by Eric Holter on July 15, 2005
“But what is the divine response to him? ‘I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.’”
Romans 11:4
If I were to interview some of those seven thousand men who did not bow their knees to Baal, and ask them to describe instances where they refused to bow, I would probably hear some wonderful stories of heroic faith in the face of oppression and persecution. They might tell of times when a way of escape was opened. They might tell of sufferings they endured. No doubt there would be testimonies of God’s faithfulness and examples of how specific scriptures fortified and bolstered their faith in times of desperate need. I bet there would also be confessions of temptation and wavering – when competing desires between survival and obedience, the acceptance of man and the honoring of God, were at war. There may have been, from the perspective of these men some very “close calls” where it seemed they had barely escaped, or almost succumbed.
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by Eric Holter on October 10, 2004
“For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.”
2 Timothy 2:10
Paul endured all things, and he was enduring suffering in prison as he wrote 2 Timothy. Paul deliberately chose paths of difficulty and hardship; he was well-content with suffering because by them the chosen could obtain salvation. Certainly, Paul understood the nature of God’s sovereignty, his unconditional election, and the unchangeable state of God-wrought regeneration in the hearts of His chosen ones. So why wouldn’t Paul say something more like “I relax and rest knowing that the chosen will inevitably end up in eternal glory with Christ?” How is it that the chosen may obtain salvation in such a way that Paul’s enduring hardship had something to do with it? How is it, that Paul’s ability, willingness, and endurance were encouraged, helped and motivated by his view that its effects would result in the salvation of the chosen?
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