The covenant of grace is the soil out of which the church grows. For this reason every centennial celebrant must be intentionally and critically awake to the meaning of this fact of grace. For church members to ignore the covenant is to forsake the matrix out of which they were born. It is as abnormal for […]
The key word of this convention is balance. It gives rise to various pictures. You can find balance in a circus. The tightrope artist neatly packaged in her tights struts the wire with the precision of balance. Each careful step elicits new “ohs” and “abs” from the excited audience. The artist’s poise, skill and beauty are the […]
Being a Christian involves being a member of the Church. The Church, and the local congregation as a concrete manifestation of the Church. is inseparable from Christianity. The Savior once said that no one can approach the Father except through the Son. In the Scriptures God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, is presented as the Head […]
Two men were talking over a Monday morning cup of coffee. Both were typical American suburban dwellers who never bothered much about the church. As well informed individuals they had heard about the current movement back to the church by many citizens. They had decided to try it too. After all, going to church never hurt anyone […]
God, who worketh all things after the counsel of his will, deals with our sinful world in terms of Jesus Christ. It has pleased God “to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth” (Eph. 1:10). In Christ the grace of God has appeared. Our Savior has abolished […]
The Synod of Dort convened on November 13, 1618. It was, however, January 18, 1619, before they addressed themselves to the intricate problems posed by the five articles of the Remonstrants. One big reason for this long delay was the subtle strategy of Episcopius. As a clever parliamentarian he wanted to formulate the problems to be discussed. He wanted to […]
No one likes to be called a stock or a block. Our Reformed fathers who wrote the Canons of Dort did not fancy the name either. That is why they took the trouble to mention this matter in Chapters III–IV. Article 16. God’s grace of regeneration “does not treat men as senseless stocks and blocks, nor […]
Not long ago someone said in effect to me, “I’m glad that very few ministers bother to preach about predestination nowadays. It is a doctrine best left buried in the preacher’s library. There arc too many unpleasant angles involved. And what sense is there in bringing up matters about which there arc so many hot arguments? […]
Sons and Daughters of the Reformation: It was exactly 437 years ago that a young man stood near a church with a hammer in one hand, a parchment in the other, and it nail in his pocket. If we are to sense something of the vast significance of Martin Luther’s act we must look at more than […]
II IN the precious issue we discussed the Old Testament usage of the term witness.* We turn now to the New Testament. Here we discover a similar though broader usage or the term. In the Crucifixion Procedure The crucifixion of Christ came as a result of long lee-al procedure. In this process the Rabbinical idea or witness […]