14 May 2013

What Romans 8:28 Means

Things will be quiet around here for about three weeks as I head out of the country to do some teaching.

I sign off with a sentence I read this morning from Edwards which, if true, ought to root out all kinds of fear and despondency from our hearts as faltering children of God. He's reflecting on Romans 8:28.
Though it is to the eternal damage of the saints, ordinarily, when they yield to, and are overcome by temptations, yet Satan and other enemies of the saints by whom these temptations come, are always wholly disappointed in their temptations, and baffled in their design to hurt the saints, inasmuch as the temptation and the sin that comes by it, is for the saints' good, and they receive a greater benefit in the issue, than if the temptation had not been, and yet less than if the temptation had been overcome.
--Jonathan Edwards, letter to Thomas Gillespie, Scottish pastor, 1746; in The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Yale ed., 2:488-89

That one sentence is worth at least three weeks' blogging.

7 comments:

The Blainemonster said...

Bingo. That's good stuff.

ErinOrtlund said...

Where are you going? We know some missionaries at Justo Mwale theological college.

Dane Ortlund said...

Hi Erin. Theological College of Central Africa in Zambia.

ErinOrtlund said...

Wow! Hope your time is amazing!

Jojo Agot said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jojo Agot said...

Wow!

Nicholas J. Gausling said...

I would go even further than Edwards and say that even when the temptation is not overcome, in the ultimate sense it is better than if it had been. For while we are never to sin that grace may abound (Romans 6:1), the sovereign hand of God is working all things into the consummation of His highest glory, which is also the highest good of His Church.

Therefore, if God ordained that a man would choose to sin rather than not, though it be a hindrance to his soul in the immediate sense, it will ultimately redound to the greatest glory of God.