The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Justification

I'm not sure there is a necessary link between "eternal justification" and "hyper-Calvinism". But one could reason, albeit wrongly, that since the elect are justified in eternity then there is no need for the proclamation of the Gospel by which the elect are called to faith in Christ in order to be justified. Barth, which you are probably aware, reasoned in a similar vein with his dialectic where he believed that although there was a universal eternal election the human race was divided into two distinct groups: 1) the elect, elect and 2) the elect, reject. In the case of the first group (elect, elect), they are those who come to realize their election in their lifetime on earth. The other group (elect, reject), although elected, they never come to realize and experience the benefits of their election. Some, who hold to eternal justification, also reason that the elect have no need to be justified, but rather they need to realize their justification and thus rejoice in it and show forth a life of thankfulness unto the Lord.

But again, I do not see a logical necessity that if one should hold to an "eternal justification" (which I definitely do not) then it must follow that evangelism and the offer of the Gospel is moot.

In His Grace,