A story told by Dr. Michael Horton in one of the sessions of his "God and Suffering" lectures really made an impression on me. He tells of the time when he and his mother were discussing—or, probably more aptly, debating—theological issues, as they were wont to do, when his father, perhaps having had the day's quota of "Calvinism", blurted out the very common question of, "How do I then know if I am elect?"
Dr. Horton made the point that inward-curving reflection is never the way to make this determination. The key has always been: LOOK TO CHRIST. If you are constantly looking to Christ, then it must mean that the Spirit of Christ is moving in you to engage in such a looking; and it is so that only the elect are led by the Spirit to look to Christ—therefore it is not in an assessment of one's moral fortitude that the assurance of election is to be had, for if one is brutally honest (Law-honest!), it would always be the case that one would find the filthiest of sinners within, but it is in the appropriation of Christ's double-benefit (justification and sanctification) in the daily act of faith.
Look to Christ for "...the righteous shall live by faith" (Hab. 2:4)!
Dr. Horton made the point that inward-curving reflection is never the way to make this determination. The key has always been: LOOK TO CHRIST. If you are constantly looking to Christ, then it must mean that the Spirit of Christ is moving in you to engage in such a looking; and it is so that only the elect are led by the Spirit to look to Christ—therefore it is not in an assessment of one's moral fortitude that the assurance of election is to be had, for if one is brutally honest (Law-honest!), it would always be the case that one would find the filthiest of sinners within, but it is in the appropriation of Christ's double-benefit (justification and sanctification) in the daily act of faith.
Look to Christ for "...the righteous shall live by faith" (Hab. 2:4)!
Once you see Christ for who He really is you can never stop looking! He is beyond compare!
ReplyDeleteWith Peter we exclaim, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (Jn. 6:68).
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