Jeremiah was called into the service of the eternal God - “Before I
formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you
apart for My holy purpose. I appointed you to be a prophet to the
nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). Jeremiah called the people back to the Lord,
“the fountain of living (life-giving) water” (Jeremiah 2:13). He called
them to be converted - to turn around. They were turning their backs on
the Lord. They were replacing Him with something else, something
useless, something that would never bring them real satisfaction
(Jeremiah 2:13). Now, they were to turn their faces to Him (Jeremiah
2:27). To a returning people, God promises his mercy - “Come back,
unfaithful Israel. It is the Lord speaking. I will no longer frown on
you because I’m merciful, declares the Lord, I will no longer be angry
with you.” returning to the Lord means confessing our sins - “Admit that
you’ve done wrong! You have rebelled against the Lord your God ...” The
message of Jeremiah is summed up in the words, “Come back, you
rebellious people” (Jeremiah 3:12-14).
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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