What a wonder God’s salvation is!

This article was written by Rev. Ronald Hanko and will be published in the April 15, 2021 issue of The Standard Bearer....

Correction for The Standard Bearer, April 1 2021

Attention all readers of The Standard Bearer, there was an omission in the article by Rev. Cory...

Herman Bavinck on God's Covenant of Grace

"In the covenant of grace, that is, in the gospel, which is the proclamation of the covenant of grace, there are actually no demands and no conditions. For God supplies what he demands. Christ has accomplished everything, and though he did not accomplish rebirth, faith, and repentance in our place, he did acquire them for us, and the Holy Spirit therefore applies them. Still, in its administration by Christ, the covenant of grace does assume this demanding conditional form. The purpose is to acknowledge humans in their capacity as rational and moral beings; still, though they are fallen, to treat them as having been created in God’s image; and also on this supremely important level, where it concerns their eternal weal and eternal woe, to hold them responsible and inexcusable; and, finally, to cause them to enter consciously and freely into this covenant and to break their covenant with sin. The covenant of grace, accordingly, is indeed unilateral: it proceeds from God; he has designed and defined it. He maintains and implements it. It is a work of the triune God and is totally completed among the three Persons themselves. But it is destined to become bilateral, to be consciously and voluntarily accepted and kept by humans in the power of God. This is the will of God, which so clearly and beautifully manifests itself in the covenant in order that the work of grace may be clearly reflected in the human consciousness and arouse the human will to exert itself energetically and forcefully. The covenant of grace does not deaden human beings or treat them as inanimate objects. On the contrary, it totally includes them with all their faculties and powers, in soul and body, for time and eternity. It embraces them totally, does not destroy their power, but deprives them of their impotence. It does not kill their will but frees them from sin; it does not numb their consciousness but delivers it from darkness. It re-creates the whole person and, having renewed it by grace, prompts it, freely and independently, with soul mind, and body, to love God and to dedicate itself to him. The covenant of grace declares that God’s honor and acclaim is not won at the expense but for the benefit of human persons and celebrates its triumphs in the re-creation of the whole person, in his or her enlightened consciousness and restored freedom.” ~ Herman Bavinck.

A Meditation on the Cross of Christ

This is an extract from chapter 4 of the book The Amazing Cross, by Herman Hoeksema,...

Two edifying books on Christ's cross for only $15!

Fulfil ye my joy

God’s people today must immerse themselves in the gospel of the cross of Christ (2:5)! In and by the power of the cross, soak their mind, heart, and soul in Christ crucified. Let the love of God that flows from Him fill them. Encourage one another with Him. Think, speak, and act according to Him. And do so always with the intent of lifting up one another in the Lord, so that God is glorified!

By and in the grace of God, fulfill ye the joy of the gospel of Christ within us, brethren and sisters in the Lord. Let that be said of you and me: we are men and women whose hearts and minds are filled with Christ, united in the truth and endeavoring to keep that unity for the causes of God’s kingdom by way of serving each other in humility for Jesus’ sake.

This is how we should fulfill our calling at home— husband loving his wife as Christ loves the church; wife submitting to the husband as the church submits to Christ; children honoring their parents and submitting to their authority. This is how parents must see themselves in relation to their calling in raising up their children in the fear of the Lord!