Thoughts from the Christian perspective: discernment issues as they relate to the current state of the church and society.
Tuesday, September 8, 2020
Yes, People Are Able to Repent
In the text just cited [Jer. 7:1-29], it seems clear that God truly desired for his children to repent and turn from their self-destructive ways. That God sent prophets to them over and over suggests not only that he wanted them to repent but also that they were able to do so. The prophets themselves were a means of grace by which the truth confronted Israel and made repentance possible. God’s threatening to punish them for their refusal to repent implies that they were responsible precisely because the could have repented and yet freely chose not to do so.
Jerry L. Walls and Joseph R. Dongell, Why I Am Not A Calvinist, pg.117
2 comments:
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The two truths - that God desires all men to repent and that men are not able to repent apart from a work of God (2 Tim. 2:25-26) - are not mutually exclusive. The fact that God desires all men to repent does not mean that He plans to give them repentance. Nor does it make it unjust to punish those who don't repent.
ReplyDeleteIf a man lives in sin, with no ability to repent, he is still guilty of sin. In addition, if you were to ask him, he would say that he has no desire to repent. For God to punish that person in hell is perfectly just. The fact that they did not have the opportunity to repent doesn't absolve them of their sin. They're still sinners deserving of eternal death.
I think the misunderstanding is that while God may desire one thing (repentance for all), He desire another thing more (His glory). God's main desire is not man's welfare (temporal or eternal). God's main desire is His own glory - the declaration of who He is as the supreme Being. That is why He can desire that all men repent and then choose not to grant it: because His glory is displayed most when few people are saved.
Some people must be saved (to demonstrate His love, mercy and grace) and many must be condemned (to demonstrate His wrath and justice). I'm greatly simplifying how He displays His glory here, but hopefully that makes sense.
God calls all men to repentance because He's just. In eternity He can say that they were warned and instead loved their sin and hated righteousness. But He only grants repentance to a few because His desire for His glory is greater than His desire their repentance and salvation.
I've been in numerous discussions about this over the years and it always seems to boil down to one thing: the other party wants a God whose primary purpose is to serve man: to save him or heal him or help him in some way. But that's not the God of the Bible. His highest goal is always Himself.
Victoria,
ReplyDeleteIf God desires all men to be saved then how can He then predestine people to damnation without their being allowed to obey God? You eliminate the free will when you say God only elects some based on his own fickleness and arbitrariness. That is NOT what the Bible shows; the Bible shows man having a choice to choose to obey God or turn his back on God.
God gives EVERYONE the ability to repent, contrary to the wicked doctrine of Calvinism (more appropriately Augustinianism).
Your last sentence is how you see things based on your own ideology, not the way people really are. I have never known a non-Calvinist who wants a God who serves them. That is nothing but Calvinist arrogance.
So how do you know you are one of the elect if you have no choice in the matter?
I suggest you refer to my post at
https://watchmansbagpipes.blogspot.com/2013/02/i-am-not-calvinist.html
To see the BIBLICAL position on the Calvinist false TULIPs.