All Articles For I John

There is a fundamental and principal difference between the church and the world. The whole world lies in darkness; she lies in the Evil one. But the church is a different people. They are the children of God; the “little children”! 

“Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin.” I Peter 4:1  

Without faith it is impossible to please God, the author of the epistle to the Hebrews tells us. And therefore we may say that unless we fear God, we cannot keep His commandments. Remembering that keeping His commandments is not simply conforming to them in the outward sense but performing an act of love to Him, we will readily see that this second matter, which Solomon says belongs to the whole duty of man, cannot be carried out unless we have that fear of God which is the first part of the whole duty of man. Of that we wrote...

Rev. Laning is pastor of Hope Protestant Reformed Church in Walker, Michigan. To understand salvation by grace alone one needs to understand what God does to the will of man when He saves him. Martin Luther came to see the central importance of this subject in his debate with Desiderius Erasmus. In fact, he was thankful that God had made use of Erasmus to bring the central importance of this truth to his attention. He spoke of this in the conclusion of his work entitled The Bondage of the Will: Moreover, I give you hearty praise and commendation on this...

Common Grace for Culture   Wherever common grace is defended, the main reason is “culture.” Common grace is necessary to account for culture. Common grace is necessary to explain the political, scientific, technological, medical, and artistic developments of the world of the ungodly. Common grace is necessary to justify a Christian’s use of the cultural products of the ungodly world. Common grace is necessary as the power and warrant of the Christian’s earthly life in the world. Culture was the driving force behind Abraham Kuyper’s (and Herman Bavinck’s) elaborate development of and strong emphasis on common grace. In his Lectures...

Rev. Slopsema is pastor of First Protestant Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. I John 5:18 Whoever commits sin is of the devil. Whoever is born of God does not commit sin. In fact, he cannot sin; for God’s seed remains in him. What striking statements these are. Many may even question them, especially the notion that those who are born of God do not and cannot commit sin. Yet this is what the...

A prayer is a request.  It must be a request for that to which we have a right. But it is and must be a request.  That it must be a request for that to which we have a right is expressed in the phrase to which we already called your attention: “For Jesus’ sake.” For His sake we have a right to the things for which we pray. And let us understand that for His sake there are definite rights to definite blessings for definite individuals. 

Dr. Klooster on the Decisions of 1921. The reader will remember that in the preceding issue 6f this paper we reflected on an article appearing in the November issue of Torch and Trumpet in which Dr. Fred H. Klooster wrote on “The Synodical Decisions of 1924 on Common Grace.” Because of our limited space, we promised to continue with this subject. in this issue of our paper.

Mr. Minderhoud is a teacher in Covenant Christian High School and a member in Hope Protestant Reformed Church, Walker, Michigan. On the first day God created light, and in the days to follow, a creation that depended upon that light. As we read throughout the Scriptures, God chose light to be a marvelous tool in the revelation of Himself. One area in which we see the revelation of God through light is in the plant kingdom and the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is that vital process created and maintained by God whereby plants, algae, and some bacteria convert the energy...

The passage which is referred to in the title of this article reads as follows: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth are named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and...