The
Psalmist prays, ‘Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord’ (Psalm 143:9). He
is not concerned only about his own welfare. He is concerned about the
glory of God: ‘For Your Name’s sake, O Lord, preserve my life’
(Psalm 143:11). How does God lead us in victory? How is He glorified in
our lives? He brings to us the teaching of His Word - ‘Let the morning bring me Word of Your unfailing love’ (Psalm 143:8). He gives to us the strength of His Spirit
- ‘May Your good Spirit lead me in good paths’ (Psalm 143:10). Through
His Word and Spirit, God shows us His ‘unfailing love’. He enables us to
say, ‘You are my God’, ‘I have put my trust in You’ and ‘I am Your
servant’. He ‘shows us the way we should go’. He ‘teaches us to do His
will’. He gives us victory over our ‘enemies’ (Psalm 143:8,10,12).
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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