In his discussion, "Election and the Hiddenness of God" in Divine Election (Chapter Four, pp.102-131), G. C. Berkouwer emphasizes that God's hiddenness is not to be set over against His salvation. He rejects a concept of God's hiddenness which "separates the God of revelation from our lives and mitigates the absolute trustworthiness of that revelation" (p. 125). Even in confessing God's salvation, faith acknowledges that it does not know everything about God (pp. 120-121, especially the reference to Isaiah 45:15 - "Truly You are a God who has been hiding Himself, the God and Saviour of Israel."). Although our knowledge of God in Christ is confessed to be true and reliable, we must not presume upom complete knowledge (p. 124 - especially the reference to John 14:9 - "He who has seen Me has seen the Father."). The attempt to attain to complete knowledge is admonished for its spiritual pride, when Christ speaks of these things which are hidden from "the wise and learned" yet revealed "to little children" (p. 123, quoting Matthew 11:25). This Biblical passage - Matthew 11:25 - concludes Berkouwer's study of Divine Election (p. 330). He ends by emphasizing that knowledge of God is not to be sought apart from a simple faith, which looks to Christ as Saviour.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Bible Notes by G. Philip
For forty years, Rev George Philip (11th November 1925 - 16th February 2019) taught God's Word, faithfully and fruitfully, at Sandyfo...
-
Nahum 1:1-2:9 ‘Fulfil your vows’ (1:15). God is calling us to be faithful to Him. We are to be faithful in worship. We are to be fait...
-
God's Word is "a lamp to our feet and a light to our path." He has "wondrous things" to teach us as we pray "...
-
"In the beginning, God" (Genesis 1:1). Here, we are taken back to eternity, back to the eternal God. There is nothing beyond ...
No comments:
Post a Comment