The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Who can be pardoned?

No! <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> The analogy is irrelevant. The issue is one of "subjectivity", not the "objectivity" of God's sovereignty in salvation.

What disturbs me, perhaps more than what you are trying to promote, is the motivation for doing so. Although, I cannot, at least at this time, put my finger on it, I suspect there is a latent agenda behind it. Not that you are consciously trying to foist some error upon us, but more likely you have been taken in by it. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> In time, D.v. I hope to be able to flush it out and expose it.

Again, I sense the subtlety of error in this statement. Objectively we have been freed from the bondage of sin. Classically, the church has taught that through Christ, the believing sinner has been freed from the penalty of sin (totally) and the presence and power of sin (in principle); i.e., the presence and power of sin has not been totally eradicated, but begun at regeneration and they diminish throughout the process of sanctification. It is one of the true marks of regeneration what the redeemed man begins to perceive not only the holiness of God more and more, but also he increases in the realization of the depth of his sin and the corruption of his heart.

As it is with the relationship between repentance and faith, so it is likewise with one's knowledge of God's holiness and his own sinfulness. Does one precede the other? or perhaps they are simultaneous and complementary. Truth says that one repents believing God and true faith is a repentant faith. They are two sides of the same coin. Thus if we were to grant that one should focus upon Christ and the exalted position of having been redeemed by Him, it should also be true that as one becomes more and more aware of "the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints," (Eph. 1:18), there will also be a greater sense of the depth of sin which remains within.

No sinner will ever come to Christ with a heart-felt need of being forgiven for sins and the necessity of being reconciled to God until there exists a Spirit-wrought conviction of sin. Likewise, one can never realize the greatness of grace until it is first known how undeserving, helpless and needy they are and that grace is not something that occurs in a moment of time, but it is forever needful throughout one's life here on earth. In fact, in glory, the saints will be singing praises to the Lamb Who was slain before the foundation of the earth, just because they are mindful of the fact that it was for their sins that He was slain.

So again I say, it is not an "either/or" but rather a "both/and" which must be maintained. The Pentecostal/Charismatic churches as well as the mass of "seeker-friendly" churches would have us "tone down" the reality of sin and focus upon the love of God in Christ Jesus. Put on that happy face and always rejoice in who you are (allegedly) in Christ. A few quick, Protestant "hail Mary's" each night and you are ready to go. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/rolleyes2.gif" alt="" /> It is also true that "morbid introspection" is no less in error. However, if given a choice between only those two extremes, I would surely choose the the latter. Thankfully, I don't have to choose between two errors because I have the truth of Scripture which rejects both and leads me down the narrow path; the "old paths" of my forebears. (Jer. 6:16)

In His Grace,