Following
my first post on this, I thought that it would be helpful to set out
in a table more detail on the similarities and differences between
the three views. The ticks and crosses indicate whether or not the
view taken allows you to affirm the statements in the first column
without contradicting what is affirmed in each view.
Feedback I've had since the fist post indicates that there are some views that would sit somewhere in between View 1 and View 2.
Feedback I've had since the fist post indicates that there are some views that would sit somewhere in between View 1 and View 2.
A
variation on View 1 holds that following Jesus' ascension, the Holy
Spirit is working in the heart of every single person in the world to
persuade them of the truth of the Gospel, such that everyone who
believes believes because of the work of the Holy Spirit in their
hearts, but the Holy Spirit works equally in the heart of every
person and it is still possible for everyone to resist the work of
the Holy Spirit. Another view is almost identical to this except that
the Holy Spirit only does this work in some people. For the purposes
of the table I have included these variations with View 1.
|
|
View 1 and
the views falling between 1 and 2
|
View 2
|
View 3
|
|
Salvation comes only
through Jesus Christ |
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
What Jesus suffered on
the cross is what every sinner deserves to suffer |
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
Everyone who repents and
believes will be saved |
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
The call to repent and
believe should be preached to all people indiscriminately |
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
No one will be saved
unless they repent and believe before death / before Jesus returns
(not taking into account debates surrounding the children of
believers) |
✓
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
The intensity of what
Jesus suffered on the cross does not increase or decrease depending
upon the number of people who are saved by his death |
✓
|
✓
|
✓/X
|
|
The cross is proof of the
love that God has for every single person and of his desire that
every person be saved |
✓
|
✓
|
X
|
|
God loves some people
more that others |
X
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
You can truthfully say to
everyone you meet, “Jesus died for you.” |
✓
|
✓
|
X
|
|
Once the Gospel has been
proclaimed to someone, the only thing preventing that person being
saved is their refusal to believe |
✓
|
✓
|
X
|
|
The Father, Son and Holy
Spirit are united in what they want the cross to achieve |
✓/X
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
If you believe the Gospel
today, having properly understood it, you can have confidence that
you will still believe it tomorrow no matter how much the devil
tries to convince you that you no longer believe |
X
|
✓
|
✓
|
|
Your own
goodness/wisdom/character makes no contribution at all to your
salvation |
X
|
✓
|
✓
|
Nice analysis. I've thought about this a bit and I think it's important, but I wonder whether God's bemused by my obsession over such things. He controls the entire panorama of salvation - most of which I don't see - whilst we're still trying to work out how much RGB is in a single pixel of it.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. There's definitely a balance to be struck here and I'm challenged by how much effort I can put into writing this compared with how little effort I devote to speaking to our loving Father who sent Jesus to die for me and his Spirit to live within me. I do hope though that this will help people and will a small contribution to the discussions people have on this, if only to show that all three views are respectable and that holding different views on this shouldn't affect the unity we have in Christ.
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