Hudsonville Protestant Reformed Church

5101 Beechtree
Hudsonville, Michigan 49426
Services: 9:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Homepage on Internet: http://www.prca.org

Vol. 8, No. 18


Contents:

   God's Hammer (7): God-breathed Scripture (Part 2)
   Seeking the Unity of the Church (2)
   The Salvation of Adam and Eve


God’s Hammer (7):

God-breathed Scripture (Part 2)

Last time we considered the fact (not the theory!) of the divine inspiration of the Holy Scriptures: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God [literally, God-breathed]" (11 Tim. 3:16). But what about Bible versions? Are any of them "God-breathed"?

The many Reformed churches use the Authorized Version (AV) for two main reasons. First, we believe that the AV is translated from the best Hebrew and Greek manuscripts - manuscripts that have been preserved in and used by the church over the centuries. These manuscripts are faithful to the autographs or original manuscripts penned by the prophets and apostles. In no age has God's church ever been without His pure Word, for the Scriptures have "by [God's] singular care and providence [been] kept pure in all ages, [and they] are therefore authentical" (Westminster Confession of Faith 1.8). Second, we believe that the AV is based on the best principles of translation. The translators sought to convey not merely the general thought of each text of Scripture but the very expressions in which it is conveyed. Where exact literalness was impossible, the translators of the AV gave full expression of its meaning in English. The AV italicizes words not in the original - words which were necessary to give the sense of the text in English. Thus it shows its commitment to verbal inspiration, the truth that every word is God-breathed.

This brings us back to our original question: Is every word of the AV (or any other Bible version) God-breathed? If the words of the AV were God-breathed, then its translators must have been borne by the Spirit as the holy prophets who wrote not "by the will of man" but "as they were moved by the Holy Ghost" (II Peter 1:21). If the words of the AV were God-breathed, then what of the earlier translations of Tyndale and others? If their translations were God-breathed, then there would be two or more God-breathed English Bible translations. If only the AV was God-breathed, then there was no God-breathed English Bible until 1611. And were the revisions of the AV in 1629, 1638, 1762 and 1769 also God-breathed? Did one God-breathed revision replace another God-breathed revision? Do other languages have one God-breathed translation? Then there would be God-breathed Polish and Arabic translations and thousands more.

The Hebrew and Greek autographs were "immediately inspired by God [God breathed]," and "by God's singular care and providence" through the faithful copying of the divine original over the centuries, His Word has been "kept pure in all ages" (WCF 1.8). The English words of the AV, though not themselves directly breathed by God, constitute a faithful and trustworthy translation of the God-breathed original, so that we have in our hands the more sure Word, God's hammer.   Rev. Angus Stewart



                Seeking the Unity of the Church (2)
            "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:1-3).
We began a discussion of this passage of God's Word in the last issue. At that time we stressed the urgency of this admonition of the Word of God. It is an urgency that ought to make an impression upon each one of us, so that we are driven by the command of the Lord Himself, who is the Head of His church, to obey.

We also noted that the unity of which the apostle speaks is a unity of the church as it comes to manifestation in the world in congregations and denominations. That places upon each one who claims to be a member of the church of Christ a responsibility to heed this word of Christ within the congregation and/or denomination of which he or she is a member.

The unity of the church is not something that we create ourselves. It is a unity that is created by Christ, the Head of the church, through His Spirit. Hence, this unity is called in the text "the unity of the Spirit;" i.e., the unity which the Spirit has given to the church.

This truth that unity is a gift of Christ Himself is further emphasized in the text by the words "walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called." Christ creates, through His Spirit, this unity by His efficacious call. The efficacious call comes through the gospel, and is worked in the hearts of the elect by the Holy Spirit. The power of the gospel call is in the work of the Spirit, who calls sovereignly and irresistibly out of the darkness of sin and death into fellowship with Christ. We, Paul says, have been called into that fellowship of the saints with Christ. We must now walk worthy of that calling.

That unity of the church that the Spirit graciously works within the hearts of the elect is the unity of Christ Himself. Concretely, that means, as Paul goes on to say in the verses that follow, that Christ as the Head of the church, is also the mind and the will of the body, for the mind and will are in the head.

The mind of Christ is revealed in the Scriptures. It is called "the unity of the faith" (5, 13) and "of the knowledge of the Son of God" (13). Because this unity is that of the truth as it is in Christ, it is important that we "be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (14). It is a unity of one confession of the truth.

The principle error of modern ecumenism is that it seeks a unity other than a unity in the truth. In its vain and wicked pursuit of mere outward unity (as the Roman church possesses) it strives for the lowest common denominator of doctrine so that many diverse doctrines and various forms of unbelief may be united under one ecclesiastical roof. Such is not the unity of Christ.

This unity is also a unity of Christ's will. That is, Christ's will is the norm for all the life of God's people. They are one in that they walk together in obedience to Christ, as servants of Christ, bowing in humble service to His will and confessing His name in a world of sin and darkness.

But since this unity is the unity of the mind of Christ, it is also a unity of humility. Paul speaks of this in Philippians 2:3-4: "Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." And then that verse that comes battering at our hearts: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (5). What mind was in Christ Jesus? It is described in what follows in the most powerful passage in all Scripture that describes our Lord's humiliation. Read it and weep.

That unity is given as a gift. It is a costly gift, purchased with the blood of the Son of God. It is a gift graciously given, for we have done nothing at all to deserve it. It is a gift that is a treasure of more worth and value than any earthly possession. It is a gift which, while we possess it already in this life, will be ours forever and ever, world without end, for it will endure into eternity. It is a gift which, when it is present in the church, makes life in the church happy and blessed; but when it is not present in the church, brings misery, grief, suffering and distress.

We are, says, the apostle to endeavor to keep that unity. Not to create it! To keep it! To keep what has been given us. It is a pearl of great price. It is a treasure worth more than diamonds. It is simply given to us as God's gift of grace.

Keep it! Do not squander it. Do not let it slip through your fingers. Do not be indifferent towards it. Do not let others snatch it from your grasp. Treasure it! Consider its worth and value! Esteem it highly! Protect it! Keep it!

As if to underscore this the apostle adds: "Endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit." We must say a word or two about that as well. But that shall wait until next time.Prof. H. Hanko


 The Salvation of Adam and Eve

One of our readers asks, "Were Adam and Eve saved by the grace of God?" This question has two parts. First, were Adam and Eve saved? Second, how were they saved?

First, we can say that Eve was saved. God said to the serpent, who is Satan (Rev. 1 2:9), "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15). The “woman" is Eve (cf. 3:1-2, 4, 6, 12-13, 16). Through the Fall, Adam and Eve allied themselves with Satan and joined him in his hatred against God. When God put enmity between Satan and the "woman," Eve, He was restoring the covenant friendship that He had with her before the Fall. Viewed in this light, the "coats of skins" (3:21), which the Lord made and with which He clothed her, speak of the garments of salvation, as the church has traditionally taught. It comes as no surprise that Eve confesses that the sons she later bares came to her from the hand of the Almighty (4:1, 25). Thus God's coming to find Eve (3:8ff.) speaks of His graciously coming to seek and to save that which was lost (cf. Luke 19:10). Clearly, Eve was saved.

Second, nor only Eve but also Adam was saved. Eve is prominent in acknowledging that God gave her the birth of Cain and Seth (Gen. 4:1, 25), but are we to think that Adam played no role in naming his sons and thus in confessing Jehovah as the God who gives life? Similarly, God clothed not only Eve but also Adam in those "coats of skins" (3:21) that betoken salvation. Furthermore, God came not only to Eve but also to Adam to show them their sin and misery that He might deliver them (3:8ff.).

But if Adam and Eve were saved, we must next ask how they were saved. They certainly were not saved by their own "free will" or their own efforts. When God came to save them, they hid from God (3:8) and made excuses for their sins (3:12-13). It was God, and not themselves, who saved them. God said, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman" (3:15). Adam and Eve had no power or will to break free from Satan's dominion. Only God could and only God did deliver them. But not only was their salvation wholly of God; it was also wholly of grace. Our first parents had disobeyed God's command and had eaten of the forbidden fruit. They believed the devil and disbelieved the true and living God Who had made them and who had entered into fellowship with them. Thus their salvation could only be by the sovereign mercy and gift of God. And since their salvation was wholly of grace, then it must also be of faith (Eph. 2:8). Adam and Eve were given faith by God to believe in the coming seed of the woman, Christ, who would bruise Satan's head on the cross. And we, and all of God's people in all ages, are saved in the same way as our first parents. Rev. Angus Stewart


Learn more about God's sovereign grace in Saved by Grace by R. Cammenga & R. Hanko.

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