The Union of Christ’s Two Natures (4)
When speaking of Christ as God and man we must be careful not to confuse His two natures. This has been done in the history of the church. Some, for example, have called Christ “the God-man,” teaching that He is not any longer truly God or truly man, but a kind of “hybrid” between the two. An analogy would be the mixing of the metal sodium with the poisonous gas chlorine to produce sodium chloride (table salt), something that is neither metal nor gas.
The problem with this old heresy was that it obliterated the distinction between the human and the divine. That error is still around today, though it is not called by the same name. Many blur the distinction between human and divine by teaching that Christ was God only in the sense that, as a good man, He “became” divine. By realizing all the potential of His humanity He reached divinity. Isaac Watts, the writer of many hymns, believed something like that.
This is the teaching, too, of those who promote a gospel of “positive thinking,” i.e., that people must put away all thoughts of sin and guilt and learn to think positively about themselves, thus realizing their potential as human beings just as Christ did. Salvation, then, consists in the “growth” of men and women into a kind of perfect humanity, which is the same as being divine.
We must maintain the distinction between human and divine.
In speaking about Christ we do that by being very careful about our language and by not going beyond what Scripture itself says about His two natures. We say, for example, that “Christ” died on the cross, or suffered and died, “according to His human nature”; but we do not say that “God” died on the cross. We say that “Christ” was forsaken of God “according to His human nature,” but we cannot say that “God” was forsaken “of God.”
We have biblical warrant for this kind of language, too. We find it used in passages like Romans 9:5, where Scripture says that Christ is come of the Jews “as concerning the flesh.”
We must, therefore, maintain that Christ our Lord is at the same time and in one person eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, the Creator of heaven and earth, and at the same time fully and really man with all the limitations of the human nature. This is the wonder of the incarnation, the great mystery of godliness and the hope of our salvation.
We can understand the mixing of two substances to produce a third, but to understand fully how the two natures of Christ can be forever united in one person and yet remain distinct is beyond our understanding. It shows us that the incarnation of Christ is a wonder work of God. Rev. Ron Hanko
Mediate or Immediate Regeneration?
“Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18).
The question which a reader wants answered in connection with this verse is: “Does this verse teach mediate regeneration?”
My guess is that, before we answer this question with a “Yes” or a “No,” we ought to explain what is meant by “mediate” regeneration. Perhaps most of our readers are not acquainted with that term.
Regeneration itself is, of course, that work of God through the Holy Spirit in which He creates in the hearts of His elect the new life of Christ so that they are born again. The question is: Is that work of regeneration performed by God through the preaching of the gospel, or is it performed by God apart from the preaching of the gospel? If the former is true, then regeneration is “mediate”; if the latter is true, then regeneration is “immediate.”
While this may not seem a very important question to us, it has been a very important question in the past history of the church, especially in the history of the Reformed churches on the continent of Europe. It has also been debated in Presbyterian circles in the past. I would guess that the lack of discussion about and interest in a question such as this on the part of many is due to a general lack of knowledge of and concern for sound doctrine. Really our age is an age of doctrinal weakness and illiteracy.
But however that may be, the question does have some very important implications even today. Although all those who taught “mediate” regeneration did not want to be Arminian, the fact of the matter is that Arminians are strong believers in mediate regeneration.
The reason is obvious. The Arminian makes salvation dependent upon the will of man. But the will of man plays its decisive role only in connection with the preaching of the gospel. The gospel is presented as a “well-meant gospel offer” whereby God expresses a desire to save everyone who hears the preaching. The one who exercises his will favourably so that he “accepts” this gospel “offer” is then saved. And this salvation includes regeneration. Billy Graham even wrote a book on How to Be Born Again.
Without entering into this question at once, every Reformed man will recognize the fact that for a spiritually dead sinner to hear the gospel, he must first of all be made alive. This is, after all, true in the natural realm. A corpse cannot hear anything, no matter how loudly one hollers or screams at it. So it is also true spiritually that one who is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1) cannot hear the gospel with true saving hearing unless he is first made alive. And this “making alive” is, after all, regeneration.
This is what Jesus means when He tells His disciples: “Blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear” (Matt. 13:16).
Thus regeneration surely is “immediate” (i.e., without the means of the preaching) in that sense of the word. This is what Peter refers to when he speaks about being born again “not of corruptible seed” (I Pet. 1:23). While being born again is “by the word of God,” there is first of all an “incorruptible” seed out of which one is born again. That “incorruptible” seed must surely be the new life of regeneration which first enables an elect child of God to hear the gospel.
So Lazarus had also to be “made alive” first before he could hear Jesus call, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43). And, as Jesus made clear to Martha, Lazarus’ resurrection was a sign of regeneration (John 11:25-26).
Nevertheless, regeneration is usually spoken of in Scripture in a broader sense of the word. This is true in the passage from James quoted above. Regeneration then includes the whole work of God in making a new saint out of an old sinner, a work that takes place, usually, over many years and a work that includes conversion (putting off the old man and putting on the new man) and the whole work of sanctification. All this is included in that one grand work of God in making a saint out of a sinner.
That work, also called regeneration, is performed through the preaching of the gospel. This is specifically referred to in the Canons of Dordt, III/IV:10-13, which our readers are urged to read.
One more point. Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God’s work of regeneration through the preaching can be compared with eating. Just as our natural life is sustained by eating food, so the new man in Christ, created through regeneration, is sustained through the food of the word (cf. I Pet. 2:1-3). This puts responsibility on us. It is the responsibility of such a kind that our soul’s salvation is at stake. In fact, this is so important that I wish to return to this aspect of the question in our next article. Prof. Herman Hanko
What About the “Toronto Blessing”?
Several people have asked about the so-called “Toronto Blessing.” We are sure that it is neither “from Toronto” nor a “blessing.”
As far as its origins are concerned, it really originates with John Wimber, the Vineyard ministry and his “signs and wonders” movement. In fact, the church in Toronto after which the “Toronto Blessing” is named is a Vineyard church. Nor are its practices (e.g. being “slain in the Spirit” and “holy laughter”) anything new. They have been around in the charismatic movement for many years and have only been popularized by this latest movement.
As far as the teachings and practices of the movement are concerned, there is nothing biblical about them. And it is a sad commentary on the spiritual condition of the church and the times in which we live that so many people, even professing Christians, are taken in by something that has nothing to do with the Bible.
There is no warrant in Scripture for people laughing at holy things, rolling on the floors, making animal noises, being “drunk in the Spirit” and behaving themselves in a disorderly and even crazed fashion. Nor do Scripture and its teaching, even its teaching concerning Christ and His shed blood, have any real place in the meetings, as those who have seen the meetings will testify.
The real fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5 are not evident in the movement, especially not temperance (moderation). Indeed, in many instances the teachings and practices of the movement are not only unscriptural but God-dishonouring and even blasphemous. The idea, for example, that God the Holy Spirit can be dispensed from Toronto like a medical prescription is appalling.
Many practices of the movement have more in common with hypnotism, mass hysteria (such as is evident at rock concerts) and other occult and Satanic practices than they do with biblical Christianity. The whole movement can best be described by the three words James uses in James 3:15: “earthly, sensual, devilish.”
Nor is the fact that so many have “experienced” something any proof that it is from God. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (whose will is revealed in the Scriptures alone).
Feelings are no basis for judgment. Reports from those under the influence of drugs such as ecstasy describe sensations very similar to what some claim to experience in this “blessing.” Zeal and enthusiasm in themselves prove nothing, as Paul points out in Romans 10:2-3. Indeed the devil is the most zealous of all in pursuing his evil purposes.
This movement and the experiences of those who support it only confirm that what Scripture says about the last days is coming to pass. The men who lead the movement are the very sort Peter and Jude warn against (II Pet. 2:10-18; Jude 4, 8, 10-13). Especially in their disregard for Scripture they must be condemned as those who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof (II Tim. 3:5).
John says, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world” (I John 4:1). The only basis on which such spirits can be tried is the Word of God. Tried before the bar of God’s Word, the spirits that govern this movement are found false. Rev. Ron Hanko
