A Reformed
Semi-Monthly
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                        See "A Sure Foundation of God"- page 387
Vol. 72, No. 17    1     1..                                          :1    li                                                                   1
June I,2996


          CONTENTS:                                                                                                                                June I, 1996
     I                                                                                                                                                             I  -  `-                  I                              S&A!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 BENW?
          Meditation - Herman Hoeksema
                  The Sure Foundation of God . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387                              lSSNO362-4692
          Editoriils : Prof. David J. Engelsma
                  A Weighty Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392    Semi-monthly, except monthly during June,  July,  and August
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Published by the Reformed  Free Publishing Association,  Inc.,
                  "Liberating" the Covenant from Election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393                                                             4949   lvanrest   Ave.,  Grandville.   MI  49416.  Second  Class
          Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .._...........................................397             Postage Paid at Grandvtlle. Michigan.
     All Around Us - Rev. Gise J. VanBaren . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400                                                    Postmaster: Send address changes to the Standard Bearer,
                                                                                                                                                                                                  P.O.  Bo5603.  Grandville,   Ml  4946BC603.
          Guest Article -Rev. Steven R. Key                                                                                                                                                       EDtTORlAL  COMMll-fEE
                  Trying the Spirits (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403      Editor:  Prof.  David  J.  Engelsma
          Church and State - Mr. James Lanting                                                                                                                                                    Secretary:  Prof.  Robert  D.  Decker
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Managing  Editor.  Mr.  Don  Doezema
                  Court Rejects Layman Taxpayer's Claim for Religious Exemption
                           from Self-employment Social Security Taxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405                                                                           DEPARTMENT  EDITORS
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Rev. Wilbur  Bruinsma, Rev. Ronald Cammenga, Prof. Robert
          News From Our Churches - Mr. Benjamin Wigger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406                                                                          Decker,  Rev.  Arie  denHartog.  Rev.  Cart  Haak,  Prof.  Herman
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Hanko,   Rev. Ronald Hanko, Rev. Jason Kortering. Rev. Dale
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Kuiper,  Mr.  James  Lanting,  Mrs.  MaryBeth   Lubbers,   Rev.
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Thomas  Miersma,  Rev.   Gise   VanBaren,  Rev.   Ronald
            &g               p&~,,,                                             31          ;!                                                                                                    VanOverlcop, Mr. BenNminWigger,  Rev. Bernard Woudenberg.
                                                                                                                                                       =  _  /;  .:~  ;.i;:;;g
                                                                                                                                                                    i                             EDlTORtAL  OFFICE               CHURCH   NEWS EDITOR
                                                                                                                                                                                                  The Standard Bearer             Mr. Ben Wigger
                                                                                                                                                                                                  4949  Ivanrest                  6597  40th  Ave.
                 The letter from Dr. George M. Ella, author of the recent book on the                                                                                                             Grandville.  Ml  49416          Hudsonville,   Ml  49426
     life and theology of John Gill, is significant. It raises the issue of the                                                                                                                   BUSINESS   OFFICE               NEW ZEALAND OFFICE
                                                                                                                                                                                                  The Standard Bearer             The Standard Bearer
     propriety and nature of the external call of the gospel against the back-                                                                                                                    Don Doezema                     cJo B. VanHerk
~    drop of Calvinism's insistence on particular election, redemption, regen-                                                                                                                    P.O. Box 603                    66 Fraser  St.
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Grandville,  MI                 Wainuiomata.  New Zealand
     eration, and grace.                                                                                                                                                                             49466aO3
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                 This was the issue that lay at the heart of the controversy of 1924 in                                                                                                                    (616) 5361776          do  Mr.  Jonathan  McAuley
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                                                                                                                                                                                                  EDlTORfAL  POLICY
                 This is still a live issue today in many Calvinistic circles.                                                                                                                    Every editor  is solely  responsible  for the contents of his own
                 Witness the article by Roger Nicole in the latest issue of the  JoumaZ                                                                                                           articles. Contributionsofgeneral  interestfromourreadersand
     of                                                                                                                                                                                           questions   for  The  Reader   Asks  department   are  welcome.
                 the Evangelical Theological Socieb  (September 1995, pp. 403-411).                                                                                                               Contributions  will be limited to approximately  300 words and
     Dr. Nicole is professor of theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in                                                                                                                      must  be  neatly  wdtten  or  typewritten,   and  must  be  signed.
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Copy  deadlines   are  the  first  and  fifteenth   of  the  month.   All
     Orlando, Florida. His article is entitled, "Covenant, Universal Call and                                                                                                                     communications  relative  to the contents  should be sent to the
     Definite Atonement."                                                                                                                                                                         editortal oftice.
                 Nicole defends the proposition that a call to all who hear the gospel                                                                                                            REPRINT  POLICY
                                                                                                                                                                                                  Pennissionis  herebygrantedfortherepn'ntingofarticles              in our
     to believe on Jesus Christ is in harmony with the doctrine of definite                                                                                                                       magaztnebyotherpublications,provided:  a)thatsuchrepnnted
     (limited) atonement.                                                                                                                                                                         articles  are repmducad  in full; bj that proper  acknowledgment
                                                                                                                                                                                                  is made; c) that a copy of the periodical  in which such reprint
                 With this, we have no problem. Indeed, we agree, as, I trust, my                                                                                                                 appears is sent to our editorial  office.
     response to Dr. Ella's letter shows.                                                                                                                                                         SUBSCRlPTtON   POUCY
                 Our problem is -that Dr. Nicole alleges that, among those who have                                                                                                               Subscrtption  price:  $17.W  per  year   in  the  U.S.,   US620.00
     concluded from the doctrine of limited atonement that there can be no                                                                                                                        elsewhere.  Unless  a  definite   request   for  discontinuance   is
                                                                                                                                                                                                  received,   it  is  assumed   that  the  subscriber   wishes   the
     universal gospel call, is Herman Hoeksema.                                                                                                                                                   subscrtptionto  continue, and hewill  be billedforrenewal.  lfyou
                 This is a factual error.                                                                                                                                                         haveachangeofaddress, pleasenotifytheBusinessOffrcaas
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                 An egregious error.                                                                                                                                                              interrupted  delivery.  Include your Zip or Postal Code.
                 Hoeksema taught that the external call in the preaching is and must                                                                                                              ADVERTtSlNG   POLICY
     be "general," that is, it is and must be given to all who hear the preach-                                                                                                                   The Standard  Bearer  does not accept commercial  advertising
                                                                                                                                                                                                  of  any  kind.   Announcements   of  church  and  school  events,
     ing. Dr. Nicole may read this in Hoeksema's Reformed Dogmatics (RFPA,                                                                                                                        anniversaries,   obituaries.   and  sympathy   resolutions   will  be
     1966, pp. 470, 471). Further evidence and explanation of Hoeksema's                                                                                                                          placed for a $10.00  fee. These  should be sent to the Business
                                                                                                                                                                                                  OfticaandshouldbeacuJmpaniedbythe%lO.OOfee.                    Deadline
     doctrine of the call of the gospel may be found  in  my  Hype+Calvinism                                                                                                                      for announcements  is at least one month prior to publication
     b the Call of the Gospel (RFPA, repr. 1994, pp. 29-42).                                                                                                                                      date.
                 I respectfully ask Dr. Nicole to correct his mistake both in his think-                                                                                                          BOUND  VOLUMES
     ing and in his article.                                                                                                                                                                      The  Business  Office  will  accapt  standing  orders  for  bound
                                                                                                                                                                                                  copiesofthecurrentvolume. Suchordersarefilledassoonas
                 We do appreciate open discussion of the issue.                                                                                                                                   possible after completion of a volume year.
                 For this reason, among others, Dr. Ella's letter is welcome.                                                                                                                     16mm microfilm, 35mm microfilm and 105mm microfiche, and
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     366lStandard Bearer/June 1, 1996


                        The Sure Foundation
                                                        of God* .

     "Nevertheless the foundation of                 the text, therefore, is meant also      tion will adhere to it. In other
God standeth sure,  having this sear,                as a word of comfort to the faith-      words, it is often thus, that accord-
The Lord knoweth them that are his.                  ful. If the church forevermore de-      ing as the church increases in num-
And, Let  every  one that nameth the                 parts from the truth, if the church     bers, she decreases in strength.
nanie of Christ depart from iniquity."               on earth is forevermore led astray      That is history too. For that very
                           II Timothy 239            from the true faith, is it not dis-     reason, especially we, as Protestant
                                                     couraging for the faithful in Christ    Reformed Churches, may well take
     This is usually, according to                   Jesus? Would they not lose their        this comfort to heart: Neverthe-
the context, understood as a word                    faith, their very hope, and their       less, no matter what may take
of comfort. A word of comfort it                     very courage as a church of Jesus       place, the sure foundation of God
undoubtedly is and is meant to be.                   Christ in the world? But, the           standeth; and the gates of hell can
The text is introduced by the little                 apostle says in the words of our        never overwhelm it.
word "howbeit, nevertheless"  - in                   text, as a word of comfort: Never           But although it is true that this
Dutch,  "evenwel."   Therefore, it de-               mind; do not be afraid. Things do       is a word of comfort, the text, to
picts a certain contrast, and at the                 not depend on you. They do not          my mind, also contains a word of
same time a concession, in the con-                  depend on men. No matter what           exhortation and admonition to
text.                                                men may do, no matter what men          you, as a church, especially to the
     The context of these words is                   may teach, no matter how far men        officebearers that are gathered
very plain. In the immediately pre-                  may apparently lead the church          with us tonight. The foundation
ceding two verses the apostle                        astray, "nevertheless, the founda-      of God standeth sure, no question
speaks of those who lead the                         tion of God standeth sure, having       about that. But the exhortation is
church astray: vain babblers, her-                   this seal, The Lord knoweth them        implied very plainly: Build, there-
etics, who always lead the church                    that are his. And, Let every one        fore, on that foundation and on
into ways of ungodliness. He con-                    that nameth the name of Christ de-      that foundation only. For only
tinues to say that, as always, many                  part from iniquity."                    when we build on the foundation
a r e   s e d u c e d   b y   t h e s e   v a i n       Such is the comfort.                 of God, other than which no man
babblings, are led astray from the                      I think we need that comfort         can possibly lay, can we be confi-
faith. Like the word of  Hyme-                       always. I do. I do tonight. So do       dent that we are really building
naeus and l'hiletus, their heresy                    you. The church of Jesus Christ is      the church, and not a human in-
eats like a gangrene, like a canker.                 forevermore in need of this word        stitution.
Such is the context.                                 of comfort:    "Nevertheless, the
     We can easily understand that                   foundation of God standeth sure."       The f oundadon
                                                     For it is God's foundation. Always          That is very important, be-
                                                     in the history of the church, the       loved. A foundation, of course, is
Herman Hoeksema was the first edi-                   church departs. There are but very      always important, important for
tor of the Standard Bearer.                          few periods in history in which the     the building. For the foundation
         *    Pre-synodical           sermon         church really stands foursquare on      in many respects determines the
preached by Herman Hoeksema on                       the foundation of which I intend        superstructure that must be built
June 5, 1951. The synod of 1951 was                  to speak tonight  - very few peri-      on it. It stands to reason that the
to adopt the "Declaration of  Prin-                  ods.                                    foundation already determines the
ciples." I have edited the text that                    I can say this too: the more         size and the strength and the shape
appears in the "Acts of Synod, Prot-                 firmly the church stands on that        of the superstructure. You cannot
estant Reformed Churches of America,                 foundation, the more narrowly           build a palatial edifice on a flimsy
1951,"  pp.  7-19. -Ed.                              those who stand on that founda-         foundation, say, of  twenty-by-

                                                                                                      June 1, 1996lStandard Bearer/387


twenty. You cannot build a  per-                     church as organism  and the church            have been given to this question
fectly square edifice on an oblong                   as  ilistitute.   That distinction is         as to the foundation of God that
foundation. You cannot build a                       well-known to all that have  at-              standeth sure, of which the apostle
skyscraper on a foundation that is                   tended catechism among us;                    speaks in the words of my text.
intended  .for a garage. The                                 When we speak of the church           In the first place, there are those
strength and the size and the                    For           as an organism, we simply           who say that the foundation of
shape of the foundation al-                   only when         mean the individual mem-           which the apostle speaks is the
ready determine the super-                    we build          bers of the church from the        faithfulness of God, or the prom-
structure. For that reason,                     on the           point of view of their  or-       ise of God. Or, even more gener-
when the superstructure is                   foundation          ganic  relation to Christ         ally still, the foundation, accord-
planned, the foundation                        of God,           Jesus as members in His           ing to some, is simply the Chris-
must be planned.                              other than          body, as branches of the         tian religion. Still others, like
     Therefore, the ques-                       which             vine or of the olive tree.       Calvin, for instance, claim that the
tion is, when the apostle                      no man             That is the church as an         foundation is God's eternal elec-
Paul here speaks of the                      can possibly         organism.       B u t   t h e    tion, on which the church is
sure foundation of God,                          lay,             apostle in the words of          founded and based. Many com-
what is the superstruc-                        can we             our text certainly does          mentators claim that the founda-
ture that is built on that                   be confident         not-refer to the church as       tion and the church are identical:
sure foundation? What                          that we            such. That also is very          by the foundation the apostle
building is put upon, what                    are really          evident from the next            means simply the church, and
building is supposed to be                     building           verse, where the apostle         nothing else. By the church he
construed upon that foun-                    the church,         makes the distinction  be-        means the foundation, and by the
dation of which the apostle                    and not           tween the house and the           foundation he means the church.
P a u l   s p e a k s   h e r e ?   T h e     a human           vessels in that house. The             Now we can rule out many of
apostle does not mention                     institution.       vessels in that house are          these interpretations, because they
the superstructure. He does                                    undoubtedly the individual          have nothing to do with Scripture.
not say what building is pre-                                 members, maybe also the              When people say that the Chris-
supposed here. But we can eas-                              officebearers. But at any rate,        tian-religion is the foundation, for
ily conjecture what must be the                      the house is the church itself, in            instance, it is very evident that that
building which he has in mind,                       distinction from its individual               is a mere conjecture, very vague
namely, the church of Jesus-Christ.                  members.                                      and very general, rather modern,
That is very plain from all Scrip-                           Therefore I maintain that when        and that certainly the church can-
ture.      Only of the church as a                   the apostle here speaks of the foun-          not be based on a vague idea as
building does the Bible ever speak.                  dation of God that standeth sure,             the Christian religion whatsoever.
Scripture never speaks of any                       he had in mind the superstructure              Nor can the promise of God or the
other building than the church of                    of the church as a well-established           faithfulness of God be the simple
Jesus Christ  - sometimes as a                      institution, a well-built house. He            foundation on which the church is
temple, sometimes as a simple                       has in mind the church with its                built, because the Scriptures teach
building,- sometimes as a house,                    offices, the church with its minis-            us otherwise. Surely, the promise
etc. But when Scripture speaks of                   try of the Word, the church with               of God is very important, and the
a house or a building or a temple,                  its overseers, with its offices of             faithfulness of God is very impor-
the Bible always means the church                   mercy, the church with its sacra-              tant. But never is the promise of
of Jesus Christ. Besides, that this                 ments of baptism and holy com-                 God and never is the faithfulness
is true is also plain from the next                 munion, the church with its exer-              of God presented in the Bible as
verse of my chapter.                There the       cise of Christian discipline, the              the foundation on which the
apostle speaks of a house, a house                  church with its keys of the king-              church stands. That is also im-
with many vessels. There is no                      dom of heaven. That aspect of the              possible, as we shal see presently.
question about it, that the super-                  church, the church as an institute,            Besides, beloved, when Calvin
structure that is supposed to be                    well-established, well organized, is           says that the election of God is the
built on this foundation is the                     meant by the superstructure which              foundation, namely, the truth that        .
church of Jesus Christ our Lord.                    must be built on the foundation of             God from all eternity has known
     But naturally the question                     which the apostle speaks in the                and chosen His people unto salva-
arises: the church from what as-                    words of my text.                              tion, then also that is evidently a
pect? You can speak of the church                           The question is, however:              mistake, because that election is
from more than one point of view,                   what is meant by the foundation?               not the foundation but is one of
of course. Especially is the dis-                   Also that, the apostle does not fur-           the seals attached to' the founda-
tinction well-known between the                     ther define. Very many answers                 tion: "having this seal, The Lord

3881Standard Bearer/June I,1996


 knows them that are his." That is                      Christ, that fullness of the revela-                Scriptures  - on that foundation
 election, of course. But that is not                   tion of Jesus Christ, who revealed                  (on that foundation that is not du-
 the foundation, but only one of the                    Himself in all His fullness to us,                  bious in outline, so that no one.
 seals of the foundation. Besides,                      particularly during the years one                   knows anymore what is what), on
 that the foundation is not the                         to thirty-three A.D., in the world.                 that clear and strong and well-de-
 church ought to be self-evident:                       That Jesus Christ is the chief cor-                 fined foundation we must build.
 the church is not the same as the                      nerstone of the foundation that is                       That is your calling. That is
 foundation.                                            laid, that is, that is revealed by the              your calling as a church. That is
      Therefore, when we give an                        prophets and apostles of Holy                       your      calling       e s p e c i a l l y   a s
 answer to the question, what is the                    Scripture.                                          officebearers. That is your calling
 foundation of which the apostle                               One more element, otherwise                  as synod in these days that lie be-
\ here speaks, we must turn to Scrip-                   we can never, never understand                      fore us. That is all. You have no
 ture. Scripture speaks very clearly                    the foundation, nor ever have any-                  other calling. You must build on
 as to this foundation, in many                         thing to do with that foundation.                   that foundation.
 places, of which I will mention                        That same Jesus Christ, who so ob-                      That foundation we do not
 only one, namely, the text in                          jectively revealed the Father, and                  have to define anew. That foun-
 Ephesians  2:20: "And are built                        who objectively became the chief                    dation is defined for us already by
 u p o n   t h e   f o u n d a t i o n   o f   t h e    cornerstone of the foundation of                    the church in the past.- That  well-
 apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ                    the house of God  - that same                       defined foundation we have, ac-
 himself being the chief corner                         Jesus Christ became Christ subjec-                  cording to our sure conviction  -                    `.
 stone; In whom all the building                        tively through the Spirit on the day                or, what must be our conviction
 (that is, evidently, according to the                  of Pentecost. That also belongs to                  - in our Reformed confessions.
 context, the building of the church)                   the foundation revealed to us in                    We must build not in general on
 fitly framed together growth unto                      the Holy Scriptures. Without that                   the Scriptures. That is all right, to
 an holy temple in the Lord: In                         Spirit there is nothing. Without                    build on the Scriptures, but we do
 whom ye also are builded together                      that Spirit the stone is not even                   not have to ask anymore, God be
 for an habitation of God through                       laid. Without the Spirit of Jesus                   thanked, we do not have to ask
 the Spirit."                                           Christ we can not be cemented on                    what, according to Scripture, is
      Therefore, according to Scrip-                    that stone  - there is no building,                 that foundation. That has been de-
 ture, it is very plain that the foun-                  nor is there really a foundation.                   fined in the faith which we con-
 dation  - to speak in general  - is                    But the Spirit is the Lord. The                  fess.
 the truth as it is in Christ. Jesus                    Lord is the Spirit. The Lord be-                         Still more, we cannot even say
 Christ is the chief cornerstone of                     came the Spirit on the day of Pen-                  that it is sufficient for us that we
 the foundation that is laid by the                     tecost. Through that Spirit of our               build on the foundation of our con-
 apostles and prophets, that is,                        Lord Jesus Christ, that is, through              fessions. Even those confessions
 Jesus Christ is the chief corner-                      Christ Himself, as He now re-                           have been defined by our Prot-
 stone of the truth that has been                       turned to us and dwells in                                  estant Reformed Churches in
 delivered, proclaimed, revealed                        His church, through that                      We              very clear outline. We do
 through the instrumentality of                         Christ-subjective the  Christ-              do not            not believe in the Three
 prophets and apostles. Therefore,                      objective  became the  foun-              have to ask          Forms of Unity, for  in-
 we may certainly say that the foun-                    d a t i o n   o n   w h i c h   t h e      anymore             stance,  as the Christian
 dation is the truth as it is in Jesus                  church is built forever.                     what,             R e f o r m e d   C h u r c h   be-
 Christ our Lord. Jesus Christ, the                            That is the foundation            according to          lieves in them. We do
 incarnated Son of God,. who re-                        laid by the apostles and                   Scripture;          not! Nor do we believe
 vealed to us the fullness of the Fa-                   prophets, of which Jesus                    is that            in the Three Forms of
 ther, first of all, throughout the                     Christ is the true  corner-              foundation.           Unity as they are  inter-
 whole dispensation that preceded                       stone.                                   That  has been        preted in the old country.
 Him; then, centrally, during His                              The only foundation!                 defined            We do not! We believe
 entire sojourn in the world; and                              Nothing else will ever             in the faith         - and that is the basis on
 finally, more fully, through the                       do!                                        which we            which the synod must
 apostles and prophets of the new                              That foundation of God               confess.          stand throughout its  ses-
 dispensation; Jesus Christ, who                        standeth sure, because it is                                 sion  - we believe in the
 died on the cross, who was deliv-                      the foundation of God. On that                              Three Forms of Unity as they
 ered for our transgressions, who                       foundation of God, of which Jesus                are accepted and explained and  in-
 was raised the third day for our                       Christ is the chief cornerstone,  re-            terpreted by the Protestant Re-
 justification, who was exalted at                      vealed by the apostles and the                   formed Churches in distinction
 the right hand of God - that Jesus                     prophets, as we have it in the                   from those that have departed

                                                                                                                      June 1, 1996lStandard Bearer1369


therefrom. That is our calling.                    has been a bone of contention for                  which Jesus Christ is the chief cor-
Well-defined.                                      many centuries). But also regard-                  nerstone, from before the founda-
     If I may make a declaration,                  ing the sacrament of baptism, as                   tion of the world, that is, He laid
beloved, (I do not mean the "Dec-                  well as the sacrament of commun-                   that foundation even before He
laration of Principles," I mean if I               ion, we must build foursquare on                   conceived of the world: Christ is
may make a personal declaration),                  the foundation of God, of which                    the first thought of God. Oh, I
I do not hesitate to confess  - such               we confess that it is present for us               know, that is "supra." But let it
is my conviction  - that the truth                 in the Protestant Reformed truth,                  be "supra," then; that is all right;
which has been defined and ex-                     nothing less.                                      I'm not ashamed of it; that is Scrip-
pressed by the Protestant Re-                          The same is true, of course, of                ture. Before the foundation of the
formed Churches is the purest de-                  the question of membership, the                    world; before God conceived of the
lineation of the sure foundation of                question of the keys, the question                 foundation of the world, He estab-
God that standeth! No other truth                  of discipline, the question, "whom                 lished Jesus Christ. He chose us
can even be compared with it. If                   shall we draw into the walls of our                in Christ before the foundation of
we do not dare to say that, we are                 churches and who shall be ex-                      the world. He laid the foundation
not Protestant Reformed. On that                   cluded?" We must not be afraid                     of the church. Can there be any
basis we must stand, definitely.                   of that. Of course, we must not.                   doubt? Can there be any uncer-
                                                   We must stand and decide and de-                   tainty? Is there any question about
Its Determining Firmness                           termine that all those who are                     it? God laid that foundation not
     For that foundation of God is                 within the walls of Zion within                    only in eternity, but He laid it in
first of all the foundation that de-               which we live shall stand on that                  time. He laid it when He sent His
lineates and defines and estab-                    same foundation of God that                        only-begotten Son into our flesh.
lishes the whole superstructure.                   standeth sure, and which is ac-                    That was God's work; it had noth-
The whole superstructure is de-                    cording to our deepest conviction                  ing to do with us. He laid it when
fined by the foundation. The min-                  the Protestant Reformed truth, or                  He reconciled the world unto Him-
istry of the Word in our churches,                 it is nothing.                                     self in Christ, in the cross. That
which is the church (the purest                        So it is with the whole church.                had nothing to do with us. God
manifestation of the church of                         T h a t   f o u n d a t i o n   o f   G o d    did it all without us.. Absolutely
Christ in the world is by far the                  standeth sure.                                     without us! Almost two thousand
Protestant Reformed Churches)  -                       I say once more, beloved, what                 years ago He laid the foundation,
I say, the ministry of the Word in                 a comfort! What a comfort that                     beloved, when you and I were not
the Protestant Reformed Churches                   the text here says that that foun-                 there, when you and I did not even
must be based on that foundation.                  dation standeth sure, that that                    know anything about Christ or
Whatever is not built, in the                         foundation has nothing to do                    about the foundation whatsoever.
ministry of the Word, upon                               with us. Notice that the text                He laid the foundation. The stone
that foundation builds not                 We              establishes and expresses                  rejected and despised by the build-
on the foundation at all,              must build           and defines and  empha-                   ers, He made the chief cornerstone.
but builds something else,             foursqua,.e           sizes the firmness of that               God did that. That foundation' is
builds next to the founda-                                   foundation three times re-
                                          on the                                                      of God!
tion. So it is with the                folypotjo              ally. The text says: The                     Still more. God raised Jesus
whole institution of the                                      f o u n d a t i o n   o f   G o d       from the dead. In His resurrec-
church in our midst. So                 of whik               standeth. It standeth. It               tion He justified and He glorified
it is with the office of  el-          we confess             emphasizes that standing                the whole church. God did that.
ders and deacons. So it                 that it is            by saying also in the                   The foundation of God standeth.
is with the office of  ad-            present for us          original: The foundation                When He took His resurrected Son
monition and  exhorta-                                        of God standeth  sure.
                                        in the                                                        into glory at His right hand, He
tion. So it is with the  ad-           Protestant             Principally it emphasizes               t o o k   H i s   w h o l e   c h u r c h   i n t o
ministration of the  sacra-             Reformed              that whole certainty and                heaven.       We are sitting in heav-
ments, about which there                                     surety and firmness of the
                                          truth,                                                      enly places with Jesus Christ our
is so much ado in our day                no thing           foundation by expressing                  Lord forever and ever. God laid
(and, let me emphasize,                   less.            :that it is the foundation of              the foundation.
about which always there                                  God.        That is why it                       God laid the foundation of the
was much ado in the church                             standeth, and that is why it is                Spirit. God laid the foundation
of Jesus Christ, always; it is  noth-              sure  - because the foundation is                  when Christ became the quicken-
ing new, there is nothing new in                   the foundation of God. God has                     ing Spirit, not we. And therefore,
the phenomenon that we are again                   laid that foundation, beloved, not                 because it is the foundation of
talking about the sacraments, that               we. God laid that foundation, of                     God, that foundation standeth

39O/Standard   Bearer/June 1, 1996


sure. And, the gates of hell can                  is there because God knew it.              an Arminian foundation. God will
never overwhelm the super-                              From before the foundation of        not build His church, which is to
structure that is built on that                           the world He knew it in His        be His handiwork and which is to
f o u n d a t i o n .   B e w a r e !   B e -   The        own counsel. God knows            be the expression and the mani-
ware! Oh, it is a great word                Bible          things before they are. The       festation of His glorious grace in
of comfort to know that that                never           same  is true of God's  elec-    Christ Jesus, on any other founda-
is true. But nevertheless,                speaks of         tion. Certainly, God does        tion than that of Himself, that has
beware that you build on                    fore-          not know His people  be-          the seal, "I know those that are
nothing beside that one                  knowledge          cause He sees them  before-      mine." The Arminian is not work-
foundation of God that                     of God          hand, because He beholds          ing at the foundation of God. He
standeth sure.                          in the sense        them as willing to believe,      is not. Those who in any sense of
                                         that things       perhaps. But they are His         the word  - I do not hesitate to
Its Characteristics                       are first,       people in His everlasting         say it  - build on the foundation
   Do you know that  foun-                and then         and causative  foreknowl-         of man, on the foundation of
dation? Can we know it?                      God           edge. They are His people         Arminian grace. or any other com-
Can we know it all? Or is it               knows.          because He knows them.            mon grace, do not build on the
possibly so vague and so in-                               They are the realization of       foundation of the church. They do
distinct that we do not know                              the people He knew from be-        not. Only the foundation that has
where to build, or that we build                        fore the foundation of the           this seal, "God knows those that
in the dark, so that we cannot find               world, His church.                         are his," has the sign of authority.
the lines of that foundation? Oh,                       In the second place, when we         Therefore, that seal, that truth, is
no, beloved.                                      read in our text that one of the           the foundation-truth which in all
    The foundation of God that                    seals is that God knows them that          our labors and building of the
standeth sure has this seal  - these              are His, that knowledge is at the          church of Jesus Christ we must
seals really: "The Lord knoweth                   same time a knowledge of love.             bear in mind, so that we do not
them that are his. And, Let every                 Therefore:      "Whom he has fore-         build on any other foundation.
one that nameth the name of Christ                known (in that knowledge of His                But there is another seal. The
depart from iniquity."                            determined counsel, and in the             other seal is: "Let every one that
    Just a brief word about that.                 knowledge, therefore, of everlast-         nameth the name of Christ depart
     Of course, I do not have' to say            ing love) He also did predestinate          from iniquity."       You know what
that when the Bible here speaks of                to be conformed according to the           that seal means, of course. Really
the Lord knowing His own, it                     image of his Son.... And whom he            this seal is only mentioned in a
means the elect.           No question            did predestinate, them he also             negative way, a negative way be-
about that. We do not believe, as                 called; and whom he called, them           cause we are still in the body of
do the Arminians, in a foreknowl-                 he also justified; and whom he jus-        this death.        We are still in the
edge of God, do we? Not at all.                   tified, them he also glorified." It        world.     That is why this seal is
We do not only not believe in a                  is finished in the counsel of God.          mentioned in this light: "Let ev-
foreknowledge of God as to faith;                He knows His people forever and             eryone that nameth the name of
we do not believe in any fore-                    ever, engraved in the palms of His         Christ depart from iniquity." Of
knowledge of God in the human                    hands.                                      course.     That is inevitable. That
sense of the word. We do not. Oh,                       That is the first seal.              seal must assume the form, "De-
the Bible speaks of foreknown and                       A seal, as you well know, is         part from iniquity." Positively, of
foreknowledge. That is all right.                both a sign of authority and a sign         course, this seal means simply
Nevertheless, we claim as Re-                     of distinction. This seal is certainly     sanctification. Positively, this seal
formed people that the Bible never               both. Only the foundation which             means our whole  part (not: par-
speaks of foreknowledge of God                   has that seal of God is recognized          ties) of the covenant, namely, that
in the sense that things are first,              by God. Only the foundation that            we love the Lord our God with all
and then God knows. It is not so,                has the seal of election, of sover-         our heart and mind and soul and
that God knows because things                    eign election, is recognized as the         strength, that we forsake the
are. But it is thus, that things are             foundation of the church. None              world, crucify our old nature, and
because God knows. God's knowl-                  other foundation has God's mark             walk in a new and holy life. That
edge is first, the things follow.                of authority. God will not build            is the other seal: Walk in sanctifi-
That is Scripture. God does not                  anything on any foundation of               cation of life.
know the world because the world                 man, on any other foundation than               But be careful, beloved. Do
is there, and He beholds it, and                 that which has the seal of His ev-          not say, "but," between the two
He finds it, and He studies it, and              erlasting election.       He will not!      seals. Do not say: I believe in
He investigates it. But that world               God does not build the church on            election, but I also believe in man's

                                                                                                        June 1,1996/Standard  Bearer1391


       responsibility, I also believe in          doth not this doctrine (the whole          power. That is all. You cannot
      sanctification. Then you are on the         doctrine of sovereign free grace,          do anything at all. You cannot de-
-.    wrong track. That is not true. You          but the Catechism means that part          stroy the foundation. That stands.
      must not say: "but." You must               of it which refers to justification)       I'm sure of that. You cannot build
      say:      "and. " You must not say:         make men careless and profane?"            on the foundation, unless  - not,
      "God knows those who are His,               What does the Catechism say?               you are co-workers with God  -
      and they are God's elect; but . . .         Does it say: "Oh, no, but, but, but        but unless you co-work with one
      but . . . but I also believe that man       there is :another side to this truth?"     another through the grace of our
      must believe certain conditions."           Oh, no,:no, no, no. The Catechism          Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, I say
      You must not say that. Then you             says this, beloved: "By no means:          once more: By all means, discern
      are on the wrong track. You must            for it is impossible that those who        very clearly the foundation. By all
      say: "and . . . and . . . and." That is     are implanted into Christ by a true        means, have the determination of
      Reformed. You must say: "I be-              faith, should not bring forth fruits       faith to build on that foundation.
      lieve in election, and therefore I be-      of thankfulness."       That is Re-              For that reason, when you get
      lieve in sanctification." That is           formed. That is the only Reformed.         home, get on your knees, and ask
      what you must say. Just exactly             truth there is.                            the Lord for grace to build on that
      that. Nothing else. You must say:               There you are, beloved. There          one sure foundation of God that
      "I believe in election, and there-          you are, church of Jesus Christ,           standeth and that hath this seal:
      fore I believe in the fulfillment of        gathered here tonight with the del-        "The Lord knows them that are
      man's responsibility in the highest         egates of synod. You heard me.             his. And (not:  but;  but:  and),  Let
      sense of the word." That is Re-             You heard the Word of God. `You            every one that nameth the name
      formed. Not: "but . . . but . . . but."     are responsible to build very care-        of Christ depart from iniquity."
      But: "and . . . and . . . and." "Work       fully on that foundation, on that                I'm sure that if we are instru-
      out your own salvation with fear            sure foundation of God, than               ments of God to build His church
      and trembling: (not: but . . . but . . .    which there is no other.                   in that clearly defined way of the
      but)  for it is God that worketh                Even that you cannot do. You           truth of the apostles and the
      within you to will and to do of his         understand that, do you not? You           prophets, He will bless us!  Other-
      good pleasure."                             cannot do anything at this synod,          wise He will not. May He bless
           Or, if you want the language           nothing at all  - not as far as the       us.
      of the Heidelberg Catechism: "But           foundation of God is concerned  -                A m e n .   Cl
                                                  except  by God's own grace and
                                                                              ../,     -
        @g&g&&,                          .i;                                  I)!(                                         ;.,.
                                                                                            ;:                             .:..


                                A Weighty Agenda

          Such is the agenda of the                   A graduating senior  seminar-                Another weighty matter  con-
      synod of the Protestant Reformed            ian, Mr. Richard Smit, is to be  ex-      cerning  the Protestant Reformed
      Churches  (PRC) that convenes at            amined before synod with a view           Theological Seminary is synod's
      the Southwest PRC in Grandville,            to entering the ministry in the           appointment of a new professor to
      Michigan on June 11,1996.                   PRC. Another seminary student             replace Prof. Herman Hanko. The
          Not in size.                            will graduate at the public cer-          rule is that "a new professor shall
          The published agenda, already           emony scheduled for Monday,               be appointed when any of the ac-
      sent out to all the officebearers in        June 17, at the Southwest church,         tive professors reaches the age of
      the PRC, is only 120 pages.                 at 8:00  PM. Mr. Cheah Fook Meng          65." The Theological School Com-
          But in significance of the mat-         has completed a special three-year        mittee is presenting a nomination
      ters pertaining to the churches in          course and will return to the Evan-       of Rev. Russell Dykstra, Rev.
      common and of the proposals                 gelical `Reformed Churches of             Barrett Gritters, and Rev. Charles
      made by the denominational                                                            Terpstra.
                                         com-     Singapore, eventually to be or-
      mittees that must be dealt with by          dained in one of the churches                    In the area of missions, the
      synod.                                      there.                                    council of the Hudsonville,  Michi-

      392/Standar+ Bearer/June 1,1996


gan PRC and the Domestic Mis-            for Contact with Other Churches          emeritation as of October 1, 1996
sion Committee recommend the             that this  .committee  send two del-     because of age and failing eyesight.
organization of the mission group        egates to the meeting of the Inter-      Rev. Woudenberg will have served
in Northern Ireland, the Covenant        national Council of Reformed             as a pastor in the PRC for 40 years.
Reformed Fellowship, as a church.        Churches (ICRC) in Seoul, South               Rev. Woudenberg's  emeri-
If synod approves, the group will        Korea in 1997 and that the com-          tatiOIlj   the appointment of a new
be organized this summer as the          mittee send three delegates to a         professor, and the recommenda-
Covenant Protestant Reformed             proposed conference in Australia         tion to call a missionary to Ghana
Church on the basis of the "Three        of the PRC and the Evangelical           imply three more vacancies in the
Forms of Unity" and the Church           Presbyterian Church of Australia         churches.  '
Order of Dordt.                          in January, 1997. .                           The other matters coming be-
    The Foreign Mission Commit-              First PRC of Grand Rapids,           fore synod are not unimportant.
tee (FMC) is proposing to call a         Michigan has an overture that            The matters and proposals men-
missionary to Ghana, Africa. The         synod schedule and begin prepar-         tioned above are weighty.
missionary is to be assisted by          ing for a denominational com-                 May the King of the church,
"volunteer lay persons." The FMC         memoration of the 75th anniver-          the Lord Jesus Christ, give grace
is also requesting that synod ap-        sary of the PRC in A.D. 2000.            to the churches in this assembly to
prove sending a delegation to the            Classis East presents the re-        d e a l   w i t h   a l l   m a t t e r s   o f   t h e
Philippines to investigate contacts.     quest from Rev. Bernard  Wouden-         weighty agenda wisely.
    Synod will consider recom-           berg, pastor of the Kalamazoo,                                                       - DJE
mendations from the Committee            Michigan PRC, that he be granted




        ccLiberatingy' the Covenant
                                 from Election

    In the context of vigorous con-      view of the covenant in a recent         Hoeksema.                K e r s t e n ,   o f   t h e
troversy      within     Reformed        book,  Covenant and Election (In-        Gerefomeerde Gemeenfen (Reformed
churches over the covenant of God        heritance Publications, 1995).           Congregations), influenced the Re-
with the children of believers, Dr.                                               formed Congregations to make six
J. Van  Genderen defends that cov-          Election must not Dominate            pronouncements on the covenant
enant conception which refuses  ,to          The Dutch Reformed theolo-           in 1931.  The first was that "the
allow election to "dominate" the         gian is critical of the covenant con-    covenant of grace is dominated by
covenant.     Dr. Van Genderen,          ception that permits God's eternal       election to salvation; that therefore
Chrisfelijke Gereformeerde  Kerken       election to govern the covenant.         the essence of the covenant con-
(Christian Reformed Churches)            According to this view, the elect-       cerns only the elect of God and
professor at Apeldoorn, the Neth-        ing God addresses the promise of         not the natural seed" (cited by Van
erlands, holds that God establishes      the covenant to the elect children       Genderen, pp. 10,  11).
His covenant by promise equally          only. The power of the promise                Hoeksema's theology pro-
with all physical children of be-        brings the elect children, and them      duced the doctrine of the covenant
lievers. He addresses the promise        only, into the fellowship of the         that the Protestant Reformed
at baptism alike to all: "I will be      covenant. "The danger is that by         Churches set forth as that of the
your God, and you will be my             letting eternal election dominate        Reformed creeds in their  DecZara-
child." The promise, however, is         everything, the significance of the      fion of Principles in 1951.
conditional, depending for its ful-      covenant of grace is greatly dimin-
fillment upon the faith of the child.    ished" (p. 53).                            The covenant, for Hoeksema, is
The demand for faith as the con-             Van  Genderen  criticizes the          not an agreement, but a living re-
dition accompanies the promise.          covenant views of Reformed theo-           lationship of friendship between
    Van  Genderen  promotes this         logians G. H. Kersten and Herman           God and those whom He has cho-
                                                                                    sen in Jesus Christ our Lord. The
                                                                                              June 1,1996/Standard  Beared393


  children of the congregation must                         doctrine makes the child's work of               pends on their own free will,
  receive baptism as a sign of the                          faith decisive for the efficacy of the           which joins itself to the grace that
  covenant, but the covenant prom-                          promise and, thus, for the child's               is offered without exception, and
  ises are only meant for the elect,                        o w n   s a l v a t i o n .                      that it is not dependent on the
  for they are the children of the                                                                           special gift of mercy, which pow-
  promise. Whereas the sign and                                                                              erfully works in them, that they
                                                              As far as the mediation of salva-
  seal of the covenant is a savour                                                                           rather than others should appro-
                                                              tion in a covenantal way is con-
  of life unto life for the children of                                                                      priate unto themselves this grace.
                                                              cerned, it is the Lord our God
  the promise, it is at the same time                                                                        For these, while they feign that
                                                              who takes the initiative as the One
  a savour of death unto death for                                                                           they present this distinction, in a
                                                              Who establishes the covenant of
  the reprobate who tread upon the                                                                           sound sense, seek to instill into
                                                               grace. But there is also the ap-
  covenant of Jehovah.... Theology                                                                           the people the destructive poison
                                                              propriation of the covenant by us.
  here is so dominated by the idea                                                                           of the Pelagian errors (II, Rejec-
                                                              This is an essential part! To say
  of election that we have to speak                                                                          tion of Errors/b).
                                                               it with Van der Schuit, "In the
   of an election-system whereby the
   doctrine of the covenant is seri-                           way of the covenant of grace the
                                                               Holy Spirit reveals the Mediator                Van Genderen's quotation
   ously deformed (p. 24).                                     to the heart that seeks God. It             from Van der Schuit, another min-
                                                               finds the way upward because it             ister  in the Chrisfelijke Gereformeerde
          The Will of the Child                                is drawn from above" (p. 67).               Kerken, i s   d a m n i n g   t o   V a n
                   Dominates                                                                               Genderen's covenant doctrine.
      Van Genderen's doctrine of the                              Van  Genderen will acknowl-              God merely takes the initiative to
covenant makes plain that the only                          edge that the Lord God takes the               establish the covenant with the
alternative to "domination" of the                          initiative in establishing the cov-            child, whereas the child must ap-
covenant by the electing God is                             enant. He will not say that it is              propriate the covenant, so that
"domination" of the covenant by                             the Lord God who also realizes the             "the Holy Spirit reveals the Me-
the will of the covenant child. God                         covenant in the heart of every                 diator to the heart that seeks God."
makes His gracious promise to all                           child who is united.to Christ by a                 Is this indeed the "mediation
the children alike; the promise is                          true faith. Rather, "there is the              of salvation" in the covenant, that
sealed to all equally by baptism;                           appropriation  of the covenant by              the Holy Spirit "reveals the Me-
God is even "willing to give" all                           us" (my emphasis  - DJE). This                 diator to the heart that seeks
the children the faith that He de-                          "appropriation of the covenant by              God"? Where is the heart of a
mands (p. 70). The fulfillment of                           us" is "essential." God takes the              child, or of anyone else, that seeks
the promise, however, the actual                                  initiative in making the prom-           God before the Holy Spirit reveals
union of the child with God                                          ise to all the baptized babies.       the Mediator to that heart? Where
by the work of the Holy                           The only            But this promise  accom-             did this heart that seeks God come
Spirit in his heart, depends                     alternative           plishes and makes certain           from? For "there is none that
not upon the electing,                                tn               absolutely nothing as  re-          seeketh after God" (Rom.  3:ll).
Promising   God  but  uPon  "dom&tionN  gards  s a l v a t i o n .   T h e   sal-                              The truth is that the Holy
the child's performance of                          of the              vation of the baby depends         Spirit reveals the Mediator to the
the condition of faith.                           covenant              on the baby's  "appropria-         naturally ignorant, idolatrous, re-
      This implies, first, that                     by the              tion of the covenant." This        bellious hearts of some children of
no infant is ever  .brought                      electing God           is precisely the heresy that       believers, thus regenerating these
into living union with                                is                the Canons of Dordt  con-          hearts, in distinction from the
Christ in his or her  in-                      "domination"             demned as Pelagianism:             hearts of other children that are
fancy, since infants cannot                         of the                                                 no worse. There is one reason for
f u l f i l l   t h e   c o n d i t i o n .                             The Synod rejects the er-
                                                  covenant                                                 the discrimination. This reason is
Whereas Canons  I/17  as-                        by the will            rors of those . . . who use the    the covenant promise realizing the
sures believing parents                             of the             difference between meriting         gracious purpose of sovereign,
that they have no reason to                                            and appropriating, to the
                                                  covenant                                                 eternal election. The grand truth
doubt the election and  sal-                                          end that they may instill into
                                                    child.                                                 that Jesus confessed before the face
vation of their children who                                          the minds of the imprudent           of His Father in Matthew  11:25-27
die in               infancy,             Van                        and inexperienced this teach-
                                                                  ing that God, as  far as He is           applies to the children of believ-
Genderen's covenant doctrine                                   concerned, has been minded of               ers. None of them knows the Fa-
casts doubt on the salvation and,                              applying to all equally the ben-            ther save the Son and the child to
presumably, the election of every                              efits gained by the death of Christ;        whomsoever the Son will reveal
child of believers who dies in  in-                            but that, while  some obtain the            Him, and the Father reveals Him-
fancy.                                                         pardon of sin and eternal life, and         self savingly to certain children
      In addition, Van Genderen's                              others do not, this difference de-          through His Son, hiding Himself

394lStandard Bearer/June I,1996


from others, according to His eter-        Uitgeverij Van den Berg, 1992; the      both initiates the establishment of
nal good pleasure.                         English translation of the title        the covenant and consummates the
    G. H. Kersten was right when           would be,  Election? Certainly! But     covenant in all the children who
he wrote that                              How?). Now the theologian of the        are His by divine election. Rather,
                                           Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken       each individual child "appropri-
  those who say that the covenant          chimes in.                              ates" the covenant for himself or
  of grace is not governed by elec-            Where in the Netherlands is         herself.
  tion teach a new doctrine which          there any longer the heartfelt, bold         Denial that Jesus Christ is
  emasculates the covenant. All            love of sovereign, eternal predes-      Head of the covenant of grace vio-
  that is left of the covenant, in this    tination so evident in the Canons       lently conflicts with the teaching
  view, is an offer of salvation on
  condition of faith and repentance.       of Dordt?  Ah,  where  in the world     of Romans  5:12-21.  There is, ac-
  "But," says Kersten,  "faith and re-     is there any longer heartfelt, bold     cording to this passage, similarity
  pentance are not conditions of the       love of the decree of election and      between the position of Adam and
  covenant; rather, they are benefits      reprobation confessed once by the       the position of Christ in that just
  which flow out of the covenant"          Reformed churches in the Canons?        as Adam was "federal," or cov-
  (cited by  Van Genderen, p. 12).         Perfect love of election would cast     enant, head of the entire human
                                           out fear.                               race in the covenant given with
            Fear of Election                                                       creation before the fall so Christ is
   in the Reformed Churches!                              The Headless             "federal," or covenant, Head of the
    Although he is still constrained                Covenant of Grace              new, elect race in the covenant of
to confess election, Van  Genderen             Rejection of election as govern-    grace. Christ is legal representa-
does not wholeheartedly love the           ing the covenant requires Van           tive of "many." This is His rela-
doctrine. Deep-down he is afraid           Genderen to deny that Jesus Christ      tion to them in the covenant of
of it. Election is a dangerous ele-        is Head of the covenant of grace        grace. And this is Headship. "For
ment in theology. It must be               (pp. 19-21, 56). Here he acknowl-       as by one man's disobedience
watched closely and guarded care-          edges disagreement with the             many were made sinners, so by the
fully, lest it work evil on the gos-       Westminster Larger Catechism. In        obedience of one shall many be
pel, especially the precious truth         Question 31 the Larger Catechism        made righteous" (v. 19). Such is
of the responsibility of man. It is        confesses that "the covenant of         the fundamental importance of this
so often "abstract."         It "easily    grace was made with Christ as the       truth that to deny it, whether as
tends to a false passiveness.... It        second Adam, and in him with all        r e g a r d s   A d a m   o r   a s   r e g a r d s
can also lead to carelessness  ..,"        the elect as his seed." The sole        Christ, is to destroy the Christian
(p. 62). If election is allowed to         reason for denying that Jesus           gospel.
have a prominent place in the gos-         Christ is Head of the covenant of            Reformed believers must take
pel of the covenant, it will detract       grace is that this necessarily im-      note of this: Denial that election
from "the full validity of the prom-       plies that the covenant is estab-       governs the covenant of grace as
ise and the reality of the covenant"       lished only with those who are in       regards membership in the cov-
(P.  3%                                    Christ, that is, the elect.             enant means the denial of Christ's
    Fear of the doctrine of election           .The price paid for the privi-      covenantal  Headship as taught in
characterizes much that comes out          lege of extending the covenant          the critically important fifth chap-
of the Reformed Netherlands of             more widely than the elect is high.     ter of Romans.
late.  Berkouwer"s  Divine Election        Christ is no longer the representa-          Van Genderen is unable to find
(Eerdmans, 1960) was an extended           tive of all the members of the cov-     the  Headship  of Christ in the cov-
warning about the dark shadow              enant of grace, obtaining for them      enant of grace in the Canons of
cast over the gospel by the doc-           the right to belong to the covenant     Dordt, II, 8:
trine of the decree of predestina-         of grace and, on this basis, uniting
tion as taught by the Canons of            them to Himself by His regenerat-          For this was the sovereign coun-
Dordt. Election accompanied by             ing Spirit.                               sel and most gracious will and
reprobation threatens, assurance.              The covenant of grace is head-         purpose of God the Father, that
H. Venema, theologian of the Re-           less!                                      the quickening and saving effi-
formed Churches in the Nether-                                                        cacy of the most precious death
                                               In the covenant of grace, it is
lands ("liberated"), was so im-                                                       of his Son should extend to  all
                                           every man for himself and by him-          the elect, for bestowing upon
pressed by the dangers of eternal          self. This is the implication of Van       them alone the gift of justifying
election that he transformed the           Genderen's explanation of the ac-          faith, thereby to bring them infal-
divine decree into a mere histori-         tual realization of the covenant in        libly to salvation: that is, it was
cal event  (see  his  Uifverkiezing?       the hearts of the children. It is         the will of God, that Christ by the
Juzeker!     Maur hoe?,  Kampen:           not the Head of the covenant who           blood of the cross, whereby he

                                                                                               June 1, 1996lStandard Bearer1395           I


  confirmed the new covenant,             the whole of the second head of                 and who they are in whose hearts
  should effectually redeem out of        doctrine of the Canons, the article             God fulfills the covenant promise.
  every people, tribe, nation, and        determines the members of the                       Every conception of the cov-
  language, all those, and those          new covenant by election:  "... all             enant that cuts covenant loose
  only, who were from eternity cho-
  sen to s,alvation,  and given to him    those and those only who were                   from election is dashed on the rock
  by the Father; that he should con-      from eternity chosen to salvation               of Romans 9. The very purpose of
  fer upon them faith, which to-          and given to him by the Father."                the  Holy Spirit in this chapter is
  gether with all the other saving            Significantly, in the rejection of          to distinguish children of the-flesh
  gifts of the Holy Spirit, he pur-       errors attached to this second                  from children of promise among
  chased for them by his death;           head, there is sharp warning                    the physical children of believers
  should purge them from all sin,         against a view of the covenant that             according to God's eternal predes-
  both original and actual, whether       makes faith a "condition" to mem-               tination (vv. 6ff.). By promise,
  committed before or after believ-       bership in the covenant (Canons,                God establishes His covenant with
  ing; and having faithfully pre-
  served them even to the end,            II, Rejection of Errors/3,4).                   the elect children of Abraham, and
  should at last bring them free              How is it possible that anyone,             with no others.
  from every spot and blemish to          much more a Reformed theologian,
  the enjoyment of glory in his own       can fail to see in the Canons  II/8               (For the children being not yet
  presence forever.                       that Jesus' death was confirmation                born, neither having done any
                                          of the covenant of grace, that Jesus              good or evil, that the purpose of
    The Dutch Reformed theolo-            died as Head of the covenant, and                 God according to election might
                                                                                            stand, not of works, but of him
gian cannot find in this article the      that the covenant has only the elect              that calleth;) It was said unto her,
teaching that Jesus Christ is Head        as members, just as the death that                The elder shall serve the younger.
of the covenant of grace. Nor can         confirmed it was only for the elect?              As it is written, Jacob have. I
he see in this article that the Re-       No doubt, fear of election has                    loved, but Esau have I hated (w.
formed faith limits membership in         blinded the Dutch theologian's                    11-13).
the covenant of grace to the elect.       eyes.
Writes Van Genderen:                                                                          With this agrees Galatians 3,
                                             "... that the purpose of God                 which addresses the covenant
  It is remarkable that this forceful              according to election                  promise to Abraham's seed, Jesus
  upholding of the covenant as a                      might stand"                        Christ, and to those who are
  covenant of grace has not led to a          The issue at stake in the con-              Christ's (w. 16, 29).
  system limiting it to the elect.        troversy in the Reformed churches
  Christ is referred to as Surety and
  Mediator of the covenant rather         between a covenant governed by                         Making the Promise
  than Head of the covenant. Cov-         the electing God and a covenant                               of None Effect
  enant and election are not the          governed by the appropriating                       Refusal to view the covenant
  same thing (p. 56).                     child is not whether covenant and               as governed by election results in
                                          election are "the same thing" (p.               grievous injury to the promise of
    What is truly remarkable is           56).  No one thinks that covenant               God, that is, to the promising God
that the Dutch theologian cannot          and election are the same thing.                    Himself. For on this view the
see Christ's covenant  Headship in        Election is the eternal decree                         promise is addressed by
the article.    Remarkable? It is         of God in Christ appointing           Every             God to all children of  be-
nothing less than astounding.             some to salvation in distinc-       conception               lievers without exception.
    This is one of the few articles       tion from others. The  cov-           of the                 God promises every child,
in the "Three Forms of Unity" that        enant of grace is the  rela-         covenant                the one who eventually
explicitly mention the covenant of        tionship of love and friend-         that cuts               perishes as well as the
grace. The article describes the          ship between God and His             covenant                one who finally inherits
substitutionary death of Christ that      people begun in this world              loose                glory, that He will be the
redeemed the elect, earned for            and perfected in the new          from election              child's God and that the
them the gift of faith, and made          world. But the issue is             is dashed                child will be God's son
certain their fellowship with Christ      whether ;membership  in the         on the rock              and heir. Van  Genderen
as "confirmation of the covenant."        covenant of grace as living               of                 readily acknowledges that
The cross was covenant business           communion with God is de-           Romans 9.           God makes this promise to
conducted by the representative           termined by election, yes or                           every child "in mercy."
Head of the members of the cov-           no. With this, the issue is                           One implication is that the
enant of grace in their stead and         whether election determines who                   promise of God is the oddest
on their behalf. In keeping with          they are to whom God promises                   promise that ever was. For it does
                                          covenant fellowship and blessings               not include the good that is  prom-

396lStandard Bearer/June 1,1996


ised. Whereas the value of men's              basis of God's promise we may ex-             part of  Covenant and Election, "Cov-
promises is that they guarantee               pect that He will also do what He             e n a n t   T h e o l o g y   -  P a s t   a n d
and bestow the good that is prom-             says"  (p. 69). The truth is that on          Present," which gives a brief his-
ised, e.g., the lifelong fidelity             Van Genderen's doctrine of the                tory of the dogma of the covenant,
vowed at a wedding, God's cov-                covenant we can expect that God               acknowledges that "the doctrine of
enant promise does not include the            will  nof do what He says. He                 election has greatly influenced the
covenant communion with Himself               promises to be Esau's God and to              doctrine of the covenants" (p. 92).
and salvation that it speaks of.              have Esau for His son, and, lo,               Van  Genderen suggests that this
Obviously not! For many receive               Esau is  ,eternally  damned. In real-         was  "a result of the . . . attempt to
the promise who never enjoy the               ity, God's promise assures nothing.           prevent Arminian ideas from cor-
good that is promised! The good               That which assures something is               rupting the covenant doctrine" (p.
spoken of is not included in the              the child's fulfilling the condition          92).
promise but is rather produced                of faith.                                             Yes.
from the demanded condition of                    If the covenant is not governed                   And Van Genderen's book
faith.                                        by election, Reformed theologians             proves the Reformed tradition
       Another implication is that the        feel free to say about the promise            right.
promise does not include the                  of God what Van  Genderen does                        To "liberate" the covenant
means by which the promised                   indeed daringly say: "Where faith             from divine election is to bring the
good is received, namely, faith.              is lacking, the promise is useless"           covenant into bondage to the will
Obviously not! For many receive               (p. 65). The promise of God is                of man.
the promise who never have faith.             "useless" ! Is this not blasphemy?                    There is, alas, reason to think
Van Genderen goes so far as to say            To use the comparable language                that the doctrine of the covenant
that God "is willing" to give faith           of Romans  9:6, where man does                advocated by Van  Genderen is the
to all. To this, the question at once         not fulfill the condition of faith,           majority opinion among Reformed
is, "Why then does He not give                the Word of God is of none effect.            churches today.
faith to all?" Van Genderen leaves                                                                  This makes it urgent that the
this question unanswered. Fact is,                 The Reformed Tradition                   Protestant Reformed Churches
for Van Genderen, faith is the con-               Despite Van Genderen's strong             bear fervent witness to the doc-
dition that the child himself must            objection to a doctrine of the cov-           trine of the covenant that extols
provide in order that the promise             enant that is "dominated" by elec-            sovereign grace and honors the
may be fulfilled in the actual be-            tion, he admits that this has been            Headship of Christ, in the covenant.
stowal of salvation.                          a prominent view in the Reformed                      A witness that is not afraid of
       Yet another implication is that        tradition. This was the view of               divine election. Cl
Van Genderen  is dead wrong when              Herman Bavinck and of Abraham                                                         - DJE
he surprisingly affirms that "on the          Kuyper (pp. 25-29). The second

. .                                      :                             I  ,I           .
                                                                       h                                                          ., _
       @urn                            11I
                                              cisms of Hyper-Fullerites and free-           ternal,  effectual call, and rejects
                                              will preachers against Gill that              human responsibility in matter of
n John Gill: Hyper-Calvinist?                 much of their argumentation has               salvation, yet your final paragraph
No!                                           been absorbed by those who oth-               beginning, "If Gill hesitated to af-
       My publisher kindly sent me a          erwise hold to the doctrines of               firm the serious external call...,"
copy of your recent review of John            grace, showing that my task of                suggests you are not quite sure of
Gill and the Cause of God and                 clearing Gill's name is not yet over.         your position. Your title, too,  John
Truth (Standard Bearer, April 15,             You suggest that I see Gill on these          Gill: Hyper-Calvinist?  underlies
1996, "John  Gilk  Hyper-Calvin-              issues through "murky" glasses,               this uncertainty. Actually there is
ist?ll). It was a most encouraging            but permit me to suggest that my              no doubt at all about the matter.
surprise to find a magazine of such           glasses seem murky from your                  Gill's works, contemporary wit-
good reputation and testimony                 point of view only because you are            ness, earlier biographers, and my
taking interest in my work and                using lenses which are less  well-            own research all stress that which
welcoming a sympathetic account               focused. You give faultfinders the            you have missed, i.e., Gill's belief
of this much maligned man's life              benefit of the doubt concerning               in an external call and in man's
and works.                                    their reproach that Gill rejects an           full responsibility for his spiritual
       So successful has been the criti-      external call, as opposed to an in-           state and rejection of Christ. If you

                                                                                                            June 1, 1996lStandard Bearer1397


would care to read my chapter  A            evangelistic capacities. He defends        call." It is clear that he taught  "an
Sainf is  SZandered   again, you will       Gill at length against charges of          external call." As I pointed out in
see that I take up both these is-           Hyper-Calvinism and Antinomian-            my review of Dr. Ella's book on
sues in a way which provides you            ism, arguing in particular, that Gill      Gill, Gill called on unregenerate
with what you have failed to find.          stressed man's responsibility re-          persons in his audience to perform
It may be that I have not stressed          garding both law and gospel.               the natural duties of religion, ex-
them enough, so I shall thankfully          Though Rippon seems to have ac-            ercise a natural faith, believe the
take the hint and do so in a subse-         cepted Fuller's Grotian view of sin,       external report of the gospel, and
quent edition. An article of mine           and strives to thrust it on Gill, he       the like. Gill's external call was
in the current issue of Focus               yet claims correctly that Gill's ex-       merely a command to unregener-
(Christian Ministries Trust) en-            position of John  5:40 clearly             ated persons to do certain things
titled  John  Gill and his Successors       teaches human responsibility and,          that supposedly lay within their
meets in detail the same criticisms         furthermore, he refers to Gill's dis-      natural powers. This was  "an ex-
which came from quite a different           tinction between the external and          ternal call." But it was not the ex-
theological corner.                         internal ministry of the gospel.           ternal call of Matthew  22:14 and
     Though you write, "That Gill               I sympathize with your stric-          of the Canons of Dordt, IIJ5.
denied what Reformed theology               tures concerning the expressions               If Gill taught that  the  external
teaches as the `external call of the        "legal repentance" and "evangeli-          call of Matthew  22:14 and of the
gospel' is plain enough . . . . N I show    cal repentance" though they are            Canons of Dordt, II/5 should not
in the above mentioned chapter,             hardly helpful here as this was a          be extended to unregenerated per-
quoting extensively and verbatim            common semantic distinction of             sons, and if his reason was that
from Gill's works, that Gill distin-        the time, used by Christians on            doing so would compromise the
guished between an external and             both sides of the  duty-faith/free-        truth of sovereign grace  - Calvin-
an internal call and believed firmly        offer debate.       Remember that          ism  - Gill was a hyper-Calvinist.
that both were part of gospel               Fuller says that "the former leads             The issue is easily and clearly
preaching. See also The  Cause  of          to rebellious despair and the lat-         decided by what Gill himself wrote
God and Truth, Section X. Gill also         ter leads to a holy submission to          about the external call of the gos-
believed that even the elect could          God." Here Fuller is in complete           pel in his dogmatics,  A Complete
reject the external call until God          agreement with both Gill and Hun-          Body of Doctrinal and Practical
put a new spirit in them in His             tington!                                   Divinity:     or a System  of  Evan-
own good time.                                  Lastly, thank you for correct-         gelical Truths Deduced from the
    Where the completely errone-            ing my Gerlish (German-English)            Sacred Scriptures,  vol. 2 (Grand
ous idea that Gill rejected "full re-       the sic-word should read "spurred          Rapids: Baker, repr. 1978):
sponsibility," as you term it, came         on."
from, I cannot imagine. Certainly                            (Dr.) George M. Ella        . . . or this external call may be con-
there is no basis whatsoever for                             Mulheim,  Germany          sidered, as a call of sinners in a
this presumption in Gill's works.                                                       state of nature and unregeneracy;
Even Andrew Fuller came admi-               Response:                                   but then it is not a call to them to
rably to Gill's rescue here, point-             I would gladly be corrected by          regenerate and convert them-
                                                                                        selves, of which there is no in-
ing out in his Gospel Worthy of AZ2         Dr. Ella, or by anyone else, in my          stance; and which is the pure
Acceptation  that Gill "established         judgment that John Gill was a               work of the Spirit of God: nor to
the principle" of man's responsi-           hyper-Calvinist.                            make their peace with God, which
bility when he says that the "per-              The issue is this: Did Gill             they cannot make by any thing
verseness of their wills was blame-         teach that God, in the preaching            they can do; and which is only
worthy, being owing to the  ,cor-           of the gospel, commands every sin-          made by the blood of Christ: nor
ruption and vitiosity of their na-          ner in the audience, unregenerated          to get an interest in Christ, which
ture; which being blameworthy in            reprobate as well as regenerated            is not got, but given: nor to the
                                                                                        exercise of evangelical grace,
them, that which follows upon it            elect, to repent of his sins and to         which they have not, and there-
must be so too." Fuller does not            believe on' Jesus Christ? Did Gill          fore can never exercise: nor to
give the reference, but it is from          teach that God commands every               any spiritual vital acts, which they
The Cause  of  God and Truth, Sec-          sinner to repent  with genuine,  heart-     are incapable of, being natural
tion XXX, point 3. John Rippon,             feZt repentance  and to believe on          men and dead in trespasses and
Gill's successor,  in  his  Life and        Jesus Christ with true (saving)faith?       sins. Nor is the gospel ministry
Writings  of  Dr. John Gill,  speaks            The issue is whether Gill               an offer of Christ, and of his grace
of the former pastor of his church          taught  the  external call of the gos-      and salvation by him, which are
with great enthusiasm, stressing            pel. The issue is not whether Gill          not in the power of the ministers
his preaching, soul-winning, and            taught and practiced  "an  external         of it to give, nor of carnal men to

396lStandard Bearer/June 1, 1996


  receive; the gospel is not an offer,        This is not the Reformed tra-           into deeper hell for disobeying the
  but a preaching of Christ cruci-        dition. The confessional Reformed           gospel-call.
  fied, a proclamation of the             position is that the imperative of              In this same line, Ella is guilty
  unsearchable riches of his grace,       the preaching of the gospel, "Re-           of a false disjunction: The gospel
  of peace, pardon, righteousness,                                                    does not command every sinner to
  and life, and salvation, by him.        pent.1" "Believe on Jesus Christ!"
  Yet there is something in which         is seriously addressed by God, to           repent,  but repentance is a gift of
  the ministry of the word, and the       every man, woman, and child in              God. The truth is that repentance
  call by it, have to do with unre-       the audience. It is addressed to            is a gift of God in sovereign grace
  generate sinners: they may be,          those who have not the least abil-          to  the  elect sinners only,  and  (note
  and should be called upon, to per-      ity to obey the summons and who             well:      "and"!)  the gospel com-
  form the natural duties of reli-        may even have been appointed by             mands every sinner to repent of
  gion; to a natural faith, to give       God to remain in their unregen-             his sins with true, heartfelt repen-
  credit to divine revelation, to be-     erated condition and perish. This           tance .
  lieve the external report of the
  gospel, which not to do, is the sin     is the Reformed confession in the               May I add, as an urgent plea,
  of the deists; to repent of sin com-    Canons of Dordt,  II/5 and in the           that defenders of sovereign grace
  mitted, which even the light of         Westminster Confession of Faith,            today not defend the  hyper-cal-
  nature dictates: and God, in his        10.4.                                       vinistic errors that appeared in
  word, commands all men every                The chapter, "A Saint Slan-             some Calvinistic worthies of the
  where to repent; to pray to God         dered," in Dr. Ella's book,  John           past. For one thing, our love for
  for forgiveness, as Simon Magus         `Gill;  does not, in fact, provide any      the truth must outstrip our devo-
  was directed by the apostle: and        evidence that contradicts what Gill         tion, warm. as it is, to their names
  to pray to God for daily mercies        wrote in his dogmatics and that I           and persons. Great and good men
  that are needed, is a natural and
  moral duty; as well as to give him      have quoted at length above. The            of God could err, greatly. Augus-
  praise, and return thanks for mer-      pertinent section is headed, "The           tine did. So did Luther.
  cies received, which all men that       gospel call and duty faith"  (pp:               For another thing, defending
  have breath are under obligation        168-174). It is glaringly evident           hyper-Calvinistic errors in the
  to do. They may, and should be          that Gill would not affirm that the         teaching of some Calvinists weak-
  called upon to attend the outward       gospel commands every sinner to             ens our hand in our struggle with
  means of grace, and to make use         whom it comes to repent with                the Arminian heresy now making
  of them; to read the holy Scrip-        what Gill called "evangelical re-           deep inroads into the Reformed
  tures, which have been the  means       pentance" and what in reality is            churches.       I refer to the corrupt-
  of the conversion of some; to hear
  the word, and wait on the minis-        simply genuine, heartfelt repen-            ing of the doctrine of the external
  try of it, which may be blessed         tance toward God.                           call by the teaching of the  "well-
  unto them, for the effectual call-          Although Ella's phrasing is not         meant offer of the gospel." This
  ing of them.                            as precise as could be wished,              pernicious teaching of a love of
                                          Gill's position is made plain when          God in Christ for everyone who
    It is the doctrine of John Gill       Ella writes, "The sinner is not re-         hears the gospel and of a sincere
that there may be no "external            quired to exercise this faith (ear-         desire, or will, of God to save ev-
call" to "sinners in a state of na-       lier referred to as `evangelical re-        eryone who hears the gospel
ture and unregeneracy . . . to the ex-    pentance' - DJE) as a feeling of            makes the external call universal,
ercise of evangelical grace . . . nor     duty but he is drawn to the  Sav-           ineffectual grace. If the defenders
to any spiritual vital acts." This        iour by the Saviour's love who              of the "well-meant offer" can
rules out an "external call" to re-       gives the sinner faith to accept            charge that those who deny this
pent and believe, for repentance          him" (p. 171).                              offer themselves restrict the exter-
and faith are assuredly "evangeli-            In this, line, Gill is guilty of the    nal call to the regenerated elect,
cal graces" and "spiritual vital          hyper-Calvinistic error: The sin-           our worthy cause is hurt  - "the
acts." The reason given by Gill,          ner is not required to exercise faith       cause of God and truth" that Gill
why there may be no such call to          because he lacks the ability. The           loved.
unregenerate sinners, is that they        truth is that the totally unable sin-                                           - Ed.
are "natural men and dead in tres-        ner is required to believe on Jesus
passes and sins."         .               Christ presented in the gospel. He          n The Banner of Truth
    For Gill, the Calvinistic doc-        knows it. If the external call is           against Itself
trine of total depravity rules out        not accompanied by the internal                 I have recently read the book
the external call of the gospel.          c a l l   - particular grace in the         Hype+Calvinism  & the Call of the
Only those are to be summoned to          preaching! - he willingly refuses           Gospel.
genuine repentance and true faith         to do what he knows he ought to                 The position presented and de-
who are already born again.               do. He will one day be damned               fended seems unassailable. I  es-

                                                                                                 June 1,1996/Standard  Bearer/399


pecially found the chapters on                would love to be able to read it. I       suggestions and needs financial
Calvin, Turretin, and Kuyper to be            wonder why there isn't more En-           support:
very helpful. What eye-openers!               glish translation of some of these                    Dutch Reformed
It  made me wonder how many                   Dutch theologians.           Kuyper,                 Translation Society
other older Reformed writers had              Bavinck, and Schilder are refer-                       P.O. Box 7083
similar views. I went into my li-             enced by many authors, but it                 Grand Rapids, MI 49510
brary and looked up references to             seems we :English-only  readers are                                         - Ed.
the call in Owen, Witsius, and                consigned to interacting with their
B Brake1 and found they all seemed            works on a second-hand or hear-           II The Form of Sound Words
to support the view set forth in              say basis.                                   My I take this opportunity of
Hyper-Calvinism.  And one of                                        Chris PassereZZo    conveying my sincere thanks for
those authors is published by The                                          APO, AE      the blessings that I have received
Banner of Truth, the very publisher                                                     throughout my subscription to the
which seems to be now taking a                Response:                                 Standard Bearer. There are few, if
stand against this view (see the                  T h e   .important  b o o k   b y     any, Reformed publications that
Standard Bearer,  Jan. 15 and April           Abraham Kuyper to which you re-           match your devotion to Christ and
15,1996). How odd.                            fer is  Dat de Genade Particulier is      His cause, and which also  "hold
    It seems to me the  PRCs, the             (That Grace is Particular).  Would        fast the form of sound words" (2
RFPA, the PRC Seminary, or                    there be any interest in nominally        Tim.  1:13) in defending the Prot-
maybe even  a PRC high school(?)              Calvinistic circles anywhere today        estant and Reformed faith as ex-
would do well to translate and                in a book defending  particular           pressed in her great confessions
publish Kuyper's book on particu-             grace?                                    such as the Westminster standards
lar grace. The references to that                 There is an organization that         and the Three Forms of Unity.
work  in Hyper-Calvinism  seem                is working at making Dutch Re-                             (Rev.) Steven Wafters
fairly clear and compelling. I                formed theological works available                    Carrickfergus, N. Ireland
                                              in English translation. It welcomes



                                              written by the Rev. Don Van                sexual orientation to deny his/her
                                              Hoeven of Montague, minister in            sexuality would seem oppressive.
H Down the Slippery Slope                     the Reformed Church in America.            Celibacy is a calling; it ought not
    A word of appreciation: A num-            Because of its seriousness, and be-        to be made a demand."
                                                                                           The Rev. Rhem's position is bib-
ber of readers kindly send infor-             cause of the implications of the ar-       lically correct,  and I agree with
mation which they think helpful               guments, I quote the article in its        him. The oppressiveness of the
and useful for this column. That              entirety.                                  church's stand regarding homo-
is deeply appreciated. Please con-                                                       sexuality is a clear violation of
tinue to do  so. If the articles are              Recently the Reformed Church           God's graceful and inclusive love.
not always used, it is not because              in America's Muskegon  Classis           But this area of the controversy
they are considered unimportant                 has acted to censor and separate         leads to the second and maybe
or  irrelevant. It is rather a matter           the Rev. Richard Rhem, the pas-          even more challenging issue:
                                                tor of the Christ Community
of choosing and selecting what ap-                                                       Must all Christians believe that
                                                Church in Spring Lake, from the          God's saving grace is available
pears to this writer to be of great-            Reformed Church in America.              only through Jesus Christ, con-
est  interest.                                  The controversy is focused on two        sciously embraced by the be-
    Two of our western Michigan                 basic issues. The first is the Rev.      liever? Or may I, as a Christian,
readers sent an article which ap-               Rhem's belief that sexual orienta-       believe that God is truly known
peared in the Holland  SentineZ  re-            tion is a consequence of one's           in a saving way by others in their
cently in response to the action of            birth, and that there is no reason        own respective religious tradi-
the Muskegon  Classis  of the Re-              to call either heterosexual or ho-        tions?
formed Church in the case of Rev.              mosexual persons to repentance              The current controversy in the
Richard  Rhem  - reported earlier              for their sexual orientation. While       Reformed Church in America has
                                               the scriptures do not address the         arisen because one of its ordained
in this rubric. This article was               issue of orientation, they do call        ministers has had the courage to
                                               for covenant faithfulness. As the         say publicly what many clergy
                                               Rev. Rhem stated in a recent pas-         and laity believe in their hearts
Rev. VanBaren  is pastor of the Prot-          toral letter, "Since our sexuality        and speak of privately. For min-
estan t Reformed         C h u r c h   o f     is so intrinsic to our humanness,         isters in most denominations to
Loveland, Colorado.                            to require the person of homo-            preach or write such inclusive be-

4oo/stand8@ Bearer/June I, 1996


liefs about the nature of God's           short of the glory of God; we are        Jesus, that is, a Savior?  A.  Because
grace is to invite a similar censor       all judged, we are all dependent         he saveth us, and delivereth us
or removal. The result is that the        on God's gracious love.                  from our sins; and likewise, be-
clergy are tragically silent about          Nurturing exclusivity and supe-        cause we ought not to seek, nei-
this issue, and this communicates         riority is not just a religious prac-
the message that the laity are in-        tice. It has always been in the          ther can find salvation in any
capable of participating in the           interest of the principalities and       other."
continuing struggle to integrate          powers, the leaders of the nation-           Heidelberg Catechism, Question
faith and experience.                     state to seek to co-opt exclusive,       67: "Are both word and sacra-
  The issues in the Spring Lake           arrogant religious beliefs. It was       ments, then, ordained and ap-
Church controversy are of great           as true at the time of Jesus as it is    pointed for this end, that they may
significance. That is why a pas-          for us. We need only to remem-           direct our faith to the sacrifice of
tor must be silenced. There are           ber our history and how the fund-        Jesus Christ on the cross, as the
massive divisions between                 ing for the U.S.-sponsored terror-       only ground of our salvation? A.
peoples all over the world. Some          ism of the Contras in Nicaragua
of the worst, most horrible crimes        was much easier when their mis-          Yes, -indeed: for the Holy Ghost
against humanity are committed            sion was to destroy the "godless         teaches us  in the gospel, and as-
because some persons still believe        Communists."                             sures us by the sacraments, that
that the majority of the world's            It is essential that we openly de-     the whole of our salvation depends
non-Christian population is of            bate these issues, and that the          upon that one sacrifice of Christ
lesser value in the eyes of God.          church allow for a variety of hues       which he offered for us on the
While being human, they must be           and colors as it develops its tap-       cross."
"saved" to be made acceptable be-         estry of faith and life. Exclusiv-           Belgic Confession, Article 21: I`...
fore-God.                                 ity (salvation only through Jesus)       Neither is it necessary to seek or
  It is a small step to regard such       in the church has become not only
persons as second-class, not quite        a scandal, but a stumbling block,        invent any other means of being
as important or cherished by God          set before us to protect the             reconciled to God, than this only
as were we Christians. Through-           claimed uniqueness of the iden-          sacrifice, once offered, by which
out my life in the institutional          tity of the institutional church.        believers are made perfect forever.
church I have seen how this               Ministers and laity who see Jesus'       This is also the reason why he was
exclusivistic understanding of            authority as being a life of remov-      called by the angel of God, Jesus,
God's grace and love has resulted         ing barriers to God's love must          that is to say, Savior, because he
in the Church's accommodation to          refuse to be silenced. I thank God       should save his people from  their
such inhumanity.                          for the Rev. Rhem and for this           sins."
  Can we as Christians hold on            large congregation of witnesses to
to this exclusiveness and still say,      the inclusive love of God.                   BeZgic  Confession,  Article 26:
"These are my brothers and my                                                      "We believe that we have no ac-
sisters"? Who does belong to                It is appalling to read an ar-         cess unto God, but alone through
God? Is God equally grieved at          ticle as the above, written by one         the only Mediator and Advocate,
the suffering of a child in the         who is a pastor and teacher in a           Jesus Christ the righteous.. . ."
Bedouin tent of Iraq as with our                                                       BeZgic  Confession,  Article  281:
children's or grandchildren's suf-      Reformed congregation. How can             "We believe, since this holy con-
fering? How can we support a            he call himself "Reformed"? How            gregation [the church] is an assem-
nationalism that is grounded in         can he label himself a "Calvinist"?        bly of those who are saved, and
the idolatry of "God and Coun-          In fact, can he even rightly claim
try"? Will the denomination si-         the beautiful name "Christian"?            that out of it there is no salvation,
lence me if I preach that together,     What is the man's definition of            that no person of whatsoever state
Muslim, Buddhist, Jew, or Hindu,        those terms? Is he not one of              or condition he may be, ought to
we are one before God whose             whom the apostle Paul warns in             withdraw himself, to live in a
Spirit leads us all into truth?         Acts  20:28-33?                            separate state from it; but that all
  I am a Christian. I, with the                                                    men are in duty bound to join and
Rev. Rhem, can say, "I trust in,            Is  this man not bound by the          unite themselves with it...."
worship and serve God as God            confessions of his own church  Bnd             Canons II-8:  "For  this was  the
has been revealed to me by God's        denomination (the Three Forms of           sovereign counsel, and most gra-
Spirit in the face of Jesus Christ"     Unity)? Paging through the con-
(2 Corinthians  4:6). However, I        fessions, one finds many, many,in-         cious will and purpose of God the
do not believe exclusivity to be        stances where his teachings bla-           Father, that the quickening and
the message of Scripture nor the        tantly contradict what the Re-             saving efficacy of the most pre-
essence of the life of Jesus. I be-     formed churches have ever taught.          cious death of his Son should ex-
lieve  God's grace is greater than      Note just a few instances.                 tend to all the elect, for bestowing
our creeds. I do not believe that                                                  upon them alone the gift of justi-
non-Christians are "condemned to            Heidelberg Catechism, Question         fying faith, thereby to bring them
hell," second-class. We all fall        29: "Why is the Son of God called          infallibly to salvation...."

                                                                                              June 1,1996/Standard  Bearer/401


     Canons III-IV-6: "What there-         "I believe God's grace is greater                   No matter what the "consequence
fore neither the light of nature, nor      than our creeds. I do not believe                   of one's birth," the law of God
the law could do, that God per-            that non-Christians are `con-                       must be maintained. And no one
forms by the operation of the Holy         demned' to hell,' second-class."                    who maintains the infallible Scrip-
Spirit through the word or minis-          Admittedly, he makes the claim                      tures can deny that all of the above
try of reconciliation: which is the        that the creeds are in error in this                violates the law and Word of God.
glad tidings concerning the Mes-           regard  - for "God's grace is                            I labeled this article: "A Slip-
siah, by means whereof, it hath            greater...."    Is God's "grace"                    pery Slope." I recall many years
pleased God to save such as be-            greater also than infallible Scrip-                 ago when there was quite a stir in
lieve, as well under the Old, as un-       ture which declares in Matthew                      the Reformed churches because
der the New Testament."                    8:12, "But the children of the king-                some in the east coast churches
    Can all of this simply be dis-         dom shall be cast out into outer                    were teaching that Genesis  1-11
missed with the `claim: "I believe         darkness: there shall be weeping                    should not be understood literally.
God's grace is greater than our            and gnashing of teeth"? To make                     Many years later the same was be-
creeds"?                                   all these claims in the name of the                 ing taught in the Christian Re-
    But a man who calls himself            "inclusive love of God" is wicked.                  formed Church. Then there was
II Christian" would presumably             Where was that "inclusive love of                   the matter of women serving in of-
surely be bound by the Word of             God" at the flood? Where was it                     fice  - and some in the Reformed
Christ revealed infallibly in holy         in the destruction of Sodom and                     Church simply ordained women
Scripture.      Does not the Word          Gomorrah? Where was that "in-                       into the office  - in spite of the
clearly state, "Neither is there sal-      clusive love" when Jesus ad-                        official position of the church
vation in any other: for there is          dressed the Pharisees and scribes                   against this. Some years later the
none other name under heaven               as "hypocrites" (Matt.  23)?                        Christian Reformed Church went
given  .among men, whereby we                  Van  Hoeven also expresses                      t h r o u g h   t h e   s a m e   s t r u g g l e .
must be saved" (Acts  4:X!)?               agreement with a pastoral letter of                 Though for 2000 years there
    Did not Jesus clearly state,           Rev. Rhem, who stated, "Since                           seemed to be no question about
+`Verily,  verily, I say unto thee, Ex-    our sexuality is so intrinsic to                            the interpretation of Scrip-
cept a man be born of water and            our humanness, to require                 I S                ture on this score, some in
of Spirit, he cannot enter into the        the person of homosexual             God's                    the CRC insisted that their
kingdom of God"? Where does                orientation to deny his/her          "graceN                  last 20 years of  disagree-
that leave the Muslim, Buddhist,           sexuality would seem op-             greater                  ment shows that there are,
Jew, or Hindu  - except these  re-         pressive. Celibacy is a cajl-       also than                 after all, two legitimate
,pent and believe?                         ing; it ought not to be made        infallible                ways of interpreting Scrip-
    Did not Jesus insist that "life        a demand." The statement            Scripture                 ture in this regard. Now
eternal is to know God  and Jesus          was to explain "Rev. Rhem's                    7
                                                                                    . . . .             in the Reformed Church
Chrisf  whom he has sent" (John            belief that sexual orientation                             there is the struggle not only
17:3)?  If that is true, and it is,        is a consequence of one's birth,                     with regard to homosexuality, but
where does that leave those of             and that' there is no reason to call                even whether Christ is truly the
other religions?                           either heterosexual or homosexual                   only way  .unto salvation. It is in-
    Must not all who call  them-           persons to repentance for their                     deed a "slippery slope," and once
`selves "Christian'! heed Christ's         sexual orientation.        While the                the slide begins, there seems no
own missionary command:            "Go     scriptures do not address the is-                   way of stopping it. Paul correctly
ye therefore, and teach all nations,       sue of orientation, they do call for                foresaw:         "After my departing
baptizing them in the name of the          covenant faithfulness."                             shall grievous wolves enter in
Father, and of the Son, and of the             so . . . homosexuality is a "con-               among you, not sparing the flock."
Holy Ghost...."? To state, scorn-          sequence of one's birth." Let's ad-                 May God have mercy on His
fully, of the mission work of the          mit, once, that such is true.                       people that they remain faithful to
church, "While being human, they           Equally valid would be the claim                    the end!  Q
must be `saved'. to be made accept-        that kleptomania (the irresistible
able before God" is willful neglect        urge to steal) or pyromania (irre-
of Christ's own command.                   sistible urge to set destructive
    But you know Scripture as well         fires) are also a "consequence of
as I. None can maintain what Van           one's birth." Is this a matter of
Hoeven does without necessarily            the genes with which one is born?
denying the infallibility of Scrip-        And does this therefore give such
ture itself.                               people the right to steal without
    Van  Hoeven makes the claim,           hindrance  - or set fires at will?

402lStandard Beam/June  1, 1996


                        Trying the Spirits(2)
                                   - ,,,,
                                               The idea is the  same  as what        dangers of all the influences of the
         We are considering the general    we read `in Ephesians 4:16 with its       many false prophets that are gone
theme of I John  4:l. It is our call-      reference to being tossed about by        out into the world, you and I must
ing to be  discerning  Christians.         every wind of doctrine. Many of           try the spirits, and teach our chil-
Discernment is a calling that is           our readers will remember that the        dren and our people to be discern-
critically important for all of us.        term "spirit" is essentially "breath"     ing Christians.
We are constantly confronted with          or "wind." That is not the term,
false teachings and practices that         however, in Ephesians  4:16. There           The Forms of These Spirits
are contrary to the standard of            the reference to "winds" of doc-                         of Error
God's Holy Word. And error in              trine is the word memos,  which re-           Such false teaching can appear
either doctrine or life is destruc-        fers to a strong, tempestuous wind,       in many different forms. But gen-
tion of our fellowship with God.           that which brings great upheaval.         erally speaking we can divide er-
So we are called to "try the spir-         The term "spirit," in I John  4:1,        ror into two main divisions.
its."                                      does not speak of a fierce or vio-            Sometimes it takes the form of
                                           lent wind, but of an operation            a blatant denial of the truth, a re-
    What Are These "Spirits"?              which is Imeasured.                       jection of the Scriptures and the
    It is a common interpretation              The difference, it seems to me,       cardinal principles of the faith. So
of I John  4:l that the term "spir-        is this: Ephesians  4:16 warns us         you have those who deny the
its" is a figure of speech, a  me-         against being like children, who in       Scriptures as the inspired Word of
tonymy, for "teachers." That was           a violent storm may be tossed             God, who reject such cardinal
John Calvin's interpretation, and          about. It speaks of the tremen-           truths as the Trinity, the virgin
it has. been the interpretation of         dous, destructive effects of false        birth, the resurrection of our Lord,
many others, since. The basis for          dbctrine,`the results of error.           the creation, the fall into sin, and
that interpretation is the immedi-             The idea of these "spirits," and      so on. Not only is that blatant de-
ate reference to "false prophets."         particularly the "spirit of  errorn as    nial of biblical truth found in the
The "spirits," then, may either be         John speaks of it in verse 6, is that     cults and the various sects and pa-
true prophets of God, who faith-           these influences are very mea-            gan religions. But there are those
fully proclaim His Word; or they           sured, oftentimes seemingly minor         who call themselves Christian, but
may be false prophets.                     and insignificant. They often in-         who in fact deny the fundamental
    And although that interpreta-          volve matters that perhaps would          teachings  of. Christianity. That
tion certainly lays hold of the idea       not be of major concern to us.            number is certainly growing
of the text, I look at the figure not      Rather than the tempestuous wind          worldwide in our day in the nomi-
giving reference so much to the            of a full-blown storm, these are the      nal Christian church.
teachers as such, but to their teach-      measured breaths of certain teach-            But false teaching does not al-
ings. The idea then is this: The           ings or perspectives that we hear,        ways take that form.
"spirits" are those influences             certain perspectives that would in-           There is another form of error
which would move us in one way             fluence us and our loved ones and         that in many ways is even more
or another.                                church members. These influences          dangerous than that of a blatant
                                           may belong to "the spirit of.truth,"      rejection of Scripture and denial
                                           again,  as, John refers to it in verse    of the principles of the faith. I re-
                                           6. But they  may  also belong to          fer to the teachings, of various
Rev. Key is pastor of the Protestant       the "spirit of error."                    sorts, which  corrupf   the Scriptures.
Reformed Church of Randolph, Wis-              And  .exactly because of the          It is these teachings to which our
consin.                                    danger of those spirits of error, the     young people are subjected every

                                                                                              June 1,1996/Standard  Bearer1403


day in their schools and in their         complefion,  as the Belgic Confession      means  to test them. There is a cer-
colleges. And I speak of every            states in Article 25, there are those      tain standard alongside of which
place where we do not have our            who would subject us once again            they must be placed. They must
own high schools.                         to the beggarly elements of the            either fall within the parameters
     But those teachings which  COT-      law, adding to that which has been         of that standard, or they must be
mpf  the truth of Scripture are           fulfilled in Christ Jesus.                 rejected.     That standard is  Lthe
again distinguished by two general             Those are just a handful of ex-       Bible, God's Word of truth.
errors. There is either an insis-         amRles.
tence that something else is re-               But there are also spirits of                  How Are We to Try
quired in  addifion  fo  that revealed    falsehood that would water down                          the Spirits?
in Scripture, or there are teachings      the Scriptures. Many Christians                We may not reject something
which  omit  certain things revealed      today are misled by teachers who           simply because "we've never done
in Scripture. There is the error of       are guilty of leaving out certain          it that way before." I refer, for
adding to, and there is the error         truths taught by God.                      example, to such things as mid-
of watering down the truth of the              That spirit of falsehood which        week prayer meetings, or group
Scriptures.                               would water down the Scriptures            prayer, such as has been a long-
     Let me give just a few ex-           may take such a form as denying            standing practice in our sister
amples of those spirits of false doc-     the truths of sovereign election and       churches in Singapore. Just be-
trine which would add to the truth.       sovereign reprobation.                     cause such activities have not be-
     In Galatia it was the insistence          It may involve denying at             longed to our custom does not
that circumsicion was necessary.          some  point the work of Christ. It         make them wrong!
Certain teachers said, "Yes, we be-       may  deny the truth that God made              We may not reject practices ei-
lieve the gospel and we agree with        him to be sin for us who knew no           ther, because those connected with
Paul's preaching. But he did not          sin, that we might be made the             a certain teaching or practice are
go far enough. He left out some-          righteousness of God in Him. In-           "too religious, too zealous, too ex-
thing that is vital to your salva-        stead of teaching Christ's death as        cited." The work of the Spirit of
tion, and that is circumcision. If        an atonement for the sins of His           Christ often causes open change in
you want to be a true Christian,          people, it may speak of His death          a person's life and in the life of
you must be circumcised."                 as nothing more than  an  example          the church. Let us not forget that
     So there are those who insist        of love. It may deny the effective-        people said of the apostles (Acts
that they build upon the founda-          ness of Christ's death and satis-          17:6) that they turned the world
tion of the Scriptures, but add to it     faction for sin, by teaching that He       upside down. As Protestant Re-
their own works and their own             died for everybody.                        formed officebearers we could of-
conceptions.                                   Such are but a few examples           ten desire that some of our mem-
     That error is inherent in the        of watering down the truth, leav-          bers would show more of a zeal
whole Roman Catholic system of            ing out certain truths revealed by         for God's truth and for the Chris-
so-called authoritative teaching by       God in His Word.                           tian life.
the church  apart  from the Scrip-             But the same error can also be            At the same time, we must
tures.                                    a problem when it comes to the             warn that a spirit of truth can
     The same error is seen in the        Christian life and practice. Some          never be confirmed simply by out-
charismatic `movement, which in-          who claim to be Christian want to          ward show. It would be a tragic
sists that we must have the spe-          overlook the truth that faith with-        mistake to measure a teaching or
cial gifts  - tongue speaking, heal-      out works is  deead, is  nofuifh.  They    practice that way. The Pharisees,
ing, prophecy, and in some in-            shrug off the rebukes and exhor-           after all, were noted for their reli-
stances even holy laughter. Or, we        tations and admonitions of the             gious appearance.
must have special revelation, God         Scriptures. They show  little,regard           So appearances may not in
speaking in a still small voice           for the aiplication of biblical truth      themselves be the ground of re-
within us.                                to their daily lives. That is the          jecting a certain teaching or prac-
    There is the insistence today,        terrible error of antinomianism.           tice. And appearances certainly
in the Reconstructionist movement         And examples could be multiplied           may not be the ground of  accepf-
and among theonomists, that true          when it comes to this error of wa-         ing a certain teaching or practice.
Christianity necessitates a return        tering down the truth of Scripture,            False teaching can make people
to the ceremonial laws of the Old         either doctrinally or as that truth        very happy. Make no mistake
Testament. Rather than believing          applies to our daily walk as Chris-        about that. The rapid growth of
that the ceremonies and figures of        tians .                                    the Mormons in the State of Wis-
the law remain with us in Jesus                It is necessary, therefore, to try    consin and elsewhere would not
Christ, in  whom they have their          the spirits.     To try the spirits        be happening if their teachings

4OUStandard   Bearer/June 1, 1996


  made people unhappy.                   The          they are not Christians; look at                        Martyn Lloyd-Jones led her to the
  masses that are going to the Prom-                  their  lives.N Dr. Lloyd-Jones said                     truth by exposing the implications
  ise Keepers conventions come back                   to her: Wait a minute. Don't you                        of her argument.
  with reports of  .great  excitement                 see what you are saying? You are                             So these perplexities and prob-
  and happiness. If we are going to                   really saying that those people are                     lems that we face, the spirits that
  try the spirits by what makes us                    so good and their works so honor-                       we observe, to use the words of
J "feel good," we will be able to jus-                able, that they don't need Christ,                      the text, are not to be judged by
  tify virtually every cult and her-                  that the coming of the Son of God                       results of feelings or experience.
  esy the world has ever seen.                   from heaven was unnecessary for                              But we must return to the one au-
      Martyn Lloyd-Jones, in one of                   them. He didn't need to die on                          thoritative and sufficient standard
  his books, wrote of a woman who                     the cross; they can reconcile them-                     of trying the spirits, and that is
  came to him in much distress over              selves to God by their good liv-                             Holy Scripture.  Cl
  the teaching that certain unbeliev-            ing. Can't you see that such an
  ing people who live good lives  are                 argument is to deny the faith?'
  not  Christian. She said to him: "I                     She did `not realize the impli-                     1    Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression,
  cannot see how you can say that                cations of her argument.                              But    p. 185.

   .-@&y&S                        `,     1':'  1:       .;     ,,     `,     :"    ,.           I)      L                flEk&mmw
                                                                                          II



             Couth! Rejects Layman Taxpayer's Claim for Religious

       Exemption from Self=kmployment Social Security Taxes

                                                                                                                                                             I





      Taxpayers who earn self-em-                Minister Exemption to                                        the acceptance of any public insur-
 ployment income must pay a  self-               Social Security Tax                                          ance payable upon death, disabil-
  employ'ment .tax into the Social Se-                   Ordained clergymen are con-                          ity, old age, or retirement. Sec-
 curity system. The Internal Rev-                sidered "self-employed" and thus                             ondly, he must file with the IRS
 enue Code does provide, however,                subject to self-employment Social                            (within two years of his ordina-
 for two exemptions: (1) "minis-                 Security tax. However,  $j 1402(e)                           tion and installation) an Applica-
 ters and members of certain reli-               of the Code permits an exemption                             tion of Exemption from Self-Em-
 gious orders" and (2) laymen who                for ministers who elect to opt out                           ployment Tax (IRS Form 4361).
 are "members of certain religious               of the system. To do so, the ob-
 faiths."                                        jecting minister must meet certain
                                                 requirements. First, he must in-                             Layman Exemption
                                                 form the "ordaining, commission-                                  But the Code also provides an
                                                 ing, or licensing body" of the                               exemption for non-ministers (26
 Mr. Larding,  a member of South Hol-            church that he is "conscientiously                           USC  1402(g)). The layman ex-
 land Profesfanf Reformed Church, is             opposed to" or "because of reli-                             emption, however, is much more
 a practicing afforney..                         gious principles he is opposed to"                           restrictive. It requires the  consci-

                                                                                                                         June 1, 1996lStandard Bearer1405


     entious objector to be a member                  Free Exercise Challenge                            discrimination argument stating:
     of a "religious sect" that (1) es-                       The federal appellate court re-
     pouses tenets or teachings opposed               jected Droz's "free exercise" argu-                    This is not a promotion of some
     to the Social Security system; (2)               ment and cited an earlier case (U.S.                 religions over others. It is a reli-
                                                                                                           gious exemption narrowly drawn
     has for a substantial period of time             ZI.  Lee)  where the U.S. Supreme                    to maintain a fiscally sound [sic]
     made a practice of providing for                 Court had upheld the imposition                      Social Security system and to en-
     its dependent members; and (3)                   of Social Security taxes on an                       sure that all persons are provided
     has been in existence since Decem-               Amish employer who failed to pay                     for, either by the Social Security
     ber 31,195O.                                     his own and his employee's taxes:                    system or by their church.

     Constitutional Challenge                                 The Court determined that par-                 The court also rejected Droz's
         In the federal case quoted                         ticipating in the Social Security            equal protection arguments and
     above, Martin Croz was denied an                       system interfered with Lee's [the            reiterated that the purpose of the
                                                            Amish employer's] free exercise
     exemption by the IRS, because al-                      rights. It held, however, that the           layman exemption is secular  - "to
     though he embraced sincerely-held                      government had a compelling. in-             preserve the integrity of the Social
     religious objections to the Social                     terest in enforcing participating in         Security  system  and to ensure that
     Security system, he was not a                          the Social Security system in or-            all persons are covered by a wel-
     member of a church or denomina-                        der to insure the "fiscal vitality"          fare plan."
     tion which taught these beliefs.                       of a system designed to serve .the
     Droz argued that his exclusion                         social welfare. This compelling              Conclusion
     from the exemption on the ground                       interest outweighed the burden on                It appears that although all
     that he was not a member of a re-                      Lee's religious beliefs.                     ministers are free to opt out of the
     ligious sect (a) violated his consti-                                                               Social Security system on the sole
     tutional "free exercise" rights un-                      The  Droz court remarked that              basis of their personal religious be-
     der the First Amendment; (b) re-                 the Droz case was even less com-                   liefs, laymen regrettably do not en-
     quired the government to choose                  pelling than the Amish case (U.S.                  joy this -freedom. Non-ministers
     between individuals who share                    o.  Lee)  because the Amish do pro-  -             can be legal conscientious objec-
     identical religious beliefs in viola-            vide for their dependent members,                  tors only if they belong to a church
     tion of the Establishment Clause;                while Droz did not belong to any                   or sect that espouses teachings and
     and (c) allowed the government to                such religious organization (see                   beliefs opposed to the Social Secu-
     discriminate against persons with                lead quote above).                                 rity system and  has a "practice of
     religious beliefs who do not belong                                                                 providing for its dependant mem-
     to a church or religious sect.                   Establishment Clause Challenge                     bers." Cl
                                                              The court also rejected Droz's

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     Evangelism Activities                                    Southeast's Evangelism Com-                ceived a letter from the managing
          From the Evangelism Society                 mittee wants to encourage their                    editor of  PeZejjo,  a Christian pub-
*    of our Southeast  E'RC in Grand                  congregation to utilize this valu-                 lication in Denmark. The letter in-
     Rapids, MI we learn that, together,              able and extensive resource. And                   cluded this request: "Regarding
     our PR churches have well over                   they are attempting to do this by                  your ad  in World,  March 2, 1996,
     200 different pamphlets available                handing out two pamphlets each                     we would like to receive your lat-
     to them. And the material in them                month to their congregation. The                   est book catalog, and if possible,
     continues to be requested by                     aim of the first pamphlet will be                  we would like to be added to your
     people who are looking for an-                   for reading as a family, and the                   mailing list."
     swers to questions about God, doc-               second pamphlet will be one with                       The annual Spring Lecture
     trine, the PR churches, and life in              more basic ideas for use in out-                   sponsored by the Peace PRC in
     general. But how many of these                   reach.                                             Lynwood, IL was held on April 25.
     pamphlets have we, that is, mem-                         The Church Extension Com-                  Rev. R.  VanOverloop spoke on
     bers of PR church, actually read?                mittee of the Lynden, WA PRC                       "Christian Discipleship."
                                                      sponsored a Spring Lecture  on                         T h e   c o n g r e g a t i o n   o f   t h e
                                                      May 3 with their pastor, Rev. M.                   Georgetown PRC in Hudsonville,
     Mr. Wigger is u member of the Prof-              Joostens, speaking on "Trying the                  MI, through efforts of their Evan-
     esfanf  Reformed            C h u r c h   o f    Spirits."                                          gelism Committee, invited the resi- .
     Hudsonville, Michigan.                                   South Holland, IL PRC re-                  dents of Georgetown Township to

     406lStandard  Bearer/June  1, 1996


meet with them in worship on Sun-                      topic for that discussion was                   regular schedule. Grace expressed
day, April 28. That morning Rev.                       "Promise Keepers."                              their sincere appreciation to him
R .   V a n O v e r l o o p ,   p a s t o r   a t              The Doon, IA PRC was the site           for his faithfulness in bringing
Georgetown, preached a sermon                          of the annual Spring Ladies'                    them the Word of God for nearly
entitled "Great is our God." Ac-                       League meeting this year. The la-               20 months during the time of their
cording to Rev. VanOverloop,                           dies from  Doon, along with those               separate services and since their
there were over 40 visitors in at-                     of our Hull,  IA and Edgerton, MN               organization.     We include this
tendance that morning, and the                         PRCs, were invited to come and                  here, not to promote Rev. Breen,
vast majority of them came, not                        hear Rev. C.  Terpstra speak.                   but to use it as a reminder to all
because of a flyer in their mail.box,                          In early April the adults of the        of us to thank our emeriti minis-
but because of a personal invita-                      Edgerton, MN PRC were invited                   ters. Some still preach on a regu-
tion from a Georgetown member.                         to a "Spring Social." The topic for             lar basis, some still write for this
                                                       the evening was "Promise Keep-                  and other of our publications, and
Congregational Activities                              ers:      What Should be our Re-                all, without exception,  co&inue  to
     The Consistory of the Hudson-                     sponse?" Edgerton's choir was                   witness of God's faithfulness.
ville, MI PRC, with the help of                        also planning some special num-                     On April 23, the congregation
Hudsonville's Christian Fellowship                     bers for the program.                           of the Grace PRC  met  together to
Society, sponsored a timely and in-                            Spring continues to be a good           extend officially a  wejcome to their
teresting speech and discussion at                     time to hear one of our church                  first pastor, Rev. M. Dick, his wife,
the close of their catechism and so-                   choirs perform. Since our last is-              Grace Kay, and their four children.
ciety season. The consistory de-                       sue, we find that Choral Societies              The  Dicks' new address is 3653
cided that this  meeting  would be                     in our E'dgerton, MN;  Doon  &                  O'Brien Rd., Grand Rapids, MI
the last catechism class for all                       Hull, IA (combined); and the                    49544.  Phone  - (616) 791-4204.
Monday night catechism students                        Lynden, WA churches have also                   Minister Activities
(young people). Parents were also                      given their spring concerts. What                   Rev. W. Bekkering, pastor at
asked to come and sit with their                       a beautiful way to close out a                  the Pella, IA PRC, has declined the
children.      Rev. Bruinsma, pastor                   Lord's Day, with songs which                    call he was considering from the
of the First PRC in Holland, MI,                       magnify our Lord Jesus Christ and               Immanuel PRC in Lacombe,  AB,
spoke to an overflow crowd on the                      also celebrate at this time of the              Canada.     Immanuel has since
subject, "Finding a Godly Spouse."                     year His resurrection.                          formed a new trio consisting of the
Discussion and refreshments fol-                               We also want to echo the sen-           Revs. A.  denHartog  (Redlands,
lowed, providing some additional                       timents of the Grace PRC in                     CA), R. Miersma (PRC of New
Christian fellowship.                                  Standale, MI, when they extended                Zealand), and R. Moore (Hull, IA).
     The Adult Bible Study of the                      a note of thanks to Rev. Peter                     Rev. K. Koole, pastor at the
South Holland, IL PRC invited the                      Breen, one of our churches' emeriti             Faith PRC in Jenison, MI, has de-
adult members from Peace PRC to                        ministers.      Resurrection Sunday,            clined the  call  he was considering
a special combined meeting. Their                      April 7, was the last time that Rev.            from the Doon, IA PRC.        Cl
                                                       Breen preached for them on a

       1996 Young People's Convention                                                                       REMEMBER!
                      "Godly Friendships m
                                 Hosted by:
           South Holland Protestant Reformed                                                                          The
                     Young People's Society                                                               Standard  Bearer
                                                     July 29-August 2
                                                     on the campus of                                         is published
                                                     Wheaton  College                                             only once
                                                                 Plan now to attend
                                                      Anyone interested in being a                        in the months of
                                                      chaperone: please contact:                               June, July,
                                                      Jann Bruinsma (708) 672-5634                           and August.
                                                                          This is not a function of
                                                                             Wheaton College


                                                                                                               June 1, 1996lStandard Bearer1407


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    /@.$tl~                                                                                                                    SECOND CLASS
                                                                                                                               Postage Paid at
                                                                                                                               Grandvile,  Michigan
    P.O. Bdx 603
    Grandvile, MI 49468-0603

                                                      i                      .,      I        \i                                                         I





                                                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                           The Martha Ladies' Aid Society of the              The Young Adults Society of Hope
      The Council and the congregation of         Hull Protestant Reformed Church ex-                  PRC in Redlands, CA expresses its heart-
 the Grace Protestant Reformed Church             presses their sincere Christian sympathy             felt sympathy to Marlin and Sarah
 express their Christian sympathy to fel-         to their fellow member, Mrs. Reka                    Feenstra in the death of Sarah's mother,
 low officebearer, Elder John Kuiper and          Andringa, in the loss of her brother,                           CLARICE HOVING.
 his wife, Delores, in the loss of his mother,                MR. JOHN VAN  DYKE.                           May they find comfort in these words
         MRS.  BERNICE  KUIPER.                        Our prayer is that she and her family           from I Corinthians  2:9, "But as it is writ-
      May they find comfort in the Word of        be comforted with the Word of God in I               ten: Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard,
 God, Romans 8:28a,  "And we know that            Corinthians 2:9: "But as it is written, Eye          nor hath entered into the heart of man
 all things work together for good to them        hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath           the things which God hath prepared for
 that love God, to them that are called ac-       entered into the heart of man, the things            them that love him."
 cording to his purpose."                         which God hath prepared for them that                         Pastor Arie denHartog,  President
                     Rev. M. Dick, President      love him."                                                          Dawn VanUffelen,  Secretary
                       Don Lotterman, Clerk                         Rev. R. Moore, President
                                                                       Judy Brummel, Secretary

      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                                                                RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY
      The Council and the congregation of                  RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                          The Mary-Martha Society of Hope
 the Grace Protestant Reformed Church                  The Council of the First Protestant             PRC in  Redlands expresses its sincere
 express their Christian sympathy to Dea-         Reformed Church of Grand Rapids ex-                  sympathy to Sarah Feenstra in the loss of
 con Gerald Dykstra, his wife Theresa, and        presses its heartfelt sympathy to its fel-           her mother,
 family in the death of their mother and          low ofticebearer,  Mr. Kenneth Doezema,                      MRS. CLARICE HOVING.
1 grandmother,                                    in the death of his father,                               May she and her family be comforted
         MRS. CLARICE HOVING.                                MR. MARTIN DOEZEMA.                       with the blessed words found in Isaiah
      May they find comfort in the Word,               "In my Fathers house are many man-              51:1 I, "Therefore the redeemed of the
 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the        sions: if it were not so, I would have told          Lord shall return, and come with singing
 death of his saints" (Psalm 116:15).             you" (John 14:2).                                    unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be
                     Rev. M. Dick, President                 Rev. James Slopsema, President            upon their head: they shall obtain glad-
                       Don Lotterman, Clerk                       Ronald J. VanPutten,  Clerk          ness and joy; and sorrow and mourning
                                                                                                       shall flee away."
                                                           RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                                      Pastor A.  denHartog,  Pres.
      RESOLUTION OF SYMPATHY                          The Adult Bible Study of Southwest                                      Beth  VanUffelen.  Sec.
     The Adult Bible Study Society of             PR Church expresses its heartfelt sympa-
 Southwest PR Church expresses its sin-           thy to fellow members Stephen and Sheryl
 cere sympathy to David and Beverly               Hoving, in the passing to glory of his                                    NOTICE!
 Reitsma, whose infant son,                       mother,                                                  Reminder of the Pre-Synodical Prayer
              DALE RICHARD,                                  MRS. CLARICE HOVING.                      Service to be held on Monday evening,
 the Lord called to Himself.                           May they rejoice in Romans  8:23:               June IO, at  7:30   P.M.,  in Southwest PR
      May they find comfort in the words          "But ourselves also, which have the                  Church. Rev. G.  VanBaren, president of
 of.Psalm 121:1,  2, "I will lift up mine eyes    firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves         the 1995 Synod, will preach the sermon.
 unto the hills, from whence cometh my            groan within ourselves, waiting for the              Synodical  delegates are requested to meet
 help. My help cometh from the Lord,              adoption, to wit, the redemption of our              with the Consistory before the service.
 which made heaven and earth."                    body."                                                   Synod 1996 will convene, the Lord
           Rev. Ron Cammenga, President                       Rev. Ron Cammenga, President             willing, on Tuesday, June I I, 1996, at
                    Lisa Langerak, Secretary                           Lisa  Lan'gerak-,  Secretary    9:00 A.M. in Southwest PR Church.

 408lStandard Bearer/June I,1996


