Tuesday, March 15, 2011

on our understanding of God's election

According to Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, written by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s Office of Theology and Worship, "No one is saved apart from God's redemption in Jesus Christ. Yet we do not presume to limit the sovereign freedom of God . . . Thus, we can neither restrict the grace of Jesus Christ to those who profess explicit faith in Christ nor assume that all people are saved regardless of faith.
Grace, love and communion belong to God, and are not ours to determine." W. A. Visser't Hooft wrote, "I don't know whether a Hindu is saved: I only know that salvation comes in Jesus Christ."

 
 

This may be unsatisfying for those who wish to leave no question unanswered. Hans Küng and other Catholic theologians have criticized it as being irresponsibly neutral. It is, however, in harmony with the attitude of humility that Jesus commanded in discussions about the reach of salvation. Repeatedly, he cautioned against judging, that is, thinking that we know God's judgments. Jesus' parables and other statements about the last day are full of surprises and reversals. "Reformed theology has always taught that salvation is ultimately in God's hands, beyond the pale of human understanding." According to John Calvin, "We must leave to God alone the knowledge of his church, whose foundation is his secret election."

 
 

The admission that we do not know the limits to God's wondrous grace does not lessen the joyous responsibility of Christians to share the good news of Christ with others. To be a Christian is to be claimed by Christ, to know that we are loved by God, and to be called by God to a life of purposeful service. To withhold this knowledge is to be indifferent to the needs of others. As Christians we are entrusted with the biblical story of God's way in the world, and especially with the good news of Jesus. We must tell that good news to others — not because we do not respect them, but because we love them. Many non-Christians may be better, godlier persons than we are; but we are the ones who have been called to share the story. We are to share it humbly, without coercion, trusting the Holy Spirit to use it to touch the hearts of those [with] whom we speak.

 
 

Pasted from <http://gamc.pcusa.org/ministries/theologyandworship/issues-grace/>