The
Word of God encourages us to look beyond the here and now. It gives us a
glimpse of "the last days" (Isaiah 2:2). God knows the end as well as
the beginning - and He show it to us (Isaiah 2:2). We say, "Come, let us
go up to the mountain of the Lord ... He will teach us about His ways
so that we may walk in His paths ... Come and let us walk in the Lord's
light" (Isaiah 2:3,5). Our world would be a very different world if more
people were looking to the Lord and learning from Him, turning to the
Lord and travelling with Him. What about you? Are you looking to the
Lord? Are you learning from Him? Are you turning to the Lord? Are you
travelling with Him? These are the questions that the Word of God puts
to every one of us. Will we give the answer of faith and obedience? I
cannot answer this question for you. You cannot answer it for me. Each
one of us must answer for ourselves. What will your answer be?
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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