Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord
God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn
from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die,
O house of Israel? (Ezek. 33:11)
(I)
[Source: The Works of John Owen (Great Britain: Banner,
1967), vol. 10, pp. 387, 388; emphasis added]
“God
willeth not the death of a sinner,” is either, “God purposeth and determineth
he shall not die,” or, “God commandeth
that he shall do those things wherein he may live.” If the first, why
are they not all saved? why do sinners die? for there is an immutability in the
counsel of God, Heb. vi. 17; “His counsel shall stand, and he will do all his
pleasure,” Isa. xlvi. 10. If the latter way, by commanding, then the sense is,
that the Lord commandeth that those
whom he calleth should do their duty, that they may not die (although
he knows that this they cannot do without his assistance) ... I have often admired how so many strange
conclusions for a general purpose of showing mercy to all.
No comments:
Post a Comment