‘Thou
wilt show me the path of life; in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at
Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore’(Psalm 16:11). In this
earthly life, there are many difficulties. For all of God’s people,
there is something better still to come. We must look not only at the
things which are happening now. We must look also to the glory which is
yet to come. Our hope of eternal glory is based on Christ’s
resurrection. David’s words (Psalm 16:8-11) are quoted by Peter in
connection with ‘the resurrection of the Christ’(Acts 2:24-33). ‘Christ
has been raised from the dead...at His coming those who belong to
Christ...will be raised imperishable’(1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 52). ‘The
Lord is my chosen portion...Therefore my heart is glad’(Psalm 16:5,9).
Is this your testimony? Choose Christ and be glad.
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...
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