"Soul, whoever thou art, that at any time art bitten with the guilt of sin, or by the prevalent working of any corruption; if thou wilt but look up to Jesus Christ with an eye of faith, thou mayest as certainly expect a cure to be wrought on thy soul as the Israelites, who, in looking up to the brazen serpent in the wilderness, might expect a cure to be done on their bodies. Therefore is salvation tendered upon this act of the soul, in looking up to Christ by an eye of faith, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth," Isa. xlv. 22. Therefore, O soul, have a care, thou dost not leave looking up to Christ; there is nothing else will or can damn thy soul, but thy not looking up to Christ, as a Saviour and Redeemer, and resting upon him alone for life and salvation, as one that is "able to save to the uttermost," as the apostle speaks in Heb. vii. 25."Thomas Worden, The Types Unveiled. P. 86
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Even though most of John 3 is talking about the new birth, the looking out to (the bronze serpent as symbol of Christ's death) shows us that the new birth is not the same as justification, and that the new birth is a result (not a condition) of Christ's death.
ReplyDeleteMany Arminians equate regeneration with eternal life . They teach that faith precedes the new birth from texts like John 3:16, 36; 6:51, 53-54, 57; 11:25 20:31, They are seriously wrong in equating regeneration with eternal life.
“Eternal life” is not the present reality which we call the new birth but instead an eschatological reality–those who are now justified are legally entitled already to the life of the age to come.
Many Bible texts make no sense if regeneration is equated with eternal life. (Mark 10:17, 29-30; Romans 2:6-7, 23; Galatians 6:8; 1 Timothy 6:19; Titus 1:2; 3:7; James 1:12; Revelation 2:10).For example, Jesus, responding to the rich young ruler states, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers…for my sake and the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time…and in the age to come regeneration (eternal life)” (Mark 10:29-30). NOT. the new birth is not in the age to come!
Donald Macleod—It was no part of the work of Christ to make God love us, The very fact of his being on earth at all was proof of the divine love. The business of the atonement, therefore, was to propitiate the God who already loves us: to lay the foundation for an advocacy directed towards him specifically as Father (1 John 2: 1). God unequivocally requires such propitiation, but in the last analysis God also provides the propitiation and God even becomes the propitiation. The whole cost of our redemption is borne by the triune God. In that sense, the atonement is a transaction entirely internal to the trinity. But by virtue of the incarnation, it is also external. It takes place not in heaven, but on Calvary; not in eternity, but on Good Friday, p 71
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