Young People Ask… (8)

Why in the morning and afternoon or evening church services are the law og God and the Twelve Articles [Apastles’s Creed ]always recited?

We regularly read the law of God as summarized in the ten commandments in our worship services in order to meditate prayerfully upon what our Reformed forefathers called “the threefold use of the law”:

(1) The use of conviction and subsequent driving to Christ. The law is aimed to expose us for what we are in ourselves— guilty, condemnable, and black sinners before the presence of the holy and almighty God. When the demands and spirituality of the law are applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, we will recognize how far short we come from obeying the law’s overarching command: loving God above all and our neighbor as ourselves. Our sins and shortcomings will then drive us to the end of the law, Jesus Christ (Gal. 3:24), who is exclusive Law-establisher and Law-fulfiller (Mt. 5:17). Only Christ loved God above all and His neighbor as Himself in thought, word, and deed consistently for a lifetime. He never broke one commandment for one moment. Each Sunday the law’s reading is intended to influence us to take refuge afresh, under the Spirit’s application, to Jesus’ perfect obedience for sins of omission and commission.

(2) The use of civil morality. The law is read to remind us of how to live civilly in relation to our neighbor. It provides us with guidelines on how to behave in society, at home, and in church.

(3) The use of godly living. The law is not only a convicting tool to bring a lost sinner to Christ; it is also a loving grace to serve, as our forefathers called it, as a “rule of life” to point out how the believer is to live gratefully under the Lordship of Christ.

In all three of these ways, the law is God’s gift to the church and hence is worthy of a regular hearing. In no sense ought the reading of the law be regarded as a burden. Rather, it is the church’s privilege by which we ought to constantly remind ourselves of, and examine ourselves by, the basic moral code of God designed for practical, daily, Christian living. No wonder the Puritans often spoke of “the grace of law”! (Note: The Grace of Law is the title of an excellent volume by E. Kevan on the Puritan concept of the law.)

We also read the Apostle’s Creed regularly for several reasons, including:

(1) To retain core, Biblical beliefs as embraced by the Christian church of all ages.

(2) To testify to the entire congregation what the basics of the Gospel are, for the Creed serves as a Gospel-preaching within itself.

(3) To remind each other what must be known experientially unto salvation.

(4) To foster a sense of appreciation for the Spirit’s guidance of the church in the thick of doctrinal battles, for most of these articles are the fruit of church history’s struggles against heresy.

Thus, I trust that you too will recognize the regular reading of the law of God and the Apostles’s Creed as an edifying custom, providing cause for reflection and self-examination, as well as for praise and humiliation. How good the Lord is to provide us with the grace of law and of Creed!

Is there anything written in the Bible that tells us our religion is the right one? If not how do we know?

Though we are by no means a perfect church, we may believe that a thorough examination of Scripture’s teachings reveal that we are still one of the denominations which (by grace only!) has remained faithful to the Word of God to this very day of late 20th-century confusion and deterioration. Obviously, this column of short answers cannot do justice to an elaborate proof of your question. Suffice it for now to say that true forms of Christianity are often separated from false forms by a reverential adherence to the doctrines of free grace. All religions in the world, including false Christendom, teach, contrary to authoritative Scripture, that each person must somehow contribute to his own salvation.

True Christendom, however, underscores that salvation is by free grace alone both in merit and application. Read such texts as Jonah 2:9b, John 1:13, Romans 9:6, and 1 Corinthians 1:30, and the basic truth will be most evident that God must be exalted and man humbled, for salvation is of the Lord only. These Scriptures, and numerous others abundantly affirm that salvation is an exclusive act of the Triune God’s free, sovereign grace. Where the electing Father, redeeming Son, and applying Spirit is proclaimed as the God of full salvation for bankrupt sinners, you can be assured that basic truth is present.

By grace, our denomination still teaches these precious truths as things necessary to be experienced. Dear friend, I pray that you too may know the preciousness of Scripture’s doctrines of free grace as adhered to by, and proclaimed among, our congregations.

Forward questions intended for this department to: Rev. J.R. Beeke, 2115 Romence St. N.E., Grand Rapids, Ml 49503. Questions will be published anonymously.

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