Mining Grace

This plan, arising out of God’s eternal love for his chosen ones, from the beginning of the world to the present time has been powerfully carried out and will also be carried out in the future, the gates of hell seeking vainly to prevail against it.  As a result the chosen are gathered into one, all in their own time, and there is always a church of believers founded on Christ’s blood, a church which steadfastly loves, persistently worships, and-here and in all eternity-praises him as her Savior who laid down his life for her on the cross, as a bridegroom for his bride.

- Synod of Dort 2.9

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This is theology with heart.  Many speak of God’s sovereign rule over everything as if they were talking about some grand chemistry experiment–cold and unfeeling.  But notice where this article goes as soon as it finishes talking about God’s providential rule.  It goes straight to Jesus’s love for his church, the bride.  The language is loving and intimate.  The church has always existed because the Father’s utmost design for creation is to prepare a bride for his son, Jesus Christ.  Does Christ in turn love his bride?  Dort answers with this rich description, “her Savior who laid down his life for her on the cross, as a bridegroom for his bride.”  This is how the sovereignty of God should be talked about.