‘I
will sing of the Lord’s great love for ever; with my mouth I will make
known Your faithfulness through all generations’(Psalm 89:1). Many years
have passed since these words were written by the Psalmist. Many
generations have come and gone since Jesus Christ came to our world. The
years come and go. The centuries run their course. One generation gives
way to another generation. Time moves on relentlessly. None of us can
halt the march of time. Many changes have taken place over the course of
time. There is something which must never change. The Lord is to be
praised ‘for ever’. He is to be praised ‘through all generations’. We
must look back and remember. Jesus Christ was crucified for us. Jesus
Christ has risen for us. This is the Good News which inspires our
praise: ‘I will sing of the Lord’s great love for ever...’.
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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