Fellowship and Testimony
P.O. Box 1042
Holland, MI 49422 U.S.A.
Phone: 616-405-7700 www.giftdigest.com
Dear Friends and
Co-laborers in the
Gospel,
November 20, 2008
Greetings in the blessed name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
Surprise to some of you, but as was mentioned in our last monthly mailing, we intend to make more use of email, rather than snailmail. This will be a considerable saving and will enable us to send more work in color. If for some reason you prefer not to receive these monthly emails, please let us hear from you.
By the time you receive this letter, we will be on the road again with meetings in PA and in OH. Then, off to southern Alabama to the wonderful fellowship with the saints in the churches in Mobile, Coden, Fairhope, and Foley. We enjoy the edifying interaction in that corner of God’s vineyard.
The meetings in Ohio during Thanksgiving should be blessed indeed. Our lifelong friend Norman Gidney CBE will be there also and will be the keynote speaker at the special meetings scheduled at Calvary Chapel, Massillon, Ohio for the weekend November 29-30. We will be in the pulpit the 23rd. Brother Gidney will be conducting a seminar-retreat type session on the Saturday morning from 10:00 a.m till noon. For most of his life he has been engaged in international commercial banking and remains so engaged. He has also had over forty years on the board of European Missionary Fellowship, and has had a wide experience in working with indigenous churches all over Europe. He will also be part of the special dedication services of the new all-purpose family center now in its final stages of completion. If you live in the area do your best to join the celebrations.
We hope you will profit from the following study in Paul’s Roman Epistle. We have had much correspondence this past month and the Q & A section is part of this ministry. We thank God for questions that take us into the Scriptures.
Be sure to pray for us, as while we get older, we nevertheless desire to stay active, for as Paul wrote, our labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).
Continued blessings. Yours because His, Henry T. Hudson (Jn. 3:30)
"...to testify the gospel of the grace of God...preaching the kingdom of God..." (Acts 20:24,25)
Directors: Pastor Henry & Shirley Hudson. Advisory Board: Pastors J. Hollis, H. Knotts, A.J. Krauss, R. Robinson, A. Watkins, P. Wiering, Mr. R. Purdy, Mr. B. Hudson, Dr. R. Stern, Sir N. Gidney C.B.E.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
A good friend wrote and took me to task on two issues: (1) DISINTEGRATIVE THINKING, & (2) RIGHT DIVISION.
As to the first point, he wrote: “Perhaps in some past article I missed your definition of this term, but to me it was meant to be a negative description of those who didn’t agree with your particular position with respect to trying to “rightly divide the word of truth.”
ANSWER: I coined the word “disintegrative” following Charles H. Welch’s observation that he had spent his entire life pointing out things that differ, and now it was time for someone to give time and thought to explaining and expounding the relationships between the things that differ. I may have misunderstood what he was trying to say, but over the years I began to appreciate what he was driving at, and slowly but surely I realized he had focused on a real need.
The words “disintegrative dispensationalism” are intended to describe a propensity among many dispensationalists that almost obsessively lends it-self to emphasizing differences in the progressive developmental revelation of truth contained in the Holy Scriptures. In fact it seems to major on dis-continuity. With this in mind, let me reassure you that the words were never meant to circumscribe any particular system of dispensational thinking. I am more concerned with the consequences of such thinking for it belies relational unity from Genesis to Revelation. A prime example of disintegrative thinking can be seen in the logic based on the popular premise that “mystery excludes prophecy.” That such hides a fallacy can be seen from the fact that Paul was wont to preach the kingdom of God and also from a face-value exegesis of many passages, e. g. as Eph. 3:6; Gal. 1:23; 1 Cor. 15:50-57; Rom. 1:1-5; 11:16-24; Acts 15:14-18. The insightful words of Dr. Dale DeWitt are worth recalling: “One simply cannot force the original or earlier forms of pro-phecy on to its later forms after progressive revelational development has occurred.” (Truth Mag. Dec. ’92, p. 14).
Speaking of face value exegesis, I cannot help but encourage such an approach to Ephesians chapters 2 and 3. Also, Romans 11:16-18 does teach that the wild olive tree (Gentiles) was grafted in among the natural olive tree branches. Also, it is both together who partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree. These metaphors illuminate to a greater degree the clear statements of Ephesian 3:6.
ANSWER: With Regard to point 2 and the subject of “RIGHT DIVISION,” my challenge was once again to concentrate on interpreting 2 Timothy 2: 15 in the light of its immediate context. Let us try to understand what was in Paul’s mind when he admonished Timothy to be diligent in rightly dividing the word of truth. Was he saying: “Timothy be sure to get your dispensations right?” Or, maybe, “Timothy, I am giving you an insight into the truth of the mystery, so that you will be able to avoid confusing kingdom and body truth?” The context is talking about “profane and vain babblings.” (Cf. 1 Tim. 6:20; Tit. 3:9). It was never intended as a slogan. Amazingly, I have heard it used in criticism of brethren who do not see eye to eye on controversies as to when the church began, or whether the 12 apostles are in the Body of Christ. So, you were right on this point. As far as a broader application of the verse is concerned, I think Oswald T. Allis (Yes, a so-called Covenant Theologian) was closer to the truth when he wrote that: “This exhortation does not mean to divide up Scripture into dispensations and set each at variance with the others, but so to interpret it that by a study of each and every part, the glorious unity and harmony of the Whole shall be exhibited and the correctness of the exposition of the one part be established by its perfect agreement with every other part of Scripture as the God-inspired Word.”
My heart is thankful to the Lord for your fellow-ship and for your open-minded concern for the truth. Let the Berean spirit prevail (Acts 17:11).
THE EPISTLE TO
THE ROMANS (IV)
“CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST . . . CALLED SAINTS.”
by Henry T. Hudson
In the former study, dealing with ‘the five features of the gospel of God,’ I ended with the statement that Paul’s apostleship was “unto (with regard to) the obedience of faith among all the nations.” If the next verse is read carefully, along with the first half of verse seven, it will be noted that this obedience was on behalf of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that it included the believers at Rome who are called saints. In other words, from the all-inclusive “among all the nations,” Paul made it clear that the believers at Rome were also called to this obedience of faith. What is more, he addressed them as being the “beloved of God,” and he described them as being “saints.” The AV has “called to be saints,” but let it be noted that the two words “to be” are in italics which means that they are not in the original Greek text. They were added by the translators to help the reader apprehend what they judged the text to be saying. There is a sense in which we are called to live saintly lives, but that is because we are saints, not in order to become saints. More on this subject in a little while.
In the two verses before us, there are four things worthy of closer consideration. Putting them in the form of questions I would ask: (1) What is meant by the obedience of faith? (2) What is meant by the “called of Jesus Christ?” (3) What can be understood by the expression, “beloved of God?” and (4) What can be said of the doctrine that all Christians are saints?
THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
In a way, “faith” and “obedience” could be viewed as being synonymous. When asked to define faith, many Christians will offer a redundancy in which they declare that faith is believing. In the Greek language they are simply repeating the word. They are saying little more than that pistis (faith) is pisteuo (believing). Even when the word pisteuo is expanded and other synonyms are added, such as confidence, trust, and reliance, there remains a vagueness about its meaning. The same is the case with regard to the noun pistis. It does involve a conviction or an attitude with regard to God and his word, but its main significance is still elusive. In my book, Spiritual Development: Growing Gracefully in the Knowledge of the Christ, I spend a few pages trying to explain its essential meaning.
In those pages, I contend that faith, in the biblical sense of the word, cannot be divorced from know-ledge. Such a symbiosis can be seen in Donald Grey Barnhouse’s poignant statement: “Faith is a very simple thing. It is believing God’s word and acting upon it.” M. C. D’Arcy S. J., in his book, The Nature of Belief, made the statement that, “Faith is an act of submission of the intellect to God . . . and at the same time it is a laying hold of some truth which he has revealed.” (p.210). Charles Hodge, a Protestant theologian, apparently would support this understanding. He wrote that, “the Scriptures teach that faith is the reception of truth on the ground of testimony or on the authority of God . . . . ”(Systematic Theology, Vol. III, pp. 42, 65, 84). W. H. Griffith Thomas, an Anglican theologian, wrote: “Faith is our response to God’s revelation: the link between God and man, and the channel of all divine blessings."
I could perhaps make it even simpler by saying that faith, in the biblical sense of the word, is always a proactive quality that responds positively to the truths of the word of God. One convincing illustration of this definition can be found in Hebrews chapter 11, where there are any number of verses which begin, “By faith Abel offered . . . By faith Noah . . . prepared an ark . . . By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed . . . .” (Heb. 11:4-8, et. al.) The whole context makes it very clear that faith cannot be faith unless it is proactively associated with obedience to God. So then, when defining faith, I would contend that it is a positive response to the word of God. This would imply not only a knowledge of the word of God, but also obedience to that word. This definition would fit hand in glove with what James said in his epistle. He wrote: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” (Jam. 2:17). There are many postulated formulas for spiritual growth and development, but as I wrote in my book, when all is said that can be said, The bottom line is that: SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS DEPENDENT ON DIET AND DISCIPLINE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF FAITH.” (p. 98). The diet of course is the Holy Scriptures, and the discipline is the obedience thereto. Put in a different way, Faith has two basic rules of action: (1) Ascertain the will of God, and (2) Obey the will of God (p. 89).
When Paul spoke of his apostleship being unto the obedience of faith among all the nations, he had in mind the gospel of God’s grace that he had been preaching. He was not disobedient to his heavenly commission. However, mystery of mysteries, his ministry did not always meet with the obedience of faith. Some did believe and some did not. Some responded positively and some negatively. I think of the graphic scene in Acts 13 concerning many of the Jews who heard Paul make the appeal that forgiveness of sins and justification did not come through the law of Moses but came through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. They judged themselves to be unworthy of eternal life. They did not believe his message. Then you read that when the Gentiles heard Paul exclaim that he had been set as a light to them, and that he should bring salvation to them and to the uttermost parts of the earth, you read that, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained (tetagmenoi, having been disposed) to eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:47, 48). In passing, let it be noted that Paul quoted an Old Testament passage when he spoke of his apostleship (Cf. Isa. 42:6, 7).
Let the reader not overlook the fact that Paul’s statement about his apostleship being unto the obedience of faith among the nations, that it continues, and it goes on to include those to whom he was writing. Notice how he designates them, they were addressed as being the “called of Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 1:6).
THE CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST
The meaning behind the word “called” has be-come a big bone of contention among theologians. You will read in their writings how the word called needs to be attached to the word efficacious and it supposedly projects the idea of a sovereign irresistable call from God. Yes, there is a general universal call to all mankind that offers salvation to all without exception, but there is also according to certain theologians, the more particular call which is limited and which cannot be resisted since it is part of God’s predetermined plan.
As has already been stated, I do not believe that the Bible teaches the doctrine of soteriological predestination. What the Bible teaches is that the church (the ekklesia, called out group) is made up of those who have responded positively to the salvation-call of God. The idea that they were inexorably foreordained to this salvation is a man-introduced theological doctrine based on certain premises. The premises are supposedly based on sound exegetical interpretation of the biblical text, but as sometimes happens, the interpretation is it-self predetermined by the premises. So then, the bottom line should always be: “What saith the scriptures?” (Rom. 4:3).
The foregoing discussion relates to the question concerning the identification of the “elect.” This, along with double predestinarianism has long been a hot potato for theologians. Yet, in reading verses 4-10 of 1 Thessalonians chapter one, Paul knew that the believers at Thessalonica were the elect of God because they had believed the gospel and were manifesting fruit in their lives (See my book, Thessalonians: Then and Now, pp. 20-38). The designation, “the elect,” as Sir Robert Anderson has pointed out is one that also carries a mark of “dignity and privilege, applicable exclusively to the Christian.” Hence, as he went on to say, the main thought in election, “is rank and privilege, not deliverance from perdition. (The Gospel and Its Ministry, p. 76).
Another word that includes the thought of “dignity and privilege” is found in the expression that Paul used to describe the believers at Rome. They were the “called of Jesus Christ.” The initial call came through the gospel. They responded positively and thus belonged to Jesus Christ. They were included in the universal call to the obedience of faith, and after their initial positive response were still being called to further obedience. In most of Paul’s epistles, there is the balance between this initial call and the further expectation of obedient living. When a person experiences the truth of the gospel, he becomes a child of God and he is then expected to live in a manner that will honor and please his heavenly Father. When he does, he becomes fruitful in good works, and experiences intimate fellowship with God (Cf. Col. 1:4-11).
BELOVED OF GOD
The positive response to the gospel makes the believer one of the “beloved of God.” (Vs. 7). Reading these words sends my mind back once again to 1 Thessalonians 1:4 where Paul addressed believers as being “the beloved of God.”
A few readers might resent what could be considered a note of discrimination. What about John 3:16? Did not God love the whole world? There-fore how can anyone claim a special love for those who have answered the call of the gospel? Well, what can be said of Galatians 6:10? Is there not discrimination in the words: “let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Are there not gradations of love? The Greek language has at least four words for our English word “love.” Do you not love your mother and father more than you do the parents of your friend who live down the street? Some might have a problem with the doctrine that not all are the children of God, but as Scripture teaches, there are some who can be called the children of the devil (Jn. 8:44). In the chapter where the Lord Jesus classified certain of those who opposed him, he made it quite clear that it is only those who hear the words of God who are the children of God. He also made it clear that if God were our father we would love the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 8:42-47).
In the Italian culture there is a great emphasis placed on the family. There is a movie that I believe was called, Moonstruck, in which this Italian family are all gathered around the dining-room table and they all toast each other with the words, “La famiglia! La famiglia! The Family! The Family!” There is also the exchange of the words, “Ti amo! Ti amo! I love you! I love you!” If you are in the family of God, do you not sense a special kind of love for your brother or sister in Christ? You become a member of the family of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You join this family by a new birth. There is the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit and this supernatural work introduces a new sense of love within you. If my reader is familiar with the first epistle of John, he will know that Christians are expected to express love in a new and dynamic way because God loves them. God commands that we should believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and that we should love one another (Jn. 13:34, 35; 1 Jn. 3:23; 4:7-12). The source of the motivation for such love is in the fact that God first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19).
It is rather strange that anyone would be unduly disturbed by an implication of special degrees of love coming from God. Such discrimination in matters of love are common in human relation-ships e.g., the love a husband and wife have for each other, or the love parents have for their own children. I remember the story I read years ago concerning a man who became enamoured with an exceedingly wicked woman. She dragged him into the depths of every conceivable sin. His mother did her best to deliver him from the grip of this woman. The story goes that the evil woman chided him with accusations that he didn’t really love her. Of course, he vowed that he did. She appealed to his drunken condition, and insisted that if he really loved her he would get rid of his mother. Not only did he succumb to the railings, but he dashed out of the building and immediately went to his home and murdered his mother. He went so far as to tear the heart out of his mother’s chest in order to carry it back to his paramour. In his insane folly, as he dashed back he stumbled and fell. From the bleeding heart came a voice crying out: “My son. are you hurt?” Who can fathom the love of a mother? And who can fathom the love of God that is, as the hymn writer wrote, “greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell?” With this hymn, Frederick M. Lehman takes the heart into the territory of Christian experience and in that realm causes the mind to bow in humble adoration and gratitude before the Lord God, who loved us even when we were yet sinners, and turned us into his beloved saints.
CALLED SAINTS
Again, here in verse 7, there reappears the word “called.” It can have the common meaning of
naming, or designating (Cf. Gen. 16:11; Deut. 25:8; Isa. 9:6; Lk. 1:31, et. al.). These Christians at Rome have responded to the universal call of the gospel, they are the beloved of God, they belong to Jesus Christ, and thus they can be called “saints.” I’m well aware of the fact that the subject of “sainthood” is one that arouses a great deal of misunderstanding. Many people have a conception of sainthood that is totally different than that which is presented in the Bible.
Common tradition, kept alive by Roman Catholic doctrine, teaches that only certain people have arrived at the distinguished position of sainthood. The process of receiving this lofty distinction is known as canonization. Anyone interested in the process might want to read Morris West’s novel entitled, “The Devil’s Advocate.” Reading the novel is an entertaining way of becoming familiar with a rather complicated ‘man-introduced’ and traditionally imposed ecclesiastical practice. Some of my readers might recall the controversy over Mother Teresa, the amazing woman who worked with the poverty stricken outcasts of India. I remember the demonstrations outside Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome a couple of years ago. Crowds were waving banners and placards with the words: “Santa Subito” in bold letters. They wanted her sainthood to be proclaimed without any delay.
Speaking of Mother Teresa, I have been asked the question on a number of occasions: “Was Mother Teresa saved?” I wonder how my reader would answer the question. My answer was always the same: “I don’t know! I do know that Jesus said: ‘Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ (Jn. 3:3).” Incidentally, these words were spoken to a man who was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and a master teacher of Israel.
As difficult as it might be for many people to accept, the Bible has an entirely different view of sainthood. I remind the reader once again that Romans 1:7 does not say “called to be saints.” The two words “to be” are inserted by the translators. Because we belong to Jesus Christ and are beloved of God we are called, that is, we are designated as being saints. Yes, it is true that since we are saints we ought to act like it. But the biblical teaching is not that you act in a certain way to become a saint, but rather because you are a saint. There is no need for any ecclesiastical court to debate your qualifications. I shudder to think of the verdict if two committees were called upon to debate my qualifications for sainthood. If it were a matter of works, I could save them a lot of trouble. There would be no beatification. But if I come to the Bible, I discover that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. When I acknowledge this fact and I looked to him in simple faith, God puts down to my account his righteousness. Not only did he forgive me, but by virtue of what he did on the cross he declares me to be righteous. This, in a nutshell, is the biblical of meaning of justification by faith. To be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness regardless of its quality or lack thereof, means that God declares me righteous, and it is not of works, but it is by faith (Cf. e.g. Rom. 3:21-28; 4:1-5; Phil. 3:9).
Should my reader want to shock his religious friends, all he needs to do is claim to be a saint. After the initial reaction, he needs to explain that he is a saint (hagios, a holy person, made holy by virtue of his position in Christ), and that it is not because of any good things he may have done.
Should his friends allow him to explain further, he might take them to the epistle to the Corinthians, an epistle written to a carnal church that was loaded with unspiritual behavior patterns, and ask them if he might read the second verse of the opening chapter. It reads: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified (made holy) in Christ Jesus, called saints (holy ones), with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.” If we are to believe Paul, and certainly we should, there were apparently a multiplicity of saints present in the first century. If his friends permit, he might take them to the end of the first chapter and in verse 30 read, “But of him (God) are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification (set apart in holiness) and (even) redemption.” Yes, what the Bible teaches is that every true Christian, that is, everyone who has believed the gospel and has received the gift of this great and wonderful redemption is a saint. Let me repeat: It is not because of anything they may have done, but it is because of what Christ did on the cross, and because they are now identified with him.
Greetings in the blessed name of our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.
Surprise to some of you, but as was mentioned in our last monthly mailing, we intend to make more use of email, rather than snailmail. This will be a considerable saving and will enable us to send more work in color. If for some reason you prefer not to receive these monthly emails, please let us hear from you.
By the time you receive this letter, we will be on the road again with meetings in PA and in OH. Then, off to southern Alabama to the wonderful fellowship with the saints in the churches in Mobile, Coden, Fairhope, and Foley. We enjoy the edifying interaction in that corner of God’s vineyard.
The meetings in Ohio during Thanksgiving should be blessed indeed. Our lifelong friend Norman Gidney CBE will be there also and will be the keynote speaker at the special meetings scheduled at Calvary Chapel, Massillon, Ohio for the weekend November 29-30. We will be in the pulpit the 23rd. Brother Gidney will be conducting a seminar-retreat type session on the Saturday morning from 10:00 a.m till noon. For most of his life he has been engaged in international commercial banking and remains so engaged. He has also had over forty years on the board of European Missionary Fellowship, and has had a wide experience in working with indigenous churches all over Europe. He will also be part of the special dedication services of the new all-purpose family center now in its final stages of completion. If you live in the area do your best to join the celebrations.
We hope you will profit from the following study in Paul’s Roman Epistle. We have had much correspondence this past month and the Q & A section is part of this ministry. We thank God for questions that take us into the Scriptures.
Be sure to pray for us, as while we get older, we nevertheless desire to stay active, for as Paul wrote, our labor is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58).
Continued blessings. Yours because His, Henry T. Hudson (Jn. 3:30)
"...to testify the gospel of the grace of God...preaching the kingdom of God..." (Acts 20:24,25)
Directors: Pastor Henry & Shirley Hudson. Advisory Board: Pastors J. Hollis, H. Knotts, A.J. Krauss, R. Robinson, A. Watkins, P. Wiering, Mr. R. Purdy, Mr. B. Hudson, Dr. R. Stern, Sir N. Gidney C.B.E.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
A good friend wrote and took me to task on two issues: (1) DISINTEGRATIVE THINKING, & (2) RIGHT DIVISION.
As to the first point, he wrote: “Perhaps in some past article I missed your definition of this term, but to me it was meant to be a negative description of those who didn’t agree with your particular position with respect to trying to “rightly divide the word of truth.”
ANSWER: I coined the word “disintegrative” following Charles H. Welch’s observation that he had spent his entire life pointing out things that differ, and now it was time for someone to give time and thought to explaining and expounding the relationships between the things that differ. I may have misunderstood what he was trying to say, but over the years I began to appreciate what he was driving at, and slowly but surely I realized he had focused on a real need.
The words “disintegrative dispensationalism” are intended to describe a propensity among many dispensationalists that almost obsessively lends it-self to emphasizing differences in the progressive developmental revelation of truth contained in the Holy Scriptures. In fact it seems to major on dis-continuity. With this in mind, let me reassure you that the words were never meant to circumscribe any particular system of dispensational thinking. I am more concerned with the consequences of such thinking for it belies relational unity from Genesis to Revelation. A prime example of disintegrative thinking can be seen in the logic based on the popular premise that “mystery excludes prophecy.” That such hides a fallacy can be seen from the fact that Paul was wont to preach the kingdom of God and also from a face-value exegesis of many passages, e. g. as Eph. 3:6; Gal. 1:23; 1 Cor. 15:50-57; Rom. 1:1-5; 11:16-24; Acts 15:14-18. The insightful words of Dr. Dale DeWitt are worth recalling: “One simply cannot force the original or earlier forms of pro-phecy on to its later forms after progressive revelational development has occurred.” (Truth Mag. Dec. ’92, p. 14).
Speaking of face value exegesis, I cannot help but encourage such an approach to Ephesians chapters 2 and 3. Also, Romans 11:16-18 does teach that the wild olive tree (Gentiles) was grafted in among the natural olive tree branches. Also, it is both together who partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree. These metaphors illuminate to a greater degree the clear statements of Ephesian 3:6.
ANSWER: With Regard to point 2 and the subject of “RIGHT DIVISION,” my challenge was once again to concentrate on interpreting 2 Timothy 2: 15 in the light of its immediate context. Let us try to understand what was in Paul’s mind when he admonished Timothy to be diligent in rightly dividing the word of truth. Was he saying: “Timothy be sure to get your dispensations right?” Or, maybe, “Timothy, I am giving you an insight into the truth of the mystery, so that you will be able to avoid confusing kingdom and body truth?” The context is talking about “profane and vain babblings.” (Cf. 1 Tim. 6:20; Tit. 3:9). It was never intended as a slogan. Amazingly, I have heard it used in criticism of brethren who do not see eye to eye on controversies as to when the church began, or whether the 12 apostles are in the Body of Christ. So, you were right on this point. As far as a broader application of the verse is concerned, I think Oswald T. Allis (Yes, a so-called Covenant Theologian) was closer to the truth when he wrote that: “This exhortation does not mean to divide up Scripture into dispensations and set each at variance with the others, but so to interpret it that by a study of each and every part, the glorious unity and harmony of the Whole shall be exhibited and the correctness of the exposition of the one part be established by its perfect agreement with every other part of Scripture as the God-inspired Word.”
My heart is thankful to the Lord for your fellow-ship and for your open-minded concern for the truth. Let the Berean spirit prevail (Acts 17:11).
THE EPISTLE TO
THE ROMANS (IV)
“CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST . . . CALLED SAINTS.”
by Henry T. Hudson
In the former study, dealing with ‘the five features of the gospel of God,’ I ended with the statement that Paul’s apostleship was “unto (with regard to) the obedience of faith among all the nations.” If the next verse is read carefully, along with the first half of verse seven, it will be noted that this obedience was on behalf of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that it included the believers at Rome who are called saints. In other words, from the all-inclusive “among all the nations,” Paul made it clear that the believers at Rome were also called to this obedience of faith. What is more, he addressed them as being the “beloved of God,” and he described them as being “saints.” The AV has “called to be saints,” but let it be noted that the two words “to be” are in italics which means that they are not in the original Greek text. They were added by the translators to help the reader apprehend what they judged the text to be saying. There is a sense in which we are called to live saintly lives, but that is because we are saints, not in order to become saints. More on this subject in a little while.
In the two verses before us, there are four things worthy of closer consideration. Putting them in the form of questions I would ask: (1) What is meant by the obedience of faith? (2) What is meant by the “called of Jesus Christ?” (3) What can be understood by the expression, “beloved of God?” and (4) What can be said of the doctrine that all Christians are saints?
THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
In a way, “faith” and “obedience” could be viewed as being synonymous. When asked to define faith, many Christians will offer a redundancy in which they declare that faith is believing. In the Greek language they are simply repeating the word. They are saying little more than that pistis (faith) is pisteuo (believing). Even when the word pisteuo is expanded and other synonyms are added, such as confidence, trust, and reliance, there remains a vagueness about its meaning. The same is the case with regard to the noun pistis. It does involve a conviction or an attitude with regard to God and his word, but its main significance is still elusive. In my book, Spiritual Development: Growing Gracefully in the Knowledge of the Christ, I spend a few pages trying to explain its essential meaning.
In those pages, I contend that faith, in the biblical sense of the word, cannot be divorced from know-ledge. Such a symbiosis can be seen in Donald Grey Barnhouse’s poignant statement: “Faith is a very simple thing. It is believing God’s word and acting upon it.” M. C. D’Arcy S. J., in his book, The Nature of Belief, made the statement that, “Faith is an act of submission of the intellect to God . . . and at the same time it is a laying hold of some truth which he has revealed.” (p.210). Charles Hodge, a Protestant theologian, apparently would support this understanding. He wrote that, “the Scriptures teach that faith is the reception of truth on the ground of testimony or on the authority of God . . . . ”(Systematic Theology, Vol. III, pp. 42, 65, 84). W. H. Griffith Thomas, an Anglican theologian, wrote: “Faith is our response to God’s revelation: the link between God and man, and the channel of all divine blessings."
I could perhaps make it even simpler by saying that faith, in the biblical sense of the word, is always a proactive quality that responds positively to the truths of the word of God. One convincing illustration of this definition can be found in Hebrews chapter 11, where there are any number of verses which begin, “By faith Abel offered . . . By faith Noah . . . prepared an ark . . . By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed . . . .” (Heb. 11:4-8, et. al.) The whole context makes it very clear that faith cannot be faith unless it is proactively associated with obedience to God. So then, when defining faith, I would contend that it is a positive response to the word of God. This would imply not only a knowledge of the word of God, but also obedience to that word. This definition would fit hand in glove with what James said in his epistle. He wrote: “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” (Jam. 2:17). There are many postulated formulas for spiritual growth and development, but as I wrote in my book, when all is said that can be said, The bottom line is that: SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS DEPENDENT ON DIET AND DISCIPLINE UNDER THE DIRECTION OF FAITH.” (p. 98). The diet of course is the Holy Scriptures, and the discipline is the obedience thereto. Put in a different way, Faith has two basic rules of action: (1) Ascertain the will of God, and (2) Obey the will of God (p. 89).
When Paul spoke of his apostleship being unto the obedience of faith among all the nations, he had in mind the gospel of God’s grace that he had been preaching. He was not disobedient to his heavenly commission. However, mystery of mysteries, his ministry did not always meet with the obedience of faith. Some did believe and some did not. Some responded positively and some negatively. I think of the graphic scene in Acts 13 concerning many of the Jews who heard Paul make the appeal that forgiveness of sins and justification did not come through the law of Moses but came through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. They judged themselves to be unworthy of eternal life. They did not believe his message. Then you read that when the Gentiles heard Paul exclaim that he had been set as a light to them, and that he should bring salvation to them and to the uttermost parts of the earth, you read that, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of God; and as many as were ordained (tetagmenoi, having been disposed) to eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:47, 48). In passing, let it be noted that Paul quoted an Old Testament passage when he spoke of his apostleship (Cf. Isa. 42:6, 7).
Let the reader not overlook the fact that Paul’s statement about his apostleship being unto the obedience of faith among the nations, that it continues, and it goes on to include those to whom he was writing. Notice how he designates them, they were addressed as being the “called of Jesus Christ.” (Rom. 1:6).
THE CALLED OF JESUS CHRIST
The meaning behind the word “called” has be-come a big bone of contention among theologians. You will read in their writings how the word called needs to be attached to the word efficacious and it supposedly projects the idea of a sovereign irresistable call from God. Yes, there is a general universal call to all mankind that offers salvation to all without exception, but there is also according to certain theologians, the more particular call which is limited and which cannot be resisted since it is part of God’s predetermined plan.
As has already been stated, I do not believe that the Bible teaches the doctrine of soteriological predestination. What the Bible teaches is that the church (the ekklesia, called out group) is made up of those who have responded positively to the salvation-call of God. The idea that they were inexorably foreordained to this salvation is a man-introduced theological doctrine based on certain premises. The premises are supposedly based on sound exegetical interpretation of the biblical text, but as sometimes happens, the interpretation is it-self predetermined by the premises. So then, the bottom line should always be: “What saith the scriptures?” (Rom. 4:3).
The foregoing discussion relates to the question concerning the identification of the “elect.” This, along with double predestinarianism has long been a hot potato for theologians. Yet, in reading verses 4-10 of 1 Thessalonians chapter one, Paul knew that the believers at Thessalonica were the elect of God because they had believed the gospel and were manifesting fruit in their lives (See my book, Thessalonians: Then and Now, pp. 20-38). The designation, “the elect,” as Sir Robert Anderson has pointed out is one that also carries a mark of “dignity and privilege, applicable exclusively to the Christian.” Hence, as he went on to say, the main thought in election, “is rank and privilege, not deliverance from perdition. (The Gospel and Its Ministry, p. 76).
Another word that includes the thought of “dignity and privilege” is found in the expression that Paul used to describe the believers at Rome. They were the “called of Jesus Christ.” The initial call came through the gospel. They responded positively and thus belonged to Jesus Christ. They were included in the universal call to the obedience of faith, and after their initial positive response were still being called to further obedience. In most of Paul’s epistles, there is the balance between this initial call and the further expectation of obedient living. When a person experiences the truth of the gospel, he becomes a child of God and he is then expected to live in a manner that will honor and please his heavenly Father. When he does, he becomes fruitful in good works, and experiences intimate fellowship with God (Cf. Col. 1:4-11).
BELOVED OF GOD
The positive response to the gospel makes the believer one of the “beloved of God.” (Vs. 7). Reading these words sends my mind back once again to 1 Thessalonians 1:4 where Paul addressed believers as being “the beloved of God.”
A few readers might resent what could be considered a note of discrimination. What about John 3:16? Did not God love the whole world? There-fore how can anyone claim a special love for those who have answered the call of the gospel? Well, what can be said of Galatians 6:10? Is there not discrimination in the words: “let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.” Are there not gradations of love? The Greek language has at least four words for our English word “love.” Do you not love your mother and father more than you do the parents of your friend who live down the street? Some might have a problem with the doctrine that not all are the children of God, but as Scripture teaches, there are some who can be called the children of the devil (Jn. 8:44). In the chapter where the Lord Jesus classified certain of those who opposed him, he made it quite clear that it is only those who hear the words of God who are the children of God. He also made it clear that if God were our father we would love the Lord Jesus Christ (Jn. 8:42-47).
In the Italian culture there is a great emphasis placed on the family. There is a movie that I believe was called, Moonstruck, in which this Italian family are all gathered around the dining-room table and they all toast each other with the words, “La famiglia! La famiglia! The Family! The Family!” There is also the exchange of the words, “Ti amo! Ti amo! I love you! I love you!” If you are in the family of God, do you not sense a special kind of love for your brother or sister in Christ? You become a member of the family of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You join this family by a new birth. There is the work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit and this supernatural work introduces a new sense of love within you. If my reader is familiar with the first epistle of John, he will know that Christians are expected to express love in a new and dynamic way because God loves them. God commands that we should believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and that we should love one another (Jn. 13:34, 35; 1 Jn. 3:23; 4:7-12). The source of the motivation for such love is in the fact that God first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19).
It is rather strange that anyone would be unduly disturbed by an implication of special degrees of love coming from God. Such discrimination in matters of love are common in human relation-ships e.g., the love a husband and wife have for each other, or the love parents have for their own children. I remember the story I read years ago concerning a man who became enamoured with an exceedingly wicked woman. She dragged him into the depths of every conceivable sin. His mother did her best to deliver him from the grip of this woman. The story goes that the evil woman chided him with accusations that he didn’t really love her. Of course, he vowed that he did. She appealed to his drunken condition, and insisted that if he really loved her he would get rid of his mother. Not only did he succumb to the railings, but he dashed out of the building and immediately went to his home and murdered his mother. He went so far as to tear the heart out of his mother’s chest in order to carry it back to his paramour. In his insane folly, as he dashed back he stumbled and fell. From the bleeding heart came a voice crying out: “My son. are you hurt?” Who can fathom the love of a mother? And who can fathom the love of God that is, as the hymn writer wrote, “greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell?” With this hymn, Frederick M. Lehman takes the heart into the territory of Christian experience and in that realm causes the mind to bow in humble adoration and gratitude before the Lord God, who loved us even when we were yet sinners, and turned us into his beloved saints.
CALLED SAINTS
Again, here in verse 7, there reappears the word “called.” It can have the common meaning of
naming, or designating (Cf. Gen. 16:11; Deut. 25:8; Isa. 9:6; Lk. 1:31, et. al.). These Christians at Rome have responded to the universal call of the gospel, they are the beloved of God, they belong to Jesus Christ, and thus they can be called “saints.” I’m well aware of the fact that the subject of “sainthood” is one that arouses a great deal of misunderstanding. Many people have a conception of sainthood that is totally different than that which is presented in the Bible.
Common tradition, kept alive by Roman Catholic doctrine, teaches that only certain people have arrived at the distinguished position of sainthood. The process of receiving this lofty distinction is known as canonization. Anyone interested in the process might want to read Morris West’s novel entitled, “The Devil’s Advocate.” Reading the novel is an entertaining way of becoming familiar with a rather complicated ‘man-introduced’ and traditionally imposed ecclesiastical practice. Some of my readers might recall the controversy over Mother Teresa, the amazing woman who worked with the poverty stricken outcasts of India. I remember the demonstrations outside Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome a couple of years ago. Crowds were waving banners and placards with the words: “Santa Subito” in bold letters. They wanted her sainthood to be proclaimed without any delay.
Speaking of Mother Teresa, I have been asked the question on a number of occasions: “Was Mother Teresa saved?” I wonder how my reader would answer the question. My answer was always the same: “I don’t know! I do know that Jesus said: ‘Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ (Jn. 3:3).” Incidentally, these words were spoken to a man who was a Pharisee, a ruler of the Jews, and a master teacher of Israel.
As difficult as it might be for many people to accept, the Bible has an entirely different view of sainthood. I remind the reader once again that Romans 1:7 does not say “called to be saints.” The two words “to be” are inserted by the translators. Because we belong to Jesus Christ and are beloved of God we are called, that is, we are designated as being saints. Yes, it is true that since we are saints we ought to act like it. But the biblical teaching is not that you act in a certain way to become a saint, but rather because you are a saint. There is no need for any ecclesiastical court to debate your qualifications. I shudder to think of the verdict if two committees were called upon to debate my qualifications for sainthood. If it were a matter of works, I could save them a lot of trouble. There would be no beatification. But if I come to the Bible, I discover that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. When I acknowledge this fact and I looked to him in simple faith, God puts down to my account his righteousness. Not only did he forgive me, but by virtue of what he did on the cross he declares me to be righteous. This, in a nutshell, is the biblical of meaning of justification by faith. To be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness regardless of its quality or lack thereof, means that God declares me righteous, and it is not of works, but it is by faith (Cf. e.g. Rom. 3:21-28; 4:1-5; Phil. 3:9).
Should my reader want to shock his religious friends, all he needs to do is claim to be a saint. After the initial reaction, he needs to explain that he is a saint (hagios, a holy person, made holy by virtue of his position in Christ), and that it is not because of any good things he may have done.
Should his friends allow him to explain further, he might take them to the epistle to the Corinthians, an epistle written to a carnal church that was loaded with unspiritual behavior patterns, and ask them if he might read the second verse of the opening chapter. It reads: “Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified (made holy) in Christ Jesus, called saints (holy ones), with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours.” If we are to believe Paul, and certainly we should, there were apparently a multiplicity of saints present in the first century. If his friends permit, he might take them to the end of the first chapter and in verse 30 read, “But of him (God) are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification (set apart in holiness) and (even) redemption.” Yes, what the Bible teaches is that every true Christian, that is, everyone who has believed the gospel and has received the gift of this great and wonderful redemption is a saint. Let me repeat: It is not because of anything they may have done, but it is because of what Christ did on the cross, and because they are now identified with him.
