This completes the “Testimony” of which the first half was printed in October. The “Testimony” is the result of long discussion and a year of work by a committee and has been endorsed by over 40 Christian Reformed ministers who say that it expresses substantially their convictions on major issues that confront our churches today.

ON THE LIFE-STYLE OF TRUE BELIEVERS

All believers without exception are called by God to holiness in daily living. To this end the church by its preaching, teaching, and pastoral supervision must inculcate the standards for godly living affirmed in Scripture. At no time may the radical antithesis between God’s people and the unregenerate world be obscured or obliterated. Ours is to be the life of Christian separation and consecration, where in all our thinking and speaking and acting—individually and collectively—demonstrate our distinctiveness (Rom. 12:1, 2; Titus 2:11–15; I John 3:7–10).

Any transgression of God’s law, which is to be obeyed for the sake of love to God and fellow-man, must be clearly and consistently denounced.

Here we especially warn against the spirit of “libertinism” which under the guise of Christian liberty falls into and makes excuse for sins of the flesh. Against this heinous perversion of the Gospel the apostle Paul warns sternly, “For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only use not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh” (Gal. 5:13). We have been liberated through Christ Jesus in order to serve Him in loving obedience and so to edify one another.

All who fall into open sin of any kind must, for the sake 9f their soul’s salvation, be exhorted to seek without delay forgiveness in Christ and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This exhorting is especially incumbent upon the congregation acting in and through its office-bearers in church discipline. In the pulpit, in the classroom, and in pastoral counseling warnings must continually be sounded against the sins of divorce, abortion, drunkenness, fornication in any form, homosexuality, drug abuse, slander, and theft of every kind. Fully as deserving of God’s wrath and disastrous for men’s lives are such evils as the defamation of the holy name of our God and the desecration of His holy day, which has been sanctified for us by Jesus Christ as the day of rest and worship and rejoicing. We therefore reaffirm our appreciation of and urge the continuation of the practice of attending official preaching services twice on the Lord‘s Day (Heb. 10:24, 25).

While refusing to reduce the Christian life-style to a pattern of “touch not and taste not and handle not,” we do declare without apology that today’s stage productions both in the theater and on the family television screen are for the most part anti-christian and injurious to spiritual growth and vitality. Nor should there be place in our lives for those modern forms of the dance which so easily give rise to improper thoughts and unwholesome feelings. And lastly—we declare that God’s people may take no part in any form of gambling, no matter how innocuous such may seem on the surface, lest covetousness which is idolatry begins to enslave our lives. None of these practices may be accorded a place within the Christian’s life-style.

That to which the God of our salvation calls us is the life of covenantal holiness (Lev. 19:1, 2; I Peter 1:15, 16). This is the life of walking and talking with Him by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Such friendship leaves no room for fellowshipping with that which is contrary to His blessed will, wherein we experience peace of mind and heart. To grow in this we must ceaselessly exhort ourselves, our children, and all who with us confess the Savior as Lord of their lives to daily meditation and prayer. Without such exercises no one can grow in sanctification and godliness. Therefore time must be left for all of us to engage in these holy occupations by which the presence and power of the Lord will be experienced in our lives. Hence our communal Christian activities, no matter how proper and important these may be, ought never crowd out an engagement to personal and familial piety.

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ON THE CHRISTIAN’S CALLING IN THIS WORLD

The godly life, which is the hall-mark of salvation through Jesus Christ (I Tim. 6:11; II Peter 3:11), may never be restricted to our membership in the institutional church. Instead, we affirm that the Gospel is the precious lump intended to leaven the whole of human life and activity in the world. God’s purpose with salvation is to reclaim and restore the totality of creation for His service and glory (Matt. 13:33; Acts 3:20, 21; Phil. 2:9, 10; Col. 1:19, 20; Rev. 5:9, 10). Thus God’s people are to distinguish themselves radically from the pattern of this present world which lives by the principle of sin (Eph. 4:17f; I John 2:15–17). Such covenantal distinctiveness, without which every form of word-witness becomes vain and empty, must be pursued not only individually but also corporately and communally by us as God’s children who together seek to walk in His ways.

Let it be clear, therefore, that we warn against the fundamentalistic error which separates religion from the broader areas of everyday living, thus restricting our allegiance to the Gospel largely to church attendance and personal piety. Christ rules His people by the royal scepter of His Word in every area of life. And only as we submit consciously and consistently to His government wherever we are and in whatever we do can we be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city set on a hill (Matt. 5:13, 16).

At the same time we reject as a perversion of the Gospel any identi6cation of church and world. Too often the lines of demarcation, clearly drawn by God in our baptism are effaced in daily life. Nor will we allow the world, because of its deep and desperate need or because of its vaunted wisdom and power, to write the agenda for the church. It is the living God who alone tells His believing people what to say and what to do as they seek to live for Him. And such reverence for our sovereign and gracious God, instead of producing a “hoiler-than-thou” attitude, will stimulate an ever-growing compassion for those who are without God and without hope in the world.

That to which the Lord of glory calIs us as His people is to be office-bearers in His creation which through Christ is reconciled and redeemed for His praise, using all that He has created and given to us with thanksgiving (I Tim. 4:4, 5). What this implies is that every Christian is a full–time kingdom worker. Called by the One who has redeemed us and equipped with His Spirit, we bear witness to His sovereign rule over us and all creation and so become the “living epistles” we are called to be.

To a renewed awareness of this high office and calling of the believers in the world the pulpit must instruct and exhort and admonish God‘s people from week to week. Far too long, we fear, has this been neglected also among us. To the broad dimensions of such consecrated living in all relationships of life we call attention in the next sections of our address, meanwhile affirming that those who, upon hearing the Word for all of life, still persist in walking according to the pattern of this world disobey the God of grace and truth and judgment.

Here, also, a word concerning the rich privileges and opportunities of Christian women is in order. To many of them God has given abundantly the gifts of insight, sympathy, and eagerness to be of service to others. Those who are wives and mothers have occasion under God’s blessing to shape in large measure the future of individuals, communities, and nations. And while for them their families have the first and basic claim to their services, their lives need not be shut up within the home. Those who by God’s appointment remain unmarried can and do enrich the lives of others in numerous occupations and careers. The withholding of ecclesiastical office from them, in obedience to the clear teaching of Scripture, in no way casts a threatening shadow on their dignity as fellow-heirs with men of the grace of God or minimizes the inestimable blesSings which He through their services has poured upon mankind.

   

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ON CHRISTIAN MARRIAGES AND FAMILY LIFE

All of life is to be lived joyfully under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. This requires, then, that as believers we recognize that we are also office-bearers under Him in marital and familial relationships. To be fruitful to His praise and our well-being, these must be structured and directed by His Word.

Always the sacred tie of marriage is to be highly esteemed; its indissolubility vigorously affirmed by the church in the pulpit and championed in pastoral work. At no time and under no circumstances may pre-marital or extra–marital sex be regarded as options within the Christian life-style.

An understanding of the Biblical requirements for marriage will lay obligation upon the husband to give due reverence and love to his wife; likewise that the wife acknowledge her place as loving helpmeet and submit to his headship in all that is according to Scripture (Eph. 5:22–33; I Peter 3:1–7). In so doing both will recapture the joy of office-bearing in their respective roles. And children, as much by example as by precept, should be taught especially by their parents to prepare themselves for entering this holy estate carefully and chastely and intelligently as those who belong to the Lord. Where Christ sheds abroad His grace in the home, there His commandments will become a source of increasing strength and joy.

Ours are revolutionary times, characterized by the breakdown of authority both divine and human. Thus both parents and children need a renewed understanding of the place and purpose of parental authority. This, however. must be an exercise of parental authority which confesses that children are not our personal possession but the heritage of the Lord (Ps. 127; 128). Here the Word of God must be a lamp to our feet and a light upon our path, so that our children learn to obey their parents for Christ’s sake and begin early to experience the blessings all covenantal obedience (Ex. 20:12; Eph. 6:1–4; Col. 3:20).

In this day of the proliferation of the “pill” and other birth-control methods we maintain that both the willful refusal to bear children and the restriction of famliy-size merely for the sake of personal convenience, the advancement of a career, or financial gain constitute disobedience to our sovereign God who has pledged to provide believers and their children with all things necessary for time and eternity.

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ON CHRISTIAN EDUCATION

In order that our children, belonging to God‘s covenant, may be thoroughly nurtured in the fear and admonition of the Lord, it is essential that they be trained in the Lord‘s ways in the home, the church, and the school.

Here a solid foundation should be laid from the very beginning of married life by both husband and wife. Of utmost significance is the attitude and atmosphere breathed into familial relationships from day to day. Few influences can contribute so much to the strength of church, community, and country as homes permeated by the fear of the Lord as the beginning or’ all wisdom. Thus parents should engage repeatedly in honest self-evaluation, also with respect to their life-style, lest they satisfy themselves with having the form of godliness without its true and saving power (Gen. 18:19; Ex. 20:5, 6; Deut. 6:1–2, 6–9; Ps. 78:4–7).

At an early age the church should also engage in the instruction of covenant children. They should be present at public worship. This requires that parents shall carefully teach their children what takes place when God communes with His people there and that preachers take due and proper note of the presence of the little ones before the face of the Lord. We believe with all our heart that no better pattern for catechetical instruction of children and young people can be provided than that offered by the Heidelberg Catechism. Where this has been set aside. it should without delay be reinstated, even as required by the Church Order. Dy the use of this venerable “teacher” the children under God’s blessing will in due time be able to make a proper profession of their faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, to assume their responsibilities as active members of His church, and to serve as citizens of His kingdom in all areas and relationships of life.

But in addition to the home and church, the children of God’s covenant need and are entitled to good Christian schools. The growing secularization of our modem society makes such schools more imperative than ever before. Because in our society so many repeatedly move from place to place, all Christian parents are under obligation to give serious attention to the presence or absence of such schools in the area to which they plan to remove.

Such schools for Christian instruction deserve the wholehearted support of all believers, whether married or not. Parents and consistories are also called upon, without infringing upon the God-given authority of the teachers, to help promote the Christian character and curricula of these institutions. And in the struggle against the anti-christian spirit of this age we exhort especially our teachers and professors to be on guard, lest the instruction which they give stains itself with ideas, theories, or methods inconsonant with the Holy Scriptures. A school is never Christian simply because it has been so founded in times past and bears that name; it is Christian only when the Lord Christ is acknowledged in word and deed as the sum and substance of truth, understanding, and wisdom by which we are called to live.

God provides us by means of such schools with an outstanding and fruitful means to witness to His Word of grace for all of life. Increasing dissatisfaction is being registered with the educational and moral level prevailing in many state-controlled and state-supported schools. Parents desirous of the quality of education which good Christian schools can give and willing to support them by word and deed should be encouraged to make use of them, always with the proviso that the Reformed character of these institutions be not imperiled. And wherever such schools are not yet available for the children of the covenant, we urge parents with consistorial advice and support to move without delay in that direction, even when it may be necessary to ask for financial assistance from Christian believers living in other communities.

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ON CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY IN OTHER RELATIONSHIPS

All people live in a cultural situation which embraces individuals in their many-sided relationships and societal structures. This arrangement God has willed for man‘s life by His creation-ordinances, since no one can live or die rightly by himself. But with man’s deliberate fall into sin, these relationships and structures have been perverted and deeply stained by sin. Only the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ can redeem and restore man and so set Him free once again to serve the living God according to His revealed will. The Christian therefore has the high calling, together with fellow-believers, to reclaim all areas in which he lives and moves and has his being for the Lordship of the blessed Savior. Nowhere under the sun is there a place of which He does not say, “This is Mine!” And to this battle to reclaim all of life for Him whose we are and whom we serve the pulpit must clearly and continually call all Christian believers.

Few relationships and activities in man‘s life upon earth have become so thoroughly secularized and subjected to satanic influences as that of work, together with its economic implications.

Here we affirm, in sharp contrast to the patterns cherished by those who do not honor Christ, that believers must follow the pattern which God Himself has set. In six days He created heaven and earth and all that they contain; on the seventh He rested and rejoiced in the works of His hands (Gen. 2:1–4; Ex. 20:11). Clearly the Bible teaches the high dignity of all labor (Deut. 28:1–6; Ps. 128:1, 2; Provo 31:10f; Eccl.9:7–10). It is man‘s assignment to have dominion under God over all things in obedience to His revealed will (Gen. 1:28; 2:15, 20; Ps. 8:5-8). Only so will labor be experienced as a meaningful and joyful aspect of our lives (Ps. 90:16, 17; 127:1; II Thess. 3:10–12). To work simply to insure financial security and to obtain life’s necessities together with some luxuries produces both a physical and spiritual enslavement which denies man‘s true nature as God’s image-bearer and co-worker.

The choice of vocation or occupation has, indeed, become increasingly complex in ‘our society. Often this is accompanied especially in the lives of young people with a measure of uncertainty and distress. Yet Scripture clearly asserts that our sovereign God has His plan, place, and purpose with every human being. And for all who look to Him for direction and follow His Word, a serene and self-fulfilling life will be their reward. Thus parents and especially competent Christian teachers and counsellors should guide our young people with the high ideals of service to God in Christ in that calling wherein they can be a blessing to others and work for the manifestation of His Kingdom among men.

lt is also imperative that as Christians we recognize our calling to be stewards of our time and the fruits of our labor. With these, to be sure, we supply the needs of ourselves and our families. But God lays a direct claim upon a proportionate share of our goods for the furtherance of His cause and kingdom beyond personal and familial life. Here we are commanded to do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith (Lev. 19:9-10; Ps. 41:1, 2; Prov. 19:17; Mal. 3:7–12; Luke 6:38; II Cor. 9:6–11; Gal. 6:9, 10). As a people highly privileged in having received so large a proportion of this world’s wealth we should share these bounties freely and liberally with the underprivileged.

Our pulpits must speak prophetically on God‘s will with regard to the use of resources and goods. “The earth and its fulness are the Lord’s” (Ps. 24:1). Thereupon Christians, both individually and communally, ought to communicate this message to those in high places. This includes not only those clothed with political power but also leaders in the areas of business and labor, the professions and the trades. God has created of one blood all nations and people under the face of the heavens; He wills that we as His people promote justice, peace, and love, in order that His Word may everywhere become more triumphantly mani.fest to His praise. And to make this Christian witness in the several areas of labor, education, the professions, social service, and politics more effective, believers should, wherever possible, unite organizationally to demonstrate the Lordship of Jesus Ch rist over all of life. Such organizations may never be ends in themselves, to secure worldly influence or advancement or power. They, too, shall be a blessing in the earth only as they in obedience glorify the God of creation, redemption, and judgment.

This, let it be clear to all who read and reflect, is no setting forth of a social or socialized Gospel which imagines that man‘s efforts—whether in the church or in the world—can bring the kingdom of God to fulfillment upon earth. According to His sure promise God will accomplish this at the time of the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ at the end of the ages. But our duty is to be signs and pointers to that kingdom which God in grace even now reveals in the world. And lest there be any misunderstanding, this manifestation of God’s gracious rule springs from and demonstrates its beauty and blessedness only where men‘s hearts and lives are regenerated by His Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION

To such a life the God of our salvation now calls us.

Around us the darkness is deepening despite all the intellectual and scientific advancements which are being registered. The pains and perplexities of mankind everywhere are multiplying. And within the churches we see the spirit of compromise with worldly standards and ideals increasing. It is urgent, therefore, that by God’s grace we renew our pledge of love and loyalty to Him.

This is a humbling experience, for the stains of self and sin are altogether too obvious in our lives.

But trusting in His forgiveness for every sin or omission and commission, we will together experience the renewal of our lives and the reformation of His church. Then in and through the church as God‘s people the light of the Gospel will once more shine brightly. Our hearts and lives will be united to serve Him with joy and confidence. And such a committed, covenantally-obedient people, which in word and deed proclaims the kingdom of God in all its fulness, will be a blessing among all peoples until the day of the full victory of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose we are and whom we serve.

Peter Y. De Jong First Christian Reformed Church, Sheldon, Iowa Nelson D. Kloosterman Immanuel Christian Reformed Church, Sheldon, Iowa John H. Piersma First Christian Reformed Church, Sioux Center, Iowa John R. Sittema Christian Reformed Church, Sanborn, Iowa Henry B. Vanden Heuvel Bethel Christian Reformed Church, Sioux Center, Iowa