Psalm
5 is a morning prayer: ‘morning by morning’, we are to come before the
Lord ‘in expectation’ of His blessing (Psalm 5:3). The Psalmist prays
with great earnestness. His prayer is a ‘sighing’ before God, a ‘cry for
help’(Psalm 5:1-2). He acknowledges the holiness of God: ‘You are not a
God who takes pleasure in evil, with you the wicked cannot dwell’(Psalm
5:4). The words of Psalm 5:9 apply to every one of us. Paul quotes this
verse in support of the conclusion that ‘all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God’(Romans 3:13, 23). There is, however, a
way of coming to God. It is ‘by His mercy’(Psalm 5:7). Each of us has
been declared guilty by God (Psalm 5:10; Romans 3:19-20). For the
fallen, God has provided a way of forgiveness. For the guilty, He has
provided a way to gladness (Psalm 5:11; Luke 2:10-11). ‘Hallelujah! What
a Saviour!’(Church Hymnary, 380).
A response to a comment by G. R. Osborne on Berkouwer’s understanding of the doctrine of final perseverance
In his contribution to Clark Pinnock (editor), Grace Unlimited (1975), G. R. Osborne states that Berkouwer, in Faith and Perseverance, pp. 9-10, “speaks of the time less ness of the doctrine of final perseverance, founded on ‘the richness and abidingness of salvation” (p. 188, emphasis mine). This single-sentence comment on Berkouwer’s view hardly gives a fair indication of the type of thinking found in Chapter 1 of Berkouwer’s Faith and Perseverance - “Time li ness and Relevance” (pp. 9-14, emphasis mine). Berkouwer insists that “the living preaching of the Scriptures, which offer no metaphysical and theoretical views about … ‘permanency’ as an independent theme in itself, does nothing to encourage ‘a continuity which is … opposed in any way to the living nature of faith” (p. 13). Berkouwer stresses that “The perseverance of the saints is not primarily a theoretical problem but a confession of faith” (p. 14) and that “The perseverance of the saints is unbreakably connected wi...
Comments
Post a Comment