Jeremiah speaks of God’s judgment - “I’m bringing disaster and
widespread destruction ...” (Jeremiah 4:6). This message comes to us as a
word of warning, a plea to the people to return to the Lord and find
His mercy - “So put on sackcloth, mourn and cry because the Lord’s
burning anger hasn’t turned away from us” (Jeremiah 4:8). This is the
call to repentance. We read of God’s burning anger, and we wonder,”Is
there still the hope of God’s blessing?” God is speaking of His judgment
- “Nation of Israel, I’m going to bring a nation from far away to
attack you,declares the Lord, I won’t destroy all of you” (Jeremiah
5:15,18). God’s Word concerning the threat of judgment is a call to the
people to honour Him as God: “Pay attention to My warning, Jerusalem,
or I will turn away from you. I will make your land desolate ...”
(Jeremiah 6:8). The ministry of Jeremiah differs from the ministry of
the false prophets. They say, “Everything is alright!” He says, “It’s
not alright! (Jeremiah 6:14). Jeremiah calls upon the people to make a
new beginning with God - “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask which
paths are the old reliable paths. Ask which way leads to blessings. Live
that way, and find a resting place for yourselves” (Jeremiah 6:16).
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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