The Union of Christ’s Two Natures (1)
The mystery of the incarnation is not so much that our Lord is true God or true man, but that He is both. That, according to I Timothy 3:16, is the great “mystery” of godliness, “God was manifest in the flesh.” Because it is a “mystery,” therefore, it is something we cannot fully understand.
There are, however, some analogies (comparisons) that are used to help us understand how the two natures of Christ are united in one person. These analogies are not perfect (no analogy can be), but, as Hodge says, “There is enough resemblance to sustain faith and rebuke unbelief.”
The best analogy is that of soul and body. Even the old Athanasian Creed makes use of this analogy when it says: “For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ” (34).
This analogy has the following points of similarity:
1) As soul and body are two “substances” in man, one material and the other immaterial, so Christ has two natures, one finite and creaturely and the other infinite and divine.
2) As soul and body constitute one person, so the two natures of Christ are united in one person. In both the activities of soul and body there is one man acting, thinking and willing; so also in Christ there is but one person acting in and through two natures.
3) As soul and body remain distinct (they are not joined like copper and zinc are joined to make brass, something entirely new), so the two natures of Christ remain distinct and do not mix or form some kind of hybrid which is neither truly God nor truly man. He is still fully and really God, and fully and really man—not half man and half God.
4) As the attributes of soul and body are both ascribed to the same person (the person is tall in body or wise in spirit), so both the characteristics of Christ’s human and divine natures are ascribed to Him personally. Thus, just as apparently inconsistent statements can be made about a person (he is just and he is spirit), so to Christ both the limitations of the human nature and the perfections of the divine nature are ascribed: He is all-knowing and yet does not know the day or hour of His coming; He is eternal and yet has a beginning in time, etc.
The Athanasian Creed expresses this last point very beautifully when it says that He is: “God, of the essence of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and man, of the substance of His mother, born in the world … Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His manhood. Who, although He is God and man, yet He is not two but one Christ” (31, 33-34). Rev. Ron Hanko
Submission to Magistrates
“Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Rom. 13:1-2).
This text is surely one word of God which the church today does well to ponder. It seems as if the evangelical church, especially though not exclusively in the United States, pays no attention to this important word. In the name of Christianity rebellion against the magistracy is becoming a common practice.
Those who rightly oppose abortion teach that they must kill abortionists, burn abortion clinics and forcibly restrain women who seek abortions. So-called Christians organize into militia and para-military groups to prepare for war against a government gone awry. Francis Schaeffer himself, shortly before he died, in his book, A Christian Manifesto, called Christians to armed guerrilla warfare should the government persist in anti-Christian policies.
Romans 13 in particular and the whole of Scripture in general reprove such conduct in the strongest possible way.
Let us be very clear on what Scripture enjoins. Romans 13 (and all passages which deal with this subject) define the Christian’s position over against government as one of submission.
Although generally speaking submission implies obedience, this is not always the case. The magistracy may require of us obedience to certain laws which are contrary to the law of God. When this happens the principle governing the life of the Christian is: We must obey God rather than men (Acts 4:19; 5:29). The Christian in this case refuses obedience. But even when obedience is impossible the Christian must still submit. Disobedience does not preclude submission.
When Scripture enjoins us to be in submission to the magistracy, it allows for no exceptions. This is true in Romans 13:1-2; this is also true in I Peter 2:13-15.
What does submission mean?
Submission is defined for us in the exposition of the fifth commandment found in the Heidelberg Catechism:
What doth God require in the fifth commandment? That I show all honour, love, and fidelity to my father and mother and all in authority over me, and submit myself to their good instruction and correction with due obedience; and also patiently bear with their weaknesses and infirmities, since it pleases God to govern us by their hand. (Q. & A. 104).
We must even submit to wicked magistrates. After all, Paul writes these words to the Romans during the days when Roman emperors sat on the throne of the empire, men who made themselves divine and men who persecuted those who would not worship them. Even under those circumstances, Paul says: Submit!
Such submission is required even when we must suffer wrong at the hands of wicked magistrates. Daniel submitted (without obeying) though he was thrown into the lions’ den. Daniel’s three friends submitted (without obeying) though they were thrown into a hot furnace. Above all we have the example of the Lord Himself who “also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously” (I Pet. 2:21-23).
Romans 13 tells us why we must submit.
The reason is that all “power” (the Greek has here the word for “authority”) is of God. Even the power of magistrates is of God. Magistrates are ordained of God. The one who resists the magistrates, therefore, resists God.
The point is that God, through Jesus Christ, is pleased to rule men (including His people) through magistrates. God accomplishes His purpose through such rule. He accomplishes the purpose of His justice against the wicked through the rule of magistrates. He accomplishes the purpose of the salvation of His people through the magistrates—even when the magistrates persecute the saints.
In submission we show that we belong to God, serve Him, recognize His authority over us and confess that even magistrates are set in office and thrown out of office at His decree.
The text pronounces a terrible curse upon those who refuse to submit to magistrates: “They that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Rom. 13:2). Would that those who oppose government in the name of religion would tremble at this fierce word of God!
The believer joyfully submits—even when he must suffer. He follows in the footsteps of His Saviour who submitted to Pontius Pilate—and in doing so redeemed the church! He knows anyway that he has no abiding city here in the world, but that he is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. His life is a life of service to his Lord Christ; and in joyful submission to the rule of Christ over him, he submits to magistrates, “committing himself to him that judgeth righteously” (I Pet. 2:23). Prof. Herman Hanko
Is the Law a Rule of Life?
In the last issue of the News> we showed how the Reformed creeds teach that the law is still binding on New Testament Christians—that it is still a rule of life for them. In this issue we wish to demonstrate this from Scripture. We know that some disagree with us at this point. Thus the testimony of Scripture is all the more important and we trust that those who disagree will listen patiently to what we have to say.
The first passage we wish to consider is John 14:15: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Now, some would object that the commandments of Jesus are “not the same as the commandments of the moral law”—that Jesus’ commandments are a “new law” for New Testament believers. But even if that is so, believers are still bound by commandments and by a law. We, however, believe that Jesus’ commandments are the same as the Ten Commandments. How could Jesus’ commandments be different from God’s?
Proof that they are not different is found in John 15:12. “This is my commandment, that ye love one another.” Comparing Scripture with Scripture, in this case John 15:12 and Mark 12:29-31, we see that Jesus’ law is simply the same as the summary that He gives of the moral law in Mark 12:29-31.
This is confirmed in I John 2:3-8. Notice, the “new commandment” John gives is really an “old” commandment: “which we have had from the beginning” (7). Those words, “from the beginning,” mean “from the beginning of the world” as the context clearly shows (1:1; 2:13-14; 3:8). They do not mean “from the beginning of the New Testament.”
Notice also, keeping His commandments involves walking as He walked (2:6). We know that the way Jesus walked all His life long was the way of perfect obedience to the law of God. That is the way we must walk.
Notice finally that John himself explains how the “old commandment” is also a “new commandment.” It is not new by replacing a commandment that is no longer in force. It is new in that our relationship to it has changed through the coming and shining of the true light (2:8). This is at the heart of what we believe about the law. We do not teach that the law is a rule of life in that the believer “must still be justified by it,” or in that “he can earn something by his obedience.” It is a rule of life for him only in that it shows Him how to show love and thankfulness to God for all God has done for him.
It is not something we must keep “in order to receive salvation.” That would be a denial of all that Christ has done. It is something we keep as a result of salvation received—an expression of love and gratitude to God. And that is exactly what the word says in John 15:12 and in I John 2:5.
Another passage is James 2:8-13 where “the royal law,” the law of King Jesus, also called “the law of liberty” (12), is identified first with the same summary of the moral law that Jesus gives in Mark 12:29-31 and then with the Ten Commandments (James 2:11-12). “Do not commit adultery” and “Do not kill” belong to the law of liberty. This is the law James says we must fulfil, by which we shall be judged.
We should notice here too that liberty has a law. Liberty is never “the freedom to do as we please” or “to be without law,” but the freedom to serve and obey God (cf. Gal. 5:13-14). This is true also of our liberty in Christ.
The law has not changed, therefore, nor has it been taken away. Our relationship to it has been changed. We are no longer under the law to condemnation, but under the law to Christ (I Cor. 9:21). Rev. Ron Hanko
