12. § 46. Sanctification and Perseverance.
§ 46. Sanctification and Perseverance.
. With justification sanctification is connected, which is indeed distinct from it in nature but not in time. Concerning the relation of both there has always been difference and conflict in the Christian church, just as in all religions the bond of religion and morality is laid in different ways, and there exists among men a great difference between the religious and the ethical natures. Nomism, standing up for the interests of the moral life, makes justification dependent on sanctification, religion on morality, the relation to God on that to the neighbour. Conversely, antinomism in the first place pays attention to the demands of the religious life, places justification in the foreground and often does not get round to sanctification; the relation to God stands wholly apart from that to the neighbour. In reality it gives rise, both in doctrine and in life, to great difficulty, to set religion and morality, justification and sanctification, in the right connection with one another, cf. deel I 193. Both are distinct; whoever confuses them, undermines the religious life, takes away the comfort of believers and makes God subordinate to man. The distinction of both lies herein, that in
justification the religious relation of man to God is restored, and in sanctification his nature is renewed and freed from the uncleanness of sin.
In its deepest essence it rests on this, that God is both righteous and holy. As Righteous One He wills that all creatures shall stand in that relation to Him in which He originally placed them, free from guilt and punishment. As Holy One He demands that they shall all appear pure and unspotted by sin before his countenance. The first man was therefore created after God's image in righteousness and holiness and had no need of justification nor sanctification, although he also had to obey the law and be justified out of its works and receive eternal life (justificatio legalis). But sin has laden man with guilt and made him unclean before God's countenance. In order to be delivered completely from sin, he must therefore be freed from its guilt and cleansed from its stain [554]. And that takes place in justification and sanctification. Both are thus equally necessary and are preached in Scripture with equal emphasis. Justification in that connection takes precedence in logical order, Rom. 8:30, 1 Cor. 1:30, for it is a justificatio evangelica, an acquittal on the ground of a δικαιοσυνη θεου bestowed upon us in faith, and not ἐξ ἐργων νομου; it is a juridical act and completed in one moment. But sanctification is ethical, continues through the whole life, and makes the righteousness of Christ, through the renewing activity of the H. Spirit, gradually into our personal, ethical possession. Rome's doctrine of the gratia or justitia infusa is in itself not incorrect, only it is wrong that it makes the infused righteousness into the ground of forgiveness, and thus builds religion on the foundation of morality. But believers do truly also become partakers of the righteousness of Christ through infusio.
Justification and sanctification thus bestow the same benefits, or better still, the whole, full Christ; only they differ in the manner in which they bestow
Him. In justification He is bestowed upon us in a juridical, in sanctification in an ethical sense; through the former we become righteousness of God in Him, through the latter He himself by his Spirit comes to make his dwelling in us and renews us after his image.
Although justification and sanctification are thus distinct in nature, it is of no less importance not to lose sight for a moment of the close connection between the two; whoever separates them undermines the moral life and makes grace subservient to sin. In God, righteousness and holiness are not to be separated; He hates sin wholly and entirely, not only as it renders guilty but also as it makes unclean. The acts of God in justification and sanctification are inseparably connected; οὑς δε ἐδικαιωσεν, τουτους και ἐδοξασεν, Rom. 8:30; the δικαιωσις brings ζωη with it, 5:18; whoever has been justified by God and adopted as his child at once shares in his favor and immediately begins to live. Further, Christ not only bore sin for his own and fulfilled the law, but He could do this only because He had already entered into covenant relation to them and thus was their head and mediator.
In Him all his own were included; and with and in [555] Him they themselves have died, been buried, raised, and set in heaven, Rom. 6:2-11,
2 Cor. 5:15, Gal. 2:20, Ef. 2:5, 6, Col. 2:12, 3:1 etc. Christ is their δικαιοσυνη but in the same sense also their ἁγιασμος, 1 Cor. 1:30, i.e. not their holiness, ἁγιοτης, ἁγιωσυνη, but their sanctification. Christ namely has by his suffering and death not only brought about the righteousness on the ground of which believers are acquitted by God. But thus He has also acquired that holiness by which He can consecrate them to God and cleanse them from every stain of sin, Joh. 17:19. His obedience unto death indeed intended redemption in its whole extent, ἀπολυτρωσις, not only as ransom from the jurisdiction of sin, Rom. 3:24, Ef. 1:7, Col. 1:14, but also as
deliverance from its moral dominion, Rom. 8:23, 1 Cor. 1:30, Ef. 1:14, 4:30. To that end Christ gives himself to them not only objectively in justification, but He also communicates himself subjectively in sanctification, and unites himself with them in a spiritual, mystical manner.
This unio mystica is by the Lutherans always considered from the anthropological side, and then naturally comes into being only after justification and regeneration in actual faith, Schneckenburger, Vergl. Darst.
I 182-225. But the theological treatment of the Reformed led to another conception. The unio mystica already has its beginning in the pactum salutis; incarnation and satisfaction presuppose that Christ is head and mediator of the covenant; the covenant does not come into being only after Christ or also after the convincing and regenerating activity of the H. Spirit; but Christ himself stood in the covenant, and all activity of the Spirit as Spirit of Christ takes place out of and in the covenant. For there is no communion in the benefits of Christ except through communion in his person. The imputation and gift of Christ to his own stands in the foreground, and our incorporation into Christ again precedes the active acceptance of Christ and his benefits by the act of faith. Sincere sorrow over sin, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, taking refuge in Christ etc., are acts and operations which presuppose life and thus the unio mystica and proceed from it. This union of believers with Christ is on the one hand no pantheistic [556] mingling of the two, no unio substantialis, as it has been conceived by the mysticism of earlier and later times; but on the other hand it is also no mere agreement in disposition, will, and intention, as rationalism understood it and as Ritschl has now again explained it,
Theol. u. Metaph. 1881. Rechtf. u. Vers. III2 106. 552 f. Gesch. d.
Pietismus, 3 Bde 1880-86 passim. Herrmann, Der Verkehr des Christen mit
Gott 1886. Gottschick, Luthers Lehre v. d. Gem. des Gläubigen mit Christus, Zeits. f. Th. u. K. Aug. 1898 S. 406. What Scripture tells us of this unio mystica goes much deeper than a moral agreement in will and disposition; it expressly declares that Christ dwells and lives in believers,
Joh. 14:23, 17:23, 26, Rom. 8:10, 2 Cor. 13:5, Gal. 2:20, Ef. 3:17, and that they are in Him, Joh. 15:1-7, Rom. 8:1, 1 Cor. 1:30, 2 Cor. 5:17, Ef. 1:10v.; they are united as branch and vine, Joh. 15, head and members, Rom. 12:4,
1 Cor. 12:12, Ef. 1:23, 4:15, man and woman, 1 Cor. 6:16, 17, Ef. 5:32, cornerstone and building, 1 Cor. 3:11, 16, 6:19, Ef. 2:21, 1 Petr. 2:4, 5, cf. on the unio mystica Calvin, Inst. III 11, 5. Boquinus, Zanchius, Olevianus,
Eglin in Heppe, Dogm. d. d. Pr. II 372. Martyr, L. C. 259. Polanus, Synt. VI c. 35. Amesius, Med. Theol. 1 c. 26. Voetius, Disp. II 459. Mastricht VI c.
5. Witsius, Misc. S. II 788. M. Vitringa III 78. Comrie, Catech. op vr. 20-23.
Kuyper, Het werk v. d. H. G. II 163. Pfleiderer, Paulinismus2 214 f. Krebs, Ueber die unio mystica, Marburg 1871. Weiss, Das Wesen des pers.
Christenstandes, Stud. u. Krit. 1881 S. 377-417. Deismann, Die neutest.
Formel ἐν Χρ. I. Marburg 1892. This unio mystica, however, is not immediate but comes into being through the H. Spirit. And also in Him the connection between justification and sanctification lies fixed. The Spirit, whom Jesus promised to his disciples and poured out in the church, is namely not only a Spirit of υἱοθεσια, who assures believers of their sonship, but also the Spirit of renewal and of sanctification. This Spirit has Christ himself qualified for his work and guided Him from his conception to his ascension. Through his humiliation Christ has been exalted at the Father's right hand, glorified into life-giving Spirit, acquirer and distributor of the Spirit, who now is his Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. Through this Spirit He also forms and [557] equips his church. The very first gift which believers
receive is already communicated to them by the Spirit, who takes everything from Christ, Joh. 16:14. He is the one who regenerates them,
Joh. 3:5, 6, 8, Tit. 3:5, grants life, Rom. 8:10, incorporates into the communion with Christ, 1 Cor. 6:15, 17, 19, brings to faith, 1 Cor. 2:9v.
12:3, washes, sanctifies, justifies, 1 Cor. 6:11, 12:13, Tit. 3:5, leads, Rom.
8:14, pours out God's love in their hearts, Rom. 5:5, prays in them, Rom.
8:26, communicates to them all kinds of virtues, Gal. 5:22, Ef. 5:9, and gifts, Rom. 12:6, 1 Cor. 12:4, especially love, 1 Cor. 13, causes them to live according to a new law, the law of the Spirit, Rom. 8:2, 4, 1 Cor. 7:9, Gal.
5:6, 6:2, renews them in understanding and will, in soul and body, Rom.
6:19, 1 Cor. 2:10, 2 Cor. 5:17, 1 Thess. 5:23; in one word, the H. Spirit dwells in them, and they live and walk in the H. Spirit, Rom. 8:1, 4, 9-11, 1
Cor. 6:19, Gal. 4:6 etc. Cf. part II 231. 249 and further also Pfleiderer, Der Paulinismus2 225 f. Holtzmann, Neut. Theol. II 143 f.
2. In this sense sanctification, just as much as justification, is a gift and a work of God, attributed in turn to the Father, Joh. 17:17, 1 Thess. 5:23,
Hebr. 13:20, 21, to the Son as πνευμα ζωοποιουν, 1 Cor. 15:45, Ef. 5:26, Tit. 2:14, and especially also, as appeared above, to the H. Spirit, Tit. 3:5, 1
Petr. 1:2. The believers are passive in this; they are sanctified, Joh. 17:19, 1
Cor. 6:11, they have died and been raised with Christ, Rom. 6:4v., they are ἡγιασμενοι ἐν Χριστῳ Ιησου, 1 Cor. 1:2, God's ποιημα, Ef. 2:10, κτισις, 2
Cor. 5:17, Gal. 6:15, ἐργον, Rom. 14:20; τα δε παντα ἐκ του θεου, 2 Cor.
5:18. This sanctification consists first of all in this, that the believers are separated from the world and come to stand in a special relation to God. In the O. T. holiness denoted that relation of God to his people and of the people to God, which was described and regulated in the various laws, part
II 184-191. Also in the N. T. the concept holy has retained this meaning of a
relation. There is mention of holy city, Mt. 4:5, holy place, 24:15, holy covenant, Luk. 1:72, holy land, Hd. 7:33, holy Scripture, Rom. 1:2, holy mountain, 2 Petr. 1:18, holy prophets, Luk. 1:70, holy [558] offering, Rom.
12:2; of Christ it is said, although He was without sin, that He sanctified himself, i.e. in his death sacrificed himself to God as a holy offering for his own, Joh. 17:19; and thus the believers are called with a fixed epithet ἁγιοι, because by the calling, cf. Rom. 1:7, 1 Cor. 1:2, κλητοι ἁγιοι, they stand in a special relation to God and, in the place of old Israel, are γενος ἐκλεκτον, βασιλειον ἱερατευμα, ἐθνος ἁγιον, λαος εἰς περιποιησιν, 1 Petr. 2:9. But this relation is not a merely external one; it was not so already under the O.
Test., for by virtue of that holiness God had bound himself to give Israel his covenant and law, to save it or also to chastise it, and Israel was obligated to walk in God's ordinances, part II 189. Now in the N. T. the law is fulfilled in Christ; it therefore no longer regulates the holiness-relation which exists between God and his people. In place of the law Christ has entered; in and through Him God regulates the relation between himself and his people; the believers are ἡγιασμενοι ἐν Χριστῳ Ιησου, 1 Cor. 1:2; and He sanctifies his people through the H. Spirit, ἐν πνευματι, 1 Cor. 6:11, who now as such is called πνευμα ἁγιον and is the principle of sanctification. This sanctification consists absolutely not only in this, as many now represent it, e.g. Paul Wernle, Der Christ und die Sünde bei Paulus, 1897 S. 31, 39, 62, that the Christians are separated from the world and appropriated to God in an external, cultic sense; but it has a deep, ethical significance. For the H.
Spirit regenerates, cleanses, renews, Joh. 3:3, 1 Cor. 6:11, Tit. 3:5; with the indwelling of the H. Spirit there begins for the believers a καινοτης ζωης,
Rom. 6:4, which forms an antithesis with the former walk in all kinds of sins and unrighteousnesses, 1 Cor. 6:10, Ef. 2:1; they are now new people, 2
Cor. 5:17, Ef. 2:10, 15, 4:24, Gal. 6:15, Col. 3:10, who live to God and present their members as weapons of righteousness unto sanctification,
Rom. 6. The relation to God in Christ through the H. Spirit entails that the believers are freed from all guilt and also from all stain of sin. And therefore sanctification in the N. T. consists fully in this, that the believers are made conformed to the image of the Son, Rom. 8:29, Gal. 4:19. Insofar sanctification coincides with glorification; this does not begin only after this life, but takes its beginning at once with the [559] calling; those whom He called, He justified, and those whom He justified, He glorified in that same moment, Rom. 8:30; and this glorification continues in this life, 2 Cor. 3:18, until it is completed at the return of Christ, 1 Cor. 15:49, 51v., Col. 3:4.
Phil. 3:21, cf. part II 191.
From this glorious description of the Christian state in the N. T. many in earlier and later times have inferred that Scripture already teaches the perfectibility of believers in this life; thus by the Pelagians, Roman
Catholics, Socinians, Remonstrants, Anabaptists, Schwenckfeld, Weigel, Böhme, Poiret, Labadie, Quietists, Pietists, Quakers, Herrnhutters,
Wesleyan Methodists etc., cf. in M. Vitringa III 385-414. Moor IV 805 sq., in more recent times especially by Moody, Sankey and others, cf.
Jellinghaus, Das volle, gegenwärtige Heil durch Christum, 1880, more moderate in the later editions, 4e Aufl. Basel 1898. From another side support has been offered to this assertion. Ritschl was the first to remark that Paul himself, after he had been converted, had no consciousness of imperfection, and also does not reflect at all on that of believers, Rechtf. u.
Vers. II 365 f. Others worked out this thought and even accused the apostle of an impractical idealism, which under the impression of Jesus' speedy return did not think of any sins among believers, cf. Scholz, Zur Lehre vom
„armen Sünder", Zeits. f. Th. u. K. 1896 S. 463 f. Clemen, Chr. Lehre v. d.
Sünde I 109 f. Holtzmann, Neut. Theol. II 150, especially Wernle in his above-cited writing, cf. also Karl, Beiträge zum Verständniss der soteriol.
Erfahrungen u. Spekulationem des Ap. Paulus, Strassburg 1897. There lies in this assertion a truth, which is not to be contested but must be fully acknowledged. Scripture can scarcely find words enough to describe the glory of the people of God. It calls Israel in the O. T. a priestly kingdom, chosen by God, the object of his love, his portion and inheritance, his son and servant, perfect in beauty through the glory of God, Ex. 19:5, 6, Deut.
7:7v., 32:6, 8, 9, 18, Isa. 41:8, Ezek. 16:14 etc.; and the believers in the N.
T. are the salt of the earth, Mt. 5:13, the light of the world, vs. 14, born of God and his children, John 1:12, 13, his chosen race and royal priesthood, 1
Petr. 2:9, 10, partakers of the Divine nature, 2 Petr. 1:4, anointed with the [560] H. Spirit, 1 John 2:20, made by Christ into kings and priests, Rev. 1:5, not able to sin, 1 John 3:9, 5:18v. etc. Whoever rejects the doctrine of Scripture concerning sin and grace can see in all this only exaggeration; a radical change such as regeneration and sanctification is then neither necessary nor intelligible. But Scripture judges otherwise; it assigns to the church a high place, calls her by the fairest names, and ascribes to her a Divine holiness and glory. In Roman dogmatics, cf. e.g. Heinrich-Gutberlet,
Dogm. Theol. VIII 550-643, the virtues and gifts which the H. Spirit bestows on the church usually come into their own better than in the Protestant, which many times deems the doctrine of Scripture concerning the Christian state exhausted in justification by faith and the expectation of heavenly blessedness. The glorification of the church, which begins with regeneration, is, however, just as much an object of faith as justification.
That the church in Christ stands free of guilt before God's countenance is
just as hard to believe as that she by the H. Spirit in principle has been sanctified, glorified, and made conformed to the image of the Son. Both are just as much in conflict with the appearance of things; both belong to those matters which one does not see and which are certain only for faith.
Scripture itself knows that too. For in spite of the glorious description which it gives of the state of believers, it nevertheless regards them as sinners and does not conceal their transgressions and their confession of guilt, e.g. in Abraham, Gen. 12:11, Isaac, 26:7, Jacob, 26:35, Moses, Num.
20:7-12, Ps. 106:33, David, Ps. 51 etc., Solomon, 1 Kings 8:46, Prov. 20:9, Isaiah, cap. 64:6, Daniel, cap. 9:4 etc. And Paul too knows that, when he wants to do the good, the evil lies close at hand for him. It is true that Paul is always clearly conscious of the great change which has taken place with him. He has been crucified with Christ to the world, and he himself no longer lives now, Christ lives in him. He is free from the law, stands righteous before God, is assured of his sonship, boasts in the grace by which he is able to do all things, sets himself as an example, takes pride in his apostolic labor, and is conscious of his faithful fulfillment of office, e.g.
Rom. 15 vs. 17, 1 Cor. 4:3, 9:15, 15:30, 31, II 1:12, 6:3, 11:10, [561] Phil.
2:16, 1 Thess. 2:10, 19. But nevertheless he confesses that he lives in the flesh, Gal. 2:20, that the flesh always desires against the Spirit, Gal. 5:17, that in his flesh no good dwells, Rom. 7:18, and that he has not yet obtained perfection, Phil. 3:12. Especially Rom. 7:7-26 is in this respect of great significance, cf. already above p. 106; however much the Reformation exegesis of this passage is in modern times mostly abandoned, in acting thus one has not known what one was doing. Wernle exaggerates but nevertheless not wholly without reason says: in der That bedeutet das
Zurückgehen auf die alte (griechische) Tradition von Röm. 7 einen viel
schwereren Schlag für unsere Dogmatik, als in der Regel von ihr empfunden wird. Gewöhnlich gesteht man zu, dass Röm. 7 sich nicht auf den Wiedergeborenen bezieht, ohne zu merken, dass durch dies
Zugeständniss der Paulinismus für uns unbrauchbar wird, t.a.p. 108. Yet this is not the strongest ground for maintaining the Reformation interpretation of Rom. 7. This lies in the text itself. The praesens in which Paul speaks is to be understood only of the present. In Wahrheit macht man den Apostel zum Komödianten, wenn man ihm zutraut, er habe so, wie hier geschieht, nur in der Erinnerung an einen längst vergangenen Zustand reden können,
Clemen t.a.p. 112, who also refers to van Manen, Paulus II 1891 p. 71. Yet Clemen sees no way to bring Rom. 7 into agreement with the other statements of Paul and therefore says: sie entstammt wohl einer besonders trüben Stimmung des Apostels, nicht seinem sonst vorherrschenden
Bewusstsein! But with this sin and this consciousness of sin in the saints of the O. and N. Covenant there is added still that Scripture everywhere proceeds from the supposition that sin remains in believers to the end of their life; there remains for them continually necessary the petition for forgiveness, Mt. 6:12, 13 and the confession of sins, 1 John 1:9. All the admonitions and warnings in Scripture presuppose that believers still have only a small beginning of perfect obedience; they stumble daily in many things, Jas. 3:2; if they say to have no sin, they deceive themselves, 1 John
1:8. Paul too judges concerning believers no differently. He places them very high, calls them elect, called, saints, notes with joy the Christian virtues that become manifest in them, and gladly and repeatedly gives them an honorable [562] testimony. In this the apostle certainly does not exaggerate; the change must have been great, if he could testify of the believers from among the Gentiles that they formerly lived in all kinds of
dreadful sins but now had been washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God, 1 Cor. 6:11. Nevertheless he has an open eye for the sins that still cling to believers. The Corinthians are still fleshly, 1 Cor. 3:1-4, the Galatians are disobedient, Gal. 5:7v., in the Colossians the good work has indeed begun but not been completed, Col.
1:6, yes, their life is still hidden with Christ in God, 3:3. In Rom. 6 Paul does not say that believers are sinless, but he argues that faith in Christ is incompatible with a life in sin; and therefore he admonishes them precisely to present their members to God as weapons of righteousness, Rom. 6:13.
Without repeatedly returning to justification, which once and through faith has taken place, he urges that believers will manifest and prove this their new state in a walk according to the Spirit. And in addition this still deserves our attention, that Scripture, although always presupposing the imperfection of the believer, nevertheless never weakens the demand of the law or adapts it to practice. The advocates of perfectibility can never maintain it, bring the moral law down and make a distinction between mortal sins and venial sins or between doing sin and having sin. But Scripture does not do so and maintains the full, unblemished demand of the law: be holy, for I am holy, 1 Petr. 1:16, be perfect, as your Father in the heavens, Mt. 5:48, Jas. 1:4; believers must follow Christ, who did no sin, 1
Petr. 2:21v. Eph. 5:1, and on the day of Christ be ἀνεγκλητοι, εἰλικρινεις, ἀπροσκοποι, ἀμεμπτοι, ἀμωμοι, 1 Cor. 1:8, Phil. 1:10, 2:15, Col. 1:22, 1
Thess. 3:13, 5:23. With all seriousness and without ceasing they are therefore urged to a holy walk. Above with justification it appeared to us that the Christian is certain of his salvation only through faith, without and independently of works. But in sanctification, in life, according to
appearance, salvation is again made dependent on whether believers do God's will and walk immaculately before his countenance. [563]
Sanctification, which at first was only passive, Phil. 1:5, 1 Thess. 5:23, all at once acquires an active meaning, Rom. 12:1, 2 Cor. 7:1, 1 Thess. 4:3,
Hebr. 12:14. Just as in the preaching of the gospel faith is a gift of God and yet man is responsible for his attitude toward God's calling, e.g. Rom. 9:129 and 9:30-10:21, so here the possession of all the benefits of the covenant, forgiveness, adoption, life, salvation, is assured before all work and yet good works are urged upon with so much earnestness, as if they had first to be obtained thereby. The kingdom of God is a gift, bestowed by God according to his good pleasure, Mt. 11:26, 16:17, 22:14, 24:22, Luk. 10:20,
12:32, 22:29, and yet it is a reward, a treasure in the heavens, which must be sought with exertion and acquired by labor in the service of God, Mt.
5:12, 20, 6:20, 19:21, 20:1v. etc. The believers are branches on the vine, who without Christ can do nothing and are yet admonished to remain in Him, in his word, in his love, Joh. 15; they are elect, and must yet be diligent to make their calling and election sure, 2 Petr. 1:10; they have been sanctified and perfected by the one offering of Christ, Hebr. 10:10, 14, in whom God works that which is well-pleasing to Him, 13:21, and yet they must persevere in the faith unto the end, 3:6, 14, 4:14, 6:11, 12; they have put on the new man and must yet continually put Him on, Ef. 4:24, Col.
3:10; they have crucified the flesh with the lusts and must yet put to death their members which are upon the earth, Gal. 5:24, Col. 3:5; or, to summarize all these oppositions: on the one hand it is a fact that Scripture speaks not once but repeatedly of reward, connects reward with the least work done in Jesus' name, at the end has each one recompensed according to his works, and often urges good works with a view to that reward, Mt.
5:12, 6:4, 16:27, 25:34, Rom. 2:6, 1 Tim. 4:7, 8, Op. 22:12 etc.; and alongside this it stands equally firm that there exists no relation of merit and reward between what the believer does and what he will receive, Mt. 20:9,
Mk. 10:30, Luk. 12:37, 43, 44; that he, when he does all that he was obliged to do, is still an unprofitable servant, Luk. 17:10, that there is no reward except out of grace, Rom. 4:3, 4, and that all the benefits of the covenant,
[564] sanctification and glorification, just as much as justification, have been acquired by Christ, lie ready in Him and thus not only no longer need to be merited by the believers but also can no longer be merited, and can only be accepted childlike in faith. Many have seen a contradiction between this all-activity of God in grace and the self-activity of man nevertheless maintained alongside it, have accused Jesus, Paul, John of inner contradiction and for themselves have sacrificed the one to the other. Thus it was then taught that grace at most serves only to restore the power of will toward the good in man and to set him himself to work and to earning, or also on the other side it was asserted that good works are not necessary or even are harmful for salvation. But high above all these one-sidednesses stands Holy Scripture, as heaven above the earth, as the thoughts of God above the thoughts of men. It holds fast to both, preaches both with equal emphasis and sees between the two no contradiction nor conflict. Precisely because God works in the believers the willing and the working, they have to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, Phil. 2:12, 13.
They are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has prepared, that they should walk in them, Ef. 2:10. God and man, religion and morality, faith and love, justification and sanctification, praying and working, are by nature no opposition. They have become so through sin; and through it man again and again brings conflict between the
two. But they are originally most closely united; they have been restored in their unity by Christ, who is our peace; they are in the Christian life reconciled in principle. Dependence here coincides with freedom; those born of God become children of God because they are it; for them the law holds: werde was du bist! Good works are therefore on the one hand without any merit; they are, after all, not ours, but prepared by God in Christ for us and worked in us by his Spirit; they are through our weakness always imperfect and infected with sin; they are wholly disproportionate to the salvation that is bestowed; ipsa hominis bona merita sunt Dei munera,
Augustine, Ench. 107. And nevertheless they are urgently necessary, for the commandment of God, Rom. 6:18, 7:4, 8:12, 13, 1 Thess. 4:3, for the goal of [565] redemption, Ef. 1:4; as fruits of faith, Jak. 2:14, out of gratitude, 1
Cor. 6:20, Col. 1:10, 1 Thess. 2:12, to the glorification of God, Joh. 15:8, as way to salvation, Hebr. 12:14; bona opera via regni, non causa regnandi
(Bernardus). Cf. later the locus on the Christian life.
3. In the same way as concerning sanctification, Scripture speaks concerning the perseverance of the saints. It exhorts believers to persevere unto the end, Mt. 24:13, Rom. 2:7, 8, to remain in Christ, in his word, in his love, Joh. 15:1-10, 12:6, 24, 27, 3:6, 24, 4:12v., not to depart but to keep the faith, Col. 1:23, Hebr. 2:1, 3:14, 6:11, to be faithful unto death, Op. 2:10,
26. Sometimes it speaks thus, as if falling away were possible; he who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall, 1 Cor. 10:12; it warns against high-mindedness and threatens, in case of unfaithfulness, with severe punishment, Ezech. 18:24, Mt. 13:20, 21, Joh. 15:2, Rom. 11:20, 22, 2 Tim.
2:12, Hebr. 4:1, 6:4-8, 10:26-31, 2 Petr. 2:18-22. Indeed it even seems to mention various examples, in which falling away has taken place, David in his adultery, Solomon in his idolatry, Hymeneus and Alexander, 1 Tim.
1:19, 20, 2 Tim. 2:17, 18, Demas, 2 Tim. 4:10, false prophets and teachers, who deny the Lord, who bought them, 2 Petr. 2:1. believers, who fall away from grace and faith, Gal. 5:4, 1 Tim. 4:1. Relying on these texts, Pelagians,
Roman Catholics, Socinians, Remonstrants, Mennonites, Quakers, Methodists etc., and also even the Lutherans have taught the possibility of a total loss of the grace received, M. Vitringa III 415 sq. In contrast,
Augustine came to the confession of the perseverantia sanctorum; but because he considered uncertainty and fear with respect to salvation in believers salutary, he taught that those regenerated by baptism could again lose the grace which they had received, but, if they belonged to the number of the praedestinati, in any case received it back before death; believers could thus lose grace totaliter but the elect could not finaliter lose grace. In the Catholic and Roman church, earlier and later many agreed with him; but nevertheless this doctrine has been maintained only by the Reformed and connected with the certitudo fidei, Zwingli, [566] Op. IV 121. Calvijn, Inst.
II 3, 11. 5, 3. III 24, 6. 7 etc. Polanus, Synt. VI 43. Heid. Cat. vr. 1. 53. 54.
Can. Dordr. c. 5. Trigland, Antapol. c. 39-41. Gomarus, Op. II 280.
Chamier, Panstr. Cath. III 13 c. 20-22. Moor IV 387 V 158. M. Vitringa III 415 etc., and in more recent times Schleiermacher, Chr. Gl. § 111.
Schweizer, Chr. Gl. II 368. 509. Scholten, L. H. K. II 505v. Van Oosterzee § 121.
Now in connection with this doctrine of perseverance the question is not whether those who partake of true, saving faith, if left to themselves, would not be able again to lose it through their own fault and sin; nor, likewise, whether in them not sometimes in fact all activity, confidence, and comfort of faith ceases and faith itself, under the cares of life and the enjoyments of the world, withdraws into concealment. But the question is whether God
also maintains, continues, and completes the work of grace which He began, or whether He sometimes allows it to be wholly brought to nothing by the power of sin. The perseverantia is not an act of man but it is a gift of God. Augustine saw this well; only he made a distinction between a twofold grace, and deemed a grace of regeneration and of faith possible, which in itself was losable and to which, in order to continue to exist, from without a second grace, that of the perseverantia, had still to be added. The second grace is then a donum superadditum, has no connection with the first and in fact stands outside the Christian life without any influence. With the Reformed the doctrine of perseverance was a wholly different one; it was a gift of God; He watches and cares that the work of grace may have progress and completion; but He does this not apart from the believers but through them. He gives in regeneration and faith a grace which also in itself bears an inlosable character; He bestows a life which by nature is eternal; He grants benefits of calling, justification, glorification, which hang together mutually unbreakably. All the above-mentioned exhortations and threats, which Scripture addresses to believers, therefore also prove nothing against the doctrine of perseverance. They are precisely the way in which God
Himself through the believers confirms His promise and gift; they are the means by which perseverance is realized in life. [567] Perseverance too is not compulsion but, as a gift of God, works in a spiritual way upon man.
God wills precisely in a moral way, through exhortation and warning, to lead the believer to heavenly salvation and makes him himself willing, through the grace of the H. Spirit, to persevere in faith and in love.
Therefore it is wholly wrong to conclude from the exhortations of H.
Scripture to the possibility of the total loss of grace. This conclusion is just as unlawful as when with Christ from His temptation and struggle one
would conclude to His posse peccare. The certainty of the outcome does not make the means superfluous, but in God's ordinance is bound to it unbreakably. Paul knew with certainty that no one in the shipwreck would lose his life; yet he says: if these do not remain in the ship, ye cannot be saved, Hd. 27:22, 31. As to the examples which Scripture would adduce for actual falling away, then it is impossible to prove that all those persons either have had the actual grace of regeneration (Hymeneus, Alexander,
Demas, persons in 1 Tim. 4:1, 2 Petr. 2:1) or have actually lost it in their fall and then later have received it back again (David, Solomon) or also have actually had it but never received it back (Hebr. 6:4-8, 10:26-31, 2 Petr.
2:18-22). These latter texts seem to place the greatest objection in the way of the confession of the perseverantia sanctorum. Yet this is only appearance. For also they who teach the possibility of falling away must assume that here a wholly special sin is in view. For according to themselves grace is indeed losable but also after total loss again recoverable. The opinion of the Montanists and Novatians, who from these passages inferred that apostates might never again be received into the church, has been generally rejected by the Christian churches. When
Scripture nevertheless expressly says that it is impossible to renew again unto repentance such as are spoken of in those texts, Hebr. 6:4, 10:26, 2
Petr. 18:20, 1 Joh. 5:16, then it is incontrovertible that here a sin is meant which brings with it the judgment of hardening and makes repentance impossible. And such a sin there is, also according to the confession of those who assume the possibility of falling away, only one, viz. the blasphemy against the H. Spirit, above p. 101. If this now is so, the doctrine of the falling away of the saints leads to [568] the inference that the blasphemy against the H. Spirit can also or even only be committed by the
regenerate, Quenstedt, Theol. II 157, or the above-mentioned texts lose all probative force against the perseverantia sanctorum. But in addition still more comes. They who deem total falling away possible must make a distinction between such sins by which the grace of regeneration is not, and others by which it is indeed lost; they are, in other words, compelled to take refuge in the Roman doctrine of the peccata mortalia and venialia, unless they would wish that that grace should be lost through every, even the slightest, sin. By this, however, the whole morality is falsified, the nature of sin is misconstrued, a casuistry ensnaring and distressing to consciences is introduced. Further, on this standpoint it comes to no certainty of faith, to no quiet labor, to no tranquil development and growth of the Christian life.
The continuity can be broken at every moment; Hollaz, Ex. 883 attempts to prove that regeneration can be lost and received back three, four, and more times, cf. Schneckenburger, Vergl. Darst. I 233 f. Finally the doctrine of the falling away of the saints so little escapes the difficulties which it wishes to avoid, that it even enlarges and increases these. For if in doing so it holds fast the immutability of God's praescientia, then in the end only those are saved of whom God has eternally known this with certainty; and the human will cannot nullify this certainty of the outcome. Or else it must proceed to denial of praedestinatio and praescientia in every sense, and then it makes everything shaky and unstable, the love of the Father, the grace of the Son and the communion of the H. Spirit. God may have revealed His love,
Christ may have died for sinners, the H. Spirit may have planted regeneration and faith in the heart, the believer may with Paul be able to say: I have a delight in the law of God after the inward man; in the end, up to the hour of death, and why also not yet on yonder side of the grave, the
will of man is the decisive and all-governing power. It will all be as he determines.
Scripture, however, teaches quite otherwise. Already the O. Testament states it clearly, that the covenant of grace does not depend on the obedience of man. Indeed it brings with it the [569] obligation to walk in the way of the covenant, but itself rests only in God's compassion. If nevertheless the Israelites repeatedly make themselves guilty of unfaithfulness and adultery, the prophets do not infer from that that God changes, that his covenant totters and his promise fails. On the contrary, God cannot and may not break his covenant; He has voluntarily bound himself to Israel by it, with a costly oath; his glory, his name, his honour depends on it; He cannot forsake his people; it is an eternal covenant, that knows of no tottering; He will himself give his people a new heart and a new spirit, write the law in their inward parts and cause them to walk in his statutes, above p. 194. And when later Paul stands before that same fact of Israel's unfaithfulness, his heart filled with sorrow, then he does not conclude from it that the word of God has fallen away, but he continues to believe that God has mercy on whom He will, that his gifts of grace and calling are without repentance, and that not all are Israel who are of Israel, Rom. 9-11. And likewise John testifies of those who become apostate: they were not of us, otherwise they would have remained with us, I 2:9. Whatever apostasy therefore may take place under Christendom, it may never cause us to doubt the immutability of God, the firmness of his counsel, the unbreakableness of his covenant, the faithfulness of his promises. One must rather let every creature go than that one should not trust in his word. And that word is one rich promise for the heirs of the kingdom. There are not a few texts that teach perseverance; the whole gospel bears and confirms it. The Father has chosen them before
the foundation of the world, Ef. 1:4, ordained them unto eternal life, Hd.
13:48, unto conformity to the image of his Son, Rom. 8:29; and this election is unchangeable, Rom. 9:11, Hebr. 6:17 and in its time brings with it calling and justification and glorification, Rom. 8:30. Christ, in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen, 2 Cor. 1:20, has died for those who have been given to Him by the Father, Joh. 17:6, 12, in order that He might give them eternal life and lose none of them, Joh. 6:40, 17:2; and therefore
He grants them eternal life and they shall not perish unto eternity, no one shall snatch them out of his hand, Joh. 6:39, 10:28: The H. Spirit, who regenerates them, remains with them forever, [570] Joh. 14:16, and seals them unto the day of redemption, Ef. 1:13, 4:30. The covenant of grace is firm and confirmed with an oath, Hebr. 6:16-18, 13:20, unbreakable as a marriage, Ef. 5 vs. 31, 32, as a testament, Hebr. 9:17, and by virtue of that covenant God calls his elect, writes the law in their inward parts, puts his fear in their heart, Hebr. 8:10, 10:14v., does not allow them to be tempted above ability, 1 Cor. 10:13, confirms and completes the good work that He began in them, 1 Cor. 1:9, Phil. 1:6 and preserves them for the coming of Christ, to become partakers of the heavenly inheritance, 1 Thess. 5 vs. 23, 2
Thess. 3:3, 1 Petr. 1:4, 5. By his intercession with the Father Christ is thus active, that their faith does not cease, Luk. 11:32, that they are kept in the world from the Evil One, Joh. 17:11, 20, that they are saved completely,
Hebr. 7:20, that their sins are forgiven them, 1 Joh. 2:1 and that they all shall be with Him and behold his glory, Joh. 17:24. The benefits of Christ, of which the H. Spirit makes them partakers, are all without repentance,
Rom. 11:29; he who is called is glorified, Rom. 8:30; he who has been adopted as a child is an heir of eternal life, Rom. 8:17, Gal. 4:7; he who believes already has eternal life here, Joh. 3:16. And that life itself is,
because eternal, also incapable of being lost; it cannot die, because it cannot sin, 1 Joh. 3:9. Faith is a firm ground, Hebr. 11:1, hope is an anchor, Hebr.
6:19 and does not put to shame, Rom. 5:5, and love never passes away, 1 Cor. 13:8.
From this perseverance there flows a rich consolation for the believers and an abundant blessing for the Christian life. Because God also, according to his promise, completes the good work that He began, therefore believers can and may at all times be assured of their eternal salvation.
Those who contest justification by faith alone or nevertheless, like the Lutherans, reject the perseverantia sanctorum, cannot accept this certitudo fidei. Even Augustine did not dare to embrace this doctrine and said: Deus melius esse judicavit, miscere quosdam non perseveraturos certo numero sanctorum suorum, ut quibus non expedit in hujus vitae tentatione securitas, in Schweizer, Centraldogmen I 42. Rome therefore also determined that no one can know with certainty that he has obtained God's grace, unless [571] by special revelation, Trid. VI c. 9 and can. 13-15, and the Roman theologians therefore speak only of a certitudo moralis, conjecturalis,
Thomas, S. Theol. II 1 qu. 112 art. 5. Bellarminus, de justif. III c. 2 sq.
Möhler said that it would be im höchsten Grade unheimlich to him in the proximity of someone who was always certain of his salvation, and that he would not be able to ward off the thought from himself, dass etwas
Diabolisches dabei unterlaufe, Symbolik S. 197. The Remonstrants also and in later times the Lutherans contested the certitudo fidei, at least for the future; but the Reformed confessed election and ascribed to faith the firm assurance of salvation, which indeed could not be obtained from curious investigations into the hidden counsel of God, but nevertheless could be obtained from the nature and the fruits of faith through the testimony of the
H. Spirit. For faith is in its nature in conflict with all doubt; the certainty is not later added to it from outside, but lies in it from the beginning, and in due time proceeds from it; for it is a gift of God, an operation of the H.
Spirit. He testifies therein with our spirit that we are children of God, Rom.
8:15, Gal. 4:6, causes believers to glory that nothing shall separate them from the love of God in Christ, Rom. 8:38 and assures them of their future salvation, Rom. 8:23, 2 Cor. 1:22, Ef. 1:13, 14, 4:30. And this certainty of faith gives strength and support to the Christian life. For Ritschl has clearly brought this to light: among the Roman Catholics justification is an enabling for the moral destination, among the Protestants it is the restoration of the religious relation to God. The latter must precede, before there can be any question of a truly Christian life. As long as we still stand over against God as Judge, seek life through the law and are seized with fear of death, love is not in us, which is the fruit of faith, the fulfillment of the law, the bond of perfection and excludes all fear. But when in justification peace with God, adoption, bold access to the throne of grace, freedom from the law, independence from the world has been bestowed upon us, then from that faith the good works flow forth of themselves. They do not serve to acquire eternal life, but are of eternal life, which every believer already possesses, revelation, seal and proof. Faith, which [572] includes the certainty that with God all things are possible, that He makes the dead alive and calls the things that are not as though they were, always enables to great things. It says to the mountain: be lifted up and cast into the sea; and it happens thus, Mt. 21:21. Cf. on the certitudo fidei: Calvin, Inst.
III 2, 14v. etc. Acta Syn. Trid. c. antid. C. R. 35, 455. Zanchius, Op. VIII 227. Chamier, Panstr. Cath. III 13 c. 8 sq. Can. Dordr. I 12. V 9-12. Rivetus,
Op. III 470-478. Trigland, Antapol. c. 41. Keckermann e. a. in Heppe,
Dogm. d. ev. ref. K. 129-131. Hoornbeek, Theol. pract. II 64 sq. Love, Theol. Werken 126v. Erskine, The assurance of faith, Works, Amst. 1856
VI. Marshall, Evang. Sanctification p. 195v. M. Vitringa III 89.
PROJECT GUTENBERG EDITOR'S
REMARKS.
E very effort has been made to provide in this file a faithful reproduction of the original version. In the original, æ is rendered as ae, œ as oe; this spelling has been maintained here.
Here and there spacing or punctuation has been silently corrected. Also some compound expressions such as „afaan", „afteleiden", „toetevoegen" etc. have been silently split into „af aan", „af te leiden", „toe te voegen" etc.
Some abbreviations such as LXX, O. T. and N. T. have been provided with an explanation in order to improve readability for the visually impaired.
Any possible typographical errors in the Greek have been reproduced unchanged. Clear typographical errors in the Hebrew have been corrected, and where necessary the diacritical marks have been silently improved or supplemented.
Overly obvious typographical and spelling errors in the original have been corrected as follows.
Corrections.
Pag. 4: "sehepselen" replaced by "creatures" (the lower creatures and the smaller events).
Pag. 8: replace "1I" with "II" (Heid. Cat. X. Zanchius, Op. II 425).
Pag. 17: replace "1:4" with "1:14" (Habakkuk does indeed complain about it in chap. 1:14).
Pag. 38: replace "and" with "and in" (and in 2 Cor. 3:11 Paul is of the same opinion).
Pag. 56: "more" replaced by "down" (with this solution the Pelagians lay down).
Pag. 62: "det" replaced by "der" (the reality of sin).
Pag. 64: "alof" replaced by "as if" (as if God wanted to turn back sin by force).
Pag. 65: "imaginiret" replaced by "imaginiert" (imagined into the abyss of sin).
Pag. 89: "van" replaced by "vom" (Die Lehre v. d. Sünde u. vom Versöhner8 1862).
Pag. 91: "1S82" to be replaced by "1882" (Stud. u. Krit. 1882 S. 284 f.).
Pag. 91: "Biedermaun" replaced by "Biedermann" (Biedermann, Dogm.
614 f.).
Pag. 97: replace "89" with "98" (cf. Dorner, Gl. II 90-98).
Pag. 111: "more abundantly" replaced by "more abundantly" (grace is more abundant and life is more powerful).
Pag. 115: "senipelagianism" replaced by "semipelagianism" (According to semipelagianism the consequences existed).
Pag. 122: "voorvloeide" replaced by "voortvloeide" (in Roman theology voortvloeide).
Pag. 122: "superaddditum" replaced by "superadditum" (gradually the doctrine of the donum superadditum arose).
Pag. 136: "gebäbren" replaced by "gebähren" (dass sie fortwährend Böses muss gebähren).
Pag. 136: "willekenr" replaced by "willekeur" (with incalculable arbitrariness now to the one).
Pag. 140: replace "wetenschapelijken" with "wetenschappelijken" (in the sense of all soberly scientific).
Pag. 144: replace "inbaerent" with "inhaerent" (it is so inherent in human nature).
Pag. 153: replace "ansusehen" with "anzusehen" (sind anzusehen als eben so viele Tiger).
Pag. 156: "Dent." replaced by "Deut." (the O. Test. itself, Lev. 19:18, Deut. 32:35).
Pag. 160: "indifferent" replaced by "not indifferent" (he is no more not indifferent to it).
Pag. 163: "schulbewustzijn" replaced by "schuldbewustzijn" (Whoever wants to ascend from the consciousness of guilt to guilt).
Pag. 170: "Verzweifling" replaced by "Verzweiflung" (Kinder der Angst, des Schreckens, ja der Verzweiflung).
Pag. 170: "zondern" replaced by "sondern" (sondern nur zur ewigen Freude).
Pag. 175: "du" replaced by "de la" (Le problème de la douleur, Etudes évang. 1867).
Pag. 176: "Ps. 89:4S" replaced by "Ps. 89:48" (Gen. 3:19, 18:27, Job 4:19, Ps. 89:48v., 90:3, 103:14v., 146:4, Pred. 3:20, 12:7).
Pag. 179: "Authropology" replaced by "Anthropology" (in his Study of Christian Anthropology).
Pag. 179: replace "celni" with "celui" (aussi intact que celui de la vie).
Pag. 179: "protoplasma" replaced by "protoplasm" (La structure du protoplasme etc. 1895).
Pag. 183: replace "voort" with "voorts" (and furthermore Polanus, Synt.
V c. 12).
Pag. 185: "I6" replaced by "16" (Hd. 16:17, 19:15. This obsessio now, however dreadful also).
Pag. 185: "analogous" replace with "analog" (see an analogous phenomenon occur).
Pag. 185: "bij" replaced by "by" (With an introduction by Rev. F. F.
Ellinwood).
Pag. 197: replace "waarbeid" with "truth" (then image, now truth; then twilight, now light).
Pag. 202: "werel" replaced by "wereld" (yet the altered worldview demanded).
Pag. 208: replace "voorafgang" with "voorafging" (our period preceded another).
Pag. 233: "berschappij" to be replaced by "heerschappij" (but a religiousethical dominion).
Pag. 244: "immediate" replace with "immediately" (became directly and immediately the part).
Pag. 245: replace "omgerijmd" with "ongerijmd" (omniscience etc. is absurd).
Pag. 249: "Cristus" replaced by "Christus" (the doctrine of Christ in modern dogmatics).
Pag. 258: replace "onmiddelijk" with "onmiddellijk" (that Christ could immediately take his place).
Pag. 272: "preumatisch" replaced by "pneumatic" (psychic and pneumatic life).
Pag. 274: "26:43" to be replaced by "24:43" (a young woman, and especially an unmarried one, Gen. 24:43, Ex. 2:8).
Pag. 278: "philosopie" replaced by "philosophie" (the newer pantheistic philosophy).
Pag. 284: "théeol." replaced by "théol." (Revue de théol. et de philos.
Mars 1891).
Pag.
290:
"apotelesmatum" replaced by "apostelesmatum"
(apostelesmatum and charismatum).
Pag. 302: " ֹכֵהן" replaced by " ֹּכֵחן" (the names in other languages, such as ֹּכֵחן, ἱερευς, sacerdos) Pag. 305: „ִמְגָחה" replaced by „ִמְנָחה" (At first the offering was simply
ִמְנָחה, gift, Gen. 4:3).
Pag. 312: "only" replaced by "all" (the name above all name).
Pag. 316: replace "Augustius" with "Augustinus" (Augustine's view of the redemptive significance of Christ).
Page 330: "Me" replaced by "Mc" (and Dr. John Mc Leod Campbell).
Pag. 331: "oenvre" replaced by "oeuvre" (Etude sur l'oeuvre de la Rédemption).
Pag. 331: "bij" replaced by "by" (the atonement as taught by Christ Himself).
Pag. 363: replace "53" with "52" (Lev. 25:51, 52).
Pag. 377: replace "11" with "22" (and 1 Petr. 3:19-22 in no case speaks).
Pag. 393: "scholatiek" replaced by "scholastic" (scholasticism did teach indeed).
Pag. 395: "Dordsche" replaced by "Dordtsche" (At the Dordtsche synod).
Pag. 422: "κηρηγμα" replaced by "κηρυγμα" (it was a κηρυγμα to the spirits).
Pag. 424: "eu" replaced by "en" (and the highest and richest in Christ).
Pag. 426: replace "veplicht" with "obliged" (is the people now also obliged).
Pag. 432: "gemeemte" replaced by "gemeente" (did not die only for the congregation).
Pag. 432: "Gol." replaced by "Col." (1 Cor. 3:10-15, Ef. 4:1-16, Col.
2:19).
Pag. 434: "his" to be replaced by "bis" (Freiheit von d. ap. Zeiten bis auf Aug. Freiburg 1856).
Pag. 445: replace "poemitentia" with "poenitence" (The poenitence with him always consists of two parts).
Pag. 451: "Remonstantism" replaced by "Remonstrantism" (which was prepared by Socinianism and Remonstrantism).
Pag. 458: "Durchburch" replaced by "Durchbruch" (no ultimately occurring Durchbruch).
Pag. 459: "bebben" to be replaced by "hebben" (a new Creation had to take place).
Pag. 464: "moeielijkheid" replaced by "moeilijkheid" (with a peculiar difficulty).
Pag. 464: "eu" replaced by "en" (ascribes to Christ and nevertheless exhorts us).
Pag. 467: replace "aggressief" with "agressief" (in the Methodist manner aggressive in the world).
Pag. 467: "eu" replaced by "en" (also apply and distribute).
Pag. 509: "ontneent" replaced by "ontneemt" (but it also takes nothing essential away from it).
Pag. 519: "πιστενειν" replaced by "πιστευειν" (for John speaks many times of πιστευειν εἰς τινα).
Pag. 527: "inzon-heid" replaced by "inzonderheid" (has the Reformation, has in particular Calvin).
Pag. 532: "parallele" replaced by "parallelle" (because the parallel forms are preferred).
Pag. 562: "16, 16" replaced by "16" (for I am holy, 1 Petr. 1:16, be perfect).
Pag. 567: replace "aannnemen" with "aannemen" (who accept the possibility of apostasy).