Angels - Is Infra Better than Surpa?
Angels had a one shot deal - unlike man, they don’t have plan of salvation. Mankind on the other hand had two chances to be with God forever – the garden and the gospel. Infra-lapsarians place a lot of weight on Adam’s fall – the fall is the reason any man is reprobated1. Thus infra-lapsarians see God as a just judge in reprobating sinners. But what carries this weight in the case of reprobate Angels? It would seem justice cannot play the vital role in their reprobation that it does in the case of mankind, if it can play any role at all. And thus with respect to God’s character, they lose whatever ground they might have gained via going with infra-lapsarianism over supra-lapsarianism.
1 Reprobation may be understood as either passed over and not elected or actively reprobated. Infra-lapsarians tend to describe reprobation in terms of being passed over, but some infras do hold to double predestination. Infra-lapsarians say the reason anyone is reprobated at all is due to their fallen sinful state while the reason this person is reprobated and not that person is simply due to God’s will.
1 Reprobation may be understood as either passed over and not elected or actively reprobated. Infra-lapsarians tend to describe reprobation in terms of being passed over, but some infras do hold to double predestination. Infra-lapsarians say the reason anyone is reprobated at all is due to their fallen sinful state while the reason this person is reprobated and not that person is simply due to God’s will.
Comments
it has been awhile since I last posted on your blog site.
I am infralapsarian and this thread caught my eye.
I came over here because you posted over at TurretinFan's blog recently.
I wanted to acknowledge that; and, also, something else caught my eye reading your title words to your blog, especially after carefully weighing the exchange between you and TF over at his site.
In your title, above, this caught my eye, what you write, here:
"Wherefore the end of Theology is the union, God with man, to the salvation of the one and the glory of the other; ..."
I thought that phrase, "God with man," was telling and established in my mind your view about God's inability to infallibly save those of us He Elects.
Here is how I would have spun it:
"God saves men elected, called and chosen from the world of mankind".
I would ask you to remind me, if you would be so gracious to do so, why do believe you have some part in the salvation of your soul, especially in light of verses like one of several verses Louis posted over at TF's blog, presumably in response to your exchange with TF, too?
Louis: "and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed." (Acts 13:48)
Here is another question for you. What if you are not appointed to eternal life, what then about you? Could you believe and be saved?
Or would you be like others I personally know, ones not giving a hoot about the message of the Gospel of the Kingdom that God sent Christ to save His people from their sins?
thanks
michael