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Date Joined Jun 2001
Total Posts : 516
| Posted 6/28/2001 5:51 PM (GMT -6) |   |
05/04/01 3:09 PM
"While we were yet sinners": In defense of an open future
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Another passage for your consideration-
Rom. 5.7-8:
Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
If God possess EDF, then in what sense did Christ die for us “while we were sinners”? The preceding analogy CONTRASTS the rare willingness of a person to die even for somebody who (relatively speaking) deserves to be saved with Christ’s death for people who, in contrast to the righteous man, offered no guarantee of a return on the investment. That is, we may die for a righteous or good man because good men are likely to “pay it forward” via their goodness, that is, good will come out of our death.
But Paul CONTRASTS this with Christ’s death for us “while we were yet sinners.” Seems to me that both a deterministic view of the future and simple foreknowledge take the punch out of this passage. The needed contrast between the analogy of how/why WE die only rarely for good people and how/why Jesus died for us “while we were sinners” is lost, for if a) Christ dies for the elect only, or b) God knows that so-and-so will in fact receive him, become a righteous or good man, and bring forth fruit for God’s glory, and if I know this, then it makes no sense to contrast Christ’s death for me “while I was a sinner” with our willingness to die for people who promise a return on our investment. If God is certain of the return he gets on his investment, then Christ’s death is not dissimilar to the way we die for others. But Paul insists it IS different.
Comments?
Tom
Posted Originally From: Open Theism Information Site
TGB
05/30/01 2:59 PM
RE: "While we were yet sinners": In defense of an open future
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I must be losing my touch guys. Am I that far off base here?
Tom
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