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NASB | John 6:37 "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 6:37 "All that My Father gives Me will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out [I will never, never reject anyone who follows Me]. |
Subject: What is eternal life? What is saved? |
Bible Note: Hello, Tim. I'd like to begin with another appeal to you and the rest of our forum family to continue in prayer for our land and for its leaders in this sad hour when we stand in so dire a need of God's help and strength to get us through this time, a time of tragedy and mourning, and a time when this republic faces one of the greatest crucibles in its history......... Tim, I'll try to paraphrase the questions you have asked, and they are tough ones. I'd really rather you'd put them quietly back on the shelf and ask me something about dinosaurs or Cain's wife :-)........ You ask whether I accept the Calvinist view that the only realtest of election for any individual is his perseverence; and, if not, how do I feel that election and belief relate?..... Well, Tim, first of all, I'm not a five-point Calvinist; I'm a Southern Baptist. I'm not acustomed to or comfortable with using the words "election" and "belief" in the same sentence, and I'm not trying to be a smarty pants when I say this. I'm simply not used to thinking in this way or in this category of thought. And I simply can't answer your questions, Tim -- not because I am being stubborn, not because I am trying to duck them, but simply and honestly because I don't know the answers to them....... Dr. Paige Patterson, considered by many Southern Baptists to be one of our top theologians, is on record somewhere as having given a lecture at one of our seminaries on the topic of election and free will, citing for the students the main points of each view. Near the close of his lecture one of the students said, "But, Dr. Patterson, I still don't really understand the relationship between God's election and man's free will." "Frankly," Dr. Patterson responded, "neither do I." (This item about Dr. Patterson is anecdotal; I heard it in a sermon from a Baptist minister and am relating it from memory; yet I believe the facts are essentially correct)...... So, Tim, that's it for me. No deep wells of theology spring forth from me. I have never fully understood God's election much beyond the simple concept that God is God, transcendent and sovereign, and can do and does, in fact do, whatever he wills. I have much less problem understanding that Jesus saved me 52 years ago by His grace through the faith that I, a 14-year old boy, had in Him. I trusted Him then and I trust Him still. I wasn't a theologian then and am no theologian now. I've let Him down many times and in many ways; He has not let me down even once. I'm not quite sure, Tim, exactly how to explain what belief in Christ has to do with election, except to say that I believe the Holy Spirit had everything to do with my conviction that I was lost and needed a Savior. That's how I see election and that's how I see free will. Jesus offers His salvation; we learn of it through the message of the gospel; the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin; the choice, or free will, that we have is whether to accept or reject the offer of salvation..... So, then, my friend and brother Tim, I have herewith told all I know and confessed all I don't know about this topic. So, please have mercy on me and don't ask me hard questions like these :-) Blessings in Christ. --Hank |