All Articles For Editorial

Even as last year, so also this time the Board of the Federation of Protestant Reformed Young People’s Societies requested us to devote one of the issues of The Standard Bearer to the memory of the Convention of this Federation that was recently held in Oak Lawn. We gladly gave our consent. I think that the Federation is a worthy cause, which well deserves our support. Besides, the contents of this number of our paper may well be read. The only difficulty is that the language must needs be all English. Those of our Holland people that cannot read English...

The Canons’ positive treatment of the Reformed doctrine of total depravity is straightforward and relatively brief. And yet, all nine articles of the Rejection of Errors condemn errors of the Remonstrants connected with total depravity. The reason for this is simple. The Canons set forth the Reformed truth over against the specific teaching of the Remonstrants. However, the Reformed doctrine of total depravity was explicitly set forth in the existing confessions, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession of Faith. The Remonstrants did not write what they really believed about fallen man. If they had, they would obviously contradict the...

Head 2 of the Canons sets forth the Reformed truth that Jesus’ death is an effectual atonement for sin, because it was a substitutionary death and a satisfaction for the sins of the elect only. In harmony with that, the gospel never promises salvation to all who hear the preaching. Rather, in the preaching, though all hearers are commanded to repent and believe, the promise of eternal life is specifically spoken to those who believe. Only the elect can and do believe, for election is the fountain of faith. And since the sacrament of baptism is a sign and seal...

About this subject we read an editorial in The Christian Century of Feb. 18, 1942. The editor of that magazine is often perplexed about the proper attitude of the Church and of the individual Christian with respect to war. War is such an ungodly business, so evidently opposed to all the precepts of the Christian faith, that he finds it extremely difficult to find a position for the Christian in relation to war, that will afford peace of mind and conscience. But “the crucial point at which all our differences and perplexities which war creates for the Christian come to...

The Christian is naturally interested in the events that are taking place in the world today. And although his interest does not exclude, but rather include, things temporal, such as the social problems, the economic situation, the political setup, it is not centered on these things as such, but considers these in the light of and with relation to something that far transcends them all: the kingdom of God. Even in and through the present world crisis and universal madness of the nations, the believer is mindful of the word of the Lord Jesus: “Seek ye first the kingdom of...

A so-called “Calvinistic Conference” is scheduled to be held in Grand Rapids in June. At this conference the Rev. H. J. Ockenga, pastor the Park St. Church in Boston, is to deliver the keynote address. Now, surely, if the keynote address is to serve its purpose, it ought to sound the basic note that should be heard throughout all the speeches and discussions of the conference. And if this is to be true in a Calvinistic Conference, that keynote address ought to be very sharply and definitely Calvinistic. If this does not characterize the keynote address, if it should sound...

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord. I Cor. 15:58 A mighty faith and a great love express themselves in the words of address that introduce this exhortation; a faith, not in the work of man, but in the indestructibleness of the work of the Lord; and a love far transcending all mere human bonds and relationships designated by that term. “My beloved brethren!” Was not the condition of the Church at Corinth such that the relation of...

The second head of the Canons teaches that Christ’s death on the cross was an effectual redemption of the elect. The Canons rejected the Remonstrants’ (Arminian) teaching that Christ died “for all men and every man.” The Remonstrants also maintained that not all for whom Christ died receive the saving benefits but only those who believe, which is to say, only those who fulfill the condition of faith. Accordingly, they perverted the preaching of the gospel, turning it into a general offer of salvation from God to all who hear the preaching. They insisted that God wills (desires) the salvation...

The Reformed theology of God’s everlasting covenant of grace must be in harmony with the doctrines of grace set forth in the Canons of Dordt. That is the premise of these editorials. That the covenant and salvation are inseparable is admitted even by those who teach that the covenant is a conditional relationship with every baptized child, for they insist that God promises salvation to each of these children (conditionally). We have shown that God established His covenant with Christ and those chosen eternally in Him. This is the teaching of both Scripture and the Canons. Since the covenant is...

The Reformed, which is to say, biblical doctrine of salvation maintains that God sovereignly saves His chosen people. The Canons of Dordt set forth this truth beautifully. The Canons demonstrate that the race of man fell in Adam and every individual is born guilty and polluted with sin. Everyone is in fact dead in sin, hates God, and rejects His Son, Jesus. And yet, some out of this fallen race do come to love God and do believe in Jesus as Savior. What explains this difference? These are the people chosen (before time) by God unto salvation in Christ. Christ...