‘Praise
the Lord’(Psalm 103:1-2,20-22). Let’s praise Him for His ‘steadfast
love’. He is ‘abounding in steadfast love’(Psalm 103:8). How are we to
respond to His ‘steadfast love’? Are we to say, ‘God loves me. I can do
what I like’? No! We must not think like this. We’re not to say, ‘I’ll
keep on sinning. God will keep on forgiving’(Romans 6:1-2). God’s Word
tells us something very different. Loved by God, we learn to love Him.
When God’s ‘steadfast love’ has really touched our hearts, it changes
our lives. This is the great change which the Psalmist has in mind when
he writes, ‘As the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His
steadfast love toward those who fear Him... The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear Him’(Psalm 103:11,17). Let’s thank God for His love - and live to please Him!
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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