cygnusx1
Jacob the twister.....
- Apr 12, 2004
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My main concern throughout this thread is to uphold my contention which I believe is Biblical ....... which is : that which God Commands is what He desires , otherwise it is open to a stack of objections , not least , why should anyone trust the word of any who commands a thing but does not mean it?
''Divine Precepts, like Divine Decrees, Imply Divine Desires
Certain critics of the Well Meant Offer criticize it for stating that God desires the repentance of men in general. They assert that there is no sense in which God desires repentance except in the elect. But such criticism fails to take into account the very implications of divine precepts or commands. Implicit within the concept of a 'precept' or 'command' is will, desire, delight or pleasure. This is inherent in its definition. The person giving a command is implicitly expressing his will or desire regarding what he wants the recipient of the command to do. He is stating what he is pleased with. Specifically with regards to divine precepts, God is revealing what he desires man to do. His precepts targeted at all humanity, like the duties of evangelical faith and obedience to the Ten Commandments, are nothing less than statements of what he desires in man. 'Revealed will' without 'will' (or desire) is not 'revealed will'. Divine decrees imply divine desires as well. God decrees that which he desires to occur. He decrees nothing but that which his holy will desires. 'Decretive will' then without 'will' (or desire) is not 'decretive will' either.''
Francis Turretin described this distinction well when he wrote: "God delights in the conversion and eternal life of the sinner, AS A THING PLEASING IN ITSELF, and congruous with His own infinitely compassionate nature, rather than in his perdition; and therefore demands from man, as an act due from him, to turn if he would live. But although He does not will, in the sense of delighting in, the death of the sinner, He at the same time wills, in the sense of decreeing, the death of the sinner for the display of His justice. Even as an upright magistrate, though he does not delight in and desire the death of the criminal, yet determines to inflict the just penalty of the law." (Institutes of Theology IV ch xvii/33)
http://www.puritans.net/tracts/offer.html
''Divine Precepts, like Divine Decrees, Imply Divine Desires
Certain critics of the Well Meant Offer criticize it for stating that God desires the repentance of men in general. They assert that there is no sense in which God desires repentance except in the elect. But such criticism fails to take into account the very implications of divine precepts or commands. Implicit within the concept of a 'precept' or 'command' is will, desire, delight or pleasure. This is inherent in its definition. The person giving a command is implicitly expressing his will or desire regarding what he wants the recipient of the command to do. He is stating what he is pleased with. Specifically with regards to divine precepts, God is revealing what he desires man to do. His precepts targeted at all humanity, like the duties of evangelical faith and obedience to the Ten Commandments, are nothing less than statements of what he desires in man. 'Revealed will' without 'will' (or desire) is not 'revealed will'. Divine decrees imply divine desires as well. God decrees that which he desires to occur. He decrees nothing but that which his holy will desires. 'Decretive will' then without 'will' (or desire) is not 'decretive will' either.''
Francis Turretin described this distinction well when he wrote: "God delights in the conversion and eternal life of the sinner, AS A THING PLEASING IN ITSELF, and congruous with His own infinitely compassionate nature, rather than in his perdition; and therefore demands from man, as an act due from him, to turn if he would live. But although He does not will, in the sense of delighting in, the death of the sinner, He at the same time wills, in the sense of decreeing, the death of the sinner for the display of His justice. Even as an upright magistrate, though he does not delight in and desire the death of the criminal, yet determines to inflict the just penalty of the law." (Institutes of Theology IV ch xvii/33)
http://www.puritans.net/tracts/offer.html
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