Miss Johanna Timmer, departmental editor for Reformed Women Speak, writes that “Mrs. Sophia Arens is a retired Christian school teacher who is doctrinally well-informed.”
God’s Grace – The theological definition of grace in the Harper’s Bible Dictionary reads: “Grace is a favorable disposition on the part of God, without reference to any merit in the object of the favor. To be in a state of grace, is to know that one’s relation to God is determined not by merit (by the works of the law) but by faith in Christ as the revealer of God‘s merciful love.”
In the American College Dictionary we read that the theological meaning of grace is, “The free unmerited favor and love of God; the influence or spirit of God operating in man to regenerate or strengthen; a virtue or excellence of divine origin; condition of being in God’s favor; condition of being one of the elect.”
These above definitions agree with what we read in Romans 9:11: “For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of Him that calleth.” And in Romans 11:5–6 we read: “Even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.
There are many more passages of Scripture we can quote, but one more should suffice. We read in Romans 3:24: “Being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. . .”
Perhaps someone will say, “If salvation is of grace, why must we do good works?” The answer is simply: “By their works ye shall know them.” If God has bestowed His grace on us, we show it by our works, or fruits. A peach tree bears peaches. An orange tree bears oranges. So also, when one is saved by grace, his works will show it. In James 2:17 we read: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”
Someone may ask, “How does a person get faith?” The answer is found in Ephesians 2:8–9. “For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Man can not save himself, but must use the means of grace which God has provided, namely; reading the Bible, prayer, communion of the saints, and obeying the commandments.
The Arminians, so-called from their leading representative, Jacobus Arminius, taught that God had eternally predestinated certain persons to eternal life of whom he foresaw that by their own power, they would repent, believe, and persevere to life and salvation. In other words, “man himself can will to be saved.” Jacobus Arminius believed in “free will,” not in the sovereign will of God. According to Arminius, man determines his own eternal future. Today, there are many people who believe that; so they are called Arminians. It is sad that much preaching today is also Arminian.
John Calvin, the great French Reformer, taught that God has according to the sovereign good pleasure of His will, elected some of humanity to eternal life, and has most righteously reprobated the rest to eternal condemnation. The ground for election is not the foreseen faith of the persons elected, but the sovereign good pleasure of God who controls all things. He numbers the hairs of our heads. If He regulates our temporal life, does He not determine am eternal destiny? God is sovereign, and all things exist through Him and unto Him. God does not depend on our willingness to come unto Him, for then He would not be Sovereign, and we would never come.
Some object that God deals unjustly, but that is not the case. It would have been right for God to have the whole world perish in sin. He has the right to have mercy on whom He will have mercy. Man, who has lost all his rights through sin, cannot claim that God deals unjustly. In Romans 9:21 we read, “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?”
God‘s Providence – The American College Dictionary defines providence as “The foreseeing care and guardianship of God over His creatures.”
The New Bible Dictionary defines providence as “The unceasing activity of the Creator whereby, in overflowing bounty and goodwill, He upholds His creatures in ordered existence, guides all events, circumstances, and free acts of angels and men, and directs everything to its appointed goal, for His own glory. Providence is presented in Scripture as a function of divine sovereignty.” Notice that God’s care and guardianship is not limited. He provides for everything in His creation: the animals, birds, creeping things, the water, the dry land, the seasons, the days and nights, and the days of our years. In His providence, He also sends sickness and health. Even sickness can be a blessing to those who trust in Him. When we are healthy and well, we forget that health is a blessing; so sometimes God has to send us sickness to make us feel our dependence on Him. We then realize that He is the sovereign ruler of things. Job, who was sorely afflicted of God, mourns; yet he blesses God. In Job 1:21 we read, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
In His providence, God sent His Son to be the Savior of His people. When we read that He died for all men, it doesn’t mean every individual who ever lived or will live, but for men (and women) of all tribes, nations, and languages, whom He has chosen to everlasting life. A striking example of this truth is the salvation of the thief on the cross to whom Jesus said, “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” How humble we should be if we know that we are among those whom God has chosen, not of works, but of grace.
John Newton, who was a very wicked man until God’s power changed his life, wrote the words to the song, “Amazing Grace.” As a rule we find that those who are chosen by God, came from Christian homes, but God is not limited, and He can save whom He will. He is omnipotent.
When we realize how great God is, and how frail and sinful we are, we must say with the song writer, “How Great Thou Art.” Let us put our trust in Him for this life and for the life to come, and not trust in our own strength. Someone has said, “Humbleness is the flower of burnt pride.” This expresses the attitude of those who are saved by grace.
The main proof of God’s providence lies within His created universe. Think of the profound intelligence that could produce such an amazing thing as am created universe and am solar system, which operates in perfect order, harmony, and unity! The earth itself, which God created, testifies of His power. The crawling caterpillar certainly doesn’t look like the golden-winged butterfly which it becomes through God’s power. The seasons of the year occur year after year with their distinctive regularity. When winter comes it seems that there is no life in the trees or plants, but when spring comes again we see the green leaves which show signs of life and fruit. Flowers bloom through the power which God has placed in them.
I would like to quote from Lord’s Day 10 in the Heidelberg Catechism:
Question 27: What do you mean by the providence of God?
Answer: The Almighty and everywhere present power of Cod (Acts 17:25–28) whereby as it were by His hand, He (Heb. 1:3) upholds and governs heaven, earth, and all creatures; so that herbs and grass, rain (Jer. 5:24) and drought, fruitful (Acts 14:17) and barren years, meat and drink (John 9:3), health and sickness (Prov. 22:2), riches and poverty, yea, all things (Matt. 10:29–30) come, not by chance, but by His fatherly hand (Eph. 1:11).
Question 28: What does it profit us to know that God has created, and by His providence still upholds all things?
Answer: That we may be patient in adversity (Rom. 5:3, Ps. 39:10) thankful (Deut. 8:10, 1 Thess. 5:18) in prosperity; and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm (Rom. 8:3-6) trust in our faithful God and Father, that nothing shall (Rom. 8:38-39) separate us from His love; since all creatures are so in His hand, that without His will (Job 1:12, Job 2:6, Matt. 8:31, Isa. 10:15) they cannot so much as move.
What a loving and provident God!