Romans 8:32

Why, in this very standing of yours there was a fleeing from persecution, in the release from persecution which you bought; but that you should ransom with money a man whom Christ has ransomed with His blood, how unworthy is it of God and His ways of acting, who spared not His own Son for you, that He might be made a curse for us, because cursed is he that hangeth on a tree, -Him who was led as a sheep to be a sacrifice, and just as a lamb before its shearer, so opened He not His mouth; but gave His back to the scourges, nay, His cheeks to the hands of the smiter, and turned not away His face from spitting, and, being numbered with the transgressors, was delivered up to death, nay, the death of the cross.

Would God give us the greater thing but not the lesser? Would he sacrifice his Son but withhold his possessions from us? Note too that there is one person of the Son. His human nature was given for us by his divinity.

This is Isaac the co-heir of the promises and the blessings of God given to Abraham his father—who was a type of the sacrifice of the Lord Christ, since for three days he travelled on to death, and afterwards returned alive—who on his own shoulders …

And His proper and peculiar, natural and excellent Sonship, St. Paul has declared, who thus speaks of God: "Who spared not His own Son, but for us," who were not His natural sons, "delivered Him up." For to distinguish Him from those who are not …

Now I write these things unto you, not that I know there are any such persons among you; nay, indeed I hope that God will never permit any such report to reach my ears, He "who spared not His Son for the sake of His holy Church." But foreseeing the snares of the wicked one, I arm you beforehand by my admonitions, as my beloved and faithful children in Christ, furnishing you with the means of protection against the deadly disease of unruly men, by which do ye flee from the disease [referred to] by the good-will of Christ our Lord. Do ye therefore, clothing yourselves with meekness, become the imitators of His sufferings, and of His love, wherewith He loved us when He gave Himself a ransom for us, that He might cleanse us by His blood from our old ungodliness, and bestow life on us when we were almost on the point of perishing through the depravity that was in us. Let no one of you, therefore, cherish any grudge against his neighbour. For says our Lord, "Forgive, and it shall be forgiven unto you." Give no occasion to the Gentiles, lest "by means of a few foolish men the word and doctrine [of Christ.] be blasphemed." For says the prophet, as in the person of God, "Woe to him by whom my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles."

Up to this point there was shadow, but now the truth of things is shown to be more excellent. This rational Lamb, you see, was offered for the whole world; he purified the whole world; he freed human beings from error and led them forward to the truth; he made earth into heaven, not by altering the nature of the elements but by transferring life in heaven to human beings on earth. Through him all worship of demons is made pointless; through him people no longer worship wood and stone, nor do those endowed with reason bow down to material things—instead, all error has been abolished and the light of truth has shone brightly on the world. Do you see the superiority of the truth? Do you see what shadow is, on the one hand, and truth on the other?

"He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" And here the words he uses are high-wrought and exceedingly warm, to show his love. How then is He to neglect us, in whose behalf "He spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all? For reflect what goodness it is not to spare even His own Son, but to give Him up, and to give Him up for all, and those worthless, and unfeeling, and enemies, and blasphemers. "How then shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? What he means then is much as follows; If He gave His own Son, and not merely gave Him, but gave Him to death, why doubt any more about the rest, since thou hast the Master? why be dubious about the chattels, when thou hast the Lord? For He that gave the greater thing to His enemies, how shall He do else than give the lesser things to His friends?

I leave aside, he reasons, the rest of what I mentioned before, that is, that God justified, that He glorified us. Consider that He did not spare "His own Son," that is, the Only-begotten, the beloved, Who is of His essence (for there are sons …

Because He ought to have restored while preserving the freedom of the will, He restored by giving a most efficacious example; and that example is most efficacious which invites and instructs toward the summit of the virtues. Now nothing more instructs a person toward virtue …

Thoughts about God must be the highest in the order of goodness, because He is the Best, and out of this Goodness He supremely pours Himself and loves. Wherefore He has not spared even His own Son, and by giving Him to us, He gave …

Second, he shows that God's holy ones cannot suffer loss by the removal of good things, saying, "he who did not even spare his own Son." But whereas he spoke earlier about adopted sons, saying, "you have received the spirit of adoption of sons" (Rom …

He that - This period contains four sentences: He spared not his own Son; therefore he will freely give us all things. He delivered him up for us all; therefore, none can lay anything to our charge. Freely - For all that follows justification is a free gift also.

He that spared not his own Son,....

We have selected this verse as our theme, but our true text you will find in the 22nd chapter of Genesis, the narrative which we read to you this morning at full length and upon which we spoke in detail in our discourse. I thought it meet to keep to one point this morning, on the ground that one thing at a time is best and therefore I endeavored to lead your undivided contemplations to the peerless example of holy, believing obedience which the father of the faithful presented to us when he offered up his son.

But this is inconceivable if Christ be not God's "own (or proper) Son," partaker of His very nature, as really as Isaac was of his father Abraham's. In that sense, certainly, the Jews charged our Lord with making Himself "equal with God" (see on Joh 5:18), which He in reply forthwith proceeded, not to disown, but to illustrate and confirm.

We have selected this verse as our theme, but our true text you will find in the 22nd chapter of Genesis, the narrative which we read to you this morning at full length and upon which we spoke in detail in our discourse. I thought it meet to keep to one point this morning, on the ground that one thing at a time is best and therefore I endeavored to lead your undivided contemplations to the peerless example of holy, believing obedience which the father of the faithful presented to us when he offered up his son. But it would be a very unfair way of handling Holy Scripture to leave such a subject as this, so full of Christ, without dwelling upon the typical Character of the whole narrative. If the Messiah is anywhere symbolized in the Old Testament, He is certainly to be seen upon Mount Moriah where the beloved Isaac, willingly bound and laid upon the altar, is a lively foreshadowing of the Well-Beloved of Heaven yielding His life as a ransom! We doubt not that one great intent of the whole transaction was to afford Abraham a clearer view of Christ's day. The trial was covertly a great privilege, unveiling as it did to the Patriarch, the heart of the great Father in His great deed of love to men and displaying at the same time the willing obedience of the great Son who cheerfully became a burnt offering unto God. The Gospel of Moriah, which is but another name for Calvary, was far clearer than the revelation made at the gate of Paradise, or to Noah in the ark, or to Abraham, himself, on any former occasion. Let us pray for a share in the privilege of the renowned friend of God, as we study redemption in the light which made Abraham glad. Without detaining you with any lengthened preface, for which we have neither time nor inclination, we shall first draw the parallel between the offering of Christ and the offering of Isaac.

MANY of you, dear Friends, are coming to the Lord's Table at the close of this service. Our blessed Redeemer instituted that simple but sublime ordinance so that we might be kept in constant remembrance of Him. The bread is nothing but bread, yet it is the very suggestive emblem of Christ's flesh. And it shall be well with you if, after a spiritual fashion, you shall thus eat the flesh of Christ. The wine is nothing but wine, yet is it the emblem of Christ's blood.

MANY of you, dear Friends, are coming to the Lord's Table at the close of this service. Our blessed Redeemer instituted that simple but sublime ordinance so that we might be kept in constant remembrance of Him. The bread is nothing but bread, yet it is the very suggestive emblem of Christ's flesh. And it shall be well with you if, after a spiritual fashion, you shall thus eat the flesh of Christ. The wine is nothing but wine, yet is it the emblem of Christ's blood. And they are thrice blessed who experimentally understand the meaning of Christ's words, "Whoever eats My flesh, and drinks My blood, has eternal life." Christ is yours, Believer! You know that He is more yours than even your own life, for that you may lose. When God gave you your existence, He gave it to you without any covenant as to its prolongation, but He has given Christ to you by an Everlasting Covenant, to be yours forever and ever! Christ is yours, Beloved! Oh, that you knew how to make the best use of this blessed property! Christ is yours to live upon and to spend, yours to have and to hold, to keep and to enjoy, yours not only to look at that you may be saved, and to wear that you may be justified, but yours to eat that you may be refreshed by Him and live upon Him! Christ is yours to the fullest extent possible! There is no reservation—He is your absolute, indefeasible and inalienable property—yours, today, as perfectly as He will be when you are in Heaven! Yours as certainly as you are His. Oh, that you may now, knowing that Christ is thus your property, live upon Him, rejoice in Him and feel that you are, indeed, immeasurably rich! When we come to this Communion Table, to partake of these emblems of Christ's death, it will be a very happy thing for us if we remember that possessing Christ, we have everything.

He that spared not - Who did not retain, or keep from suffering and death. His own Son - Who thus gave the highest proof of love that a father could give, and the highest demonstration of his willingness to do good to those for whom he gave him. But delivered him up - Gave him into the hands of men, and to a cruel death; Note, Act 2:23. For us all - For all Christians. The connection requires that this expression should be understood here with this limitation. The argument for the security of all Christians is here derived from the fact, that God had shown them equal love in giving his Son for them. It was not merely for the apostles; not only for the rich, and the great; but for the most humble and obscure of the flock of Christ. For them he endured as severe pangs, and expressed as much love, as for the rich and the great that shall be redeemed. The most humble and obscure believer may derive consolation from the fact that Christ died for him, and that God has expressed the highest love for him which we can conceive to be possible. How shall he not - His giving his Son is a proof that he will give to us all things that we need. The argument is from the greater to the less. He that has given the greater gift will not withhold the less. All things - All things that may be needful for our welfare. These things he will give freely; without money and without price. His first great gift, that of his Son, was a free gift; and all others that we may need will be given in a similar manner. It is not by money, nor by our merit, but it is by the mere mercy of God; so that from the beginning to the end of the work it is all of grace. We see here, (1) The privilege of being a Christian. […]

It is the elect who enjoy the guarantee of this inseparable love.