Vol 26 Issue 03

(Note: The following was prepared and in the hands of the printer for publication in the Sept. 15th issue. Due to lack of space it has been held over until now.)

“And ye have forgotten the exhortation, which comes unto you as sons, which reasoneth (speaks with) as with sons: My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art reproved of Him; For whom the Lord loveth He ehasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth”. Heb.12:5, 6

My publishing the letter of Prof. Holwerda in the Standard Bearer of August 1, drew from the pen of Prof. K. Schilder of Kampen, Netherlands, a brief series of articles. They may be found in De Reformatie for Aug. 20, 27, and Sept. 3. I have need of replying especially to the statements of the second instalment of the series.

God’s Omnipotence Surely Unlimited and Absolute.

The Dutch theologian, Petrus van Mastricht, defines the covenant as: “An agreement between God and His people, in which God promises salvation and all the benefits implied therein, and demands obedience to His glory, and the Church on her part promises obedience to God and demands the reward of the promise.” According to him the covenant is strictly bilateral, that is, it has two parties that enter into a mutual treaty, God and the Church.

According to the Heidelberg Catechism, as we have seen, faith is never presented as a condition unto salvation, or as a condition which we must fulfill in order to enter into or remain in the covenant of God. Always it is presented as a means or instrument which is wrought in us by God and given us of Him, by which we are ingrafted into Christ, become one body with Him, and thus receive all His benefits. Instrument and condition certainly do not belong to the same category of conceptions.

“To appoint unto them in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes. . .” Isaiah 61:3 In the beginning of the prophecies of Isaiah, he saw “a people that walked in darkness, a people dwelling in the shadow of death.” But that people saw a great light. They had begun to be very joyful before God’s face, even as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.