Loveland Protestant Reformed Church
709 East 57th Street; Loveland, CO 80538
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. June through August)
Vol. 5, No. 16 Pastor: Rev. G. Van Baren Phone: (970) 667-9481
Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org
Contents:
The word "sanctification" means "being made holy." The word itself shows, therefore, that sanctification is not our own work (though we become active in sanctification), but God's work in us.
This holiness, we have seen, is not optional but vitally necessary. Without it no person can see God (Heb. 12:14). He is the HOLY ONE (Is. 40:25, 41:14, etc.), and no one can stand in His holy presence without being holy (Ps. 24:3-5).
But what is holiness?
The basic idea of the word is that of separation. To be holy is to be separate. Thus, in the OT Israel was a holy people, separate from the other nations (Lev. 20:24-26). Among the Israelites themselves the priests were "holiness to the Lord" (Ex. 28:36) because their whole life was separate for God's service in the temple (I Chron. 23:13).
Now the church is that separate and holy nation, and is also a nation of priests (I Pet. 2:9). The members must, therefore, be holy (I Pet. 1:15, 16).
Holiness, however, always has two parts to it. It is always both separation from something, and separation unto something. Both are important.
Believers are called first to be separate from both wickedness and wicked persons (II Cor. 6:14-18, Eph. 5:11-12). They cannot go out of the world (I Cor. 5:9-10), but must nevertheless separate themselves as much as possible from the company, the fellowship, the deeds, and the life of the ungodly. Above all they must keep themselves pure, "unspotted from the world" (Jas. 1:27).
This separation between the church and the world, between believer and unbeliever, between light and darkness, is sometimes referred to as the "antithesis". II Corinthians 6:14-15 describes that antithesis.
II Corinthians 6 also speaks, however, of the fact that we are separated unto God (vss. 16-18). Without this, holiness is not complete.
To be separated unto God is to be consecrated and dedicated to Him, just as the priests were in the OT. It is being set apart for God's service with our whole life - our time, our possessions, even our body.
Nor is this a part-time thing. To be holy, separated and consecrated to God, is not just for the Lord's Day or for a few hours on the Lord's Day. Our whole life has been purchased by Christ, belongs to God, is consecrated to Him, and must be lived in holiness. We must be holy in "all manner of conversation" (I Pet. 1:15).
To that we are called. Because God is holy (I Pet. 1:15-16), because they are chosen and redeemed unto holiness (I Pet. 1:18-19, Eph. 1:4), because God has sent them His Holy Spirit (I Cor. 3:16-17) holiness is demanded of us. That call to holiness is heard repeatedly in Scripture. It is, as someone wrote, a serious call.
Have you heard it?
Have you obeyed it?" Rev. Ronald Hanko
(Continued from the previous issue)
We may very well ask: What does God Himself say in the gospel?
That is an important question.
What does God say when the gospel is addressed by God in one way or another to all who hear?
There are wrong answers given to that question, answers which have done untold harm to the preaching of the gospel. Answers, indeed, which really make gospel preaching impossible.
Some, among whom is to be found people who claim to be Reformed in their thinking, say that God addresses all men in the gospel in this fashion: "I love you very much. I love you so much that I have given Christ Himself to die for you on the cross. I have made salvation available to you as a token of my love for you. I solemnly assure you that I want nothing so much as that you be saved. And as a token of this my love for you, I have done all I can possibly do to save you. If, therefore, you will believe in Christ my Son, I will give you salvation."
That is the gospel address of the well-meant offer of salvation. The trouble is that it denies the truth of God, namely the truth of God's sovereignty. It denies the one crucial aspect of God's revelation of Himself, namely that He is God alone and that He does all His good pleasure.
It denies that great truth in the interests of leaving salvation up to man's free choice and making man's salvation dependent upon what man does.
If I had to preach such a gospel, I would resign from the ministry and forever hold my peace. And if I had to listen to such a gospel, I would despair utterly and forget altogether about going to church.
No, God says this in the gospel. He says: "I am the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. I have created heaven and earth and all they contain for my praise. I rule sovereignly in the affairs of men and nations accomplishing my will and doing all my good pleasure. I show forth my praise in all ages, both now and forever."
That is what God says, first of all.
But He goes on to say: "I show forth my sovereign power and great glory especially in the work of salvation. I save a people whom I have chosen in Christ. I save them through the blood of Jesus Christ my Son Whom I have given for these people and for them alone. And I show forth my praise, especially the praise of my justice and righteousness in damning sinners to everlasting hell. I the Lord do all these things."
But He also says: "I save my people through the way of repentance and fleeing for refuge to Christ. And I damn the wicked through the way of their unbelief and hardness of heart manifested in their rejection of Christ my Son."
This too God says - in the gospel.
And so, to make that absolutely certain, God says in the gospel proclamation (and make no mistake about it, for He says it to everyone who hears the gospel): "Believe on Christ. That is your solemn calling. Turn from your sin and evil way and come to Christ. And, if you will come to Him, I will save you from your sins. Everyone who flees to the cross in sorrow for sin will find in me a merciful and gracious God, abundant to save."
But God also says in the preaching: "If you refuse to believe in Christ and turn from your sin, I will punish you in the fierceness of my anger and will throw you far from me into everlasting hell. You will not despise my Christ with impunity. For I am a just and righteous God Who hates sin and will surely punish it most terribly."
And so God specifically directs sweet and blessed promises to some who do turn from their sin and flee to Christ; and He hurls the thunder bolts of His anger against those who despise His Christ and mock His words.
That too is the address of the gospel. Prof. H. Hanko
Did the Fall Affect the Animals and Plants?
One of our readers has sent us a question about the fall and its effects on the so-called 'brute creation.' He asks: 'In what way did the fall of the human race affect the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom?' A very interesting question.
The question is answered first in Genesis 3. There we learn that God cursed the very ground for man's sake. And Genesis 3 tells us, too, what that means. It is because of that curse that such things as thorns and thistles grow. Roses have thorns and we have to weed our gardens because of the fall!
We also learn from Genesis 3, though indirectly (vs. 21), that death came into the whole created order through man's sin and not just upon man himself. Indeed, all the unpleasant things in the creation, all around us that can hurt or destroy, all that make life toilsome and troublesome, are the result of the fall (Gen. 3:17-19).
The reason the curse came not only upon man but upon the creation is that man was the king and head of the creation under God. So his sin affected all that was under his rule - the whole earthly creation - in the same way that any ruler's sin affects those who are under him (II Sam. 24, Prov. 29:2, 4).
We see, then, what a grievous thing sin is and what evil it brings! It affects not only the sinner himself, but everything around him and everything that is part of his life. Our own sad experience should teach us that.
Romans 8:19-22 gives even more light on this matter. The earthly creation, according to Romans 8:20, is subject to vanity (emptiness, purposelessness), that is, it no longer, under man's dominion, serves the purpose for which it was created as it should. So too, it is in bondage to corruption (vs. 21). Like man himself, death has a stranglehold on the creation, so that it is full of death everywhere.
Thus the creation, as it were, groans and travails in pain. Paul speaks as though the creation were a living creature to show us and how greatly it is affected by man's sin. That groaning is heard in the earthquakes, floods and other catastrophes which we endure here. Can you not hear it?
The curse upon the creation is not, however, the fault of the creation. That is what verse 20 means when it says, 'not willingly.' Man as the king of the earthly creation is at fault. Yet even in that, God has His purpose, for He subjected the creation to vanity, but IN HOPE. So the hope of deliverance is heard clearly in the groaning of the creation. God causes it to be heard there as a testimony to His people.
Romans 8 makes it clear also that the curse was not (Gen. 8:21) and will not be fully removed from the creation until 'the glorious liberty of the children of God' comes. That, as we know, will only be in the new creation, the new heavens and the new earth. Until then the creation will continue to groan and travail in the bondage of corruption.
But when the glorious liberty of the children of God comes, then the creation shall be delivered and shall have a part in that glory! That is the message of Romans 8:19-22. There will be a new heavens and a NEW EARTH.
Only then will such promises as those of Isaiah 11 be fulfilled. Only then will the wolf lie down with the lamb and only then will they no longer hurt and destroy. Only then will the whole earth be full of the knowledge of the Lord. It cannot be otherwise until sin itself is destroyed. Rev. Ronald Hanko
(Calvin comments on I Tim. 2:4): "The other texts adduced are not declarative of the Lord's determination respecting all men in his secret counsel: they only proclaim that pardon is ready for all sinners who sincerely seek it (Ps.145:9). For if they obstinately insist on its being said that God is merciful to all, I will oppose to them, what is elsewhere asserted, that 'our God is in the heavens; he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased' (Ps. 115:3). This text, then, must be explained in a manner consistent with another, where God says, 'I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy' (Ex. 33:19). He who makes a selection of objects for the exercise of his mercy, does not import that mercy to all. But as it clearly appears that Paul is there speaking, not of individuals, but orders of men, I shall forbear any further argument...."
(Calvin's Institutes, Book III, Chap. 24, XVI)
Last modified, 27-Jun-1999