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| Who will flee, and flee from what wrath to come, and has that wrath come to past? |
"O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" Mt 3:7
Who will flee, and flee from what wrath to come, and has that wrath come to past?
A biblical distinction is the essence of sound theology; it is essential to distinguish the eternal salvation that is entirely monergistic (it is exclusively by the free and sovereign activities of the Triune God alone and without the activities of man at all; preaching, hearing, and believing are all excluded) and the temporal salvation that is synergistic (it involves the activities of the redeemed in obedience to the will of the Father for them.)
The former was purposed by God, accomplished and secured by Christ, and is freely and sovereignly applied to each elect while still in his native state of sin and death; it is bestowed freely to one still dead in trespasses and sins.
The latter has to be worked out by the redeemed with fear and trembling; they having been bestowed with eternal salvation, made perfectly fitted for eternal glory are summoned to work out their own temporal salvation. This salvation requires the active participation of the redeemed; it is conditioned upon their obedience to the will of the Father for them.
The failure to make this biblical distinction between the monergistic eternal salvation by the Triune and the synergistic temporal through the obedience of the redeemed has spawned so much confusion.
(The meme below is loved and like 43 times and shared 29 times when I took the screenshot. Nearly all will take the passage as dealing with eternal salvation.
The one comment was astute; it reads "70Ad"; he understands; John was warning the fellow Jews of the impending destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD; it is a temporal destruction they can flee to save themselves from, to save themselves from being slaughtered and roasted like swines by the Roman armies (Luke 21:20). But very many believe the wrath spoken of refers to the lake of fire. Who can flee from that wrath?
Eternal wrath in the lake of fire is averted ONLY by the work of Jesus Christ ALONE that secured the eternal salvation; this eternal salvation is freely bestowed to each elect personally while still dead in trespasses and sins.
UNWILLINGNESS and REFUSAL to acknowledge the biblical distinction between monergistic eternal salvation and synergistic temporal salvation has left even the wise and erudite folks in confusion.
