Canons of Dordt (50)

It is the sincere desire of God’s children to be holy and to walk in the tender fear of His Name. Discovering light and painful, humbling experiences will teach them, however, how helpless and defenseless they are in themselves. God’s Word gives us examples of His dear children falling into sin. King David grievously sinned against the Lord with Bathsheba. Peter denied his Master although he had been warned by Him. Therefore it is evident that, if the Lord would but withdraw His preserving hand for a moment, His people would stumble and fall, and His Name would be dishonored. Those heinous sins offend the Lord and bring much darkness upon them. This we also read in Fifth Head, Article 5,

“By such enormous sins, however, they very highly offend God, incur a deadly guilt, grieve the Holy Spirit, interrupt the exercise of faith, very grievously wound their consciences, and sometimes lose the sense of God’s favor, for a time, until on their returning into the right way of serious repentance, the light of God’s fatherly countenance again shines upon them.”

Sin is an offense to God; each sin makes us guilty and condemnable before God. God’s children, however, sin in a special way; they sin against the love, the mercy, and the grace which God has shown unto them. We read in Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.”

Serious consequences

The sins of God’s people have serious consequences. Sin is disobedience and rebellion against God who hates and must punish sin. Christ has delivered His church from the guilt of sin, but the transgressing of God’s law makes a separation between Him and their soul. They grieve the Holy Spirit by their rebellion. Grieving someone implies that there is love or a relationship of love. An employer can get very angry because of the bad behavior or disobedience of his employee. Consequently, he may take some punitive measures.

The relationship between parents and a child, however, is totally different. Because of the love between them, disobedience and sinful deeds will cause them pain and sadness. It sometimes feels as though someone has stepped on their heart. Would that not upset them? The Bible uses examples of such human behavior in order to make clear how God’s children sin against the Holy Spirit, who is given to them by Christ to be a Comforter. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to burn sin out of the hearts in which He dwells, but the sins of fleshly lusts or ungodly behavior are contrary to the purpose of His work. When the Holy Spirit is grieved, His workings may be withdrawn, and darkness will come upon the believer. At that time one cannot exercise his faith. This does not mean that one loses the grace of faith or that he becomes an unbeliever, contrary to the Remonstrants who taught that this indeed could be possible. They believed that when God’s people fell into grievous sins, they could lose their faith temporarily or even indefinitely and perish. If that were true, Peter would surely have lost his faith.

An Advocate

The Lord Jesus told Peter something different when He said in Luke 22:32, “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not....” What a wonder it is for an undeserving and foolish people that which we read in 1 John 2:1b, “And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous.” He is an Advocate who not only pleads but also demands pardon for His people since He Himself has paid the price and is a propitiation for their sins.

The bond of faith cannot be broken anymore, but the activity of faith can be taken away. Then there is no joy, no peace, and no rest in their heart. The poet said in Psalm 32 that his bones waxed old through his roaring all the day long. Day and night God’s hand was heavy upon him. In such times God’s people miss the light of His countenance. David in Psalm 4 could not miss that light. He said in verse 6, “There be many that say, Who will show us any good? LORD, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us.”

Lose the sense of God’s favor

They lose the sense of God’s favor for a time; it may seem as if the Lord has forsaken them. Although that would be deserved, He will come back at His time upon His own work. We can see that in the life of David. The Lord sent His prophet Nathan to him and made him bow as an undeserving sinner before Him. One look of the Lord Jesus was enough for Peter; the Lord brought him to repentance. Before the Lord comes, however, it can become so dark in their soul that they question whether the Lord has ever worked in their heart. Though they do not lose the grace of God, they sometimes lose the sense of His favor. Then it is as if nothing has ever happened in them. They wonder whether the Lord will ever come back.

Even if we are unfaithful, God is faithful and cannot deny Himself. He is Jehovah, the unchangeable God of the covenant. This covenant of grace is not breakable. Not even “the enormous sins” of the saints will break this agreement which was made from eternity between God the Father and God the Son who is the Head, the Mediator, and the Surety in this covenant for all those who are given unto Him. At God’s time He will come back to His own work.

Serious repentance

This will always be in a way of serious repentance. We read of Ephraim in Jeremiah 31:19, “Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded....” God’s people will return to the Lord with weeping and supplication and with upright confession of their sin. They will justify God and say with Micah 7:9, “I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against Him...”They feel unworthy that the Lord would ever look upon them and that He would be just if He cast them away. Yet, when the Lord visits their soul, the flame of love will be kindled, and this love seeks communion with Him. It is the Lord Himself Who draws them back into His arms, and there they may pour out their heart’s confession unto Him.

A surprising God

There also the Lord will be a surprising God. He will again shine with the light of His fatherly countenance upon them. They will never be able to comprehend the wonder that God never forsakes the works of His own hands. The accusations of the Remonstrants that the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints would make them careless lack any ground.

God’s people do not sin cheaply. When they live under a closed heaven and God hides His face, their conscience is wounded, and their faith not exercised. They live in a terrible desert, in a land where no water is, and where they with sadness will experience what they have done. God is not a Father who will do like some earthly fathers have done. They do not want to recognize their children as their own anymore and close the door for them. God may chastise His children, as a loving father does, but He will never abandon them. That is the wonder for those who have grieved Him so much and who have sinned against such an incomprehensible love, for He did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for such rebels. They will, therefore, forever sing of His faithfulness and praise Him because He has done it.

Rev. C. Vogelaar
Kalamazoo, MI

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