Reckoning
with the Roman Catholic theology about the state of man in the garden of Eden,
I can't help but think of the yin-yang principle of the "wise"
Chinese men. The concupiscence, having the body and soul or the inclination to
higher rational spirit and to lower physical appetite, seems to make sense as
it still happens to us even today although the thought or perspective may be
quite dangerous. Some people who are not deeply rooted in the Word of God can
easily be taken away by this theology since it sounds easy to chew. As it may
sound Pelagian, some would see ourselves like Adam who has our own battle and
own share of that concupiscence. However the Scripture does not teach us this
at all. We are not on our own like how Adam was in the Garden of Eden.
It
is not true that the sin of Adam was just of Adam. When Adam sinned, sin was
imputed to all humankind. We are all totally depraved and that we all need
God's grace so we can be brought back to the perfect eternal fellowship with
Him as He originally intended in the Garden of Eden.
God
has made a way for us by accommodating Himself to us so we can understand His
language. He condescended to reveal it in Scripture.
All
throughout the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, He
communicated His redemptive plan to us in a way that we understand His
revelation of grace. How His covenant of works progressed to His covenant of
grace is amazing and how His contextualized manner of explaining Himself and
His intention for us is overwhelming. God simply became man so He can speak to
man without changing ontologically nor economically as the Triune God.
God's
redemptive work was for all, whether the regenerate or the unregenerate. As Van
Til said that God is revealed at all, that is revealed in nature[1]. The common grace is not
very common for some though. Some believers (or some unbelievers) will
mistakenly see it as the saving grace that leads to the view of universalism.
But the Bible reiterates that there will be judgment in the end, there will be
the saved and the unsaved, the elect and the reprobate.
On
another note, I feel sad about some believers who become arrogant and prideful
about being in a position of an elect when actually, such gift should lead us
to humility and passion for God, leading us even more to doing His will, which
is to love, to obey His Great Commission, to become light and salt in this
world. I feel sad about seeing Christians who were drawn in a system that is
hyper-theological (if you will) where the Sunday school level believers would
feel so small about.
I
pray that as God has contextualized through the so-called condescension, we as
His children will do the same to others. That we adjust to a language that they
will learn the truth about God but of course without distorting the whole
message of the Gospel. I pray that as the Lord Jesus incarnate blessed us, we
will also bless the world with the incarnational ministry that God has
entrusted to us.
Week 4
Digest, Sept.14-20, 2022
Lanilane Ocbina
WCTS, ThM program
