The Will of God
In the last two issues of the News we wrote about God’s decrees. Sometimes in Scripture God’s decrees are described as His “will.” This word tells us that God’s decrees are not a “dead plan” that God has stored away somewhere in heaven, but the mind of God. When we talk about His decrees, we are talking about Him.
That is very important. It means, for one thing, that God’s decrees have all the attributes of God Himself. His decrees, like Him, are eternal, unchangeable, perfect and sovereignly free.
This needs emphasis because there are many who teach that God wants (wills) all men to be saved, but that their salvation now depends on their choice. Others teach that God has two wills, one of which is eternal, unchangeable and sovereign (i.e., irresistible), and another that is only for a time, changeable and resistible, and contradicts the first will of God. They say that God does eternally choose some to salvation in Jesus Christ, that is, He wills their salvation; however, it is said that God also wills the salvation of all men, because He expresses in the preaching of the gospel a desire (will) that all men be saved.
According to this teaching, God wills (in the gospel) and doesn’t will (in predestination) the salvation of some. And insofar as He does will their salvation in the preaching, that will is never fulfilled, is only for here and now, not for eternity, and is incomplete and unfulfilled.
We object to these teachings because they say that God’s will, and therefore God Himself, is incomplete, unfulfilled, changeable and resistible (i.e., not sovereign). The second also teaches that there is contradiction (i.e., imperfection) in Him. It even teaches that He is not one, but two, since He is of two minds about things—all of which is to deny that He is really God.
Scripture teaches that God has but one will and that He does all that He wills. Psalms 115:3 and 135:6 teach this plainly. Both Psalms teach it in the context of some powerful statements about idolatry. In other words, to say that God does not do all His will, that His will can remain incomplete and unfulfilled, is to commit the sin of idolatry. That is what these Psalms are saying.
What do you believe? Do you want to say that God is of two minds about men and their salvation? Do you dare say that His will is no stronger than ours and that He can be frustrated in what He wills?
It is much more biblical and comforting to believe that “our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” He is GOD. Rev. Hanko
Cain’s Murderous Rage
“And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Gen. 4:6-7).
It might be well for our readers to read the whole of Genesis 4 before reading this brief explanation of the two verses quoted above. Reading the chapter will show that the context has to do with the two sacrifices of Abel and Cain, made at the time the two sons of Adam and Eve grew up. Abel offered a lamb; Cain offered carrots and potatoes.
Hebrews 11 tells us that “by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous” (4). Abel’s offering was “more excellent” than Cain’s because Abel expressed in his offering his faith in “the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This act of faith also was the means by which he obtained witness that he was righteous.
Cain offered vegetables because he despised God’s command to shed blood in sacrifices, showed his contempt for the need for blood to be shed for the forgiveness of sin and boasted about what his own hands had accomplished, for his vegetables were a testimony that, in spite of God’s curse on creation, Cain had overcome the curse.
When God had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and to his offering had not respect (4:4-5), Cain was strangely angry. And yet not so strangely angry, for this is the way we too often act. We deliberately defy God’s word and walk in our own way. When God’s anger comes upon us for our sin, and He punishes us, we are angry, act as if we deserve something better from God and criticize His ways. We all have something of Cain in us.
But the text with which we deal is God’s response to Cain’s anger. And in that response, God explains His own justice and the horrible power of sin.
God, in defending His absolute justice over against Cain’s anger, lays down a basic principle that is true for all time.
God compares sin to a fierce animal that lies at the door of our lives every moment. It lies in wait to devour and will, at a moment’s notice, consume us. The rule of God is that when we resist this monster and do well, God accepts us. But when we give ourselves over to sin, the monster of sin consumes and devours all that our desire is to it. That is, sin becomes such a power in our lives that even our desires are wholly controlled by sin.
How true this is. When a person who knows something is wrong nevertheless does it, it may bother him and plague his conscience for a bit. But as he continues to commit the same sin, that sin gains total control of his life.
In this way God’s justice is satisfied. That is the point here. Cain objects to God’s rejection of his sacrifice. God vindicates His own justice.
To quote my old professor who taught me now some 40 years ago, explaining God’s word to Cain, God says:
Thy wrath, Cain, is unreasonable, groundless and uncalled for. For thou art angry with Me, but thou shouldest be angry with thyself and praise My wrath. For thou doest not well. Thou tramplest the blood of My sacrifice and despisest the riches of My goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, and thou hatest thy righteous brother. Turn from thy evil way. Repent, and thou shalt be accepted of me. If thou repentest not, thou shalt come to grief, and the responsibility of the doom that awaits thee will be wholly thine. Be admonished. If thou restrain not thy wicked impulses, they will become mighty in thee, and in thy unbridled wrath thou wilt go from bad to worse and be driven by My curse into everlasting desolation. But the responsibility for thy doom shall be wholly thine. For thou shalt remain the subject, the ruler and director of thy vile impulses. (George M. Ophoff, 1891-1962, quoted in The Standard Bearer, vol. 75, no. 7 [January 1, 1999], 156).
There is still one problem with the last clause of the text: “And thou shalt rule over him.” But the correct interpretation of this clause is dependent on a correct translation. The clause should really read: “But thou shouldest rule over it.” That is, God is saying to Cain: “It is thy calling that thou shouldest rule over sin, rather than permit thy desire to be for sin.” Hence that responsibility before God for thy sin.
This is the translation of almost all Bibles, including the New King James.
And so we have here in the text a very sharp warning for us. Let us rule over sin and thus do well! To give in to sin and to let our desires be to it is to invite spiritual catastrophe into our lives, for sin is a monster! Prof. Hanko
Should a Christian Be Involved in Politics?
The question we have chosen to answer in this article was sent in by one of our readers. It is an important question today because many teach that it is the Christian’s duty to be involved in politics.
We do not believe that it is wrong for a Christian to be involved, even when the government itself is wicked, as most human governments have been and are. The examples of Daniel and Nehemiah show it is not wrong. Both rendered valuable service to ungodly earthly rulers, service that was also used by God for the good of His church. Nor, in the New Testament, did Jesus tell a ruler who came to Him and asked what he must do to inherit eternal life that he must give up his position as a ruler (Luke 18:18ff). Neither is there any indication that men who served in the corrupt Roman government, such as Sergius Paulus (Acts 13:6-12), were required upon conversion to surrender their offices. If such involvement is not forbidden by Scripture, then it is not wrong to be involved in politics.
Certainly, a Christian involved in politics must be careful to maintain Christian principles, after the examples of Daniel and Nehemiah, and may never forget that his first loyalty is to Christ the King of kings and to the heavenly kingdom of Christ. His service to earthly rulers may never conflict with his serving Christ, nor may he give his loyalty to men before Christ.
We would insist, however, that the Christian has no obligation to be involved in politics. He is not less of a Christian if he takes no interest in politics, especially since politics belongs to the things of this world that are perishing. The example of Christ serves us well. Apart from condemning the wickedness of earthly rulers and insisting that His followers render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, Jesus took no interest in the political affairs of the Roman Empire and its rulers. Neither need we.
We would insist, however, that though the individual Christian may be involved in politics, the church may not be. Her only calling is to preach the gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, not to make political statements or to become a kind of political party (Matt. 28:19; I Tim. 3:15).
When the church does become involved in politics, then she denies by that very fact that the gospel is the only means of salvation. Politics is not the answer to the problems of men, nor to this world’s troubles, nor to the kingdom of Christ in any sense of the word as a political kingdom. The kingdom does not come in the way of political action (Luke 17:20-21; John 18:36).
This means, we believe, that those who serve in the offices of the church, especially the ministers, ought not at the same time be involved in politics. Since the church fulfils her calling to preach the gospel through her ordained ministers, they too should have no other calling. Not only does political involvement take them away from their calling in the church, so that the church suffers, but invariably they become entangled in the church’s calling, trying to be preachers in the political arena and politicians in the church.
The example of Jesus serves us here also. The only thing that mattered to Him was preaching the gospel of the kingdom everywhere and always. Nothing else must interfere with that calling, nor did it in His case. Let us follow Him. Then we will not be putting our trust in horses or chariots, but in the name of the Lord. Rev. Hanko
