Have I any pleasure at all that
the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from
his ways, and live? (Ezek. 18:23 KJV).
(I)
[“The
Three Points in Most Parts Reformed: A Reexamination of the So-Called
Well-Meant Offer of Salvation,” pp. 64, 65.]
The
substantial error committed by [Christian Reformed Church’s] 1924 synod [which
cited Ezekiel 18:23 and 33:11] was its acceptance of the Arminian definition of
the sincere call—a definition that is clearly rejected by Canons III/IV:8 ... The concept of a well-meant offer of salvation
may have its origin in the teachings of William Heyns and Jan Karel van
Baalen—an issue that deserves further study. Heyns, who taught Practical
Theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, proposed a view of the covenant and of
divine grace that was clearly out of step with the Reformed confessions. Heyns
spoke of a subjective covenant grace that, because it also imparted an
intrinsic capacity (innerlijke vatbaarheid), was sufficient to bring covenant
children to salvation if they made good use of the means of grace. Even A. C.
DeJong, who defends the well-meant offer, recognizes that ‘Heyn's view of an innerlijke
vatbaarheid can scarcely be distinguished from the
Remonstrant Limborch’s concept of some sinners as being very receptive to the
working of saving grace.’ This fact, combined with the acceptance of the
Remonstrant definition of the serious call, adds weight to the charge that the
1924 synod added Arminian elements to Reformed soteriology ... There was a rush
to judgment in the case of Hoeksema and Danhof that contributed to a serious
ecclesiastical schism as well as the introduction of the rather dubious
doctrine of the well-meant offer of salvation. Berkhof, and later Hoekema, seem
to realize that it is not logically compatible with the doctrines of limited
atonement and divine election and reprobation, but they feel compelled to
affirm it nonetheless. In so doing, however, they are saying something quite
different from what our confessional standards affirm.
----------------------------------------
(II)
(II)
More to come! (DV)
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