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- 08900
- The Bible Doctrine of Election by Dr. C. D. Cole
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Part I - Bible Doctrine of Election
-
- Introduction 8901
- Introduction to Election 8902
- General Remarks to Disarm Prejudice 8903
- Some False Views Examined and Refuted 8904
- The Doctrine Defined, Explained and Proved 8905
- Objections Considered and Answered 8906
-
- Part II - Questions & Answers on Election
-
- Introduction 8907
- Letter 1 by Mrs. Marjorie Bond 8908
- Reply by Dr. C. D. Cole 8951
- Letter 2 by Mrs. Marjorie Bond 8952
- Letter 3 by Mrs. Marjorie Bond 8953
- Reply by Dr. C. D. Cole 8954
- 08901
- INTRODUCTION
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- I have been richly blessed by the writings of Dr. C. D. Cole.
- He was a great doctrinal preacher, with the gift of putting his
- words into writings. Brother Cole has departed this life and
- is with the Lord now. He lived to see his Second Volume
- published on Sin, Salvation, Service. In fact he died reading
- the book.
-
- The Bryan Station Baptist Church is printing his writings.
- His son has given us permission to print them and this is the
- next in a series of what we hope to print. Part I has been in
- print before and we are just reprinting it as it was. Part II
- of this booklet will be dealt with later on in this booklet in
- an introduction to the same.
-
- May the Lord bless His word as it is read by those that
- search these pages.
-
- Alfred M Gormley
- Pastor: Bryan Station Baptist Church
- 3175 Briar Hill Road
- Lexington, Kentucky
- 40516
-
- Editors Note - Aug. 4, 1992
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- We wrote Rev. Gormley for and received permission to use this
- article on election in our topics. See topic 9901 for information
- on ordering a printed copy of this booklet.
- 08902
- Introduction to Election
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Election! -- What a blessed word! What a glorious doctrine!
- Who does not rejoice to know that he has been chosen to some
- great blessing? Election is unto salvation -- the greatest of
- all blessings. And strange to say, this is a neglected truth
- even by many who profess to believe it, and others have a
- feeling of repulsion at the very mention of this
- Bible-revealed, God-honouring, and man humbling truth.
- Spurgeon said, "There seems to be an inveterate prejudice in
- the human mind against this doctrine, and although most other
- doctrines will be received by professing Christians, some with
- caution, others with pleasure, yet this one seems to be most
- frequently disregarded and discarded." If such were true in
- Spurgeon's day, how much more so in this our day. Concerning
- this doctrine there is an alarming departure from the faith of
- our Baptist fathers. Touching this article of our faith
- Baptists have come to a day when they have a Calvinistic creed
- and an Arminian clergy.
-
- But there are some who love the doctrine of Election. To
- them election is the foundation dug deep for the other
- doctrines of human redemption to rest upon. They love it
- enough to preach it in the face of criticism and persecution.
- They will surrender their pulpits rather than be silenced on
- this precious tenet of the once delivered faith. But all who
- love the doctrine were once haters of it, therefore, they have
- nothing in which to take pride. Every man by nature is an
- Arminian. It takes the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit
- and the Word of God, taught by the Holy Spirit, to cause a man
- to love the doctrine of election. How deeply important that
- believers should be learners. To do this we must acknowledge
- the superior wisdom of God whose thoughts are not as our
- thoughts. The Bible was given to correct our thinking.
- Repentance is a change of mind resulting in a change of
- thinking. We are not to come to the Bible as critics; the
- Bible is to criticize us. We cannot come to the Bible
- infallibly, but by grace we can come humbly. May grace be
- given to every writer and reader that we may have the right
- attitude of heart before God. The surest evidence of a saved
- state is to have the right attitude towards the Word of God.
- Dear reader, let the writer warn you against "poking fun" at
- any doctrine of the Bible.
-
- The doctrines of grace have found expression in two systems
- of theology commonly known as Calvinism and Arminianism. These
- two systems were not named for their founders, but for the men
- who popularized them. The system of truth known as Calvinism
- was preached by Augustine at an earlier date, and before
- Augustine by Christ and the Apostles, being especially
- emphasized by the Apostle Paul. The system of error known as
- Arminianism was proclaimed by Pelagius in the fifth century.
- Between these two there is no middle position; every man is
- either one or the other in his religious thinking. Some try to
- mix the two but this is not straight thinking. To say that we
- are neither Calvinistic nor Arminian is to evade the issue.
- Paulinism is represented by either Calvinism or Arminianism.
- The true system is based upon the truth of man's inherent and
- total depravity; the false system is based upon the Romish
- dogma of free-will.
- 08903
- General Remarks to Disarm Prejudice
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- There is no doctrine so grossly misrepresented. Brother
- A.S. Pettie's complaint against the enemies of total depravity
- is equally applicable here, when he says, "From hostile lips a
- fair and correct statement of the doctrine is never heard".
- The treatment that the doctrine of election receives from the
- hands of its enemies is very much like that received by the
- primitive Christians from pagan Roman Emperors. The ancient
- Christians were often clothed in the skins of slain animals and
- then subjected to attack by ferocious wild beasts. So the
- doctrine of election is clothed in an ugly garb and held up to
- ridicule and sport. We will now try to strip this glorious
- truth of its false and vicious garment with which enemy hands
- have robed it, and put upon it the garments of holiness and
- wisdom.
-
- 1. Election is not salvation but is unto salvation. "What
- then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but
- the election (elect) hath obtained it, and the rest were
- blinded" (Ro. 11:7). "God hath from the beginning chosen you
- to salvation" (2Th. 2:13). Now then, if the elect obtain
- salvation, and if election is to salvation, election must
- precede salvation. Men are saved when they believe on Christ
- not when they are elected. Roosevelt was not president when he
- was elected, but when he was inaugurated. There was not only
- an election to, but an induction into the office. God's elect
- are inducted into the position of saintship by the effectual
- call, (the quickening work of the Holy Spirit) through which
- they become believers in the Gospel. See:
-
- # 1Co 1:29 2Th 2:13,14
-
- 2. Election is not the cause of anybody going to hell, for
- election is unto salvation. Neither is non-election
- responsible for the damnation of sinners. SIN is the thing
- that sends men to hell, and all men are sinners by nature and
- practice -- sinners altogether apart from election and
- non-election. It does not follow that because election is unto
- salvation that non-election is unto damnation. SIN is the
- damning element in human life. ELECTION HARMS NOBODY.
-
- 3. Election belongs to the system of grace. In Paul's day
- there was a remnant among the Jews who were saved according to
- the election of grace (Rom. 11:5). The attitude of men towards
- election is the acid test of their belief in grace. Those who
- oppose election cannot consistently claim to believe in
- salvation by grace. This is seen in the creeds of Christendom.
- Those denominations that believe in salvation by works have no
- place for the doctrine of election in their confessions of
- faith; those that believe in salvation by grace, apart from
- human merit, have not failed to include election in their
- written creed. One group is headed by the Roman Catholics, the
- other group is headed by the Baptists.
-
- 4. Election does not prevent the salvation of anybody who
- wants to be saved. But the distinction needs to be made
- between a mere desire to escape hell and the desire to be
- saved from sin. The desire to be saved from hell is a natural
- desire -- nobody wants to burn. The desire to be saved from
- sin is a spiritual desire resulting from the convicting work of
- the Holy Spirit, and God's electing grace is the very mother of
- this desire. To represent election by saying that God has
- spread the Gospel feast, and a man comes to the table hungering
- for the bread of life; but God says "No, this is not for you,
- you are not one of my elect",is to misrepresent the Holy
- Doctrine. Here is the truth -- God has spread the feast but
- the fact is nobody wants to come to the table. "They all with
- one consent began to make excuse". God knew just how fallen
- nature would act, and He took no chance on His table being
- filled, so, He tells His servant to go out and compel them to
- come (Luke 14:23). Were it not for the redemptive work of
- Christ there would be no Gospel feast; were it not for the
- compelling work of the Holy Spirit there would be no guests at
- the table. A mere invitation brings nobody to the table.
-
- 5. Election means that the destiny of men is in the hands of
- God. Many of us have regarded as an axiom the statement that
- every man's destiny is in his own hands. But this is to deny
- the whole tenor of Scripture. At no time is the destiny of the
- saint in his own hands, either before or after he is saved.
- Was my destiny in my own hands before I was saved? If so, I
- regenerated myself; I resurrected, by my own power, myself out
- of a state of sin and death; I am my own benefactor and have
- nobody to thank but myself for being alive and saved. Perish
- such a thought! By the grace of God I am what I am.
-
- # Joh 1:13 Eph 2:1-10 2Ti 1:9 Jas 1:18
-
- Is my destiny in my own hands now? Then I will either keep
- myself saved or I will lose my salvation. The Bible says we are
- kept by the power of God through Faith.
-
- # 1Pe 1:15 Ps 37:28 Joh 10:27-29 Php 1:6 Heb 13:5
-
- If my destiny is not safe in my own hands after I am saved then
- how could it be thought to be safe in my own hands before my
- conversion?
-
- The saint dies, his body is consigned to the grave and
- becomes a dust-heap. Is his destiny in his own hands then? If
- so, what hope has he of ever coming out of the grave with an
- immortal and incorruptible body? None at all if his destiny is
- in his own hands.
-
- Such a theory, that the destiny of the saint is or ever has
- been in his own hands, reverses the very laws of nature and
- implies that water can rise above the level of its source; that
- man can lift himself into the attic by his boot-straps; that
- the Ethiopian can change his colour, and the leopard can remove
- his spots; that death can beget life; that evolution is true
- and God is a liar. The theory that one's destiny is in his own
- hands begets self-confidence and self-righteousness; the belief
- that destiny is in the hands of God begets SELF-ABNEGATION AND
- FAITH IN GOD.
-
- 6. Election stands or falls with the doctrine of God's
- sovereignty and man's depravity. If God is sovereign and man
- is depraved, then it follows as a natural consequence that some
- will be saved, none will be saved or, all will be saved. The
- practical results of election are that some, yea many, will be
- saved. Election is not a plan to save a mere handful of folk.
- Christ gave Himself a ransom for many.
-
- # Mt 20:28 Re 5:9
-
- God's sovereignty involves His pleasure
-
- # Joh 5:21 Mt 11:25-27
-
- His power
-
- # Job 23:13 Jer 32:17 Mt 19:26
-
- and His mercy.
-
- # Ro 9:18
-
- 7. The elect are manifested in repentance and faith and good
- works. These graces, being God-wrought in man, are not the
- cause but the evidences of election.
-
- # 1Th 1:3-10 2Pe 1:5-10 Php 2:12,13 Lu 18:7
-
- The man who doesn't pray, who has not repented of his sins and
- trusted Christ, and who does not engage in good works has no
- right to claim that he is one of God's elect.
- 08904
- Some False Views Examined and Refuted
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Many professing Christians really have no view of election.
- They have not given it enough thought and study to even have
- any opinion about it. Many have erroneous views. We shall
- notice some of them.
-
- 1. The view that men are elected when they believe -- This
- view is easily refuted for it is contrary to both common sense
- and Scripture. Election is to salvation, and therefore, must
- precede salvation. It is nonsense to talk about electing a man
- to something he already has. The man has salvation when he
- believes and hence election at that point would not be
- necessary. ELECTION TOOK PLACE IN ETERNITY; SALVATION TAKES
- PLACE WHEN THE SINNER BELIEVES.
-
- 2. The view that election pertains only to the Jews -- This
- view robs Gentiles of the comfort of Ro 8:28-39.
-
- # Ro 8:28-29
-
- Moreover, Paul, who was an apostle to the Gentiles, says that
- he endured all things for the elect's sakes that they might
- obtain salvation.
-
- # 2Ti 2:10
-
- 3. The view that election took place in eternity, but that it
- was in view of foreseen repentance and faith. According to this
- view, God, in eternity, looked down through the ages and saw
- who would repent and believe and those who He foresaw would
- repent and believe were elected to salvation. This view is
- correct in only one point, namely, that election took place in
- eternity. It is wrong in that it makes the ground of election
- to be something in the sinner rather than something in God.
- Read Eph 1:4-6 where election and predestination are said to be
- "According to the good pleasure of His will" and "To the praise
- of the glory of His grace".
-
- # Eph 1:4-6
-
- This view thought the popular one with the majority of Baptists
- today, is open to many objections.
-
- (i) It denies what the Bible says about man's
- condition by nature. The Bible does not describe the
- natural man as having faith.
-
- # 1Co 2:14 Joh 3:3
-
- Both repentance and faith are gifts of God, and God did
- not see these graces in any sinner apart from His purpose
- to give them. "Him hath God exalted with His right hand
- to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to
- Israel, and forgiveness of sins", Acts 5:31 "When they
- heard these things they held their peace, and glorified
- God, saying, `Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted
- repentance unto life'", Acts 11:18. "In meekness
- instructing those that oppose themselves; if God
- peradventure will give them repentance to the
- acknowledgement of the truth" 2Ti 2:25. See also:
-
- # Eph 2:8-10 1Co 3:5
-
- Election was not because of foreseen faith, but because of
- foreseen unbelief. It is not the election of God's
- faithful ones, but the faith of God's elect, if we are to
- keep Scriptural words.
-
- # Tit 1:1
-
- (ii) It makes the human race differ by nature, whereas,
- the Bible says, we are all by nature the children of wrath
- and all clay of the same lump.
-
- # Eph 2:3 Ro 9:21
-
- Men are made to differ in the new birth.
-
- # Joh 3:6
-
- (iii) It perverts the Scriptural meaning of the word
- "foreknowledge". The word as used in the Bible means more
- than foreknowledge about persons, it is the foreknowledge
- of persons. In Ro 8:29,30, the foreknown are predestined
- to the image of Christ, and are called, justified and
- glorified. In 1Pe 1:2, the word for "foreknowledge" is
- the same as "foreordain" in the twentieth verse of the
- same chapter, where the meaning cannot be "foreknowledge"
- about Christ. God's foreknowledge about persons is
- without limitations; whereas, His foreknowledge of persons
- is limited to those who are actually saved and glorified.
-
- (iv) It is open to the strongest objection that can be
- made against the Bible view. It is often asked, "If
- certain men are elected and saved, then what is the use to
- preach to those who are not elected?" With equal propriety
- we might ask, "If God knows who is going to repent and
- believe, then why preach to those who according to His
- foreknowledge, will not repent and believe?" Will some
- repent and believe whom He foreknew would not repent and
- believe? If so, He foreknew a lie.
-
- Right here is the weakness of much of modern missions. It
- is based upon sympathy for the lost rather than obedience to
- God's command. The inspiration of missions is made to rest
- upon the practical results of missionary endeavour rather than
- upon the delight of doing God's will. It is the principle of
- doing a thing because the results are satisfactory to us.
-
- If we are faithful, God is as pleased with our efforts as when
- there are no results. Ponder
-
- # 2Co 2:15,16
-
- The elect prior to their conversion are known only to God. We
- are to preach the gospel to every creature because He has
- commanded it. He will take care of the results. Compare with:
-
- # Is 55:11 1Co 3:5,6 Joh 6:37-45
-
- It is ours to witness; it is His to make our witnessing
- effective.
- 08905
- The Doctrine Defined, Explained and Proved
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- What is election as the term is used in the Bible? Election
- means a choice -- to select from among - to single out - to
- take one and leave another. If there are a dozen apples in a
- basket and I take all of them there has been no choice; but if
- I take seven and leave five there has been a choice. Election,
- as taught in the Bible, means that God has made a choice from
- among the children of men. In the beginning God set His choice
- upon certain individuals, whom He gave to His Son, and for whom
- Christ died as their substitute, who in time hear the Gospel
- and believe in Christ to life everlasting. Let us amplify by
- raising three very pertinent questions.
-
- 1. WHO DOES THE ELECTING? Who chooses the persons to be
- saved? If men are chosen to salvation, as the Scriptures
- affirm, who does the choosing? There must be a selection or
- universalism. The language of Scripture seems peculiarly
- definite in reply to this question. Mark 13:20 speaks of the
- ELECT, whom He ELECTED, rendered in our version, "The elect's
- sake whom He hath chosen". The word election is associated
- with God not with man. God is the CHOOSER, His people are the
- CHOSEN, and grace is the source. The theology, that God votes
- for us, the Devil votes against us, and that we cast the
- deciding ballot is entirely outside the pale of Scripture
- teaching, and is almost too ridiculous to notice.
-
- # Joh 15:16 2Th 2:13 Eph 1:4
-
- 2. WHEN WAS THE ELECTING DONE? For the answer we are shut up
- to the Scriptures. But the BIBLE answers with sunlight clearness.
- In Eph 1:4 we read that "He chose us in Him before the
- foundation of the world". The expression, "before the
- foundation of the world is found in Joh 17:24, where it speaks
- of the Father's eternal love for the Son, and in 1Pe 1:20,
- where it refers to the eternal determination of the Divine mind
- concerning the death of Christ. There are many similar
- expressions. ELECTION IS ETERNAL!
-
- # Re 13:8 2Th 2:13 2Ti 1:9
-
- 3. WHY WAS THE ELECTING DONE? Was it on the ground of
- something good in the sinner? Then nobody would have been
- elected for there is none good. Holiness is not the cause but
- the effect of election. We are chosen that we should be holy not
- because we are holy (Eph 1:4). Nor, as we have already seen,
- is election in view of foreseen repentance and faith. Election
- is the cause of repentance and faith and not the effect of
- these graces. To say that God chose men to salvation because
- He foresaw that they would repent and believe and be saved is
- to attribute foolishness to the infinitely wise God. It is as
- if the president should issue a decree that the sun must rise
- tomorrow because he foresees that it will rise; or as if a
- sculptor should choose a certain piece of marble because he
- foresaw that it would make itself into the image he wanted. We
- challenge any Arminian to raise these questions and get his
- answers from the Scriptures.
- 08906
- Objections Considered and Answered
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Many are the objections brought against this doctrine.
- Sometimes the objectors are loud and furious. Alas! that so
- many of these objectors are in Baptist ranks. To preach this
- old-fashioned doctrine of our faith as did Bunyan, Fuller,
- Gill, Spurgeon, Boyce, Broadus, Pendleton, Graves, Jarrell,
- Carroll, Jeter, Boyce Taylor and a host of other representative
- men of our denomination is to court the bitterest kind of
- opposition. John Wesley himself never said harsher words
- against this blessed tenet of our faith than do some so-called
- Baptists of today. Arminianism that offspring of popery, has
- had an abnormal growth in the last decade or two as the adopted
- child of a large group of Baptists.
-
- 1. IT IS OBJECTED THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION LIMITS GOD'S
- MERCY. Right here we criticize the critic, for he who makes
- this objection limits both God's mercy and power. He admits
- that God's mercy is limited to the believer, and to this we
- agree; but he denies that God can cause a man to believe
- without doing violence to the man's will, and thus he limits
- God's power. We believe that God is able to give a man a
- sound mind (2Ti 1:7) and make him willing in the day of His
- power. (Ps. 110:2) At this point we must face two self-evident
- propositions. First, if God is trying to save every member of
- Adam's fallen race, and does not succeed, then His power is
- limited and He is not the Lord God Almighty. Second, if He is
- not trying to save every member of the fallen face, then His
- mercy is limited. We must of necessity limit His mercy or His
- power, or go over boots and baggage to the Universalist's
- position. But before we do that, let us go "to the law and to
- the testimony", which says, "I will have mercy on whom I will
- have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have
- compassion...Therefore hath He mercy on whom He will have
- mercy and whom He will He hardeneth" (Ro 9:15-18). It needs
- to be said for the comfort and hope of great sinners, that
- God's mercy is not limited by the natural condition of the
- sinner. All sinners are dead until God makes them alive. He
- is able to take away the heart of stone. No man is too great
- a sinner to be saved. We can pray for the salvation of the
- chief of sinners with the assurance that God can save them if
- He will. "The King's heart is in the hands of the Lord as the
- river of water; He turneth it whithersoever He will" (Pr
- 21:1). We rejoice to say with Jeremiah that there is nothing
- too hard for God. We can pray for the salvation of our loved
- ones with the feeling of the leper, when he said, "Lord, if
- thou wilt thou canst make me clean" (Mt 8:2). When Robert
- Morrison was about to go to China, he was asked by an
- incredulous American if he thought he could make any
- impression on those Chinese. His curt reply was, "No, but I
- think God can." This should ever be our confidence and hope
- when we stand before sinners and preach to them "CHRIST AND
- HIM CRUCIFIED".
-
- 2. ANOTHER OBJECTION TO ELECTION IS THAT IT MAKES GOD UNJUST.
- This objection betrays a bad heart. It would obligate the
- CREATOR to the CREATURE. It makes salvation a divine
- obligation. It denies the right of the potter over the clay of
- the same lump to make one vessel to honour and another to
- dishonour. By the same parity of reasoning it makes the
- governor of a sovereign state unjust when he pardons one or
- more men, unless he empties the prison and turns all the
- prisoners loose. Our view of election is in harmony with what
- even the Arminians allow to be proper and just for a human
- governor. All can see that a governor, by pardoning some men,
- does not harm others, who are not pardoned. Those who are not
- pardoned are not in prison because the governor refused them a
- pardon but because they were guilty of a crime against the
- state. Isn't God to be allowed as much sovereignty as the
- governor of a state? Salvation, like a pardon, is something
- that is not deserved. If it were deserved, then God would be
- unjust if He did not bestow it upon all men.
-
- Salvation is not a matter of justice but of mercy. It
- wasn't the attribute of justice that led God to provide
- salvation but the attribute of mercy. Justice is simply each
- man getting what he deserves. Those who go to hell will have
- nobody to blame but themselves, while those who go to heaven
- will have nobody to praise but God.
-
- # Ro 9:22,23
-
- 3. IT IS AGAIN OBJECTED THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION IS AGAINST
- THE DOCTRINE OF WHOSOEVER WILL. But the objector is wrong
- again. Our view explains and supports the doctrine of
- "WHOSOEVER WILL". Without election the invitation to
- "WHOSOEVER WILL" would go unheeded. The Bible doctrine of
- "WHOSOEVER WILL" does not imply the freedom or ability of the
- human will to do good. The human will is free, but its freedom
- is within the limits of fallen human nature. It is free like
- water; water is free to run down hill. It is free like the
- vulture; the vulture is free to eat carrion, for that is its
- nature, but it would starve to death in a wheat field. It is
- not the buzzard's nature to eat clean food; it feeds upon the
- carcasses of the dead. So sinners starve to death in the
- presence of the bread of life. Our Lord said to some sinners,
- who were in His very presence "Ye will not come unto me that ye
- might have life" (Joh 5:40). It is not natural for a sinner to
- trust in Christ. Salvation through trust in a crucified Christ
- is a stumbling block to the Jew and foolishness to the Greek;
- it is only the called, both Jews and Greeks, who trust it as
- the wisdom and power of God.
-
- # 1Co 1:23,24
-
- Here is a physical corpse. Is it free to get up and walk
- around? In one sense, yes. It is not bound by fetters. There
- is no external restraint. But, in another sense, that corpse
- is not free. It is hindered by its natural condition. It is
- its nature to decompose and go back to dust. It is not the
- nature of death to stir about. Here is a spiritual corpse -- a
- man dead in trespasses and sins. Is the man free to repent and
- believe and do good works? Yes, in one sense. There are no
- external restraints. God does not prevent but offers
- inducements through His Holy Word. But the corpse is hindered
- by its own nature. There must be the miracle of the new birth,
- for except a man be born from above he cannot see or enter
- into the Kingdom of God.
-
- # Joh 3:3-3:5
-
- It is painful to some of us to see our brethren forsake the
- faith of our Baptist forbears at this point and join the ranks
- of the Roman Catholics and other Arminians. If anyone doubts
- this charge let him read the article of faith adopted by the
- Catholics at the council of Trent (1563). I quote their
- statement on the freedom of the human will -- "If anyone shall
- affirm that since the fall of Adam man's free-will is lost,
- let him be accursed." But alas, in this day, such a spirit is
- not confined to the Roman Catholics. Horatius Bonar makes the
- following quotation from John Calvin: "The Papist theologians
- have a distinction current among themselves that God does not
- elect men according to their works which are in them but that
- He chooses them that He foresees will be believers."
-
- Ah, the real trouble with the objector is not election; it is
- something else. His real objection is to total depravity or
- human inability to do good. I can do no better here than to
- quote from Percy W. Heward of London, England. He says, "It
- seems to me that the majority of objections to God's sovereign
- grace, to God's electing love, are actually objections to
- something else, namely objections to the fact that man is
- ruined. If you probe beneath the surface you will find that
- very few object to election. Why should they? Election harms
- no one. How can the picking of a man out of doom harm anyone
- else? The real objection at the present day is not to
- election, though that word is made the catchword of sad
- controversy -- the real objection is to that fact which is
- revealed in Psalm 51, that we are shapen in iniquity, that we
- are born sinners by nature, dead in sins, until, as we read
- concerning Paul in Galatians 1, "It pleased God, who separated
- me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace to reveal
- His Son in me..." Ah, beloved friends, we deserve nothing but
- doom. Acknowledge this and election is the only hope.
- Acknowledge that we are poor lost sinners, dead in trespasses
- and sins, only evil continually; acknowledge that there is in
- man no natural spark to be fanned into a flame but that
- believers are born again of incorruptible seed which the Lord
- places; acknowledge that if anyone is in Christ that there is a
- new creation, for we are His workmanship, having been created
- in Christ Jesus; - and election must be at once recognized."
-
- Every real believer on his knees subscribes to our view of
- election. You cannot pray ascribing some credit to self.
- Sovereign grace will come out in prayer though it may be left
- off the platform. No saved man will get down on his knees
- before God and claim that he made himself to differ from others
- who are not saved, but with Paul he says, "By the grace of God
- I am what I am." And in praying for the lost we supplicate God
- to convict and convert them. We do not depend upon the freedom
- of their wills but beg God to make them willing to come to
- Christ, knowing that when they come to Christ He will not cast
- them out.
-
- # Jo 6:37
-
- A Methodist minister once went to hear a Presbyterian
- minister preach. After the sermon, the Methodist said to the
- Presbyterian, "That was a pretty good Arminian sermon you
- preached today." "Yes," replied the Presbyterian, "We
- Presbyterians are pretty good Arminians when we preach and you
- Methodists are pretty good Calvinists when you pray." MORE
- TRUTH THAN POETRY HERE!!
-
- 4. IT IS ALSO OBJECTED THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION IS A NEW
- DOCTRINE AMONG MISSIONARY BAPTISTS. The fact is that it is so
- old-fashioned that it has about gone out of fashion . The
- ignorance betrayed in such a claim is indeed pitiable. In
- refutation we resort to two sources of information (a)
- Confessions of faith; (b) Statements of representative
- preachers and writers.
-
- (a) CONFESSIONS OF FAITH
-
- The Waldenses declare themselves as follows: "God saves from
- corruption and damnation those whom He has chosen from the
- foundation of the world, not from any disposition, faith or
- holiness that He foresaw in them, but His mere mercy in Christ
- Jesus His Son, passing by all the rest according to the
- irreprehensible reason of His own free-will and justice." THE
- DATE OF THIS CONFESSION WAS 1120!!!
-
- The London Confession (1689) and the Philadelphia Confession
- (1742) read as follows: "By the decree of God, for the
- manifestation of His glory, some men and angels are predestined
- or foreordained to ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ, to the
- praise of His glorious grace; others being left to act in their
- sins to their just condemnation, to the praise of His glorious
- justice."
-
- The New Hampshire Confession (Article 9): "We believe that
- election is the eternal purpose of God according to which He
- graciously regenerates, sanctifies and saves sinners; that
- being perfectly consistent with the free-agency of man, it
- comprehends all the means in connection with the end; that it
- is a most glorious display of God's sovereign goodness, being
- infinitely free, wise holy and unchangeable; that it utterly
- excludes boasting and promotes humility, love, prayer, praise,
- trust in God, and active imitation of His free mercy; that it
- encourages the use of means in the highest degree; that it may
- be ascertained by its effects in all who truly believe the
- Gospel; that it is the foundation of Christian assurance; and
- that to ascertain it with regard to ourselves demands and
- deserves the utmost diligence."
-
- (b) REPRESENTATIVE PREACHERS AND WRITERS!
-
- John A. Broadus, former president of the Southern Baptist
- Theological Seminary: "From the divine side, we see that the
- Scriptures teach an eternal election of men to eternal life
- simply out of God's good pleasure."
-
- A.H. Strong, former president of Rochester Theological
- Seminary: "Election is the eternal act of God, by which in His
- sovereign pleasure, and on account of no foreseen merit in them,
- He chooses certain of the number of sinful men to be recipients
- of the special grace of His Spirit and so to be made voluntary
- partakers of Christ's salvation."
-
- B.H. Carroll, founder and first president of the
- Southwestern Baptist Seminary: "Every one that God chose in
- Christ is drawn by the Spirit to Christ. Every one predestined
- is called by the Spirit in time and justified in time, and will
- be glorified when the Lord comes." Commentary on Romans, page
- 192.
-
- J.P. Boyce, founder and first president of Southern Baptist
- Seminary: "God, of His own purpose, has from eternity
- determined to save a definite number of mankind as individuals,
- not for or because of any merit or works of theirs, nor of any
- value of them to Him; but of His own good pleasure."
-
- W.T. Conner, professor of theology, Southwestern Baptist
- Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas: "The doctrine of election means
- that God saves in pursuance of an eternal purpose. This
- includes all the gospel influences, work of the Spirit and so
- on, that leads a man to repent of his sins and accept Christ.
- So far as man's freedom is concerned, the doctrine of election
- does not mean that God decrees to save a man irrespective of
- his will. It rather means that God purposes to lead a man in
- such a way that he will freely accept the gospel and be saved."
-
- Pastor J.W. Lee, of Batesville, Miss.: "I believe that God
- has foreordained before the foundation of the world that He
- would save certain individuals and that He ordained all the
- means to bring about their salvation on His terms. Men and
- women are not elected because they repent and believe, but they
- repent and believe because they are elected."
-
- To the above list of well known and honoured Baptists we
- could add quotations from Gill, Fuller, Spurgeon, Bunyan,
- Pendleton, Mullins, Dargan, Jeter, Eaton, Graves, and others
- too numerous to mention. It is sadly true that many of our
- pastors hold election as a private opinion and never preach it.
- We personally know a number of brethren who say that election
- is clearly taught in the Bible, but that we cannot afford to
- preach it, because it will cause trouble in churches. This is
- worse than compromise: it is surrender of the truth. It is a
- spirit that leads preachers to displease God in order to
- please men. The writer believes that silence upon this subject
- has wrought more harm than open opposition to it. Those who
- openly oppose election will, sooner or later, make themselves
- ridiculous in the eyes of all Bible loving Baptists.
-
- 5. IT IS FURTHER OBJECTED THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION MAKES
- MEN CARELESS IN THEIR LIVING. It is said that belief in the
- doctrine leads men to say, "If I am elect, I will be saved; if
- I am a non-elect I will be lost, therefore, it matters not
- what I believe or do." The same objection has been
- persistently made against the doctrine of the preservation of
- the saints. This is bald rationalism. It is the setting of
- human reason against divine revelation. It takes no account
- of the operation of the grace of God in the human heart. If
- Baptists surrender election on such a ground, to be
- consistent, they will have to surrender the doctrine of
- preservation on the same ground. Election does not mean that
- the elect will be saved whether they believe on not, nor does
- it mean that the non-elect will be damned regardless of how
- much they may repent and believe. The elect will be saved
- through repentance and faith, and both are gifts from God as
- already shown; the non-elect do not repent and believe.
-
- The objection we are now considering is simply not true to
- fact. Believers in election have been and still are among the
- most godly. Augustus Toplady challenged the world to produce a
- martyr from among the deniers of election. The Puritans, who
- were so named because of the great purity of their lives, with
- few exception (if any), were believers in personal, eternal,
- unconditional election, and of course, in the security of the
- believer. Modernism, that spawn of the pit, is rapidly
- adding to the number of its adherents, but they are coming from
- the ranks of Arminianism. Others have challenged the world to
- find a single Higher Critic, or a single Spiritualist,
- or a single Russellite, or a single Christian Scientist, who
- believes in the absolute sovereignty of God and the doctrine of
- election. Without an exception these awful heretics are
- Arminians to a man. This is a significant fact that is not to
- be winked at.
-
- 6. OBJECTORS CLAIM THAT OUR VIEW OF ELECTION DESTROYS THE
- SPIRIT OF MISSIONS. They boldly assert that if unconditional
- election should find universal acceptance among us that we
- would cease to be a missionary people. There is an abundance
- of historical evidence with which to refute this claim. Under
- God, the father of modern missions was William Carey, a staunch
- Calvinist. Andrew Fuller, first secretary of the society that
- sent Carey to India, held tenaciously to our view of election.
- It did not destroy the missionary spirit of these men. "The
- proof of the pudding is in the eating." Belief in election did
- not destroy the missionary spirit in Judson, Spurgeon, Boyce,
- Eaton, Graves, Carroll and a host of other Baptist leaders.
- The Murray church, which Dr. J.F. Love called the greatest
- missionary church on earth, heard election preached by Boyce
- Taylor for nearly forty years. The greatest missionary churches
- among us today are those that have been purged from the
- heresies of James Arminius.
-
- Election is the very foundation of hope in missionary
- endeavour. If we had to depend upon the natural disposition
- or will of a dead sinner, who hates God, to respond to our
- gospel, we might well despair. But when we realize that it is
- the Spirit that quickeneth, we can go forth with the gospel of
- the grace of God in the hope that God will cause some, by
- nature turned away, to be turned unto Him and to believe to
- the saving of the soul. Election does not determine the
- extent of missions but the results of it. We are to preach to
- every creature because God has commanded, and because it
- pleases Him to save sinners by the foolishness of preaching.
- We believe more in election than the Anti-mission Baptists.
- We believe that God elected means of salvation as well as
- persons to salvation. He did not choose to save sinners apart
- from the gospel ministry.
-
- # Ro 1:16
-
- Election gives a saneness to evangelism that is greatly
- needed today. It recognizes that sinners "believe through
- grace" (Acts 18:27) and that while Paul may plant and Apollos
- may water, God gives the increase. Arminianism has had its
- day among Baptists and what has it done? It has given us
- man-power, but robbed us of God's power. It has increased
- machinery but has decreased spirituality. It has filled our
- churches with Ishmaels instead of Isaacs by its ministry of
- "sob stuff" and with the methods of the "counting house".
-
- If this little tract need further Scriptural support, the
- following Scriptures will give it:
-
- # Ps 65:4 Ac 13:48 Joh 6:37,44,45 17:1,2
- # Mt 11:25,26 1Co 12:3 2Co 10:4
- 08907
- INTRODUCTION
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- Part two of this booklet on the Bible doctrine of Election
- consists of a correspondence between Mrs. Marjorie Bond
- (widow - now Mrs. Milton Moorhouse), and Dr. Cole. The letters
- are self-explanatory. I have written to Mrs. Moorhouse and she
- has graciously given me permission to use the letters to be put
- into this booklet. Since the thoughts of Mrs. Moorhouse run in
- the same channels as the rest of the people that question the
- doctrine of election I have decided to leave it as near as it
- was written in their correspondence. I have taken some of the
- remarks out that do not pertain to this doctrine and have tried
- to leave it so that it would be instructive and interesting.
-
- Dr. Cole is now with the Lord. Before he departed this life
- he sent me this material to see if it could be printed. I
- believe that this booklet will be a great help to those that
- are honestly desiring to know the true teaching on this
- doctrine. God richly blessed Bro. Cole in that he was able to
- put his thoughts into easy to be understood language. It is
- our privilege to be able to print Dr. C.D. Cole's writings.
-
- To the persons that read this booklet, our prayer is that
- you might see the greatness of our Lord, and that you might
- see as James declared in Acts 15:18 "Known unto God are all
- His works from the beginning of the world". Also as Paul says
- in Eph. 1:11 "Who worketh all things after the council of His
- own will." Our heart is made glad and to rejoice in the fact
- that God chose me to salvation. If it were not for the
- doctrine of election, Baptists would have used worldly means
- to bring men to Christ. But Baptists, down through the ages,
- have been mission-minded, knowing all the while that all are
- responsible to come to Jesus when the gospel is preached and
- yet knowing that no one would be saved but God's elect (John
- 6:37). Jesus said in John 10:27, "My sheep hear my voice, and
- I know them and they follow me". The doctrine of election
- will make us mission-minded because we know that our preaching
- is not in vain in the Lord but will prosper wherein it was
- sent. Paul said, "I endure all things for the elects sake"
- (1Ti 2:10).
-
- May the Lord bless this booklet and cause many that
- heretofore have not understood this glorious doctrine to see
- that our salvation from beginning to the end is of the Lord,
- and that all that know Him would praise Him for His abundant
- mercy shown toward His people.
-
- Alfred M. Gormley
- Pastor: Bryan Station Baptist Church
- Lexington, Kentucky
- June 26, 1968
- 08908
- LETTER ONE BY MRS. MARJORIE BOND
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- 1505 Scotland Street
- Calgary, Alberta
- October 5, 1959
-
- Dr. C.D. Cole
- 746 W. Noel
- Rt. 2
- Madisonville, Kentucky
-
- My Dear Dr. Cole:
-
- Although I am a total stranger to you, my parents have known
- Dr. Shields over the years and take "The Witness" regularly.
- As a result of an article of yours which I read therein several
- years ago, I feel that I must write you to seek further light
- on this matter of Election.
-
- Your article opened up a completely new line of thought for
- me; like most people, I did not subscribe to it at all (at
- first) but was challenged by it, even though much disturbed.
- Since then, I have reverted to it time and again and finally
- this autumn got down to studying it in dead earnest! I read
- what I could of Spurgeon on the subject, Dr. Shields, and also
- borrowed a copy of Strong's Theology which I found rather
- heavy going! All in all, I have become so obsessed with this
- doctrine that I can scarcely think of anything else. And yet
- there is so much that I do not understand. I know that the
- "heart is deceitful above all things" and perhaps mine is
- deceiving me when I say that I really think the questions that
- arise in my mind do not stem so much from a reluctance to
- admit total depravity as they do from my inability to
- reconcile the doctrine with other passages of Scripture.
-
- I had always thought that election and predestination was
- something that the Presbyterians were a little "off" on (excuse
- the bad grammar!). It never occurred to me that there was so
- much Scriptural evidence for it, or that Baptists believe it!
- However, I did feel that if this doctrine was taught in the
- Scripture, as it seemed to be, than I should know more about it
- and should believe it, whether I liked it or not and whether I
- fully understood it or not.
-
- My mind goes round and round like a squirrel in a cage,
- until I am really exhausted. About the time I think I
- understand it and accept it, Satan seems to raise fresh doubts
- to plague me. It leaves one almost breathless. As after a
- close brush with death, to think that one might \\not\\ have
- been elected! Truly, as never before, I can see that our
- salvation is all of grace. I always thought, when we spoke of
- salvation as being wholly of God's grace, that it meant that
- His plan or idea to save us was unmerited favour, since nothing
- in us merited His ever desiring to save us; and also, that it
- was a \\gift\\ for which we could never possibly work or
- acquire sufficient righteousness to merit. But obviously grace
- embodies more even than this. When you realize that a person
- wouldn't even \\want\\ salvation unless he were elected, then
- you realize how tremendously indebted we are to grace -- for it
- is grace through and through.
-
- I have wondered sometimes if the objections which we feel
- towards Election are directed more towards the idea of God's
- complete sovereignty than towards total depravity. It seems to
- go against human nature to think that God can do what He likes
- with us and we are powerless to do anything about it.
-
- I almost hesitate to put into words some of the objections
- which have come to my mind lest I should be guilty of blasphemy
- or sacrilege; for I have always been taught that it is a very
- serious thing to criticize God. And yet, in the interests of
- clarifying my thinking, I feel that I must confess to you some
- of the points about election that are troubling me and which
- seem to contradict other Scriptures and other doctrines.
-
- Also, I teach a Young Women's Bible Class and we have been
- studying this subject (the blind leading the blind, I am
- afraid). We are to have an evening discussion of it on
- November 5th so I should like to clear up some points in my own
- mind before that time.
-
- Perhaps the easiest way for you to answer would be for me to
- put my questions in point form:
-
- 1. Most people feel right away that Election is unjust. I
- realize, from your pamphlet, as well as from Scripture, that
- God doesn't owe it to us to save anyone and further, that He
- has a right to bestow the gift of salvation on whom He will.
- But somehow the feeling persists that if a person doesn't even
- get a \\chance\\ to accept or reject salvation, he "goes to bat
- with two strikes against him" so to speak.
-
- Before studying Election, I always thought that if anyone
- were even remotely interested in being saved, then, in response
- to prayer by interested relatives or friends, the Holy Spirit
- would operate on that person's heart and bring him under
- conviction to the place where he would decide for or against
- Christ.
-
- But, \\if\\ the only people who are going to accept Christ
- are those who have been "ear-marked" for salvation ahead of
- time, then, one feels that the rest of the race haven't had a
- chance, even of refusing. To what extent are they responsible
- for being lost?
-
- One woman in my class, from the southern states as a matter
- of fact, said to me afterwards, "If this teaching is right, it
- makes everything seem so hopeless. I thought \\anyone\\ could
- be saved; that the decision was theirs. But if God has
- decided ahead of time, they haven't a chance, no matter how
- much we pray for them".
-
- I tried to point out that the whole race was lost anyway,
- regardless of Election. That Election of some did not mean
- that the others were any worse off than they would have been
- without Election. And yet -- with a part of me -- I know how
- she feels, because periodically, in spite of all my praying for
- light, I have the same feeling...that if you are not elected,
- you just don't stand a chance. You feel as if the whole matter
- has been taken out of your hands and you aren't given an equal
- chance with others.
-
- I understand all the argument about the governor of a
- prison, too, and agree with it with my head! But my heart
- keeps saying that while it is true a man is not in prison
- because the governor hasn't pardoned him, but rather because of
- his own wrongdoing, nevertheless, the lack of a pardon
- \\keeps\\ him there!
-
- Is there Scripture to support the interpretation that if we
- were not elected, we would never have the faintest interest in
- salvation? I know from Romans 8:7,8 as well as other passages,
- that in our natural state we are at enmity with God. But I
- always thought that if the Holy Spirit operated on a human
- heart, say of someone who was showing interest in becoming a
- Christian, that that person then had a chance to decide whether
- or not to be saved. But evidently, the Holy Spirit doesn't
- even work on the heart of anyone who has not been elected ahead
- of time. Is there Scripture for that?
-
- 2. If God chooses only certain people for salvation, or
- enables only certain people to avail themselves of salvation,
- then what do you do with verses like John 3:16? I thought
- Christ died "for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2) not
- just for the elect. Spurgeon seem to think that He died only
- for the elect.
-
- And what about such verses as "He is not willing that any
- should perish but that all should come to repentance" and again
- "but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent". If man is
- powerless to repent unless he is elected, and God does not
- elect him, how is man responsible for not obeying God's command
- to repent; and, furthermore, how can it be said that God is not
- willing for \\any\\ to perish if He doesn't enable \\all\\ to
- be saved?
-
- 3. How do you explain the fact that sometimes a person is
- under great conviction but decides against salvation? Were
- they or were they not elected? My father, who passed away in
- July, was a great Christian layman and doctor and led many
- souls to Christ in his offices and through lay preaching. He
- told me a story which he either read or witnessed himself -- I
- have forgotten which. But a young woman attended some revival
- meetings night after night and appeared to be deeply moved. In
- fact, it was apparent to the preacher that she was under deep
- conviction. The last night, when the call was given, she
- slipped from her place and left the building. A worker
- followed her and heard her say, looking up to the stars, "I do
- not want to be a Christian. Why can't You leave me alone? I
- am enjoying life and my good times and I am not prepared to
- change my way of living. Holy Spirit, please leave me alone
- and don't bother me again". And, with a chilling laugh, she
- walked off into the night. She was killed in an accident a few
- hours later, if I remember rightly.
-
- Now, what I want to know is this: was she elected, and if
- she were not, how did she get under conviction in the first
- place? Would the Holy Spirit waste time, so to speak,
- convicting someone of sin whom God had not even elected? If
- she were elected, why didn't she come? I thought election
- meant that you had to come whether you realized it or not. Is
- it possible for certain people to be chosen for salvation but
- for them, in the exercise of their free wills, to reject it?
-
- 4. Also, please explain the verse "many are called, but few
- are chosen". If that verse said "many are called but few
- accept" I could understand it. But I do not distinguish
- between "calling" and "choosing". I would have thought they
- were the same.
-
- 5. Finally, in spite of all the arguments to the contrary, I
- find myself caught up in a sort of fatalistic attitude -- that
- what is to be will be. Perhaps this stems more from my reading
- on the sovereignty of God than from Election.
-
- But I find myself arguing thus, "If God has a plan for
- every individual and every nation, if He ordains the powers
- that be, and sets up kings and disposes of them, etc., if He
- is completely sovereign, then He is going to work out His will
- regardless of Satan's efforts to thwart Him or man's failure
- to his part".
-
- You say that because Election is a secret matter, we must
- witness anyway and leave the results to God. True. But on the
- other hand, I can't see that it matters whether we know or
- whether we don't since God knows who is elected and will save a
- person whether we do our bit or not. Just because I fail to
- witness, God is not going to be thwarted in His design to save
- certain people. The very fact that God has chosen them is
- sufficient to ensure that they will be saved whether we witness
- or not, for the simple reason that God is sovereign and has
- already elected them for salvation. I agree that I don't know
- who is elected and who is not. But I don't have to. They are
- going to be saved anyway if God wills it.
-
- I read in Strong's Theology that our prayers never change
- God's mind, the idea being that as we grow in our Christian
- experience and live closer to God, we shall learn to pray for
- those things that are according to God's purpose for us;
- therefore He can answer our prayer.
-
- But again -- if He has plans for individuals or nations,
- they will be brought to fruition \\without\\ our prayers. If
- this is so, then, what we think have been answers to prayers
- are only the fulfilment of a divine plan that would have been
- accomplished quite as well without our prayer. But, because we
- cannot see the future, we think we have prevailed with God and
- so we say He has answered our prayer. But, since He planned a
- certain course for us, it would have come about that way in any
- event. Do you see what I am trying to say?
-
- I always thought that, to a certain extent, we did prevail
- with God providing we were not asking for something outside of
- His will -- by that I mean His pleasure or permissive will
- rather than a fixed, premeditated plan. I guess I thought,
- for instance, that if a loved one were sick and the Lord
- didn't have any actual decision made that that was the time
- they were to die, He would spare their life in answer to
- prayer. But according to sovereignty, the reason He spared it
- was simply because He wasn't ready for them to die yet,
- therefore my prayer had nothing to do with it. They would
- have recovered in any event. If that were His foreordained
- plan, or died if that were His plan.
-
- If prayer doesn't change God's mind, then what use was there
- in Abraham interceding for Sodom and Gomorrah? God would have
- saved 50 or 40 or 10 in any event if they had been found. Or
- Moses interceding for Israel. God had a plan for Israel that
- He would carry out regardless of Moses' prayer so that Moses
- and the rest of us just pray for something that is bound to
- happen whether or not we pray! To me that defeats the whole
- purpose of prayer. It almost makes one feel that we are
- deluded into thinking we are accomplishing something by prayer,
- whereas in reality it has all been decided upon ahead of time.
-
- Now, for instance, in the case of Mueller's Orphanage. God
- had a plan for that work which would be carried to fruition
- since He is sovereign. If prayer doesn't carry any weight with
- God, so to speak insofar as influencing Him, then would that
- milk truck have broken down in front of the Orphanage (thereby
- supplying milk for all those children) whether Mueller had
- spent the night on his knees or not? According to theologians,
- it was not Mueller's prayers that resulted in the seemingly
- miraculous supply of milk for the orphanage, but just part of a
- plan that would have come to pass anyway. Mueller might just
- as well have spent the night in bed as on his knees. I don't
- understand it. To me, such reasoning contradicts James 5:16
- and others which teach importunate prayer. I wonder sometimes
- if the trouble is not with men's interpretations of Scripture
- rather than with Scripture itself.
-
- This is a terribly long letter and I do apologize for being
- so wordy. But this subject is too vast, I guess, to be covered
- by correspondence. How I wish I could sit down and talk with
- you.
-
- I am keeping a copy of this letter so that I can refer to it
- when your answer comes. I do hope you will not think I am
- imposing on you; but your pamphlet has really stirred me up. I
- can see where election is indeed a wonderful doctrine if only
- it didn't seem to contradict other Scriptures.
-
- I hope and pray that you can give me more light and that you
- won't be offended with such a long letter from a stranger.
-
- With heartfelt thanks in anticipation of your reply, I am
-
-
- Yours sincerely,
-
-
-
- Signed: Marjorie Bond
- (Mrs. Marjorie Bond)
- 08909
- next 8951
-