From
the majestic perfection of God and the privileged responsibility of
humanity, we now move to the evil subtlety of Satan. An intruder has
sneaked into the privileged place between God the Creator and mankind.
His creation. Genesis 2 ends with the absence of shame. Genesis 3 begins
with the presence of Satan. The work of Satan, successfully executed,
ensures that Genesis 3 ends rather differently from Genesis 2 - "the
Lord God sent the man out of the Garden of Eden" (Genesis 3:23). This was
"Paradise Lost." Was there a way to "Paradise Regained"? There are two
answers to this question: 'No' and 'Yes.' Taking ourselves as the
starting-point, the answer is 'No' - God will not permit us to take
salvation into our own hands (Genesis 3:24). Starting with God, we answer, 'Yes' -
this is the answer of Genesis 3:15 - Christ (the woman's descendant) will be
crucified (the bruising of His heel), but the outcome of this will be
the defeat of Satan (the crushing of his head).
Some people are impressed by Barth’s distinction between universal election and universal salvation. They defend his position. Some have been influenced by Barth and have become universalists. Berkouwer’s view was that our critique of Barth must begin with looking closely at his teaching concerning universal election. * By speaking of the idea of the depth-aspect of salvation, Berkouwer distances himself from double predestination. * In his critique of Barth, Berkouwer distances himself from universal salvation. * With such a strong emphasis on both grace and faith, Berkouwer guards against any suggestion that, by our faith, we contribute anything to our salvation. It is always God’s free gift, and all the glory belongs to Him. I think that the distinctive feature of Berkouwer’s teaching is that he emphasizes that everything we say about God’s salvation is said from within the experience of having been saved by grace through faith. We have heard the Good News - “Christ Jesus came
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