Grace vs. Judgment Response
This assignment consists of answering the following questions from chapters 12-18.
Chapter 12: What three comments does Packer relate to the Flood of Love? How do you explain the love of God and the fact that God punishes sin? How does Packer define love?
The three comments made by Packer relating to the Flood of Love are “First notice the verb shed abroad. It means literally poured (or dumped) out. It suggests a free flow and a large quantity—in fact, an inundation. Second, notice the tense of the verb. It is in the perfect, which implies a settled state consequent upon a completed action. The thought is that knowledge of the love of God, having flooded our hearts, fills them now, just as a valley once flooded …show more content…
141). The principle of retribution is the rendering of judgment for the good and the evil done. “God’s nature is retribution, the rendering to persons what they have deserved; for this is the essence of the judge’s task. To reward good with good, and evil with evil, is natural to God. The retributive principle applies throughout: Christians as well as non-Christians will receive according to their works” (Packer, 1993, p. …show more content…
How does the doctrine of propitiation help us to understand each of the five “vital matters” that Packer lists?
The difference between pagan and biblical views of God’s wrath has to do with the concept of satisfying the anger of their gods and the biblical view of propitiation. According to Parker (1993), “In paganism, man propitiates his gods, and religion becomes a form of commercialism and, indeed, of bribery. In Christianity, however, God propitiates his wrath by his own action. He set forth Jesus Christ, says Paul, to be a propitiation; he sent his Son, says John, to be the propitiation for our sins” (p.
This assignment consists of answering the following questions from chapters 12-18.
Chapter 12: What three comments does Packer relate to the Flood of Love? How do you explain the love of God and the fact that God punishes sin? How does Packer define love?
The three comments made by Packer relating to the Flood of Love are “First notice the verb shed abroad. It means literally poured (or dumped) out. It suggests a free flow and a large quantity—in fact, an inundation. Second, notice the tense of the verb. It is in the perfect, which implies a settled state consequent upon a completed action. The thought is that knowledge of the love of God, having flooded our hearts, fills them now, just as a valley once flooded …show more content…
141). The principle of retribution is the rendering of judgment for the good and the evil done. “God’s nature is retribution, the rendering to persons what they have deserved; for this is the essence of the judge’s task. To reward good with good, and evil with evil, is natural to God. The retributive principle applies throughout: Christians as well as non-Christians will receive according to their works” (Packer, 1993, p. …show more content…
How does the doctrine of propitiation help us to understand each of the five “vital matters” that Packer lists?
The difference between pagan and biblical views of God’s wrath has to do with the concept of satisfying the anger of their gods and the biblical view of propitiation. According to Parker (1993), “In paganism, man propitiates his gods, and religion becomes a form of commercialism and, indeed, of bribery. In Christianity, however, God propitiates his wrath by his own action. He set forth Jesus Christ, says Paul, to be a propitiation; he sent his Son, says John, to be the propitiation for our sins” (p.