_Answ._ He may love a godly man (at least) as he may love God. An unholy person cannot love God in all his perfections respectively to himself, as a God who is most holy and just in his government, forbidding all sin, and condemning the ungodly; for the love of his sins is inconsistent with this love. But he may love him as he is most great, and wise, and good in the general, and as he is the Maker and Benefactor of the world and of the sinner; yea, and in general as his Governor; and so he may verily think that he loveth God as God, because he loveth him for his essentialities; but indeed he doth not, (speaking strictly,) because he leaveth out some one or more of these essentialities; even as he that loveth man as rational, but not as a voluntary free agent, loveth not man as man: and as a heretic is no christian, because he denieth some one essential part of christianity; even so as to the love of godly men, an ungodly man may believe that they are better than others, and therefore love them; but not as godliness is the consent to that holiness and justice of God, which would restrain him from his beloved sins, and condemn him for them. So far as they are simply godly to themselves, without respect to him and his sins, he may love them.
_Quest._ XII. May he love a godly man as he would make him godly, and convert him?
_Answ._ He may love him as a better man than others, and in general he may wish himself as good, and may love him because he wisheth him well; but as he cannot be (or rather is not) willing himself to leave his sins and live in holiness, so another is not grateful to him, who urgently persuadeth him to this.
_Quest._ XIII. Doth any ungodly person love the godly comparatively more than others?
_Answ._ So far as he doth love them as godly, so far he may love them more than those that are not such; many a bad father loveth a religious child better than the rest; because they think that wisdom and godliness are good; and they are glad to see their children do well, as long as they do not grate upon them with troublesome censures: for another man's godliness costeth a bad man little or nothing; he may behold it without the parting with his sins.
_Quest._ XIV. Doth every sincere christian love all the godly with a special love? even those that oppose their opinions, or that they think do greatly wrong them?
_Answ._ 1. Every true christian loveth a godly man as such, and therefore loveth all such, if he take them to be such. 2. No godly man doth habitually and impenitently live in such malice or enmity, as will not suffer him to see the godliness of a dissenter or adversary, when it hath sufficient evidence. 3. But ill education and company, and want of opportunity, may keep a true christian from discerning the godliness of another, and so from loving him as a godly man. 4. And error, and faction, and passion may in a temptation so far prevail as at present to pervert his judgment, and make him misjudge a godly man to be ungodly, though when he hath opportunity to deliberate and come to himself, he will repent of it.
_Quest._ XV. What is that love to the godly which proveth a man's sincerity, and which no hypocrite or unregenerate person doth attain to?
_Answ._ It hath in it these essential parts: 1. He loveth God best, and his servants for his sake. 2. He loveth godliness, and the person as godly, and therefore would fain be such himself; or loveth it for himself as well as in others. 3. He loveth not one only, but all the essential parts of godliness (our absolute resignation to God our Owner, our absolute obedience to God our Ruler, and our highest gratitude and love to God our Benefactor and our End). 4. He loveth godliness and godly men, above his carnal, worldly interest, his honour, wealth, or pleasure; and therefore will part with these in works of charity, when he can understand that God requireth it. These four set together make up that love which will prove your sincerity, and which no hypocrite doth perform. Hypocrites either love the godly only as their benefactors with a self-love; or they love them as godly to themselves, but would not be like them, and love not godliness itself to make them godly; or they love them for some parts of godliness, and not for all; or they love them but in subjection to their worldly love; with such a dry and barren love as James rejecteth, James ii. as will not be at any great cost upon them, to feed, or clothe, or visit, or relieve them.
_Tit. 2. Directions for Loving the Children of God._
_Direct._ I. Once get the love of God, and you cannot choose but love his children. Therefore first set your hearts to that, and study the directions for it, part i. God must be first loved as God, before the godly can be loved as such; though perhaps this effect may sometimes be more manifest than the cause: fortify the cause and the effect will follow.