God loves us because he loves us

Tony Reinke Cross of Christ, Cross-centered life, God, God's love, God's motives, Thomas Manton

In a sermon on John 3:16 (“God so loved, that he gave…”), Puritan Thomas Manton makes the following point on God’s indescribable love towards sinners in sending His Son:

“Love is at the bottom of all. We may give a reason of other things, but we cannot give a reason of his love, God showed his wisdom, power, justice, and holiness in our redemption by Christ. If you ask, Why he made so much ado about a worthless creature, raised out of the dust of the ground at first, and had now disordered himself, and could be of no use to him? We have an answer at hand, Because he loved us. If you continue to ask, But why did he love us? We have no other answer but because he loved us; for beyond the first rise of things we cannot go. And the same reason is given by Moses, Deuteronomy 7:7-8: ‘The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all people; but because the Lord loved you…’ That is, in short, he loved you because he loved you. All came from his free and undeserved mercy; higher we cannot go in seeking after the causes of what is done for our salvation.”

-Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton, 2:340-341.

7 thoughts on “God loves us because he loves us”

  1. Hey Tony, great post on MANTON — he is probably my favorite puritan. For those who cannot readily afford the new 22-volume set, there are several individual volumes published by the Banner of Truth. I most heartily commend his 3 volumes just on PSALM 119 (often on sale). Super stuff for hungry souls. Keep up the good work

  2. What? God didn’t love us because we’re so totally awesome? How scandalous! What would the televangelists say?

    I love it!

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