Calvin Synod Herald, 2003 (104. évfolyam, 3-12. szám)
2003-03-01 / 3-4. szám
CALVIN SYNOD HERALD 3 CdsreR CDessAge 2003 “For Thou mil not abandon my soul in Sheol, ” [netherworld] “Neither will Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay. ” (Psalm 16:10 NASB) This quote is one of the many Messianic passages in the Old Testament that directly refers to the “Holy One” of God who will not undergo the process of decay like every other man but will be raised from the dead. Literally speaking, our faith in God through Jesus the Christ is justified by His resurrection. The present passage in an unmistakable proof text pointing to a future fulfillment of Salvation through the Messiah, [Jeshua]. Why the ancient prophecies did not take hold in the heart of those among whom Jesus walked and ministered is difficult to fathom, since the biblical evidence was right under their nose. But it is even more difficult to understand that there are people who are filled with incredulity despite the resurrection of Christ as we find in the New Testament narratives. In fact, the New Testament itself could never have been authored without the firm belief in the resurrection of Jesus the Christ from the dead. It was to such moral and spiritual obtuseness that the first Christian martyr Stephen thus testified with his last breath, “And which one of the prophets did your fathers did not persecute? And they killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; you who have received the law as ordained by angels, and yet you did not keep it.” (Acts 7:52-53). It is the branch of “Apologetics” in Christian theology that deals with the defense and proofs of our glorious faith. In the Easter celebration of Jesus’ resurrection there is no need for an “apology” in and among a politically correct society but every reason to boldly proclaim that the founder of our faith in God is alive and fives forever. Let us therefore hold firm to our convictions in the Son of God and let not the “mood for tolerance” in our time (as in the Roman Empire) prevent us from making disciples of all nations. Have a blessed and joy filled Easter! Louis Medgyesi Bishop Justice and Mercy Psalm 50 Is not God unjust in requiring of man in His law what he cannot do? No, for God so created man that he could do it. But man, upon the instigation of the devil, by deliberate disobedience, has cheated himself and all his descendants out of these gifts. Will God let man get by with such disobedience and defection? Certainly not, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, both against our inborn sinfulness and our actual sins, and He will punish them according to His righteous judgement in time and in eternity as He has declared “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.” But is not God also merciful? God is indeed merciful and gracious, but He is also righteous. It is His righteousness which requires that sin committed against the supreme majesty of God be punished with extreme, that is, with eternal punishment of body and soul. I. Is Godliness Too Expensive? A. People could have been righteous in their original form. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31) B. Sin is an unnatural but powerful influence imposed on reality. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a fie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44) C. God provides a satisfactory solution to the problem of sin in the substitutionary atonement. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5-12) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of fife. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19) II. Ignoring Sin Would Ruin Justice A. God’s wrath against sin spills out from heaven. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (Romans 1:18) B. If God winked at sin the process would eliminate justice from life. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10) C. The rules have always been obvious. But it shall come (continued on page b)
