Doing a bit of light background reading for a seminar I'll be giving shortly I came across this quote from the great 19th century Baptist preacher, Charles Spurgeon:
Thou wilt look up there on the throne of God, and it shall be written, 'For ever!' When the damned jingle the burning irons of their torment, they shall say, 'For ever!' When they howl, Echo cries, 'For ever!' 'For ever!' is written on their racks, 'For ever!' on their chains, 'For ever!' burneth in the fire, 'For ever!' ever reigns.
What a contrast with today's Palm Sunday reading, Psalm 118, which begins:
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; His steadfast love endures for ever!
Let Israel say, 'His steadfast love endures for ever.'
Let the house of Aaron say, 'His steadfast love endures for ever.'
Let those who fear the LORD say, 'His steadfast love endures for ever.'
Psalm 103 makes a similar point:
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always accuse, nor will he keep his anger for ever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far he removes our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the LORD has compassion for those who fear him. (Ps 103.8-13)
Spurgeon was a great preacher, but for all his rhetoric I reckon he got that one wrong ;) It is not God's wrath, or his punishment of sinners which endures for ever: it is God's steadfast, unfailing, inescapable love!
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I guess I don't know why you do not believe that BOTH God's love & His wrath cannot and would not be as unchanging and eternal as He is. Your quote from Spurgeon may paint an incomplete picture of ALL that God is (just as the Psalms you've quoted do), but that does not make it an inaccurate one.
ReplyDeleteHi Kirk, Only just noticed your comment. Thanks for dropping by! Personally I believe the church has often misunderstood and misrepresented the wrath of God, with tragic consequences. I also believe that all of God's qualities are unified and integrated, his justice always merciful and his mercy always just. The doctrine of hell as ECT/ECP is, in my view, unbiblical and cannot be reconciled with the all loving, all powerful God in any coherant way.
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