   A Reformed
  Semi-Monthly
  Magazine           BBR





, August  7, 7988


 Contents                                                                                                         *. .-
                                                                            August 7.1988                    THF
                                                                                                       STANDARD
Meditation  -
A Threefold Unbreakable Cord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .434                Bi3UER
Editorial  -                                                                                            ISSN 0362-4692
The Order of Salvation: Preservation And Perseverance . . . . . . . . . .437                           Semi-monthly, except monthly during June, July,
                                                                                                       and August. Published by the Reformed Free Pub-
The Work of God and the Impossibility of Falling Away . . . . . . . . . .438                           lishing Association, Inc. Second Class Postage Paid
                                                                                                       at Grand Rapids,  Mich.
-  ]ason L. Kortering                                                                                  EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
                                                                                                       Prof. Homer C. Hoeksema
Absolutely Secure In The Lord Jesus Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .440                DEPARTMENT EDITORS
- Arie den Hartog                                                                                      Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Rev. Arie den Hartog,
                                                                                                       Prof. Robert  D. Decker, Rev. Barry Critters, Rev
                                                                                                       Cornelius Hanko, Prof. Herman C. Hanko, Rev.
Preservation and the Work of the Holy Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .443                  Ronald Hanko, Rev. John A. Heys, Rev.  I.  Korter-
- Ronald H. Hanko                                                                                      ing, Rev. George C. Lubbers, Rev. Thomas C.
                                                                                                       Miersma, Rev. James Slopsema, Rev.  Cise  J. Van
The Preservation of the Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .445          Baren,  Mr. Benjamin Wigger.
                                                                                                       EDITORIAL OFFICE
- Herman C. Hanko                                                                                      Prof. H.C. Hoeksema
                                                                                                       4975  Ivanrest  Ave., S.W.
The Calling To Persevere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .`. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .447    Crandville,  Michigan 49418
                                                                                                       CHURCH NEWS EDITOR
-  lames D. Slopsema                                                                                   Mr. Ben Wigger
                                                                                                       6597 40th Ave.
But  - Can Saints Fall Away?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .449       Hudsonville,  Michigan 49426
- Cise  /. Van  Baren                                                                                  EDITORIAL POLICY
                                                                                                       Every editor is solely responsible for the contents
                                                                                                       of his own articles. Contributions of general in-
The Means of Preservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .451       terest from our readers and questions for the
- Ronald L. Cammenga                                                                                   Question Box Department are welcome. Contribu-
                                                                                                       tions will be limited to approximately 300 words
Preservation - The Teaching of Scripture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .454                  and must be neatly written  or typewritten, and
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                                                       No one shall pluck them out of                  reproduced in full;  b) that proper acknowledge-
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434  /  The  Standard Bearer


unto the end? And may I know               And the reason lies exactly not      believeth on the Son bath ever-
this and be assured of it? Is once      in the notion that the Christian is     lasting life." (John 3:36)
a sheep always a sheep, once a          able of himself to stand and to            But how, you ask, is that the
Christian always a Christian? May       persevere. That would indeed            guarantee that we shall not
I rest in that assurance?               make men careless and profane.          perish unto eternity?
   If it depends on me, a mere          But the reason lies in the fact            The answer is, in the first
man and a sinful man, this              that salvation is altogether of the     place, that this life is eternal. It is
assurance is impossible. Thus Ar-       Lord. Our salvation is rooted in        the life of Christ, the Risen Lord.
minianism and Pelagianism               His sovereign counsel and               And the life of Christ is a life
would have it. You may never            almighty grace. God preserves           through death, a life that is vic-
rest assured of your final salva-       me in the salvation He has once         torious over death, a life that is
tion and may never rest assured         given me; and therefore I cannot        beyond the power of death. It
that you will persevere unto the        fall away!                              follows, therefore, from the very
end. It all depends on you. If you        This certainty of perseverance        nature of that life that it is im-
are faithful, if you keep on            may be compared here in John            perishable. In the second place,
following Jesus, then all is well;      10 with a threefold and unbreak-        this eternal life is a gift. Christ
then Christ will continue to keep       able cord of preservation.              Himself gives eternal life; He im-
you. But if you are unfaithful,                   * * * * *                     parts it to His sheep. Not only
God cannot help you. You stand                                                  does He give it once. Then you
or fall your own master. On that          The first strand of that cord is      might object that after all the
basis all assurance is impossible.      described in Christ's words: "I         matter is up to the Christian: he
For man is unwilling and unable         give unto them eternal life; and        possesses that life. But the text
to persevere. If left to himself, he    they shall never perish." The           teaches that Christ gives  eternal
not only ccln but also surely will      original is even more emphatic:         life absolutely freely and uncon-
fall away.                              "and they shall not ever perish         ditionally. It is not so that Christ
   Also in this respect, you see,       unto eternity."                         gives life to His people once, and
the deepest question at stake is          Very easily when we read of           that from that point on they
this: does God save man, or does        eternal life, we refer these words      possess it in themselves, in-
man save himself? Is God                to the future, to eternity, after we    dependently of Christ. But all our
sovereign, or is man?                   die and are raised again. And it        life is in Christ. He gives us His
  And just as the beginning of          is true, of course, that Christ         Spirit. And through that Spirit He
our salvation is made a matter of       gives His sheep eternal life then       continually causes us to live.
man's will and man's work by            in the full and perfect sense of        Hence, as long as Christ, the
some, so the same line is fol-          the word. And if that is the            Good Shepherd, lives, so long
lowed to the very end. And then         meaning here, then Christ is say-       we, His sheep, live.
nothing is certain to the moment        ing nothing about perseverance.                   * * * * *
of our death. God will help and         But then it also follows that you
assist; but whether we will accept      cannot understand the meaning             The second strand of this
that assistance and seek it and         of the following expression, "and       threefold and unbreakable cord
thus persevere depends on our-          they shall never perish."               of preservation is described in
selves.                                   We must remember, however,            these words: "neither shall
  But then our fall from grace is       that we do not merely receive           anyone pluck them out of my
not only possible, but inevitable!      eternal life after a while, in the      hand."
We will never endure to the end!        future. We do not only begin to           You see, it is not as Arminian-
  A fearful, comfortless doctrine!      live after physical death and after     ism would have it, that every-
There is no gospel, no good             the resurrection of the body. It        thing depends on our holding on
news, in it.                            cannot even be said that we             to Christ. This is indeed what he
  Our Lord Jesus Christ taught us       receive eternal life only after we      teaches. Christ is the life-center
- and our Reformed fathers, fol-        first believe. No, we receive that      of believers; outside of Him there
lowing Him, said: there is no fall-     life now, in this present time.         is no life. Hence, it all depends
ing away from grace! Once a             And it is given to us and to all        on your holding fast to Christ by
sheep of Christ is always a sheep!      the sheep in the wonder of the          faith. But then, remember, we
                                        new birth, regeneration. It is          not only could but also surely
                                        given not on condition of faith.        would perish!
                                        But our faith is the outgrowth of         No, we are in Christ's hand,
                                        our regeneration: "He that              such is the picture in the text.
                                                                                And no one shall snatch us out of

                                                                                                 The Standard Bearer  I435


Christ's hand. The power to re-          Indeed, it is a powerful host,        enemy must ultimately serve to
main in Christ's hand is not in        this triple alliance headed by the      strengthen our faith!
the sheep, but in the Good             devil!                                    Before the sheep could ever
Shepherd. And Christ asserts: "No        But Christ asserts over against       perish or be snatched away from
one shall pluck them out of my         them - and remember that He is          Christ, the hand of Christ would
hand!"                                 addressing the enemy when He            have to be cut off by the enemy!
   What comfort! What rock-solid       says these words: "No one shall                       * * * * *
assurance!                             pluck them out of my hand!"
   For we know that there are            The hand may be either the              The third strand of the un-
enemies who seek to separate us        symbol of possession, of owner-         breakable cord is described in
from Christ. This very expression      ship; or it may be the symbol of        these words: "My Father, which
in the text assumes this. There        protection. There is no reason          gave them me, is greater than
are those who seek to snatch the       why the two ideas should not be         all; and no man is able to pluck
sheep away from Christ. Very           combined here. Then Christ is           them out of my Father's hand."
real enemies these are. There is       saying: "I possess these sheep; I         Notice the ascending note of
the devil and his entire host of       hold them in my hand. They are          certainty.
demons. There is the power of          my property. And no one can               I give unto them eternal life,
the world. There is the power of       possibly deprive me of my sheep;        and they shall never perish.
the flesh, the power of sin in the     no one can break the connection           No one shall pluck them out of
sheep themselves.                      between them and me. For my             My hand.
                                                                                 My Father gave them me, and
   These constitute a triple           hand is more powerful than all
alliance against Christ and His        the enemies. In fact, all power,        He is greater than all.
sheep. The prince of darkness          even the power of the enemies,            No one is able to pluck them
hates Christ. But he can no more       is mine!"                               out of My Father's hand.
operate against Christ personally:       No, this does not mean that             Ultimately those sheep belong
for Christ is in glory, and the        the enemy cannot touch the              to the Father. He has chosen
prince of darkness has been cast       sheep: he can, in many ways. To         them to the glory of His name,
out and has no more access to          a degree he may even succeed in         and He owned them in sovereign
heaven. Hence, he attacks Christ       his attack upon our faith. He may       grace from before the foundation
in His subjects, in His sheep. He      cause us to fall temporarily. He        of the world. To Christ as the
aims to separate the sheep from        may cause our faith to waver in         Head of all the elect He gave
the Good Shepherd and to make          its activity and its consciousness.     them, committing them to His
Christ's sheep his own subjects        He may even at times make it            charge, that He should redeem
once again. Always his aim is to       almost seem as though our faith         and deliver them and call them
snatch us away from Christ, our        is gone.                                by name and present them spot-
life-center. And since the tie that      But Christ Himself sustains our       less and blameless to the Father.
binds us to Christ is our faith,       faith and protects us. He is the          And the Father holds them in
always the enemy attacks that          Lord! All power in heaven and           His hand. The glory of His own
faith. His methods are various.        on earth is given Him. Mightier,        name is connected with the
He may attack our faith directly,      infinitely mightier He is than any      preservation of the sheep: they
and try to shake our faith in the      foe. He dwells in us through His        are His. Hence, He protects them
Word of God. He may employ             Spirit. He so operates that our         and guides them and keeps them
the method of the temptations of       faith in its essence never fails. He    in His covenant communion.
the world - the lust of the flesh,     so operates that the Holy Spirit is     Moreoever, this Father is greater
the lust of the eyes, and the vain-    never taken away, that we never         than all - not relatively greater,
glory of life - and seek to allure     plunge ourselves into everlasting       but absolutely greater! The sheep
us into the service of the world,      destruction, that we never com-         are His. The enemies are also in
which is inimical to faith, and        mit the sin unto death. He so           His power and are there accord-
thus draw us away. Or he may           operates that the incorruptible         ing to His purpose and can only
use the method of fear and terror      seed of regeneration is never           serve His purpose.
by employing mockery and re-           lost; so operates that when we            Note carefully the statement
proach, the threat of poverty and      fall, we are renewed unto repen-        that Jesus makes. He does not
deprivation, the threat of outright    tance and sorrow over sin and           only say, "No one shall . . . ."
physical persecution and death.        have the joy of our salvation           But He says, "No one can snatch
                                       restored. He so operates that           them out of my Father's hand."
                                       even the very attacks of the              The perishing of Jesus' sheep is
                                                                               impossible! Divinely impossible!

436  / The Standard Bearer


  And Christ and the Father are          Hence, the sheep belong to                    We fight the good fight of
one!                                   Christ, and through Christ to                 faith, and we must fight it even
  There are no two powers,             God.                                          unto the end.
Christ's and the Father's, holding       And they are held in Christ's                 But we fight as those who are
the sheep. But Christ and His          hand. But the hand of Christ is               more than conquerors through
Father are One Essence - one in        nothing less than the revelation              Him that loved us.
divine virtues and perfections,        of the mighty arm of Jehovah,                   And in the battle we need
one in heart and mind and will,        the God of our salvation.                     never despair. For the victory is
one in purpose and power. All            And we, the sheep, are safe.                already ours.
that belongs to the Essence of         We can never perish!                            Through sovereign grace! 0
God belongs to Christ.                                                                                                   HCH
                                                                                -




                                       The Order of Salvation:
                                       Preservation And
                                       Perseverance                                                                 2

  This is the third and last           that it is not a mere repetition `of          cerns one who already is and has
special issue of the current           the earlier one, but presents                 become a saint, and it has in
volume-year.                           other facets of the same truth.               view a terminus: the saint is
  It is also the sixth and last of       Two comments may be made                    preserved even unto the time of
our special issues on the general      with respect to this concluding               his death. And yet, on the other
subject of the Order of Salvation.     issue on the Order of Salvation.              hand, preservation is concerned
  It is also the second special          In the first place, strictly speak-         about and has as its object, in a
issue which we have devoted to         ing, it must be remembered, the               sense, all the other blessings of
the subject of Preservation and        Order of Salvation does not real-             salvation, from regeneration even
Perseverance. For we also              ly end with Preservation. In a                to sanctification. It involves the
treated this subject in our earlier    very real sense it may be said to             preservation of the seed of
series on the Five Points of           end with Glorification. The latter,           regeneration, the maintenance of
Calvinism (Volume 60, No. 5). At       after all, represents the comple-             the bond of faith, not losing the
first we hesitated to devote           tion and the fulness  of our salva-           grace of adoption, not forfeiting
another entire issue to this sub-      tion. But the subject of Glorifica-           the state of justification, and be-
ject. But upon further considera-      tion, in order to maintain a                  ing certainly and effectually
tion we decided that there was         proper division and a semblance               renewed unto repentance. (cf.
ample room for another such            of order in dogmatics, is reserved            Canons V, A, 5-7) And it pleases
issue. The truth of Preservation       for the Doctrine of the Last                  God to accomplish this preserva-
and Perseverance is rich, and          Things. Perhaps in the future a               tion and perseverance through
there are several aspects of that      special issue (or issues) could be            the ongoing work of the saving
truth which we did not treat in        devoted to this subject.                      calling and through the means of
the former issue. Hence, we tried        In the second place, it certain-            grace.
to plan this issue in such a way       ly becomes evident in connection                To various aspects of this
                                       with this last step of the Order of           wonderful grace of preservation
                                       Salvation that the order is'neither           this special issue calls attention.
                                       a wholly temporal nor a wholly                We hope you will find this issue
                                       logical order. Preservation surely            instructive and spiritually edify-
                                       has a temporal aspect. For it con-            ing. 17                             HCH

                                                                                                      The Standard Bearer  I437


                                               The Work of God and
                                               the Impossibility of
]ason L. Kortering                             F a l l i n g   A w a y

   The distinguishing mark of a                  Article 8: Thus it is not in consequence     and give to him the joy of salva-
Reformed believer is the em-                   of their own merits, or strength, but of       tion.
phasis he places upon God as the               Go&s free mercy, that they do not totally        Since our salvation is com-
author and finisher of his salva-              fall from faith -and grace, nor continue
                                               and perish finally in their backslidings;      pletely dependent upon God for
tion. Properly understood, there               which, with respect to themselves, is not      His on-going mercy, supplied to
is a delicate and proper balance               only possible, but would undoubtedly           us every day and under all cir-
placed between God's involve-                  happen; but with respect to God, it is ut-     cumstances, how can we be sure
ment in the preservation of our                terly impossible, since his counsel cannot     that God will grant us that mer-
faith and our calling to walk in               be changed, nor his promises fail, neither
                                               can the call according to his purpose be       cy? This article sets forth three
the way of obedience,                          revoked, nor the merit, intercession and       ways in which the believer may
perseverance, in that faith. Both              preservation of Christ be rendered inef-       rest assured that God will
preservation and perseverance                  fectual, nor the sealing of the Holy Spirit    preserve him and thus enable
flow forth from the sovereign                  be Frustrated or obliterated.                  him to persevere. The first is
working of God's grace in our                     Notice with me that the con-                with respect to God Himself: his
hearts.                                        trast is set forth between merit               counsel cannot be changed, his
   The Canons of Dordt is the                  and mercy. Why do not the                      promise cannot fail, neither can
statement of the Reformed                      saints fall away totally? Is it as             the call of the gospel be revoked.
Churches as they express them-                 the Arminian says, that he con-                The second is with respect to
selves on this important point.                stantly makes himself worthy by                Christ: his meritorious death on
Written many years ago,                        the exercise of his free will in               the cross, his intercession, and
1618-1619, they still articulate               serving God properly? Our Re-                  preservation cannot be made in-
best the teaching of the Word of               formed fathers will have none of               effectual. Finally, the work of the
God on the great truth of God'd                this, for even the saints have not             Holy Spirit cannot be frustrated.
sovereignty in the salvation of                the strength to do what God                      In this article we focus upon
man. It is the Fifth Head of Doc-              wants done, and thus make them-                the first of these guarantees. We
trine that treats the subject of               selves worthy of His continu-                  can trust God because of his
perseverance. Within this section,             ing grace. If God would leave                  counsel, promises, and call of the
the eighth article summarizes                  the child of God alone for one                 gospel.
what our Reformed fathers have                 moment, he would fall into the                 THE UNCHANGEABLE
stated on this great doctrine.                 depth of sin and perish. Hence                 COUNSEL OF GOD
                                               the Reformed churches cannot                     The counsel of God is the ac-
                                               agree with the Arminian who                    tivity of the Three Persons of the
                                               says that possibly the saint would             Holy Trinity as They speak to
                                               fall. No, it is true that even the             each other. There are times
                                               saint would certainly fall away if             when we might be tempted to
                                               God would leave him alone for a                compare God's counsel to the
                                               moment. Mercy is God's love for
Jason L. Kortering is pastor of the Protes-
tant Reformed Church of Grandville,            the undeserving and needy saint,
Michigan.                                      to deliver him from his distress

438 / The Standard Bearer


blueprint of an architect as he           Since God's counsel includes         even as many as the Lord our
contemplates an unusual struc-         the election of His people in           God shall call," Acts 2:39. This
ture. It is true that God expresses    Jesus Christ, the salvation of          was heralded far and wide as the
His own sovereign good pleasure        these elect people is sure, for         Spirit guided the church to bring
within His counsel, and that in-       Gods counsel takes on the               the gospel to the ends of the
cludes all the details of history.     character of God's very being. As       earth. Repeatedly it is said, "As
The inadequacy of such a com-          God is sovereign, so also His           many as were ordained to eter-
parison can be seen in that the        counsel is sovereign. As God is         nal life believed, Acts 13:48, or,
blueprint is so inferior to the        eternal, so God's counsel is eter-      "And the Lord added to the
completed building. As far as          nal. That counsel is a11 compre-        church daily, such as should be
God's counsel is concerned, His        hensive, wise, and good, even as        saved," Acts 2:47.
counsel is the highest good, and       God Himself is such. All God's at-         How could that be said? How
what He reveals by creation and        tributes apply to His counsel. The      is it that the promise of salvation
history is only a small reflection     one attribute that especially ap-       was realized and it came to pass
of the glory which is in His own       plies here is God's immutability.       exactly as God had said? Two
counsel. From this point of view,      God never changes. Hence His            considerations enter here. The
God does not need creation in          counsel is the eternal good             first one is that the promise was
order to maintain His glory. He is     pleasure of God that cannot             not a genera1 promise made to
all glorious within Himself. God       change. Remember the words of           all men, conditioned upon their
speaks of this counsel as the ex-      the prophet Malachi, "I am the          faith to receive it. Such a view of
pression of His good pleasure:         Lord, I change not, therefore ye        the promise cannot be and is not
"Remember the former things of         sons of Jacob are not consumed."        sure. The promise which God
old, for I am God, and there is        There is one conclusion that our        gives through the gospel is par-
none else, I am God, and there is      Reformed fathers draw from this:        ticular, for believers and their
none like me, declaring the end        the elect child of God cannot fall      seed, according to the good
from the beginning, and from an-       from grace. As sure as God's            pleasure of God. The very nature
cient times the things that are        election is sure, so sure is it that    of God's promise is oath-bound.
not yet done, saying, My counsel       God will realize the good               Because He could swear by no
shall stand, and I will do a11 my      pleasure that He expresses in           greater, He sware by Himself,
good pleasure," Isa. 46:9, 10.         eternity. The elect cannot be lost.     Hebrews 6:13. Since the content
  Included in this counsel is the      GOD'S PROMISES CANNOT FAIL              of that promise conforms to His
expression of God's sovereign            By promises of God, our Re-           eternal counsel, he never prom-
good pleasure regarding the            formed fathers refer to those           ises salvation to more than those
ultimate destiny of all rational       promises that flow forth from the       He has chosen. The promise
moral creatures. This is called the    counsel of God. They come to us         of God is sure. He always
counsel of predestination. God         by the message of the gospel,           realizes it. Secondly, the promise
sovereignly willed the salvation       which is the sounding forth of          and the fulfillment are in-
of His people in Jesus Christ:         what God has written in His             separably connected in God. We
"For whom he did foreknow, he          Word.                                   have a God who is able to fulfill
also did predestinate to be con-         These promises were com-              His promise because He has the
formed to the image of his Son,        municated to the pilgrims of the        necessary power. Hence, the or-
that he might be the firstborn         Old Testament by means of               dained to eternal life receive the
among many brethren," Romans           angels, revelations, direct speech      promise, and that is fulfilled by
8:29. He also willed the destruc-      of God, visions and dreams. If we       the work of the Holy Spirit.
tion of the wicked. Christ is "a       consider what God said to them,           God's promises cannot fail.
stone of stumbling and a rock of       it can be summarized in the             This is a wonderful reason for the
offense, even to them which            words to Abraham: "I will               blessed assurance we have that
stumble at the word, being dis-        establish my covenant between           God will preserve His people un-
obedient; whereunto also they          me and thee and thy seed after          to the full realization of their
were appointed," I Peter 2%            thee, to be a God unto thee and         salvation in glory.
                                       thy seed after thee," Gen. 17:7.        THE CALL CANNOT
                                       This same theme is repeated over        BE REVOKED
                                       and over. It is virtually the same        Now our Reformed fathers add
                                       in the New Testament: "For the          one more thing: the efficacious
                                       promise is unto you and to your         call. The gospel is not a well-
                                       children, to all that are afar off      meant offer of salvation directed


                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  / 439


to all men. Rather the call of the          from your evil ways, for why will       borhood may hear it. At the
gospel is particular in content, as         ye die, 0 house of Israel,"             same time, the message of the
it is sounded forth throughout all          Ezekiel 33: 11. That call is par-       gospel is two-fold. It brings good
the earth. The preaching of that            ticular. It is directed to the weary    news to the repentant sinner
gospel, which here is labeled "the          and heavy laden, or the troubled        and the warning of judgment for
call", is sure and steadfast.               in the house of Israel, even            the ungodly.
  Let us illustrate this. What does         though many more may have                  This call of God cannot be
God say through the agency of               heard the prophet Ezekiel or            revoked. It is sure and steadfast
the preaching? Repeatedly the Bi-           Jesus speak. A mother may stand         and thus all who are called are
ble tells us: "Come unto me all             at the back door and shout,             surely saved.
ye that are weary and heavy                 "Johnny come home! It's supper             What a blessed basis for the
laden, and I will give you rest,"           time!" The call is directed to          assurance that we are preserved
Matt. 11:28. "Turn ye, turn ye              Johnny, though the whole neigh-         by work of our Sovereign God. 0





                                            Absolutely Secure In
 Arie den Hartog                            The Lord Jesus Christ

   Our final preservation and               offered His sacrifice on the cross      Yet his only confidence and glory
glory is guaranteed by the work             still perish, then that sacrifice       is in the perfect work of Christ.
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is             means nothing. If, after Christ         Christ will finally be glorified
the Son of God. His work is ab-             has accomplished His perfect            when He has brought all of the
solutely sovereign and perfect.             work on the cross, it is still up to    elect of God unto heavenly glory
He is almighty and faithful. He             man who will or will not be             and blessing, and none of them is
will not allow one of His own to            saved, then man and not Jesus is        missing.
perish. This is the blessed gospel          the Savior. But the truth of the          We can consider all of the
of our salvation. Without the               gospel is that Jesus saves. It is       various wonderful aspects of the
truth of the absolute certainty of          not our faithfulness or steadfast-      work of Christ, and the certainty
the salvation of those who are              ness that will finally save us, but     of our salvation in Him shines
Christ's, there would be no                 the almighty work and faithful-         forth through them. We mention
gospel. The Arminian heresy is a            ness of our blessed Lord and            first of all the background of that
God-dishonoring and Christ-                 Savior Jesus Christ. The child of       work in the counsel and purpose
denying doctrine in spite of its            God who has put his faith and           of God. God has chosen us in
many claims to exalt the name of            trust in the Lord has the certain       Christ before the foundations of
Christ. If those for whom Christ            hope of final salvation. This hope      the world. According to His pur-
                                            will never be put to shame. The         pose of election, He has already
                                            above mentioned truth is in no          blessed us with all spiritual bless-
                                            way contradicted by all the             ings in Christ Jesus. This is the
                                            passages of Scripture which ex-         cause of the great doxology of
                                            hort the Christian to be steadfast      praise and thanks which bursts
                                            and faithful unto the end. He           forth from the inspired apostle
                                            must be steadfast and faithful. If      Paul, as was recorded in Ephe-
                                            he truly belongs to Christ and          sians 1:3 and 4. Even as God
Arie den Hartog is pastor of the Protes-    has the Spirit of Christ, he will       Himself chose us from eternity in
tant Reformed Church of Randolph,           earnestly desire to be faithful.
Wi$onsin.                                                                           Christ, He will surely also save all

440  J  The Standard Bearer


of His elect through His wonder-         When Jesus was borninto the             saved. That is the reason why
ful and glorious work in Christ.         world He was called by the name         they will not be condemned in
God will also cause all those            "Jesus," for He would save His          the day of judgment. Also their
spiritual blessings which He has         people from their sin. This was         sins of unbelief and backsliding
prepared in Christ to become the         the purpose of God's sovereign          were paid for at the cross. This is
real and final possession of His         love. He will surely fulfill that       the only hope of the Christian. If
people.                                  purpose so that none of those           this were not so, no one would
   Jesus will save all those whom        who are called His people shall         be saved. The Christian falls a
the Father has given unto Him.           perish in their sin.                    thousand times in his life. But all
Our Lord, when He was on earth,            The foundation of the perfect         those falls were paid for by
loved to speak of His own as             work of Christ was laid at the          Christ. This does not mean that
those who were given to Him by           cross. Christ accomplished a            therefore he will become careless
the Father. (See John 6:37 and           definite and particular work on         about his sin. A true Christian
39; John 10:29; and John 17:9,           the cross. He did not merely die        cannot be and is not careless
11, 12.) Concerning those whom           for sin in general. His death was       about his sin.
the Father has given to Him,             not merely an example of the              At the cross, Christ also
Jesus says in John 6:37: "All that       justice of God, as the Arminians        merited perfect righteousness for
the Father giveth me shall come          claim. The Lord laid upon Christ        His people. Nothing can be added
to me; and him that cometh to            very definitely a11 the iniquity of     to that righteousness, for it is
me I will in no wise cast out."          His people. Christ bore the sins of     already perfect, unchangeable,
Jesus spoke these words over             His people to the cross. Satisfac-      and everlasting. It was made
against the unbelieving Jews who         tion had to be made for those           perfect by the great wonder of
were offended by His words and           sins, without which there could         the loving, obedient sacrifice of
left Him. In verses 39 and 40 of         be no salvation. Christ offered         the Son of God. Nothing that
John 6 Jesus says concerning             Himself in perfect, loving              God's people can do can in any
those whom the Father gave               sacrifice before the just and holy      way add to that righteousness.
Him: "And this is the Father's           God. By His sacrifice He made           The good works of Gods people
will which hath sent me, that of         real and definite atonement for         flow forth as the fruit of their
all which He hath given me I             the sins of His people. He did not      salvation and never contribute
should lose nothing, but should          merely at the cross make atone-         even one iota to the ground of
raise it up at the last day. And this    ment and reconciliation a               their salvation. Because we are
is the will of Him that sent me,         possibility, and then dependent         perfectly righteous in Christ,
that every one which seeth the           on the free-will decision of man        therefore we are also worthy of
Son, and believeth on Him, may           to accept or reject it. Christ fully    all the blessings of salvation, in-
have everlasting life: and I will        accomplished the work of                cluding the blessing of life ever-
raise him up at the last day."           redemption at the cross. He died        lasting. This is not merely a
Clearer words concerning the             on the behalf of and in the stead       possibility which is offered to all
certainty of the final salvation of      of His people. By His sacrifice He      men. It is a blessed reality for all
those whom the Father has given          blotted out all their sins and paid     those who are Christ's.
to Christ cannot be found. Surely        for their debt to set them free.          Christ arose from the dead. He
Christ Jesus will fulfill the will of    Therefore God's people no longer        arose as the Lord and Savior of
His heavenly Father. He will per-        stand condemned before God. It          His people. Through His resurrec-
form a11 the work that is                would be a flagrant violation of        tion He gives everlasting life to
necessary to save those whom             the justice of God if He were to        His people. Because of His resur-
the Father in love entrusted to          punish them a second time for           rection, His people shall never
Him.                                     the sins which they have commit-        perish but live forever. Christ ob-
  God made Jesus to be the head          ted. The work of Christ is a            tained the right of life for His
of the covenant. In His covenant         finished and perfect work. There        people. He paid the penalty of
God has promised forever to be           is no more need of offering for         death on their behalf. Therefore
our God and Savior. He was               sin. Therefore, also in the final       they that are His shall not die,
pleased to realize His covenant          day of judgment God's people            but live forever. This is not mere-
through His Son Jesus Christ.            will be justified. Though all of        ly a possibility but a blessed and
                                         God's people are terrible sinners,      wonderful certainty.
                                         even their worst sins have been           The same Christ who merited
                                         paid for at the cross. That is the      the blessings of salvation for His
                                         reason why they will finally be         people on the cross also bestows


                                                                                                   The Standard Bearer  I441


those blessings upon them. For         ing and glorious savior at all. He     resurrection. What a beautiful ex-
He has ascended up on high and         is a miserable failure. He is not      ample of the preservation of the
received from the Father the gift      the Christ of God revealed in the      saints. Christ continually prays
of the Holy Spirit. Through His        gospel. For the Christ of God          for all of His own. He tells us this
Holy Spirit He continually pours       loves His own to the uttermost.        in John 17. In that chapter is
out the blessings of salvation         He will never forsake them. He         recorded His high-priestly prayer.
which He merited on the cross          will surely save them from ever-       He prayed in that prayer not for
for His people. In order to under-     lasting condemnation in hell. He       the world, but only for those
stand fully the wonderful work of      will not leave them in the falls of    whom the Father has given Him.
salvation, it is good and              their own sins. He will raise them     After the ascension, Christ
necessary to distinguish salvation     up and bring them to the glory         became the heavenly high priest
as it was accomplished on the          and joy He has merited for them        of His people. He brought His
cross from salvation as it is ap-      through His perfect work on the        perfect sacrifice into the sanc-
plied through the Spirit of Christ.    cross. He will take them to Him-       tuary as the ground of all His
But there is no separation be-         self, unto His own blessed life        prayers. He prays continually for
tween these two. Christ does not       and fellowship, for He loves           the final salvation of all His
bestow His blessings of salvation      them. His love for them makes          people. God surely hears all of
on a different people than upon        their final salvation absolutely       those prayers. The Father blesses
those for whom He merited              sure.                                  and keeps us as His beloved
them. Christ bestows all the             The certainty of our salvation       because of the prayers of His
blessings of salvation on all those    is guaranteed by the prayers           Son. All those for whom Christ
for whom He merited them.              which Christ offers for us. He is      prays will surely be saved to the
Therefore none of them shall be        our great high priest. He makes        uttermost.
lost. If Jesus did not both merit      continual intercession for His           It would be easy to write a
salvation objectively and also ap-     own so that they will not perish.      book on the wonderful subject of
ply that salvation through His         How beautifully this is illustrated    the blessed certainty of the salva-
Spirit upon His own, He would          in the story of Peter. Peter           tion of all those who belong to
not be a complete Savior.              denied his Lord. What an awful         Christ. As people of God, we con-
  The certainty of our final           sin that was! He did that even         fess with the Heidelberg
salvation is further guaranteed by     though the Lord predicted it           Catechism that we belong with
the fact that our Lord Jesus           ahead of time and warned him           body and soul, in life and in
Christ was exalted to the right        about it. But Jesus prayed for         death unto our faithful savior
hand of God. All power and             Peter so that his faith would          Jesus Christ. This is our only
authority in heaven and earth          finally not fail. Jesus promised to    comfort, and the certain hope of
were given to Him. He reigns           do that. Satan tried to destroy        our final salvation. And therefore
over all from His throne in the        Peter through a terrible fall into     we glory in Christ alone. We con-
heavens. The exalted Christ will       sin. But Jesus kept Peter, and         fidently expect finally to join the
allow none of His own to perish.       restored him again after His           glorious throng in heaven around
That is impossible. He has the                                                His throne to sing His everlasting
power to save His people from                                                 praises. Cl
all the power of sin and the
devil. He has the power to keep
them from falling. He has the
power to raise them up when-
ever they fall. He also is faithful    The Standard Bearer makes a
to do it, for He is indeed the
Savior and Lord of His people.         thoughtful gift for members of your
  The certainty of our final
salvation is guaranteed by the         family, friends, and neighbors. Give
love of the Lord Jesus for His
own. The Arminian may boast of
his Christ who loves all,men and       a gift of the Standard Bearer.
desires to save all men. But when
that Christ allows the objects of
his love to perish everlastingly in
hell, he is not a mighty and lov-


442  I The Standard Bearer


                                                  Preservation and the
          Ronald H. Hanko                         Work of the Holy Spirit

             There are many passages               there that endures? What                      That is to say, that because salva-
          which teach the doctrine of the         thought, or motive, or decision                tion is according to the purpose
     ~    preservation of saints, or, as it is     does he have that does not                    of God, because it is into the
          sometimes called, eternal securi-       change from moment to mo-                      fellowship of the Son of God, and
          ty. But we believe in the preser-       ment? And how shall he ever be                 because it is by the powerful
          vation and perseverance of saints       sure that his will to b.e saved will           work of the Spirit of God, it can-
          not only on the basis of those          last, and that what seems to him               not come to nothing.
          passages, but also on the basis of      now the right thing will not look                 To teach a falling away of
          the testimony of all Scripture that     different in the light of another              saints, or even the possibility of
          salvation is from beginning to          day, or under the pressure of                  it, is to say that God Almighty
          end the work of God. In other           time and circumstances? If his                 can be frustrated, the work of the
          words, believing in the preserva-       own will is decisive in his salva-             Son of God ineffectual, and the
          tion of saints is an integral part      tion, what hope can he ever have               Holy Spirit too weak.
          of believing in salvation by grace      of everlasting salvation and                      This is exactly the opposite of
          alone.                                  security, he whose will is so                  what the Canons say in Article 8
            The opposite is also true.            unstable and changeable that                   of the Fifth Chapter:
          Those who do not believe this           from one moment to the next he                    Thus it is not in consequence of their
          doctrine do not believe it              is not sure what color shoes he                own merits, or strength, but of God's free
          because they attribute something        will wear or what he will have                 mercy, that they do not totally fall from
          of salvation to man's own works         for his supper?                                faith and grace, nor continue and perish
                                                                                                 finally in their backslidings; which, with
          or free-will, not just because of            The foundation of faith in the            respect to themselves, is not only possi-
          certain passages like Hebrews           preservation of saints, and in my              ble, but would undoubtedly happen; but
          6:4-6. Because they make a man's        own preservation as a child of                 with respect to God, it is utterly impossi-
          own "decision" or believing the         God, is not any one text of Scrip-             ble, since His counsel cannot be changed,
          deciding factor in his salvation,       ture, therefore, but confidence in             nor His promise fail, neither can the call
I                                                                                                according to His purpose be revoked, nor
          they cannot believe that he will        God as the only Savior.                        the merit, intercession and preservation
          surely and infallibly be saved to            The Canons express this very              of Christ be rendered ineffectual, nor the
          the end, for what work of man is        beautifully in the very first article          sealing of the Holy Spirit be frustrated or
                                                  on the doctrine of preservation                obliterated (v, 8).
                                                  or perseverance:                               Notice again in this article that
                                                       When God calls, according to His pur-     all the e'mphasis is on the fact
                                                  pose, to the communion of His Son, our         that salvation is all God's work,
                                                  Lord Jesus Christ, and regenerates by the      and that though man can and
                                                  Holy Spirit, He delivers also from the         always will fail, God cannot and
                                                  dominion and slavery of sin in this life;      will not.
                                                  though not altogether from the body of
                                                  sin, and from the infirmities of the flesh,       Since the Holy Spirit is the one
          Ronald H. Hanko is pastor of Trinity    so long as they continue in the world (v,      who actually gives us salvation
          Protestant Reformed Church, Houston,    0                                              and the enjoyment of it, His
          Texas.                                                                                 work is of particular interest

                                                                                                                        The Standard Bearer  / 443


when we talk about preservation.        teaches that saints are those            part of His work, in that He uses
Receiving salvation and enjoying        whom the Holy Spirit has made            them for our salvation, causing
it involves such things as the new      and fashioned, not those who             them to work together with a11
birth, faith, repentance, conver-       have made themselves to differ.          other things for our good. We
sion, sanctification, and entering      It is impossible to deny that there      acknowledge this when we pray
into glory. To fall away would be       are those who fall away from the         to God through the Spirit; "Lead
to lose one's faith, to turn from       church and from the fellowship           us not into temptation." It is His
repentance, to re-convert to            of believers, but they are not           withdrawing which makes it
ungodliness, to go back to the          Spirit-made saints. They may be          possible for us to fall, though this
old life of sin that preceded our       called Christians, be counted by         never happens arbitrarily, but
rebirth, to fail to continue in         us as brethren, be for a time ex-        always righteously, that is: when
sanctification and never to see         emplary members of the church,           we are inclined to go our own
the glory that awaits us. The           even be leaders and teachers in          way, neglect watching and
question whether or not this can        the church, but should they fall         prayer, and seek the satisfaction
happen, however, is a question          away, they show by that very             of fleshly lusts. It is His with-
that will be answered according         thing that whatever may have             drawing that leaves us comfort-
to what one believes about faith,       happened to them previously, the         less in our falls. It is His grace
repentance, regeneration, conver-       Spirit had not worked in them            that renews us to repentance and
sion, sanctification and glorifica-     unto salvation.                          restores the assurance of salva-
tion. If one believes, as so many         The thing that has to be em-           tion, and that according to the
do today, that these are in some        phasized is this: that all of our        purpose and will of God. In fact,
way or part the fruit of man's          salvation, regeneration through          it is only because we believe this,
own efforts and free-will, then it      glorification, is the work of Spirit.    that we can be sure, even in our
is not difficult to believe either      No part of it depends in any way         temptations and falls, that we will
that what man has found or              on us. No part is a matter of our        never fall away. How else could
gained he can lose again. The           own choice and "free-will."              we sing the beautiful words of
whole history of mankind is the           Even when we speak of this             Psalm 73; "In doubt and tempta-
history of his losing what he           doctrine as the doctrine of the          tion I rest, Lord, in Thee" (Psalter
once had. But if one believes that      perseverance of saints,  we must         #202, 1). That same confidence,
all these things are the free gifts     remember that it is the Spirit's         that the Spirit of the Living God
of the Spirit of God, it is impossi-    work. The name "perseverance"            rules even in our temptations, is
ble to believe that they can ever       emphasizes the calling of all            also the one thing which
be lost, for that is to say that the    believers to continue steadfastly        preserves us from despair, when
Spirit who gives them to us is too      in the way, not to neglect               we see our sins and sinfulness,
weak to keep on giving them,            spiritual exercises, or allow            and all our failures and weak-
and to preserve us in the enjoy-        themselves to be seduced by the          ness. That He, in the end, will
ment of them, and that is               world and the flesh. That calling
blasphemy. It is to say that God        is real and necessary, so much
is weak.                                so, that those who do not give
  Believing, then, in the unmis-        heed to it will surely fall into         The Standard
takable testimony of Scripture,         great sin. But the reality and
that. all these things are gifts of     urgency of that calling does not         Bearer makes a
the Holy Spirit of God, we              change the fact that obedience to
believe that salvation once given       it is only by the indwelling and
cannot be lost, not because we          operations of the Spirit. We must        thoughtful gift
are strong, but because the Spirit      persevere if we are to be saved,
of God is strong, yea, not only         but it is God the Holy Spirit who        for the sick &
strong, but almighty.                   works the necessary grace in us.
  This is all to say that the real        We must remember this even             shut-in.
issue in the matter of the              when talking about the falls of
perseverance or preservation of         God's people. They are not the
saints is not whether or not there      work of the Spirit in the sense          Give a gift of
is such a thing taught in Scrip-        that the Spirit is to blame for
ture, but the question, "What is a      them. But they do take place             the Standard
saint?" Many believe that saints        under the sovereign direction of
are self-made people. Scripture         the Spirit of God, and are even          Bearer.
444  / The Standard  Bearer


use even those things for good               much less in that kind of a salva-     because it is part and parcel of
gives peace.                                 tion? Only a salvation which is        the whole glorious truth of salva-
   Understand too, that only if              "world without end" can be any         tion by God's great grace. May
what we have said is true, can               comfort to those who are perish-       God, "against Whom neither
the Spirit really be called our              ing, and shall surely perish           counsel nor strength can prevail"
"Comforter." His comfort is never            without it.                            dispose us to continue to cherish
mere words, but the gift of salva-             The Canons say that the truth        and defend this truth to the end
tion itself, so precious. But a              of the preservation of the saints      (Canons V, 15) when finally and
salvation which is fallible, im-             is "an inestimable treasure,"          forever we shall enjoy without
perfect, even perishable, is not             "most tenderly loved and con-          weakness and sin the fruits of His
any comfort at all. We may not               stantly defended" by the church        Spirit's great work of preserva-
put our hope in the things of this           of Christ (V, 15). It is that          tion. 0
world because they are
perishable and perishing. How





                                             The Preservation of
Herman C. Hanko                              the Church

  This Church hath been from the begin-        The preservation of God's            istence is, from every earthly
ning of the world, and will be to the end    church in the world is directly        point of view, constantly
thereoh which is evident from this, that     related to the preservation of the
Christ is an eternal King, which, without                                           threatened and her life in the
subjects, cannot be. And this holy Church    saints. The latter is the ground of    world is on the very edge of the
is preserved or supported by God against     the former. Because God                cliff.
the rage of the whole world; though she      preserves His people, God also            The devil has one aim: to
sometimes (for a while) appears very         preserves His church. Because no       make this present earthly crea-
small, and in the eyes of men, to be
reduced to nothing; as during the            falling away of saints is possible,    tion his own kingdom. He has a
perilous reign of Ahab, the Lord reserved    the church is always present in        passionate desire to claim the
unto him seven thousand men, who had         the world.                             world for his own. Everything he
not bowed their knees to Baa1 (Belgic          Scripture and our Reformed           does is for the purpose of banish-
Confession, Art. 27).                        Confessions teach that through-        ing the Christ from the creation
  The Son of God from the beginning to
the end of the world, gathers, defends,      out the history of the world, the      and setting up his kingdom of
and preserves to himself. . , a church       church is always here. There is        darkness. Because the church
. . . (Heidelberg Catechism, Q. 54).         no moment of time from the very        represents the cause of Christ, it
                                             beginning of history to the end        is of fundamental importance to
                                             when the church cannot be              Satan to eliminate the church
                                             found. Somewhere that church           and silence her testimony. He
                                             exists. Somewhere God has kept         will do all in his power to lay the
                                             it from disappearing.                  church waste and silence her
                                               This is a mighty act of God, for     voice.
                                             the enemies of the church are             He is a powerful antagonist
                                             many and strong. The church,           Who is a fallen angel, perhaps
                                             from a human point of view, oc-
Herman C. Hanko is professor of Church                                              the most powerful of all the
History and New Testament in the Protes-     cupies an extremely precarious         angels which God has created.
tant Reformed Seminary.                      position in the world. Her ex-         He has thousands of years of ex-

                                                                                                   The Standard Bearer  I445


  perience in fighting against the      prosperity and happiness which          preserves His church by deliver-
  cause of Christ and has learned       lure the saints away from a path        ing His people from certain
  the best and most effective           of self-denial, poverty, suffering,     defeat into glorious victory.
  stratagems to achieve his pur-        and sacrifice.                            Our Heidelberg Catechism, in
  pose. He is utterly ruthless and        The church is helpless of             putting the truth of Scripture in
  totally without mercy. He never       herself. This helplessness is not       the hearts and mouths of God's
  takes pity on anyone and is           only because of the small size of       children, tells us that, among
  never moved by the nobler emo-        the church, but is also due to the      other things, the truth concerning
  tions of compassion. He is filled     fact that the saints themselves         the church means that the Son of
  with naked hatred of Christ and       are very grave sinners who have         God from the beginning to the
  the cause of Christ.                  much in their flesh which loves         end of the world, gathers,
    He has a vast host of demons        the world and is ready to aid and       defends, and preserves to himself
  who agree completely with him         assist the world in its evil pur-       a church. Every part of this con-
  and who are loyal to him in           suits. Scripture speaks of the          fession is important. This is the
  every respect. They are sent out      church as a hut in a garden of          work of the Son of God. This is a
  into the world to do his bidding      cucumbers, a besieged city, a           work which He does from the
. and to accomplish his goals. He       very small remnant (Isaiah 1:8,         beginning to the end of time so
  gives them their marching             9) a small flock of sheep helpless      that there never is a time when
  orders, and this innumerable          in a wilderness filled`with wolves      the church is not present in the
  throng of foul spirits directs the    (Luke 12:32). But Scripture also        world. This work includes the
  full energies of their twisted        makes it very clear that every          gathering of the church, the de-
  hatred to wipe out the church.        saint is a sinner, that the tug of      fending of the church, the pre-
    As if that were not enough, he      the world is strong for Gods            serving of the church. Because
  has the battalions of wicked men      child because the world is pres-        the Son of God does this great
 who are in full agreement with         ent in his own flesh, that he           work, the church is always in the
  him and who are ready and             must be constantly held on a            world.
  eager to do whatever is               leash of grace lest he run head-          The Belgic Confession states
 necessary that his purpose may         long into the camp of the enemy.        the same truth and in fact makes
 be accomplished. The spiritual           It all seems so hopeless. The         a point of it in a rather lengthy
stance of the world is always en-       odds are overwhelming. The situ-        discussion. It speaks of the great
 mity against the church. Men of        ation fraught with peril. It is like    truth that the church is preserved
 the world may come with smiling        a few emaciated and weak people         or supported by God against the
 faces and outstretched arms to         trying to hold a city against           rage of the whole world even
 make God's people think they are       millions of powerfully armed bat-       when it appears very small and
 sympathetic to the plight of the       talions. And in the city are those      is, in the eyes of men, reduced to
 church, are actually proud of the      who are always trying to escape         nothing. Such times have oc-
 church's accomplishments, are          the city and run to the camp of         curred in the world's history. The
 filled with compliments for the        the enemy to commit the                 Belgic Confession refers to the
 beleaguered saints, and are ready      dastardly crime of treason. It          perilous days of Ahab. Such days
 to assist the saints in their work     seems impossible that the hud-          existed when the old patriarch
 and calling. But the smiles hide       dled few within Zion's walls can        Athanasius poignantly cried that
 hatred, and the honeyed words          ever hold out.                          the whole world had turned
 cover deceitful hearts. When our         But God preserves His church          Arian (a heresy which denied the
 backs are turned or we voice the       in the world. He does this by           divinity of Christ). Before the
 slightest opposition, we will find     preserving his saints and by            Reformation, one could hardly
 we have a knife in our backs.          fighting for His cause through His      find the church in the clutter and
    The weapons which the world         Son, Jesus Christ, the Captain of       apostasy of Roman Catholicism.
 has at her disposal are worldli-       the armies of the Lord. He                In proof of the fact that the
 ness, false doctrine, enemies in       preserves His church by keeping         church is always in the world,
 the camp of the saints, com-           His people faithful to Him against      the Belgic Confession appeals to
 promise with principles, deceit        all the inclinations of their sinful    the eternal Kingship of Christ
 and lying, persecution and ex-         flesh; He preserves His church by       over the church. It argues that a
 quisite torture, sweet songs of        holding the enemy in His power-         king without subjects is impossi-
                                        ful hands so that they cannot do        ble, and, because Christ is an
                                        anything but what He has deter-         eternal King, he must always
                                        mined for them to do; He                have subjects. Hence, the world


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will always have those in it who            loudly as possible, contradicting         In the second place, it is not
bow their knees in worship                  the clamor and lies of the             without good reason that the
before King Jesus and acknowl-              wicked, that not Satan is king,        Belgic Confession discusses this
edge Him as Lord of all.                    but Christ rules supreme and the       matter of the preservation of the
   We may add to this proof the             outcome is certain, the battle         church just before its statement
statement of the Lord Himself:              won, the victory complete. That        concerning the calling of every
"Lo, I am with you alway, even              witness must be in the world un-       saint to join himself to the true
unto the end of the world." If              til the end so that the wicked         church. This calling is a solemn
Christ is always with His church,           may be judged in righteousness         obligation, a Godly duty, a
the church is always present.               and sentenced to hell with             necessary responsibility. It in-
   Christ is pleased to gather His          justice.                               volves the salvation of himself
church in the line of generations;             This important truth has            and his children. But when his
i.e., he saves His church from              several practical consequences.        own church departs from the
believers and their seed in their              In the first place, it is a word    faith, when his fellow believers
generations. Because of this                of encouragement and comfort           join the ranks of the enemy,
truth, the church always survives,          from the King of His church to         when the victory of unbelief
for if the church would disappear           his embattled people. It assures       seems certain, he may wonder
from the earth, the rule of salva-          them with the very abiding Word        whether the church of Christ is
tion in the line of generations             of God Himself that all is well.       still here. Christ assures him that
would be abandoned.                         When the saints, huddled and           it is. Christ promises him that a
  Christ has the victory in all             afraid, beset by the hosts of the      church will always be in the
history. His victory is so com-             wicked and hard-pressed in the         world, in which he can find
plete that even the hordes of hell          battle, witnesses of traitors who      shelter and safety. He must not
and the huge'armies of the                  abandon their cause and join the       doubt this. The church will be
ungodly are only pawns on the               ranks of the enemies, are afraid       here when the citadels of the
chessboard of history moved by              and uncertain, facing the grim         enemy fall, when the crushing
Christ so that His glorious church          prospect of imminent defeat, hear      defeat of the armies of hell is
for which He died is brought to             the words of the Captain of their      witnessed by him from the ram-
His everlasting kingdom. And as             salvation, they are strengthened       parts of Zion, and when the
long as history endures, Christ             in faith knowing that faith is the     kingdoms of this world become
will see to it that the church is           victory that overcomes the             the kingdom of our God and of
present, so that it can shout as            world.                                 His Christ. c3
                                       -





lames D. Slopsema                      The Calling To Persevere'

                                              In many different passages of        which we have, that no man take
                                            the Bible and in many different        our crown, (Revelation 3:ll). As
                                            ways God calls us, as His saints,      saints of God, we are called to
                                            to persevere.                          give the more earnest heed to
                                              We are called to be faithful un-     the things we have heard, lest at
                                            to death, that we may receive          any time we should let them slip,
James D. Slopsema is pastor of Hope         the crown of life, (Revelation         (Hebrew 2:l). We are to show
Protestant Reformed Church, Walker,         2:lO). We are to hold fast that        diligence unto the end, (Hebrews
Michigan.

                                                                                                     The Standard Bearer  / 447


6: 11). We are to abide in Christ,       uleasures of this world. How the           These examples are not
(John 14:4).                             sins of this world have a way of        foreign to our own experience,
   We could go on and on with            arousing the evil passions of our       are they? How inclined we are,
many similar exhortations from           flesh! Then there is persecution.       as saints, to halt and to stumble
God's word.                              How tempting it is to forsake our       in sin. How difficult we find it to
   Certainly these exhortations to       God and follow the world when           remain faithful to the Lord. Daily
faithfulness and perseverance are        the world, at the instigation of        we must fight against sin. How
necessary.                               the devil, makes the way of             easily we go the way of Solomon
   God has accomplished a                godliness very narrow and dif-          or David or other of the saints,
wonderful work of grace in us,           ficult. Neither must we overlook        whose shameful falls cover the
His saints. He has delivered us          in this connection all the suffer-      pages of Holy Writ.
from the power of sin and re-            ing and pain of this life. Many           Also then we are faced with
newed us spiritually. He has             are the troubles we as saints ex-       the calling of Scripture to
opened that which was closed,            perience in life. There are sick-       persevere. In the context of our
softened that which was hard,            ness'and disease, the infirmities       sin and unfaithfulness, we are
circumcised that which was un-           of old age, the loss of loved oiies,    called to remember from whence
circumcised. In Christ we have           poverty, troubles in one's mar-         we are fallen, and repent and do
become new creatures, able to            riage and home. The list is             the first works, (Revelation 2:5).
serve the Lord our God in love,          endless. As is evident, however,        We are called to turn from our
according to His commandments.           from the book of Job, the devil         vanities unto the living God,
For that reason we can take the          has a hand in the sufferings of         (Acts 14: 15).
name saints, i.e., holy ones, those      this present life. And his purpose        The urgency of the call to
consecrated to God.                      is the same as his purpose with         perseverance is found in the fact
   We must understand, however,          Job. He would bring us to the           that only those who remain faith-
that the work of God in us, as           point of bitterness against God so      ful to God and continue faithful
saints, is for the present in-           that we curse God and die.              to the end will be received by
complete.                                  And so the Lord God calls us          God into heavenly glory.
   Although we have been                 to perseverance. Be faithful, even        The Scriptures remind us of
spiritually renewed by the Holy          unto death. Hold fast that which        this truth over and over again.
Spirit, there is much that is of sin     you have. Fight the good fight of         Only those who endure to the
in each one of us. As saints of          faith. Be not led away with every       end shall be saved, (Matthew
God on the earth each of us has          wind of doctrine.                       24:13). Eternal life is promised to
a sinful, vicious nature that re-          Not surprisingly, many of God's       those who by patient contin-
mains from the fall and that has         people in history have been led         uance in well-doing seek for             ~
not yet been renewed by the              Far astray by the devil. Think of       glory and immortality, (Romans
grace of God. This sinful nature,        David, the great king of Israel.        2:7). Those who do not abide in
also called the flesh, is filled with    Filled with lust, he committed          Christ, as the branch abides in
all sorts of evil lusts and desires.     adultery with another man's wife,       the vine, shall be cast out, (John
It is obviously prone to every           lnd then sought to cover his sin        15:6). In due season we will reap,
way of sin.                              by murdering her husband. Think         if we faint not, (Galatians 6:9).
   With thisisinful flesh we live        3f Solomon, who was led by his          The house of Israel must turn
not in some'vacuum but in the            many heathen wives to forsake           from her evil ways unto the Lord
real world of temptation. Many           the Lord His God and to follow          that she may live and not die,
are the opportunities afforded the       sfter idols for many years of his       [Ezekiel 33: 11).
devil to appeal to our sinful flesh,     life. Think of Peter, who went so         We must not conclude, as
so that we are sorely tempted to         far as to deny the Lord Jesus           some do, that all this presupposes
depart from the ways of God irito        Christ. Think of the book of            the possibility of the saints falling
sin. The devil seeks to lead us          Hebrews, written to the Hebrew          away from grace into the
away from God through all sorts          Christians, who due to persecu-         destruction of hell.
of false doctrines that elevate          tion and disappointment were              The Bible very clearly teaches
man at the expense of God. How           about to apostatize from the            that no saint can fall completely
appealing this is to our sinful          Christian faith and return to           away from the grace of God, and
pride! The devil would lead us           Judaism.                                perish. Certainly the saints can
astray also through the sinful                                                   stray far away into sin. They
                                                                                 may stray so far away from God
                                                                                 that for a time they even lose


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the consciousness of God's grace.             which worketh in you both to                   And as it hath pleased God, by the
However, God will always                      will and to do of His good                   preaching of the gospel, to begin this
preserve His work of grace in                 pleasure."                                   work of grace in us, so he preserves, con-
even the most sinful and weak of                 We find the same instruction in           tinues, and perfects it by the hearing and
                                                                                           reading of his Word, by meditation there-
his saints. And in due time God               the Canons of Dordt, (V, 3).                 on, and by the exhortations, threaten-
will also bring His wayward                     By reason of these remains of indwell-     ings, and promises thereof. . . .
sheep back to the fold in true                ing sins, and the temptations of sin and        How important then is the call-
sorrow and repentance.                        of the world, those who are converted to     ing to perseverance.
  What purpose, we may ask,                   God could not persevere in a state of           This calling must be often
                                              grace, if left to their own strength. But
does the repeated calling of God              God is faithful, who having conferred        sounded from the pulpit. The ex-
to perseverance have, if there is             grace, mercifully confirms, and power-       hortations to faithfulness, the
no possibility of the saints falling          fully preserves them therein, even to the    threatenings of judgment upon
from grace into destruction?                  end.                                         apostasy and the promises of
  We must remember that the                      It is in this context that we can         salvation for the faithful must be
perseverance of the saints is                 now understand the purpose of                proclaimed from the Scriptures
God's work in us. We certainly                the call to persevere.                       again and again.
can not persevere in our own                     God is a God of means. God                  And to this calling we as God's
strength. Left to ourselves, we               also uses means to accomplish                saints must pay very close atten-
would very soon be led away in-               His great work of perseverance               tion.
to sin and destruction. We re-                in the saints. The primary means               For this call to perseverance is
main faithful to God only because             God uses for this great work are             an effective calling, powerful to
God keeps us faithful to Him. The             the repeated exhortations of His             preserve all the saints of God :
perseverance of the saints is one             Word calling us to perseverance.             faithful even to the end. Cl
of those works described in                      Again the Canons of Dordt (V,
Philippians 2:13: "For it is God              14) gives us instruction





                                              3ut - Can Saints
Cise /. Van Baren                             -alI Away?

                                                 It is no secret that many differ-         development in Scripture - so
                                              ing and conflicting views on cer-            that what was once taught no
                                              tain doctrinal points are all sup-           longer is applicable.
                                              ported, it is claimed, by Scrip-               This is the case with the "five
                                              ture. This has created no end of             points of Calvinism" as well. Ar-
                                              confusion in the minds of many.              minianism, against which the
                                              Is Scripture so unclear, so in-              Canons of Dordt were written,
                                              definite, that opposite views can            taught views which conflicted
                                              both claim Scriptural support? If            with what Calvin, on the basis of
                                              Scripture is so clear, then how is           Scripture, set forth. Then, who is
                                              it that such conflicting views can           correct? Or is Scripture broad
                                              even exist?                                  enough to be able to encompass
Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protes-       Some would teach that Scrip-              both views at the same time?
tant Reformed Church of Hudsonville,          ture does indeed contradict itself.
Michigan.                                     Others would insist on a certain

                                                                                                            The  Standard  Bearer  / 449


   The Fifth Point of the Articles               grafted in again; nay, 5. They are not on-    of the covenant, wherewith he
of the Remonstrance (Arminians)                  ly cast forth and withered, but also cast     was sanctified, an unholy thing,
appears non-committal on the                     into the fire; and, 6. They are burned. It    and hath done despite unto the
                                                 is not possible for words more strongly to
subject of perseverance of saints.               declare, that even those who are now          Spirit of grace?" The problem
While insisting that God                         branches in the true vine may yet so fall     phrase is: "wherewith he was
preserves the believers, the arti-               as to perish everlastingly.2                  sanctified . . . ." How can this
cle goes on to state: "But                         Similar exegesis is presented               one be "sanctified" but then turn
whether they are capable,                        by Ralston in the other "proof                around and trample under foot
through negligence, of forsaking                 texts" for the falling away of                the Son? Again, the passage ap-
again the first beginnings of their              saints.                                       pears to deny both limited atone-
life in Christ (principle of their                  One passage, often quoted, is II           ment and preservation of saints.
being in Christ), of again return-               Peter 2:1, "But there were false              Yet we know that Scripture says:
ing to this present evil world, of               prophets also among the people,               "He which hath begun a good
turning away from the holy doc-                  even as there shall be false                  work in you will perform it until
trine which was delivered them,                  teachers among you, who privily               the day of Jesus Christ," (Phil.
of losing a good conscience, of                  shall bring in damnable heresies,             1:6). These two texts can be har-
becoming devoid of grace, that                   even denying the Lord that                    monized when one understands
must be more particularly deter-                 bought them, and bring upon                   that the "he'! can be indefinite
mined out of the Holy Scripture,                 themselves swift destruction."                and could be translated as "one".
before we ourselves can teach it                 These false teachers were, ap-                The blood of Christ is that with
with the full persuasion of our                  parently, "bought" by Christ. Yet             which "one" is sanctified. This
minds."                                          their damnable heresies bring                 despiser, then, mocks the blood
   Arminius and those who                        them to "swift destruction".                  of atonement; the blood which
followed him had no doubt, how-                  Would not that clearly teach a                sanctifies a person is counted as
ever, that there was a falling                   falling away of saints? Are not               nothing by the objector. That is
away of saints. One Arminian                     these, for whom Christ died,                  precisely the horrible sin of all
dogmatician, Thomas N. Ralston                   nevertheless lost?                            those who scoff at the cross. His
stated it thus:                                    The passage appears, then, to               precious blood, that blood which
  . . . Let the living oracles decide; and if    teach both universal atonement                sanctifies, is counted an unholy
these speak for us, we neither seek nor          and the falling away of saints.               thing.
want farther witness.                            The text, however, teaches                      Two other passages could
  On this authority, I believe a saint may       neither. The "having bought                   briefly be noted. One is Christ's
fall away; that one who is holy or
righteous in the judgment of God himself         them" is a phrase which defines               instruction in John 15:1-6. Even
may nevertheless so fall from God as to          the "Lord" (Master). The idea is              as He was going to Golgotha;
perish euerlasting1y.l                           that Jesus "buys" people. He does             Christ declares, "If a man abide
   This same Ralston points to                   this on the cross by paying for               not in me, he is cast forth as a
some of those Scriptural passages                the sins of His own. It is this               branch, and is withered; and men
which apparently teach a falling                 glorious truth which the heretics             gather them, and cast them into
away of saints.                                  deny - they deny that He                      the fire, and they are burned." A
  For thus saith our blessed Lord him-           bought them (and He did not),                 similar passage is found in
selt `I am the true vine, and my Father          and they deny that He buys any-               Romans 11:17-22.  The instruction
is the husbandman. Every branch in me            one. They deny the "buying"                   there is cdncerning some
that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away.
I am the vine, ye are the branches. If a         Lord. They deny the cross of                  branches (Jews) which were
man abide not in me, he is cast forth as         atonement.                                    broken off that others (Gentiles)
a branch, and is withered; and men                  It is not that these heretics              might be grafted in.
gather them, and cast them into the fire,        were "bought" and then fell                     Both passages appear to teach
and they are burned," John 15:1-6.               away. Rather the awfulness of                 that branches (believers) are cut
  Here we may observe, 1. The persons
spoken of were in Christ - branches of           their denial is set forth: these              off when they turn again to
the true vine. 2. Some of these branches         deny not simply a man - but the               unbelief. The Arminians seem to
abide not in Christ, but the Father taketh       Lord who atones for the sins of               have a good basis for their
them away. 3. The branches which abide           His people.                                   teaching of the falling away of
not are cast forth - cast out from Christ          A similar passage is found in               saints.
and his Church. 4. They are not only cast
forth, but withered; consequently never          Heb. 10:29: "Of how much sorer
                                                 punishment, suppose ye, shall he
                                                 be thought worthy, who hath
                                                 trodden under foot the Son of
                                                 God, and hath counted the blood

450 / The Standard Bearer


   Yet two things ought to be              the line of generations. Esau and         One other passage is often
noted. First, in this "falling             Jacob were both born within that       quoted to prove a "falling away"
away", there is no return at all           line. Both outwardly were part of      of saints: Hebrews 6:4-6. Since
again. The one cut off is both             that vine. But Esau was cut off.       this passage was treated exten-
withered and burned in the fire.           He was not a believer who fell         sively in an earlier Standard
There is no repentance for that            away. He was rather an                 Bearer, we will not discuss it at
one. Arminianism refuses to                unbeliever who appeared for a          this time.3
acknowledge that. Arminianism              time to be part of the church. In         Scripture is one harmonious
insists that one can fall away, but        his unbelief, something which          whole. The whole gives
also can be restored again - a             became evident as he grew older,       testimony of the preservation and
continuing process as long as one          he is cut off. So also it is true      perseverance of saints. Thank
lives on the earth. The passages,          with the Jews who were cut off,        God that His people are secure in
therefore, from the Arminian's             that the Gentiles might be grafted     the hand of Jesus - that none
point of view, proves more than            in. These were not fallen              can ever snatch us out of His
they intend it to prove.                   believers - but those who out-         hand (John  10:28-29). 0
   But, secondly, one must                 wardly belonged to the church.         1. Elements of Divinity, T.N. Ralston,
remember that Scripture presents           At the time of Pentecost, the             p. 444
the church on this earth in an             gospel was restricted no longer        2. op cit.; p. 450
organic manner. In these two               to the Jews. It was rather pro-        3. Standard Bearer, Vol. 60, page 113 by
                                                                                     Rev. C. Hanko  0
passages the church is compared            claimed to all nations. M-any of
to a vine and tree. There is a             the Jews, unbelievers, were cut
unit. God gathers His church in            off from that outward tree.





                                           The Means of
Ronald L. Cammenga                         Preservation

                                             Why do you go to church?             benefit for us in making use of
                                           Why do you listen every week to        the means of grace.
                                           sermons? Why do you use the               There are several benefits con-
                                           sacraments?                            nected to the use of the means of
                                             Certainly, the first answer to       grace by the child of God. One
                                           these questions is that you know       benefit is his instruction in the
                                           this to be the will of God for you.    truth, so that he comes to a
                                           God, in His law, calls us diligent-    greater understanding of and ap-
                                           ly to frequent His house on the        preciation for the Word of God.
                                           Lord's Day. God calls us to listen     Another benefit is the exercise of
                                           attentively to sermons. God has        the communion of the saints. Our
                                           instituted the sacraments and          going to church and using the
                                           calls us to make use of them.          sacraments strengthens the bond
                                             But it is also the case that our     between ourselves and our fellow
                                           going to church, our listening to      believers.
                                           sermons, and our using the
Ronald L. Cammenga is pastor of the        sacraments are activities that
Protestant Reformed Church of Loveland,    serve our own good. There is
Colorado.

                                                                                                        The Standard Bearer / 451


   Outstanding among the                 And as it hath pleased God, by the            God saves His people. But
benefits of the preaching of the       preaching of the gospel, to begin this        besides saving them, really as
Word and the use of the  sacra-        work of grace in us, so he preserves, con-    part of His salvation of them, He
ments, though, is our preserva-        tinues, and perfects it by the hearing and
                                       reading of his Word, by meditation there-     also gives them the assurance of
tion in the faith and our              on, and by the exhortations, threaten-        their salvation. In this life already
assurance of our preservation. In      ings, and promises thereof; as well as by     the child of God may and can
the will of God, the preaching         the use of the sacraments.                    know that he is saved, that God
and the sacraments serve as               There is a perfect parallel here           has from eternity chosen him and
means to our preservation and          between our spiritual life and our            that God will preserve him in
the assurance of our preserva-         physical life. God preserves our              salvation to the very end.
tion.                                  physical life in the world. But                 This is a wonderful aspect of
PREACHING AND SACRA-                   God does this through means,                  our salvation. Abstractly speak-
MENTS AS MEANS TO                      through the means of food and                 ing, it would have been possible
PRESERVATION                           drink. And the man who is such                for God to save us, without ever
  Of all the truths of Scripture,      a fool as to neglect the use of               giving to us the assurance of that
the truth that is especially com-      these God-ordained means is a                 salvation. Then, in the end we go
forting to the believer, the truth     man who is going to waste away                to heaven, but as long as we are
that especially stirs his heart in     and die. The same thing is true               in this life we have no certainty
gratitude to God is the truth of       spiritually. The meat and drink               of our final salvation. Here and
the preservation of the saints.        that God has ordained for the                 now we must live in doubt, fear,
This is the truth that sustains him    preservation of our spiritual life is         and uncertainty with regard to
when his mortal enemies, the           the preaching of His Word and                 our eternal future. But, thank
devil, the world, and his own          the sacraments. The man,                      God, this is not the case. Already
flesh, cease not to assault him.       woman, or young person who                    now the believer has the certain-
This is the truth that enables him     neglects these means of grace is              ty of his final salvation and the
to face every hardship, loss, and      going to wither away and die.                 certainty of his being preserved
disappointment. In the end, there         Since the Word is preached by              by God in that salvation.
is nothing that can be against         the instituted church, and since                Already now it is the con-
him, but all things must be for        the sacraments are administered               fidence of the believer that he is
him. There is nothing that can         by the instituted church, the                 and forever shall remain a living
separate him from the love of          means of the preservation of the              member of the church of Jesus
God in Christ Jesus his Savior.        people of God is the instituted               Christ, Heidelberg Catechism,
His comfort is that underneath         church. Church membership, liv-               Q.A. 54. With the Apostle Paul
are always the everlasting arms!       ing, vital church membership, is              he is able to say, "For I know
His comfort is that though he fall,    crucial! Apart from faithful                  whom I have believed, and am
he shall not be utterly cast down!     church membership there is no                 persuaded that he is able to keep
His comfort is that no one is able     possibility of preservation. There            that which I have committed un-
to pluck him out of the hand of        are many professing Christians                to him against that day," II Tim.
his Heavenly Father! His comfort       today who are down on the in-                 1:12. His confidence is the same
is that whom God foreknows and         stituted church, who are harshly              as that expressed in Phil. 1:6,
predestinates, He also in the end      critical of the instituted church,            "Being confident of this very
glorifies!                             and who have separated them-                  thing, that he which hath begun
  God preserves His people. But        selves from the instituted church.            a good work in you will perform
God preserves His people               They have pocketed their                      it until the day of Jesus Christ."
through means. The God Who             membership papers and no                        Just as the preaching and
has chosen His people and willed       longer attend church. The dread               sacraments are the means to our
their final salvation has also         seriousness of this is that apart             preservation itself, so they are
determined that this election and      from the church there is no                   also the means to the mszmnce
preservation shall be worked out       preservation in the faith.                    of our preservation. Under the
through the use of certain means.      MEANS TO THE ASSURANCE                        preaching of the electing grace of
  This truth is expressed in the       OF PRESERVATION                               God, the redemption of the blood
Canons of Dort V, 14:                     Not only do the preaching and              of Christ, and the sanctifying
                                       sacraments function as the means              power of the Holy Spirit, the
                                       of preservation, but they also                believer obtains and is confirmed
                                       serve as the means to the                     `In his assurance of his preserva-
                                       ASSURANCE of our preservation.                tion by God.


452 / The Standard Bearer


   Here really is the special place             Where the gospel is not               the truth of the sacraments. Then
of the administration of the sacra-           preached in truth, but denied and       and only then will we be pre-
ments in the life of the church.              corrupted, and to the extent to         served and have the assurance of
The main purpose of God in the                which it is denied and corrupted,       our preservation. For physical
sacraments is to give His people              there is no preservation. Where         life, it is not sufficient that the
the ASSURANCE of their salva-                 the sacraments are improperly           food be set before us that we
tion. What is heard in the preach-            administered, the truth of the          behold that good food. But we
ing of the gospel is reinforced               sacrament rejected, and the             must partake of it and assimiliate
visibly by the sacraments, so that            elements of the sacraments              it, if it is to profit us. The same is
what we might be inclined to                  distorted, there is no work of          true spiritually.
doubt, namely our preservation                God to give those who use the             Practically speaking, that
in salvation, may the more for-               sacraments the assurance of their       means that we do not simply go
cibly be brought home to us. God              salvation.                              to church and warm a spot on
has instituted the sacraments                   How zealously we ought to             the pew, but we are there listen-
specifically with a view to our               guard the means of grace! How           ing attentively and receiving the
assurance.                                    keen ought to be our concern for        Word that is preached. It means
   We believe, that our gracious God, on      the pure preaching and the right        that our minds are not wandering
account of our weakness and infirmities       administration of the sacraments!       to other things so that our
hath ordained the sacraments for us,          How energetically we ought to           thoughts are a million miles away
thereby to seal unto us his promises, and
to be pledges of the good will and grace      work for church reformation if in       from the Word that is being
of God toward us, and also to nourish         the fellowship of churches to           preached, but we are concen-
and strengthen our faith; which he hath       which we belong there is depar-         trating on the preaching. It
joined to the Word of the gospel, the bet-    ture from the Word of God and           means that we are not sleeping,
ter to present to our senses, both that       corruption of the sacraments!           but taking in the proclamation of
which he signifies to us by his Word, and
that which he works inwardly in our           The preservation of the saints          the Word. It means that we are
hearts, thereby assuring and confirming       and their assurance of preserva-        not using the sacraments merely
in us the salvation which he imparts to       tion is at stake! OUR preservation      out of custom and habit, but us-
us. (Belgic Confession, Article 23)           and the preservation of OUR             ing them in such a way that we
   The significance of this is ob-            CHILDREN is at stake!                   are receiving the truth and reali-
vious. To cut one's self off from               Yet it is not enough that we          ty of the sacraments. Then Word
the preaching of the gospel and               have the pure preaching of the          and sacraments will be used by
the use of the sacraments is to               Word and the proper administra-         God for our preservation and
forfeit the assurance of salvation.           tion of the sacraments. As impor-       assurance of our preservation.
Apart from the use of the means               tant and necessary as this is, it is      The apostle says in I Peter 1:5
of grace God simply will not give             also necessary that we use these        that the child of God is "kept by
the assurance of salvation and                means of grace believingly. The         the power of God" unto salva-
preservation in salvation.                    preaching and sacraments do not         tion. That power of God by
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE                         function in some automatic,             which He keeps us is the preach-
PURE PREACHING AND THE                        mechanical way to preserve us.          ing of His Word and the adminis-
PROPER ADMINISTRATION                         But we must BELIEVE the Word            tration of the sacraments. 0
OF THE SACRAMENTS                             that is preached and EMBRACE
   The preaching and the sacra-
ments are means to our preserva-
tion and the assurance of our
preservation. But this does not               Take the time to read and study
imply that just anytime that goes
by the name of preaching or that              the Standard Bearer. It is an
parades itself as the administra-
tion of the sacraments is so used
by God. It is the PURE preaching              excellent source of devotiona/
of the Word and the PROPER ad-
ministration of the sacraments                reading materia/ for your
that God is pleased to use for the
preservation of His people.                   daily use.


                                                                                                       The Standard Bearer  / 453


                                       Preservation i The
                                       Teaching of Scripture

   Sometimes we can become so            It is the purpose of this article      significant passages of Scripture
preoccupied with defending a           to demonstrate that proposition.         are cited in proof. The first is
certain truth over against the at-       To accomplish this purpose we          Romans 11:7, ". . . but the elec-
tacks of heretics and with             may well begin with what, to my          tion hath obtained it, and the rest
refuting the errors of such            mind, is the most beautiful, the         were blinded," showing the rela-
heretics that we almost lose sight     warmest, and the most                    tion between election and "ob-
of the positive teaching of Scrip-     penetrating chapter of the               taining," or perseverance. The
ture in the process. To do this is,    Canons of Dordrecht, Chapter V,          obtaining of the promise and of
of course, a mistake. We must by       "Of The Perseverance Of The              righteousness (justification) is
all means be aware of and be           Saints." And in this Fifth Head          ascribed to election. The second
firmly founded in the truth in a       the Rejection of Errors is our in-       is Romans 8:32-35: "He that
positive way. If we are not, then      structor. It is rather striking with     spared not his own Son, but
ultimately we will not even be         respect to the Canons as a whole         delivered him up for us all, how
able to recognize false doctrine       that most of the references to           shall he not with him also freely
when we are confronted by it.          Scripture are in the Rejection of        give us all things? Who shall lay
This is also true with respect to      Errors. It is also striking that in      any thing to the charge of God's
the doctrine of Preservation and       these references you may                 elect? It is God that justifieth.
Perseverance. The opponents of         discover not merely the refuta-          Who is he that condemneth? It is
this truth put forth many and          tion of various errors, but the          Christ that died, yea rather, that
varied arguments against it. They      posithe  Scriptural foundation of        is risen again, who is even at the
come with arguments which are          the truth. The Fifth Head of Doc-        right hand of God, who also
apparently Scriptural. And it is       trine is no exception in this            maketh intercession for us. Who
necessary to refute these              respect. And if we pay attention         shall separate us from the love of
arguments and also good that we        to the various Scripture passages        Christ?" Notice: 1) That the main
be equipped to expose such             cited, there is much to be gained        thought here is: no one shall
arguments as false and contrary        as far as the positive Scriptural        separate us from the love of
to.Scripture. But it is also           foundation of the truth is con-          Christ. 2) This is attributed not to
necessary that we understand           cerned.                                  the believer himself, but to
that the doctrine of Preservation        In Paragraph 1 the Canons deal         Christ's death, resurrection,
and Perseverance is the current        with the error that perseverance         ascension, and sitting at the right
teaching of Scripture and that it      is not a fruit of election, or a gift    hand of God. 3) Also here the
is in harmony with the whole of        of God, gained by the death of           final cause is election: "Who shall
the truth concerning our salva-        Christ, but a condition of the new       lay anything to the charge of
tion.                                  covenant which man must fulfill          God's elect?"
                                       through his free will before his           In Paragraph II, in answer to
                                       decisive election. Over against          the Pelagian error which makes
                                       this error the Canons teach that         perseverance dependent on
                                       perseverance follows out of elec-        man's will, the Canons refer to
                                       tion and is given to the elect in        "the prevailing agreement of the
                                       virtue of the death, resurrection,       evangelical doctrine, which takes
                                       and intercession of Christ. Two          from man all cause of boasting,

454  I The Standard Bearer


and ascribes all the praise for this    text we have treated in the              In Paragraph VIII the Canons
favor to the grace of God alone,"       Meditation of this special issue.      deal with the Arminian error that
Literally, the reference is to "the       In Paragraph IV the Canons           one can lose his first regenera-
unbroken harmony of the doc-            combat the error that "true            tion, but be "again and even
trine of the gospel." The truth         believers and regenerate can sin       often born anew." Over against
does not rest on isolated texts,        the sin unto death or against the      this error reference is made to I
plucked out of their connection.        Holy Spirit." Over against this er-    Peter  1:23, where the  incorrupt-
The strength of the Reformed            ror reference is made to I John        ibleness of the seed of regenera-
view lies exactly in the fact that      5:18. In the context there is in-      tion is taught: "Being born again,
it is "the current thought of Scrip-    deed reference to a sin unto           not of corruptible seed, but of in-
ture." And as one expression of         death. But I John 5:18 makes it        corruptible, by the word of God,
that current thought of Scripture       clear that such a sin simply is not    which liveth and abideth for
in this article, reference is made      committed by true believers and        ever."
to I Corinthians 1:8: "Who shall        regenerate: "We know that                Finally, in Paragraph IX
also confirm you unto the end,          whosoever is born of God sinneth       reference is made to the interces-
that ye may be blameless in the         not; but he that is begotten of        sion of Christ for the preservation
day of our Lord Jesus Christ." To       God keepeth himself, and that          of the saints, an intercession
God alone is ascribed the praise        wicked one toucheth him not."          which is surely heard. The first
of this benefit of perseverance.          In Paragraph VI the Canons           reference is to the concrete ex-
  The error rejected in                 deal with the old argument that        ample of our Lords prayer for
Paragraph III is that true              the doctrine of perseverance and       Peter in connection with the lat-
believers and regenerate not only       the certainty of perseverance          ter's coming denial of the Lord at
can fall from justifying faith and      makes men careless and profane.        the time of His trial: "But I have
from grace and salvation, but           Over against this the Canons cite      prayed for thee, that thy faith fail
often do fall and are lost forever.     I John 3:2, 3: "Beloved, now are       not." Peter felt strong at this
Over against this the Canons cite       we the sons of God, and it doth        time. He saw no danger, no
three passages. The first is            not yet appear what we shall be:       temptation. He did not desire
Romans 5:8, 9, "But God com-            but we know that, when he shall        Christ's help whatsoever; he
mendeth his love toward us, in          appear, we shall be like him; for      spurned it and thought it un-
that, while we were yet sinners,        we shall see him as he is. And         necessary. But Christ interceded.
Christ died for us. Much more           every man that hath this hope in       And He did so unconditionally,
then, being now justified by his        him purifieth himself, even as he      even when Peter cared not for
blood, we shall be saved from           is pure." Then the article makes       that intercession, saw no need of
wrath through him." This text           reference to the example of both       it, and even when Peter showed
does not speak directly of preser-      Old and New Testament saints           no readiness for the conflict
vation, but of the final justifica-     who were assured of their              whatsoever. That intercession
tion of the saints as being ab-         perseverance, and who were             was exactly adapted to Peter's
solutely certain: whoever is            nevertheless constant in prayers       need of the moment. It was un-
justified by Christ's blood is still    and other exercises of godliness.      qualified, unlimited, uncondi-
more certainly saved from the           In other words, the Scriptural         tional: "I have prayed for thee,
wrath of God (in the final judg-        teaching is that perseverance and      that thy faith fail not." And it is
ment) through Christ. I John 3:9        the assurance of perseverance is
teaches: "Whosoever is born of          not an immoral doctrine, but a
God doth not commit sin; for his        thoroughly moral doctrine.
seed remaineth in him: and he
cannot sin, because he is born of
God." This passage refers to our
regeneration, and it teaches            For neti subscrib 3rs, it is
plainly that "once regenerated is
always regenerated. Notice, by          available for one year at half
the way, the unbreakable con-
nection between the wonder of           the subscription 1 ice!
preservation and the other
wonders of grace in the Order of
Salvation. The third passage cited
here is John 10:28, 29, which


                                                                                               The Standard Bearer  I455


  THE
STANDARD                                                                                                    SECOND CLASS
BELZRER                                                                                                          Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                 Grand Rapids, Michigan
                                                                                                            /
F10. Box 6064
Grand Rapids, MI 49506                                 ___.----                          -             -



this intercession, answered                Board,  (206)-354-3188), or John Hilton       NEDDING ANNIVERSARY
perfectly by the Father even as it         (Principal,  (206)354-5436 at school or            On August  25,1988, our parents and
was perfectly offered by the Lord          (206)-988-6032)  at home. Applications        grandparents, MR. AND MRS. TIM R.
                                           should be sent to: Covenant Christian
Jesus, which accounts for the fact                                                       COOlMA  will celebrate their 35th  wed-
                                           School, 9088 Northwood Road, Lynden,
that Peter was preserved, that he                                                        ling anniversary.
                                           WA 98264.                                          We are thankful to our Heavenly
went out and wept bitterly,                                                              ather for the  years.of  covenant  in-
repented, acknowledged his sin,              NOTICE!!!                                   truction,  love and care which they
and was restored.                              The revised edition of The                rave given  us We pray that the Lord
   But such intercession is not the         Psalter is now reprinted and                 yill continue to bless them and keep
exception and does not apply on-            available at a cost of $5.00 a copy.         hem in His care.
                                                                                              "Happy is he that hath the God of
ly to certain saints. As the                Orders may be sent to the editor
                                            of the  synodical  Psalter  Revision         acob for his help, whose hope is in the
Canons put it: "Christ has not              Committee:                                   .ord his God." (Psalm  146:5)
prayed for the Apostles only, but                      Eunice Kuiper                             Marvin and Melinda Van Maanen
also for those who through their                       6551 lvanrest S.W.                           Jill, Brian, Lisa, Beth
word would believe." And then                          Byron Center, Ml 49315                    John and Sharon Keizer
                                                                                                    Kimberly,  Kerri
proof is given from John 17: 11,                       Phone (616) 534-l 927
                                               Large quantities may be ordered                   Steven Kooima
15, 20: "Holy Father, keep                  and will be billed later with                        Glenn Kooima
through thine own name those                postage costs. Please specify                        Kevin Kooima
whom thou hast given me, that               method of shipment. Individual                       Mark Kooima
they may be one, as we are. I               copies may be ordered, prepaid, at           rlOTICE!!!
pray not that thou shouldest take           $5.00 per Psalter, plus $1.50
                                            postage and handling for each                     Chassis  East will meet in regular  ses-
them out of the world, but that             copy ordered. All checks should be           ion on Wednesday, September  14,
thou shouldest keep them from               made to:                                     988 at the Byron Center Prot. Ref.
the evil. Neither pray I for these                     Protestant Reformed               Church. Material to be treated at this
alone, but for them also which                           Churches of America             ession must be in the hands of the
                                                                                         #tated Clerk at least three weeks prior
shall believe on me through their                                                        o the convening of this session.
word." If it is possible that this in-     NOTICE!!!                                             Jon  J. Huisken, Stated Clerk
tercession is not heard, then it is          Classis West of the Protestant  Re-
also possible that the saints are          formed Churches will meet in Loveland,        NOTICE  - SCHOOL                            1
not infallibly preserved unto the          Colorado on Wednesday, September 7,           TEACHERS AND PARENTS
end. But neither is possible!              1988, at  8:30 A.M., the Lord willing. All
                                           delegates in need of lodging or                     Reformed Free Publishing
  Such is the current teaching of          transportation from the airport should        Association announces that the
Scripture. And if only one is alert        notify the Clerk of Loveland's  Con-          fourth grade Bible manual and
as he reads the Scriptures, he will        sistory.                                      workbook Show  Me  Thy Ways will
find the truth of preservation and                Rev. R. Hanko, Stated Clerk            be available for the coming school
                                                                                         year. This first book of Gertrude
perseverance taught, either                                                              Hoeksema's intermediate series
directly or indirectly, in many            NOTICE!!!                                     follows the Suffer Little Children
other passages of Holy Scrip-                 The Southwest Protestant Reformed          series, and consists of a bound stu-
                                           Church of Crandville, Michigan, is in
ture. 0                          HCH                                                     dent textbook (375 pages) and con-
                                           need of  $100,000.00  to finance the con-     sumable workbook (70 pages).
                                           struction of their sanctuary building         Price information will be forth-
                                           project.                                      coming. For more information or to
                                             Those interested in loaning  $l,OOO.OO
NOTICE!!!                                                                                order, contact:
                                           or more for periods of five, ten or fif-               Eunice Kuiper,
   Covenant Christian School of Lynden,    teen years at an interest rate of 7% %                    Managing editor, RFPA
Washington, is seeking a third and         are requested to contact Mr. Phil                      P.O. Box 2006
fourth grade teacher for the  198889       Lotterman, 871 Rushmore St.,  Jenison,                 Grand Rapids, Ml 49501
school year. Those interested may call     MI 49428 for particulars. (Phone (616)                 Phone (616) 534-l 927
Ben Vander Veen  (Secy. of the School      457-0005.)


456  / The Standard Bearer


