What is at the bottom of God’s purpose? (Rom. 8:28-30)
Image from Pixabay Last time, we saw that the promise that all things work together for good to those who love God is a promise that ultimately rests on the unchangeable purpose of God. It’s not our love for God that makes this promise go; it’s God’s saving purpose towards those whom he calls that makes this promise go. But this has been challenged and is challenged to the present day. It comes down to two different ways of looking at salvation. There are those who believe that though God initiates salvation, yet man is the one who is ultimately responsible for saving himself. This is the position of those who embrace a Pelagian or semi-Pelagian view of salvation. In more modern times, at least among Protestants, this position has gone by the name of Arminianism. Then there are those who believe that God not only initiates salvation, but also that he is the one who is ultimately responsible for saving sinners from their sins. This i...
