I sign off with a sentence I read this morning from Edwards which, if true, ought to root out all kinds of fear and despondency from our hearts as faltering children of God. He's reflecting on Romans 8:28.
Though it is to the eternal damage of the saints, ordinarily, when they yield to, and are overcome by temptations, yet Satan and other enemies of the saints by whom these temptations come, are always wholly disappointed in their temptations, and baffled in their design to hurt the saints, inasmuch as the temptation and the sin that comes by it, is for the saints' good, and they receive a greater benefit in the issue, than if the temptation had not been, and yet less than if the temptation had been overcome.--Jonathan Edwards, letter to Thomas Gillespie, Scottish pastor, 1746; in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Yale ed., 2:488-89
That one sentence is worth at least three weeks' blogging.
Bingo. That's good stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhere are you going? We know some missionaries at Justo Mwale theological college.
ReplyDeleteHi Erin. Theological College of Central Africa in Zambia.
ReplyDeleteWow! Hope your time is amazing!
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ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteI would go even further than Edwards and say that even when the temptation is not overcome, in the ultimate sense it is better than if it had been. For while we are never to sin that grace may abound (Romans 6:1), the sovereign hand of God is working all things into the consummation of His highest glory, which is also the highest good of His Church.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, if God ordained that a man would choose to sin rather than not, though it be a hindrance to his soul in the immediate sense, it will ultimately redound to the greatest glory of God.