R.C. Sproul
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Daisies don't give you much substance of hope for your eternal destiny.
But when you know the truth of election and the efficacy of God's calling inwardly in your souls, that matter is settled and you will begin to bring forth your fruit in your season.
Being, as the psalmist said, like a tree planted by rivers of living water.
The word predestination is a biblical word, and because it's a biblical word, all of those who have been diligent students of the Bible have tried to understand what the Bible means by divine predestination.
As I look at the history of Christian scholarship, we see that every great Christian teacher, every theologian that the church has ever produced at some point or another has had to address this question of predestination.
And though there's wide divergence of interpreting the doctrine of predestination, there's one thing that we can find that every theologian I've ever examined
agrees on, and that is that this doctrine must be treated with great caution.
It's a dangerous subject because the more we study it, the tendency it has to raise more questions than it answers.
And I'm convinced that of all of the doctrines that we struggle with in Christendom, there's none that is more shrouded in misunderstanding and confusion than the doctrine of predestination.
So that in itself calls for a certain kind of sober caution as we approach this subject.
And I would add to the theologian's warning of caution that I think it's also a doctrine that requires an extra measure of charity as we struggle with it.
and that we need to be patient with each other and with those who differ from us in our views of this particular question.
Because I said there is a lot at stake here, and feelings can run very high when we discuss the matter of predestination.
and we ought to be careful to manifest the fruit of God's Holy Spirit among ourselves as we try to deal with it.