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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Praying for the 'World'. | Matt 5:44 | DocTrinsograce | 163552 | ||
Dear Sonlit, Perhaps this will help: Charles Spurgeon once wrote, "If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around London lifting shirt tails. But since He didn't I must preach 'whosoever will' and when 'whosoever' believes I know he is one of the elect." Ought we not, therefore, to so pray for all men? Indeed, we are commanded to pray for our enemies. There are many Christian enemies who are, certainly, reprobates. However, the truth of the matter is, until glory, we won't know the wheat from the tare anyway. :-) Does that help? In Him, Doc PS It is good to have your foundations shaken! It means God is correcting your theology. Thank Him for the shaking! |
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2 | The meaning of being Elect? | Matt 5:44 | MJH | 163613 | ||
Doc (any anyone else), I check in on this forum about once a month or so now, and it just so happenes that this discussion is very much in line with some reconsiderations I have been having about heaven/hell and election, etc... Have you heard of the idea that just as Israel was elected by God, not because of their own works, but by the grace of God (called out of Egypt) to be a light to the world of the One True God and to be a blessing to the nations. That similarly, God has elected some to be a blessing to the world by bringing His Good News and bringing his redemption and his Kingdom to the lives of those in the world. In this light, those who are elect, are not elect only to salvation from hell (or to Heaven), but elect for an ordained purpose. And likewise, those who are NOT elect are not necessarily sent to hell (I mean on a whole). After all, many joined Israel who were not Israel in the Old Testament. They were not elect, but they received all the benefits of God's mercy just the same. (Ruth the Moabite, Rehab of the destroyed Jericho, etc...) I have not really explored this idea, but I heard it in passing and it has been running through my mind during those times in the day that allow for thinking. Any thoughts from anyone? MJH |
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3 | The meaning of being Elect? | Matt 5:44 | DocTrinsograce | 163617 | ||
Dear MJH, One might, with some difficulty, get as far as Malachi without too much damage to such a notion. The kyrigma -- the teachings of Christ and His apostles from Matthew through Acts -- would certainly punch some pretty large holes in the theory. The epistles, starting with the very first chapter of Romans would leave nothing left to repair. Creation is something enjoyed by all men. The laws decreed by God give guidance for how best men may live in this world. God, in His sovereign goodness, sends the rain upon the just and the unjust alike. When men live lives that are in harmony with many of the Scriptural guidelines found in the Wisdom books, further benefits accrue, regardless of whether these men are aware of it or not. (The old divines used to call this "common grace.") However, all men merit death and destruction. Only those whom God specifically singles out for salvation will be saved: by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, to the glory of God alone. All things, men included, do, indeed, have a purpose: to bring glory to God. All things, men included, will ultimately, serve that purpose. If this were not so, then irreparable violence would be done to the justice and righteousness of God. All that written, you might be able to sort out some of your ideas by looking into some of the papers/sermons written by men like J. Gresham Machen, Lorraine Boettner, and Geerhardus Vos. Look, particularly, at their discussion of something called "redemptive history." Their treatment of the subject is more thorough, but also more technical. So you could also go back farther and see what the theologians of the 16th and 17th centuries said about "common grace." Keep thinking, studying, and asking! In Him, Doc |
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