     STANDARD
      BEARER
f       A REFORMED SEMI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE





     The denial of reprobation, we assert, is
     part. of the ongoing assault -upon the
     sovereignty of God., Among the various
     attacks, the denial of reprobation has
     this dubious distinction, that' it attacks
     the sovereignty of God in His dearest,
     greatest, and most glorious work  - the
     work of salvation.
                    See "The Reformed Doctrine
                    of Reprobation"  - page 258.




h                                           Volume LVI, No'. 11, March I,1980 d


                                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


                           CONTENTS:                                                                             THE STANDARD BEARER
                                                                                                                              ISSN 0362-4692
                                                                                  Semi-monthly, except monthly during  June..July,  and August.
Meditation  -                                                                       Published by the Reformed Free Publishing Association, Inc.
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  Considering Christ's Contradiction . . . . . . . . . . 242              Editor-in-Chief:  Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
                                                                          Department Editors: Rev.  Wayne Bekkering, Rev. Arie  denHartog,  Prof.
Editorial  -                                                              R o b e r t   D .   D e c k e r ,   R e v .   D a v i d   J.  Engelsma,   R e v .   R i c h a r d   F l i k k e m a ,
                                                                          R e v .   C o r n e l i u s   H a n k o ,   P r o f .   H e r m a n   H a n k o ,   R e v .   J o h n   A .   Heys,  Rev.
   About Registration for Military Service . . . . . . 245                K e n n e t h   Koole,   R e v .   J a y   K o r t e r i n g ,   R e v .   G e o r g e   C .   L u b b e r s ,   R e v .
                                                                          R o d n e y   M i e r s m a ,   .Rev.   Marinus   Schipper,   R e v .   J a m e s   Slopsema,  Rev.
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MEDITATION




                   Considering Christ's Contradiction
                                                               Rev. M. Schipper


             `<For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be
             wearied and faint in your minds. "
                                                                                                                                                     Hebrews 12 : 3.



   Especially two reasons there are for calling your                       church of Christ centers her thoughts particularly on
attention to the Word of God in this text.                                 the passion, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus
   The first is the  ftict that, according to the church                   Christ. This periodical, too, from its inception has not
calendar, we are in that time of the year which is                         failed in this department to enlighten its readers with
called Lent. Traditionally during this season the                          respect to some phase of the subject. In accordance


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               243



with this custom we feel now impelled to write on           the prophecy of Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth
some aspect of the sufferings of our Saviour.               and informed the listeners that the prophecy was
  The second is the fact that the sufferings which the      fulfilled that very day in Him, they replied with the
children of God are required to endure in the present       question: Is not this Joseph's son? Though they were
world are all closely tied into and arise from their        gracious words they heard, they derrogate them by
relationship to Christ. The Scriptures not only reveal      implying they were only of a mean man. (Luke
that the sufferings of Christ were basic for our            4:  16ff). When Jesus explained to His audience that
salvation from sin and death; but they also instruct us     He was the Bread of life `which came down from
in the truth that there is something of the sufferings      heaven, those who were following Him said: This is a
of Christ that is filled up in the sufferings which we      hard saying: who can hear it? (John  6:60). When
are required to endure for His sake. Moreover, the          Jesus spoke boldly of His doctrine in Jerusalem, and
Word of God also emphasizes the fact that the               some began to wonder whether He were the Christ,
sufferings of Christ serve for our example in suffering;    there were others under the instigation of the
and such examples are intended for our encourage-           Pharisees who said: Shall Christ come out of Galilee?
ment. Such undoubtedly is the intention of the Word         thus causing a division among them. (John  7:32ff).
of God in our text. The practical purpose of the            When Jesus said, I am the light of the world; the
exhortation in our text is that by a faithful considera-    Pharisees said, Thou bearest record of Thyself; Thy
tion of Christ's sufferings we may receive the strength     record is not true. (John 8:  12,13). When Jesus
of patience to endure as children of God in the world.      rebuked His audience because they did not hear His
                                                            word, they said that He was a Samaritan and had a
  For consider Him . . . !                                  devil. (John  8:47,48).  When-He  informed the people
  The antecedent of the pronoun "him" in the King           that He and His Father were one, and they took up
James Version we find in the immediately preceding          stones to stone Him, Jesus replied: Many good works
verse, where we read, "Looking unto Jesus the author        have I showed you from My Father; for which of
and finisher of our faith . .  ." Jesus, the One Who for    those works do you stone Me? (John  10:3Off).  Many
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,          more examples could be produced, but these will
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand      suffice to show how the words of Christ were
of the throne of God. That Jesus Who ran before us          constantly contradicted.
on the road of suffering that leads to glory, while He         Also contradicted was He in respect to His works!
was at the same time the author and finisher of our         When the Lord had healed on the Sabbath, they
faith, is the One on Whom we must look shall we be          accused Him of breaking the law of Moses. When He
able to run with patience the race that is set before       sought to save the lost, they accused Him of being a
us. And in our text we are exhorted to consider what        friend of publicans and sinners. When He came eating
great contradiction of sinners He endured against           and drinking, they charged Him with being a glutton
Himself, lest we become wearied and faint in our            and winebibber. When He cast out devils, they said
minds.                                                      He did it by the `power of Beelzebub, the prince of
  0, what great contradiction He endured!                   devils. When He cast the money changers out of the
  The contradiction here refers to the fact that He         temple, they disputed His authority. When  His
was spoken against. His testimony was gainsaid,             miracles reached their climax in the raising of Lazarus
denied; and His works were so contradicted that they        from the dead, they concluded that Christ was a
were ascribed to the devil. The writer of this epistle      danger to the very life of the nation, and they must
gssumes that his readers were acquainted with the life      kill Him. Indeed, it becomes evident when you study
and times of the Son of God in the flesh from the           the gospels that no work of Christ was ever approved.
moment of His birth in the lowly cattle stall in            He was opposed in all that He did, and all His works
Bethlehem to the moment He was laid in the tomb of          show Him to be the contradicted One.
Joseph's garden. The contradiction must not be                However, if we were to conclude that Christ's
limited merely to the moment of His crucifixion, but        contradiction consisted only in the opposition men
it is extended over His entire sojourn upon the earth       registered to His words and works, we would miss the
and finds its climax in the cross.                          real essence of the contradiction.
  Contradicted He was by sinners! Those who were              We should note that the essential contradiction was
always missing the mark set forth in God's law to love      against Himself. In other words, it was not so much
Him with all their heart and mind and soul and              what He said and did that evoked the contradiction;
strength were missing that mark by withstanding His         it was Who He is that aroused all the antipathy and
words and criticizing His works.                            contradiction of sinners. And this is precisely what
  0, how they contradicted His words! At the very           our text expresses. The contradiction was specifically
beginning of His earthly ministry when He read from         against Himself, that is, against His Person.


244                                          THE STANDARD BEARER


   It is noteworthy to observe how the Scriptures             No, He was not contradicted simply because He
bear this out. They predicted that so it would be. In      was misunderstood. The very opposite was true. For
Psalm 2 the question is asked: Why do the heathen          the more they understood Him, the more they hated
rage and the people imagine a vain thing? And the          Him and contradicted Him. Was it perhaps because
answer is supplied: The kings of the earth set             there was a difference of opinion, which men would
themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,          normally come to respect in one another? No, the
against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying,        facts would deny this. There was no more bitter spirit
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their      of intolerance than that manifested in those who
cords from us. It is evident the wicked hate the Lord      contradicted Christ. They hated Him without a cause.
and  His anointed. Isaiah tells us, "Now go, write it         Verily it was a contradiction of sinners! The cause
before them in a tablet, and note it in a book, that it    was sin. And that means the contradiction was
may be for the time to come, for ever and ever: That       ethical. It was not a matter of the head, but of the
this is a rebellious people, lying children, children      heart. And this means, too, that the contradiction
that will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to       rises out of hell, from the father of sinners, the devil.
the seers. See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not      Take a look at what Jesus says in John  8:40-44: "But
unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things,         now ye seek to kill me, a man that told you the truth,
prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside       which I have heard of God . . . Ye do the deeds of
out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease     your father . . . Why do ye not understand my
from before us." (Isa.  30:8-l 1). The Holy One of         speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are
Israel is unbearable in their sight. And when the Holy     of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father
One of Israel appears in the flesh and the Child of the    ye will do. . .  ."
virgin is presented in the temple, the aged Simeon
lifts Him from His mother's arms and declares:                Indeed, the reason for the contradiction rests in
"Behold, this Child is set for a sign that shall be        the fact that the contradictors are sinners. Mere
spoken against." (Luke 2: 34);                             sinners cannot do anything else but contradict Him.
  0, yes, when this Child began to speak and to act,          And it makes no difference in what form or from
His words and deeds were contradicted, but only            what background the sinners appear. Whether the
because He was the One Who would be spoken                 sinners are blatant atheistic, communistic  contradic:
against.                                                   tors who have sworn to obliterate the Name of God
                                                           and His Christ, and exterminate the church which
  This contradiction is translated into deeds of hate      represents His name in the world; or whether the
and violence. Often the wicked sought to kill Him,         sinner is one who possesses a form of godliness, has
but could not, for His hour was not yet come. But          the form of religion while denying the power thereof,
when that hour came, and He was apparently in their        as he is found in the modem church with its mere
power, they contradicted Him unto death. They              semblance of Christianity  - always the mere sinner
contradicted that the Holy Child Jesus was the `Christ     contradicts Christ's word and work because he
by blindfolding Him, smiting Him on His sacred head        contradicts Him. One is either for or against Christ  -
and spitting on His face. They contradicted His            there is no neutral ground. The sinner is against Christ
kingship by disrobing Him and placing a mock robe,         when he is apart from Him. The sinner is for Christ
over His bruised body, a mock sceptre in His hand          when Christ redeems him through His atoning death,
and a crown of thorns upon His head. And when He           and implants in his regenerated heart the grace of
was crucified and designated the Christ, the Son of        faith which looks to Him as its author and finisher.
God, the King of Israel, they cried out that this could
not be, for then He would come down from that                 Contracted of sinners!
cross. Indeed, they contradicted Him to death, the            0, yes, that includes you and me, as we are by
death of the cross! When Pilate offered to crucify         nature!
Barabbas the criminal because he was convinced that           And even after we have become redeemed sinners
Jesus was innocent, they cried for the release of          whom Christ came to seek and to find, we carry that
Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus. When Pilate         contradiction in our sinful flesh that still is inclined
taunts them with the question: Shall I crucify your        to contradict Him Who redeems us. Nothing gracious
king? they replied: Away with Him, we have no king         is there in our depraved natures which we bear with
but Caesar.                                                us to the grave. Herein is the desperate struggle which
  This contradiction, so the text informs us, Jesus        the child of God experiences in this world so long as
patiently endured.                                         he dwells in the flesh. On the one hand, by the grace
  But the question persists: Why? What is the reason       of Christ, he has in principle the desire of heart to
for all this contradiction?                                love and serve Him, to marvel with thanksgiving at
                                                           His work, and to obey His Word. On the other,
  The answer: He was contradicted of sinners!              according to his old nature, he still opposes Him and


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                     245


contradicts Him to His face. 0 God, be merciful to            disciple is not above his Master; if they hated Me, so
me, the sinner!                                               will they hate you.
  Make no mistake about it,: this confession of our              And when we suffer with Him and grow weary and
natural contradiction belongs to the consideration. If        faint in our minds (souls), perhaps even imagining
we do not confess this, we can only conclude that we          that we have forfeited all rights to true discipleship,
still belong to the number of those who contradict            then we must look to Him, the author and finisher of
Him. When we do confess this, there is salvation in           our faith, and consider more deeply the contradiction
the very blood that was shed by our contradiction.            He endured; in order then to be encouraged to endure
For Christ died for all His o-wn. He took the NO of           the contradiction that shall be ours.
our contradiction to the place of judgment, where in             Consider then that the grace of Him Who endured
our place He expressed the perfect YES.                       contradiction is able to keep us even to the end.
  Moreover, the consideration of His contradiction,              He `endured, and is set down on the right of
when His grace dwells in our hearts, identifies us with       victory !
His contradiction. Just as really as He was con-                 So we enduring shall also enter the victory He
tradicted for Who He is, so shall we suffer contradic-        gained for us through patience!
tion for Christ's sake in the world. As Jesus said: The


EDITORIAL
Pr0.f H. C. Hoeksema



          About Registration for Military Service


  Recent news reports have informed us that Presi-            columns the pros and eons of registration for military
dent Carter, because of the international crisis, wants       service as such. There certainly have been occasions in
to reinstitute registration for compulsory military           our history when military conscription was necessary;
service, or, simply, the draft. This, you will recall, was    and at such times, we believe, it is the duty of the
given up soon after the Vietnam War. These same               Christian young man to obey the government's call
reports tell us that the intention at present is only         and to render military service when necessary.. For
registration in the interests of preparedness, not an         the rest, however, whether it is the part of wisdom to
actual draft. It seems, further, according to these           get along at present with a volunteer army, or
reports, that the president already has the power to          whether there should be an actual military conscrip-
inaugurate such registration by executive order as far        tion, or whether there should be registration so that
as young men are concerned. However, the president            we would be ready for a draft if the international
also wants to include in this registration young              situation worsens and war threatens  - these are
women; and to institute a registration of both young          questions beyond the competence and the purview of
men and young women  ap,parently  requires congres-           this department. I would only caution that pacifism
sional action. There is at present no legal provision         and talk of peace in a world that is an armed camp
for a registration and draft which would include              and that is at war with God and with itself is folly.
young women. Furthermore, it has been reported                  In this connection, be it also said, we share the
that it would be diffieult, if not impossible, to             position and the attitude of neither the liberal
persuade the Congress to approve such registration            churches and churchmen nor of a certain type of
and possible draft of American young women. In                conservative and evangelical churches and churchmen.
fact, some legislative experts have stated flatly that        The former have their agencies and agents who are
President Carter's proposal will meet with such               pacifist and revolutionary. According to reports,
opposition in the Congress that the result will be that       they have already begun to promote and to urge the
there will be neither a male nor a female registration.       same kind of rebellion and anti-war movements and
  Now it is not our intention to discuss in these             demonstrations and anti-draft activities as were  pro-


 246                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



moted during the 1960s. No Christian may make                only for the purpose of saving about three months'
common cause with such movements and attitudes.              time IF a draft should become necessary.
But the latter seem to identify a certain kind of              In other words, even those who are proposing
Americanism with Christianity and even to use the            registration of women with a view to military service
pulpit and the Scriptures to promote military pre-           are not proposing it on the basis of dire necessity.
paredness and to warn how poorly America is                  Not at all! Then they would be crying that there
prepared militarily in comparison with Russia. An            simply is not enough man power available to defend
example of this is a recent sermon by the rather             our country. Then they would take steps to press
well-known Rev. D. James Kennedy, of the Coral               every possible male between the ages of 18 and 45, as
Ridge Presbyterian Church, which was printed in the          in World War II, into military service first, in order
Presbyterian Journal.  This alleged sermon was more          then, if necessary, also to draft women. But everyone
in the nature of a speech which pleaded for military         recognizes immediately that we do not at present face
preparedness and which might better have been                a situation of this kind.
delivered in the halls of Congress or on the political
campaign trail. We say: a plague on both their houses.         What, then, is the reasoning and the strategy
Let the church preach the Word, and not prostitute           behind this call for including women in registration
the pulpit in the interests of one or another political      for a possible draft?
position.                                                      One can only conclude that it is a blatant and
   But we are concerned especially about two matters         perverse attempt to promote the so-called  equal-
in connection with the proposal for registration and a       rights-for-women movement and to curry favor (for
possible draft. And we are concerned about them              political reasons?) with the raucously vocal promoters
because they ought to be matters of deep concern to          of this movement. I am not referring to any attempt
our churches and to us as people of God's covenant.          to obtain a legitimate equality as far as so-called civil
                                                             rights are. concerned. I am referring to the whole
   The first matter of concern is the proposal to            movement which began with a cry for the emancipa-
include young women in this registration and thus in         tion of woman and which strives at eliminating all
eventual military service. Reports have differed as to       differences and distinctions between the sexes, which
whether this eventual military service would entail          simply aims to put male and female on a completely
combat duty or not. But this is not really the issue.        equal footing. It is the same movement which has
Besides, experience has shown that one thing usually         clamored for the so-called Equal Rights Amendment.
leads to another, and that we may expect that
ultimately everything expected of a male soldier               And right there lies the first reason why we are
would also be expected of a female soldier.                  opposed to this proposal. It is godless! It is utterly
                                                             contrary to our Christian morals. And it would make
  Now there could be a difference of opinion as to           our covenant young women, our daughters and
the question whether under any circumstances what-           granddaughters, its victims.
soever some kind of military service on the part of
women might be necessary and proper. One might                 A second, more practical reason for opposition to
conceive of a situation in which a nation would find         this proposal is the fact that we do not want our
itself in the direst of circumstances, a situation in        covenant daughters exposed to the spiritual trauma
which a nation is called to wage a war of self-defense       connected with military service, not to say military
on its own soil against such overwhelming forces that        combat. There are many among our readers who
its very existence as a nation is at stake and that every    know by experience whereof I am speaking  - men
possible man power resource  - young and old, male           who have been through World War II, the Korean
and females  - must be rallied in the attempt to fight       War, the Vietnamese War, or who have merely
off the enemy. One might conceive, perhaps, of a             undergone military training at one of our nation's
life-and-death struggle in which it becomes necessary        camps. They know what it means to be absent from
to fight for one's homeland foot by foot in the effort       covenant homes and from the church and from the
to force that enemy back into the Atlantic or the            fellowship of God's people for two and more years.
Pacific. But such is not the picture now. Our country        They know by experience the moral filth, the
has never yet been forced to fight an invader on our         drunkenness, the fornication and sexual degradation,
own soil. Nor are we at present facing a threat that is      the drug addiction and all the other temptations
at all of the proportions, let us say, of World War II.      which characterize life in the military. Furthermore,
Our government is not thinking in terms of putting           according to all reports which have filtered down
the nation on a war-time footing. It is not even             concerning our present volunteer military, the situa-
thinking of military preparedness in such serious            tion has certainly not been improving. Do you want
terms. After all, only registration has been called for,     your covenant daughters forced into such a situation?
not a draft. By its own admission this registration is       And think what would happen if unisex prevailed in


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                               247



our military! It has become proverbial in this world       question of exemption for military service for stu-
that wherever the military are, there the women are        dents for the ministry.
also. But if the military becomes unisex, the women           During World War II, I recall, the rule was that
will be  in  the.camps, not outside the gates. Can you     those students who had completed two years of
imagine the moral corruption? Again, do you want           pre-seminary training and who had been accepted as
your daughters in a situation like that? To ask the        students for the ministry by a bonafide seminary
question is to answer it.                                  were exempted from the draft. If this had not been
   In the third place, the very idea of a woman soldier    the law in those years, our small seminary would soon
is something of a monstrosity; inherently offensive to     have been empty, with the result that our denomina-
our Christian sensibilities. One even senses some-         tion would soon have suffered a severe shortage of
thing of this when, in Old Testament days, Barak           ministers.
insisted that Deborah go along with him to the battle.       Down through the years, even to the time of the
It was a shame to him! There is something altogether       draft during the Vietnamese War, this practice,
unnatural about the very idea of a woman solider; I        generally speaking, was maintained. Our seminary
mean unnatural in the sense of contrary to nature.         students, as a result, were usually able to get a
And how, pray tell, are our young women to conform         deferred classification.
to the picture which Scripture draws of them when
they are compelled to serve in the military at the very      Then, several years ago  - I do not now recall the
stage in the lives when they become ready and eligible     exact date, but it was while ex-president Ford was
to be  ,married and to become covenant mothers?            still a congressman from Michigan's  fifth district  -
How, for example, will they conform to the picture         there was talk of changes in the Selective Service Act
of them in Titus  2:4,5, as sober, loving their            which would deprive seminary and pre-seminary
husbands, loving their children, discreet, chaste,         students of deferred status. I recall this because our
keepers at home, good, obedient to their own               seminary at that time let its voice be heard when the
husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed?          House Armed Services Committee was conducting
                                                           hearings on the subject; and Mr. Ford saw to it, on
  We must, therefore, oppose this proposal. I mean         our behalf, that our viewpoint on the matter was
that we should take every step possible to kill this       made a part of the record on this matter with the
idea of female conscription. It is a known fact that       Armed Services Committee. At the time no change
there is much opposition to the proposal in Congress.      was made with respect to the exemption of students
Some have flatly predicted  .that it will never get        for the ministry.
through the Congress at present. As Christian citizens
- not for political reasons, but for spiritual, moral        Now, as I stated, there is again talk of eliminating
reasons  - we should voice our opposition to our           student deferments. And while I have neither seen
elected representatives and should also tell them of       nor heard any specific reference thus far to the
our reasons for this opposition. Thus we can attempt,      matter of deferments for students for the ministry, it
at least, to foil this proposal.                           is not at all impossible that the slate will be wiped
                                                           clean and that divinity students will be deprived of
  Our second concern with respect to the reinstitu-        deferments along with all others. I make this state-
tion of registration and eventual conscription is the      ment on the basis of the fact that there has been an
ominous report that it is being proposed that there be     increasing tendency on the part of government to
no more student exemptions or deferments.                  ignore the status and the needs of the churches, as
  Let me explain.                                          well as an increasing tendency on the part of some
  In the past, even in wartime, our government             churches  - out of some kind of perverted. sense of
granted student deferments in order to allow young         fairness, but certainly not out of a sense of  self-
men to finish their education. This was done for a         preservation nor out of respect for the separation of
long time even in cases where the education did not        church and state  - to give up this privilege and right
involve anything essential to the war effort. And in       of having divinity students deferred. Perhaps this has
fields of education deemed essential to the war effort     also been due, in part, to the fact that large numbers
(for example, in the area of medicine or some of the       of divinity students have not gone into the pulpit
sciences) young men were for a long time deferred or       ministry upon graduation.
exempted from military service so that they might at         However, one does not have to be able to count to
least complete their education to the point that they      ten to figure out that our small seminary and small
would be useful in their specialty. It seems to me that    denomination could be radically affected if our
the wisdom of such a practice, provided abuses are         students could no longer be deferred and exempted
guarded against, is obvious.                               from military service. In peacetime, should the draft
  But we are particularly concerned about the              be reactivated, this would entail a minimum of two


248                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



years out of .a potential student's life; and in wartime    not employ.
it would more likely mean that a student might never          This principle must be jealously guarded.
become a student for. the ministry. Meanwhile, our
seminary could soon be empty of students, with the            I say again: I do not know at this point whether
result that our churches would be deprived of new           there is any intention to include the seminaries of the
m i n i s t e r s .                                         land in this move to eliminate student deferments.
                                                            But I do consider it possible, and even likely in our
   But there is a deeper issue.                             times. When once such a regulation gets on the books,
   In bygone years our government has been careful          it will be virtually impossible to rescind it. Hence, the
to keep hands off the church. The principle of              time to act is now. We must take preventive action
separation of church and state has been jealously           and use our influence through contacting our legisla-
guarded. This has traditionally been behind the policy      tors, in order to preserve the exempt status of our
of exempting divinity students as well as ministers         seminary students and future ministers.
from military service. The power to draft was seen as         Write to your representatives and senators about
the power to close down the churches' seminaries and        both of these matters, and let your Christian testi-
to deprive their pulpits of ministers. This was viewed      mony be heard!
as a power over the churches which the state might



MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE



                                    Letter to Timothy


                                     February 15, 1980      have erroneous ideas about the conscience which we
Dear Timothy,                                               have picked up from the jargon of modern day
                                                            psychology. If we have these erroneous ideas of
  There are a few aspects of man's creation which we        conscience, this will cause all sorts of troubles and
must still discuss before we enter into the whole area      problems in our lives. We must be sure that we listen,
of pastoral  counselling itself. These areas include: 1)    also in this respect, to what God has to say to us.
the conscience and the role that the conscience plays
in the life of man; 2) the emotions and their                  As an example of what modern psychology does
importance in our physical life; 3) the question of         when it talks about the conscience, I need only
the will including its relation to the mind and the         remind you that Freud already did a lot of`work in
broader question of what has been called the primacy        this area. He identified the conscience with what he
of the will. We will try to say something about these       called, "the super-ego." He said that this super-ego
questions in this letter and succeeding letters.            was developed over many years in the child by the
                                                            influences of his environment, particularly the home,
  The first question then is the question of the            the Church, the school, and society. I.e., the child, in
conscience.                                                 the environment into which he was born, gradually
   I have come increasingly to the conviction that the      learned what were the prevailing customs, mores,
conscience is a very important part of man's life and       moral values of the people with whom he came into
plays a major role in mental trouble and mental             contact and adopted them for his own. You see here
wellbeing. It is well that we have a clear understand-      already that Freud was wrong. By teaching this he
ing, of what Scripture teaches concerning the con-          flatly denied that there is anything which is an
science. This word itself appears in a rather large         objective standard of right and wrong which is given
number of places in Scripture and the idea is even          by God. Society in general determines its own moral
more common. Let me remind you too that it is from          values, and society in general passes on these moral
Scripture that we must obtain our knowledge of what         values to the next generation. These values and
the conscience is. There is a danger here too that we       standards can change and do change from time to


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                  249


time, and whatever society considers to be right or         must curb what really ought to come out if he is to
wrong at any given time is, in fact, right and wrong.       live a balanced and happy life. And so he is caught in
There is no objective will of God for man, no law           an impossible situation, and a great deal of work is
which God gives, no standard of conduct to which            required to teach him to cope with these competing
man must conform, himself. All is relative and              forces in his personality.
changing.                                                     In the nature of the case, the work which must be
  It is not difficult to see how this idea has              applied to his problems is geared to helping him get
permeated our modern society. Today too there is            rid of his guilt feelings. How often do we not hear
little belief in an objective' moral standard which         this same thing today. It is almost incessantly
absolutely  .determines for man what is right conduct       drummed into our ears that our problems are rooted
and what is wrong. It is only the prevailing opinion of     in our feelings of guilt. And if only we would get rid
the majority which sets the moral standards of              of our feelings of guilt once, all would be well. I
society. The  Supreme Court of the United States,           remember a psychiatrist telling a large group of
e.g., defined pornography in a recent decision as           pastors that they ought not to censure people who
being that which was opposed by the prevailing social       are guilty of stealing or adultery and such like sins
attitudes. If the majority agree that a certain book or     when members of their  c-hurches do these things; such
movie is pornographic, then it is. But if society           censure will only lead to guilt feelings and will create
accepts certain literature as being acceptable reading      innumerable mental problems for these people.
material, then it is not pornography and is not               It is clear that if the thesis of Freud is correct, then
punishable by the laws of the land. So too with the         the solution to the problem lies in two areas. One
conduct of people. As people come more and more to          area is that the super-ego must be altered so that it no
accept drug use, homosexuality, gambling, etc., these       longer condemns people for doing things which are
things are no longer considered wrong conduct and           contrary to what they have been taught to believe is
sin, but are considered acceptable ways of life,            wrong. If, e.g., I have been taught to believe that
socially acceptable life styles.. It makes no difference    adultery is wrong, and my super-ego condemns me
that God has condemned these things, that God calls         when I commit this sin, then the solution to the
them sins because they are violtions of His  corn:          `problem is to change my super-ego so that I no longer
mandments. These laws of God are also said to be            consider it to be wrong. Then I will not have guilt
culturally conditioned, proper laws for the days in         feelings about `this when I fall into the sin and will
which they were made, standards of the times when           not have mental troubles because of these guilt
they were enacted; but they are no longer in force for      feelings. The second area towards which solutions are
today's world. They were then the inventions of men         to be directed is the area of my own instincts. I ought
and were reflections of the social moral climate of the     to live more by my own instincts and not allow my
times, and they are subject to change as society            super-ego (or conscience) to interfere in the full
develops and grows.                                         expression of what I want to do. This has, indeed,
                                                            been the direction in which our modern world has
  But Freud went further in'his thinking. He taught         been heading. It is expressed in such crass sayings as:
that these standards of society which formed the            "If it feels good, do it";  and,"`Let it all hang out." A
super-ego of the individual became a part of the            well balanced life can only be attained if one does
personality of the individual to such an extent that        exactly what he feels like doing without any
they dominated a person's life. They were so                restrictions and curbs on his conduct. In fact, the
interwoven with the personality of a man or woman           whole movement to incorporate sex education in the
that he (or she) could never quite shake loose from         school systems is justified by the argument that
them. They controlled his activity to such an extent        children ought to give expression to their inner sexual
that when the person did something contrary to this         drives and know how to do this freely so that they
set of standards which was ingrained into his being         have no repressed guilt feelings about it. Sad to say, I
the result was deep feelings of guilt. And when these       even find this attitude among our own young people
feelings of guilt became overwhelmingly strong, then        - and, presumably, among our parents. When young
the person could no longer function properly nor            people are guilty of sinful conduct and the question is
cope with life and he became a mentally ill or a            put to them: "Why did you do this?" the answer
mentally malfunctioning individual who needed help          which one sometimes gets is: "I felt like it." And this
and  counselling.                                           answer is given in such a way that the young person
  The trouble is that man has many instinctive drives       expects that we will believe that this is sufficient
which must come to expression if an individual is           justification for what he did, and that a reproof is
going to cope successfully with life. But the super-ego     entirely out of order. Because he  felt  like doing it, he
is a sort of check on these instinctive drives. And as      had a perfect right to do it; and to condemn his
this check on his drives functions in his life, the man     conduct is, therefore, the height of injustice.


 250                                           THE STANDARD BEARER



   All of this has given rise to what is called, "the new    teaches concerning it. The goal of the child of God is
morality" or "situation ethics." And, sad to say, this       to live in good conscience before the Lord His God. If
evil has even infected the Reformed Church world.            he has a good conscience before God, then he has
On no other basis,  e.g:, can homosexuality and open         peace, happiness, and spiritual wellbeing. If he has a
divorce and remarriage be condoned. Even, in a               bad conscience before God, then he can have only
certain sense, the pleas for women in offices in the         unhappiness, trouble, and distress in his life. The
Church is based upon this  line'of reasoning, for the        conscience plays a major role in the mental wellbeing
injunctions against this in Scripture are also casually      of the Christian.
dismissed as being culturally conditioned injunctions          But a fuller discussion of this matter will have to
which are no longer in force today.                          wait till next time.
   Nevertheless, the conscience is an important part                                      Fraternally in Christ,
of man's life. Scripture repeatedly refers to it and we                                   H. Hanko
ought to be clear in our own minds what Scripture


 THE LORD GAVE THE WORD



                          The Principles of Missions
                                               ProJ: Robert D. Decker



  We are still busy with the principles of Missions as          In this article we wish to consider four more
these may be gleaned from the New Testament                  principles which underlie the work of missions. We
Epistles,    especially the Pauline Epistles. In the         shall cite these principles briefly and consider them
previous two articles we noted that the Epistles             more in depth in later articles. The first of these
emphasize the absolute necessity of the preaching of         principles might be called the eschatological principle.
the Gospel. There can be no mission work apart from          By this we mean that missions most emphatically has
the preaching. The missionary is called and ordained         much to do with the last things. Missions is involved
by Christ so that he is an ambassador of Christ. As          with the signs of our Lord's return and with that
the official representative of Christ he speaks the          return itself. In the final manifestation of God's glory
Word of Christ. Thus through the preaching of the            in the redeemed, elect church at the end of the ages
Word the sheep of Christ hear the voice of the Good          missions plays a significant role. This eschatological
Shepherd, believe, call upon His name and are saved.         element is always present. It runs throughout the
(Cf. Romans 10: 13-15) Whatever the missionary               Epistles with reference to the  preaching.of the gospel
does, therefore, he must certainly preach the Word.          to all nations. Thus the Apostle Paul writes to the
That has to be his chief concern. We also noted in our       Ephesians: "Having made known unto us the mystery
study of the Epistles that great stress is placed upon       of his will, according to his good pleasure which he
the calling of believers with respect to missions.           hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of
Believers have a calling in the office of believer, as       the fulness of times he might gather together in one
prophets; priests, and kings in Christ. Without the          all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and
office of' believer there could be no mission work at        which are on earth. .  ." (Ephesians  1:9, 10). And in
all, for Christ calls the missionary preachers through       that same chapter the Apostle speaks of the
the church. Furthermore mission labor is impossible          exceeding greatness of God's power: "Which he
without the prayers and offerings of the church. Still       wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,
more, the believers have the calling to support the          and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
mission work of the church by witnessing to the              places, Far above all principality, and power, and
gospel through their speech and godly walk. The              might, and dominion, and every name that is named,
calling of believers, we concluded, is indispensable to      not only in this world, but also in that which is to
missions.                                                    come: And hath put all things under his feet, and


                                               THE STANDARD BEARER                                                251



gave him to be the head over all things to the church,       And as a matter of fact, according to the Acts record,
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in    the Apostles invariably went to the Jew first and then
all" (vss. 19-23). From these passages it is evident that    to the Gentile. The gospel was first preached in
God's good pleasure ("the mystery of his will") is to        Jerusalem, then in  Judea, then in  Samaria  and then to
gather together in one all things in Christ. Christ is       the uttermost parts of the then-known world. The
given to be the head over all things to the Church           Apostle deals at length with this question in Romans
which is His body. Both Jew and Gentile must be              chapters nine through eleven. He has deep concern
gathered out of every nation. The church of Jesus            for his "kinsmen according to the flesh" who rejected
Christ must be built in order that the fulness of the        the gospel in unbelief. This is part of his conclusion:
Kingdom of God may come in the personal return of            "Behold the goodness and severity of God: on them
our Lord at the end of the ages. The church in her life      which fell (unbelieving Jews), severity; but toward
and pre-eminently in her ministry and mission is             thee (believing Gentiles), goodness, if thou continue
involved, intimately involved, in that great task in         in his goodness: otherwise thou shalt also be cut off.
the name of and by the direction and power of Christ         And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall
her head. Thus the Apostle writes: "And he gave              be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
(that is the ascended Lord Jesus) some, apostles; and        For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is
some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,             wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature
pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints,      into a good olive tree: how much more shall these
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the        (Jews), which be the natural branches, be graffed into
body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the         their own olive tree?" (Romans  11:23,  24) That is
faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto          the priority of the Jews. The Apostle uses the figure
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the        of the olive tree to describe the church. The Gentiles
fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more             who are wild branches by nature are graffed into that
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with          olive tree. The Jews are the natural branches of that
every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and           tree and some have been cut off because of unbelief.
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to              As natural branches, however, it is possible for God
deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up         to graff them into their own olive tree once more.
into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ"      This certainly does not mean, as many teach, that
(Ephesians 4: 1 l-15). This gathering together of all        there is coming a large scale conversion of Jews at the
things in Christ may be called the ultimate  telos  or       end of the ages. There is no evidence of that in the
purposeful end or goal of the mission work of the            New Testament. But the possibility that the Jew
church. Through the preaching of the gospel the elect        through faith may be graffed in again into the olive
are gathered out of the nations and God realizes His         tree of the Church always remains.
purpose in Jesus Christ. While this is the goal of             The Epistles also make plain that the heathen will
missions, it becomes at the' same time a powerful            of themselves never seek the gospel. Everywhere the
incentive and encouragement as well. This is also the        Epistles emphasize that the heathen are dead in
viewpoint of Lord's Day XXI of the Heidelberg                trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2: iff.); darkened in
Catechism when it stresses that the Son of God               their understanding (Romans  1:3 1, Ephesians 4: 18).
gathers the church by His Spirit and Word, "from the         We must not expect, therefore, the heathen to seek
beginning to the end of the world."                          the gospel of themselves. Therefore, "Missions are not
  There are three more principles which stand out in         a response to an invitation, but they go forth in
the Epistles. There is what may be called the priority       obedience to the command of Christ. In mission work
of the Jews. Much of the New Testament deals with            we are thrust forth by God and not drawn forth by
this matter with reference to the problems and errors        man." (J. H. Bavinck, An Introduction To The Science
perpetuated by the Judaizers. These wanted to                ofMissions,   p. 55)
maintain that Christians had to observe all of the rites       Finally, "The salvation presented in the Epistles
and ritual of the Jewish religion in addition to faith in    includes the whole of life" (Bavinck, p. 55). The
Christ. One, for example, had to be circumcised in           essential concern of the gospel is obviously with the
addition to being baptized, according to them. In this       restored relationship of man to God, the reconcilia-
context the Scriptures have a good deal to say               tion of the elect sinner with God. But the gospel is
concerning the place of the Jew in the church in             always more than merely, "believe and be saved."
relation to the Gentile. Paul confesses to the Roman         Faith is more than a veneer. It is more than becoming
Christians: "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of           involved in some daily and Sunday ritual. It is more
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to         than church attendance and family devotions. Out of
every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to      this reconciliation in Christ the whole life is changed,
the Greek." That formula, "to the Jew first, and also        renewed, and lifted to the higher plane of the
to the Greek," recurs throughout the New Testament.          heavenly. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a


252                                           THE STANDARD BEARER


new creature: old things are passed away; behold all        problems affecting specific churches. The message,
things are become new" (II Corinthians 5: 17, cf. also      however, is so radical and so profound that what it
Galatians 6 : 15). "That new element that has come in       says must be heard and applied throughout the ages.
makes itself felt over the whole range of life.             Thus Paul can say to us: "Godliness is profitable unto
Wherever Christ puts his hand upon a man everything         all things, having promise of the life that now is; and
is changed" (Bavinck, p. 55). This is precisely why         of that which is to come" (I Timothy  4:8). Thus not
the Epistles speak of almost every human relation-          only is the inner life renewed, but every relationship
ship: marriage, widows and orphans, the poor and the        in which we stand is fundamentally altered, and a
rich, the education of children, the relationship of the    new society, a new humanity is born of the gospel.
believer to `government, masters and slaves, freedom        Nothing in human life is indifferent, nothing lies
from anxiety, joy and grief, gold and honor. There is       outside of the power of sin, but also nothing lies
nothing which lies outside of the gracious salvation        outside of the salvation of God. "God will rebuild our
which Christ gives to them that love him, who are the       whole existence from the ground up. Then it is
called according to God's purpose. It is true that the      indeed true that he who is in Christ is a new creature,
message of the gospel is closely tied to the                in every respect" (Bavinck,  p. 56).
circumstances of the times and deals with the specific


QUESTION BOX
Rev. C Hanko





  A reader writes, There is a phrase in the ordination      rich often took advantage of the poor, keeping them
of office bearers that has always bothered me and           on starvation wages and forcing them to eke out an
which I have often thought should be changed.               existence, while the rich  revelled in their abundance.
The phrase is: "Be charitable, ye rich, give liberally,     Even in the church the rich obtained positions in the
         and contribute willingly. And, ye poor, be poor    consistory, had their own rented seats, while the poor
         in spirit, and deport yourselves respectfully      had to stand along the wall during the service. When I
         towards your benefactors. . .  ."                  think of these things I am reminded of James 2: 1-8
                                                            and James 5: l-8.
   Shouldn't the admonition to be poor in spirit be
also given to the rich? Shouldn't the rich also deport         It is certainly true that the rich are stewards of the
themselves respectfully towards the poor, knowing           gifts God entrusts to them and are responsible to God
that God has determined who shall be rich and who           to use these gifts in helping the poor and the needy.
shall be poor? They should be humbly grateful to            They should express their thankfulness to God for
God for a way to use their God-given riches for the         the gifts they receive and express that thankfulness in
cause of God's kingdom.                                     love to their neighbor. The poor also must be
                                                            charitable, as well as the rich, for Christ makes special
  It almost sounds as though the poor must be more          reference to the widow's mite. And they also should
humble than the rich.                                       be thankful to God for His Fatherly care in supplying
  Why did our fathers phrase it this way? Were there        their needs,  ,even when those needs are supplied by
some poor at that time who had contempt for the             the love of God's people through the diaconate.
rich?                                                          It seems that the distinction between rich and poor
  I would appreciate an answer to this question that        was so commonly accepted in the times when our
has bothered me for some time.                              Forms were written that our fathers simply took it
                                                            for granted, and therefore expressed themselves as
  I must admit that this particular section of the          they do. Yet I am very hesitant to propose a change
Form for ordination of office bearers has also              in our Forms and Confessions for fear that we might
bothered me for a long time. It reminds me of the old       improve one part and damage another. For the most
caste system in Europe, in which the rich were highly       part I treasure our Confessions as a heritage delivered
esteemed because of their riches and the poor were          to us from the fathers under the guidance of the
despised and oppressed because of their poverty. The        Spirit of Christ.


                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                253


                                      ABOUTTHECOVENANTOFGRACE

  A reader asks:                                           the continued line of believers. For Abraham's true
                                                           seed is the spiritual seed centering in Christ.
  Since God established the covenant of grace with         Gal. 3:16.
Abraham, was this the beginning of God's covenant as
we know it today? How does the promise to                     At Sinai God establishes His covenant with Israel as
Abraham, "I will be a God to thee and to thy seed          the typical people of God who will inherit the typical
after thee," apply to us today?                            promised land, and who will have the typical theoc-
                                                           racy, with David and Solomon as types of the King
  Our reader likely has in mind the distinction that is    upon God's Holy Hill of Zion, the Prince of Peace.
often made between the covenant of works as                   All this is realized in Christ, so that the church
established with Adam, the covenant of nature as           becomes universal on Pentecost, after Christ ascends
established with Noah, and the covenant of grace as        to His throne in heaven.
established with Abraham. Without going into detail           There is one church, both in the old and new
we can safely say, on the basis of Scripture, that this
distinction is found nowhere in Scripture.                 dispensation.  Heid. Cat. Ques. 54. Therefore the line
                                                           of the covenant runs from Adam through  Enoch and
  The Word of God speaks of only one covenant,             Noah to Shem, from Shem through Abraham, Isaac,
which God repeatedly refers to as  "My Covenant.  "        and Jacob to Judah, from Judah through David to the
When God informs Noah that He will bring a flood of        Christ. In the new dispensation that line continues
waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh upon the        through the believers and their spiritual seed, so that
earth, the Lord adds, "But with thee will I establish      this line can definitely be traced from Jerusalem to
my covenant;  and thou shalt'come into the ark, thou,      Antioch, to Asia Minor and Europe, even to America
and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy son's wives with       and to Australasia. Always God gathers His church in
thee. And of every living thing of all flesh, two of       the line of continued generations of believers,  ful-
every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them     I filling His promise, "I will be a God unto thee and to
alive with thee." Gen. 6:  18,19. Again, in Genesis        thy seed after thee."
17: 2, "God declares to Abraham, And I will make my
covenant  between me and thee and will multiply thee          This does not mean that couples who never have
exceedingly." See also verse 7.                            children are excluded from the promise. Nor does it
                                                           mean that all children of believing parents are saved,
  Although there is but one covenant that God              or that the promise includes all the individual
establishes with His people in Christ, this one            children of believers. The line of election and
covenant passes through various phases.                    reprobation also runs through the generations in the
  There is the original, typical phase of God's            church, as is obvious, for example, in Jacob and Esau.
covenant in paradise, in which Adam stands as king of      But it does mean that God gathers His own elect in
the earthly creation and friend-servant of God, as well    the line of the generations of believers. Therefore we
as representative head of the human race. This typical     have a church, we have baptism, we have the children
manifestation of God's covenant opens the way, but         of the church as our children, we have the calling to
also speaks of the better things to come in the last       instruct these children in the fear of the Lord, and we
Adam, Christ.                                              see the promise of God fulfilled before our eyes, that
  There is the revelation of the covenant to Noah, in      God keeps covenant with us forever. Psalm  78:4-7;
which God reveals Abraham as the father of all             Psalm  105:7-10.
believers. God shows that He gathers His church in


          T         h      e
      STANDARD BEARER
       makes a thoughtful .gift
           for any occasion.


254                                              THE STANDARD BEARER



FROM HOLY WRIT





                                Exposition of Galatians
                                                      Rev. G. Lubbers




NO CONDEMNATION UPON THOSE WALKING                              God in His garden. They can do nothing without
BY THE SPIRIT (Galatians 5: 23,24)                              Christ, but in Christ they bear much fruit (John
   After having set forth the great and blessed fruits          15:5). Yes, they keep Christ's commandments and
of the Spirit in some detail, Paul makes the tre-               abide (a constant abiding) in His love, even as Christ
mendous assertion, "against such there is no law."              keeps God's commandments, and abides in God's
This implies, without doubt, that Paul only set forth           love. Such is the real proof and manifestation of true
the representative "good fruits" of `grace. The very            discipleship of Christ, that is, of being real sons of
inner nature of such fruits are such that they are  all         adoption (John  15:7-10;  Gal. 4:4-7). The true breth-
law-fulling, in the sense that the "law is fulfilled" in a      ren of Christ, the adopted sons of God, who have true
perfect state up to the present moment by those                 and justifying-sanctifying faith, are those whom Paul
"who love their `neighbor as themselves." In all the            has in mind when he says "And they that are
wide world, whether in the heavens above, or on                 Christ's . . ." (Gal.  5:24). Such are the sons of
earth below, the judge of heaven and earth does not             Abraham, the true seed, who belong to Christ, as Paul
condemn any of  such  fruits. God is well pleased with          writes in Gal.  3:29, "And if ye be Christ's, then are
them; they are indeed acceptable to Him on the altar            ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the
of consecration. The so-called good works of the                promise."
unregenerate and wicked world are not acceptable on               Now, why is there no law against such sons of God,
God's altar at all. There is "law" against them,                joint-heirs with Christ? Why is this stated as an
condemning them as unfit fruit of sin, which keeps              uncontrovertible  fact, which is true in this time and
the truth down in unrighteousness, so that they are             in all eternity? We are dealing here with these
inexcusable before God. The works of the wicked are             redeemed by Christ as they are "new creatures"!
never motivated by love for God and the neighbor,               (Gal. 6: 15; II Cor. 5: 17). They belong to "the one
but are hatred for God and the neighbor (Rom.                   new man" which Christ has reconciled by His blood
`2: 14-16). Always the actions and deeds are such in            on the Cross, so making peace, in which the  middle-
the wicked, even as all the works of our sinful flesh,          wall of partition is broken down forever, and where
that a "law" condemns them. Yes, this is true also of           the church grows unto an holy habitation in the
all of the works of our flesh with the passions and             Lord. And such have passed from darkness into light,
lusts, which are under the weak and beggarly princi-            so that they will never come into condemnation.
ples of the world. Yes, here we are under law, the law          Legally and spiritually they are free from sin and
of sin and death. But in Christ, bearing fruits as              death (Eph. 2: 13-22; John 5: 24). Now these are all
branches in the true Vine, there is no condemning law           fact statements of the Bible. They are Gospel-facts,
at all. Here the law is fulfilled in every jot and tittle in    glad-tidings facts, telling us of the new creaturehood
Christ (Matt. 5: 17-20; Rom. 8:3-4).                            of the believers! Yes, they are facts which impel every
  And the children of Sarah, "who are of Christ"                man to search his heart, whether he with holy joy
(Gal.  5:24), can be certain that they are not any              experience these infallible fruits and comforts of
longer under condemnation. They have the infallible             elective love, as this love reaches us in the eternal
fruits of election in their life by faith through the           Son, Who is the propitiation for our sins. And thus
Holy Spirit; they are good trees, the real planting of          we make our calling an election sure (II Pet. 1: 5-10;


                                                 THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                         255



  I John  4:7-l 2). Such is the rock-like certainty of          faith which works by love (Gal.  5:6), then all fear is
  Christ's completed work for us and in us who believe,         cast out, once and for all (I John 4:  17,18). For all
  that is, of all "who are Christ's," and who live by the       fear is, at bottom, demonical in origin; it is the fear
  Spirit.                                                       of death, being terrified by him who has the grip of
    What have such done according to Gal. 5 :  24? They         death on our souls, the Devil (Heb. 2: 14). And,
  have  crucified  (estauroosan)   the flesh with the affec-    therefore, those who love their brother, are such that
  tions (passions) and lusts thereof. This means that           all fear is cast out. They have truly passed from death
 because of the relationship to the operation of the            to life, and shall not come into condemnation.
  power of Christ's accursed death on the Cross, those             Paul singles out one aspect of love for the brother
  who are of Christ have received the gift of the Spirit,       and sister in Christ here in verses  24,25.  And, we may
  the promise of the Spirit. And this promise of the            a d d ,   t h e r e   i s   s u g g e s t e d   h e r e   a   v e r y   spiritual-
  Spirit is ours by faith (Gal. 3:  10,ll). Henceforth,         psychological connection between verse 24 and the
  once and for all, we are crucified with Christ. As he         verses  25,26  in this chapter. It is in our walking by
  died legally unto sin, so have we (Rom.  6:lO). But           the Spirit that we become manifest to "be of Christ,"
  His death also broke the power of sin, and is such            to be His disciples, who truly follow Christ in the
 that, through His death and resurrection, we serve             midst of this world, so that all the world of men take
  another, namely, Him Who is raised from the dead,             notice that we are indeed Christ's disciples, the light
 that we should bring forth fruit unto God (Rom.                of the world (John 13:  34,35).  It is true that they,
  7: l-6). The Christian is no legalistic Pharisee, at-         who walk in the Spirit of Christ, do not at all  fulfil
 tempting to cease from sin, and to keep the law to be          the lusts of the flesh, such as jealousy, envy, and
 justified. Nor is he a moralistic do-gooder; all that          sinful contention. (See under our interpretation of
 endeavor he counts as so much loss and dung for the            Gal. 5: 16, above.) Paul is driving this point home now
 excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord           to a congregation where, in legal combat, they are
 (Phil.  3:7,8). No, he has died unto law and to sin,           biting, eating, and devouring each other in personal
 that he might live unto God. What he now lives, he             feuds and vendetta. There must be spiritual con-
 lives by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved, loved         sistency of sincerity and truth in our lives, as children
 him, even to the end, and gave Himself for him. (John          of Sarah. We must walk at liberty as the freeborn sons
  13: 1; Gal.  2:20). And now he must keep God's                of Sarah, born from above, from heaven. That is the
 commandments, fight against sin and all the lusts of           keynote of this great chapter (Gal. 5: 1).
 his sinful flesh, unto the end. He has passed from
 death unto life, and he has been crucified, legally and            Here.the truth of the matter of Paul's exhortation
 spiritually; a hater is he of sinful lusts, and he delights    is put in a conditional sentence: "if ye live by the
 in the law of God after the inward man (Rom.  7:22).           Spirit, then also walk by the Spirit." The condition
 With his inner mind and affections he  serves the law          (protasis)   is one which states the matter of the
  of God! (Rom.  7:25).                                         Galatians walk as being in reality "by the Spirit."
    Against the works of such a crucified one there is          They have received the Spirit,. and the Spirit of grace
 no law! Rejoice, ye heavens, for the accuser of the            and glory rests upon them. They are indwelt (I Peter
 brethren is cast out; those who are of Christ, have            4: 14). Such is the assumed determined reality of
  overcome in the blood of the Lamb. Hallelujah! (Rev.          these Galatians. Now they must also "walk" as those
  12:10-12).                                                    led by the Spirit. They must reveal what they are. All
                                                                the admonitions come to the church on the. basis of
  THE SPIRITUALLY CONSISTENT WALK OF                            what the church is, a new creation, a redeemed
  THOSE LIVING BY THE SPIRIT - Gal. 5:25,26.                    people.  That is a universal rule.  We must be in life
    There must ever be a true consistency between our           what we are in reality by virtue of new birth in
 confession and our walk. It must always be very                Christ. Such an exhortation as we have here never is
  evident that our faith is not a dead faith, but that it is    addressed to the reprobate wicked. The great address
  a living and true faith as is evident from the good           of Jehovah in Exodus 20: 1 can only be spoken to
 works of thankfulness for the great redemption in              Israel by her God, Who has delivered her. This should
 Christ's crucifixion and resurrection (James 2:  14-18).       sink deeply into our hearts; it is the very marrow of
Ours must not be a faith such as the devils in hell             the truth of the Gospel. It is assumed that these
 have; they believe that God is one, and they shudder           Galatians are living members of God's church. They
 with a fear which, to speak figuratively, puts their           are gathered as many members in one body (Eph.
 hair on end! Such is the meaning of the verb                   4: l-5). They are the body, which is fitly framed
 employed in the Greek:  phrissousan.  They shudder,            together and which must grow into an holy temple in
 these demons in hell, at the thought of God's being a          the Lord, a dwelling-place of God in the Spirit (Eph.
 God Who is not divided against Himself! If we have a           2: 18-22; 4:  15,16). And if such be the case indeed
 consistent walk in the Spirit and keep the law by a            with these bewitched Galatians, then they must  walk


256                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



in the Spirit. The term for "walk" here is rather           finger upon the festering sore in this church. "Let us
striking and meaningful. The term is one which              (he includes himself) not become desirous of vain-
depicts orderly soldiers in their marching together. It     glory". The verb here is: let us not become,  more and
is an orderly, prescribed march, which befits their         more,  desirous of empty glory. Vain glory means: not
station and calling. (See Acts  21:24;  Rom 4: 12; Phil.    to seek the glory of God in His church, and to set our
3: 16.) The verb here is in the present tense: keep on      puny aims and purposes as the end of our striving,
walking. Paul includes himself in this admonition. He       instead of the glory of God's grace magnified in us.
knows the battle of this orderly walking, in the fight      Such is the vain-glory which sinful men, worldly men
against the lusts of the flesh. He says not "you keep       seek: the praise of men (John  12:42).  The very
on walking" but "let us keep on walking" in this            opposite of seeking vain-glory we have in I Peter  2:9,
fierce struggle against the motions of sin (Rom.            where the end of our salvation is "to shew forth the
7: 18-25). Let every minister emulate Paul in this          praises (virtues) of Him who has called us out of
spiritual art of admonishing the church of God to this      darkness into  His marvelous light." Away then with
orderly walk, marching under the banner of the Cross        provoking each other, walking with our chips on our
and resurrection'of Christ.                                 shoulder. Let us walk according the profession of our
                                                            faith as God's new creation in Christ Jesus (Eph.
  Paul comes to particulars in the text. He lays his        2: 10).


THE DAY OF SHADOWS





                                    Homeward Bound
                                                Rev. John A. Heys


  With two wives, two concubines, and four sets of          is completed. And God had put  Laban in  Haran  so
children Jacob had all the troubles he needed. But          that Jacob could flee there, could get a God-fearing
added to this is the fact that he also had some very        wife there in the person of Leah  - though Jacob's
serious faither-in-law troubles. All his wealth could       choice of Rachel was dictated by the flesh and the
not give Jacob joy and peace, though he craved them         result of love at first sight  - and Jacob could prosper
constantly. He was not a happy man in  Haran  in spite      materially as an evidence of God's grace and blessing
of all his material prosperity. Had he only dared to do     upon him.
so, he would have returned to his father in the land of        But friction soon appeared between Jacob and
Canaan without hesitation. In His mercy God gave            Laban  from  Laban's side. Jacob was a patient man in
him the courage to set out to do so.                        Haran, and that is not a difficult attitude when all
  Jacob had become rich at the expense of  Laban.           goes well materially.  Laban, however, seeing that he
And  Laban, although he still was a wealthy man, was        was losing cattle and other possessions to Jacob,
losing his material goods very rapidly because God          makes no attempt to hide his growing anger. He
was with Jacob. At the moment that Jacob does leave         speaks to his sons about it, and they make sure that
for the land of Canaan,  Laban was richer than he was       Jacob gets to overhear them complain that he was
before Jacob came. God had increased  Laban's goods         stealing. the goods of their father. With some of their
and cattle for Jacob's sake, and this must be               father's slyness they do not come and tell Jacob to
remembered. God's eye is always upon His Church.            his face, but they arrange to have him overhear their
And when the world enjoys peace, it is because God          speech. What is more,  Laban  showed it plainly on his
deems this good and necessary for His Church. The           face. His false, deceptive smile  ,had been replaced by
chaff must enjoy the rain and sunshine necessary for        dark, angry looks which Jacob could not fail to
the wheat to develop and ripen, even though the             interpret correctly. The situation became very tense
intention is to bum the chaff presently after its work      and explosive.


                                                THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 257


    This in itself was the voice of God to Jacob, for in       We also, therefore, need this word of God, "Behold I
 it God was showing Jacob that he must leave and               am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither
 return to the promised land. But in His mercy God             thou goest, and will bring `thee again into this land,
 does more, for Jacob was afraid to return to the land         for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I
 where his brother, who had threatened to kill him,            have spoken to thee of." If He -will go with us, we are
 still dwelt. Whether he had received any word out of          sure.that  nothing shall harm us.
 Canaan those twenty years or not is not reported in              And when He called Jacob to go home He also
 Holy Writ. But we may be sure that Jacob's thoughts           reminded him of his vow at Bethel. According to
 now and then, and especially of late, returned to his         Genesis 3 1: 13 God said to Jacob, "I am the God of
 father and mother, and in that connection also to his         Bethel, where thou anointest the pillar, and where
 brother who had made such an unbrotherly threat. If            thou vowest a vow unto me." Jacob had vowed there
 Jacob had not heard word of his father that he `was            at Bethel saying, "If God will be with me in this way
 still living, though twenty years before both he, Isaac,       that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment
 and his mother, Rebekah, expected him to die in a              to put on, so that I come again to my father's house
 short time, that threat of Esau stood out in bold             in peace; then shall the Lord be my  God.".Genesis
 relief. If he knew that his father was still living, would     28:20,2  1. 0, Jacob, you had much more than bread
 it mean that he could return in safety? Did Esau's             to eat and raiment to put on! You are now a rich
 attitude change? We see from subsequent revelation            man. God certainly has been with you and manifested
 that Jacob still fears Esau so much as to send a               it by these material goods. Confess Him now to be
 tremendously big peace offering and to call him lord,          your God. The idea is that Jacob will worship and
 and to present himself as his servant. And so God also         serve Him, will put all his trust in Him alone. And
 speaks to Jacob in a dream and tells him to go back           now God twenty years later says to Jacob, "Trust Me,
 to the land of his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, with            Obey Me. Go back now to the land of your father
 the promise to be with him. Thus here in Genesis 3 1           and serve Me alone. For indeed I did keep thee in all
 God repeats the promise which He gave Jacob at                 the way. Go in the assurance that as I blessed thee
 Bethel when, according to Genesis 28, He appeared to           ever since Bethel, I will be with thee to bless thee and
 Jacob in connection with the ladder that reached               bring thee in peace to thy father's house."
 from the earth up to heaven. Then God said, "Behold
 I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither          Thereafter Jacob speaks to his wives about going to
 thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land,          Canaan and shows his faith more clearly than at any
 for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I       time before this. He speaks before his wives of all his
 have spoken to thee of." Now He repeats that He will           experiences there in  Haran  and gives the richest
 be with him on this journey back to Canaan. Jacob              manifestation of his faith recorded thus far in Holy
                                                                Writ. He openly confesses God's work of defending
 needs nothing more. If God is with him, nothing can            him against  Laban and his trickery. He explains how
 harm him.                                                      in those twenty years  Laban changed his wages ten
    And is that also not true of us? As pilgrims and            times. This need not necessarily be taken in the literal
 strangers we are homeward bound to the heavenly                sense. It surely means that it did not happen once or
 promised land. Like Jacob we do not think of it very           twice but so fully that there can be no doubt as to
 often, but deep within our souls we do want to go              what  Laban  was doing. When  Laban  had agreed that
 there. The flesh wants to stay here and gather a few           all the speckled sheep  - those with small spots  -
 more sheep and goats, see our children and children's          would be Jacob's, and God caused most of the sheep
' children in this life, and we dread the thought of            to bring forth speckled ones,  Laban changed Jacob's
 parting from loved ones. We also, even as Jacob, have          hire to be the ringstreaked. And when God now
 an enemy we fear to face. The last enemy is death,             caused most of the sheep to produce ringstreaked
 Paul writes to the church at Corinth. And in the               offspring,  Laban again changed the kind Jacob would
  epistle to the Hebrews we read, "Forasmuch as the             get. Ten times may easily mean that he went back to
  children are partakers of flesh and blood, He (Christ)        speckled, and then back to ringstreaked, and to solid
  also Himself likewise took part of the same; that             colors only to return to speckled when these solid
  through death He might destroy him that hath the              ones were the kind God gave Jacob. Constantly
 power of death, that is, the devil." Hebrews 2: 14.            Laban was trying to get the best of Jacob, not
 That course through death and the grave is so                  stopping to think that he was foolishly trying to get
 mysterious, and the fact that we, like Jacob, have sins        ahead of God. That man can never do!  Laban  must
  that call for our death and punishment, make us draw          ally himself with Jacob and must not be against him, if
  back at the thought of being homeward bound. 0, it            he wishes to receive a blessing.
  will be wonderful there, and we want to go to all that
  glory. But the  way:. . . ! And can we be sure that we          We do not at all mean to infer that  Laban was not
  will arrive safely there in that promised land above?         a child of God. He certainly does not appear here as a


258                                          THE STANDARD BEARER



giant of faith, but much more like Lot who vexed his       quite devoured their money. Rachel seems to be the
righteous soul in Sodom but stayed there.  Laban's         first to respond and to speak for herself and Leah.
idols do not reveal a wholehearted trust in Jehovah,       She is mentioned first even though she is not the
and his treatment of Jacob does not reveal a man           older of the two, or Jacob's first wife. She had an
walking by faith. He was, in that he was doing this to     impetuous nature, and a fiery temper. Her attractive
one of Christ's brethren (one in whose loins the           dark eyes that flashed with beauty, flashed also with
Christ was at that very moment) doing all this against     fire. That became plain already when she snapped at
the Christ. We must not forget that in the church          Jacob,  "Give,me children or I die!" The statement,
today. We can be cruel and we can walk over God's          "Whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do" could be
children in the church here below, take advantage          Leah's speech, so that in the entire section we have
of them, speak evilly of them, ridicule them and           the views of two sisters speaking, and their different
torment them, but we are touching Christ to Whose          views put in one paragraph without indicating which
body these belong. We do well to watch our                 said what. But even then two things must be said. We
treatment of the brother and sister in the church. Our     will not here judge Rachel as to whether the
sharp tongue can be touching Christ in one of His          reference to God and use of God's name means that
members. And whether  Laban  was a sincere child of        she was a child of God or not. There will be more
God or not, we will leave to God, lest we do him           instances where she shows herself as anything but a
injustice by our faulty, human judgment.                   child of God. Her stealing and lying about the idols of
  But when Jacob has been encouraged by God, he            her father indicates what she learned from her father,
tells his wives of his plan to go to Canaan, and, in       and does not speak well of her from a spiritual point
revealing his strength of faith at the moment, explains    of view. We will also see her on her deathbed
to them that all his wealth is due to God's hand and       speaking anything but the language of faith. All this
not his own. He confesses before them that the God         too we can leave to God for His right judgment.
of his father suffered not their father to hurt him.       Then, too, the mere use of God's name must never
And God hath taken away the cattle from  Laban.            lead us to believe that this one using that name
Here he admits, and admit he must, that it was not         necessarily is a child of God. Did not Satan say to
his trickery but God's power that gave him the cattle      Christ in the wilderness, "If Thou be the Son of
in spite of those changed wages.                           God"? Rachel may have spoken sincerely and
                                                           revealed faith in God, but the mere use of God's
  The daughters without hesitation agree to go with        name does not show this definitely to be the case.
their husband and to leave their father. Their love for    The walk of life must also say this. And when the
him had diminished considerably of late. He had            mouth says that He is God, the heart must be saying
alienated them also. They accuse him of having             it as well.
counted them as strangers, of having sold them and

TAKING HEED TO THE DOCTRINE




                            The Reformed Doctrine
                                       of Reprobation
                                              Rev. David Engelsma




  Having explained the Reformed doctrine of                ting ourselves to take the offensive against the
reprobation and having defended it against the attack      enemies of reprobation. The denial of reprobation,
on it within Reformed circles today, we are  permit-       we assert, is part of the ongoing assault upon the


                                             THE STANDARD BEARER                                                 259



sovereignty of God. Among the various attacks, the          referred to the declaration of Sir-neon, "how God at
denial of reprobation has this dubious distinction,         the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a
that it attacks the sovereignty of God in His dearest,      people for his name," he quoted the prophecy of
greatest, and most glorious work  - the work of             Amos, in Amos 9:  11,12, that God would "build again
salvation.                                                  the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I
  This is evident in the gravamen of Harry Boer             will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
"against the Reformed doctrine of reprobation as            That the residue of men might seek after the Lord,
taught notably in the Canons of Dort  I/6 and  I/15."       and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called,
Fundamental to the gravamen is its insistence that the      saith the Lord, who doeth all these things" (Acts
passages of Scripture adduced by the Canons in              15 :  16,17). Then follows the text which the Canons
support of the doctrine of reprobation do not, in           quote in  1,6.
fact, teach reprobation. Boer writes: "The `express           How the Canons understood these words is plain.
testimony of sacred Scripture,'  I/15, which the            All of the works that God performs in history are
Canons claim teach the doctrine of reprobation is in        known to Him from eternity. They are known to Him
fact not to be found in the Scriptures." Having             because He has Himself decreed them. The Divine
examined the pertinent texts, Boer concludes: "The          foreknowledge is due to Divine foreordination. God's
analysis that has been made shows that the texts            works in time and history, therefore, are done in
adduced assume throughout rather than establish an          accordance with His eternal counsel, or foreknowl-
eternal decree of reprobation. They fall altogether         edge. Since this is what the text teaches, it is clear
short of proving the biblical validity of the doctrine      proof of the Canons' assertion that God's work of
in that they do not show: a. the existence of a divine      giving faith to some men, in distinction from others
decree; b. which has been made in eternity; c. which        to whom He does not give faith, proceeds from God's
condemns a segment of mankind to eternal death as           eternal decree.
described; d. and which is characterized by distinctly        To this interpretation of Acts 15: 18, and, there-
positive as well as negative actions on God's part." On     fore, to the use made of the text by the Canons in
this ground, he calls for the doctrine of reprobation       1,6, Boer objects. `The basis for his objection is his
"to be exscinded from or become a non-binding part          contention that the translation of the text by the
of the creeds of the Christian Reformed Church" (cf.        King James Version is incorrect. There is a question
the gravamen).                                              about the reading of the text in the original Greek.
  Specifically, Boer denies the validity of the             The manuscripts differ. Where the K.J.V. has "saith
Scriptural proof of the Canons in I, 6. In  1,6, the        the Lord, who doeth all these things. Known unto
Canons teach this: "That some receive the gift of           God," etc., another reading has "saith the Lord doing
faith from God, and others do not receive it proceeds       these things, known from eternity." Boer prefers this
from God's eternal decree." In support of this              latter reading. What is more, he prefers this reading as
teaching, the Canons appeal to Acts 15 : 18 and             it has been translated by the American Standard
Ephesians 1: 11. Concerning the former passage, Boer        Version. The A.S.V. translates, "says the Lord who
writes: "It is patent that there is not even a remote       has made all these things known of old." The
connection between the eternal decree of reprobation        possibility of this translation is the fact that the word
and the verse adduced in its support by the authors of      translated "doing" in the K.J.V. can also mean
the Canons." Concerning the latter, he says: "There is      "making." Adopting this translation of the text, Boer
in it not the slightest whisper concerning, nor the         can dismiss the Canons' use of it in  I,6 with the
remotest reference to, the dark shadows of an eternal       words, "It is patent that there is not even a remote
rejection of men from the presence and the life of          connection between the eternal decree of reprobation
God. . . . The decree of reprobation is assumed (by         and the verse adduced in its support by the authors of
the authors of the Canons  - DE). . .  ." Boer is not       the Canons."
the first to judge the Canons mistaken in their appeal        With regard to the textual question, Boer must not
to these passages in  1,6. Berkouwer has written that in    so facilely dismiss the reading followed by the K.J.V.
I,6 of the Canons we have "an erroneous appeal to           This reading has good support in the manuscripts.
Scripture" (cf. his  "Vragen Rondom  Pe Belijdenis,  "      Nor should Boer's slur on the K.J.V. go unchallenged,
1963).                                                      when, comparing the K.J.V. with the A.S.V., he
  Acts  15:18 reads: "Known unto God are all his            writes that the K.J.V. is a translation "based on
works from the beginning of the world." These words         manuscripts of admittedly inferior value." One may
are part of the speech of James to the synod of             read the text exactly as it is found in the K.J.V.
apostles and elders at Jerusalem, called to consider        without any embarrassment.
whether it was necessary that the Gentile converts be         But let us grant that the reading preferred by the
circumcised and keep the law of Moses. After James          A.S.V. and by Boer is the correct one. Boer is still


      260                                            THE STANDARD BEARER



      wrong in his charge that the text fails to prove what         others do not receive it proceeds from God's eternal
      the Canons intend it to prove in  1,6. For the                decree." The text plainly establishes the general truth
      translation which he gives of the reading (following          that the works of God in time and history are
      the A.S.V.) is erroneous. The correct translation of          directed by His eternal plan. God does not work
      the reading in question teaches the very same truth as        haphazardly. His work is not dependent upon the
      does the reading adopted by the K.J.V.; and this is           unforeseen and uncontrolled actions of His creatures.
      the truth that all of God's works in time, including          For this reason, God is able to foretell events far into
      the gift and the withholding of faith, are ordained by        the future, as He does in Amos 9. His works are
      His eternal counsel.                                          known to Him eternally.
        This is the reading (in English translation): "Says           This teaching of Acts 15: 18 is in harmony with all
      the Lord doing (making) these things known from               of Scripture. The Canons might have quoted Psalm
      eternity." These words can be understood, and                 115:3 : "But our God is in the heavens: he hath done
      translated, in two ways, depending on whether the             whatsoever he hath pleased." Or, they might have
      word following "Lord" is translated "doing" or                appealed to Isaiah  46:9,10.
      "making." Boer and the  ,A.S.V. understand them in              Taking Acts 15: 18 as a general statement of God's
      this way, that the Lord makes these things known              eternal foreknowledge of His works, the appeal to the
      from eternity. Since the reference is to the salvation        text by  .the Canons in  I,6 is fitting. Certainly, the
     of the Gentiles, the text is understood to teach that          work of giving faith to some, while withholding it
      the Lord has made known the salvation of the                  from others, is a work of God. According to Acts
      Gentiles from eternity.                                       15: 18, this work is known from eternity, or, as the
        This understanding of the text is in error; the             Canons express it, "proceeds from God's eternal
      translation of the A.S.V. is wrong. For, first, if the        decree."
      text is read this way, it is in conflict with the teaching      But Acts 15: 18 is more than a general statement of
      of Ephesians 3. Speaking of the salvation of the              God's eternal foreordination. The text is specifically
      Gentiles (v.  6), Paul says that "in other ages (this) was    applied by James to God's work of salvation, the very
      not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now             work that the Canons treat in  1,6. The works referred
     revealed unto his holy apostles  .and prophets by the          to in Acts 15: 18 are God's works of visiting the
      Spirit" (v. 5). This mystery (of the salvation of the         Gentiles, "to take out of them a people for his  name"
      Gentiles) was "by revelation . . . made known unto            (v.  14), His works of building again the tabernacle of
      me (Paul)" (v. 3). Although God prophesied of the             David so that "the residue of men might seek after
      salvation of the Gentiles in the Old Testament, e.g., in      the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name
      Amos 9, He first made this fully known in the New             is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things"
      Testament, to the apostles and prophets.                      (vss.  16,17). The faith and salvation of the Gentiles
         Secondly, the translation of the A.S.V. and of Boer        after Pentecost is the work of God. This work was
      is ruled out by Amos 9: 12, the Old Testament                 known to Him from eternity.
      Scripture which James is quoting in Acts 15:  17,18.
      Amos 9: 12 reads, "saith the Lord that  doeth  this."           In the passage is also found the other element
     ' Amos does not speak of God's making something                which the Canons speak of, namely, that others do
      known, but of His  doing  something, namely, raising          not receive the gift of faith from God. Verse 14 says
      up the tabernacle of David that is fallen (v. 11). This       that God took a people for His Name  "out of  the
     demands that, in Acts 15:  17,18, we translate the             Gentiles," indicating that He does not take all the
      word that follows "Lord" a s   "doing," not as                Gentiles, but leaves some in their sin and death.
      "making." Therefore, the only possible translation of         According to verse 17, it is the "residue," or remnant,
      the reading adopted by the A.S.V. and by Boer in              of men who seek the Lord, and "all the Gentiles upon
      Acts 15: 17, 18 is this: "Saith the Lord doing these          whom my name is called." God graciously has His
      things, known from eternity." The things which the            name called upon some of the Gentiles, not upon all
      Lord does are known from eternity. They are known             of them. This work of His is known to Him from
I     to the Lord Himself from eternity. He knows them              eternity.
      eternally because He has ordained them in- His                   So far is it from being true that the text "adduced
      counsel. This is exactly the sense of the reading             by the Canons in support of the doctrine is not valid,
      adopted by the K.J.V., so that it makes no difference         is not relevant to the matter in hand, has no bearing
      which of the two readings of Acts 15 :  17,18 is              whatever on the teaching in question," that it is
      adopted.                                                      impossible to conceive an appeal to Scripture that is
         Regardless of the reading one prefers, Acts 15 : 18 is     more fitting or more conclusive than that which the
      solid proof of the doctrine of the Canons in  I,6,            Canons of Dordt make in  1,6, in the instance of Acts
       "That some receive the gift of faith from God, and           15:18.


                                                  THE STANDARD BEARER                                                        261


ALL AROUND US





                                             "Porneia" (Again)
                                                      Rev. G. Van Baren




  A number of weeks ago I presented in this column                  unfaithfulness" was universally understood as "sexual
an article concerning the translation of the word                   immorality" and that it was a more delicate way of
"porneia" as given in the New International Version                 saying what we meant. . . .
of the Bible. The  King James Version translates the               First, let me say that I am pleased that Palmer,
word invariably as "fornication." But the NIV states            executive secretary of the NIV, noted the problem of
in Matthew  5:32 (and Matt.  19:9): "But I tell you             the translation of the NIV as presented in De Mey's
that anyone who divorces his wife,  except for marital          article. It is a welcome suggestion too that Palmer
unfaithfulness,  causes her to commit adultery, and             makes when he states: "If our translation caused Mr.
anyone who marries a woman so divorced commits                  De Mey to misunderstand Matthew  19:9, maybe we
adultery."                                                      should change. . .  ." I sincerely hope they can change
  I have not received any response to date from the             this  - and do in the future.
committee which translated the NIV concerning this                 However, I  find it highly strange that the com-
problem. I have received correspondence from some               mittee believed that " `marital unfaithfulness' . . . was
who believe that the NIV ha8 many other major flaws             a more delicate way of saying what we meant. .  :  ."
in translation. Perhaps at some future date I could             We live in an age of outspoken sexual frankness.  Eien
point these out. However, my concern now is that                our young children encounter references to sexuality
Rev. E. Palmer, executive secretary of the NIV, did             and sexual deviations of every sort whenever they
respond to the  Banner  in their "Voices" concerning            read. the newspaper, hear the radio, observe TV, read
this problem I presented:                                       books, etc. Has the committee "buried its head in the
      In                                                        sand"? It is absurd, to my way of thinking, to
             Pressure Points Mr. Neal De Mey has on two
   occasions appealed to the NIV translation of Matthew         attempt to find a "more delicate way of saying"
   19:9 in support of the idea that the Bible permits           fornication.
   divorce on the basis of alcoholism. ("I have used the           But I am surprised at another of Palmer's
   New International Version which uses `marital un-            statements. He claims:  ". . . we NIV translators did
   faithfulness' as grounds for divorce. I submit that          not think for a moment of anything other than sexual
   alcoholism can constitute `marital unfaithfulness' "         immorality." And again: "But, on the other hand, we
   (12/7/79).                                                   thought that the term `marital unfaithfulness' was
      It seems to me that this is important enough an           universally understood as `sexual immorality.'  " Now
   issue to set the record straight. By "marital unfaith-       I can  hatily imagine that Palmer and the 100
   fulness" we NIV translators did not think for a
   moment of anything other than sexual immorality. It          translators which worked on this project, would
   was not our intent at all to suggest that a person           deceptively make this claim. But at least  $ does
   could legitimately get a divorce because the marriage        reflect great naivete. Palmer, a Christian Reformed
   partner was not faithful in such things as keeping           minister, should know well that many exactly want
   house or supporting his fqrnily.     I                       to pervert the word "fornication" into "marital
      We could have said equally as well: "anyone who           unfaithfulness" in order to justify `divorce on other
   divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and           grounds than adultery. The Christian Reformed
   marries another woman commits adultery."  And if             Synod of 1973 had a study report on "Marriage"
   our translation caused Mr. De Mey to misunderstand           which proposed exactly this sort of thing. When the
   Matthew  19:9, maybe we should change. But, on the           Synod rejected this proposal and appointed a new
   other hand, we thought that the term "marital                study committee, that committee commented as


262                                                                       THE STANDARD BEARER



follows in their  report to Synod of  la75 (pp. 497-8):                                         page 601. For example, we do not know what they
          A. The Specific Meaning of  Pomeia  in Matthew                                        mean when they say,  "He is not referring to such
                                                                                                cases of fornication in this instance." And we do not
       5:32  and  19:9                                                                          know who the "many exegetes" are who are alleged
          1. Current Interpretations                                                            to be tending to consider  pomeia  as referring to
          a. The study committee in its report to the Synod                                     infidelity within marriage. But the main drift of their
       of 1973 has argued that "adultery" covers  "all  the-                                    argument is clear.
       ways  in which infidelity in marriage can take place"                                       b. On the other hand, the Synod of 1973 did
       (Acts of Synod 1973, p. 598). Again: "At this                                            adopt one part of the report of her advisory
       juncture the committee re-emphasizes that adultery                                       committee in which the committee offers the
       must be viewed in its broad meaning as marital                                           following as one example of the fact that Part II of
       infidelity  - the breaking of fidelity which can happen                                  the study committee's report is not in its entirety in
       in many ways" (p. 600). Out of this background they                                      accord with the biblical teaching on marriage (Acts of
       approach Matthew  5:32 and  19:9.  They distinguish                                      Synod 1973, p. 59): "whereas the study committee
       pomeia  (fornication) from  nzoideia   (adultery) and                                    maintains  that  the Greek word  pomeia  as used in
       assert that in Matthew it is the Greek translation for                                   Matthew  5:32 and  19:9  has a broader meaning than
       the "some indecency" of Deuteronomy 24: 1. This                                          illegitimate sexual intercourse we question whether
       itself causes problems when the passage is read to                                       that interpretation can be substantiated from Scrip-
       make adultery a ground for divorce: it talks of                                          ture." The advisory committee (and, therefore synod)
       fornication (p. 601).                                                                    did not say specifically what they thought  pomeia
          A bit later the committee states: "at present many                                    specifically means in Matthew  5:32 and  19:9, but the
       exegetes tend to consider  pomeia  distinct from                                         implication seems to be that they regard  pomeia to
       adultery in that it refers to infidelity within marriage.                                mean "illegitimate sexual intercourse." This is the
       If that is true, the interpretation given above would                                    position of many exegetes, though there is some
       be strengthened" (p. 601). Again, in the same                                            variety on whether and  to  what extent  pomeia  here
       paragraph: "In any case, it is not possible to limit                                     should be limited to adultery or also to include
       fornication to physical infidelity" (p. 601).                                            pre-marital unchastity.
          We confess that we do not understand everything                                      I do agree with  Palmer when he says:  ". . . maybe
       that is stated and claimed in the last full paragraph on                              we should change."




                            The Orthodox Christian Reformed Church

  In  The Outlook,  February 22, 1980, there is                                                 worship their covenant God, Jehovah.
presented an interesting "letter to the editor" which                                              Why did this happen? It happened simply because
introduces a new church with the above name:                                                    these members of the Church of Jesus Christ were led
          On November 19, 1979, a small group of people,                                        by the Spirit to a conviction that the fight against the
       formerly members of the Bethel Christian Reformed                                        world is an active one and every congregation and
       Church of Listowel, organized themselves as a Church                                     each member is engaged in that battle; and because of
       of Jesus Christ. This action was taken as an act of                                      conviction that events have transpired, actions have
       faith, believing that their Lord, the Lord of the                                        been taken in the Christian Reformed denomination
       Church, had called them to this action. The new                                          which, in their conviction, will eventuate in a loss of
       congregation consists of six families, fifteen con-                                      the leading of the Word of God. It is their prayer that
       fessing members and nine members by baptism.                                             there may be that kind of turning which will make
                                                                                                this prophecy untrue. . . .
          . . . In organizing, this congregation reaffirmed its
       commitment to the three Reformed Confessions: the                                           The name was chosen by the membership of the
       Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the                                     congregation to indicate its desire and endeavor to
       Canons of Dordt. As its Rule of Order, it has adopted                                    remain true to the faith once for all delivered to the
       the Church Order of Dordt as it was held by the                                          saints. Yet it indicates a meaningful expression of
       Christian Reformed denomination prior to the re-                                         continuing as Christian Reformed, realizing that the
       vision of the 1960's. . . .                                                              real basis of unity is the three forms of Unity: the
                                                                                                Heidelberg Catechism, the Belgic Confession, and the
          T h e   c o n g r e g a t i o n   d o e s   n o t   i n t e n d   t o   b e   a       Canons of Dordt. The choice arises out of a conviction
       competitive body in the midst of the churches. It                                        that the Christian Reformed denomination presently
       intends rather to be a living body of Jesus Christ,                                      is no longer true to its history and name. . . .
       positively endeavoring by His grace to serve Him and


                                                              THE STANDARD BEARER                                                                         263


  The new congregation was organizedunder the                                   the occasion of this new beginning, it would do well
direction of Rev. Harry Van Dyken who recently left                             to review also these early decisions to see if indeed (as
the ministry of the Christian Reformed Churches. We                             we have claimed all along) this was the point at which
know nothing further of this little congregation.                               the C.R.C. began its departure from the old and true
However, I would hope they will consider one                                    doctrines of the Reformed churches as taught in
suggestion I wish to make. The Protestant Reformed                              Scripture. Let them consider, for example, how many
Churches too were once Christian Reformed. They                                 recent C.R.C. decisions approving movie attendance
were forced out of the parent body because of the                              -and dancing, etc., were in part based upon the
"common grace" issue with its "free offer of the                                argument that the doctrine of "common grace"
gospel" and its "grace" for the reprobate. Whether                              allows for this. If they desire more material to study
this group were to agree with the stand of the                                  on this whole issue, we would be happy to provide
Protestant Reformed Churches on the issue or not, at                            that.


                          Homosexuals in the Reformed Churches
                                                         of the Netherlands

  In the  R.E.S. News Exchange,  February 5, 1980,                                   strategy, and pastoral considerations. Some main-
we read the following report:                                                        tained that Scripture gives normative guidelines on
                                                                                     homosexuality and that extensive dialogue with a
        In  Centraal  Weekblad,   of 15 December 1979,                               wide variety of people within the church is necessary.
    Klaas Runia comments on the "far-reaching" decision                              They had reservations about homosexual conduct.
    of the Synod of the Reformed Churches in the                                     Others held that Scripture gives no revealed command
    Netherlands  (GKN)  that homosexuals are to be                                   in the matter but only a general mandate to love.
    accepted unconditionally as full members of the                                  Therefore Synod's only choice was to side with a
    church.                                                                          minority that is the victim of discrimination. After
        The Synod's study committee reported that it had                             discussion, the Synod opted for the second position.
    failed to resolve the deadlock of two apparently
    irreconcilable positions in the committee. There                               So  - these evils come ever closer to home!
    were differences of hermeneutical  presuppositions,


                                                                     NOTICE!!!
                                              All students enrolled in the Protestant Reformed Seminary who are
                                           in need of financial assistance are asked to contact the Student Aid
                                           Committee, Mr. David M. Ondersma, Secretary, 6761 Brookwood Dr.,
                                           Grandville, Michigan 49418 (phone 616457-1417). This contact should
                                           be made before the next meeting of the Committee on March  10,198O.


                WEDDING ANNIVERSARY                                                                        IN MEMORIAM
   On March 12, 1980, our dear parents, MR. AND MRS. RALPH                         On the 30th of January, God took unto Himself, our beloved
VANDER MEULEN will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. We,                husband,     fat her, grandfather and great-grandfather, WILLIAM
their children and grandchildren, give thanks to our heavenly Father for        WIERENGA at the age of 86 years.
the Christian love and upbringing they have given us.                              God gives us the comforting and blessed assurance that our`loved
   "In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and           one is now in the glory that was awaiting him, rejoicing in His
my refuge, is in God." (Psalm  62:7).                                           fellowship forever.

                                their children:                                    "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Phil.  I:21  j.

                                   Pete and Pat Vander Meulen                                                    his wife -
                                   Andrew and Janice Vander Meulen                                                   Mrs. W. Wierenga
                                   Lawrence and Bertha Silves                                                    his children -
                                  Wilbur and Gert Stuit                                                              Mr. and Mrs. L. Wierenga
                                   Henry and Kathy Vander Meulen                                                     Mr. and Mrs. L.  Regnerus
                                   Mel and Alice Yonkman                                                             Mr. and Mrs. F. Oosterhoff
                                   Ted and  Delores Vander Meulen                                                    11 grandchildren
                                   Swietze and Cheri Vander Meulen                                                   14 great-grandchildren
                                   John and Betty Hoksbergen                                                     his step-children
                                   Bob and Edna Vander Hoek                                                          Mr. and Mrs. K. Lanning
                                         38 grandchildren                                                            Mr. and Mrs. W. Kuiper
                                         5 great-grandchildren.                                                      6 step-grandchildren
                                                                                Hudsonville, Michigan.               4 step-great-grandchildren


THE STANDARD BEARER                                        -__~-___ -_                     SECOND CLASS
       P.O. Box 6064                                                                       POSTAGE PAID AT
Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506                                                             GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. I

                                ____ _____                       __~..._          ---
264                                           THE STANDARD BEARER

                             News From Our Churches
  Professor H. Hanko declined the call he had              even find their way into church bulletins. We
received from our congregation in Redlands, Cali-          apologize,  Doon, for the incorrect report..
fornia. Redlands' new trio consists of Rev. Marvin           Rev. and Mrs. Joostens were blessed with the birth
Kamps, Rev. Kenneth Koole, and Rev. Richard                of a baby boy, Paul Alan, on January 11. Rev.
Moore. One of our `retired' ministers, Rev. M.             Joostens was able to preach again on January 27 after
Schipper, has been preaching in  Redlands for the          having been absent from the pulpit since  mid-
month of February.                                         December due to a rather serious viral blood
  Two more ministers have declined calls extended          infection. Rev. Joostens is slowly taking up his labors
to them. Rev. Marvin Kamps declined his call from          as the Lord again gives him strength. Rev. Joostens
our Lynden congregation to be home missionary in           attained the distinction of becoming a United States
the Northwest Washington area. Rev. David Engelsma         citizen in January.
declined the call extended to him by our Hope                 Rev. George Lubbers underwent surgery on Feb-
Church in Walker, Michigan.                                ruary 11.
   A public worship service was held on Friday,               Rev. Robert Harbach has been forced to suspend
January 25, in our church in  Doon, Iowa, for the          preaching and teaching because of his deteriorating
purpose of installing Rev. Arie den Hartog into the        eyesight. He looks forward to cataract surgery in the
office of Missionary.- Rev. Kamps preached the             future.
sermon and Rev. James Slopsema read the form for              Due to a snow storm a soup supper scheduled in
the ordination of a missionary unto the heathen. The       our church in Loveland, Colorado, had to be
consistory at  Doon invited the congregation of Hull       postponed from January 25 to January 28.
and  Edgerton to worship with the congregation at
Doon and to witness the installation of Rev. den              Rev. Wayne Bekkering, pastor of our Trinity
Hartog.                                                    Church in Houston, Texas, and Mr. Clare Prince from
                                                           First Church in Grand Rapids and their wives spent
   On the evening preceding the installation service in
Doon, a Welcome Program was held for Rev. den               17 days in Jamaica, returning on January 3 1. The
Hartog and his family by the  Doon congregation.           emissaries were very busy bringing the Word, and
There were special numbers by the children, young          dealing with many matters spiritual and practical
people, men's quartet, ladies' sextet, and others. A       pertaining to the minister, churches, and the people
fellowship hour followed after the program with            in Jamaica. It is the testimony of our emissaries that
refreshments served by the Ladies Society.                 God has called his people also on the island of
                                                           Jamaica.
   Rev. den Hartog preached his inaugural sermon on
Romans 1: 16 at the Sunday morning worship service            Rev. C. Hanko, who has been in Bradenton,
in  Doon on January 27. The den Hartogs left for            Florida,, since the first week of January, recently gave
                                                            a report of his work to the consistory and con-
Singapore on the following Tuesday afternoon and            gregation  of-First Church in Grand Rapids. The work
were scheduled to arrive in Singapore on Friday,            in Bradenton is a church extension activity conducted
February I, at 1: 10 P.M.                                   by First Church. Rev. Hanko writes that average
   Previous to his installation, Rev. den Hartog was        attendance at worship services has been 45, 58% of
assisting Rev. Kuiper in the execution of his duties in     which were non-Protestant Reformed visitors. Con-
Lynden, Washington. This was done at the request of         cerning the services, Rev. Hanko testifies that the
the Lynden consistory in order that Rev. Kuiper             messages were "well received." He adds that, "Every
could spend more time in church extension work in           week we see familiar faces and meet those who are
Mt. Vernon and Monroe, Washington. Rev. den                 regular visitors, but we also meet new faces from
Hartog had quite a long wait for his visa and work          Sunday to Sunday." Rev. Hanko plans to stay in
permit from the government in Singapore.                    Bradenton through Sunday, March 2. Rev. Joostens
   It had been previously reported on this page that        plans to be in Bradenton March 9 through 30.
Rev. den Hartog was installed  ,as missionary. This           The address of Rev. George Lanting is: 2554
information was reported incorrectly in bulletins of        Newport, Fort Collins, CO 8052 1.
two of our churches. So, rumors (wishful thinking)                                                          K.G.V.


