Vol 24 Issue 16

Scripture speaks of being dead in sin, but also of being dead to sin. Although the expressions appear very similar, they are entirely different, even mutually exclusive. A person is either dead in sin or dead to sin; if the one is true, the other, which is the very opposite, cannot be true. They are as different as eternal woe and eternal blessedness, as far apart as utter despair and infinite joy of salvation.

The day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night. The heavens shall pass away with a great noise. The elements shall melt with a fervent heat. The earth also and all the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be? Did you ever set yourself squarely before this question which Peter presents in II Peter 3:11? And what kind of person did you find yourself to be?

The Lord had given Saul into David’s hand—Saul, the man who without a just cause, sought David’s life to take it. But David, being a man who feared God, spared the king’s life. It was about this time that Samuel died. All Israel, through its representatives, assembled together, and mourned his passing. For the seer was a great man of God.

And that this truth as expressed in this didactic part of our Baptism Form also applies to the children is evident from the Thanksgiving Prayer. We read: “Almighty God and merciful Father, we thank and praise Thee, that Thou hast forgiven us, and our children, all our sins, through the blood of Thy beloved Son, and adopted us to be Thy children, and sealed and confirmed the same unto us by Holy Baptism. .

Very many people in our circles are acquainted with the brown volume of Kramer’s English-Dutch, and Dutch-English Dictionary. My acquaintance with it dates back to the time when as a boy of 11 I studied English in the Netherlands. A few years later I had to translate a publication of the British Museum relative the findings of scientists who had translated the Babylonian tablets into English. I remember that my Kramer was never far from my elbow that winter, and did me an invaluable service in that dreary task.

The readers will remember that the Rev. H. J. Kuiper wrote in The Banner on the general theme: GOD AND MAN IN SALVATION. So far he has’ written five editorials on this mighty truth.

“And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” Luke 24:51, 52 “Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.” Acts 2:33 Natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God!