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Setting in Order the Things That Are WantingLet us who are called ofGod to minister to the contemporarychurch be warned. This is an everpresent danger in the church. Wemust be alert to this and not hesitate to rebuke sharply the vain,unruly talkers in order that they may be sound in the faith and inorder that the church may be preserved and blessed. Again, ifthevain talkers persist in their deceitful ways by refusing to heed thesharp admonitions of the faithful preachers, they must be put outofthe church by means ofthe application ofChristian discipline.Verses 15, 16(15) All things are pure to the ones who are pure, but to the onesdefiled (polluted. stained, contaminated) and unbel ieving nothingis pure. but both the mind and conscience of them have beendefiled.(16) They profess to know God. but by their works they denyhim, being abominable and disobedient,17 and regarding everygood work reprobate.These verses form the conclusion of this last section ofchapter one. These Jewish vain talkers, who teach false doctrinesfor shameful gain (AV, '~filthy lucre's sake"), whose mouths mustbe stopped, and who must be rebuked sharply, really deny thefreedom with which Christ has made us free. III The interpretationsand applications of the typical commandments of God, by these"Judaizers," regarding what mayor may not be eaten because it isclean or unclean, and especially their interpretations of the ceremoniallaws,are in fact a denial ofwhat James calls '~the perfectlaw of liberty" (James 1:25).HTo the pure all things are pure," writes the apostle. The "allthings" are simply everything that God created to be received byus with thanksgiving, including "meats which God hath created tobereceivedwith thanksgiving ofthem which believe and know the17. Bdeluktos is translated "abominable" by the AV. I prefer"detestable." Apeitheis means disobedient in the sense of it beingimpossible to convince the deceivers oftheirerror and sin and, therefore.of the truth of God's Word.18. These same types threatened the churches in Galatia, cf. Galatians5:1-12.November, 2001 11
truth~' (see I Tim. 4: 1 - 4). Every creature ofGod is good becauseit is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (I Tim. 4:5). TheJewish vain talkers taught that some foods were unclean and,therefore, impure and not to be eaten. Scripture here maintainsthat the impurity is not in God~s creatures, but in the heart ofa man.Jesus taught the same. It is not what goes into the mouth thatdefiles a man. It is what comes from a man's heart and thus thatgoes out of a man that defiles him. Out of the heart come evilthoughts, murders, adulteries, and all the rest (cf. Matt. 15: 1 - 20).Hence the creature of God is good and pure; it does not make aperson unclean."The ones pure" are those whQse sins have been forgiven inthe blood ofJesus, those who have been raised up to newness ofHfeby the resurrection of Jesus. The pure are the regenerated,justified, sanctified believers who are continually being cleansedby the Spirit and Word ofJesus Christ. To these pure saints, all thatGod has created, also "meats,'~ is pure. He receives it from Godwith thanksgiving. And he uses it in the service of God.But to "theones defiled (polluted, stained, contaminated) andunbelieving:~ nothing is pure. These defiled and unbelieving areone class of people. They are defiled exactly because they areunbelievers. They have rejected Christ. They refuse to believe inJesus and, therefore, they are polluted, they are yet in their sins.They defile God's good creatures. To them nothing is pure!Nothing is pure to these unbelievers because even their mindand conscience is defiled. Their mind is their thinking, that whichdetermines their willing and acting. The minds ofthese unbelieversare polluted, defiled, stained. Their conscience, that whichHendriksen calls "their moral selves" is defiled toO. 19 "Conscience"literally means "to know with," Le., "joint-knowledge:'20The believer, according to his conscience, knows with God whatis true and what is false; what is good and what is evil; what is pureand what is impure. The vain talking Jewish unbelievers concerningwhom the apostle warns Titus, the preacher, refuse to know19. Hendriksen, op. cit., p. 357.20. See Thayer, op. cit., on sun eideesis, p. 602.12 PRTJ
Page 1 and 2: ProtestantReformedTheologicalJourna
Page 3 and 4: EDITOR'S NOTESProf. Russell J. Dyks
Page 5 and 6: For there are many, even l unruly,
Page 7 and 8: happen to hold unwittingly to some
Page 9 and 10: tion oftheir false teachings. II Pe
Page 11: est, they are very weak, at worst,
Page 15 and 16: Thomas Bradwardine:Forgotten Mediev
Page 17 and 18: ated grace and uncreated grace. Unc
Page 19 and 20: Bradwardine faces the question ofth
Page 21 and 22: the age, namely, that having set fo
Page 23 and 24: did not identify Thomas Bradwardine
Page 25 and 26: The first is that Bradwardine was a
Page 27 and 28: to Bradwardine as oneof"two pre-emi
Page 29 and 30: Gospels, Acts, and Revelation. Sir
Page 31 and 32: power of the papacy in Bradwardine'
Page 33 and 34: The Serious Callof the Gospel -Is t
Page 35 and 36: elieve th~s proclamation with uprig
Page 37 and 38: to bring good news with their "fig
Page 39 and 40: nation, we read of Melchisedek, the
Page 41 and 42: official activity ofa monarch's her
Page 43 and 44: 8): "Calling is ofthose elect and r
Page 45 and 46: ut all his posterity unable to obey
Page 47 and 48: alone, and He saves whom He will. E
Page 49 and 50: have moved away from the notion oft
Page 51 and 52: every member ofthe visible, institu
Page 53 and 54: fulfilling this calling is their pa
Page 55 and 56: contingent. Further, Calvin did not
Page 57 and 58: ofacceptance in terms of merit, ins
Page 59 and 60: covenant ofgrace and works, or it i
Page 61 and 62: Spiritual, Suffers Them to DefileTh
Page 63 and 64:
the gospel is preached" (p. 212).In
Page 65 and 66:
"They do not hold that JesusChrist
Page 67 and 68:
II Corinthians 3:6 that "the letter
Page 69 and 70:
is to oppose and to repulsethat sec
Page 71 and 72:
Rightly Divided: Readings inBiblica
Page 73 and 74:
is necessary speaks volumesabout th
Page 75 and 76:
Guilt, Grace and Gratitude,Lectures
Page 77 and 78:
76ted under the new? If it wererigh
Page 79 and 80:
er to keep himself holy; forthe Sab
Page 81 and 82:
there is room for both positionsin
Page 83 and 84:
Dr. Gannett's eschatologyalso effec
Page 85 and 86:
that, but man has a corrupt nature(
Page 87 and 88:
the love of God is "universal"(p. 5
Page 89 and 90:
ever, throughout the book thereis n
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