David
is going through ‘the deep waters’ of suffering. He prays to the Lord
for deliverance from ‘the flood’ and ‘the deep’(Psalm 69:14-15). He had
sinned against the Lord. He does not try to hide this. He confesses his
sin and guilt - ‘the wrongs that I have done are not hidden from You, my
guilt is not hidden from You’(Psalm 69:5). He looks to the Lord,
remembering that He is the God of ‘steadfast love’ and ‘abundant
mercy’(Psalm 69:16). When you come to God in prayer, do not try to hide
your sins from Him. Remember - ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners’. In Christ, there is ‘mercy’- God doesn’t send the judgment we
deserve - and ‘grace’- God sends the blessing we don’t deserve. Come to
Christ and receive His ‘mercy’ and ‘grace’(1 Timothy 1:13-16; Hebrews
4:14-16).
In this post, I will draw comparisons between Arminius and Berkouwer. * Bangs points out that the historical situation in Holland was not a simple one - Calvinism coming in, Arminius nearly ruining it and the Synod of Dort restoring it: “The earliest Dutch Reformed leaders don’t seem to be Calvinists at all. They rise out of the soil, here and there, nurtured by the old Dutch biblical piety, not seized by dogmatic insights, but steadily pressing toward a purified life of faith according to Scripture” (p. 21). This emphasis is similar to Berkouwer’s insistence that election is not a special gnosis for the theological elite. Rather, it is a confession of faith, arising from the hearts of those who have come to know the grace of God ( Divine Election (DE), p. 216). * Bangs observes that Arminius’ theological method is “practical and through faith”: “For the Theology which belongs to this world, is practical and through faith: Theoretical Theology belongs to the o...
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