So, one of my gripes with theology is that a lot of people rationalize salvation in deductive terms, as if a doctrine can be derived as the result of an equation. Put any two doctrines together and you can produce a third one. The pull with this theology is that you can always have a systematic solution to every "problem". It's attractive for any thinking or conscientious christian. The downside with this approach, God never promises to answer every conundrum we run into, this side of life. His ways are above our ways. Some things are left to mystery.
At the same time, mystery isn't just a cop out to avoid coming to a solid stance on Scripture's teaching. That would be the other side of the ditch. However, true mystery is attractive for a couple reasons. It draws us in, and the further you dive into the mystery the greater the story becomes. And like any mystery movie or story, the more involved you become, the more you understand what is happening. Mysteries don't deal only on subjective clues, but also deals with solid objective facts. But at the same time, the more involved you become, the more, at times, you become confounded by it. But it doesn't leave you completely stranded either way. Once you're in, you're in, but it doesn't leave you where you are.
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