ST.ilVDARD
      BEARER
       I
/      A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE,                                        I
       I





       1 Because the perfection of Christ is imputed to
     u$ and because He blotted out all our  imperfec-
     titns, God can and does reach down and bring
     uz/ into the blessedness of His covenant. He  fuI-
      *I
     filled our part, and by His Spirit is making us
     adle to walk before God. Some day that work
     w/l1 be finished, and we. will be perfect. And
     then, exactly because of that perfection, we will
     not say  to. God, "We did it!" You cannot  do
     that `before His face. Instead we will confess that
     it  /is His covenant from beginning to end, that a
     p4rt in it `was given us in His grace, and that it is
     ini His grace that we have attained to a perfect
     keeping of the works of the covenant.                              e
            //
     See "The Works of the Covenant" - page  902
             :./1I
L                 !
                  /                         Volume LII, No. 17, June 1, 1976    -


890                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER



                                                                                                         THE STANDARD BEARER
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   Patient Until The Lord Comes . . . . . . . . . . . . .890                  Editor-in-chief: Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
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                                                                              Rev. Cornelius Hanko. Prof. Herman Hanko. Rev. Robert C. Harbach.
                                                                              Rev. John A.  Heys. Rev. Jay Kortering, Rev. Dale H. Kuiper, Rev.
   "An American Translation" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .893                 George C. Lubbers, Rev. Meindert  Joostens,  Rev.  Marinus   Schipper,
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MEDITA TIO N

                            Patient Until the Lord Comes

                                                                 Rev. M. Shipper
                  `Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman
              waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the
              early and the latter rain.
                 Be ye also patient, stablish  your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. "
                                                                                                                                       James 5:7,8.
  Be patient therefore, brethren!                                              And among these poor were the children of God.
  That word "therefore" points back to the  preced-                                No, it was not his intention to condemn the rich
ing context, and specifically to the condition wherein                         per se. James was not a socialist or a communist,
the ungodly rich were oppressing the poor.                                     fermenting a class struggle, and seeking for equal
                                                                               distribution of the wealth of the world. But he points
  James had been denouncing the ungodly rich, who                              his finger at ungodly rich men who acquired their
were heaping up treasures at the expense of the poor.                          wealth by defrauding the poor.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                891



   James denounces them for their evil practices.           word "patient." Fact of the matter is that in verse 11
They kept back wages from their laborers. They              James says: "Ye have heard of the patience of Job."
condemned and killed the just, while they themselves        Here the word is literally "patience." But in our text
lived in pleasure on the earth.                             the word is "longsuffering." It must be pointed out
  James warns them that their gold and silver is            here that, though there is no doubt similarity
cankered, and the rust of them would witness against        between these two, there is nevertheless also a
them, and would eat up their flesh as it were fire.         marked difference. Patience is a grace that is given
Says he, Ye have reaped treasure together for the last      unto the child of God according to which he is en-
days. Ye have nourished your hearts as in  .a day of        abled to bear up under all oppressing circumstances
slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just, and       and not succumb. Of the manifestation of this grace,
he doth not resist you.                                     Job is surely a worthy example. You remember how
  And among these oppressed and defrauded laborers          he lost all his children and all his possessions, and, if
are the children of God who cry unto the Lord               this were not enough, the Lord made him sick with
Sabaoth.                                                    boils, and so emaciated was he that his bones pricked
                                                            through his flesh. Under this terrible oppression he
   0, how wonderful are the cries of the harvesters         bore up. Not once did he give up or succumb to his
when they are content! But how terrible is their cry        burdens. He maintained that the Lord gave, and it
when they have been wronged! Though the wicked              was His right to take away. He even blessed the Name
rich, the fraudulent oppressors choose to ignore these      of the Lord His God. Longsuffering, on the `other
cries, their cry comes into the ears of the Lord, Who       hand, is that grace according to which the child of
will properly deal with the ungodly according to his        God is able to restrain himself over against evil doers
works, while He will give deliverance to His saints.        who would afflict him, so that he does not seek to
  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of        retaliate. Longsuffering always stands opposed  to.
the Lord!                                                   wrath and revenge. Remarkably, longsuffering is also
  The Lord is coming!.                                      an attribute of God, while you never read in Scripture
  And this time He comes, not as the lowly Babe in          that the Lord is patient. You do read that He is the
the manger of Bethlehem, but as the Lord of glory.          God of patience, but this means, not that He Himself
He is coming as the righteous Judge, Who will set the       is patient, but rather that He gives this grace. Un-
crooked straight, and Who will reward every man             doubtedly the reason why God is not patient is
according as his. work shall be.                            because He is never burdened or oppressed. He is
                                                            never under adverse circumstances, so that He may or
  In respect to His coming two thingsmust be borne          may not succumb under His burdens. But He is long-
in mind. In the first place, not at any time will He        suffering, which means that He suffers long with
come, as so many in our day would have us believe;          respect to the sufferings of His people. Yea, He
but at a set time which only He knows. Evidently this.      suffers with them until they are delivered, while He
coming is at the end of the world, when all God's           forebears the wicked until they are destroyed.
counsel shall have been realized, when all of the             In respect to the wicked rich who oppress the
church which is to be gathered out of every nation          brethren, they are to be longsuffering. And that
shall have been saved, when all of the precursory signs     means they are not to retaliate, to organize opposing
of His coming shall have been fulfilled. And in the         forces to combat them. 0, how difficult this is, when
second place, it must also be remembered that He is         you consider that the brethren are to do this in an old
coming throughout the ages. From the moment                 nature that always rebels, that refuses to turn the
Christ ascended' to the right hand of the Father He         cheek, that always proudly would maintain self. It
also begins to return. It is therefore for this reason      takes abundant grace not to rebel against the enemies
that the apostles could write nearly two thousand           of God and His saints. It takes grace to love your
years ago that His coming is near, that it is at hand.      enemies, and to do good to them that despitefully
This is also the viewpoint of James when he says in         treat you. But that's what Jesus said, didn't He? Love
the latter part of our text, "for the coming of the         your enemies, and do well to them that despitefully
Lord draweth nigh." And this implies that He stands         use you! That's what James also means when he
as it were at the door which is ajar, and is about to be    exhorts: Be longsuffering therefore, brethren, unto
opened allowing Him to appear.                              the coming of the Lord!
  Unto this coming of the Lord be patient, brethren!          With a view to that coming of the Lord, be long-
  Nearly all translations follow the King James and         suffering, brethren!
say: "Be patient therefore, brethren." Literally, how-        If their view is simply toward their wicked persecu-
ever, according to the original text, the translation       tors, toward the loss of wages kept back by fraud,
should be: "Be longsuffering therefore, brethren."          toward the hardships imposed upon them by the
This does not mean that James does not know the             ungodly, they -will not long endure. Their viewpoint


892                                            THE STANDARD  BEARER


must be directed to the Lord and His coming, and to         severity. So severe, says the Word of God, that if God
this end let the brethren be longsuffering.                 had not shortened the days, even the very elect of
  James is writing to Christian Jews in the dispersion.     God would be lost. We must expect that, and be pre-
Because of persecution they had to flee out of              pared for that. Then, more than ever - Be longsuffer-
Jerusalem, and they scattered into every part of the        ing, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord!
Roman Empire. But so long as the Lord spared them            : James uses the example of the husbandman, the
they had to eat, and to eat they had to hire them-          farmer. He prepares the soil, cultivating and fertilizing
selves out for wages. But they were subject to the          it. He plants the seed in season, row upon row, each
tender mercies of the wicked which are always cruel.        according to the time of planting. He tenderly
And they cried! No doubt, also to their cruel perse-        watches over that seed, destroying the tares that
cutors, who turned to them a deaf ear. And so their         would choke out its life and growth. Then he waits
cry ascends to the Lord of heaven Who bought them           for the early and the latter rain. In Biblical times the
with His own blood, and promised never to leave or          early rain was in October. It prepared the parched
forsake them, - to the Lord Whose alone is the              ground for plowing and planting. The latter rain came
prerogative of righteous vengeance, and Who in His          in March or April, just before the crop was ready for
longsuffering over His people forebears the wicked          harvesting. The latter rain did more for the crop than
until they have filled the cup of their iniquity in         all the other rains put together. Until he receives the
order then to destroy them forever.                         precious fruit, the farmer is longsuffering.
  But James also writes to the church of all ages, and         The Lord is the husbandman, par excellence. The
therefore to the people of God today. To God's              children of God are His planting, His precious seed,
people who in general today live in a time of material      planted as they are in the world among tares. On that
prosperity - the most dangerous time, from a spirit-        precious seed He sends the showers of His grace and
ual point of view, in which to live. When one looks         mercy, and the sunshine of His Word and Spirit. And
about him, also in respect to the brethren, there is        He is longsuffering over us, not willing that any of us
very little suffering. They are not being persecuted        should perish, but that all shall come to repentance,
for their faith. Fact is, in many respects the world        unto eternal life, and glory. He suffers long with us
honors them, respects them, allows them to have             while we suffer, until we are ready for harvest.
houses, lands, cars, boats, cottages, vacations with           As He is longsuffering, so must we be by His grace!
pay, social security, all kinds of insurance, etc. Today      This is the exhortation that was necessary for the
they are allowed to join the unions to gain  the'al-        Hebrew Christians to whom James sends his epistle.
mighty dollar, to dictate the policies formerly stipu-      They must remember that all the persecutions and
lated only by management. Today they may strike,            sufferings imposed upon them by the ungodly are the
boycott, sit down and refuse to work if they are not        Lord's ripening process. They must remember that
happy with their wages or working conditions. Even          they suffer the loss of all things, not only because of
the government is in cahoots with the whole setup.          the wicked, but because they are righteous. Though
Fact is, presidential candidates crawl on their knees       their cries to those who hired them brought no cure,
to gain the popular vote of powerful labor organiza-        they must learn to endure. Yea, with longsuffering
tions, giving them promises of blessing if they can         they must look for the coming of the longsuffering
ride into office. If you are a member of the church,        Lord.
more power to you. That is the general attitude
expressed today.                                              And this word must speak to us today!
  As we said, a most dangerous time is this for the           To us, upon whom the end of the ages has come!
church. When times are prosperous in the material             To us, to whom God's Word assures us that our
sense, when the child of God is not persecuted, de-         problems will be magnified, whose suffering will be
frauded, and maligned, generally speaking his guard is      most intense.
down, and he is not looking for the coming of the
Lord. His religious service is often a mere formality.        Brethren, have no part with the ungodly who
His walk is often in. the world, seeking the pleasures      would rebel, and who join forces to oppose the
which the world has to offer. His prayer. is not:           oppressor. Be ye not unequally yoked with unbe-
Come, Lord Jesus, yea, come quickly; but his thought        lievers. But be united in this, namely, that with long-
is more than likely, let the Lord tarry longer in His       suffering you wait for the coming of the Lord. Stab-
coming.                                                     lish your hearts with the firm conviction that the
                                                            coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
  But, brethren, these times will not continue. Per-        He will deliver you!
haps more quickly than we even like to think, they
shall be changed. The experiences of those to whom          He will take vengeance on your adversaries!
James writes will be repeated, only with much greater       He will preserve His precious fruit!


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                893


EDITORIALS





                      " An American Translation  "

                                                ProJ: H. C. Hoeksema


                                        .
  A few months ago I received from Editor Herman             Beck is a skillful translator. He has studied the Greek
Otten, of the conservative Missouri Lutheran paper           language and especially Biblical Greek to such an
Christian News,  a copy of  The Holy Bible, An               extent that he can render well the New Testament
A  merican Translation,  along with a request for            into good English. His New Testament is a grand
comment. Accompanying this review copy was a                 piece of work.'
special edition of Pastor  Otten's paper,  Christian           "William Beck received  his-Th.D. in New Testa-
News, which was entirely devoted to the story of this        ment Greek from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. For
new translation of Scripture and the story of its            several years he was a guest lecturer at Concordia
translator, the late Dr. William Beck. Although, as          Seminary in Biblical Interpretation.
most of our readers know, I am tirmly committed to
the regular use of the King James Version in our               "His .The Christ of the Gospels (1959), a harmony
churches and in our homes, this does not mean that I         and translation of the four Gospels, was well received
have a closed mind with respect to other translations        by critics and public alike. He is also the author of We
of Holy Scripture. Hence, I also gladly comply with          Bring Christ (1960), seven mission messages to inspire
the request for comment on this recent translation.          the reader to testify for Christ, and coauthor of a
  First of all, let me point out that this translation is    Lenten Sermon volume, The Crowds Around Calvary
the work of a very conservative Missouri Synod               (1960). He has also served as technical advisor on
Lutheran scholar. He was chiefly a New Testament             Biblical films.
scholar, but there is no doubt in my mind that he also         "Beck completed his translation of the entire Bible
had to be an Old Testament scholar, in order to              shortly before his death some nine years ago. Various
produce this work. There is a tremendous amount of           editors and language authorities at Concordia and
careful and painstaking work, involving many years,          such evangelical Bible scholars as Dr. Elmer Schmick
evidenced in this translation. Permit me to quote a          of Gordon Conwell  and Dr. Erich Kiehl of Concordia
few paragraphs from the special edition of Christian         Seminary, St. Louis, have carefully gone through
News, in order to furnish some information about the         Beck's translation of the Old Testament in order to
translator:                                                  improve it.
  "William F. Beck, Th.D., has spent the major                 "Dr. Beck told the editor of Christian News a few
portion of his professional life translating the Bible -     weeks before he died that his Old Testament was
meticulously working through original manuscripts            ready for publication but that he would allow for
and recently discovered papyri, to get the exact             various improvements in vocabulary and grammar. He
meaning from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and the           did not want anyone to tamper with his translation of
Greek version of the Old Testament and the Greek of          the messianic passages in the Old Testament. He
the New Testament.                                           feared that some liberal scholars, who accepted a few
  "The New Testament scholar William Arndt,                  of the `destructive' theories of historical criticism,
Th.D  ., translator of Walter Bauer's monumental             would. remove the real meaning of the messianic
German classic titled in English,  A Greek-English           prophecies and make it appear as if these passages did
Lexicon of the New Testament wrote of him: `Pastor           not predict the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. Dr.


 894                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


Beck insisted that `my translation or parts of it will        chief issues in that conflict is that concerning Holy
be published essentially as found in my manuscripts           Scripture.     Hence, I would prefer to make only
with possibly only minor changes in vocabulary and            favorable remarks concerning this new translation of
grammar. It is of the utmost importance that my               Scripture because it is being promoted by conserva-
translation continue to give a clear testimony that           tives in the LCMS. Nevertheless, I would not be
Jesus Christ is God and Lord, the only Savior for             honest and straightforward if I withheld my negative
men, and that nothing is done which in any way                comments. Moreover, my negative comments are such
would detract from the basic truth that the Bible is          that I cannot recommend this new translation as a
the Word of God in its entirety.'                             substitute for the Ring James Version. I can only
    "The LCMS's Commission on Literature approved             recommend it as a study aid which one may add to
 the publication of the entire Beck Bible. (The New           his library of study aids and which he may consult for
 Testament was published by Concordia Publishing              comparative purposes.
 House in 1963 under the title The New Testament In             And what are my reasons?
 The Language Of Today. HCH) Various conventions                 In the first place, although I will not belabor this
 of the LCMS urged Concordia to publish the Bible             point, I want to be counted among those who mourn
 and Concordia repeatedly said that it would. How-            the introduction of a multiplicity of versions and
 ever, Concordia has in recent months said it would           translations. This is not only because I appreciate the
 not publish the translation. The LCMS's 1975                 beauty and majesty of our King James Version,
 Anaheim Convention declined an overture from                 although I do. It is not only because I fail to see the
 Trinity Lutheran Church of New Haven asking the              need of these new translations in contemporary
 LCMS to direct Concordia to publish the Beck trans-          language, although I do indeed fail to see this. And let
 lation.                                                      me add: I speak from experience in my family and in
    "The editor of Christian News promised Dr. Beck a         the church, where I have never encountered any real
 few weeks before Dr. Beck died that he would                 difficulty with respect to the language of our King
 publish the entire Beck translation if Concordia             James Version. But it is also, and chiefly, because the
 should eventually refuse to publish it."                     introduction of a multiplicity of versions and transla-
    What may be said about this new translation?              tions destroys all uniformity and creates confusion as
                                                              far as the Scriptures are concerned. I am thankful
    In the first place, the translator certainly succeeded    that this is not the case in our own churches, and I
 in furnishing a translation in contemporary language.        fervently hope that it never will be the case. But it is
 He does not go to extremes, so that the language is          becoming an increasingly common phenomenon that
 crude. But the language is certainly the language of         one quotes from the King James Version, another
 today, and is very understandable. I have one                quotes from the Revised Standard Version, another
 criticism in this regard: I do not believe that even in      quotes from the New International Version, still
 contemporary English it is proper literary style to          another quotes from the Living Bible, and yet
 employ the many contractions which are used in this          another from the New English Bible, or from some
 translation. This, I believe, is allowable conversational    other contemporary translation. Now we can add
 style; but it is not good literary style.                    another translation to the list. And in another couple
    In the second place, Dr. Beck succeeded in pre-           of years I suppose another translation or paraphrase
 serving the real meaning of the messianic prophecies         will put in an appearance. I have noticed, both in
 of the Old Testament in his translation, as was his          conversation and in reading, that one first must find
 purpose. Whatever else may be said concerning this           out which version of the Bible is being used; and in
 translation, it is distinct from some of the recent          some instances the divergence between versions is so
 translations and versions of Holy Scripture in this          great that one must first settle on the proper render-
 regard. For example, one does not  find the truth of         ing of a given text. Theoretically I could conceive,
 the virgin birth eliminated from the well-known              perhaps, of a replacement of the King James Version
 messianic prophecy of Isaiah 7: 14.                          if at least all those who call themselves conservatives
    However, if this American Translation is intended         could agree on a good and suitable replacement. But
' to be a suitable replacement for the King James             this, it is plain to see, will never be.
 Version, then I must object strenuously and for               ; In the second place, I call attention to the fact
 various reasons. I do not like to do so, especially not      that, even apart from the matter of contemporary
 in view of the current conflict in the Lutheran              language, this translation differs considerably and at
 Church Missouri Synod. I would prefer to give aid            many points from the King James Version. In fact,'
 and comfort to the conservatives in that conflict, as        sometimes it differs to such an extent that it can
 over against the so-called moderates (actually               hardly be called a translation, but rather must be
 liberals), especially in view of the fact that one of the    classified as a paraphrase or a commentary. And; as


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                895



might be expected, such paraphrases, or commen-             the RSV and the NEB with respect to various
taries, are not entirely accurate; sometimes, in fact,      subjects. One of these subjects is "Salvation For All."
they are downright inaccurate. I could cite numerous        Under this caption the translator claims that "God
examples of this. Let me quote just a few. Genesis          wants to save all people," and he takes exception to
1:2 caught my attention as soon as I opened this new        the fact that the RSV and the  NEB speak of people
translation. In the King James Version this verse           destined .to hell. He might also have included here the
reads: "And the earth was without form, and void;           King James Version. My point is that this translation
and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the         deliberately changes various passages of Scripture
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."           which speak of men as being destined for destruction
The translation under review reads: "There was              and which refer to sovereign reprobation - quite in
nothing living on the empty earth, and it was dark on       accord with current Lutheran theology, although not
the deep sea, but God's Spirit hovered over the             in accord with the theology of Martin Luther himself.
waters." The differences are obvious, and the new           Let me quote a few passages in which the difference
translation is, to say the least, questionable. The King    is very plain to anyone who can read and in which the
James Version renders the well-known words of               Beck translation makes a  .deliberate and totally
Psalm  1:6 as follows: "For the Lord knoweth the            unjustified change.
way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly            Romans 9:22, (KJV), "What if God, willing to shew
shall perish." The Beck translation renders this verse:     his wrath, and to make his power known, endured
"You see, the LORD cares about what happens to the          with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
righteous, but the wicked go their way and perish."         destruction." (Beck translation), "God wanted to
In this case, although the word "cares" expresses an        show people His anger and let them know His power,
element of the meaning of the text, it does not             but He waited very patiently before He would punish
convey the same meaning as "knoweth," which is              those who deserved it and had prepared themselves
undoubtedly the verb that is used in the Hebrew.            for destruction."
&@-n, "what happens to the righteous" is not the
same as "the way of the righteous." But the latter is       Romans 9:33, (KJV), "As it is written, Behold, I lay
the expression found in the original. Even the  well-       in Sion a stumbling-stone and rock of  offence: and
known words of Psalm 23: 1 are changed. The King            whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed."
James Version has, as you know: "The Lord is my             (Beck translation), "as the Bible says: I'm putting in
shepherd; I shall not want." The Beck translation has:      Zion a Stone they will stumble over and a Rock they
"The Lord is my Shepherd  - I have everything I             will fall over. But if you believe in Him, you will not
need." This change may seem innocent at first glance,       be disappointed."
but it is not as innocent as it appears. And the simple     I Peter  2:`8, (KJV), "And a stone of stumbling, and
fact is that "I have everything I need" is not the same     rock of  offence, even to them which stumble at the
as "I shall not want." Examples of this kind could be       word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were
multiplied. This only goes to show that all change is       appointed." (Beck translation), "a Stone they stumble
not improvement.                                            over and a Rock they fall over. When they disobey the
  In the third place, I call special attention to some-     Word, they stumble over it; that's the end appointed
thing which I also criticized in the New International      for them."
Version, namely the substitution of "only" for "only        Jude 4 (KJV), "For there are certain men crept in
begotten." This is done repeatedly in the Gospel            unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
according to John, for example. To  call Jesus "the         condemnation . . . ." (Beck translation), "There have
only Son" instead of "the only begotten Son" is both        sneaked in among you some men - sometime ago it
unnecessary and inaccurate. It is unnecessary: for          was written they must be condemned this way . . . ."
there is nothing difficult to understand about the             It is my contention that the above examples are
words "only begotten." It is inaccurate: for the orig-      examples not of legitimate translation but of a
inal very definitely has the words "only begotten."         deliberate changing of the text which cannot at all be
And this is an important change. -For the simple fact       justified in the light of the original.
is that our Lord Jesus Christ is not the only son of
God, but He is indeed the only begotten Son of God.            More could be said and more unjustifiable changes
  Finally, I must call attention to a very serious and      could be mentioned. But the above are sufficient.
erroneous Lutheran bias which has crept into this              In conclusion, therefore, I regret to say that I
translation. This is `not an innocent error, but a          cannot recommend this new translation. The most I
deliberate change. It is, in fact, mentioned by the         can say is that it might serve some purpose, with very
translator in an appendix entitled, "What Does The          careful use, as a reference work. By no means must it
Text Say?" (pp. 341-344) In this appendix there is a        be used as any kind of substitute for our King James
comparison made between the Beck translation and            Version.


896                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


SIGNS OF THE TIMES




              Parental Schools -- How Long Yet?

                                                 Rev. G. Van Baren




   We have enjoyed our parental schools for the             include race and religion. In light of the nature of a
instruction of covenant seed for many years now. We          Christian school, one could hardly promise non-
tend to take the opportunity and privilege for               discrimination in religion. Originally, in order to
granted. We are inclined to tell ourselves that in this     maintain a tax-exempt status, Covenant Christian
"free" land, we need not be concerned about any             High School was requested to include in its constitu-
danger of losing these schools. But are we being too        tion that "admission will  -not be denied on the
complacent? Ought we not to see the "handwriting            grounds of religion, creed, race, color or national
on the wall"? One of the signs of the times is that         Origin ." The society refused to adopt the words
there will be a suppression of that which is spiritual.     "religion and creed" in the statement, though there
That suppression can quickly come in our land under         was not basic objection to the remaining portion of
the guise of maintaining the "rights" of the citizens.      -this clause. To the present date, the government has
We ought to be aware of the dangers.                        considered this to be acceptable - but the time may
   There are times when Christian parents become            soon come when Christian schools are required to
resentful of the fact that-the. government, can tax         accept all, without regard to "creed or religion."
them for the instruction of children in this land  -           The Grand Rapids Press recently reported that the
while at the same time they have to pay well-nigh the       government soon will no longer allow schools, private
full cost of instructing their own children in Christian    schools, to exist where members of only one race
schools. It seems so unfair. And often one is inclined      attend. The idea was that schools which were formed
to propose ways in which the government will be able        to avoid "integration" would no longer be permitted.
to assist us in maintaining our own schools. There are      The article added that schools established for
those in some Christian school systems who are              religious instruction would not be involved. Yet one
actively seeking to obtain additional governmental          can see the inevitable. The same government which
assistance. But all of these efforts, it seems to me,       insists that it is not "right" to separate races in the
play into the hand of "big government," for it gives        giving of instruction, can quickly and logically insist
the government the opportunity to make restrictions         that it is not "right" to separate children of differing
and demands upon these  schoals which assuredly             religions when giving instruction. Many have already
would be unacceptable to the Christian. It will not be      suggested that it is the "right" of all children to
so simple a thing as simply refusing additional govern-     choose and have the opportunity to choose any
mental assistance  - if unwelcome demands accom-            religion they wish. This would mean that they can
pany assistance. One can not put his head into the          not receive only the type of religious instruction that
mouth of a lion  - and believe that he can freely           their parents would have them to receive, but rather
extricate it whenever he feels that the teeth tighten       they must receive a diverse instruction where the chil-
too uncomfortably about the neck.                           dren themselves can choose as they wish.
  Several items called to my attention the real threat        I An article I recently received of a reader from the
of governmental restrictions on parental schools. Our       National Review  of Feb. 20, 1976, shows further
own schools have been required to place in their            attempts of government to regulate the schools.
constitutions a non-discrimination clause. At first the           The latest fell stroke in the campaign of our
requirement was that this non-discrimination must               federal bureaucracy to de-privatize everything and


                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     897



    everybody is a ukase issued by a female functionary               4. The college's board of trustees must have lay
    of HEW: a decree that, beginning this term, all uni-           members in the majority, and no fixed number of
    versities and colleges that accept students who                reli$ous may be specified as members of the board;
    received grants, scholarships, or loans through the            nor may bishops, superiors of orders, and the like be
    medium of HEW must comply with all sorts of                    ex officio members of such boards.
    federal regulations - particularly with "Affirmative
    Action" directives.                                               5. A team of Protestant theologians is sent to
                                                                   every formerly "Catholic" college that takes Bundy
       Mark you, the independent universities and col-             Money, to interview all members of the college's
   leges in question don't themselves receive grants or            faculty who teach religion or philosophy. This
   loans from the Federal Government: rather, some of              Protestant team will demand full information about
    their students (perhaps only a handful) are the bene-          the background of the faculty, about the content of
    ficiaries of HEW largesse. Even so, the "independent"          courses, and about all final examinations given. "The
    college president is supposed to obey Big Brother, or          team also inspects the library to ascertain if there is a
    Big Sister.                                                    disproportionate number of Catholic books."
       In the case of HEW's latest ploy to control inde-          The above does indicate increasing attempts of
   pendent colleges, the authority cited is Title 9 of the     government to control private and religious schools.
    federal Educational Amendments of 1972. An                 No doubt this attempt at control will be a developing
    obscure provision therein is interpreted to mean that,
    for a beginning, private colleges which accept             sort of thing. We can expect this to be affecting also
   students with federal benefactions must comply fully        our schools. We need not think that we will escape.
   with the notions of Affirmative Action - with other         There will be given logical and "constitutional"
  Washington controls to follow.                               reasons for making unreasonable and anti-scriptural
                                                               demands or for closing schools. But the time' is
  It was only when some colleges, including Hillsdale          coming - and may be very near.
in Michigan, opposed this decision, that HEW decided
to "further study" their directive. The point is that             What are we to do? First, we are obviously to be
the government has already attempted to enforce                aware of the dangers which threaten. One can not
regulations on private colleges even though these had          close  his eyes to events of our day and pretend that
not received federal subsidies. The basis of the action        all things continue as they always were. The signs of
was that some students had received some kind of               the times surely will affect the cause of Christian
governmental assistance. This sort of thing one can            education too.
expect to encounter increasingly. The government                  Secondly, we ought not to give government the
can use any sort of opening in order to enforce its            occasion to insist that they have the ,"right" to make
own regulations on private and Christian schools.              unlawful demands upon us because we have willingly
  The same article in  National Review  pointed out            received their financial assistance. Repeatedly,
that in some of the states the control exercised by            government has done this. We must never give the
state government is even more restrictive than that of         appearance of justification for their unreasonable.
the national government. It points out the instance of         demands. Of course, eventually government will make
New York State. There is a certain aid paid by the             its unrighteous demands even without any semblance
state to participating colleges. But the article points        of justification.
out that in accepting this aid, the "colleges must               Finally, let us continue faithfully and diligently in
surrender their birthright. If church-related colleges,        the instruction of our covenant seed. The time is
they must declare themselves secular colleges hence-           short. The opportunities presently enjoyed may
forth; if Catholic colleges, they must disavow here-           shortly be taken from us. Then we are to labor while
after the word and the belief `Catholic."' The article         it is day, - knowing that the night is at hand. But we
points out that the following restrictions were laid           know in all of this, that shortly our Lord shall return
down for "Catholi?' colleges:                                  on the clouds of glory. For that, we look and pray.

       1. If religious studies and philosophy courses are
   included in the core curriculum, the number of credit
   hours required in these two disciplines cannot be
   disproportionate to those mandated in other fields.
       2. No student may be forced to attend chapel or
   to enroll in any course in theology.
       3. Catalogues, student and faculty handbooks,
   charters, and other publications by the college must
   be submitted for review to the state educational
   functionaries; such publications must not contain any
   suggestion that the college has religious purposes.


898                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



Guest Article




                 Are You Sure of Your Salvation?

                                                     Rev. J, Slopsema


 ' Let us understand the question correctly from the           work from beginning to end and in no part is it a
start.                                                         work of man. This is not to deny that man's work is
   The question is not this: have you done enough to           related to salvation. It is. But it is not a contributing
make sure that you are saved? Have you done enough             factor in salvation. It is, rather, the fruit of salvation.
to assure yourself a `place in heaven?                           Thus the question  - are you sure of your salva-
   Such would be the understanding of this question            tion? is rather to be understood: are you sure that
by all those who, first of all, cling to a  work-              God has saved you? That is the question before us.
righteousness. Work-righteousness maintains that a                We can best ask this question from the point of
man is saved by his own good works. To those who               view of the admonition that the Apostle Peter sets
maintain this position, the question before us would           forth in II Peter  l:lO, "Wherefore the rather,
be understood to mean: are you sure that you have              brethren, give diligence to make your calling and
done enough good to merit your own salvation? Like-            election sure." The meaning here is not that we must
wise, those who have synergistic tendencies would              do something to make sure that God will call and
have a similar understanding of this question.                 elect us  - that we must do something to elicit the
Synergism, in one form or another, is a very popular           calling and election of God. Rather, the idea is that
doctrine in the church world today. It teaches a               we must give diligence to obtain the assurance that
cooperation between God and man in the matter of               God has called and elected us. For we read literally in
salvation. Both God and man have a contributing                the original, "Give diligence to make your calling and
part. God in Christ has done His part. If man will             election sure to yourselves." The question, then - are
possess and enjoy salvation, he must now do his part.          you sure of your salvation?  - is fundamentally the
The most popular form of synergism today is the idea           question: are you sure that God has called and
that God offers salvation to all men. Now it is up to          elected you?
man, on his part, to accept this salvation.                       There are two questions here: are you sure of your
   If this were our understanding of the question,             calling, and are you sure of your election? The latter
then we would have to busy ourselves, first of all,            is the most basic and fundamental of the two. For
with ascertaining exactly what we must do to attain            election is the fount and source of all salvation. In the
salvation  - what our contributing part in the matter          decree of election God eternally chose a people unto
of salvation is. Then we would have to examine our-            Himself in Christ, His Church, in distinction from
selves in that light to see whether we have done what          others whom He reprobated. And according to this
is necessary to attain that salvation. And finally, we         same decree of election, God also determined to save
would exhort one another to get busy and to press on           this chosen people through the person and work of
in whatever it is that we must do, lest we fall short          His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. As the Reformed
and be cast into the eternal torments of hell.                 confessions emphasize throughout, this was not
   But if that were our understanding of the question          according to foreseen works but simply according to
and our basic approach, we would be making a                   God's sovereign good pleasure. He chose some and
serious mistake. For the Scriptures emphasize that             rejected others, He determined to save some and
salvation is all of God. It is His free gift. "By grace are    destroy others, not on the basis of what He foresaw
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it         they would do, but simply according to His eternal
is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8) Salvation is God's        and sovereign good pleasure. Therefore, God's elec-


                                                   THE STANDARD BEARER                                              899


 tion is the source and fount of all salvation.               I will never fall away from salvation. For God not
   Consequently the best approach to the question of          only sovereignly executes His counsel, but He never
 the assurance of salvation is to ask: are you sure that      repents from it. His counsel, including His purpose of
 God has elected you?                                         election, is unchangeable. God never changes His
                                                              mind. Of this Jeremiah testifies in 4:27,28 when he
    There are some who would deny that this is the            says, "For this hath the Lord said, The whole land
 proper approach. The objection is raised that,               shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. For
 although the Scriptures mention it, election is a deep.      this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be
 mystery. It belongs to the hidden and secret things of       black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it,
 God and, therefore, is a very impractical doctrine. It       and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it."
 is all right for theologians to speculate about election
 and to write treatises on it. But it ought not overly           This, therefore, is the most basic and fundamental
 much to concern the child of God who sits in the             question regarding the assurance of salvation: am I
 pew. Let us leave the deep and hidden things to God.         one of God's elect? If we know that, then we know
 Our concern is only with preaching and believing the         most assuredly that God has saved us in Christ, and
 gospel of Christ crucified. In fact, because election is     that He will preserve us in that salvation to the very
 none of our concern, it would be very injurious to ask       end. With the assurance of personal election we have
 ourselves whether we are one of God's elect. All we          a sure, immovable foundation for the assurance of
 would do is become confused and raise all kinds of           salvation.
 doubts in our minds about the matter of personal                In close connection with this is the.question: are
 salvation.                                                   you sure of your calling? Peter not only exhorts us to
   But to this objection we say, in the first place, that     make our election sure but also our calling. In fact, he
if this be true, why does Scripture exhort us, as it          lists calling first, before election: "Give diligence to
does in II Peter 1: 10, to make our election sure? If         make your  calling  and election sure." The calling
election were a mystery and a very impractical                mentioned by Peter is not, as is frequently the presen-
doctrine with which the child of God ought not to             tation today, a well-meant offer of salvation. That
concern himself, why does this admonition come to             idea is completely foreign to Scripture, in the first
us? Quite obviously the matter of election is our             place. Besides, if that were the calling here, the text
concern  - a very important and practical concern.            would be relegated to the ridiculous and the absurd.
But in the second place, we can also add that when            For then we must strive and give diligence to attain
this objection is raised, it is usually raised by those       the assurance that God has offered us salvation
who do not want the truth of election as set forth by         through the preaching of the gospel. Rather, calling,
the Word of God: Quite often you will find this               as it is mentioned by Peter, is the saving, efficacious
objection on the lips of those who want nothing to            call of God to His elect. It is, that work of the Holy
do with a sovereign election, which implies  neces-           Spirit in the heart and soul whereby, in connection
sarily a sovereign reprobation.                               with the preaching of the gospel, He consciously
                                                              changes the elect sinner from death into life by His
   Therefore, we must not be afraid to approach the           irresistible grace. By His grace He smashes his hard
matter of the assurance of salvation by first asking:         heart of enmity and pride. He quickens him
are you sure of your election? In fact, this is the best      spiritually so that he believes on Christ, flees to the
and preferable approach. For, in the first place, God         cross, and turns`away from and fights against his sins,
always sovereignly executes His eternal counsel. Says         walking in a new and holy life. That is the calling of
Isaiah in 46: 10, "Declaring the end from the be-             which Peter speaks.
ginning, and from ancient times the things that are
not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I             This question of the assurance of one's calling is
will do all my pleasure." In His eternal counsel and          also very important in the matter of the personal
good pleasure God has elected in Christ a people              assurance of salvation. This is easily seen if we under-
whom He determined to save. That counsel shall                stand, in the first place, that the saving call of God is
stand! He will do His good-pleasure! If I know, there-        rooted in His election. The call is the fruit of election
fore, that I am one of God's elect, then I also know          so that all whom God has chosen to salvation He also
most assuredly that God has sent His Son to die for           calls to salvation. This is certainly implied by the
me; that through that death He did not merely make            Apostle Paul in Romans  8:30 when he writes,
salvation possible, but actually saved me, blotting out       "Moreover, whom he did predestinate, he also
all my sins, on the basis of which I am a rightful heir       called." But in the second place, we must keep in
to all the blessings of salvation.                            mind that, by itself, election is not a matter of our
                                                              experience. No man is able to look into the book of
   Furthermore, if I know that I am elect, I also have        life to see if his name is written on its pages. Election.
the assurance that I will be saved to the very end; that      is an eternal decree of God. We are merely temporal.


900                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



Therefore, it is only through our calling, which is          Are you sure of your salvation? Are you sure of
God's work in us in time and the fruit of His election,    your calling and also of your election?
that we are able to experience our election. And,            In the next installment we will discuss, D.V., the
therefore, by making our calling sure, we are able also    possibility and the way of attaining this assurance.
to make our election sure.



In His Fear



                                                Patience


                                                Rev. D. H. Kuiper


  You have heard of the patience of Job.                   the agent of affliction is an event or circumstance:
  And perhaps you thought, "Oh, that Job, he was           sickness, bereavement, poverty, loneliness, dis-
quite a man! Imagine, when all those calamities fell       appointments, trials. When James calls to our mind
upon him, he did not sin or charge God foolishly.          the patience of Job, he carefully uses this term, for
Quite a man! But don't expect me to be like Job!           Job needed a power that would allow him to bear up
Such patience is too `high for me." Nowhere do the         under the heavy loss of possessions and family. The
Scriptures ever leave the impression that the Christian    other term has the literal meaning of being of a long
virtues are true of some children of God but not of        mind, of holding on to one's temper. Patience then is
others. Rather the emphasis is that every child of         the long holding in of fierceness, wrath, and ven-
God, no matter what his station, may and must              geance. This word is found in Scripture when the
demonstrate all the characteristics of the kingdom of      agent of suffering is a person or persons. Hence,
heaven, all the virtues of faith. The reason being that    James uses this second word when he exhorts pa-
"everyone who believes, being members of Christ, are       tience in James  5:7, speaking to the reapers whose
in common partakers of Him, and of all His riches          wages have been withheld by the rich, *greedy land-
and gifts." (The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day          owners. Richard Trench in his Synonyms of the New
21) Christ is not divided; those who are grafted into      Testament sums up the distinction between the two.
Him by a true faith have all the riches that are in        terms translated patience this way: "The man
Him, without exception.                                    makrothumei, who has to do with injurious persons,
                                                           does not suffer himself easily to be provoked by
  "Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have               them, or to blaze up into anger. The man hupomenei,
spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of          who under a great siege of trials, bears up,- and does
suffering affliction and of patience. Behold, we count     not lose heart or courage."
them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the                We can visualize a man without patience; perhaps
patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord;        our visualization is so accurate because this man is
that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy."       ourselves. When we must live with daily pain, experi-
Thus speaks James to all the brethren.                     ence one disappointment after another, or suffer
                                                           grievous trials as workmen, parents, and saints, how
THE TERMS                                                  attractive it would seem to throw everything over!
  Two words, never used interchangeably but quite          Simply refuse to continue with that heavy load. Ask
closely related in meaning, are translated "patience"      the question, "Why? Why me?" Or when men speak
in our Bibles. The one has the idea of enduring under      evil of us, take advantage of us, fail to recognize our
a heavy load, of staying under, of bearing with per-       true value, how natural to speak out, answering revil-
severance. This term is used without exception when        ing with reviling. To take hold of things so we make


                                                     THE STANDARD BEARER                                              901


right the master of might and get what's coming to              wither' up and die, in order that the old man of sin
us.         L                                                   might accomplish his deeds. The resistance that the
   Brethren . . . brethren . . . be patient! Look to the        child of God has, hard-won by Christ, is patience!
husbandman, the farmer, who plows and sows, then                This alone will enable him to continue in those things
waits for the precious fruit of the earth. He doesn't           God has given him to do. But if this sprirtual resis-
receive a crop tomorrow or next week. With long                 tance is broken, then we easily cave in to all kinds of
patience he waits for the early and latter rain. So it is       things., And if patience is gone, something else fills its
in the realm of the spiritual. There will be many               place. If nature deplores a vacuum, so too does
experiences along the way that cause suffering and              spiritual life. Then comes selfish concern, then rushes
sorrow, but the way of patience must be followed to             in covetousness, then are we filled with earthly affairs
the end, if there is to be fruit. By patience we possess        and materialism. Where patience is gone, there is no
our souls; without it we lose them. Through patience            desire to battle against sin and walk in personal
and faith we inherit the promises; without it the rich,         sanctification. There is no daily concern for the
warm promises of God are dead, meaningless words.               covenant welfare of our children; there is no manful
                                                                desire to keep, at all costs, the preaching of the Holy
THE IMPORTANCE                                                  G o s p e l   p u r e .
   Although it may seem that we have every reason to              Peter says, "Resist stedfast in the faith!" James
throw up our hands in refusal to continue, yet the              says, "Be patient, brethren!" They are the same
steady emphasis of the Word is that we stay where we            thing.
are and work!
        Luke 8: 15, "But that on the good ground are they,      ITS POWER
        which in an honest and good heart, having heard the       It may seem to us that patience is hardly an answer
    word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience."        at all. What we really need is a program of forceful
    Romans  2:7,  ". . . To them who by patient continu-        action that will right some wrongs. Besides, patience
    ance in well doing, seek for glory and honor and            seems to be such a weak, passive characteristic. How
    immortality, eternal life . . . ."                          can it ever accomplish great things? Of course, we are
    Hebrews 12: 1, "Wherefore seeing we also -are com-          not speaking of a natural characteristic of a man,
    passed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us     according to which he allows himself to be mistreated
    lay aside every  weight, and the sin which doth so          and be the butt of unkind words. We are speaking of
    easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race      an amazing virtue that is ours in Christ! Patience's
    that is set before us."                                     power may be seen, first of .all, when .-we consider that
    Rev.  2:19,  "I know thy works, and charity, and ser-       this is one of God's own virtues. If we come back to
    vice, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and       the figure of the husbandman (James  5:7) we can
    the last to be more than the first."                       note that the husbandman is really God, Who is
   The question is, Why must we bring forth fruit,              gathering the harvest of the elect Church in Jesus
continue in well doing, run the race that is set before         Christ. ;And God waits for the early and latter rains.
us? Generally, of course, the answer is that we have            That is, God endures many things; He allows various
been placed on  this earth to work as children  of light        tempests to come upon His people. He does not come
that our Father in heaven may be glorified, and that            prematurely in order to deliver His people out of
others by our good works may be gained to Christ.              them, but He is patient. Otherwise the harvest will
Specifically, these works must be performed in                 not be full. The theological term for this attribute of
patience because patience is the only atmosphere in             God is ,H.is longsuffering. Our covenant God suffers
which a child of God can ever bring them forth!                long, even while His beloved sheep are afflicted in this
Patience is the spiritual resistance of the soul!              world. He longs to come with a mighty deliverance
  There are many dangers that surround the physical            that would put His people forever above the raging of
body, dangers that would cause weakness and death.             evil men, but He waits! He Who knows the end from
Through proper diet and sufficient rest the body               the beginning waits until the harvest is full! This is
develops a resistance to the bacteria that fill the air        the meaning of the oft-misunderstood passage, II
and cover our food. When these enemies of life and             Peter  3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His
health seek to invade the body, they are met as by an          promise, as some men count slackness; but is  long-
army that refuses to let them get a' foothold. And             suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
how we take care that our natural resistance is kept           perish, but that all should come to repentance."
high! Well, the life of the soul, the inner man of                The second reason why patience is strong to suffice
Christ, is also constantly under attack by all the             is that patience understands that there is a better way
forces of sin. These powers of darkness would para-            out of the present affliction than following the way
lyze the life of faith and cause the man of Christ to          of sin and evil, or than caving in to every sinful whim.


902 .                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



What patience understands is that  the Lord comes!               tells us what the Lord shall find. Those who do not
The certainty of that fact allows the child of God to            obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness - they shall
wait while abstaining from evil. Again, hear the Word:           be given wrath, tribulation and anguish. But those
   Romans  8:25,  "But if we hope for that we see not,           who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for
   then do we with patience wait for it."                        glory and honor and immortality  - they shall  be,
   II Thes.  3:5, "And the Lord direct your hearts into          given eternal life!
   the love of God, and into the patient waiting for               Our cries enter into the ears of the Lord of
   Christ."                                                      Sabaoth. The Judge standeth at the door. He catches
   James  5:8, "Be ye also patient;  stablish your hearts:       our tears in the bottle of remembrance. He sees and
   for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."                     knows! They that faint not, they shall reap.
  The Lord comes, and His reward is with Him. Paul




THE DAY OF SHAD0 WS



                      The Works of the Covenant

                                                      Rev. John A. Heys


  Although the term "Covenant of Works" appears                 above criticism, but because of a falling off of sales,
nowhere in Scripture, it is universally held that Adam          or other economic problems, the employer may have
was created in such a reiationship to God. And by               to let go faithful employees; and not having promised
that terminology men mean that God so created man               a continued job as long as the work was good, he is
that he could by works of obedience attain to ever-             under no obligation to keep that employee. And God
lasting life. In that covenant of works, it is claimed,         did not tell Adam that by faithful toil he would
there are three elements, namely, a promise of ever-            advance in the corporation. It must not be lost sight
lasting life, a condition of perfect obedience, and a           of that the proponents of this theory of a "Covenant
penalty of punishment with death. And although this             of Works" do not present it as though Adam by
everlasting life and a promise of that life are not             perfect obedience could remain in paradise and live
mentioned anywhere in Genesis 1. and  2., it is                 there forever, but that he could by perfect obedience
claimed that such a promise and such everlasting life           attain to the glory of heaven. He could have obtained
are implied when God threatens with death as the                for us that which now we get through the cross of
punishment for disobedience.                                    Christ; and since he failed, Christ had to come to
  The implied promise of everlasting life, however, is          bring us there. We, so the theory goes, were indeed
not there, and the presentation of a penalty of death           created a little lower than the angels, but we could
upon disobedience does not imply such a promise.                have gotten above them  - as we now do in Christ
The employer who informs his employee that if he                according to Hebrews  2:9  - by a perfect walk of
does inferior workmanship, or if h.e does not do his            Adam.
work faithfully, he will lose his job is not by virtue of          Now entirely apart from the fact that Scripture is
that fact promising that man that if he does it well he         very emphatic in its teaching that man cannot earn
will receive an interest in the corporation and become          anything before God by his works (for he must re-
one of its vice-presidents. Such an employee cannot             ceive from God every breath of life, every ounce of
even assume from a word of warning from his em-                 strength and power even to think and will, and is
ployer that he will even retain his job if he does his          unceasingly and completely dependent upon God so
work faithfully - not unless the employer says it in            that he is always and forever  in debt  to God) this
so many words. His work may be ever so good and                 theory displays a wholly erroneous view of God as a


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 903


covenant God. And it is not at all strange then that        incapability of doing any spiritual good (including the
where this theory of a covenant of works is taught,         good works of believing what God says and of desir-
this element of works is also carried into the view of      ing salvation), does not propose a covenant with
the Covenant of Grace, strange as that may sound.           prerequisites which man cannot fulfill. And to defend
But the idea that God in making a covenant enters           such a foolish position the Arminian and Pelagian will
into a partnership with man, bargains with man; lets        fall back on their other error that man is not totally
man establish the covenant with Him, and stipulates         depraved in the sense that he cannot believe and
conditions for the covenant that man must fulfill in        cannot will salvation before God has brought him
order that the covenant may be established or may           into the covenant and its blessings. But his folly is
continue, results in a covenant conception which            more than that. It is a denial of Jesus' words that
requires the works of man for its existence. That           except we are born again we cannot even see the
work may be the work of faith and not the works of          kingdom, and of the truth which we have received
the law, but then you still have a work of  man that        through the apostle Paul that faith is God's gift to us
establishes and assures the continuation of that            and not our gift to Him.
covenant.                                                      But why then does God say to Abram, "Walk be-
  When, then, we read in Genesis 17: 1,2, "And when         fore me and be thou perfect. And I will make a
Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord               covenant with thee"? Why preface that promise with
appeared to him, and said unto him, I am the Al-            the command to be perfect, if the idea is not exactly
mighty God: walk before me, and be thou perfect.            to tell man that this covenant depends on whether he
And I will make my covenant between me and thee,            walks perfectly? If it is all of God, why does He
and I will multiply thee exceedingly," these defenders      mention this perfect walk?  - and that, mind you,
of the "Covenant of Works," in their thinking (for it       first!  The answer is that, although there is no cove-
is not there in the Scriptures) put the word "then"         nant of works, there are works of the covenant. Our
after the word "And" wherewith verse two begins.            Baptism Form expresses that so beautifully when it
And they read the verse as though it said, ". . . walk      says, "Whereas in all covenant there are contained
before me and be thou perfect, and then I will make         two parts: therefore are we by God through baptism
my covenant with thee."                                     admonished of and obliged unto new obedience."
  This we may not do. Even the grammar forbids it.          There are two parts in the covenant of grace - a part
"Walk before me, and be thou perfect" is a com-             we are called to perform and a part God promises to
mand. And when you place before it the words, "If           perform. And what God promises to perform is that
you," you change it from a command to a proposi-            He will give us the grace to perform our part. When,
tion; and the testimony of God, the oath which He           then, He tells Abram that He will make a covenant
swore by Himself that He will establish that covenant       with him, after telling him that it is his inescapable
(Hebrews 6:  17,18), becomes a doubtful thing               calling to walk before God and be perfect, He promises
dependent upon the actions of sinful man. God does          Abram to bring him to such a state and condition of
say, "You walk before me and be perfect, and I will         perfection that he can walk before God in the new
establish my covenant with you." But He does not            Jerusalem, the land of the covenant. God's covenant
                                                            promise is not simply to realize a relationship of friend-
say, "If you walk before me and are perfect, I will         ship between God and His people in Christ, but it is
establish my covenant with you." He does say, "You          also to do ALL that is necessary to make it possible
must walk before me and be perfect. And I will make         for us to live in such a relationship of friendship
a covenant with you." He does not say that such a           before Him.
walk of perfection is the prerequisite to the making
of that covenant. If that. were the case there would           That which this covenant relationship requires  -
never be a covenant, and any covenant that might            and God supplies - is that we must be made perfect
have been existing at that time would come to its           so that we can not only walk before Him but live
end. For man cannot walk before God and be perfect.         with Him. And by calling Abram's attention to this
He cannot do this before God has already brought            humanly impossible calling, God impresses upon his
him into the covenant and given him its life. But he        mind that it is in every sense a covenant of grace with
cannot do this even after he has been born again. At        not the smallest work of man himself entering into its
no point in this life will he reach perfection. The evil    establishment or continuance.
that he would not will still be with him, and the good         Now to walk before God means to walk in such a
that he would, he will not allow. And the times in          way that He will approve of that work from every
each day when God would have to say to him, "Get            possible point of view. Literally Moses quotes God as
thou behind me," would be legion.                           say&s "Walk before my face." And that means that
  What folly to ascribe such to the All-wise God! He,       we walk so that His searching eye finds no fault with
knowing perfectly the sinfulness of man and his utter       our actions. It is for that reason that Jesus said to


904                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



Satan in the wilderness, "Get thee behind me." That         God's covenant, to see Him? But to see Him we have
which Satan proposed was loathsome in His holy              to walk before. Him. The blessedness is seeing His
sight because it was an abomination unto His heaven-        face. When we walk before Him we see His face. And
ly Father. It is for that reason also that God drove        to walk before  Him we must follow after holiness
man out of paradise when he broke God's covenant            without which no man shall see the Lord. Or turn to
wherein he had been created as God's friend-servant.        the closing chapters of Holy Writ where that covenant
Adam's part in that covenant relationship also was          of God is pictured in its blessed perfection, and God's
one of walking before God's face in flawless obedi-         people are all together in the holy city and eat of the
ence and love. When he walked in a way which God's          tree of life. In that connection we read in Revelation
searching eye could not enjoy, he was driven away           22: 15, "For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and
from God's face. Therefore it is also that Jesus de-        whoremongers, and murderers, and idolators, and
clares in Matthew  7:23 that God will say to many,          whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." Only the perfect
"Depart from me ye that work iniquity."                     who walk before God's face will live in blessedness
  It is for that reason that God says to Abram, "Walk       before him.
before me and be thou perfect." Ethical perfection is
that of which God approves; and only those perform-           Because the perfection of Christ is imputed to us,
ing it may stand before His face. Thus we read in II        and because He blotted out all our imperfections,
Kings  20:3 that Hezekiah prays, "I beseech thee, 0         God can and does reach down and bring us into the
Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee            blessedness of His covenant. He fulfilled our part, and
in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that       by His Spirit is making us able to walk before God.
which is good in thy sight." That is right. In truth and    Some day that work will be finished, and we will be
with a perfect heart we must walk before God. Of            perfect. And then, exactly because of that perfection,
that He will approve. That is the covenant life.            we. will not say to God, "We did it!" You cannot do
                                                            that before His face. Instead we will confess that it is
  Friendship and fellowship with God are possible           His covenant from beginning to end, that a part in it
only when and while we walk before His face and are         was given us in His grace, and that it is in His grace
perfect. Listen to Hebrews 12: 14: "Follow peace            that we have attained to a perfect keeping of the
with all men, and holiness, without which no man            works of the covenant.
shall see God." And is not that the blessedness of


TAKING HEED TO THEDOCTRINE


           "Hyper-Calvinis&' and the Call df the Gospel (18)

                                               Rev. David Engelsma


  It is widely assumed that the well-meant  gospel-         thereby place themselves outside the stream of his-
offer, or free offer, has strong backing in the Dutch       toric Reformed theology as it developed in the
Reformed theologian, Abraham Kuyper. Is `not the            Netherlands in the late 1800's.
crucial question in the controversy over the offer,           This assumption is false.
whether grace is common or particular? And' did not           It is indeed true that Kuyper taught a certain grace
Kuyper write a massive, three-volume work,  De              of God to all men, especially in his  De Gemeene
Gemeene Gratie (Common Grace), in  which he                 Gratie. It is also undoubtedly true that this teaching
propounded the view that God has a favorable atti-          has been influential, in the history of the Reformed
tude towards all men and that a power of God works          faith from 1900 to the present day, in the develop-
in all men, restraining sin in the unbelieving world        ment of the theory of the well-meant offer of the
and enabling them to do much that is good and               gospel. But it is not true that Kuyper held the doc-
beautiful? Certainly, then, those today who so vigor-       trine of the well-meant offer  - not even in  De
ously propagate the offer stand in the line of the          Gemeene Gratie; on the contrary, he was an avowed
great Kuyper, whereas those who oppose the offer            foe of the theology of the offer.


                                                            THE STANDARD BEARER                                                    905


  It is the express teaching of the doctrine. of the                          developing into universal saving grace by giving the
offer that God is gracious to the reprobate with a                            two graces different names was futile. The precarious
grace that  sincerely desires their salvation  and that                       coexistence of particular, saving grace and common,
comes to them in the gospel. It is the implied teach-                         non-saving grace was short-lived. Soon, common grace
ing of the offer, where indeed this is not stated                             began nibbling on particular grace, until, by the
explicitly  - as is happening more and more in Re-                            present time, it almost completely devoured par-
formed circles today, that Christ died for all men and                        ticular grace. The result is a "common grace" that
that salvation depends upon man's acceptance of the                           sincerely desires the salvation of all and that expresses
offer by his free will.                                                       itself in offering Christ to all.
   Kuyper's common grace had nothing to do with                                 An outstanding and very clear instance of the fatal
this universal grace. The common grace of Kuyper                              development of common grace into universal, saving
was merely a favor of God that gives the world "the                           grace is the first point of the doctrine of common
temporal blessings" of rain, sunshine, health, and                            grace adopted by the Christian Reformed Church in
riches and that restrains corruption in the world, so                         1924. Beginning with Kuyper's distinction between
that the world can produce good culture. It was not a                         two graces, "the saving grace of God shown only to
grace that aimed at the salvation of the reprobate; a                         those that are elect" and a "favorable attitude of God
grace that was expressed in a well-meaning offer of                           towards humanity in general and not only towards
Christ; or a grace that was grounded in a universal                           the elect," the first point concludes by introducing
atonement. "Here now lies the root of the doctrine of                         common grace into the realm of salvation - the very
`common grace,' " writes Kuyper. "There (is) in this                          error Kuyper warned against, declaring that God's
sinful world, also outside the church, so much that is                        grace towards all humanity is revealed in the "general
respectable, so much that arouses to jealousy . . . To                        offer of the Gospel." No longer is common grace a
the good and beautiful outside the church, among                              favor that fills barns, fattens bellies, and produces
unbelievers, in the world, we may not shut our eyes."                         Beethoven's  5th Symphony,  but it has become a
The explanation of all this goodness in the world?                            favor that desires the salvation of all men and that
". . .outside the church, among the heathen, in the                           operates towards all in the blessed gospel, offering all
midst of the world, grace is working, grace which is                          men eternal life.
not eternal, nor to the end of salvation, but which is
temporal and to the end of checking the destruction                              Nor is this, by any means, an isolated instance. One
that inheres in sin."'                                                        finds on every hand that men ground their teaching
                                                                              of a grace of God for all in the preaching, i.e., the
   Kuyper sharply distinguished this common grace                             well-meant offer, in God's common grace, thus trans-
from the saving grace of God. So concerned was he                             forming common (non-saving) grace into the universal
that "common grace" not be confused with "saving                              (saving) grace of historic Romanism and  Arminian-
grace" (which is particular, according to Kuyper  -                           ism. In doing this, they are deaf to Kuyper's pleas not
for the elect only) that he deliberately gave "common                         to make this mistake.
grace" a name distinct from that of "particular
grace." Common grace, he called gratie, whereas par-                             The Orthodox Presbyterian theologians, Murray
ticular, saving grace was called genade. Kuyper feared                        and Stonehouse, are guilty of this. They are con-
- prophetically, as history shows!  - that misuse                             cerned to defend the free offer, the "real point" of
would be made of the doctrine of common grace, "as                            which, according to their own analysis, is the teaching
if saving grace were meant by it," with the result that                       that "God desires the  salvation  of all men" (my
"the firm foundation that grace (genade) is particular                        emphasis - DE). This grace, of course, "is expressed
would again be dislodged." It is, however, "absolutely                        in the universal call to repentance," i.e., the preaching
Trot the case" that common grace is saving grace. This                        of the gospel. But where do they begin, when they
may not "once be said of common grace." We must                               look for Biblical support for this doctrine? Matthew
"guard against this vigorously and sharply  (kras en                          5:44-48!, a passage which they themselves admit
scherp).  " Common grace "does not contain a sin-                             "does not indeed .deal with the overtures of grace in
gle saving germ and is, therefore, of a completely                            the gospel. . . .The particular aspect of God's grace
different nature than particular grace or covenant                            reflected upon here is the common gifts of provi-
grace ."a                                                                     dence, the making of the sun to rise upon evil and
                                                                              good. . . ." Nevertheless, this "common grace" in
   Kuyper's attempt to prevent common grace from                              things temporal is made the foundation and source of
                                                                              the doctrine of a grace of God that desires salvation
                                                                              and that operates in the preaching: In the common
   lye Gemeene  Gratie  (Kampen:  J. H. Kok, second edition), Vol. 1,         grace of God "is disclosed to us a principle that
p. 11 (the translation from the Dutch in this and the following article is
mine).                                                                        applies to all manifestations of divine grace, namely,
   2De Gemeene Gratie,  Vol. 1, pp. 8.9.                                      that the grace bestowed expresses the lovingkindness


906                                                                    THE STANDARD BEARER


in the heart of God . . . ."3                                                                 The confounding of "common grace" and "saving
    Erroll Hulse, the Calvinistic Baptist, propounds the                                   grace," particularly now by the appeal to common
same confusion, without any of the carefulness of                                          grace to prove the universal grace of the offer, has a
Murray and Stonehouse, who at least recognized that                                        profound, theological cause. Men simply cannot
a grace that gives rain and a grace that offers salvation                                  escape the overpowering testimony of Scripture that
are two distinct things. That Hulse intends to press                                       the grace of God is one, not two, and that this grace
common grace into the service of a universal grace in                                      is the glorious favor of God towards damnworthy
the gospel is indicated already in the title of his book-                                  sinners that wills their deliverance from sin and death,
let; "The Free Offer: an exposition of common grace                                        provides redemption for them in the cross of the
and the free invitation of the Gospel." The content                                        Beloved, and manifests itself in the gospel. If then
all too plainly confirms our suspicion. Hulse tells us                                     God's grace is for all, men  must  conclude that the
that "the subject of common grace is inescapably                                           grace of God in Christ Jesus is for all. From this view-
connected with the free offer. It is not possible to                                       point, the Christian Reformed Church, the Orthodox
deal adequately with the question of the offer with-                                       Presbyterians, Errol1 Hulse, and all their numerous
out getting to grips with the subject of common                                            allies are disciples of Abraham Kuyper - in spite of
grace." He is determined to arrive at the conclusion                                       themselves.
that God desires, or wishes, salvation for all and
expresses this desire in the offer of salvation to all,                                       The only safeguard against universal, saving grace is
i.e., that God is gracious to all in the preaching. The                                    the complete repudiation of Kuyperian common
premise on which this conclusion is based, according                                       grace."Probably it is wishful thinking, but the startling
to Hulse, is common grace, God's favor to men in                                           appearance of outright  universalism  in Reformed.
temporal things. Indeed, Hulse, nothing if not bold,                                       churches today, universal atonement, universal re-
goes so far as to identify common and special grace;                                       demptive love, universal election, and even universal
there is no longer any qualitative difference between                                      salvation, ought to make those who profess to love
them.  ". . .common grace finds its fullest expression                                     Reformed particularism reexamine the doctrine of
in the provision of a Gospel to be addressed to all                                        common grace, uncritically accepted for so long as an
without exception." "Common grace then, finds its                                          aspect, even a basic aspect, of Reformed doctrine.
highest expression in that desire and will of God not                                         :But if  .Abraham Kuyper fathered the universal
only for fallen man's temporal well-being but for his                                      grace teaching of the well-meant offer, he did so as
soul's salvation and eternal happiness" (my emphasis                                       Lot fathered Moab and Ammon  - unwittingly and
- DE). Apparently, it has never crossed Hulse's mind                                       unwillingly. Kuyper was an enemy of the teaching
that there might be a favor of God to men in earthly                                       that is basic to the offer, namely, that God is gracious
things without a grace that desires their salvation, as;                                   in the preaching to all men, the reprobate as well as
on the view now of those who hold such a common                                            the elect; and he was a champion of the truth of'
grace, would have to be the case throughout the                                            particular, sovereign grace. He made this plain in his
.whole Old Testament time, when "the free invitation                                       book,  Dat De Genade Particulier Is (That  Grace is
of the Gospel" to the heathen nations was not very                                         Particular).  5
conspicuous.4


3Cf. Murray and Stonehouse,  "T h e F r e e   O f f e r   o f   t h e   G o s p e l . "       5The first volume of a three-volume set entitled,  Uit Het Woord
                                                                                           (Out of the Word).  The book was published in Amsterdam in 1884. The
4Cf..  Errol1  H&e,  "The Free Offer"                                                      series of articles in the magazine,  De Heraut,  in which form the work
                                                                                           originally appeared, began in 1878. The series of articles in the same
                                                                                           mtigazine  on common grace was begun in 1895, some 17 years later.





                                               Know the standard, and follow it.

                                                         Read the Standard Bearer


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               907


FROM HOLY WRIT




                    Exposition of Hebrews 13: 20, 21

                                                by Rev. G. Lubbers


  The writer to the Hebrews now breaks forth into a        that sitteth on the throne (Holy of  holies,  ark of the
very meaningful and exalted prayer for the Hebrew          covenant); the seven Spirits before the throne (the
saints. He directs this prayer in the form of a very       golden candlestick in the holy place); and the Lamb
fervent hope and wish to the God of peace, He really       that is slain, the firstbegotten out of the dead (the
confesses that it is all outside of his power to bring     altar and sacrifices in the forecourt) (Rev.  1:4,5).
about the perfection of the Hebrews, and to impel          Here we can sing our joyful and confident doxologi-
them to any good work. Here all moral persuasion           cal prayers. Thus does the writer to the Hebrews in
falls flat and proves to be a lie. Nothing short of a      the passage under consideration-.
new creation itself will do. Here we have the teaching
that is "denominated a new creation: a resurrection        THE GREAT GOD OF PEACE APPEALED TO
from the dead, a making alive which God works in us        (Hebrews 13: 20)
without our aid" (Canons III, IV, 12). Here we stand         When we think here into the Scriptural concept of
on the high plateau of the well-known text, "for it is     the "God of peace" the text suggests very strongly
God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his      that we are to think of Jehovah God in Jesus Christ.
good pleasure" (Phil. 2: 13). Only when we are filled      In the Old Testament Scriptures of this God as the
with the spiritual consciousness that God works in us      Shepherd of Israel (Psalm 8O:l). He leads his people
"both to will and to do" will we work down to a            like a flock.  His dwelling place is in the heavens,
finished touch our entire life in sanctification, being    between the heavenly  cherubims. He dwells with
filled with the mind of Christ.                            Israel at the mercy-seat of the Ark of the Covenant:
  Such is, the covenant life of the saints in the New      Here the blood of sprinkling was sprinkled by the
Covenant which God made when He brought forth              High Priest atoning for our sins and making our
the church out of the Egypt of sin's guilt and bond-       peace. This was strongly portrayed in the Old Testa-
age of corruption. He will write His law upon our          ment temple on each Day of Atonement, when all
hearts in tables of flesh and not of stone, and putHis     things were sprinkled with blood: temple, altar,
law in our minds and affections. And in this covenant      priesthood, people. This was a picture of the cleans-
He will be our God, and we shall be His people             ing of the heavenly temple with the blood of the
(Hebrews 8:8-12; II Cor. 3: l-3). This will be the work    Shepherd of Israel, Jesus whose blood speaks better
of the life-giving (working) Spirit, the Spirit of the     things than that of Abel (Heb. 9:23).
living Christ. And to this God, Who works peace, the         The term "God of peace" perhaps means that God
writer appeals at the end of this great letter. Also in    is the One who makes our peace. It is He who recon-
this prayer all is "better." This prayer fits with the     ciled us with Himself in Christ. God did not need to
Christ, the Son, who is greater than all the angels        be reconciled to us. He had thoughts of peace con-
(Heb. 1: 1 ff.); greater than Moses, although he was       cerning us, and they are written in the "Volume of
faithful in all of God's house (Heb. 3: l-6; greater       the Book" (Heb. 10:7; Ps. 40:6). This plan to bring
and better in his priesthood than Aaron (Heb.  7:l         about our peace is God's alone. This never came up in
ff.); a better covenant based upon better promises         the heart of man; these are the things which God has
(Heb. 8:6); a better and greater tabernacle not made       prepared for  us. Now  this God which  makes  our
with hands (Heb.  9:9); a temple in which we may           peace is the only God who can perfect us unto every
draw nigh to the throne of grace in the full assurance     good work'and cause us to walk in his peace, love,
of faith. Here the pattern shown to Moses on the           joy, and all good works. The phrase "God of.peace"
mount of Horeb comes to its full manifestation: He         is employed by Paul in Romans  15:33, where we


908                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER



read, "Now the God of peace be with you all.                                      yea in Christ, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God
Amen." In Romans  16:20 we read that the God of                                   by us" (Rev. 3: 14; II Cor.  1:20). That which the
peace fights for the church as the seed of the woman                              writer wishes with holy desire for the church is to be
"to bruise (tread) Satan under your feet shortly."                                realized "through Christ Jesus." In this Christ all the
Here is a very evident allusion to Genesis 3: 15. (*)                             promises of God for peace are Amen.
The God of peace is here contrasted with all the con-
flict, discord, and division which Satan works in the                                                                                  l D
world and in the church. He is the arch-foe with                                  THE GREAT SHEPHERD OF THE SHEEP
                                                                                                                                       OF
whom we have to contend in the battle of the ages                                 FORTH FROM THE DEAD BY THE GOD
                                                                                  PEACE 
(Eph. 6: 10-12). And so here in the churches of the                                         (Hebrews 13 : 20)
Hebrews Satan would seek to destroy the faith of                                    There is something Old Testamental in the lan-
these believers and have them return to the Old Testa-                            guage here. Commonly the phraseology is  "r,
                                                                                                                              .  _.    ised
ment shadows and types. Then there would be no                                    from the dead." But here is a separation (ek) out of
pressing on to spiritual perfection either. Satan is the                          the dead which implies that it affected the "great
author of confusion, but God is not the author of                                 Shepherd of the sheep." This seems to indicate that it
confusion in the church, but of peace (I Cor. 14:33).                             did not merely affect the person of the Son in our
And this "confusion" (akatastasia)  is connected with                             human nature by Himself, but rather in His relation-
envying and strife and every evil work. Where the                                 ship to the entire flock of God. His relationship to
God of peace has wrought His work, there whisper-                                 the flock is that of the good shepherd. He can only be
ings,  backbitings, debates, swellings and tumults                                the good shepherd whereas He is the great shepherd.
disappear, and Satan is crushed under our feet. God is                            The angel Gabriel told Mary that her Son would be
not the author of confusion but of peace. And the                                 "great." John too would be great, but his greatness is
writer has brought to bear all the teachings of the                               that he may run before the chariot of the Great King.
Scripture to crush Satan under His mighty heel as he                              But this One will be great. He is God Himself in the
comes as an angel of light in these false teachers.                               flesh, and thus He is identical with the great God,
Compare: II Cor. 13:ll; Phil. 4:9.                                                Jehovah, the Shepherd of Israel (Psalm 80: 1). David
                                                                                  sings "The LORD is my Shepherd" (Psalm 23: 1).
   When we look at this "peace" which God brings                                  This great Shepherd has power to lay down His life
about we notice that this peace is realized in the                                and power to take it again. He lays down His life for
blood of Christ (Col. 1: 20). At Calvary our peace was                            His sheep. He and the Father are one. Only, as
brought about in the atoning sacrifice, and this peace                            Shepherd He is the Son of God in the flesh, dwelling
is not merely touching things on earth, but also the                              at the head of His people. Thus He can die for their
things in heaven. It is the ushering in of the heavenly                           sins on the cross. But God was in Christ, this Shep-
tabernacle with all that is implied in God's dwelling                             herd, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing
with man, as the God of peace from the mercy-seat.                                our sins to us. The Old Testamental overtone here is
However, this peace is also such that God is the God                              in the words "led forth again" and it suggests very
of peace, making the Old Testament church and the                                 strongly the entire course of the history of salvation
New Testament church into one new manhood.                                        (heilsgeschiedenis)   in which Israel was led out of
   Now these verses under consideration are really a                              Egypt and brought to Canaan, passing through the Red
benediction in which God receives all the glory of the                            Sea, and leaving Egypt under the blood, the blood of
manifestation of His infinite virtues and praises. He                             the Passover. Thus God as the Shepherd of Israel led
will place all things under His feet in Christ and He                             forth His people from the bondage of sin to the liberty
will give peace to his people. God will be glorified in                           of His covenant.
the Son. That is the reason for the Cross, death,                                   We must bear in mind that this was centrally real-
burial, and resurrection and ascension of Christ at                               ized in the death of Christ and was sealed in his
God's right hand in these last days. It is a benediction                          resurrection, in which He was powerfully revealed to
prayer and wish which ends in "Amen." And                                         be the Son of God (Rom. 1:4; Acts 13:32). He comes
"Amen" means that God will more surely hear  this                                 forth as the firstborn Son out of the dead, this great
prayer than what the writer feels in his heart that he                            Shepherd of Israel. He had the right to come forth
desires this all of God, or that he will be heard                                 from the dead because He had been delivered for our
(Question 129, Heid. Catechism). For the term Amen                                offenses (Rom  4:25). And thus God, the Author of
rests in the verity and power of God in Jesus, Who is                             peace, our peace, brought forth the great Shepherd
called the "Amen of God." All God's promises are                                  from out of the dead, never to return to the state of
                                                                                  sin, death, confusion, enmity, strife, hatred and
   (*) "God is called the God of peace because He is the author of                bloodshed. He has made the Old and New Testament
peace (cf. vss. 5,  3). In view of the emphasis upon peace with God               saints one; He broke down the middle wall of parti-
(5:l:cf.  16:20;  Eph.  2:14,   15,17; I Thes.  5:20;  Heb.  13:20)   weshould
infer that peace with God is primary." Murray on Rom.  15:33, in part.            tion, the enmity between those near and far, and


                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER                                                              909


made us one. We gather in a better tabernacle. We                    THE EFFICACIOUS SANCTIFYING WORK OJ?
have come to mount Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem,                      THE GOD OF PEACE (Hebrews 13 : 2 1)
the city of the living God. Legally, we have come to                    It is quite evident from the form of the verb in the
this new estate!                                                     Greek, translated in the KJV "make perfect," that it is
                                                                     a strong wish, a holy desire of ardent love on the part
     Thus the text affords in one grand statement a                   of the writer. The term  "katartisai"  is a first Aorist
total backglance at all that he had taught in this letter
-                                                                    active optative. The term expressed a wish. The
     all in this grand doxological statement concerning              Aorist tense expresses point action. It indicates the
the God of peace. The readers, and we with them, are                  once and for all of this perfecting of the saints, be it
thus summoned to attention, and awakened out of                      then over the entire period of their life, ending in
the stupor and illusion that we have already attained                their death, which is not a payment for sin, but a
unto perfection. We are also alerted to the fact that                 dying unto sin, and an entrance into glory  (Heid.
He Who hath begun this good work for and in us, will                 Cat., Question 2). The term itself indicates that the
needs have to finish it until the day of Jesus Christ (1             sanctification of the saints must be brought to a full-
Cor. 1:5-9; Phil. 1:6).                                              orbed life, so that no part is lacking.


ALL AROUND US

                                      Reformed Churches in Netherlands
          Rev. Henry Vander  &am's Analysis of the Last Twenty-five Years
                                                      R e v i e w s   R e b u k e d
                      Calvin Sponsors "Arts in Worship" Confab Oct. 2-4

                                                            Rev. H. Veldnzan

     REFORMED CHURCHES IN NETHERLANDS                                     cause the prosecutor and judge are one and the same.
 PRONOUNCE JUDICIUM ON WIERSINGA CASE                                     Citing a survey that claimed that only 66% of the
                                                                          members of the GKN still conceive of God as a  per-
     In the RES NEWS EXCHANGE NEWS LETTER                                 son,`Dr.  J. Firet lauded Dr. Wiersinga's emphasis upon
of Vol. XIII, No. 4, April 6, 1976, page 1157                             a God who identifies and sympathizes with man. Dr.
appeared the following news item:                                         G. Th. Rothuizen, too, made an appeal for further
         (Grand Rapids) The Synod of the Reformed                         consultation: at issue, he said, is not the  substitution-
      Churches in the Netherlands (GKN) issued a pointed                  ary atonement itself but only the nature of the
      resolution on the so-called "Wiersinga case," which it              substitution.
      has had before it for the last few years. It upheld and                   Others, such as H. van  Benthen  and B. Rietveld
      sharpened its earlier statement of 1974. Dr. H.  Wier-              saw `in Wiersinga's view a clearly deviant conception
      singa's  attempt to involve man in the ministry of                  whose existence challenges the Reformed character of
     reconciliation, it repeated, was commendable. But, it                the  .church.  No one wished to start the process of
     went on to utter its judicium,  namely that Wiersinga's              discipline, in the sense of excommunicating Dr.
      conception "not only does not do justice to the work                Wiersinga, but it was pointed out that justicial doc-
      of reconciliation . . . but thereby also denies the gos-            trinal discipline (the application of sanctions) is the
      pel's source for  the ministry of reconciliation." The              last resort by which the church attempts to keep
      synodical decision called the doctrine of Christ's                  someone within the communion. Dr. J. Veenhof said
      suffering under the wrath of God in our stead so                    the intention was to build bridges and to make a
      fundamental that it could not admit Wiersinga's                     Christian appeal to Wiersinga. Dr. Verkuyl spoke in
      denial of it. The synod also expressed its expectation              the same vein and made an eloquent appeal to
      that Wiersinga's consistory will see to it that such a              Wiersinga to reconsider his position; he pointed out
      denial of this doctrine will not occur and that it will             that although various of Wiersinga's colleagues have
      oppose it.                                                          spoken words in defense of him, none of them has
                                                                          tried to-defend his theological position.
         In the discussion preceding the resolution Dr. H.M.
      Kuitert introduced a motion to forestall action and               First of all, this report states that "Dr. Wiersinga's
     keep the discussions open with Dr. Wiersinga, but this           attempt to involve man in the ministry of reconcilia-
      was defeated. He compared the judicial proceedings              tion was commendable." This we do not understand.
      of the church to those behind the iron curtain  be-             Dr. Wiersinga is a heretic. Also, according to this


910                                                   THE STANDARD  BEARER



report, the Synod "went on to utter its judicium,                 that church still maintains its Confessions. And that
namely that Wiersinga's conception `not only does                 church has also made tremendous progress during
not do justice to the work of reconciliation . . . but            these last twenty-five years. How can he write this?
thereby also denies the gospel's source for the                   That church has given a life appointment to Prof. H.
ministry of reconciliation."' How can a heretic's in-             Dekker who believes in Christ's universal atonement
volving of man in the ministry of reconciliation be               and has publicly declared that he is not in agreement
commendable?                                                      with the Canons of Dordt. How about REPORT 44?
  Secondly, this report states that no one wished to              How about the fact that the authority and full in-
start the process of discipline, in the sense of ex-              spiration of the Scriptures is being denied? And the
communicating Dr. Wiersinga. However, we read in                  decision on Homosexualism? And also the possibility
Titus 3: 10: "A man that is an heretic after the first            of women officebearers in the church? And a child of
and second admonition reject." We will not comment                God? who loves the chu;ch, is able to feel at home in
at this time on the resolution introduced by Dr. HM.              that church? Indeed, an article of this nature does not
Kuitert:                                                          do the Christian Reformed Church any good.
  Thirdly, what must one say of the results of the                                  REVIEWS REBUKED
survey which was cited by a Dr. J. Firet, that only                 Under VOICES in the Banner of April 16, 1976,
66% of the members of the  GKN (Gereformeerde                     page 21, appears a very brief article, entitled "Re-
Kerken of the Netherlands) still conceive of God as a             views Rebuked." We quote this article:
person? Was the entire membership of these churches
polled? To deny that God is a person means that they                     In regard to the movie review  (g/12/75),  we feel
                                                                      that this article was completely out of place in The
deny God. 34% of this membership deny God? If this                    Banner.
be true, how terrible!                                                   An article as this seems like an invitation to attend
       REV. HENRY VANDER KAM'S ANALYSIS                               entertainment of this sort. The Banner should be used
                                                                      to promote God's kingdom, and to help guide us to
         OF THE LAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS                                live in a manner pleasing to God. At the very least,
  In THE OUTLOOK of April, 1976, Rev. Vander                          the articles should be character-buildirig.
Kam writes on events and trends in the U.S. in the                  This brief article was submitted by a men's society
past twenty-five years. We need not quote the entire              of Platte, South Dakota. We agree. I did not read the
article. We quote the following:                                  movie review to which this article refers. I assume
          Would someone who had been out of touch with            that this review spoke favorably of movies. If this
       the Christian Reformed Church since 1951 recognize         society of Platte, South Dakota, condemns movies,
       that church today? Would he feel at home in this           we surely concur. I fear, however, that this society is
       communion? I believe the answer would be "Yes" to          engaged in a losing battle.
       both questions. Of course, things have changed, but
       that fact in itself is not cause for alarm. Time brings        CALVIN SPONSORS "ARTS IN WORSHIP"
       its own changes naturally.                                                     CONFAB OCT. 2-4
          Yes, I do believe that a person who had been out          The Association of Christian Reformed Laymen, in
       of contact with the Christian Reformed Church since        its News Bulletin, No. 68, April, 1976, has the follow-
       1951 would still recognize this church and feel at         ing article, page 3, under the above headingi
       hpme in it. We still maintain our Confessions. We still
       bow to the same Lord and listen to His Word. In                   How do dancing, drama, music, film, architecture,
       many ways we have made tremendous progress. But,               and visual art  fit into a worship service? A three-day
       let us not be blind to the dangers which threaten to           conference at Calvin College will attempt to answer
       take away everything we hold dear.                            that question through lectures,  sectionals, and an
                                                                     innovative vesper service.
  Articles of this nature are of no help to the Chris-                   The conference, scheduled to begin the evening of
tian Reformed Church. Yes, it is true that the writer                October 2, is one of the many events celebrating Cal-
of this article speaks of reasons for concern. We need               vin's centennial.
not quote these reasons. But, the undersigned con-
siders it striking that this writer does not lay his                     Specificity will be one of the major characteristics
                                                                     of the conference, according to Tom Ozinga, profes-
finger upon many departures from the Word of God                     sor of speech, and coordinator of the Planning
and the Confessions which plague that church today.                  Committee. "Suggestions will be practical and
Indeed, he mentions certain trends and conditions in                 specific," he promised.
that church. But, he is confident that a person who                     Three keynote addresses will be led by Donald J.
has been out of touch with the Christian Reformed                     Bruggink Nicholas Wolterstorff, and James Young, in
Church since 1951 would still-recognize that church                  an attempt to stimulate thought from a Biblical per-
today and feel at home in it. He is also confident that              spective.


                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                   911


             Bruggink is Professor of Historical Theology at ~, i ,_; three keynote addresses will attempt to stimulate
         Western Theological Seminary.. . .Wolterstorff,                      thought `from a Biblical perspective. Even so, why
         professor of philosophy at Calvin, will also speak                   should such a conference be necessary? I call atten-
         Thursday evening. . . .Young, Professor of Speech and                tion to what we read in our Heidelberg Catechism,
         Director of Theatre at Wheaton College, will speak                   Lord's Day 35. Question 98 reads: "But may not
         Friday evening on "Theatre and Worship: The Priest-
         ly and the Prophetic."                                               images be tolerated in the churches, as books to the
                                                                              laity?" And Answer 98 reads: "No: for we must not
        This conference, mind you, is one of the many                         pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his
     events celebrating Calvin's centennial. This must set                    people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively
     forth, I assume, what Calvin College stands for and                      preaching of his word. Understand, this conference
     why it came into being one hundred years ago. I sug-                     will deal with the question how all these things fit
     gest to the men's society of Platte, South Dakota,                       into a worship service. Why hold this conference to
     that they take notice. Perhaps this conference will                      discuss this subject? Lord's Day 35 gives us the
     show how wrong these things are. After all, these                        proper guidelines.


                    WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                       WEDDING ANNIVERSARY
        On June 3, 1976, the Lord willing, our beloved parents, MR. AND          On June 4, 1976, the Lord willing, our beloved parents, MR. AND
     MRS. LORENZ  BERTSCH, will celebrate their 25th wedding anniver-         MRS. JOHN B. LUBBERS, will celebrate their 40th wedding anni-
sary. We, their grateful children, express humble gratitude to our Father     versary.
in heaven for the Christian home they have provided us and for the               We, their children, are thankful to our covenant heavenly Father for
Christian education that has been given us through them. Together we          them and for all He has provided us through them. It is our prayer that
     have expressed Family Happiness as expressed by the psalmist in          they may experience God's blessing in the years to come.
     Psalm 128 (Psalter No. 360, vs.  5), "Thou shalt see God's kingdom
prosper all thy days, till life shall cease, thou shalt see thy children's                               Bernard'Lubbers
children; on Thy'people, Lord, be peace."                                                                Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Lubbers
                              Roger and Peggy Kamphuis                                                   Marvin Lubbers
                              Larry and Darlene Bertsch                                                  Mr. end Mrs. Gerald Visser
                              Tim Bertsch                                                                Genevieve Lubbers
                              Terri Bertsch                                                              Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Elders
                             ,and 3 grandchildren.           Forbes, N.D.                                Evelyn Lubbers
                                                                                                         Lillian Lubbers
                                                                                                         Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Lubbers
                                                                                                           and 10 grandchildren.
                WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                         RESOLUTldN OF SYMPATHY
       On June 24, 1976,  ,the Lord willing, our beloved parents, MR.
AND MRS. RALPH PASTOOR, hope to commemorate their 50th                           The Ladies Society of  ttie First Protestant Reformed Church of
wedding anniversary. We, their grateful children, thank and praise our        Holland, Michigan, wishes to express its sympathy to Mrs. Roger
Covenant God for them and for using them to instruct us to walk in the        Berends,  one of its members, in the loss of her mother, MRS. HARM
fear of His name. Our prayer is that He may continue to bless them in         WUSTMAN. May our God comfort her and her family in this time of
the coming years, both for each other and for us.                             sorrow.

                             Their grateful children.                            "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm
                             Mr.  & Mrs. Robert Noordyke                      116:15).
                             Mr.  & Mrs. Robert Pastoor                                                  The Ladies Society of the
                             Mr.  & Mrs. James Gerritsen                                                 First Protestant Reformed Church
                             and 10 grandchildren                                                        of Holland, Michigan.
                             and 1 great-grandchild                                                         Mrs. G.  Wassink, Sec'y.
I                                                                  NOTICE! ! !
                                     Due to  our decision to add a fourth teacher to our Staff, the
                                S O U T H   H O L L A N D   P R O T E S T A N T   R E F O R M E D   C H R I S T I A N
                                SCHOOL is accepting applications for the position. Anyone interested
                                should write or phone Mr.  Menno Poortenga, 18425  Oakwood  Ave.,
                                Lansing, Illinois 60438. Phone:  (312) 474-0675.



                                       News  Fr0.m Our Churches

       A special event occurred recently - a piece of news                    Jonathan Craig, on April 18. In all fairness to Classis
was received from our church in Prospect Park, New                            West we should also note that family expansions took
Jersey. A special event took place there recently. Rev.                       place this spring in the parsonages in South Holland,
     den Hartog's family increased in size by one,                            Illinois, and Randolph, Wisconsin.


                                                                                                                             \     `
                                                                                                                                   ,t-      ......-





                                                 ____----   ~.-  -  -  --  --__~   ~~_-~~- -~--.---



              THE STANDARD BEARER           '
                    P.O. Box 6064
-.i          Grand Rapids, Michigan 495%         _-_-~- _ ~-.-..
       .i





             912

                And, speaking of news, none has been received                year in  Doon  Church and invites parents and friends  ^
             since last August from our churches in Doon, Iowa;              of the school to meet with the students and staff.
             Forbes, North Dakota; Kalamazoo, Michigan;                      Rev. Mark Hoeksema addressed one of these chapel
             Lynden, Washington; and Prospect Park, New Jersey               meetings in early March. The Men's Society of South
             (the birth news came via a third party). Holland,               Holland Church sponsored a public lecture on March
             Michigan, sent bulletins once, and Edmonton twice               25. Rev. David Engelsma spoke on the subject,
             last fall. This editor would appreciate hearing from all        "Marriage and Divorce." Rev. Engelsma lectured in
             the churches.                                                   Kalamazoo, Michigan, on April 1, on the topic "A
               Our church in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has made the               Reformed Look at Pentecostalism." Covenant Chris-
             following trio: Rev. W. Bekkering, Rev. M. Kamps,               tian High School Choir journeyed from Grand Rapids
             and Rev. G. Van Baren.                                          to South Holland on April 2nd to present a concert
               The First Church (Grand Rapids) bulletin reported             there. The Spring Mass Meeting of the Men's League
             on a response to the cassette tape ministry carried on          was held on April 4. Rev. M. Joostens spoke on "How
             by First Church, received from a listener in Rhodesia           Do We See Ourselves in the Light of the Beatitudes?"
             who borrowed a sermon tape on "The Perseverance                 The Classis East Office Bearers' Conference was held
             of the Saints" and desired to obtain more of these              on April 6. Prof. H. Hanko spoke on "When Family
             tapes. The listener obtained our address in a copy of           Discipline Fails, When Should Church Discipline Be
             "The Standard Bearer" loaned to him by another                  Applied?" The Redlands, California, Church Choral
             party. The Rhodesian listener would like to order               Society presented the  cantata "Hallelujah! What A
             more of our materials but is unable to send money               Saviour" on April 15th. Refreshments were served
             out of the country as the banks there will not give             after the program. Hope Choral Society (Walker,
             foreign currency drafts. It is always amazing to see            Michigan) presented their Spring program on Easter
             how our materials are found all over the world.                 Sunday evening. Two more League Meetings in the
                                                                             Grand Rapids area: Mr. & Mrs. League was addressed
               Rev. Kuiper has spent the last three Sundays of               by Rev. J. Heys on April 20 on the subject, "Recog-
             April in Edmonton. .Rev. Kortering was scheduled to             nizing the Work of the Holy Spirit in our Lives."
             go for the first three Sundays in May. At last report                             .._-
             Rev. Moore expected to take up his labors there                 Ladies League met on April 27. Rev. H. Veldman
             about the end of May.                                           spoke  on* "The Power of Unceasing Prayer." Rev.
                                                                             Veldman has been campaigning this year to combine
               Faith Church in Jenison, Michigan, has a nice                 some of these league meetings. So far he has not met
             custom of presenting Psalters to those young people             with a great deal of success. All of these lectures and
             who have completed or "graduated" from Sunday                   meetings do place quite a load on our ministers who
             School. Faith Church's building committee has                   are asked `to speak for these events. Prof..H. Hanko
             caught the "spring cleaning fever" - they scheduled             mentioned that he gave his 225th speech this Spring.
             Saturday morning, May 22, as the day for clean-up of
             the church site grounds. Volunteers were sought to              If my figures are correct, that means Prof. Hanko has
             come out for this work to keep the grounds looking              averaged a speech a month over his 20 years in the
             as neat as possible.                                            ministry. These speeches are in addition to bringing
                                                                             the Word in regular worship services and in addition
               Spring seems to be one of the "busy seasons" in               to all of the regular work of our ministers.
             our churches. A great number of lectures, mass meet-
             ings, and fund-raising events are held across the land.           : While I have not run outaof lectures and meetings
             Some examples of this annual burst of activity                  to report, I have used up the reporting space. Con-
             follow. The Northwest Iowa Protestant Reformed                  tinued next month. . . .
             School in Doon, Iowa, schedules several chapels each                                                                  K.G.V.


