Jarey weighs in on Predestination!
In response to a robust excerpt from the "Westminster Confession" outlining the traditional doctrine of 'double-predestination' (as it is often called) Jarey snaps back with an insightful plea, very much in the spirit of Martin Luther!
Contrary to the pronouncement of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, scripture plainly reveals the truth that the love of God for the world of lost sinners is universal, that is, that it embraces all men without exception, that Christ has fully reconciled all men unto God, and that God earnestly desires to bring all men to faith, to preserve them therein, and thus to save them. As Scripture testifies, 1 Tim. 2:4: "God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." No man is lost because God has predestined him to eternal damnation.
You cannot reconcile God being loving and just, and on the other hand teach that He withholds His mercy and grace and condemns most of the world to hell, not allowing them to believe and be saved. It is an unreasonable idea that God's word does not substantiate. There is no verse in the Bible that states that God has limited His grace or decreed that some men will go to hell without any chance of being saved.
Lutherans affirm, with Scripture, that whoever is saved is saved by God's grace alone, a grace so sure that it excludes all human "action" and "choice" but rather rests on the foundation of God's action in Christ and his "choice" (predestination) from before the beginning of time. Lutherans also affirm, with Scripture, that those who are damned are damned not by God's "choice" but on account of their own human sin and rebellion and unbelief. From a human perspective, there is no "rational" or "logical" way to put these two truths together. Lutherans believe and confess them not because they are "rational" and "logical," but because this is what we find taught in Scripture.
Contrary to the pronouncement of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, scripture plainly reveals the truth that the love of God for the world of lost sinners is universal, that is, that it embraces all men without exception, that Christ has fully reconciled all men unto God, and that God earnestly desires to bring all men to faith, to preserve them therein, and thus to save them. As Scripture testifies, 1 Tim. 2:4: "God will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." No man is lost because God has predestined him to eternal damnation.
You cannot reconcile God being loving and just, and on the other hand teach that He withholds His mercy and grace and condemns most of the world to hell, not allowing them to believe and be saved. It is an unreasonable idea that God's word does not substantiate. There is no verse in the Bible that states that God has limited His grace or decreed that some men will go to hell without any chance of being saved.
Lutherans affirm, with Scripture, that whoever is saved is saved by God's grace alone, a grace so sure that it excludes all human "action" and "choice" but rather rests on the foundation of God's action in Christ and his "choice" (predestination) from before the beginning of time. Lutherans also affirm, with Scripture, that those who are damned are damned not by God's "choice" but on account of their own human sin and rebellion and unbelief. From a human perspective, there is no "rational" or "logical" way to put these two truths together. Lutherans believe and confess them not because they are "rational" and "logical," but because this is what we find taught in Scripture.
posted by Father Dave at 7:09 AM
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