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Originally Posted by toddpedlar  And if this is their duty (their only duty) what benefits to them are derived from doing what is their duty? |
1. The creatures are to obey their creator simply because of their creature status, i.e. they are to obey because they are being told to believe by their creator.
2. There can however be benefits albeit temporal. For example, if they mended their ways externally then there are great blessings say for example they were unmarried but now they amended their ways externally and got married there are great benefits to that. The same if before they were drunkards but gave up getting drunk after amending their lives externally. I am sure you can come up with other examples. And of course if the nation had repented in Acts 3 they would have avoided AD70 as John Gill explains well
here saying
These Jews had crucified the Lord of glory, and for this sin were threatened with miserable destruction; the apostle therefore exhorts them to repent of it, and acknowledge Jesus to be the true Messiah; that so when wrath should come upon their nation to the uttermost, they might be delivered and saved from the general calamity; which, though these would be terrible times to the unbelieving Jews, yet would be times of refreshing to the people of God from troubles and persecutions.
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Originally Posted by toddpedlar By the way, you're setting up a strawman here. Nobody here agrees with the error that saving faith is mere assent to historical propositions. Let's deal with the present reality. |
I was simply raising the point that some in the Reformed camp have a view of faith that is close to Sandemenianism (if that is the correct spelling).
