From Religion and Theology by Herman Bavinck
To profess theology is to do holy work. It is a priestly
ministration in the house of the Lord. It is itself a service of worship, a
consecration of mind and heart to the honor of His name.
From Our Reasonable Faith by Herman Bavinck
Among the heathen there is a great difference between the
ways in which they react to the calling of nature. Socrates and Plato are not
to be named in the same breath with Caligula and Nero.
That many, called by the gospel, do not come and do not
repent is not the fault of the gospel, nor of the Christ offered them in the
gospel, nor of God who calls them by the gospel, and who Himself also grants
many gifts to those when He calls. The fault, rather, lies in those who are
called, of whom some, being indifferent, do not accept the word of life.
The moment we have eyes to see the richness of the spiritual
life, we do away with the practice of judging others according to our puny
measure. There are people who know of only one method, and who regard no one as
having repented unless he can speak of the same spiritual experiences which
they have had or claim to have had. But Scripture is much richer and broader
than the narrowness of such confines.
The believer who is justified by Christ is the freest
creature in the world. At least so it ought to be.
Sin is not merely guilt, but also pollution; we are
delivered from the first by justification, from the second by sanctification.
But this sanctification of the believers must then be properly
understood. It must not become a legal sanctification, but is and must remain
an evangelical sanctification.
It is by no means in justification only, but quite as much
in sanctification, that by faith exclusively we are saved.
Christ in heaven and the Holy Spirit on earth are surety for
the salvation of the elect, and seal this in the hearts of the believers.
With an eye to the glorious virtues which the apostles
ascribe to the church, some observers have wanted to make a distinction between
the empirical and the ideal church. But such a Western distinction is foreign
to the New Testament.
These two parts of the church belong together. They are the
vanguard and the rearguard of the great army of Christ. Those who have preceded
now form round about us a great cloud of witnesses…
In that resurrection the unity of the person, both according
to soul and body, is preserved.
The body is not a prison of the spirit, but belongs to the
essence of man. That is why it is redeemed just a s well as the soul by Christ,
the perfect Savior.
Comments