Lecture 9 Flashcards
1
Q
Thomas Boston, Human Nature in Its Fourfold State (1730) (Book)
A
- This is the classic text of Reformed Theology.
2. It is essential for understanding the destiny of humanity.
2
Q
There are four things you need to know if you want to see Heaven
A
- Man was created in a state of innocence-primitive integrity.
- Man’s nature was sinful-entire depravity (sin represents an undoing of humanity).
- we are completely bound to sin and Sin requires a Saviour. - Jesus has to renew us so we might become true humanity (state of grace-begun recovery).
- a mediator who will solve the problem - The state of glory-consummate happiness or misery- is what man will be in his eternal state.
- eternal peace (Augustine)
3
Q
Augustine (as related to the fourfold state)
A
- posse peccare passe non peccare-This is the ability to sin and be able not to sin.
- non posse non peccare-Man is only not able not to sin, humanity is in bondage to sin, the will acts according to its sinful nature and the only thing the will chooses is that which is sinful.
- posse non peccare-Man is able not to sin, as a result of regeneration we have the ability to what is honouring to the Lord, yet we still sin.
- non posse peccare-We wrestle from the presence of sin, that’s why we earn for glory where we are only not able to sin.
4
Q
Summary: On the Free Will (WCF 9)
Section 1
A
- We are preserved.
God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is
neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined
to good, or evil
?????????
5
Q
Section 2
A
- Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom, and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God.
- Man was able to do this mutably, so that he might fall from it.
6
Q
Section 3
A
- Attacking Arminian thought
- Man, by his fall into a state of sin, lost all ability of will to do any spiritual good accompanying salvation
- A natural man, dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself.
7
Q
WCF 3.1
A
- Rejects both deism (God created and withdraws from the world in order to rid himslef of responsiblity of creation, if something happens its our fault) and fatalism (whatever will be will be, we are essentially machines, nothing we can do about it).
- God is sovereign yet we are morally responsible for what we do.
- Confirms a correlation of divine soverigny and human responsbility-they come together.
8
Q
Section 5
A
- The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good alone, in the state of glory only.
9
Q
WCF 3.1
A
- Rejects both deism (God created and withdraws from the world in order to rid himself of responsibility of creation, if something happens its our fault) and fatalism (whatever will be will be, we are essentially machines, nothing we can do about it).
- God is sovereign yet we are morally responsible for what we do.
- Confirms a correlation of divine sovereignty and human responsibility-they come together. For example, God used the evil intent of Joseph’s brothers to bring about the Exodus-God orchestrated His sovereign will.
We are responsible for our sin.
The doctrine of concursus (it is what it is).
10
Q
G. Hos, Reformed Dogmatics
A
- God is the cause of all things.
2. He means what he wills.
11
Q
A necessary cause
A
- We need a necessary cause to exist.
- The seasons are needed for use to enjoy life.
- Jeremiah 31:35
12
Q
Free agency
A
- We are moral creatures and we answer to God.
- In the garden Adam and Eve were subject to change. Genesis 3:6-the volitional activity of Eve-she delighted in what she saw
- God determines or finite lives without interfering with our actions-the crucifixion of Jesus
13
Q
John Owen, Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ (1684)
A
- Based on John 17:4.
- Christ is the principle object of our life.
- A dying testimony for the church.
- Nothing prepares us to behold the glory by sight than beholding His glory in faith while on Earth. Life here is preparation for Heaven.
14
Q
The Flower
A
- The seed is in Genesis-perfect garden where God dwells with his people.
- OT is the plant-longing for eternal rest, Joshua 2 and Hebrews 4.
- Revelation is the fully blossomed flower-a redeemed humanity, Rev 21 and 22.
15
Q
The Bookends
A
- Genesis and Revelation parallel and complement each other-Gen 1 and Rev 21, Genesis 3 and Revelation 21.
- What was lost in the first Adam is reclaimed in the second Adam.
- The new Heaven and the new Earth represent the eternal enjoyment of the presence of a triune God.
