Leaving and Letting Go of This World: a Remonstrant’s Reflections

J. D. Gallé | Tuesday, 22 June 2021

        It was not long ago that we entered this world, and it will no doubt not be long ere we shall depart, never again to partake in the bad or the good under the sun. All that we have here we will soon leave behind. We shall take nothing and no one with us from this world.
        This life is very much one of loss. There is nothing here we were intended to keep for ever. Yet it is hard not to cling when this world is all we have ever known. We may seek our happiness here, but it is ever elusive and fleeting.
        Christ or the world? Is the one whom we cannot now see truly worth more than the entire visible created order? Is the one through whom all things were made greater than all that has ever been or will come to be?

        What can we give to the Lord of all that he has not given to us? What is it he desires? It is our hearts, our lives, our very selves, that we must yield and return wholly to him. For love of the world and love of God are mutually exclusive; they cannot coexist. To find the Lord Jesus Christ, one must lose and let go of the world, being crucified to it while still living in it. And this is very hard.

Copyright © J. D. Gallé, 2021. All rights reserved.

Assurance of Salvation and Justification: a Remonstrant’s Reflections

 J. D. Gallé | Monday, 2 September 2019

Who will bring an accusation against the elect of God? God is the One justifying. (Romans 8.33, BLB[1])

        The justification of persons before God – that is, the divine juridical act of declaring-righteous those who are trusting in the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead – is never subject to any doubt or debate in the mind of God. Justification is strictly God’s domain.
        Regardless of human frailty or presumption, God has determined the criteria[2] by which persons are, and will be, justified. Some individuals may doubt whether they are united to Christ. Such persons are yet uncertain that they are in the condemnation-free condition to be found solely in Christ.[3] Others, with seemingly little anxiety, may believe that they are presently in a state of justification before God, and expect the reiteration of their divine acquittal on Judgement Day.

Conclusion

        Though a thousand accusations may arise from within and without, from natural and supernatural enemies alike, for those in Christ, for those loving God,[4] the charges shall not stand. The objective truth of who is and is not (or will or will not be) justified remains unaltered. Our personal misgivings concerning our status before God, present or future, as justified or condemned, do not detract from the reality that it is God’s declaration that stands and will stand.

Notes

        1. Berean Literal Bible (2016). (This translation may be accessed by utilising the following link: <https://literalbible.com>.)
        2. Some might prefer ‘criterion’ (singular).
        3. See Romans 8.1.
        4. See Romans 8.28.

Addendum (28 Feb. 2023).  Expanding upon the (hitherto) unaddressed point of whether there is a single criterion of justification, opinion is not unanimous amongst interpreters that initial and final (eschatological) justification are based solely on faith (pistis), although this is the conventional Protestant understanding of Pauline justification.

Copyright © J. D. Gallé, 2019, 2023. All rights reserved.