Last week I posted a blog entry about the concept of SOUL LIBERTY which I first heard of as a child and which attracted me because of its emphasis on the spiritual meaning of freedom.
After I posted it I became a bit self-conscious and wanted to show it to a Baptist Pastor from Pawtucket Ken Postle. I did not want to seriously misrepresent a religious tradition that was part of my father's family history but which I had never studied in a systematic way,
So I decided to ask Ken for help .Here is my email request:
Dear Ken,
I recently posted on my Blog "Back in the Bucket" an entry about the topic of Soul Liberty. I have been a member of the Baptist History Society and I am trying to learn more about the principles of the Baptist tradition.
I imbibed them in practice from my Aunt Grace and now I want to know how Baptists speak and write about them.
Anyway, I would really appreciate your reaction and tell me where and if you would differ.
Thanks for your help.
Your cousin, Norma.
See Blog ENTRY For July 11, 2018 on SOUL LIBERTY
"If I will that he tarry until I come, what is it to thee?
Here is Pastor Ken's response.
Hi Norma,
The passage about Jesus’ response to Peter concerning John after Peter had been reinstated and warned of a dire end to his discipleship is tough for any of us to hear…It is the same reaction we have when we get a ticket through our window from a cop as other cars go speeding by…We need to hear the Word of God as it is addressed to us and not worry about what He is doing with other folk..God has no grandchildren, only sons and daughters through His Grace…Free Will determines our fate regardless of our upbringing or supposed advantages. When Jesus talked about those who were hired early in the day getting the same pay as those hired last just before closing, He dealt with the same issue-Those of us receiving the Grace of God shouldn’t question others having their sentences commuted as well…Hope that helps…Islam after my own deep study of it offers no personal relationship with the holy, only a standoffish acknowledgement of fatalism-God offers choices all through our lives totally within our sphere of understanding and we will be held accountable for them…
Blessings and sorry for the late response…
This seems to me to be a perfect response because Pastor Ken has enlarged the conversation to include another Parable that many people have trouble with.
The one about the laborors who get hired early and agree to a wage for the days work. As the day goes by more workers are needed and as they are added they are also promised the same wage. Even at the eleventh hour workers who work for only one hour are given the same wage as ones who have been working all day.
Some people see this as unfair but it is really another testimony to the deep abyss that is unfathomable to us of the MERCY OF GOD. Salvation is not a labor negotiation. It is an enormous Gift of God's Grace. And HE is free to bestow it where and when He chooses. That is the Glory and Immensity of God's Freedom.
If you ask for and accept the Grace of Salvation, you will be saved. Remember that Good Thief on the cross who is actually promised that he will enter Paradise that very DAY!
SO it is a caution against despair--never believe that God is done with you. HE IS NEVER DONE WITH YOU.
He made us all and HE hopes that we will all accept his Grace and come back to Him.
There is an old UNIVERSALIST SAYING that my father some times said: GOD DID NOT MAKE SOULS TO LOSE THEM.
That phrase gives me great comfort. Our God is not a careless God-He has numbered the hairs on our head and his eye is on the sparrow. He is watching, waiting and calling to us all.
The one about the laborors who get hired early and agree to a wage for the days work. As the day goes by more workers are needed and as they are added they are also promised the same wage. Even at the eleventh hour workers who work for only one hour are given the same wage as ones who have been working all day.
Some people see this as unfair but it is really another testimony to the deep abyss that is unfathomable to us of the MERCY OF GOD. Salvation is not a labor negotiation. It is an enormous Gift of God's Grace. And HE is free to bestow it where and when He chooses. That is the Glory and Immensity of God's Freedom.
If you ask for and accept the Grace of Salvation, you will be saved. Remember that Good Thief on the cross who is actually promised that he will enter Paradise that very DAY!
SO it is a caution against despair--never believe that God is done with you. HE IS NEVER DONE WITH YOU.
He made us all and HE hopes that we will all accept his Grace and come back to Him.
There is an old UNIVERSALIST SAYING that my father some times said: GOD DID NOT MAKE SOULS TO LOSE THEM.
That phrase gives me great comfort. Our God is not a careless God-He has numbered the hairs on our head and his eye is on the sparrow. He is watching, waiting and calling to us all.
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