for loving themselves, nor for loving us merely for their own sake. It is the unanimous sentiment of mankind that there is no virtue in that love which flows entirely from mercenary motives. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

We are told by modern evangelists that all a person has to do to be saved is to pray a prayer or make a choice. When we read the text above and the writings of Emmons just above we can see that the modern evangelists are simply wrong. There is no way that a selfish person can pray a prayer or make choice that is not from a selfish heart. When Paul wrote that sinners are saved by grace and not works and instead of being saved by works sinners are saved for good works. Surely it is clear, then, that sinners cannot be saved for good works unless they are saved from their selfish hearts. As long as a person has a selfish heart that person cannot do one good work in the eyes of God. The only true salvation is when God changes the sinner’s heart by free-grace and then Christ dwells in that person. Salvation is by a holy and righteous choice, but only God can do that.

What moral goodness can there be in the choice of a sinner who loves all things for himself? What moral choice can sinners make when all that they do is out of love for self? How is it that God would regard the choice of sinner when that sinner would be choosing the idol of self out of enmity to God? If it is the case that few if any human beings in the world would consider that a person only loving others for mercenary reasons would be a moral person, then why does anyone even begin to consider that the mercenary choice of sinners would move God to respond to them in salvation? It is not just that sinners have no power to do things that are morally good, which they don’t, but all that a sinner does is out of love for self and as such is idol worship. The very best that a sinner can do is done out of enmity toward God.

God sees the heart of men and knows why men do what they do. Since He is omniscient (all-knowing) He sees the motives and intents that are hidden from the eyes of men, perhaps hidden to the eyes of those who have the motives and intents. There is no reason for God to save a sinner based on a selfish choice made out of heart that loves self with the motive of self-love. This is another point at which Arminian theology suffers a great problem. Sinners cannot love God until they have new hearts and as such there is no way the choices of a will that is determined, guided by, and with intent for can be anything but thoroughly sinful in all ways. When sinners think that God will save them because of their wicked and selfish choices, they are (by implication) saying that God saves sinners as a result of a sinful choice. This simply cannot be. God saves sinners by free-grace of they will not be saved at all.

This should also teach us a lot about sanctification as well. As Jesus taught us, apart from Him we can do nothing. Even those with new hearts cannot do one spiritual and/or good action apart from Christ working it in them. There are only two motives possible in the entire world. We either have motives (what we love and intend) for self or we have motives for the glory of God. Our motives will either be moved by our fleshly hearts or they will be moved by the grace of God. Our motives will either be moved by love for sinful self or for the glory of God. We have no other options in the matter. We are left in the hand of God’s sovereign grace to do with as He pleases. We should seek Him asking Him to break our hearts from our fleshly self and grant that we would be guided by His grace.

Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

We are to consider why sinners love others. Our Savior said to His disciples, that if they were of the world, the world would love them. And He said in the text that sinners love those that love them. Though the love of sinners always centers in themselves, yet it may extend to others, and take in a large circle of mankind, and even God Himself. Sinners loved Christ, and cried, “Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” The whole people of Israel loved the God of Moses when He carried them through the Red Sea, delivered them from the hand of Pharaoh, and gave them manna from heaven. But the question before us is, why do such selfish creatures love others? The answer is easy. It is because they have received, or expect to receive, benefit from them…For the same reason that sinners love themselves, they naturally love those that love them and are disposed to their own good, so they love every person or object which serves to increase or preserve their own interest…So they love their fellow men, not on their own account, but because they deem them in some way or other subservient to their private, separate interest. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

The Scriptures are powerful in what they say, but in the hands of a man of God they seem to be applied by the Spirit in deeper ways. It is still the Spirit using the Scriptures, but it is also the Spirit using men who are used to give understanding to the people of God. Why do sinners love other sinners when I John 4:7-8 tells us that unbelievers do not truly love? It is not from a love for God, but a love for themselves. This is a devastating point for those who hope to obtain righteousness by religion and good works. This shows with great clarity that those who are being nice are being nice for the sake of self. We like it when people are nice to us, so we are nice to them so they will be nice to us. When people are not nice, we don’t try to be nice either. Of course being nice is simply a custom of civility and is not the same thing as love, though it seems to have replaced true love in our day.

When people give a gift, they want something back in return despite their protestations. They want to be appreciated, they want to get an even bigger gift back, or perhaps they want some honor for the gift. The point, though, is that all that sinners do for others is to get something in return that is fitting for their love for self. The unbelieving sinner has no ability to do anything apart from self-interest and self-love. This is a profound teaching by Emmons and it would behoove us to spend time thinking on this point. When sinners make a profession of faith based on self-love, they have not been truly converted. When sinners only love the god they believe gives them good things and intends no discomfort for them, they can love (as such) that god.

As men in the days of Christ loved Him for what He did but not for who He was in and of Himself, so people today will love the Christ that is preached in our day. As long as the truth of God is kept out of the churches, the people may not recognize the enmity that is in their hearts toward God and His true people. Unbelievers can live quite well and get along with their neighbors as long as they think that they are doing things for each other. Unbelieving husbands and wives can get along well with each other as long as both serve each other in a way where the self-love each has is able to be stroked. When the self-love of each is able to be balanced, they can get along and be quite proud that they are still married.

This should give us insight into why so many false churches can get along and yet why true churches cannot. The false churches are filled with unbelievers and as long as they can keep the false teaching of the false god going, they can all be happy. One can be part of a true church (at least by appearance and creed) and yet there can be many unbelievers, so when some love God and others love themselves as the chief love, there will be problems. Then we have those who have made professions out of sinful self-love and out of that same sinful and natural (as opposed to spiritual) self-love they become very religious. While liberalism is far from Christianity, so are the self-righteous who do all out of self-love. How this teaching brings light to the professing churches and our own hearts!

Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Let us consider why sinners love themselves. It is plainly supposed in the text that sinners love themselves…In other passages of Scripture, they are said to be lovers of their own selves, to seek after their own things and not the things of others. But this is too evident from experience and observation to need any proof. Sinners certainly love themselves. But why? Not for the same reason that saints love themselves; if they did, they would be saints. Nor do they love themselves from mere instinct, as the lower species of animals do. But they love themselves because they are themselves, which is neither a true love nor a mere animal affection, but proper selfishness…Sinners love themselves, not because the general good requires them to regard their personal happiness, but because they are themselves. They love their own interest because it is their own, in distinction from the interest of all other created or uncreated beings. This is a free, voluntary exercise, which is contrary to their reason and conscience, and which they know to be in its own nature wrong. To love themselves, therefore, because they are themselves, is to love themselves from a motive peculiar to selfish creatures. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

Within these words is a profound teaching if one will take the time to think and meditate on it. Self-love is thought to be the root of all love in the modern world, but the Scriptures tell us that we are to love God with all of our being. If the older writers were correct (such as Emmons and Edwards and so on) then self-love is the true root of all the evil that we do and all that flows from this sinful self-love is sinful regardless of the action. While saints (all true believers) love themselves out of a love for God, the unbeliever loves all things out of love for self (self-centered self). When the believer loves self it is out of love for God and as such that love takes others into consideration. But the sinful self loves self as the center and the goal and as such it is not concerned about others if they get in the way of the love for self.

The saint/believer loves self (self as distinct to other beings, the “me” or “I”) out of love for God and loves (takes care of things like food and drink and health) himself because that is necessary to love God and others. The unbeliever loves self (sinful self) because that is all he desires and longs for. The unbeliever will step on others to fulfill the desires of self. It is important to realize these things in order to get at the real sin of loving self.

It can be quite confusing since for God it is a holy thing to love Himself and for believers who love God their love of self is not sinful. However, for the unbeliever their love of self is the root and essence of sin. The word “self” is used somewhat in an equivocal way, which means we have to think to keep issues straight. For example, we can use the word “bald” and means several things by it. There is the bald eagle, there is a bald tire, we speak of bald meanings, and we speak of people as having bald heads. The word “self” is also used with different meanings and we must keep those things in mind or we will be very confused.

The word “self” can mean that a person is speaking of himself or herself rather than other people. It is one way of distinguishing “me” from others in language. The word “self” can also mean the sinful self which Jesus instructs us to hate that self and that we must deny that self. It is that self that is the center of sinful self-love and the horrible self-focus of the heart. It is that self that is the idol of the sinful self and is what sinful self serves and loves in all that it does. It is that self that the unbeliever does all that s/he does whether sin or be religious. It is that self that the common criminal and the serial killer serves, but also it is that self that some who are very religious serve. It is also that self that a person must die to in order to truly follow Christ.

For the regenerate person the word “self” can be used to refer to the spiritual self. The spiritual self is the inner part of the soul that is the real “me” and yet is united to Christ. As Christ told us that what we do unto the least of them we have done unto Him, so there is a sense in which how we treat ourselves is how we treat Christ. That should not be taken too far, but we are to love our souls in the sense that we are to feed them with Christ for His glory. We should love our souls in the sense that we should flee from sin in order not to dishonor Christ. For the believer, then, they must love their own souls if they are going to love Christ. But this is far different than the unbeliever who loves the sinful and self-centered self at the expense of all. The believer loves the Christ in him or her and that is out of love for God and is for the good of others.

The sinful self is the very heart of sin. It is to be like the devil (and unbelievers are said to be his children) in walking around doing as our sinful hearts desire rather then seeking the Lord to please Him. This sinful self is what unbelievers are enslaved to. They follow the raging lusts and desires of self whether it is in open and gross sin or whether it is being extremely religious. Sinners sin for the sake of self and sinners are religious for the sake of self. Either way the person lives for self and does all for self. Only free-grace in Christ can deliver a person from this horrible bandage to self and sin a bring them to love God and others. Only free-grace can open our eyes to see just how sinful our righteous acts really are apart from Christ. Only free-grace can give us love in our hearts that we may love even our enemies because love for God is the basis and not love for sinful self.

Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

When Christ first appeared in His public character, He displayed so much kindness, compassion and benevolence in healing the sick, relieving the distressed, and preaching the gospel to the poor, that He was almost universally beloved as well as admired…To anyone less acquainted with the human heart than Christ was, they would have appeared to be His real friends. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

The depravity of the heart is seen in that sinners loved Christ as long as He did what they wanted, but they hated Him and tried to kill Him when He manifested the glory of God and told them about their real nature. Sinners hate to be thought of and called sinners. In the modern day when it is thought that we are to build people up and only say positive things about them, telling people about the nature of sin is thought to be wrong and highly offensive. What it really does is to go after the self-righteousness of people and lift the lid off of the truth of God that they have worked so hard at suppressing. Men battle and battle to keep their naturalistic and humanistic way of looking at things and so they can dismiss and provide a reasonable justification for all that they do. When someone else comes along and cuts to their hearts, their selfish hearts respond with anger and jarred pride.

The glorious doctrine of justification by free-grace alone when set out and declared in truth will also set the selfish heart ablaze with enmity toward God. When preachers do as they almost always do and keep the edge out of justification then sinners will gladly embrace it. Modern preachers want to leave it in the power of sinners to say a prayer or make a choice in what they call justification by faith alone, but they leave out the issue of man’s depravity and the sovereign grace of God. When they do that they make faith out to be a work of man (though no always stated) and so men are left easy in their selfish hearts. When free-grace is proclaimed to be a real and true free-grace, the selfish hearts of the natural man rejects it with venom. Behind the truth of free-grace is that man is worthy of nothing but the wrath of God and can do nothing to move God to save him.

When the wrath of God is presented to man, and this is a necessary truth to set out free-grace, the selfish heart of man will see that God is opposed to him and intends great harm to him. The selfish heart which loves those who love it will respond with anger and denial. What we must understand, however, is that for the sinner to come to the point to understand justification by grace alone the sinner has to begin to understand something of the wrath of God. Free-grace teaches us that the wrath of God has to be satisfied by Christ and that only by Christ or grace is no longer free. This free-grace teaches us that for grace to be truly glorious, there is nothing good in man that would or could move God to save man. This free-grace teaches us that there is nothing that man can do to move God in the slightest to save him or this grace is not truly free.

As long as men think of grace as being more of a help that they cannot fully deserve, they will not understand the glory of God nor of the glory of the grace of God in Christ. As long as men think of grace as simply making up the little or even the lot that they cannot do themselves, they will not understand the true nature of the Gospel. The selfish heart of man will always love a god that will help him out as he wants, but the selfish heart will not love the true God when it is seen that it is God’s option to save or not save as He pleases. The selfish heart does not want to see itself as truly sinful and as truly helpless in inability. The selfish heart does not want to see itself as in utter and desperate need of free-grace in order to escape the fire of hell. The selfish heart, therefore, is full of self and that is precisely what the soul needs to be delivered from in order to be saved.

Until men understand the real nature of sin and that as selfishness (self-centeredness, pride, self-love), they will not truly understand the nature of grace alone and therefore the nature of the Gospel of free-grace alone. Jesus was truly kind, compassionate, and was true love incarnate at all times, so His provocative statements and opening the hearts of men to their sin was true love. Preachers and teachers show true love when they are willing to endure the anger of men to show them the truth of themselves and of free-grace. Without this showing men the truly selfish nature of their hearts, they will not understand the nature of free-grace.

Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

When Christ first appeared in His public character, He displayed so much kindness, compassion and benevolence in healing the sick, relieving the distressed, and preaching the gospel to the poor, that He was almost universally beloved as well as admired…To anyone less acquainted with the human heart than Christ was, they would have appeared to be His real friends. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

When Nicodemus came to Jesus in John 3 he had observed at least some of the miracles that Jesus had performed and was convinced that Jesus was from God. Jesus spoke to him clearly and firmly and told him that he must be born from above to see or enter the kingdom of God. This was a profound shock to the religious leader. Perhaps it was a shock to him for many other reasons, but he identified the kingdom of God with his nation and his religion. What he had not realized is that he had been steeped in tradition which missed some major teachings of the Scriptures. We can think of Paul and how he described himself and assume that Nicodemus was a lot like Paul. Most likely he thought of himself as the elect of God because he was born a Jew. He thought of himself as righteous because of all of his religious learning and activities. He was quite mistaken as are vast multitudes in the modern day. True Christianity (true religion) does not start with what to believe (as such) and what to do (be moral and good works), but instead it starts with the new birth.

The reason that Christianity starts with the new birth is because all human beings are born dead in trespasses and sins. This is utterly vital. We don’t start with sinners who only need to be convinced that they have sinned a little and so need to be saved, but instead we start with dead sinners who need to be made alive. We don’t start with sinners who can repent in their own strength and do some good things to make up for the past, but instead we start with dead sinners who cannot do one good work at all. Even the outwardly good things that sinners do come from a bad heart and as such they are sinful as well and instead of making up for past wrongs, they are wrong too. We cannot just inform them to read their Bibles and say prayers because they need new hearts. For the sake of clarity, unregenerate sinners should read their Bibles and they should seek the Lord. The point is that these actions cannot save them and that there is nothing meritorious about them, but instead this is what sinners should do in putting themselves in the path that God usually saves.

Selfish sinners will read the Bible and say prayers out of selfish heart and they will also interpret the Bible and say prayers in light of their selfish hearts. Should they go hear sound preaching, read their Bibles, and seek the Lord? Yes, they should. God saves sinners by giving them ears to hear and eyes to see (faith) as they are under the preaching of the Word. What we must say, however, is that it is the Spirit who regenerates sinners as He pleases. This means that selfish hearts that sit under preaching and read the Bible should look to God in His free-grace to give them understanding and a new heart. God is under no obligation to sinners to give them understanding of the Bible and He is under no obligation to give new hearts. There is also no way sinners can bring God into obligation to show mercy and grace to them, though their selfish hearts want to believe that. The new birth is by free-grace alone and that means free-grace that is moved by God and His glory and nothing else.

This should teach us a lot about evangelism and preaching. While the vast majority of modern people preach a God of easy love and an easy going, compassionate Jesus (their version of compassion), that does nothing to show men their real need of the new birth which only comes by sovereign grace. In our efforts to please men we falsely approach them in evangelism and preaching by wanting to please them and talk them into something. However, when we tell them truth of God and about themselves the enmity they have to God will come out. Men need to hear about the new birth which comes by free-grace alone and of their vile and selfish hearts that they need to be delivered from. Instead of encouraging that selfish heart with false teachings about God and them, they need to hear the truth even if they will get angry with the messenger. If they never get upset, most likely that means that they have not had their eyes opened to their exceeding wickedness of heart and their utter helplessness in sin. The natural man hates these truths when they are applied to their hearts. When man does not see these things, it may be that s/he is a religious person who needs a new heart.

Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

When Christ first appeared in His public character, He displayed so much kindness, compassion and benevolence in healing the sick, relieving the distressed, and preaching the gospel to the poor, that He was almost universally beloved as well as admired…To anyone less acquainted with the human heart than Christ was, they would have appeared to be His real friends. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

In looking at selfishness as sin, there are several things to consider regarding the human heart and the nature of selfishness. The universe and all things in it were created from the vantage point of God, that is, God created them for Himself and to manifest His glory. The purpose for all things is the glory of God. Human beings were created in the image of God and were to manifest His glory in who they were and in what they did. In the fall human beings fell from their God-centeredness which was in the created order to a man-centeredness. The difference is huge. From the viewpoint of God all things are His, how all things relate to Him, and how all things are to manifest His glory, but in the fall man wanted to be as God (the lie and deception of the devil in Genesis 3) and so man now views all things from his viewpoint and how things relate to Him. As Romans 3:23 puts it, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23, NASB).

In understanding this verse (Rom 3:23) we can see that there is a past tense (all have sinned) and then a continuing sense in the next verb (fall short). The literal idea is that men miss the mark in all they do, which is to say that the moral goal that God has assigned to men is to glorify Him in all they do. However, in living a life of selfishness (self-love, self-focus) men miss the mark and so fall short of glorifying God in all they do. To quote an older thought, however, “we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners.” The first part of the verse speaks of “for all have sinned.” What does that mean? It means that in the past there was a time when Adam fell and in him the whole of humanity fell in him. Paul explains this and some ramifications of it later on in chapters 5-7 of Romans. Since Adam all are born in a sinful state with a sinful nature and are dead in sins and trespasses. All the “fruit” that comes from a sinful nature is a life that always misses the mark of doing all to the glory of God. The sins are the effect of the sinful nature.

When the proud and selfish heart of man hears this profound truth, he does not want to believe it and so hates it. The heart of man that is at enmity with the true God will now be exposed as the wrath of man is brought out. As long as men think that God is nice to them and will help them along in their sins they will love that god of their imaginations since they love those who love them. But when they hear that they have a sinful nature and are in bondage to that sinful nature the proud and selfish hearts of man hate that and they no longer love that idea of God. While God views all things with Himself as the basis of all things and the goal of all things, man has fallen and now sees himself as the goal or end of all things. The two are at enmity with each other as God is holy in doing all things for Himself and man is vile and wicked when man does so. Man hates the idea of God being God-centered rather than man centered, and clearly man loves a god who is centered upon man. But this is opposite of reality and while man is in an unregenerate state he will always be at enmity with the true God.

They say that there is honor among thieves on the one hand, yet a thief hates it more than all others when someone steals his possessions. This is explained by the fact that men in their selfishness love those who love them and yet respond in great anger when they think that others do not love them. The only thing that can make people love One who brings hard things and suffering on them is when their heart is changed and they love God and His glory more than their own worldly comforts. Man’s heart must be changed from being selfish to loving God, which is to say that man must love the true God which in his unregenerate state he is at enmity with. Nothing can make men love God apart from God giving them a new heart by free-grace alone and His Spirit to work His fruit of love in them.

Luke 6:31 “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.32 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 “If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 “If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. 35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

When Christ first appeared in His public character, He displayed so much kindness, compassion and benevolence in healing the sick, relieving the distressed, and preaching the gospel to the poor, that He was almost universally beloved as well as admired…To anyone less acquainted with the human heart than Christ was, they would have appeared to be His real friends. (Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840, Selfishness, International Outreach, 2009)

A selfish love is simply to love ourselves as the center of all that we do and think. It is to make ourselves the goal of what we do, the motive of what we do, and something for self is our intent in what we do. This sinful nature which consists in selfishness, once again, must be changed in order for sinners to love God. Selfish sinners can become the most orthodox theologians, the most civil citizens, and the hardest workers in the church and that includes evangelism. But without the realization that the heart must be change from the control and bondage of self to the control of the love of Christ then evangelism and Christian living becomes nothing more and nothing less than making the right choices in our own strength.

When selfish sinners hear the truth about sovereign grace they hate it. While it would be rare for someone to admit it, the truth of the matter is that sinners want grace in their own hands to dispense it as they please. At the very heart of the matter that is what free-will teaches. We are either in the hands of sovereign grace to change our hearts or we are in the hands of our free-will to make a choice so that God will give us grace. Again, that is not what those who hold to free-will will claim, but that is a necessary truth of what they do claim. If the will is truly free, then it is free of depravity and it is free of grace. Therefore, the sinner is free from a selfish heart and is free from grace in order to make a choice where God is bound to give him or her grace. But of course no one is free from depravity and that is precisely why it is grace alone that must save sinners if they are to be saved.

The heart that is in bondage to self is a heart that longs to have the honor of others and God. The heart that is in bondage to self is a heart that desires to be free so it can determine all things for self. The heart that is in bondage to self is a heart that does not want to rest completely and trust in another. Selfish sinners (all of them) do not want to be saved to the glory of God, they want some of the honor in making a choice or several choices. Selfish sinners do not want to hear that their selfish hearts are so bound in sin that God must change their hearts by sovereign grace and that there is nothing that they can do to move Him to do so. Selfish sinners want control of who they are and of their destinies and they hate being out of control or the One in control.

Selfish sinners despise the doctrines of election and free-grace. Whether all admit it or not, they want to elect themselves and they want to be free of when to obtain grace and only if they want grace. The selfish heart hates the God who has to save it by free-grace and hates the idea that all the universe is centered upon God and His glory rather than the self of each human. Oh how sinners love to hear of Christ who saves them as they are, but when they see that God threatens them with hell if they are not converted they gnash their teeth in hatred of that. It should also be noted that accepting the doctrine of election in the head and/or by a creed is not the same thing as the sinner reaching a point (by the convicting work of the Spirit) where s/he knows in the depths of the soul that s/he is at enmity with God and it is up to God to save him or her as He pleases. The sinner cannot stand that thought and is at enmity with the God who is that way.

While many in our day think of differing theologies as having equal standing within Christianity, the older view is that selfish sinners are at war with the sovereign God and their enmity toward that is really sinners being at enmity with the true God and the true Gospel. Oh how God must break selfish hearts that they will lie down and with submissive hearts cry out that salvation is of the Lord!