            VOLUME XXVII                                 June 1,  .I951  - Grand Rapids,  Mictiigan                     NUMBER 17

                                                                               The heart is the center of man's ethical nature.
                      M E D I T A T I O N   .                                  That ii what wise men .have said. And 1 can well be-
                                                                               lieve it. The Bible tells us that out of the heart of
                                                                               man are the issues of his life. It is no`doubt the deep-
           A Prayer For Divine Examination est in man. So deep that you may say without danger
                                                                               of being contradicted: as the-heart of a man is so is he.
                            `Search me, o  God,  and know my heart: try me,       As such, the heart is the source, the fountain of
                          and know `my. thoughts: and see if there be any      man's desires, affections, will, longings, thoughts, medi-
                          wicked way in me, and lead me in the way ever-       tations; and of  ~a11 his imaginations. .And'here the poet
                          lasting."                                            prays that God may dig down into. that workshop of
                                                        Psalm  139:23,  24.    my life, and bring it all to the surface of my conscious-
               This Psalm sings of God's omniscience and omni-                 ness. It' implies-that I do not -know my heart. ,And
           pbesence.       And from it the  -poet  infers two things:          that is a Scriptural thouglit. -Was it not Jeremiah who
           th& overthkiow of the wicked, and his own salvation.                complained : "The heart is deceitful above all things,,
             The close. of ihe Psalm seems superfluous, redun-                 and desperately wicked: who @& .know it?" But im-
           dant.  Vers'e 1 stated: "0 Lord, `Thou hast searched                mediately followiqg  those words we read: "I the Lord
           me; and khown me." And we are tempted  to ask, why                  search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every
           then the "Search me, o God, and know my lieart."                    man according to his ways, and according to the fruit
      s        The answer- is &sy : the first is basis for the last :          of his doings."
           the poet desires God to examine him with the expressed                 Search me, o God, and know my beart!
           purpose that he also may know himself, and be cured                   Tremendous priyer, for all my innate wickedness
           of all his ills. It is a very humble prayer.                        springs from that heart, and to invite #God to dig to
.-             This is a very @emendous  prayer, I would almost                the nethermost depths of it for the purpose  of aaquaint-
           say: a terrible prayer. I am tempted to warri youiand               ing me with .the horrible contents is going to be a ter-
-- myself : be careful with  this Word of ,God. If you or                      rible knowledge indeed. Again : be sure you want that
           I should pray this petition, (God might hear you-and                when you are praying this prayer. If God hears and
           ,answer you and give you your petition. Be sure when                answers your `prayer, He will show you a veritable
           .you `pray this prayer that you really' want God to do              catalog of crimes, some of which you may not have
           as you'ask: examine you. Yes, and let you know what                 seen before.
           ails you. You may in  such.`a case find out a lot of                   0, we are such strangers to our own hearts !o
           horrible things about yourself..
            Search, me !                                                                              m-. .
               A  peculia'r  and expressive term. In the.  Holl&d
           Ian&age the term is translated : "Doorgrondt.  rnij !"                 Try me and know `my thoughts !
           Arid that is. the primary idea of this word. The pri-                  That is a btep nearer my consciousness. `The heart
           `mary idea  ,lies in  ,boring  and digging.  I&, is used in         has  depths  which even man himself  cannot fathom.
           Scripture  for mining and examining the interior of                 Reason why all men are to. some extent strangers to
           the .e+rth.                                                         themselves..  The children of the devil came upon that
             So here ihe inspired poet petitions the Lord to dig               truth in their studies of the heart of ,man. It -id $he
           into his inmost heart, and, to bring to the surface  all            wicked world that also tells us of the truth which is'bld
           that-r&de& there,  to bring it all to open view, Liter- as the hills that m&n is deeper than his consciousness.
           ally : Lord, dig deep into my heart and know me !
                 .                                                             Go to then, you psychiatrists! After you find the filth


386                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

of the moral Augean stables in your patients, do you                 This text is really an adequate answeu' to the question :
advise them to turh to Psalm 139? Do you advise them how much shall we tell our loved ones that are stricken
to pray to- God for the gift of His herculean Son, so                with an incurable- disease? There `are some deluded
`that the (better river of Alpheus may clean them prin-              souls which out of a misplaced mercy keep the' true
cipally in one day?       L                                          coridition  from their  loved ones. Deluded and mis-
       But the thoughts are nearer my ,consciousne$s.  The           taken, for it-is really cruel, and stems from a mistaken.
heart is the fountain ; the though+  are prc&ced.in  it.             idea. If the Bible leads us to come to a thorough diag-
The thoughts are of the heart. And this'tiati'&sires                 nosis of our moral leprosy, should `God-then approve
the Lord to arrest his thoughts and to shackle them as               of ignorance as to our bodily ills. Moreover, how can
prisoners so that they-may be brought td th?. bar of                 our loved one ippreciate the serious message of the Al-
Gqd's holiness. And there  they shall be tried. No,                  mighty which is-in every incurable disease?
bu&.;he  himself  will be tried for his  thougl$s.,. The                But no, it is not enough to know your corruption.
thoughts tire but the expression, t-he manifestatiqn  of             Schopenh.auer  went far in the diagnosis of corrupt
.siiiner himself. Thy' me, and know my_ thoughts !                   humatiity.  l&t as far, as we know, he did not go farther.
       Terrible !  (God may hear  it.! And He may do  &              And he did not go oti, because his first impetus was
you sugg&t, nay, as-you pray. . And if he does, you will             not from above. It stemmed from a bitter heart-which
become acquainted with yourself as never before. You                 hated lGod arn2F man.
will se.e-~them all, and then in the light of the judgment             .That is the  ne& step. --  -                 `.
of ,God's holiness, righteousness and truth. The. latter                But if you haye gone this-far be&use of the: Word
will make them black as -hell.                                       of (God and the hrge of the' Holy ,Ghost,  you `will. go
       Let us- see. You  may become acquainted- with a               farther.                      '
dirty  miser, a worldliminded man, a pleasure-mad fool,                  If Thou, o Lord; would behold & way of wickedness
a selfish and hard brute, an indiffirent, callous soul.              in me, make me to see it and arrest me on that filthy
It may chance that you will meet yourself as a cruel                 way! .
and malignant sore, or as a filthy immoral beast. Do                     That is the next step.
you turn up the nose? Are you ever so sweet and love-
ly? Are you the unspotted `saint you thihk you were?                     Do ybu see  the  progr.ess?  From out of the dark
       Pray this Prayer. Pray it fiom the heart,.  Say:              heart, through the, corridors of wicked thoughts to a
0 (God ! I desire truly  and sincerely to  becoine.   a&             wicked way. The -way of a man Js his life from the
quainted with my inmost self. I have r.ead Thy Word heart.' And thereby hangs a sad tale. There are three
and I begin to see and believe that a man is a str.anger             things in a way of a man. It has direction, progress
to  .his real self. Psalm 139 leads me to this prayer.               and an end. And all three are dplorous,  heart-ren?ing,
Wilt Thou in Thy mercy show ~tie the exact state of,                 as we are by nature. The moment the course. of our c
my heart?, Wilt Thou place me'before the bar of Thy                  life is set in motion, its direction is'toward the outer
wondrous virtues and show me a6 introduction td my                   darkness, the place that is r.eserved and prepared for
thoughts? Wilt Thou shed abroad the glorious light                   d e v i l s .
of Thy good conduct and set-all my thoughts in clear                     And the progress is a progress in wickedness. I
array? I would know myself, o God!                                   am much more able $ sin at present than when I was
       Do that, and you will be surprised, astounded, hor-           a child. Even then I was evil, but now? 0 Good have _
rified at the results.             _                                 mercy on us! There is progress in the way of a man.
                                                                     From baby to child, to boy, to young man, to man, to
                                                                     the aged, and then? But there is  pybgress. You be-
                               -p-E.                         -  .
            L                                                        come more and more adept in sin and wicke,dness.
       Search-me and know me, o God !                                    And the end is. eternal' damnation. Everyone is
       Try. me, and know my thouihts !.                              ori the way to hell. That is, if the Author of eternal
       Y-ou are able to taste the very seriousness and in-           miracles does nothing about our deplorable estate. If
tegrity of l&e worshipper. Do you not note the sin-                  he  .allows us to  walk in our way, we are definitely
cerity of the sweet singer of Israel? You can just feel bound for hell. With all our. smiles, with all our- ex-
that he means his prayer. It is first a confession that pressed  det`erminations  of good, of nobility, of good,
he doubts his own knowledge of self; Second, a con-                  lovely conduct. -We are all, by nature, on the way to
fession that God knows it. And, third, that he desires               hell, with all our hypocritical nonsense that speaks of
to be thoroughly informed ab6ut himself. He wants:                   improvement, education, enlightening civilization, and
to know the worst. And that is wisdom. But it is not                 whatever drivel the. sin-sick heart and brain of man
enough.            j                                                 m a y   i m a g i p e .
       No, it is not enough, but if you are this far, you w^ill          The, direction of the way of a maq-is toward outer
go farther, It is good to receive correct diagnosis.                 darkness,  ,AAnd DFvid Snows it,


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R   .                                                387

     0 God, if Thou beholdest in me a way of wicked-            will suffer the mortification of the old man. And it is
 ness, a way of -grief and sorrow of death, take me from        so sweet to follow the corrupt promptings. of that old
 it, and lead me in the way everlasting.                        min. Even though the sweetness of it turns to gall
                                                               _  agd wormwood. But only later, later, sometimes; much
                          G\3r/3            _.~                 later !
                                                                    But it `is sanctifying nevertheless. Let it hurt. It,
     Arrest me on my way!                                       is better to be operated by -God than to. rot away in
     How simple are these words and how few !                   filth and sin ! It is 6veet to be -arrested in wicked
     But let it happen to you and you will find out how         ways.  Wic&ed  ways are, according to the original
 severe %&s IGod's arresting hand. They have told us Hebrew word, sorrowful ways, painful ways, grievous
-what shocking and embarrassing experience it is  to ways. And the world in its agonizing suffering for
 feel the hand of th& secret pblice on -your shoulder :         gixty centuries has writteti its doleful commentary.
 Come along, you are wanted at headquarters.: The The sad vale of tears!
 third degree ! They tell me that the victim is placed             But it is sweet! to be arrested by SGod,  now at this
 under- and before blinding lights. Ah me ! what com-           side of Jordan, this side the great and drea,dful Day
parison  shall you make between these pigmies  Of the of the Lord, the. judgment  Day!
 third degree and the light,. the blinding light of God's           Kiss the Son while He is still on the way'!                -
 omnisci.en'ce? How shall you ever  compare  the  cor-              E'r His wrath is kindled but a little !
 rectness of police-officials and the light of God's virtue         And this arr'est is.  &complished by God through :
 which finds out all our filth? And the subsequent em-          His Word and Bpirit. No,  we do not laugh  as uproar-
barrassment and shame before God's face. ,Oh, that              iously in the catechism, the society rooms, the church
 judgment day !                                                 on Sunday, as the places where the world gathers.
     How easy to sing and Pray Psalm 139 with a sleepy,-        They have their wit and laughter, they have the thrill,
 lazy soul. How terrible is this-prayer when you mean           the sweet thrill, but there is the fang, laden with the
. it. How severely practical: 0 .,God! we&d out all my          poison of adders in -it. But the Holy ;Spirit tells us
 corruption!  .That  is going to hurt.                          that the Word of #God is sweeter than honey and the
     The Lord will place you under the blinding rays of         honey-comb.
 virtue and He Will perhaps say to you : You are a di$y
 miser! You have stolen from the poor and. destitute,                                         c/3G\3
 .from my church and kitigdom causes, from Me ! You
 are guilty! What have jrou to say to all this?                     And the end-is wondrous.
     He  may say to you or me: You  are a fool. You                 And lead me. in the way everlasting !
 seek and hugger and lust after the world and its                   The end is again heaven, and that is correct. That's
 thrills. " Repent of your worldlimindedness.                   the way it is. We alwajrs end in heaven, and that is
                                                                                                               0
     He may say: You are filthy. You haye a nice face           the way .it is*
 for those that look and consequently know no more.                 `The way everlasting is first the. way on which all
 than your face. But I see your heart, and you.d&ired _ the saints have trod. It is characterized by the-light
 me to tell you: Well, you are a filthy adulterer. Re-          of the love of God.  .The path of the just is as the
pent  atid wash your detestable robes in the blood of shining light, that shineth more and more unto the
 My Son, `and convert yourself and walk in cleanliness          perfect day, and the perfect day-is' the new heavens -
 a n d   v i r t u e .                                  ..     and'the  new earth.
     He inay say: You are maligna&, cruel and full ;f                It is the everlasting way for "it issues from the
 hatred against Me and your brethren. You always                heart of the eternal ,God. Its source are the thoughts
 think evil and practice evil. Repent, and learn of Jesus       of eternal peace.     .c-,
 that He is tender-hearted, lowliminded and sweet.                   It is also the eternal w&y, the way everlasting for
     Ah me, He' may say so much. Much more than Ge              it leads to eternal happiness before God's Iface.
 thought He would find.                                            .And it is essentially Jesus  Chr&$ the  cord.  He-
     Try it, dear reader, and you will be surprised.            said it: I am the way. ._. .
                                                                     He founded it in  His'heart's   ,blood.  Through His
     .And remembers  that the purpose you asked  for His        Word and Pentecostal Spirit He leads His own to the
 arresting hand on your heart, thoughts and way was             House of the Father.
 that you might be le,d away from all that darkness.                 Yes, you will have `co die. But even `then you will
 If you do not want that,' dd not `pray this praye?`..          say:, Even though I have to go through the valley of
                          MW                                    the shadow.of  death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art
                                                                with me. . . . .                  .
     It takes self-denial to pray this way, and to have              0 God, search me and lead me to Thy heart!
 the effect of this prayer take place in  YOUP life,  :You                                                          G. vos.


388                                                                    T H E   S T A N - D A R D   B E A R E R


                     -THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                              E  D I  T"O R I A L S
        Semi-monthly, except monthly in July and August
   Publisha  by the Reformed Free Publishing Association
           Box 124, Station C., Grand Rapids 6, Michigan                                                         Questions  .md Reflections
                    EDITOR  - Rev. Herman Hoeksema
   Communications relative to contents should be addressed                                                         The Rev. Daane still makes an attempt to discuss
   to Rev. H. Hoeksema, 1139 Franklin St., S. E., Grand
   Rapids `7, Michigan.                                                                                        and make plain to his readers my view and ,position
   All matter relative to subscription should be addressed                                                     on "common grace". As I-  said before, I can only
   to Mr. J.  Bouwman,  1350.  ,Giddings Ave., S. E., Grand                                                    appreciate and welcome such' a discussion. But in  _
   Rapids 7, Michigan. -Announcements and Obituaries must                                                      order to conduct a fruitful and intelligent discussion,
   be mailed to the above address and will be published at a
   fee of $1.00 for  .each. notice.                                                                            it is certainly essential that we understand each oth,er's
  Renewals:- Unless a definite request for  .discontinuance                                                    position, and present ittruly and fairly to our readers.
  is received, it is assumed that the subscriber wishes the                                                    Up to the present time I have as yet nothing positive
   subscriptjon  to continue without the formality of a re-                                                    to offer to our readers about the position and stand of ,
  newal order.                                                                                                 the. Rev. Daane on the question of common grace.
                     Subscription Price: $3.00 per year                                      '                 This, .I suppose, will come later. For the present,
  Entered as Second Class mail at Grand Rapids, Michigan                                                       however, the Rev. Daane merely`attempts to offer a
                                                                                                               critical presentation of my conception of so-called
                                                                                                               common grace.
                                                                                                                  Hence, when I write that for a fruitful and intelli-
                                                                                                               gent discussion it is necessary that we understand and
                                                                                                               present each other's view correctly and fairly, I refer
                                                                                                               especially to >he Rev. Daane's understanding and pre-
                                                                                                               sentation of my conception.
                                                                                                                  This, I am sorry to say, he fails to do. .
                                  CONTE.NTS                                                                       Instead, he really presents and works with his own
MEDITATION-                                                                                                    notions, and tries to shove them down -my throat,- i
       A Prayer For Divine Examination ____ ~...______________________:   _.___ 385                            notions such as timeless logic, lack of proper historical
            Rev. G. Vos                                                                                        sense, individualism, etc. If he continues along this
EDITORIALS-                                                                                                    track; I must .needs let him go alone. I cannot and
       Questions and Reflections  _._____..._.._._..._............................. I..388                     will not follow him in that case. Only, if he continues
         _ Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                    the discussion along the same track and' on the same
                                                                                                               basis, I must kindly ask him to substitute. "X" or
T H E   T R I P L E   IZNOWLEDGE-
       Exposition `of the Heidelberg Catechism ____._.__.__.______ _ . . . 39.1                                "N.N." for my name. For he certainly is not discuss-
           Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                    ing the problem of common grace with me, but with
       Of Books .: __________. ___ ._______.__..__  _ ._._.___..__.._...__............................ 394     some other, abstract personality.
            Rev. H. Hoeksema                                                                                      But perhaps the situation can still be saved, and
                                                                                                               the matter ,be remedied, so that we can continue our
       Once More . . . The Promise  ____________________.......~................  395                          .discussion.  And therefore, I propose to ask the Rev.
           Rev. G. M. Ophoff.                                                                                  Daane a few questions on the basis of his latest con-
CONTRIBUTION-
       Also "A Promise" in Both Scripture and Confessions....399                                               tribution on the question of `common grace in the.
           Rev. G. Lubbers                                      x3'                                            Reformed  Journa.Z  (No. 3). And at the same time I
                                                                                                               wish to point out some inaccuracies in his writings.
       Strange Doings ____________________...............~.y  _____________ 
                                                                                      ~_______________ :401       The Rev. Daane writes: "This Declaration is an
           Rev. H. Veldman                                                                                     interpretation of the covenant on the basis of a denial
FROM HOLY  WRIT-                                                                                               of Common IGrace."
       Expositions of Romans 6:1-14 - ___________________.______________  ~_________ 403.                                             My question is: will the Rev.
           Rev. Geo. C. Lubbers                                                                                Daane please prove this statement? I deny this.  I
                                                                                                               maintain that the Declaration is simply'an expression'
IN HIS FEAR-                                                                                                   of the basic. principles as found in our Confessions,
       Synod In His Fear _________.__.______________  .`__._________________________________  405
            Rev. H, C. Hoeksema                                                                                especially concerning the promise of  ,God.  It. is not       -
                                                                                                               interpretation of the covenant, and especially not a
PERI:SCOPE-                                                                                                    specific interpretation of. that doctrine on the  basis
       Sin in the Roman Catholic Church . . . . . . . . .._......_  :.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
            R e v ;   J .   H.owerzyl   '                                       _                              of the `denial of common  graca. I  suppose that this
                                                                                                               statement by the Rev. Daane is supposed to be proved,
                                                                                                               by th%. following. sentence : "`The Declarati-on  teaches


                                              T H E   S T A N D A - R D   B E A R E R                                           389
       that there are no `conditions' within ,the Covenant be- - lowing paragraph : "Again, even the most ar,dent  Supra
      cause  ~God realizes His Covenant unconditionally." But admits that .God does not damn the reprobate exclusive-
       does not the R&. . Daane know that many Reformed                   ly on the basis `of his decree to do so, but on the basis
       theologians, even though they professed to believe in              of the reprobate's sins. Even Hoeksema does not
      the theory .of comnion grace,. maintain that- .the. cove-           place election and reprobation on the same level. But
      nant and the promise of ,God are unconditional? Why if sin is the condition for the. reprobate's condemna-
       then shoul,d my conception of the covenant be- base'd              tion, why object to the idea that God operates con-
t     oil B den&i of coGman grace? Will Daane please ac-                  ditionally with the reprobate in the historical process.
      count for this?                                                     If at any point God's responses are conditioned by
          The Rev. Daane further writes: "This de&i that                 man's action in history, the construction of an uncon-
      God ever uses this method in dealing with men means                ditional theology would seem to b@ a dubious venture."
      that in Hoeksema's definition of ,God's method of'deal-            Herk the Rev. `Daane interchanges the terms "basis"
      ing with men, God's successive responses and actions               and  `%on,dition".  : And, when he. dbes,  he makes the
      are  never conditioned by what  1-;?an does.           In his statement : "But if sin is the condition for the repro-
      thoughti  God's0  response8   -and actions are. eternally          bate's condemnation,`! etc. But is that possible at all?
       decided  out  of  aii  ddi0li9hip  to  WA&  irmn  does  in        I too teach &hat the datinatidn  of, the reprobate is cer-
      tint&  At this  p&t  it  &ready   becomes  clear  that in          tainly not exclusively based on the decree of God, but
      Hoeksemd's theology  &ekiBity remains daof frm Gm,                 is judicially based on the sin of the reprobate. But
      that God's works never seriously,recdgni%?, eiltek!,  and          does- t.hat mean that sin is the condition for the repro-
      become involved in- the temporal-historical  brocess,jj            &e's  condetination? Again, in my terminology  that-
      My question is: will the Rev. Daane please quote from              would  mean that the sin of the reprobate is a pre-
      whatever I wrote to prove these statements? And                    requisite on the part of God for his condemnation.
      will he at the same time, explain them? To me this is              And that, of course, is nonsense. It is not .only non-
      simply non'sense. I refer especially to the statement sense, but it implies a very serious error. For it would
      that  "God's  mgm~~~~   and  Actions  are eternally  de-           imply that IGod demands that the reprobate sin, in
      `d&d otht of di fi&tionshi~ te w&t rn& doss lh time,"              order to be able to condemn him. `But let the Rev.
      afid ais0 to the st8teirlellt that j-n my; th3310gy  2dxxnity      Daane explajn his own statements, please.
      rem&is aibdf i%Oni tjime," and again to that st&ernent                 And now I must quote a rather lengthy passage
      "that  G13d's`  t?rdrks  neQ2P  seriaiislji  i^ecogj&e,  enter,    from the article by Daane, in order to do him justice,
      and become involved in the  temporal-historic81  pro-              and in order to ask him to explain his statements:
      cek" How would that be possible?~-                                 "It should be' carefully noted that the Covenant is
          Will the Rev. Daane please explain also the follow-            defined in terms of-its eternal essence. The fact that .
      ing paragraph : "Even the niost ardent :Supra,  howeve?,           God establishes it in time and. history, thereby giving          .
      cannot completely avdid recdgnition  of conditions. The            it an-historical structure  means  nothing. A definition
      sin-situation within time is surely a' condition pro-              of the Covenant should give its meaning.- In Hoek-
      duced by ma.n. `Thus, even in w&king Redemption,                   sema's delfinition  o$ the Covenant the historical aspect
      God must reckon with conditions, _                                 of the Covenant does not  e&er into the definition.
          TO insist at this point that `God's n&hod of work-             The histo_rical  Aspect of the Covenarit  means nothing.
      ing with men is always unconditional, would lead to                    "It would seeti that a definition of the Covenant
     . the absurd position that ,God could redeem `even if               exclusively in terms of its eternal essence, out of all
      there were no sin-condition to  fedeem. If in the initia- reference to its temporal-histoPical.  aspect, is render-                      .
      tion of salvation God recognizes and works with the                ing the temporal-historical less than its due. If the
      sin-condition, why object to God's recognition and oper-           essence `of the Covenant is so eternal, that the historical
      ation with. conditiolis in the salvation process of the            aspect is incidental, then the historical interaction be-
     . elect individual?`? Will the Rev. Daane please explain t tween God and man within the Covenant is `also inci-
      what he means by the term condition in this para-                  dental. And if the history that~  transpires within the
      graph? Does he use the term in the.sense of prerequi-              Covenant is incidental, how much more the history
      site, or does he rather use it in the sense of a state &           that transpires outside the Co'venant!
      quality? If he uses it in the former sense, thk para-                  "Boeksema writes, `An everlasting`covenant, there-
      graph becomes nonsense, because in that case a condi-              fore, is not a way or a means, but is the destination,                '
      tion is not a prerequisite imposed by .God upon man,               In this definition the  worcl  feverlasting' is curiously
      but on the contrary, a prerequisite imposed by man                 the end itself?  (St~r&c&  BeGyeT, Nov. 15; 1949).
      upon God; and this, of course, is pure nonsense. !So I             equated with `eternity' to the `exclusion of the tem-
      ask: *ill the Rev. Daane please define the mean&g of               poral. It seems to have escaped notice that the Cove-                      -
     his term in this  paragra'ph?.                                      nant as `everlasting' does not  mean-  that it is  or@
         .Again, I `would Iike TV & ~&XJ to expiain  the fol-            eternal. It is  nlso temporal,
                                                                                                                                     .


3       9    0                          T'HE  ..STA.NDAitD  B.EARER

       "It is only when the. Covenant is defined as some-        any  hjstorical  ,process?  I am afraid that Daane
thing eternal without reference to the temporal, that            throughout works with his own false not&n of time-
the Covenant can be only a  .`destination" and not a             less logic, and that he does hot under&and that I main-
`way' to that destination. When the Covenant is de- tain that history is the unfolding of the everlasting
fined as `the end itself', then oP course no temporal-           counsel of the Most High.
historical means are required to reach the `end'.- If                Agaip, t6e Rev. Daane writes: "As is well known,
the `end' is given at the beginning then no .temporal            Hoeksema denies the doctrine  o$ the Covenant of
process is needed as a method of arriving at the end.            Works. The reason is as follows: In the generally  _
If it is insisted that the essence of the Covenant is            accepted formulation  ,tif the Covenant-of Works, God
eternal, then time can make no essential difference              deals wit& man conditionally. God says to Adam, If
to it nor possess any serious validity fo? it."                  you fulfill the condition of obedience, I will give you
       This passage from Daane's article' involves a -piece      eternal life.. Because God's  fiethod of  ,dealing"with
of sophistry. It is based on the well-known  sophistical         Adam here rests on a condition., Hoeksema rejects the
syllogism: 1) Is this your ddg? 2) Is that dog a Covenant of Works."
Father? 3) Then that dog is your mother. The same                    This is a~very gros8 misrepresentation of my con-
is true of the-reasoning in the above ljassage by Da&e.          ception .of the relation of God to Adam and Adam to
It is based on the syllogism: 1) The Covenant is eter-           God in  the state of rectitude. My objection to the
nal. 2) Eternity is not time. 3) The Covenant there-             theory of the Covenant of Works does not hinge upon
fore has no historical realization.           *                  that term condition, although I deny that there was
       But  let me set the Rev. Daane straight. In the           such a covenant between (God and Adam `accor,ding to
first place; I would like to have him criticize the fol-         which he could merit eternal life on condition of per-
lowing definition of the Covenant, which is mine : The           fect obedience, as is the story. My main objections
covenant is that l&ing relationship of most,  intimate           against ~this Covenant of Works are twofold: 1) That
fellotvship of friendship which ,is a reflection- of His         man can never merit anything  with  IGod.~  And, 2)
own Triune life, according to which' God makes Him-              th&t it was impossible' fdr  Adain ever to reach  t&e.
self known and blesses I&s people, and they know Him             state of eternal life, which can be had only in Jesus
and find their delight in His fellowship and service.            Christ our Lord. If the Rev. Daane wants to know
How Daane can eliminate' from this definition the his-           my objections to the theory of, the Covenant of Works,
torical realization of that same covenant is a mystery           he c&l find them in the first volume of my work on
to me. But let him explain. In the second place, I               the Heidelberg, Catechism, "In the Midst of Death".
want to call his atteption to the fact that my conten-           And I cha&nge  him to. meet those arguments which I
tion that the covenant is everlasting, and therefore             there present.
can not be .a means to ap end, but is the end `of all                Again, Daane writes : "Since the Covenant is in
things itself, is based upon Scripture and upon our              essence fellowship, and since its temporal nature is no
Confessions, especially the Baptism Form. I  rkfer `to           essential part of it,-the reprobates (although born un-
Is.  55:3: "I will make ati everlasting covenant with            der it) are not; in Hoeksema's  view, in the Covenant.
-you;" Is. 61:8, "I will make ati everlasting covenant           Therefore,  the reprobate and the elect have nothing
with them-;" Jer; 32  :40, "I  tiill make a covenant of in the Covenant in common, and consequently there
peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant             is no Common Grace. There is no room for'common
with them.". And in the Btiptism  Form we read : "For            Grace in a theology that defines the Covenant in terms
when we are baptized in the name of. the Father, #God            of eternity and places -the historical reprobate outside
the Father- witnesseth and sealeth unto us, that he              t h e   e t e r n a l   C o v e n a n t . "
dotb make an eternal covenant of  .grace With us."                   Now, in the first place,. I like to ask Daane the
Will the -Rev. Daane explain how.on the basis of Scrip-          question whether, according to  k;im, the reprobate as
ture and the Baptism Form he can deny me the right               well as the elect are in the covenant. He must know
to speak of an everlasting and eternal covenant of               that many Reformed theologians, also those that main-
gr`ace ?                                                         tain the the0r.y of common grace, maintain that the
        Moreover, I plainly" state that the covenant is not a    covenant is established only with the elect. And there-
means or way in itself, but is the end or destination.           fore, according to him it must follow that also those
Does not Daane `understand that the terms "end" Reformed theologians have no room for the theory of
and "destination" presuppose a- way to that destina-             common grace, because also they define the covenant
tion, and that therefore, although I xaintain that the           in terms of eternity and place the historical reprobate
covenant is itself not the- way, there is nevertheless           outside of the eternal covenant. And in the second
     the historical process that leads to that final destina-    place, I want to remark ;that the statement of Daane
.tion? Will Daane answer the question how he can                 that "the reprobate and the elect have nothing in the
maintain that the idea of end and destin&ion  excludei           Covenant in  com,tion,.  and consequently there is  ng


                                             .-


                                       TH.E.  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                           391
                                                                                                       ...i--- ._._.___._
 Common Grace," is certainly incorrect. Such is not             as far as the sentence is concerned in the above para-
 my view. ,On the contrary, in my opinion the elect             graph, `iGod never offers salvation ; He Himself works
 and reprobate have all things in common, except grace.         salvation," to this I still subscribe, and I hope that
 In the historical ,dispensation  of the covenant, repro-       also Daane subscribes to this. For in that sentence
 bate and elect have in' common that both are circum-           the .offer of salvation is contrasted to the work of God
 cised and- baptized. Both, therefore receive the out-          in salvation. And that contrast cannot be maintained
 ward sign and seal of the righteousness which is by            in Reformed theology.
 faith. Both elect and reprobate hear the preaching                ,Once more, I still hope that the Rev. Daane will
 of the gospel, are instructed and admonished, and re-          continue his discussion on common grace, and also
 ceive all the means of grace. All things. they have in         clearly present his own view. But again I state that
 common. But grace is not common, but according to              in order to have a fruitful and intelligent discussion,
 Scripture and the Confessions is always particular.            we must know and present each other's conception
 Now will Daane criticize that view, and not the dis-           correctly and fairly. And this the Rev.. Daane cer-
tortion  of my conception which he presents in his              tainly did not do,in the article from which I quoted.
 article ?                                                                                                                   H. H.
     Finally, I must call attention to the following pas-
 sage in the article of Daane: "The same contention                                      :k     *     :g
 that <God never deals with men in terms of conditions,
 necessitates Hoeksema's denial of the `offer of salva-
 tion'. Hoeksema denies not only a  general offer of
 salvation ; he also denies that God offers salvation to          THE. TRIPLE KNOWiSDGE
 the elect. God never offers salvation; He himself
 works salvation. God alone fulfills the Covenant.
     "It is difficult to see how any .Protestant  Reformed An Exposition Of The Hiidelberg
 minister can plead for the .recognition  of conditions                             C a t e c h i s m
within the Covenant since they stand committed to
 the Protestant Reformed position that  ,God  never offers                           PART TWO.
 salvation, not even to the elect."                                        O f   M a n 's   R e d e m p t i o n
     Also in these paragraphs my  concecption  is not                           #LORD'S  DAY XXX.
 presented correctly. In the first place, I have no ob-
 jection to the word offer in the original sense of the                                         -2
                                                                                                1.
 Latin  offerr,e. For in  .this sense it simply means to                   An Accursed Idolatry. (cont.)
 present. And in this sense it is used even in our Con-
 fessions. For in Canons III, IV, 9 we read:  .-"&&od              From the same Canons and Decree of the Council
 multi per  ministeriwm  esvangelii vocati,  non veniunt        of Trent it is also very evident that the mass is repre-
 et non convertuntw, &uius culpa non est in e~vangelio,         sented' as a continual sacrifice of Christ: For we read
 net in Christo per evangeSlium oblato;" which is trans-        in the Twenty-second Session, Chapter I: "Forasmuch
 lated in our English version of the Canans: "It is not `as under the former testament, according to the testi-
 the fault of the gospel, nor of Christ, offered therein,       mony of the, apostle Paul; there was no perfection,
 that those who are called by the ministry of the word,         because of the .weakness of the Levitical priesthood ;
 refuse to come, and be converted." Now the term                there was need, God, the Father of mercies so ordain-
 obkxto occurring in this passage is, as Daane very well        ing, that another priest should rise, according to the
 knows, the past participle" of obf erro, or off erre, which    order of Melchisedec, our Lord Jesus`Christ  who might
`simply means "to present". In that sense I have no             consummate, and lead to what is perfect, as many as
 objection to the word  off,er. But the Rev. Daane were to be sanctified. He, therefore, our God and Lord,
 does not present me correctly when he writes that I            though he was about to offer `himself once on the altar
 simply deny the general offer of salvation, not only           of the cross unto God the Father by means of his
 to the elect but also the reprobate. My objection in           death, there to operate an eternal redemption ; never-
 this connection, as Daane ought to know, is against            theless, because that his priesthood was not to be
 the First Point in connection with the proof from the          extinguished by his `death, in the last supper, in the
 Confessions that is offered to substantiate the First          night in which he was betrayed,-that he might leave,
 Point by the Synod of 1924. And taking this into               to'his own beloved spouse, the church, a' visible sacri-
 consideration, Daane ought to have written not that            fice such as the nature of man requires, whereby that
 I object to a general offer, but that I object to the          bloody sacrifice, once to.be accomplished on the `cross,
 view that God on His part offers salvation  well-              might be represented, and the memory thereof remain
 meaningly to the reprobate, That is the point. And             even unto the end of the vc'orld and its salutary virtue


 3    9    2                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEAR.ER

be applied to the remission of those sins which we             this unboody one ; so far is this latter from derogating
daily commit,-declaring himself constituted a priest           in any way from that former oblation. Wherefore not
foyever,  according to the order of MelchesidFc,  he of-       only for the sir& punishments, satisfactions, and other
fered up to God the Father his own body and blood              necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for
y under the species of bread and wine ; and, under the         those who are departed in Chris?? -and who are not as
symbols of those samk things, he delivered his own             yet fully purified, .it is rightly offered, agreeably to
body and blood to be received by his apostles, whom            the tradition .of the apostles."
he then constituted priests of the new testament; and             Hence, it is  very  evi'dent. that according to the
by those words, Do this in commemoration of me, he             Romish Church the mass is represented as a continual
commanded them -and their successors in the priest-            and oft-repeated sacrifice of Christ, offered up by the
hood to offer them; even ai the Catholic Church has            priests, and that this repeated sacrifice is indeed neces-
always understood and taught. For, having celebrated           sary for the forgiveness of sins, both .of those that are
the ancient Passover,  which the multitude of the child-       living on the earth and of the departed souls that are
ren of Israel immolated in memory of their going out           still in purgatory. According to .Roman  Catholics, the
of Egypt, he instituted the n&w Passover, to wit, him-         mass has all the essential elements of a true sacrifice.
self to be immolatkd,  under visible signs, by the church      It is, offered by a priest, Jesus Christ, through the
through the ministry of priests, in memory of his otin         ministry of His earthly representative, the Roman
passage from. this world unto the Father, when by -the         Catholic priest. It has its victim, again Jesus Christ,
effusion of hjs own blood he redeemed us, and delivered        as He is really present under the appearance of bread
us from the power of darkness and translated us into           and wine. And it is offered  tip -as a real sacrifice
his kingdom. And this is indeed that clean oblation,           through the mystic  rite of consecration. In the mass
which cannot be defiled by any unworthiness, or by             there is, therefore, a contifiuatioh  of the bloody sacri-
malice of those that offer it; which the Lord foi-etold        fice of Christ on the cross in an unbloody manner.
by-M,alachias was to be offered in every place, clean          And the Romish  Chu.rch  does  indeed maintain  th&
to his name, which was to be great amongst the Gen-            this sacrifice of the mass is necessary, and they deny
tiles ; and which the apdstle  Paul, writing to the Corin-     that it is quite &Kcient that Christ once for all and
thians, has not obscurely indicated, when he says that         forever shed His blood for the blotting out of -all the
they who are defiled by the participatipn  of the table        sins of His people.-
 of devils, cannot be partakers of the table of the Lora;         It is .difficult to conceive, indeed, how it were pos-
by the table; meaning in both places the altar. This,          sidle that a simple and beautiful rite as the-sacrament
 in fine, is that oblation which was prefigured by var- -of the Lord's Supper could be so corrupted that it is
 ious types of sacrifices during the period of nature,         hardly recognizable, as it is done  - in the Romish
 and of the law; inasmuch as it comprises all the good         m&s.
things signified by these sacrifices, 3s being the con-           That this idea of a repeated and continued sacrifice
 summation and perfection of them all."                        of Christ through the Romish priest in the mass id
 That  the Rdman Catholics indeed teach that in                in direct conflict with all that Scripture teaches con-
 the mass Christ through -the priests h offered as a           cerning the sacrifice of Christ arid its application to
 continual sacrifice is plainer yet from the  n&xt chapter,    His people is not difficult' to show.
 that `is Chapter II  02 the Twenty-second Session. There         In its deepest sense it is, of course, a denial of the
 we read: "Arid. forasmuch as, in this divine sacrifice        truth of election. If this fundamental truth of Scrip-
which is celebrated in the-mass, that same Christ is           ture were,m+intained,  the idea of a repeated and con-
 contained and immolated in an unbloody manner who             tinued sacrifice of Christ for His people would have
 once offered himself in a bloody manner on the altar          no place whatever-in the system of the truth. Belieir-
of the cross; the holy synod teaches, that this sacrifice      ers' are chosen--in Christ. And according to that
.is- truly propitiatory, and that by metins thereof this       eternal election they are blessed with all spiritual bless-
 is effected, that we obtain mercy, and find grace in          ings- in heavenly places.  E,ph.  1:3, 4. According to
 skasonable  aid, if we draw nigh unto <God, contrite and      this' eternal election Christ shed His lifeblood on the
 penitent with a sincere heart and-upright faith, with         accursed tree for all that are chosen ; and, of course,
 fear and reverence. For ~the  IL&d, appeased by the           He shed that blood once for all. On the cross He died
 oblation thereof, and -granting the grace and gift of         as the rep?esentative  of the elect. - They were in Him
 penitence, foi&v& even heinous crimes and sins. For           in His death. IGod was in Christ reconciling the world
 the victim is one and the same, the same now offering         unto Himself, not imputing~ their trespasses. unto them.
 by the ministry of priests, whq_ then offered himself         Their sins are blotted out. That is simply a historic
 on the'-cross, the manner alone of offering being dif-        fact. .Hence, according to this same `truth of election
 ferent. The fruits  indeed6 of which oblation of that         in Christ, the objective  ju&ification  b;f all the elect
bloody mei to wit, are receibe"d  most plentifully through     took place, first of all, in eternity; they are justified


                                       T H E   S T A N D A R D .   BEA-RER                                               393
                                                                  . .
 and glorified from before the foundation of the world.         sages like Romans 6 :3-7 : "Know ye not, that so many
 Such is the truth of Romans 8:29, 30: "For whom he             of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
 did foreknow, he also did predestinate to-be conformed         into His death? Therefore we are buried with him
 to the image of His Son, that he might be the first-           by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised
 born among many brethren. Moreover whom .he did                up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so
 predestinate, them he also called  i and whom he called,       we also should walk-in newness of life. For if we
 them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he         have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
also glorified." In the counsel of Godr the elect are           we shall be also in the likeness of' his resurrection:
 justified and are glorified. This is true of all the elect,    Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him,
 both of the. old and of the new dispensation. Hence,           that the body of sin might be destroyed, that hence-
  Christ is called the Lamb slain from the foundation           forth we shoul,d not serve sin. For he that is dead is
  of the world. In God's decree Christ stands eternally         freed from. sin." ,Also from this passage it is evident
 as the slain Lamb, and the elect stand before <God. as         that all the believers, and therefore, all the elect, died
 eternally covered by His blood, and thereby -justified.        in Christ when He shed His lifeiblood  on the accursed
 How a repetition of that one sacrifice on the cross that       tree, and that therefore they are forever free from sin.
 was offered for all the -elect from all eternity, in which     To the passage .of Eph. 1:3, 4 we already called your
all the elect are justified, would ever be necessary is attention. But we must remind'you of this passage in
  impossible to see. -Moreover, also in time, in the his-       connection with the seventh verse of the same chapter.
  toric moment of the cross the same elect ,are justified       In verses 3 and 4 we are told that all the elect are
 in -and through Christ. This, too, was objectively per-        blessed with all spiritual blessings in .heavenly places
 fect-for all that believe in Christ. The saints of the         according as they are chosen in Him. And in verse 7
  old, as well as of the new .dispensation,  were justified,    we read: "In whom we have redemption through his
 not because of the repeated sacrifice of bulls and goats.      blood, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches
  Still less are they now justified or receive the forgive-     of his grace." In other words, redemption through
 ness of sins because of any repeated sacrifice by a            the blood of `Christ and the forgiveness of sins belong
priest in the mass. Not even because of their' faith,           to the spiritual blessings in heavenly places which the
  though it is through faith as a means that the elect          elect have in Christ Jesus. And therefore: a repeated
  receive hold -of that justification, .but only because of     sacrifice for their forgiveness is "certainly totally  un-
  the one sacrifice of Christ, that was offered on the          necessary. The `same truth is emphasized in Col.
 cross more than nineteen centuries- ago, are they j.usti-      1:20-22 : "`And, having .made peace through the blood
  fied. Hence, the sacrifice of Christ in the mass, which       of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto him-
  is supposedly necessary for the forgiveness of sins,          self; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth,
  is really a denial of the truth that Christ died once         or. things in heaven. - And you, that .were sometime
 for all and that all the elect are forever justified in        alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
 ' H i m .                                                      yet now hath he reconciled in-the body of his flesh
     Besides, the truth that Christ died once for all and       through death, to present you holy and unblameable
  that it is forever finished; so that the sacrifice of         and unreproveable in his- sight."
  Christ cannot be and need not be. repeated, is abun-                   But it is especially the epistle to the Hebrews that
  dantly testified by Holy Writ. All the Scriptures             emphasizes the truth that Christ died  fqr all His
  testify emphatically that in the one sacrifice: of Christ     people once forever, and that therefore that sacrifice
  all the elect are forever justified, and that this one        can never be repeated.. This is evident from Heb.
  sacrifice need not and cannot be repeated in any way          7 :23-27 : "And they truly were many priests, because
  or manner.                                                    they were not suffered ,to continue by reason of death :
     This is evident already from passages like John            But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an
  10 :11, 15, 27, 28 : "I am the good shepherd : the good       unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is. able also
  shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. . . . As the          to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by
  Father knoweth me, even so know I the .Father  : and          him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for;
  I lay down my life for the sheep. . . . My sheep hear         them. For suchan high priest became us;who is holy,
 my voice, and I know them, and they follow me : And            harmless, undefiled,, separate from sinners,-and made
  I -give unto them eternal life ; and they -shall never        higher than the heavens ; `who needeth not daily, as
 -perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my            those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his
 hand." ,On the cross  8Christ  shed His lifeblood for          own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did
 His sheep. And those sheep are they whom the Father            once, when he offered up himself." The emphasis
 had given Him from all eternity. Hence, -when. He              in this passage is -plainly. that, while the priests and
 died on the cross, the elect -were in Christ; and' they        the sacrifices of the old dispensation were necessarily
 died in and with Him; `This i&also evident from pas-           many, the one sacrifice of Christ is offered once for


   394                                        T H E   STAND.ARD  B E A R E R
                                                                         .  I                                  _.
  all His people, and can n&iier  be repeated. The same                          In the first  pa&Q  he  trea+s five loci of dogmatics;:
  truth is expressed in Heb. 9 :ll.,. 12 : "But `Christ being                    theology, anthropology, eQi$ology,  soteriology, and
  come an high priest of good. things to come, by a great-                       eschatology.  .The doctrine of, the church  and  <he
  er and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,                           means of g&e is, not, treated under the first, but
  that is td say, not of- this building ; Neither by, the                        under the second part; ' We cannot discqver a reason
  blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he                             for this order.
  entered in once into the holy place, having obtained                                      On the whole, I gladly recommend this  $vork of
  eternal redemption for us." The redemption by the                              Dr. ,Gill, not only to our ministers, but to all who are
  one sacrifice of Christ with which He entered into the                         interested in sound doctrine and who do not hesitate
  holy place is therefore eternal and irrevocable. Again,                        to  put  on  their.  thinking-cap . The work is rather
  in the same chapter, verses 24-26, we read : "For Christ                       scholarly yet not so that it is beyond the reach of the
  is not entered into the holy place- made With hands,                           average reader.            It is comparable to the work of
  which are the figures of the true ; but into heaven it-                        Brakel, well-known to our older Dutch readers.
  self, now to appear in the presence of God for US : ,Nor
  yet that he should `offer himself oft&n,;`as `ihe high,                                   The work is doctrinally sound. But this statement
  priest. enter&h into `the holy place every year with                           must ,be made with certain restrictions.
  blood of others; For then he must often have suffered                          -1         1. Under the attributes of ,Gbd, Dr. Gill, speaks of
  since the foundation of the world : but now once in the                        common grace. p. 82 ff.                        #
  end .of the world- hath he appeared to put -away sin by                                   2. As a pronounced Baptist he vehemently opposes
  the sacrifice of himself." And to quote no Fore, in                            infant baptism, which he considers "a part and pillar
  Heb.. 10 :ll-14 we -read : "And every priest  stand&h                                                                                         -.
                                                                                 of popery." Cf. `pp. 856, 896 ff.
 daily ministering and offering oftentimes- the same
  sacrifices, which can neve? take away sins:. But this                                     3..  H?ti offers ,a very peculiar view of the  `"mil-
  mari,  after.he had offered one sacrifice for- sins for                        leizium",  which, according td him, is a personal reign
  ever, s&t. down on the right hand of God ; From hence-                         of Christ with all-His saints on the new earth, before
- forth expecting'till his enemies be made his footstool.                        the restirrectibn of the wicked and the final judgment.
  For by one offering he hath perfected for ever the? ' p* 643 ff.
  that are sanctified."                                                                     With these restrictions, I heartily recommend the
      We conclude, thekefore,.  that the doctrine of rhe book to the discerning reader.
   popish mass may indeed be said to be an accursed                                                                                    H. H.
   idolatry and a denial of the one and all-sufficient sacri-
   fice of Christ. And we maintain that this one sacrifice                             :
  of our Savior did blot out forever the sins of all th.e
   elect. Moreover, we maintain that Christ Himself.
   applies the merits of this one sacrifice of us, by His
   Spirit, that we receive the foregiveness of sins through
   the justifying faith, and that this faith is wrought and                                                          HOPE
  strengthened-by the Spirit through the means of the
   preaching of the Word and  .the  proper  use of the                                          There is a quietness and calm
  sacraments.                                                                                   For those who rest with God ;
                                                             $1.  J3.                           A peace and happiness of soul
                                                                                                That gloriously guards.
                                                                                                We do not see the way which leads
                                                                                                Unto the throne of God ;
                                                                                                The, path which winds up to His home
                    . Of  BookS                                                              ;a $s tis:t at all times clear.
                                          ,.- ,. ..~    -                                       `Q,u& eyes must close, our lives ebb out,
   BODY OF DIVINITY, Dr. John. Gill.. Published by Baker                                        Etre we that place shall find ;
      Book House, #Grand Rapids, Mich. 1023 p.ages.  Price $10.00.                .             God, though our hearts have failed before,
      `Dr. John Gill was an English divine of the eight-                                        Thy mercy never ends.
   eenth century. He is known to many of us because
   of his pronounced views on predestination and  the                                           Look to the morn, where softly comes
   sovereignty of God.  ~                                                                       The subtle shining sun ;
                                                                                                For in the day' of grace, we trust,
      In his  Body of  Divinity  he offers us  ti  domplete                                     Shall- come a brighter one.
   system. It is divided into- two parts: 1.  ,A Body of
   doctrinal Divinity; 2. A  Bady of  Practical Divinity.                                    _ _           A.D.R.-southern   pres.  Jowmwl.


                                      THE  STAN-DAR-D   B E A R E R                                                 `395

       Once More. . .ThePromi&                                gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into
                                                              your own land.
                                                                 "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye
     As  I stated  iiz my previous article, according to      shall be clean: from all your filthiness and from all
 3ur Confessions Andy the Scriptures, the promise of          your idols, &ill. I cleanse. you. And a new heart will
 God as to the form of its words is not an "if" clause        I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and
 sentence. Hence, I such a sentence as, "if you believe,' I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and
 you will be saved," is not the promise. But the prom- P will give you a hea&. df flesh. And I will put my
 ise is simply, "I, the L&d, will save you'my people."        spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes,
     Accord?ng to our Confessions, t;he promise of God        and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them:
 is not such an "if" clause sentence. This was proved            "And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
 by quotations from the Confession (Canons, chap. 11,         f.athers ; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your
 art. 5).  D                                                  God. And I will save you from all your uncleanness ;
     According to the Scriptures,' the promise of God         and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and
 is not such an "if" clause sentence. This was proved         lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit
 by several quotations from .the Scriptures. We first         of the tree, and the increase of the field,`.that ye shall
 took notice of the promise as first proclaimed by the        receive no more geproach  of famine among the hea-            `.
 Lord Himself by His own voice immediately after the          then.
 fall,  "And I will put enmity between thee  and the             "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and
 woman ,and between thy seed and her seed ; tihd it           your doings that tiere'not  godd,  and shall loathe your-,
 shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise its heel."      selves in your otin sight for your iniquities and for
     This, so it was regarded,  is a simple sentence. It      your abominatidns."
 is all promise. It is not pivoted on some such "if"             Such is the promise  as it comes to the church by
 clause as, "If thou believest."                              the voice of Ezekiel. No such "if" clause as, "If ?hou
   It bears repeating that this promise, known as the believest" once appears in this entire communication.
 protevangel, is the seed of all the  protiises.*spoken       And the reason is -that it is again the promise that is
 thereafter. As was stated, what  must'< follow from          here being proclaimed. To insert into this communi-
 this is, that nowhere in the Scriptures is the .promise      cation some such "if" clause as, "if you .believe," is to
 of God an "if" clause sentence. I quoted sev&ral Scrip- . . convert  it into a declaration absolutely meaningless
 ture passages to prove this point. Quoted was the            and devoid of all comfort ; fdr then we get this, "`For I
 promise as it was proclaimed first to Noah, then to':,; had pity for mine holy name, which the house of
 Albraham, next to Jacob, again to the  c.hurch of the        Israel had profaned, because this house _believed. AGd
 days of Isaiah, and finally to the church of the New         I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned
 Dispensation.                                                amohg the heathen, if the house of Israel will beliiev,e.
     I want to quote one more Scripture passage to            And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, when
 drive home this point. Let us yet attend `to the prom-       I shall be- sanctified in yoti .before  their eyes, if you
 ise as it came to the church by the voice of Ezekiel         believe. Then I &ill springle clean water. upon you,
 and as recorded in the 36th chapter of his discourse.        a&l you. shall be cledn; if you believe. From all.your
 Reminding the prophet of how He, the Lord,  ahad             filthiness, and from all your idol& will I cleanse you,
 poured HiS f&y upon the house of Israel for the.blood,       if y;o+ b.eZieve.. And a new .heart also will I give you,
"that they had shed upon the land, land for their idols       and a new spirit will I put within yoti, if you bmelieve.
 wherewith they had polluted it; `and of how He had           And I will- take away the stony heart out of your
 scattered them among the heathen, and dispersed them         flesh and will give you an heart of flesh, if you believe.
 through the countries (verses  16-20))  the Lord con-        And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you
 tinues as f,ollows, "But I had pity for mine holy name,      to walk in my statutes, if you believe.       .~
 which the house  pf Israel had profaned  .among the             What comfort could a Iman, brought under the con-
 heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the           viction ,of sin and thus having come to know himself
-house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God: I do not this      as a sinner  lby  natare totally depraved, guilty and
 for your sakes, 0 house of Israel, but for mine holy         damnable in the sight of God and thus lost and un-
name's sake, .wl$ch ye have profaned am&g the hea-            done,-1  ask, what comfort could such a man derive
then, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great from the above communication, had  i,t come to the
 name, which was profaned among the heathen, which            church ai pivoted on an "if" clause?; Absolutely no
 ye have profaned,  in  `the midst of them; and the           comfort whatever.
 heathen shall &now,  that I am the Lord, saith the Lord '       For let us consider- that such a man stands out in
 God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes,    his own mind as in need of all things-thus in need
For I  .will take  jrou from  among the heathen, and          of a new -heart and a new. spiritj in need of faith and


 396                                   ~THE  S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 pardon, and grace and always more grace to forsake               my trust (verse 1) . ,For -thou art my rock and my
 sin and put on Christ and to fight the good fight as             fortress  (verse.  3), For thpu- art my, @rer@h (verse
 sekking the things of Christ's heavenly kingdom. "My             4). Thou hast redeemed me, o Lord God of truth
 soul cleaveth to the dust," so prayed the psalmist,- (verse  6). I have hated them that .regard lying vani-
 "Quicken thou me accordipg .to thy word. Make me                 ties.: but I trust in the  LoFd (verse 6). But I have
 to understand the way of. thy precepts, so shall I talk          trusted in thee, o Lord : I said, Thou art my God."
 of thy wondrous works. Remove from-me the way of                    What are these expressions of faith of this peti-
 lying: and grant me thy law' graciously. Teach me,               tioner but the echo of God's very own unconditional
 o Lord, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it to          testimony in :his heart that the Lord is His aGod, the
 the end. Make me to go in the path of thy command-               Savior of his.life,  the God of his salvation. How could
 ments i for therein do I delight.. `Turn away mine eyes          the heart of the petitioner have said, "Thou art my
 ,from vanity ; and quicken thou me in the way. L_el              God," except by the Spirit, that is, without the Spirit
 thy mercies come unto me, o Lord, even thy salvation             first having spoken this profession in his heart?
 according to thy word. Let my soul live, and it shall               `This is revelation to  (be sure.  Bu.t revelation in
 praise thee; and let thy judgments help me." Ps. 119.            this .sense did not cease certainly with the closir:g. of
 But what would such a petitioner have to plead on and            the. canon of the Scriptures by the death of the last
 to live by-on and by what real promise-were it true              apostle. If- beli&erslare-to  know that they are God's
 that in the Scriptures the promises of God, including            sons and .,t-&t `He is -th@ 1 God, ,God must tell them.
 the promise of faith, came to the church Bs pivoted on           And IGod clogs tell them a$ certainly as He told Abra-
 an "if" clause such as, "if thou believest," so ,that all        ham, the father of the faithful, when He spake in his
Fhat God were saying to that petitioner is, "I will give .heart  the  Word  "I  a;' thy  ,God.             Walk  before  `n~y
 thee a new heart, quicken thee in the way, help thee             face and ,be upri;?;ht . 7, And .this- withess of :God in the
 in th$ unbelief, cauie -my mercies to come unto thee,            hearts of His people is not piv6ted on an "if" clause.
 give thee understanding; remove th.ee from lying,' if            It thus completely closes for them the question whether
 thou believest." That. petitioner would have no prom-            they are saved. With this testimony-in their hearts-
 ise to plead on and to live by. For promises pivoted             a testimony the conten.ts of which the., Spirit Lderives
 on "if" clauses are not promises. Such a declaration f                                                            ._  ..  _
                                                                   rom the Scriptures--they know.
 as "if you believe you will be saved," is not a promise.            Once more then, the promises of Gdd in the Scrip-
 .' But if a hew heart and a new,spirit are not prom-             tures do -not come to the elect as pivoted on an "if"
 ised ; if contrition of  hgart and  `repentanc.e.   are.  not    clause. The prom?ses  of God are "if-less" ind.eed and
 promised, if faith is not promised, if Christ's return           therefore unconditional.  Th@y are truly  promises-
 and the renewal of all things are. not promised ; if,            declarations of ,God that He by His Spirit speaks in
 on a word, nothing at all is re$ly promised,,how  could          the hearts of His elect-promises, therefore by which
a man thirsting for these things, pray for them? He               His people live and die and on which they build for
 could not and he might not.% For there would be to               time  and  eternitv
 him no promise bequeathing upon him the right to                     In the  light-of these observation it ought to be
 these things and thereby encouraging him to seek                 clear that the view according to which the promises
 these things in prayer.  -                                       of God come to the .elect as pivoted on an "if" clause
        Let us see how the psalmist David prayed. Psalm           is a  seriotis  error-an error that really loses the be-
 31 is one of those prayers in which he `craved God.`s            lievers God's very gospel. And nothing is here  re-
 help in the  followifig language, "Let me never be               trieved by saying that' the promise is conditional in
 ashamed : deliver me in  thy righteousness. Bow down             the sense that God fulfills the condition. For were
 thine ear to me ; deliver me speedily : `be thou my              the promise conditional even in this se&e, it still would
 strong rock, ,for a house of defence  to save me. Pul:           needs be pivoted on some such "if" clause as "if you
me out of the net that they have laid for me. Have                believe". But once more, to pivot the promise on an
 mercy upon me, o Lord, for I am in trouble-:-my eye              "if" clause is to destroy it `as as pronzti~.       Sunch a
 is consumed  w.i'th grief, yea, my  souls and my, belly," statement   as "if you believe,  yoti will be saved," is
 and so on through the end of the psalm.                          not what thef Scriptures mean by promise. A n d   t h e
        On' what was this saint basing his  petitiolls for        reason is obvious. Being what it is, an "if-clause"
 God's help? Certainly on a wqrd, a testimony of God              sentence, id the soul of every one tq- whom it is a+
 spoken by the Spirit in his heart. What was that dressed, it leaves unanswered the question whether he
  word? What was  its content? Was it this : I,  the              is saved.- It is obvious; certainly,' that to say to a man
 Lord,  will save thee out of all thy troubles, if  thold         that, if he believes, he is saved, is not :to say to him
  belieu&? Not that.: We must consult. the Psalm for- that he ;is actually saved. If this is true, how could,
 the answer, taking notice of the followitig expressions          God:assure  his people that they are acfually saved by
. of faith occurring in it,.  (`IQ thee,  0  .Lord, do I  put,    some such an  "if-olause" declaration  7 Impossible,
                                                                                           _


                                  T    H    E         S-TAN.DARD   BE.+RER                         *.-                397

 This requires an "if-less, unconditional promise. Let        ma-de to~~apply  only to the elect. And as throughout
 us ,by all means insist then, that the promises pf, God      the two .vers& last `quoted the apostle iddresses the
 are indeed "if-less" and therefore unconditional. Let        saine group,  the conclusion would seem to be inescap-
 us realize what is at- stake here. Nothing less than         able that in this connection this Yf-clause" sentence
 this, namely, whether there is such a thing as a (Gospel     is, indeed a promise- as to its  .proper   meaning  and
 of (God, and if so, wh:ther  that Gospel is to .be or not    therefore a statement directed solely `to the elect.
 to be in our ~circles.                                           But this argument is -invalid for the following rea-
     However,. as 1. remarked in--my previous article on      sons.. -First, it wtis always the &ame~ Christian brother+
 this subjgct, this is not denying that such statements       hood that was being addressed; and this without re-
 as, "If you believe, you will' be .saved," -occur in the     gaid to the fact ,&hat all is not Israel that is of Israel.
 Scriptures. Fact is that both the Old and New Testa-         That' is to say, the apostle was not classifying the
 ment Bible are replete with such statements. They            members of the church at Rome into elect and repro-
 occur rather frequently in the epistles. And it raises       bated -and addressing in his epistle now the one grotip
 the questiqn whether sentences of -this type, though         and then the other; abut from the beginning to the end
 "if-clause" statements as to the fopm of their words,        of his  e.pistle `in all that he wrote,  he was  speak&g
 must not. in certain connections at least be taken, as       to the entire congregation as fo the whole of its con-
 real promises as_.to  the, thought, conveyed. This seems     stituency. To every member iri the church Paul was
 to be the case, for e&Ample, with the "if-clau.se" sen-      saying, "Who was- delivered fbr our offences, and was
 tence in Rotians 4:24; Abraham,. so the apostle re-          raised again for our justification." But I must hasten
 lates in the verses preceding; believed against hope in      to add that he was not in his mind singling out the
 hope, "that he might become the father of many na-           in'dividual  member in the church and saying to him,
 tions, according to that which was spoken, So shall          `+Christ.was  delivered for your offences," and putting
 thy seed be. And being not weak in faith,, he  cqn-          the period here. The apostle was not addressing indi-
 sidered not his own body now  dead, when he was              vidual&in this sense; he was addressing individuals
 about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness         ih their totality. It can also be stated this way. Though
 .of Sarah's wotib : he staggered not at the .promise  of     to the total of members Paul was saying, "Was de-
God through unbelief; but was strdng in faith, giving         livered- for our  offences," he was not in his mind
 glory to God: and being fully persuaded that, what he        singling out the individual member ih the church and
 had promised, he was able to perform. And therefore,         including him in this "our" without the mental reserva-
 it was impuied  to him for righteousness." And then          tion, "If he be an elect."
 the apostle continues ,"Now  it was not written fdr his      S e c o n d . This "if-clause" statement reappears, be .
 sake alone, that it was imputed to him;. but for us          it in. a somewhat different form, at chap. 8 :13. And
 also; to w(hom it shdl b,e imputed, if we believe on him     it reappears at this place in conjunction with a sen-
 that rbised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."                tence that sets ,forth what is necessarily implied in
     Must not this "if-clause" statement, by reason of        such an "if-clause"' statement. Here the` text reads,
 the setting in which i.t occurs, be taken to mean, "to       "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ; but if ye
 whom-that is, to .us-it shall ibe imputed indeed, see- `through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh,
ing that we do believe dn .him that raised up' Jesus our      ye shall live." _
 Lord from the dead?" Seemingly so and this on the               We see now what we do to tie SCriptures,  when
 ground of the following consideration. The apostle           we convert this "if-clause" statement into a promise.
 addresses his discourse to the church of #God at Rome,       We involve the Scriptures, defihitely this epistle, in
 thus to a redeemed communion of persons. Though
                     _ .                                      the strangest contradiction. For in the places where
 this argument is invalidated by the likely presence          this "if-clause statement appears, we make the epistle
 of a carnal, reprobated seed in the church,,  yet' the       first td say, "For ye, brethren, clo live after the flesh ;
immediate connection in which the statement in ques-w Hence ye shall die ;  but ye, brethren, do mortify through
 tion occurs apparently compels' the conclusion that,         the Spirit the deeds of the flesh; hence ye shall live."-
 though an "if" clause statement as to the form of its        And so at 4 :24, `"To us, brethren, -it shall be imputed.'
 words and grammatical construction,  it,, as to the          for we do believe on .him that raised up Jesus our
 thought conveyed, is rievertheless  a promise, "if-less" Lord from the dead ; but ,to us, brethren, it shall not
 and unconditional. For let us take notice. Writes the        be ,imputed,  for we do not believe on him who raised
 apostle, "But for us-mark you, us-tilso, to whom it          up Jesus our Lord from the dead?' _
 shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up           It is plain that the "if-clause" statement at this
 Jesus . . . Who was delivered for our `offences, and         place cannot be taken as- .a promise directed solely
 was raised agaiq for our justification." As Christ           to  the ekct. And what is true of this "if-clause" state-.
 died only for his people,  this last clause-who was #ment at this  pl$c.e is true of all "if-clause" statements
 d,e$vered for our Offences-can,  -strictly speaking, be      in every place of the Bib& They are not promis&


:     398                                     T H E ,         STANDAWBEARER

             `This again brings us to the question: what are          sign, symptom and indication' of it. But now take a
      these "if-clause" decarations  of the  tybe, "if you be-        sentence like the` following. A man says to his neigh-
      lieve you shall be saved." To call Scripture-utterances         bor, "If you are on this or that street corner at wine
      of this type conditional declarations is wrong.                 o'clock -to borrow morning, I will pick you up in my.
             Allow we to remark in passing that the term "con;        car." The clause in italics is expressive of a real con-
      dition" because of its large, variety of meanings, is           dition. It has all the characteristics of a condition,
      one of the most-confusing words in the English lan-             "voorwaarde".         Being on the specified corner at the
      guage. In all my writings, thus also in this -present           specified time is a pure pre-requisite that the rider of
      one, I use the term  condition  in the sense of pre-            his own free will agrees to realize and also must realize
      requisite ; Holland, vooviuaurde.  I think that in our          in order to (be picked up by his obliging neighbor. It's
      present discussions we had better stick to this mean-           the fiart of the contract that he must first fulfill, if
      ing of the term, for otherwise we won't know any-               he is going to be picked up. And whether he will ride
      more whether we are coming or going in our present              or not is wholly dependent on his ability and willing-
      dispute. The Liberated use-the term in the sense of             ness to realize the condition laid down for him. Also,
      "voorwaarde".       Van Dalen in his "Groote Woorden-           whether he will. do as told is uncertain. He may or
      boek," defines the term `.`voorwaarde" as follows :             may not, depending on'many things.         ,
             1.  Beding. 2. Vdorwaarden  stellen, die eerst  in-         Here then we`have to do with a real condition and
      gewilligd, werkelijkheidm oeten  worden,   v'oor men            conditional sentence. There are then such things as
      zich aan het overeengekomene houdt; ik s2a hef U toe,           "if-clause sentences" expressive of no condition at all
      onder voorwaarde, met de bedinging. 3. De  rechts-              and therefore deserving to be known -exactly by that
      term : toekomstige en  onzekere  gebeurtenis waarvan            name and by none other, namely "if-clause sentences".
      eene verbintenis afhankelijk is gesteld : de voorwau&e          Besides, there are also such things as "conditional sen-
     is vervuld.                                                      tences". And they deserve to be known by this name,
        All who can read and understand the Holland will              because that is what they are as to their real meaning.
      see that according to this definition, a -condition, voor-      There is no objection to putting these two kinds of
      waar'de, is a prerequisite' laid down by the party of           sentences ,into one class and calling them all by one
     the first part of a contract `that the party of the              name. But let that name be not "conditional sen-
      second part must of his own will accept and realize             tences", but "if-clause. sentences", and let the names
      before the party of the first part will do as he agreed.        for -each kind of sentences within the class be : -"non-
      Further, according to Van Dallen's definition, whether          conditional if-clause sentences" and  %onditional  if-
      the condition will  lbe realized is uncertain. It may and       clause sentences".
      it may not be fulfilled, all depending on, the will of             The Lexicons, of course, do not have this termin-
      the party of the second part of the contract. This              ology. But that doesn't matter. The reason I present
      definition of condition in the sense of "voorwaarde" it, is to compel ourselves to make some very-necessary
      fully agrees with the definition contained in "The Cen-         distinctions in our present dispute in order that we
      tury Dictionary."                                               may know what we are at.
             As was- just stated, to call a. scripture-declaration       Now, then, what is such a decclaration  as, `fIf you
      of the type, "if you believe, you will be saved," a             believe, you will be saved." Is it a "non-conditional
      conditional, declaration is wrong. It is wrong because          if-clause sentence," or a "conditional if-clause sen-
      such a Scripture-utterance is not a conditional sentence        tence" ?
      but simply an if-clause sentence. It is certainly neces-           It is not, certainly, a "conditional if-clause sen-
      sary to distinguish between the two. For though all             tence". This ought to be as plain as the sun in the
      conditional sentences are "if-clause" sentences, all "if-       heavens,-plain that the covenant is not a contract in
      cause" sentences al-e not conditional sentences. Just           which faith in Christ is an uncertain condition, pre-
      because they are identical as to form and grammatical           requisite, "voorwaarde" laid down by God as the party
      structure is no reason for putting them in one class            of  .the first part and that man, as the party of the
      an.d calling them one and all conditional. .For there is        second part, of his own free will agrees to realize and
      a real difference as to meaning.                                must realize before God will save him and thereby do
             Let us illustrate. The thought conveyed by such a        what He agreed. In a word, faith is not a condition.
      statement as, "if a child breaks out with a scarlet rash !Such an "if-clause" sentence as "if you believe you
      over its body, it has scarlet fever," is not certainly          will be saved," is not a cbnditional "if-clause" declara-
      that a child is taken down with scarlet fever on the            tion. For the covenant is God's ; faith is His gift, and
      condition that it' breaks' out with scarlet rash. To            the believers as saints are His creations, the sheep of
      read `such a meaning into the sentence is to .reduce it         His -pasture. And therefore we call such a statement
      to sheer nonsense, And the reason is  obvious,. The             as "if you believe, you will be saved," a non-`conditional
     - scarkt rash `is not. the- cause of scarlet feiwr, but .the     if-clause declaration, Mark. you  6`declaration"; and

                                                                                       -


                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                        399

 not "promise", and this with reason. There is- not                ing life, through the preaching of the .Gospel,  so that
 an atom of promise in such a sentence. But more of                she is called, justified, sanctified and glorified, and set
 this in a following article in -which will also be taken          with :Christ in the Father's Kingdom forever, in the
 up the matter of the real function of such non:con-               heavenly Canaan above! Compare Hebrews 11:9, 13-
 ditional if-clause `sentences as, "if you believe, you will       16, 40. Acts. 2  ~14-42.
 be saved."                                                           What  .must we say of this presentation  -of the
  But what then is faith? According to the Scrip-                  Promise? .There  is only one .answer possible for `faith.
 tures and the Confessions, faith certainly is not a con-          It is: I confess with a glad heart! .It is the glorious
 dition "voorwaarde)' but the Spirit's instrument for              and unrefutable teaching of Scripture. warming the
 realizing in the elect the virtues of Christ's cross, and         cockles of every  ,believing  heart. It is the glowing
  in the elect faith is ~a sign, indicating that he has life       conviction. of the undersigned that the preaching of
 in himself. Says Christ, "He who believes in the Son              this Promise of the gospel must resound from all of
hath life in himself abiding, and I will raise him up in           our pulpits ! `. I do not desire to intimate that this is
 the last day."        -                                           not the case, Ibut I simply am uttering what we should
                                              G. M. Ophoff.        do in obedience to the command: Preach the Word!
                                                                      However, I do believe that every Reformed man
                                                                   will recognize that both the Scriptures and the Con-
                                                                   fessions speak of "Promises" and of `!a promise". It
                                                                   is to that element that I wish to call attention here.
                    Contribution                       -       -_ I believe, that both the Scriptures and the. Confessions
                                                                   teach not simply and only the Promise colrzcerning  the
                                                                   elect, but that they also teach- promises to the elect,
       Also  " A Promise" In Both Scripture and
                            Confessions ?                          as they  are concretely confronted with the preaching
                                                                   of the great Promise of the Gospel, as realized in
     During the past year the truth of ,God relative to            Jesus-Christ! These promises live in the battlefront,
  His Promise, the Promise of the  ;Gospel,  has been              waging the battle of faith against the flesh, world and
  brought forcibly to our attention once ,more. As the             Satan. They are, to be sure, preached to all to whom
  readers-all know, no doubt,. this was occasioned by our          God sends the *Gospel in His good-pleasure, but the
contact with. the `Liberated Churches and the  `sub; .promise preached is for the elect as they come and
 sequent composition of a "Declaration Of Principles" believe.                Promises they are in the- plural, in many _,
  by our Synod of 1950. As is to be understood, the                forms of speech addressed to the confessing `church in
 attention was in large degree focused. on the question            this world !'
  as to the proper conception of the Promise of the                   -1 believe that every -Reformed man, who is re-
  Gospel, both from a,Scriptural and from a Reformed-              formed in faith and heart, will recognize such "prom-
 Confessional viewpoint.                                           ises", such assurances of the [Gospel!
     Especially the editor of the Standard .Bearer,  Rev.              I shall quote briefly from the Confessions that
  H. Hoeksema, has repeatedly brought to the  -fore-               such is the case.
0 ground the truth of Scripture, that "the Promise of                  I refer the reader to Canons of Dordt V; art. 14,
  the Gospel is God's oath that He will infallibly lead            where we read: "And as it liath pleased God by the
  His elect to salvation and glory in the way of faith".           preaching of the Gospel, to begin this work of grace
     Now this is, indeed, comm.endable. In so doing he             in us, so He preserves, continues, and perfects it by
  championed what has been, I think, called "the general           the hearing and reading of His Word, by meditation
- thrust)' of the formulated Declaration.                          thereon, and by the exhortations, threatenings, and the
     Now what .must we say of this definition of the               promkes  thereof, as well as by the use of the sacra-
  Promise of the Gospel?                                           ments".    If words have meaning, then our fathers
     O.bviously "Promise)) is here understood in the               would *teach us here, that ,God perfects our faith and
  sense of: "the Promise", as this was revealed by God             brings it to fruition also by promises which are en-
  Himself in the gospel, first of all in Paradise, as it           joined with exhortations and threatenings. My point
  was' proclaimed by ,God through patriarchs and pro-              is, that th.e confessions speak in this instance of prom-
  phets, and. represented by the sacrifices `and other             ises in the plural, which promises are not indentifiable
  ceremonies of the law) and last of all was fulfilled by          with the Great Promise ! They are not identical with
  His only begotten Son.  (Heid. Cat., Ques. 19;  `Gen.            the promise, .`although they cannot ever be separated
  3 :15; 12:1-5). It is the Promise as it is realized in           from it as would the Arminians, who speaking of
Christ's death and resurrection and glorious ascension,            God's work for us and His work of salvation in LIS,
  and in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost,           do not rightly divide the Word of truth. For these
 in the gathering of the Church, elected uilto everlast-           are promises not merely concerning the believers, but


                                           T H E   ,STANDARD  BEAR,ER

       they are promises to them as outgrowth of the IGreat                            written upon the tables of our heart by the  Holy
       Promise concerning them!       -                                                Spirit;. It is the glory of the ministry of reconcilia-
          The undersigned has no doubt in his mind, that                               tion,. that we now keep the law from gratitude. And
       when the Canons speak of "promise" in III, IV, 3b of                            it is exactly unto this that the believer is encouraged,
       "Promise" it has iii-mind the `concrete- assurance of                           threatened in the preaching. And the promises are
       God to believers.that  they are acceptable to Him. We directed not to the elect in the abstract, but to the
       there read :. "He, moreover, seriously promises eternal                         elect-believer as he struggles against sin, and lays hold
       life and. rest of soul, to as -many as come to Him and                          on the promise to those loving `God by IGod's grace.
       believe on Him." This promise of -the preaching sure-                           Grace establishes. the law. And so the promise is
       ly admonishes and assures the believer' to wholly rely                          preached to all to whom. God sends it. However, only
       on the saving mercies of God. This assurance eertain-                           those loving- God give heed and lay hold on life, ever
       ly is  the  Promise  worked out by  #God through the                            running the race.
      preaching, but it is working it out through the calling                             I could quote more instances from Scripture, but- I
       of the Word, as this  .Word is.  preached  awl  as it is forebear. The point is established, that we must dis-
       wonderfully accompanied in the believers by the illurn-- tinguish without separating "the Promise" from "pro-
       ination of the Holy Spirit. `These promises of. the -- mises";
       Gospel tell everyoee  believing that he has everlasting                          It is upon these latter promises that the believing
       life, to be sure, but they also encourage to. more con-                         soul feeds, and thus it is saved by faith, and that, too,
       fidence and trust,. and quiet the tempest driven soul.                          by virtue of the great Promise as the oath of ,God to
       They are <God's assurances to us that our anchor holds,                         infallibly lead all the elect to salvation and glory ! But
       sure and stedfast within the vail. Let there  bed no                            1, cannot feed upon the glory of the  *Great  Promise.
       doubt about that. . Thus all is anchored in eternal                             witho,ut feeding upon the promises as above referred
       election.                                                                       to. Personally, I would verily despair of life itself,
          And as.for the Scriptures? Surely the Scriptures `if I could not lay hold on `these very promises and
       teach the same as the Confessions do on this point; threatenings with which God Himself confronts me,
       Our fathers were speaking the language of then Scrip-                           and by which .He- addresses me in the preaching. 1.
       tures when they wrote. down in Confessional state- would not have it be a~ secret, that `these expressions of
       ment that ,God continues, .preserves  and finishes His                          the fathers  -in the Confessions comfort my poor and
       work in the elect also by the threatenings,  exhorta- wretched SOLA. no end !                                Thus the faith in me, the
      _ tions and promises, to be sure.                                     .          mouth and hand of my soul (Belgic-Confession, art.
           In James 1:12 the author speaks of -a promise that                          35) has somethmg  concrete to take hold `of. Through
       is given to, those loving God;. We quote : !`Blessed is                         them I become assured that the great Promise is also
       the man that endureth temptation; for when he bath' realized for and in me!
       been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which                           Since also this element of "a promise" is thorough-
       the Lord promised to them that love Him."                                       ly Scriptural .and Confessional, and since it, is import-
           Now what is- our point here?                                                ant that we be not misunderstood on this matter, nor
          Is it, that by nature there is a class of men; who                           misrepresented, I beg the coming Synod to give also
       by the power of their `-free-will either love God in . this element of the Promise its proper due.                                            0.
       actuality or who could possibly thus love God. Not at                              Synod will have the responsibility of facing also
       all. Nor is that the point of James. He is speaking                             this element of the Promis,e when it considers the over-
       to the brethren, ,who must be perfected in their faith ture and advice `of Classis East in regard to thi,s mat-
       through suffering. No, God assures such a one, who                              ter. There are various amendments to the  Declara-   _
      by grace continues to love Him and be obedient in                                tion, and one of them is this matter `of the pxeaching
       patience, to the. very end, that He will crown him with                         of the Gospel, and `God's concrete promise of life and
       life, joy, l$~pi&ss,  blessedness, and complete content-                        peace to all who come and believe. Certainly. this
       ment. But this,is a promise to such a one loving God!                           element is so.important, that it should receive more
       It is a blessed assuring Word of God.                                           attention. than that of a mere foot-note. As of now
           Legalism, do I hear `someone say? Are we then                               it will simply be an amendment to the formulation o.f
       not saved by grace, without works that.we have done.                            the Promise of the Gospel, but it receives no further
       Let's not be foolish. No, it is the grace of God, that -exposition in the reasoning of the Declaration. That
       does not make of none effect ,the law of `God, but ex-                          will, to my mind, not do.
       actly establishes it. . Rom. 3 :31. It is the truth that                           Why .am I insistent in this matter?
       Jesus did not come .to destroy the law and the Pro-                              I am personally strongly convinced, that it is not
       phets, but that He came to fulfill them. And so it is                           clear to. all, that the matter of the preaching of the
       the law of the spiritual kingdom of -heaven, of the Promise,of the Gospel, and the content of the Promise,
       better Covenant not written on tables` of stone, but                            must not be presented as the "one-side" of, the'matter
                                                       `-.i  .:.,A
                                                     -;..                        `.
I.                                                    ..;             .,


                                                 T H E   S T A N D A R D   BEARER!  ;                                         401

        in contradistinction from the "other-side" of the mat-        attend the Lord's Supper before we -admitted them
        ter in the way the two-track theology would present           into our fellowship for their sake, to gain them, and
        the matter. It is in a word not clear, that these prom-       not. to keep them apart and separate. We will at pre-
       `ises to the believer are just as' wide in scope and as        sent let the question rest whether it was exactly proper
        rich in content as the Great Promise is. ~They are            and `correct to do what we did (our people -will cer-
        no wider, they promise no more and no less.  `And             tainly understand our difficult position because of the
        this truth should be clearly and unambiguously stated.        steady influx of. these immigrants), but the fact re-
           By our stating the truth fully and.unequivocally;  it      mains that we did this- for the sake of these brothers
        will surely be easy for others to either agree or dis-        and sisters in the Lord. I am quite willing, brother,
        agree. They should not be made'to  stumble over half-         to give an account of our action and explain it, but do
        truths. They should stumble, if stumble they must,            not deem it necessary at this-time. And what was the
        over the clear presentation of the full counsel of God. result of this action by the Hamilton consistory? What
       Over nothing less and nothing more may they be of-             did the immigrants say ? This: if we permitted these
        fended. Then all,- who believe as we do, will certainly       people to attend the Lord's Supper they would say:
        desire to rally under the Reformed flag of the age-old        they do permit us to attend the _ ILord's Supper, but
        tried truth of sovereign grace.                               we may not become members; and, when we did not
           In. love to all and malice to none I submit these          immediately accept them into our fellowship they
        lines. I will never be responsiblle for any document          would say: they do not wish to accept us as members
I       that does not state the whole- truth, neither will I help     but we may come to the Lord's Supper. On the one
        others be responsible for it.                                 hand they would criticize us because we permitted
           Epi Pasin Aleetheian : Above everything the truth,         them to come to the Lord's Supper, and, on the other
        as it is in Jesus!                                            hand, we were criticized because we did- not accept
                                                   G. Lubbers.        them as members; If we did not inu-nediately accept
                               :i: *  :I: :I:                         them as members they would tell us that we had no
           .                    A                                     wright to ,permit  them to attend-the sacrament; and if
                                                                      we would not permit them to partake of the sacrament
-A                      Strange Doings  -                             we would be told that we refuse brothers and sisters
         In the Concordia issue of April 26,  !951, appears           in the Lord to eat and drink .of the body and blood of
      * another article by $brother -Van Spronsen of the Nether-      Christ. But I repeat: we took the action we did for
        lands.    I wish to quote from this article, also and         the sake of these brothers and sisters in the Lord.
        particularly as it reflects `upon recent happenings in           Another expression in the article of brother Van
        Hamilton, Canada. I do not write this because I wish Spronsen upon which I wish to comment is the follow-
       -to throw additional'oil upon the fire, but only for the       ing (page 6, third column), and again I underscore :
        sake of the truth and the record.                             "For I see many misunderstandings. I ,refu.se  to ac-
           First, I refer to the following in the brother's           cept, e.g.; `what brother Reitsma' wTritles in that same
        article, and I will. underscore that to which I wish to       article, namely, that there are LiberatecL immigrants-
        call attention, page 6, first column, third paragraph:        in Canada who teach "that Gbd loves all the children
        "Qf course it-is too bad that it -goes that way, and if       who are baptized and woulcl save them all," ancl that
        those people come to visit us we want to receive them         "Christ at least-m&ted. the  chtince  of  salvation: for
        cordially, even let them partake of the Lord's Supper,        all." I hold myself recommended to receive the ad-
        still more, we even like to correspond with them, with- -dresses of these Liberated brethren and sisters. They
        in certain limits, but by all means keep `them apart          aren't there."-end of quote.
        and separate."-end of quote. Now I do not know                   I wish to comment upon this also. I realize that
        whether the brother refers to what may have hap-              brother Van Spronsen quotes here a statement of
        pened in the Hamilton Protestant Reformed. Church.            brother Reitsma. And that brother  is. well able to
        The possibility exists' that he may have received in-         defend himself.     However, the same statement has
      formation from members of that church.  I  r.epeat:             also been made by the undersigned in previous articles
        this I do not know. One-thing is sure, however : the          in the Standard Bearer. In fact, the undersigned has
        brother must have received some information to this           asked brother Van Spronsen to comment upon them.
        effect. Why should he otherwise write this? And it            Until now he has not done so. I consider this state-
        is a fact that this did happen in the Protestant Re-          ment  of the brother as also  an answer to what I have
        formed Church of Hamilton. I wish to say something            written in the past. And now he has the boldness to
        about this. At  the  end  of  the  particular quotation       declare  that-this   is  not  true.  H e   refuses  to  accept
        which appears in the brother's article this expression        what  brother  Reitsma  wrote.  He  writes  boldly  that
        occurs: but by all means keep them apart and separ-           "they  aren't  there." Brother  Van  Spronsen,  anyone
        ate:  Brother  Van  cSpronsen,   we  permitted  people  to    who  is acquainted  with the  things WB experienced and


 402                                   T H E   - S T A N D A R D   B - E A R 'ER

 he&rd in Canada must simply be amazed at what you             presence of witnesses. In fact, at one of. our later
  write in this  particular.article.  You say: "they aren't visits to the same place one of the older girls remark-
 there." Brother, let me assure ydu that they are here,        ed that the-Bible is full of the general and tiniversal
  and. that there are many- of them.. The undersigned          love of God. .-Why do f write this? Because I would
  once visited a brother and. asked hiim: Do you believe       have it clearly understood thai I wrpte the  trtith  in
  that IGod `says to gach child: I love you and wish to        my previous article&. Brother Van Spronsen, remarks
  save you, and he answered : That is what' I believe.         such as- I have qupted in this paragraph and in the
  This was said in the presence of two elders.. of the         preceding are not reformed, have never been reformed,
  church of Hamilton.  Others.were  also present. State-       but are arminian.
  ments such as : God loves all the children ; Go'd wishes        Another thing. The brother writes in his article
  to save all the children; God elected and reprobated         thgt he sees many misunderstandings. Now I wish
  upon foreseen faith and unbelief;  Chri$ died fqr            to ask him this question: Will  you please' show  ys
  everybody (once I spent two hours at a place and the         where we misunderstand you and the view of the
 largest part of the time was taken up by;a, discussion        Liberated? Brother, do you have any doubts as to
wh_ereby I sought to prove to them that Christ died, what we  ,believe? You know what the Declaration
  only for the elect) ; Jbhn 3 :1,6 and Matt. 23 :37 quoted    means. I am convinced that Professor Schilder knows
  in support of a general love .of `God, were all made in      what it Geans. I am also convinced that the immi-
  the  p,yesence. of witnesses. Why should I name the          grants in .Ontario, with whom we have been in contact,
  persons individually as  br,other  Van Spronsen re-          know what this document means. I am sure that
  quests ? Most of them have since then -changC?d their        there'is no mispnderstanding  as far as our position is
  address. Does not Brother Van Spr'onsen believe me?          concerned.  -But, what do you believe? Have we not
  I am convinced that the members of the Hamilton              asked Prof. Veenhof- more than once to explain state-
  consistory would not have, the courage to deny the           ments which he made in his writings? Why is it that
  truth of the statements which I have attributed to           we do not receive an answer? What objection do you
  these immigrants.      Once, when the statement was          have against.  our doctrine  and please give us the
  made ibat God would save all the children, and it was        grounds for your objection.           .
  remarked  that ,in that case man would be stronger              Thirdly, I now repeat the question which I have
  than IGod,, the person answered: Well, yes, if you put       asked before. Presuppose that hundreds of Protest-
  it that way. Brc$her Van Spronsen, these things are .ant Reformed' immigrants were to descend upon the
  true.  1  heard them repeatedly in the year of  1950.        Netherlands and .ask to be admitted into the member-
  And therefore- I call your action in your article:           ship of the Liberated Churches, or organize as a Liber-
  strange doing.                                               `ated Church upon the basis that they maintain their
        However, for the benefit of brother Van Spronsen       own peculiar conception, continue to receive literature
  I will now. .be, a little more specific. We visited once     out of America, spread their literature through the
  last year a family in Orangeville, Ontario.- I preached      Netherlands, and try to make the ILiberated Churches
  there in the house, and after the service we discussed       Protestant  Refor.med,  would your churches permit
our churches and the truth. The  ulidersigned  was             this? Would you permit .Protestant  Reformed immi-
  asked the question relative the infants who die .in their    grants to do in the Netherlands what the Liberated
  infancy. In the course `of the discussion the statement      immigrants wish to do here? Why has not this ques-
  was mad& thac God elected and reprobated upon fore-          tion been answered? .
  se,en faith and' -unbelief.    I showed them from the           Another matter which the undersigned -considers
  Canons. that this was Arminian. Then the statement           strange is `in connection' with the visit and activities
  was made  that God loves all the children. I asked the       of the Rev. Hettinga here in Ontario and, specifically,
  party whether `God loves the same child when, after          aromid Hamilton. Last summer' the consistory -of
  arrived at the years of discretion, he would reject the      Hamilton wrote an article in the. Standard Bearer in
  word and gospel of `the living God. Of course, the           connection with .these activities.         We asked for an
  answer was in the negative;  But they did wish to            appraisal of this action by the Rev. Hettinga by your
  maintain that the `Lord loved him when he was a child.       correspondence committee. Thus far not one word
  When I ,asked the question finally how it was possible       has ev& been written in connection with these act+-
  for God to love a ljersdn when he was a babe and later. * ties. Is it true that Rev. Hettinga visited members
  hate the same person after he had {become  eighteen          of the Hamilton Protestant  Reformed Church, and
  years of age, the parents hesitated but a boy of some        also of the church at  Chatham,  and said to them:
  13 years of age intervened with the remark: that;' is        "You know how you were taught in the Netherlands;
  impossible, because then. God would be changeable.           there is only' one baptism; how can you attend the
  Brother Van Spronsen, this is a fact. I am writing           Lord's Supper in' the Protestant Reformed Church?"
  this because you asked for it. This was said in the          We repeat : not one word has. been, written by .a writer-


                                            F

                                       T         H    E        STANDARD  B'EARER                                    403

 of the Netherlands in connection with these activities.
 Brother Van Spronsen declares that we must not drift
 apart, must not work to.break  down. And Prof. Schil-         FR'OM  H O L Y   W R I T
 der, if I recall, speaks in one of his articles in con-
 nedtion with the Declaration of "verbrokkelend werk                Expositioq of Romans 6:1-14
 in Canada." Now I ask this  qtiestion: Do you con-
 sider. the work of Rev. Hettinga "verbrokkelend?"                              \        III.       `:
 And we also understand that Rev. Hettinga is-a mem-              Let it be clearly borne in mind, dear reader, that
 ber of the Corresponderice Committee of the Liberated         the apostle is cha?pioning  the gospel truth in these
Churches.      Is this silence in connection  witlh these      verses,. that where sin abounded grace did rriuch more
 labors of Rev. Hettinga not strange?                          abound. The truth of the glad-tidings of salvation is
    Finally, is it not rather strange that not one word        that they, who have received much grace of forgive-
 has been written 69 a writer in the Netherlarids  in          ness of sins, are also ~thankful for much. We  h&ve
 connection with the action by the Hamilton "-Protest-         but to call to mind the woman, who was a sinner, and
 ant Reformed Church" whereby they first suspendecl            who comes to anoint Jesus' feet in the'house of Simon,
`and later deposed a Protestant Reformed minister,             the leper. `This woman did not cease to wash Jesds'
 who,  accor,dilig  to the testimony of the entire  con-       feet with he- tears of gratitude, to dry His feet with
 sistory, qev'er said one word `which, in their opinion,       her hair; in the overflowing gratitude she did not
 was in conflict With Scripture or the Confessions?            cease kis?ing the feet of Him whose shoe-latchet John
 And, brother; you know the history of this utterly            the Baptist w&s not worthy to unloosen. Calling this
 wicked and scandalous deposition. It was therefore            graphically portrayed incident to mind is sufficient
 with mixed emotions that I. read the following- state-        to give us ti clear understanding of the grace of God,
 ment in your April 26 article:.  "And it is also because      that is greater than all sin.
 of -that that they can so easily suspend and depose               Shall tie present this contrite &d thankful sinner,
 office bearers." Brother; we are fighting for the who iS redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus, as
 truth.    `The immigrants themselves here have said -reasoning thus: where sin abounds; grace does mtich
 that the Liberated and the Protestan?  .Reformed con-         more abound ; hence, I shall continue in sin, that grace
 ception.cannot  exist side by side. We are not fighting       may' abound? Would any, who receives `forgiveness,
 for' a truth. We are not fighting for the definition of       will to sin ad infinitum in order that grace might
 a word, such as the word : covenant. We are not fight-        correspondingly abound the more?.  '
 ?ng for a personal idea, one or more p.$ons' opinion             ,God  f o r b i d !      .:                          c,
 or opinions. We are fighting fo? the truth of God's              Take one fleeting glance at this woman, who was
 eternal' and, sovereignly particular grace, for the truth     a. sinner, and you will be convinced. Nay, take one
that #God loves on& the elect, would save only the elect,      look bf faith at Calvary, and the implication of Christ's
 and will save only and surely all the elect. We are ilo       death and resurrection, and you too will cry: God
 "genadewinkeltjes" but. are resolved to keep that which       forbid ! How shall I, tiho am dead unto sin, live any
 we have. Tell us, please: what do we teach in conflict        longer therein? ,For as many as we have been bap-
 with Scripture or the Confessions?                            tied through the Holy Spirit. into Christ crucified, we
                                            H. Veldman.        have been baptized .intd His death ! And to be bap-
                                                               tized into Christ's death is a singular thing. It is the
                                                               wonder of grace. It is the way into the life of Christ,
                                                               which means: to jive unto God through the newness
                                                               of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy S.pirit writes God's
                                                               law, the keeping of God's law in our hearts. Thus the
                    C A L L   T O   SYNOD                      oldness of the letter must give -way for the newness sf
   The Consistory of the Fourth, Protestant Reformed           the, Spirit.
 Church, calling church by decision of the  .last Synod,          This point is emphatically underscored by the
 hereby notifies our churches that Synod will hold its         Apostle. Writes .he in verse 5 : "For if we have be-
 opening session on Wednesday morning, June 6, at              cbme united with Him in the likeness of His, death;we
 9 o'clock, in our church auditorium.                          shall also (in the likeness) ) of His resurrection". The
                                                               fine point in the Apostle's reasoning in this quotation
   The regular  -pre-syliodical  prayer service will be        is, that where the former is the latter cannot possibly
 held on  Tu.esday evening,  June 5, at  `7:45  d'clock.       be absent; He who does aot have the latter does `tiot
 Upon request, the Rev. H. .Hoeksema  gill lead us in          possess the former. The  t&o are inseparably  <on-
 this divine worship.                                          netted. Thus they are in Christ; thus they are &o
    ._     Con&tory-  of $he Fourth l?rot.  R,ef. Church?      in u$,


 404                                 _     THE       ~~T~ND~R'D.B-EARER.

        Of course, it should be kept in mind, that what is.      the Son of God, our Goel and Redeemer; we die as
 true in (Christ is true for all who have been baptized          those who have been redeemed by Him. And this our
 into Him by a true faith. However,. it should not be            death is not simply true of- Christ's work for us, but
 forgotten, nor should .it be overlooked, that what is           it is, according to the text, most emphatically true in
 true in Christ is true in Him in a very unique way.             us ;-it is true in us, who have been ingrafted (united)
 It is true in Him, as in the Son of God? the Anointed           in Christ by a true faith, and who thus receive all
 Christ, the Mediator of God and man. Now, it stands             Christ's benefits by such an ingrafting-and-evermore-
 to reason, and it is also the plain teaching of Scripture,      uniting-faith !
 that the truth of dying unto sin and living unto God               It is true, that commentators are at variance over
 can never be in us as it is in Him. In us it is as in           the meaning of the term employed in the (Greek original
 the ?&eemecl  ones; in Him it all is a reality as in the        which is translated by the Staten Vert,aling "een plant
 Redeemer!,                                                      geworden zijnde", and by others as "being most close-
        That is .an important distin,ction,  which must not ly united by faith". The former rendering is then
 be forgotten. It is this, important distinction between         pressed as the correct one by those who favor the idea
 the death and resurrection of Christ on the oneband,            of "ingrafting"; the latter by those who would see in
 and the death and resurrection of us on the other' the term the dynamic growth of faith. . In favor of the
 hand, that is here maintained and taught in the text.           latter rendering is  the  meaning of the term itself.
 At the same time the holy writer emphasizes the-lloint          The term `is : sumphotos gegonamen, Sumphotos is
 of similaritzj  between the death and resurrection of           derived from the verb : sumphuoo  :' The latter does not
 Christ and that of LX, the believers.                           mean : ingraft, it means : to. grow together. It follows
        Wherefore- the apostle writes : For if we have be-       the ingrafting proper, or it may be the process of
 come united with Him in the likeness of His death, we           making the ingrafting a conscious ingrafting under
 shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection !      .- - the- operation of the Spirit through the preaching of
        We shall not weary ourselves with too detailed an the Word and the administration of the Lord's Supper.
 exposition of this passage. It is sufficient for our pur-           Most intimately and consciously we are united with
 pose-to point out the following: -                         5    Christ in His death and resurrection ! Here is the
        In the first place, we should keep in mind, that the     mystic tie of faith, relying upon the Promise of the
 apostle argues against -all antinomism, the walking in          Gospel. `This being united with Christ in this manner
 sin that grace may abound, and `that he proves con-             causes .Paul to say : I no more live, but what I now live
 clusively, that walking in newness of life is the order         1~ live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me
7 of the day for the Christian  ; it is the  kneed of the        and delivered Himself in my behalf. IGal. 2 :20. And,
 thankful heart of the forgiven sinner: This follows             again, in this faith, in' this most intimate fellowship
 from the very nature of the work of. Christ as' our             and the longing for closer fellowship, Paul says : "th.at
 Mediator, who died and rose again in our behalf.                I might know Him, and the power of His resurrection,
        Secondly, this needs a bit of explanation. Hence,        and the `fellowship of -His suffering, becoming con-
 the "for if we have been united. . . . ." This "if" sen-        formed unto His death ; if by any means I may attain
 tence does not mean that the apostle presents it as. unto the resurrection, from the dead."
something doubtful whether the congregation has                      This is the being united, the growing together, the
 arisen with Christ subsequent to. having died -with             implanting with Christ of which the text speaks. It
 Him, nor -that he presents this as a mere objective             is not simply an ingrafting into Christ in one moment,
 possibility, but the "if" sentence is a `sentence-construc-     but it is the entire conscious experience up to the pre-
 tion,' which presents the matter as being established           sent moment of the church'at Rome. This is indicated
 reality. In the mind of the apostle the'believers have          by the use of- the perfect tense in the #Greek. It is a
 become  ,most intimately united with Christ in His              complete action up to the present moment that is indi-
 death, and, therefore, they have also most assuredly            cated by this tense. And in this case it means: united
 become united with Christ in His resurrection. If the           with Christ as .a conscious experience by faith ; is the
 one is there, then the other is there too.                      glorious reality of the life of Christ in us.
        If such is the case, how can anyone live in sin, that        `Of. course; we have only thus been conformed unto
 grace may abound? We have died with Christ to live!             the likeness of Christ's` death; and the likeneis of His
 As He died so we died, and as He lives so we live !             resurrection.      The question is : what does this mean?
        Thirdly, it should be noticed, that this former is           The text speaks of the Ztkeness  of Christ's death.
  True with a restriction. We suggested. this already            What does it mean to be most closely united with the
 earlier in this essay. It is the restriction of the nature      likeness of Christ's death, and the "likeness" of His
 of the death and resurrection in Christ in distinction          resurre&ion?
 from the  .death  and resurrection in  us? He died as               The term @e?zess  suggests the strongest affinity


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                                                                                               `

                                           `T H E   ,S.T:A'&DARD   B.EARER  `-                                        405
                                                .
  .-
  without implying identity.  When God says: Let us
 make man in our image, and according to our Z&eness,
 then this "likeness" evidently underscores the strong                   I N   H I 'S   F E A R
 affinity to God. God is holy, righteous and just. He
 is the Supreme Ruler over all. Man must be mad.e in
  His likeness, in true righteousness and holiness, to                   - Synod I! His Fear
 rule over the earthly creation. He is Z&e :God, but He
 is never ,God:  There is a very strong- affinity.' Thus           Not long after this, appears in print the Synod of, _
 too Christ said in Romans 8:3 that "`God sent His Son         1951 will begin its sessions. And Synod, the broadest'
 in the  l&en&s  of sinful flesh." His flesh was just gathering of our churches, just because it is a gather-
 like ours, sin excepted. In this likeness we see the          ing of our churches is a matter of the fear of the' Lord.' 0
 strongest possible affinity to our nature, but there is       It- is for that reason that we write these few lines, in             `.
 no identifying., Christ's nature was not sinful, His          order that our churches. as well ,as our delegates at
 mind was not darkened, His will was not .perverse.            synod may be reminded of their calling.
 He was very really man, like unto us, out of one                  The occasion for my writing is two-fold; First of
 blood, Adam.                  . .                             all, we all incline when off guard to view the synodical
                                                               meetings as just so many sessions of a sort of executive
        So too in our text:           _                   e    board, convoked to take care of certain business mat-
  - We are most closely made like unto the death of            ters, even as the executive board of any worldly car-
 Christ, and our -resurrection is `most .closely like His      poration;  And if we do, we are going to watch the
 resurrection. Yet they are not identical.                     doings at -synod either very disinterestedly or very'                -c
        Surely it pught to be evident, that when the two       rabidly, as so many stockholders in the -corporation.
 -murderers are crucified with Jesus on `their crosses,        -Disinterestedly, in case we assume the position of
 that'in a certain sense'they ,died like Jesus did. .' They    minor stockholders, who think that "the executive
 died  on. a cross. They were crucified together with          board runs the whole outfit anyway.? Or rabidly,
 Christ. Yet, their crucifixion is far removed from            if we hold a good deal of stock in the corporation,
 that ,of Christ: Upon Him-the wrath of `God came-as           or .an important. position in one of the branch offices,
 upon the ILamb  of IGod. That is not true of the other        and therefore are vitally concerned in which side wins,
 two hanging on either side of Him. Now we, who                out, and who will have control of the board after fhe
 have been united with Christ in His `death, are not           "tooth and nail" struggle.                              .__
                                                                                                                 .
 thus crucified with Christ as these two men were.                 A more concrete occasion for, this writing is the
                                                               f,act that with a view to the by far most  import&~
        In what sense then?                                    item  o.n the agenda the editor of the Concordia  has'
        We have been made one plant with Christ .in the, given some advice with -which I cannot agree, against:
 likeness of His  .death and resurrection as the one' which. I stand diametrically opposed, and to w&h.
 murderer on the cross was, when he said to Jesus :            our churches and our synod, laboring in the fear of             -
 Lord, remember me when Thou corn&t in Thy king-               the- Lord, may give no heed. And considering that
 dam.. Then he too was crucified with Christ. It was           our Church {Order  is ,a set of principles embodying the
 Christ's crucifixion in its power and efficacy coming         fear of' the Lord in a very` concrete form to reguiate`
 to manifestation in this murderer. He died unto sin           our ecclesistical  assemblies, I indeed consider the ac-
and its guilt in Christ. As Christ died unto sin, con-         tivities- of the coming synod'a matter of the `fear of' `-
 demning sin in the flesh, so we die unto sin entering         the Lord, Most emphaticallyinust this be remembered'
 into this work .of Christ, wherein He condemned sin           at the Synod of 1951; where the weighty `matter .of'
. in the flesh. And as Christ arose in newness of life,. the Declaration of Principles will come up. And.                                 '
 so too we arise in faith in newness of life in the power      especially careful must the delegates be, careful be;'          ps.  -
 of His resurrection. He is the resurrection and the           fore God and His Church, to `labor in the fear of, the:,
 life. He is its very power. And we rise in His power,         Lord,because of the fact that our two classes have:
_ and thus are conformed to the likeness of His death ! chosen delegations to synod which are reported "to"
        But if this is true, then surely we must not con-      stand at opposite poles with regard to the  De61ara-i-:'  _
 tinue' in sin that grace may abound ,God forbid ! We, tion.
shall evermore will to come to the resurrection of the            More impoytant, because it is -primary, is the, fear
lead. We shall not count ourselves to have attained,           of the Lord than brotherly love* at the :coming. synodl'
 but we shall keep the-goal of the `upward calling in          For there can be no brotherly love apart from'the fear'
 Christ before our eyes, running the race lest anyone. of the Lord, and whatever brotherly `love  may be
take our crown of life f                                       shown apart `from His fear will be a fellowship in
                                                               darkness.         '
                                                G. Lubbers.
                                      -                        ; `Hence., what .does this f&r bf theLord imply? :
                                                     t            ..'


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                                                                                0
                                     .
            406                                    .THE  S T A N D A R D   BEAXER

                   Negatively, we may say, first of all, that our synod    that love the Protestant l3eformed.trutl.i;  and that are
            may giv.e no heed to the mere, fact as such that ,the          ready to seek it and support it, regctr&e& of conse
            majority of our consistories are-not in favor of adopt-        que%ces,-and  the consequences may be serious. And
            ing the Declaration of Principles. And we may add:             it means that you must pray constantly: "Search me,
            the delegates may give no heed`to the position of their        o  -,God, an-d know my heart : try~ me, and know my
            respective consistories as such or to the stand of the         thoughts : And see if there b_e'any wicked way in me,
            classis that delegated them.       `You are not bound in       and lead me in the way everlasting." ~
           z any sense whatever,, to vote as ,ydur- consistory voted          Concretely that will mean that as you deliberate
            or as your  classis  voted on any matter before.  the.         and finally vote, -you must vote on- the basis of un-
            Synod. Nor is the synod as a whole bound .to vote              answerable and irrefutable arguments. As long as-
           Oas the majority of the consistories voted. Synod is
_                                                                          there remains an argument on -any issue which you
            no rubber stamp, nor is any delegate a rubber stamp,           cannot refute, you can not honestly take a stand in
            either of consistories, classes,' or the churches at large.    your vote opposing that argument. If you do, you will
          If that were the case, the balloting of synod could be           not be able to say when you leave, "It seemed good to
            done by mail at far less expense.and  .trouble.                the Holy Ghost, and to us."
                   Secondly, synod may not and must not worry about           In the third place, the fear of the Lord implies that
            the closeness of the vote on any matter; Whether the           your deliberations shall be based upon Scripture, the
            vote on the Declaration will. be 16-O or 9-7 among the         Confessions, and the Church Order. You must cleave
           .16 delegates to synod, eithey. way, makes absolutely           single-mindedly to that basis. An overwhelming major-
            `no principal difference. It may be- said, of course,          ity of opinion (not of vote) among our people may .
            thatit would be ideal to have a unanimous.vote  on any         not- even deter you. The majority of our consistories
            item, since, that would be. indicative of unanimity of may as such not influence you.- If all the consistories
            opinion in our churches ; but a simple majority is as          rejected theDeclaration,  and you as delegates should
            binding as a unanimous vote. So true is this, that             be convinced of its right, you must pass it, being pre-
            not even a two-third majority is required on any mat-          pared to `defend it upon the basis of the Word'of God
            ter in our churches, however important we may con-             and our doctrinal standards. In that sense the synod
            sider it. The principle behind this is not a numbers-          must deliberate and vote independently.         No, that
            principle, but `the fact that when a majority considers        would not be hierarchy, and the Synod would not be
            something in harmony with the Word of God, or with guilty in such a case of foisting something upon our
            the articles of the church order, it must necessarily be       churches. For the way would still be open to anyone,
            binding. For that reason the Synod must pay no heed            individual, consistory, or classis, to prove any decision
            either to the last decision of Classis. West concerning, contrary to the Word of (God or the articles. of the
            the Declaration, which speaks of the overwhelming              church order. And if such procedure should fail to
            -documentary evidence against the Declaration, for             change' the majority or the protesting party, there is
            the simple reason that Classis. West never took the            another way, that of separate existence,-which, may
            time to investigate all that evidence, having read it, God, -graciously #forbid. But the principle is this:
            only once, but simply looked at numbers without de- whatever is agreed upon by majority vote upon the
            liberation.                                                    b.mis of the Word of God, the  Co?zfessions,  and the
                   Positively, this implies, first of all, `that the Synod` Church Order is, binding. The synod may therefore
          J must delibemte: It must do so with patience, and at consider no utilitarian arguments, may not look fear-
            length. It must not hasten to go home. It must-meet -fully-to predicted results, may not be allured by vis:ions
            with the intention, not of finishing the business as: of grandeur, may not be coerced by other majorities,
            quickly as possible, but of going home only after the. may not be waylaid by unofficial polls of public opinion, -
     .      business has been properly treated and finished. Let but must single-mindedly act in accord with the funda-
            the delegates, to that end, set-no date in their minds. mental principle mentioned above.
            for adjournment before they arrive. Let them. not                 And that implies; .in the fourth place, that what-
            look at the calendar. But let them come prepared to            ever is agreed  .upon `by majority vote shall be con-  _
            meet as long as the matters of God's kingdom require.          sidered settled and binding. The majority, in last
     - For that they have been delegated.                                  instance, does not merely agree. But the Syno.d agrees
                   It implies, secondly, that their deliberation must      by majority vote. To forget that leads to anarchy.
             be serious. That means, that you must come in a               Then you will leave the decisions to be executed merely=.
             sense with open minds. Deliberation- has no value, if         by the majority. You will rebeland make propaganda
             you make up your mind how to vote beforehand, and             against a decision, and become `guilty of slander
             take the `attitude : "You can talk all you want to.- My       against our churches. For unless it be proved to con-
             mind is made up.,' It means, too, that you must come          flict with the Word of God or with the articles of the-
             with "x%ght" minds, minds that seek truth and justice,        church order, if is settled and binding. That means-

                                                                                                                                 .*


                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                           407

  that' unless you actually make. the `attempt, officially,      lie is very concerned over the mortal sins because the
  by way of protest and appeal, to prov.e  a decision in         punishment of hell is connected to them. But it is
  conflict with the Word of ,God and the church order,           n& easy to determine in which category a certain sin
  you shall in no sense militate against it, ;ou shall           belongs. The matter is indeed "intricate".
  support  it, maintain it, and seek to enlighten the                   When is a sin Mortal? When it falls under one
  churches with regard  to it. You cannot be neutral.            of the three following conditions: 1) The sin, whether
     Laboring in that fear of the Lord, all will be well.        thought, word; work or omission, must be serious in
  In such an-attitude there need be nb doubt that broth-         its nature. Whether a certain  matter is' sufficiently
  erly love will abound among brethren. And in such a            serious must be,determined  By the theologians. 2) The
  disposition of mind and heart, the transactions of             sinner must- be thoroughly conscious of his action.
  synod will be to the welfare!  of *God's church and the        3) The sinner must be fr.ee in his choice and not com-
  glory of His Name.                                             pelled in any way by another. So if you steal' a small
                                                                                                         ;
     And therefore, let the synodical delegates scrutinize       sum of money then you have committed a venial or
  their h.earts  and their niinds, their thpughts- and tlieir    forgiveable sin. This evidently implies that the  steal-      .
  words, and their decisions. And to that end let them           ing of-a large suti would be a mortal or deadly siq.
be mindful constaiitly of the pledge tliey make in ~the          Should it -happen that someone commits unkhotiingly
  "Public Declaration. of Agreement with the  Fdrms of           a great evil then it falls into the category `of venial or
 - Unity", of the burden placed upon them in their               f,orgiveable sins.  Drunken&s is  % mortal sin; but
 .- synodicd -credentials; and Church Order according to         no one has yet been able to determine theologically,
  which they must act.                                           when a drunkard passes over the line between venial
 - And let  ds all, individuals and consistories and             +nd .mortal sins. If someone should commit a grave
 . congregations, remember the  gatherilig of' synod be-         sm- imagining. that it was a matter of minor import-
  fore the throne~of grace. For you and I do not sit on          ance then it `is r&ko<ed as a forgiveable not a mortal
  the sidelines in any real sense of the word. But your          sin.  ~-e
                                                                          But on the other hand, if  any&e  comtiits a
  churches and mine, yea, God's Church, is  ggthered             minor-<sin but is convinced in his soil that it was a
  there in its broadest gathering.                               mortal sin then it is reckoned as such to.him.
     And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the                    "But we are not yet finished.
  love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit                "There have been drawn up 1Ong lists of sins that                .
  abide with that church.                                        can be committed against. the Ten Commandments.
                                       H. C. Hoeksema.           B&ides this  there have been drawn  upz since. the
                                                                 Middle Ages, long lists of sins that can be committed              -
                                                                 against the Church. There are especially six com-
                                                                 mandments pf the Church that are-particularly im-
                                                                 pou'tant.  They come down to this: 1) Faithfully to
                                                                 partake of the mass on Sunday and `holy days. 2) To
                                                                 fast upon the proper set times. 3) To confess before
                                                                 the  priest  at least once per y&r. 4.) To partake of
                                                                 Holy Communion on Easter. 5) To support the church
                                                                 finaricially.    6) To be obedient to the  laws of the                  _
  2% in the Roman Catholic Chwch..                               church governing marriage.
     On this. subject we quote from the "Wtichter" as                   "Begides these there are still many other  laws .
  they in turn take over part of an- artiicle appearing          and rules, altogether about 2,000. To break some of
  in the "Converted Catholic Magazine".                          these--makes one guilty of mortal sin but in many .
     !`According  to this church sins must first of' all         other instances the guilt is only that of venial sin.                   /
  be distinguished -as mortal and- venial, that is "sins                "Whether a sin `belongs by the first or the,second
  unto death" and those which are forgiveable. Mortal            group depends often  pn  -a very small matter. The
  sins are so called because they kill-the supernatural -archbishop of New York  could, under certain  &cum-
  life of the`,soul which is received in baptism, and'set        stances  .for  exampie,  suspend  &r  set  aside the law
' a person's feet on the road to hell if they are  not-          that deals with the eating of meat on Friday. How-
  confessed and forgiven. Venial sins are not So serious,        ever, if the bishop of Manhattan did not go along
  do not deprive a person of saving grace,.do not have, in this, then to eat meat in his parish would be a
  to be confessed to the pyiest, but tiill be punished in        mortal sin, while such would not be the case across
  purgatory unless in this life there is sufficient peni-        the Hudson River in Brooklyn..
  tence done through good works.                                    "When one goes to confession then one must be
     "You will easily understand that the Roqan C&ho-            very careful.  For if-a person should neglect.tQ  reveal
                                                                   :

                                                           .


 408                              -                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

 a  single sin  his guilt  wou!d become still  gyeater.-  In                        Tlie  knowledge  of  Gocl  n&d  His  Word  That the
 such a ease none of his sins that a person confess-                        missionary movement is widespread tie l&ow clearly.
 ed would be forgiven.            Often the- question is raised             Th&t the time is near in which each nation shall have
 whether the sinner has a sufficient sorrow dver his                        heard the Word of  *God is also `evident. Of this we
 .si.n. Fortunately this full sorrow is  not  nec`essary  if                were again reminded when reading OLW daily news--
 one is only correct in all his confession. . . .                           paper  ; we came across the following : "Bible Total
        "Much inore. could be said about `this subject. The                 Swells Anew-11 Million more sent out inl95&-New
 ..writer of the article in the Converted C+holic Ma,ga-                    York-(U.P.) The American Bible Society reported
 zin.e  as_sures   us that volumes could be written con-                    Friday that it distributed more than ll,OOQ,OOO Bibles
 cerning the Roman Catholic conception of sin and                           or portions of the scriptures around the world in 1950.
 the method of forgiveness."                                                        !`The r,eport issued at the- society's animal board-
      _ .' Thus it is that sin becomes external also in the meeting noted that American contributions to the so-
 Roman Catholic  Church.                  We are already' used  ,to         ciety last yeas topped  $l,OOO,OOO  for the  .first time
 this  8s it. comes to manifestation in many  "funda-                       in history.
 m&tal" and "holifiess" groups with their "touch sot,                              ."The 1950 distribution of 11,056,584  volumes raised
 taste not, handle pi&" conceptions, according to which,                    the society's all-time distribution total to 406,422,004.  _
 if you don't drink, smoke atid live an otherwise oider-                            "Dr. Robert T. Taylor, general secretary, -disclosed.
 ly life you are all right.  -                                              the society now has. 783,000 Russian scriptures in
       -0veragainst'all  this we must maintain the'essential                warehouses ready to be shippe.d when the iron curtain
 ipirituai character of sin and its ethical perversion                      lifts."                                          .
 not only in ou&ard deed but ih motive, thought, iq-                        Persecution.  Reports continue to come in con-'
 tent, ambition, as well as the lack of all these.                          cerning persecution  of.  Chris$ans from Germany,
 .      Our spiritual life and'our salvation will advance no                Colu-mbia,  Spain ,and `China. Perhaps we shall write
 -farther than our realization of sin in all its manifesta-                 a.bit more about this later.                    .z-
 tion and the consciousness of our-salvation from all                               Natural Distxwbances;                Just  a. few days. ago a
 of it.                                                       d             sun-spot so large that it reportedly could be seen with-
       Sd also our thanksgiving will reach out to every                     out the aid of the telescope was announced. We,`.here
 part of ou; life.                                                          in the middle west,  have seen-plenty of flooding in this
                                                                            area and now &her sections of the country are re-
                                                                            porting the same. Some time ago there was a serious
                           :i:    :lc     :,:      $4                       earthquake in  CentJal America.                             .'
                                                                                    All these things remind us that the end of the ages _
                                                                            is 
 :Signs of the Times?                                                         upori us.
        Wars nnd                                                                              .
                     Rumors of Wars! Still they- continue
 and gr(yw and the fGar of them possess&s each one of                                                             Q *    *  .:b
 us.       -
        One  World  Gov*ernment!                  Perhaps not  tDo, many    Senatorial Religions.:
 of us are acquainted with the organization calied  "The                            From our daily newspaper we quote the following:
 World Movement for a `World, Federal `Government".
 Last year its convention was  held in Rome, Italy.                                 "Methodists have the most senators--in the 82nd
 There is a large chapter in the United States.  Iti.                       congress, with Episcopalians and Presbyterians. tied
 aim for one  world   gbvernment  has been echoed' by                       for `second place.               -
                                                                                                   -                               -
 -leading political figures in the United States. That                              "Church affiliations .of all senators are shown be
 this  *is a  sign,  of  the end is  certain  td anyohe `who                low: .            ..-
 .understand$ the book' of Revelation !                                            B "19 Methodist, 11 Presbyterian, 11 Episcopal, 9
      How  `far this movement has -penetrated into `so-                     Ba@t, 9 Roman C&holic,  8 Congregationalist, 5 Dis-
`called Reformed circles may-also be unknown.to  tiost                      ciples, 5 Lutheran, 3 Latter Day Sai&s, 3 `Protestant';
 bf `us.' To my- surprise 1 discovered last week that in                    2. Scientist; 2 Friends `(Quakers), 1 Unitarian, 1 Jew-
 Central College (Reformed Church in America) Pella,                        ish.         c
. Iowa there is a stude&`organizatidn dedicated to the                                                  .
 -idea of  one, world  gdverntierit  and the brotherhood                                                                                      J. Howerzyl.
 Qf  m a n ; .   `.                                ."              -.


