The Tenacity of God for His
people
by Jack Kettler
The following scriptural study
is
intended to help believers have confidence
in our great God's protection and
care that He has for His people. He is
tenacious on our behalf. There are
responsibilities and duties that God
requires of His people because of His
covenantal relationship with a man. That
will be a focus of a future study.
This present study will focus on the
Sovereign God who opens and softens
hearts, bringing men to conversion and who
is more than capable of holding on
to His people and protecting them by His
grace through the omnipotent power of
the Holy Spirit.
We should never forget that
grace is
a gift and not something earned. The
Scriptures declare that faith is a gift of
God's grace “For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that [faith is] not
of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of
works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians
2: 8, 9). Grace is God's unmerited favor. We
exercise faith but it is one of
God's gracious gifts that cannot be claimed
by man as a work or contribution on
his part.
Doctrinal Considerations;
Justification
and Covenant:
Of utmost importance is the
question
of how man is made righteous or justified
before the Holy God of Scripture.
Most misunderstanding in this area happens
because of a confusion between
justification and sanctification.
Sanctification is a process that starts once
a person becomes regenerate and lasts
through the entirety of the Christian
life. Justification, in contrast, is a
judicial or forensic one-time act of God
that involves the pardoning and forgiving of
our sins and accepting us as
righteous in His sight because of what
Christ accomplished for us.
Moreover, justification is
unequivocal or absolute for eternity. Our
sins (the breaking of God's law) were
imputed to Christ in that he experienced
God's judgment on our behalf, and
because of this, Christ's righteousness
(keeping the law perfectly) is imputed
to us. We are pardoned and counted as
righteous for His sake. It is not a legal
fiction as some may say; it is fact in the
courts of heaven based upon Christ's
perfect propitiatory sacrifice and
accomplishment at Golgotha.
In further consideration,
biblical
justification involves the Hebrew verb tsayke,
to which both the Greek
word dikaioun and the Latin justificare
refer, and is used in
Scripture when dealing with passages on
forensic or declared judicial
righteousness. As noted, the Hebrew verb is
forensic and means to absolve
someone in a trial, or to hold or to declare
just, as opposed to the verb to
condemn and to incriminate. See Exodus 23:7,
Deuteronomy 25:1, Job 9:3. Psalms
143:2, Proverbs 17:15, Luke 18:14, Romans
3-5, Acts 13:39.
The Scriptures are unequivocal
in
establishing our justification because of
how Christ bore the wrath of God for
us Romans 4:1-7. Justification does not
happen over and over again. Christ's died
once for our all of sins (not just some) and
His death was accepted by the
Father on our behalf. It is a finished fact!
In addition and of particular
importance for this study is the doctrine of
God's covenantal dealings with man
in Scripture. In addition, how this explains
God's transactions with man. What
is a covenant? In short, a covenant is an
agreement or contract between two
parties. The word covenant is translated by
the Hebrew word berith. It
literally means, “To cut.” In the scripture,
there are covenants made between
men, and there are covenants made between
God and man such as the covenant God
made with Abraham in (Genesis 15:9-18,
17:2).
It should be noted that there
are
two types of covenants, the unconditional
and conditional. A conditional
covenant obligates both God and specifically
man to certain responsibilities.
In the case of a conditional covenant, God's
promises are contingent upon man
meeting his part of the agreement such as
the land promises made with Israel.
Historically, Nebuchadnezzar
and
Babylon removed Israel from the Promised
Land for her unfaithfulness to God's
covenant. By way of contrast, in an
unconditional covenant, God obliges Himself
to certain expressed responsibilities for
the fulfilling of the contract regardless
of how a man responds. An unconditional
covenant is a promise made by God to a man
that is not contingent upon man fulfilling
any obligation or conditions.
Genesis 15:9-18 is a perfect
example
of this where we see the cutting of the
animals into pieces and God alone
walking between the pieces of animals in the
form of a smoking furnace and a
burning lamp in verse 17, thus guaranteeing
the eternal covenant would be
fulfilled because of His action. If God did
not keep the covenant made with
Abraham and ultimately his spiritual
descendants in Christ, God is saying that
He Himself would be cut in pieces, or bear
the judgment for violation of the
covenant, which is an impossible thing to
happen.
God is our strong tower. He has
hedged us about with protection from the
outside forces. He has graciously
placed his Holy Spirit within us to protect
us from inward uncertainties. He is
even there to protect us from our own
failings. God has purchased our salvation
by the death of His Son on the cross and He
gives us assurance of our salvation
by the fact that we are indwelt by the Holy
Spirit, which is said in Scripture
to be “the earnest of our inheritance until
the redemption of the purchased
possession.” We are God's purchased
possession, which is said in the past
tense, thus solidifying the reality of our
salvation. We have the God's earnest
money, or God's down payment, which is the
Holy Spirit. Jesus said that He
would never leave us or forsake us. He
really meant this! Some may raise a
question at this point about us forsaking
Him. Is this possible in light of the
indwelling Holy Spirit and the strong
promises of God in Christ? For those that
raise this question, consider the testimony
of God's promises.
Consider the overwhelming
evidence
from scripture of God's tenacious care for
us:
“And
he [a believer] shall
be like a tree planted by the rivers of
water, that bringeth forth his fruit in
his season; his leaf also shall not
wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper.” (Psalms. 1:3)
This passage teaches that the
believer will bring forth fruit in his
season and his leaf shall not wither and
in fact shall prosper. Why? This is because
the increase is God's doing and not
ours. He is our strength and responsible for
our fruitfulness. The next verse
in the Psalm says that, "The ungodly are not
so:" What a contrast
between the godly and ungodly. There are
certainties for both the believer and
non-believer.
“The
angel of the LORD encampeth round about them
that fear him, and delievereth
them.” (Psalms. 34:7)
Many believe from what we learn
in
Genesis 16:7, 13 that the angel of the LORD
is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. Consider Joshua's encounter with the
Commander of the Lord's army as
this will show us how God encamps about his
people: He said, “No, but as
Commander of the army of the Lord I have now
come.” In addition, Joshua fell on
his face to the earth and worshiped, and
said to Him, “What does my Lord say to
His servant?” Then the Commander of the
Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take your
sandal off your foot, for the place where
you stand is holy.” Moreover, Joshua
did so. (Joshua 5:14-15)
It is interesting that Joshua
worshiped the Commander of the Lord's army.
If he been simply a created angel
he would not have done this, neither would
this Commander if he had been a
created angelic being have received it. This
makes many believe that this is
none other than Christ himself. This passage
in Psalm 34 is telling us that
Christ himself and His heavenly hosts encamp
around us to protect us and
deliver us. What a blessed defense, we truly
do not need to fear!
“For
this
God is our God forever and ever: he will be
our guide even unto death.” (Psalms 48:14)
The passage says that God will
be
our God, who is a loving Savior forever and
ever. Because of God's covenant,
this loving relationship is permanent. He
will lead us across the river or
through death and onto the resurrection and
the heavenly city. We will see
death swallowed up in victory.
“They
that
trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion,
which cannot be removed, but
abideth forever. As the mountains are round
Jerusalem, so the LORD is round
about his people from henceforth even
forever.”(Psalms.125:1,
2)
We see permanency here as the
scriptures comfort us with the assurance
that LORD is round about us “even forever.”
“The
LORD
will perfect that, which concerneth me, thy
mercy, O LORD, endureth forever:
forsake not the works of thine own hands.”
(Psalms 138:8)
The LORD will complete His work
in
us. We are the work of His hands. We can be
sure that He will not forsake us,
i.e. the work of His own hands!
“For
the
mountains shall depart, and the hills be
removed; but my kindness shall not
depart from thee, neither shall the covenant
of my peace be removed, saith the
LORD that hath mercy on thee.” (Isaiah. 54:10”
God's UN-changeability or
immutability is seen in this verse by the
contrast between the LORD and His
creation. Again, as in Psalm 125, we see
permanency as Isaiah says the
mountains may depart and the hill may be
moved, but God's mercy would never cease
for His covenant people. If mountains
departing is seemingly next to
impossible, it should be magnified in our
minds the strength of this
unbreakable promise. God, Himself makes this
contrast with the seemingly
impossible with the absolute impossibility
of His kindness and the peace of His
covenant departing from His people.
“And
I
will make an everlasting covenant with them,
that I will not turn away from
them, to do them good; but I will put my
fear in their hearts, that they shall
not depart from me.” (Jeremiah 32:40)
In this passage, there is
clearly an
unconditional aspect of God's covenant made
with His people, which is one
reason it is said to be everlasting! God
guarantees this by saying that He will
not turn away from us and He will ensure
this by putting His fear in our hearts
to keep us from departing from Him. The New
Covenant in Christ which is built
upon and the fulfillment of the Older
Testament Covenants and is also seen to
be an everlasting covenant because it is
said that God's law is written on the
heart, where God's spirit dwells in the
hearts of redeemed men. See Joel 2:28.
“And
I
will betroth thee unto me for ever, yea I
will betroth thee unto me in
righteousness, and in judgment, and in
lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will
even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness:
and thou shalt know the LORD.” Hosea 2:19, 20
Betrothal historically was a
contract or a ceremonial state of engagement
considered to be just as a binding
marriage. Using covenantal language in this
passage, the LORD binds Himself to
His people forever.
“How
think ye? if a man have a hundred sheep and
one of them be gone astray, doth he
not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth
into the mountains, and seeketh that
which is gone astray? And if so be that he
find it, verily I say unto you, he
rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the
ninety and nine which went not away.
Even so, it is not the will of your Father,
which is in heaven, that one of
these little ones should perish.”
(Matthew 18:12-14)
We learn of the Father's
revealed
will in this passage, namely, that not one
of these little ones should perish.
What a comfort this revelation is to the
sheep, His people.
“For
there shall arise false Christs, and false
prophets, and shall show great signs
and wonders, insomuch that, if it were
possible, they shall deceive the very
elect.” (Matthew 24:24)
The implication in this passage
is
that the elect cannot be lost since Christ
says this could happen only if
impossible things could happen. In
establishing this, we must consider the
promises of God for His elect: one; his
grace for them, too; their safety in
Christ, and finally, three; their protection
by God's power. We can rightly
agree that in light of the promises of
Christ, the elect's deception is
impossible.
“For
God
so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
For the one who truly believes
it is
said; “should not perish, but have
everlasting life.” In the second phrase “but
have” is in the present tense meaning that
the everlasting life is now a
reality. In addition, the tense, “should not
perish” means will not ever and
following directly the text says; “but have
everlasting life" strengthens
and proves that "everlasting life” is to be
savored as a reality by the
believer right here and now.
“He
that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting
life...”
(John 3:36)
The everlasting life the
apostle
speaks of is something that the believer
possesses now as a real present
possession! There is a future aspect to this
obviously, yet awaiting the future
final fulfillment in a way that does not
diminish the present pleasure of this
gift and all the enjoyment it brings in the
here and now.
“But
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall
give him shall never thirst...” (John 4:14)
This phrase “shall never
thirst”
helps us understand that the water Christ is
giving is eternal life. We have a
strong revelation of God's security for his
people in this passage.
“Verily,
verily,
I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that
sent, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation; but is
passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24)
Again, in this passage, we have
the
comfort of knowing that eternal life is a
present possession that the believer
enjoys now. Moreover, to add to the
blessings of knowing this the part of the
passage that “shall not come into
condemnation” guarantees the future. We are
secure in Christ. We have everlasting life
now!
“And
this
is the Father's will which hath sent me,
that of all which he hath given me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up
again at the last day. And this is
the will of him that sent me, that everyone
which seeth the Son, and believeth
on him, may have everlasting life: and I
will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:39,
40)
We see in the verse God's
choice or
the election of His people, which is the
strong guarantee of our preservation.
The promise of Christ is sure; He will raise
us up on the last day!
“And
I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall
never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which
gave them me, is greater than all;
and no man is able to pluck them out of my
Father's hand.” (John 10:28,
29)
Christ gives us eternal life
now as
a present possession along the unmovable
promise that the believer shall never
perish. Christ not only protects His people,
He adds the guarantee of the
Father who is greater than all.
“...that
he
should depart out of this world unto the
Father, having loved his own which
were in the world, he loved them unto the
end.”(John 13:1)
We see the heart of Christ
towards
His people in His unceasing care for His
sheep.
“And
I
will pray the Father, and he shall give you
another Comforter, that he may
abide with you forever.”(John
14:16)
Our Mediator, Christ, prays for
His
people giving us great assurance. The Holy
Spirit the third person of the
triune Godhead has promised to stay with us
“forever.” Some translations call
the Comforter (Holy Spirit) our Helper.
“While
I
was with them in the world, I kept them in
thy name: those that thou gavest me
I have kept, and none of them is lost, but
the son of perdition; that the
scripture might be fulfilled.” (John 17:12)
We see in this passage our
Lord's
perfect protection of His people. Of those,
the Father gave to the Son, Christ
says, “none of them is lost.” We can be
assured that not any of Christ's sheep
given Him by the Father can or will be lost!
“But
God
commendeth his love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Much more then, being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. For if, when we
enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his Son, much more, being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his
life.” (Romans 5:8-10)
If Christ died for us, we were
in a
spiritual state of unbelief, characterized
by a heart of stone. A hard heart
that hated and rejected God's testimony. A
testimony that surrounds us at every
moment in our innermost being, and
consciousness and in addition to all of the
creation.
How can anyone doubt that we are given the
grace to persevere and will be saved
eternally and glorified after being
justified by His blood?
“There
is
therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
(Romans 8:1)
If you are truly justified, you
will
walk after the spirit. It is part of our new
nature to do so. The Holy Spirit
who leads us in the ways of life, calls us
to repentance, and gives us His
strength each day and indwells us. The
apostle make it clear; “There is
therefore now no condemnation.”
“For
I am
persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to
come. Nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38, 39)
The apostle is persuaded that
nothing will be able to “separate us from
the love of God.” We should agree and
be thankful.
“For
the
gifts and calling of God are without
repentance.”
(Romans 11:29)
Salvation is a gift from God
that He
gives without repentance. A gift cannot be
lost due to His ongoing protection
guaranteed by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
“Who
shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye
may be blameless in the day of our
Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom
ye were called unto the fellowship
of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(I Corinthians 1:8, 9)
Christ Himself shall confirm us
unto
the end. Furthermore, the passage says that
God is faithful to keep us
blameless to the end or the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
“There
hath
no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man: but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that
ye may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians
10:13)
In this passage, we see God's
guarantee to give us His grace to escape
fatal temptations.
“Knowing
that
he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall
raise up us also by Jesus, and
shall present us with you.” (2
Corinthians 4:14)
The passage encourages the
believer
by the fact that God will raise us up. In
addition, we are further encouraged
of the certainty of our resurrection to life
because of the fact the God raised
up the Lord Jesus.
“Having
predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his
will...ye were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of
our inheritance until the redemption
of the purchased possession, unto the praise
of his glory.” (Ephesians
1:5, 13, 14)
The apostle says that we have
been
sealed with the Holy Spirit and this act on
God's part is the “earnest” or
certainty of our redemption.
“Being
confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun
a good work in you will
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”
(Philippians 1:6)
Paul tells us that God will
perform
or accomplish this work, which He began in
us until Christ comes. Our
confidence is in God's work, not our own.
“For
ye
are dead, and your life is hid with Christ
in God. When Christ, who is our
life, shall appear, then shall ye also
appear with him in glory.” (Colossians
3:3, 4)
When Christ appears or comes in
His
glory, we are told that “ye [you] shall
appear” with Him in glory!
“And
the
very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I
pray God your whole spirit and
soul and body be preserved blameless unto
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also
will do it.” (1 Thessalonians
5:23, 24)
We have assurance that God is
faithful who calls us and He will preserve
us until the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Our salvation rests upon God's
faithfulness, not ours!
“But
the
Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you,
and keep you from evil.” (2
Thessalonians 3:3)
Again, we learn that the Lord
is
faithful, by the fact that He shall
"stablish" us and keep us from
evil.
“...having
obtained
eternal redemption for us...And for this
cause, he is the mediator of
the new testament, that by means of death,
for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first
testament, they which are called might
receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
(Hebrews 9:12, 15)
It is a fact; Christ has
“obtained
eternal redemption for us!” Again, we see
our salvation is a present reality.
“For
by
one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified.” (Hebrews
10:14)
Our perfection in Christ is
complete
and forever!
“Who[believers]are
kept
by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in
the last time.” (1 Peter 1:5)
Since we are kept by the power
of
God through faith, which is a gift of grace
and not our work we do have to
fear. Our salvation is in the power of God!
“These
things
have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God; that
ye may know that ye have eternal life, and
that ye may believe on the of the
Son of God.” (1 John 5:13)
John tells us that we “can
know” and
that “ye have eternal life.” Eternal life
is, therefore, a present possession
of believers in Christ. If it can be lost,
it would not be “eternal.”
“...to
them
that are sanctified by God the Father, and
preserved in Jesus Christ, and
called.... All believers are sanctified by
God the Father. And we are preserved
in Jesus Christ! Now unto him that is able
to keep you from falling, and to
present you faultless before the presence of
his glory with exceeding joy.” (Jude 1:1, 24)
God, Himself is able to keep us
from
falling and more than able to present before
the presence of His glory. Our
eternal salvation rests upon God power, not
ours! If anyone still maintains
that God will respect our so-called free
will and allow us to depart from
Christ hopefully the following thoughts in
the next paragraph will be of value.
When a person chooses Christ,
one
must ask, why did the person do this? Was it
his decision on his own apart from
God's action? Alternatively, does man act or
choose for Christ because of God
changing his heart by the power of Holy
Spirit? The Scripture declares that
unbelievers are dead (not just sick) and
have hearts of stone.
Christ through the work of the
Holy
Spirit changes our heart of stone to a heart
of flesh. As said, unbelievers are
dead spiritually and Christ quickens us or
makes us alive. We have risen from
the dead when Christ regenerates us.
Regeneration happens before we can
exercise faith.
Therefore, Christ gets the
credit
for our decision to believe in Him.
Unbelievers do not choose Christ, because
they in their fallen state hate him and are
spiritually dead. Furthermore, it
should be noted that fallen man's nature is
corrupt and fallen man freely
chooses in harmony with his fallen nature to
reject Christ. So then, when
fallen man is regenerated and exercises
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ's
atoning work at Calvary, what credit does
God get for this decision? “All” is
the only possible correct answer.
Remember, we were the servants
or
slaves of sin. We yielded ourselves to sin
because this was the inclination of
our fallen nature. We are now the servants
of righteousness and no longer the
slaves of sin. Our sin natures have been
changed. As the apostle, Peter tells us
that “ye might be partakers of the divine
nature...” (2 Peter 1:4). The
believer now has a new nature. We still make
choices or decisions. Since we
have a new nature, our desires have been
changed through the inward work of the
Holy Spirit. We are now slaves of
righteousness (not perfectly) by His grace.
In conclusion, both the
non-believer
and the believer make choices but they are
determined by either a corrupt
nature or a changed redeemed nature. The
will can be said to be free if it is
understood that this freedom is always in
accord with the desires of man's
nature. It can be said that the will is
bound, yet free. The believer is now a
new creation in Christ. We follow Christ
because we love Him and want to please
Him. The Holy Spirit lives in the believer
and guides us and convicts us to do
what is right according to the Scriptures.
What about those who seem to
have
faith and fall away?
One of the characteristics of
fallen
man is to hide his sin like Adam in the
garden in Genesis 3:7. The Pharisees
were prime examples of very outwardly
religious men. What did Christ say about
them? But when he saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees come to his baptism,
he said unto them, O generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee from the
wrath to come? Matthew 3:7. It is clearly
possible for people to act religious
for disreputable motives and still be dead
in their sins.
Not everyone that saith unto
me,
Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father, which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name? And in
thy name have cast out devils? And
in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Matthew 7:21, 22, 23.
Here we have individuals mentioned who did
things in Christ's name and yet
Jesus says, “I never knew you.” Outward
religious works may be done in order to
hide one's rebellion against God and remain
respectable in the community.
The
Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter
IX of Free Will:
I. God hath endued the will of
man
with that natural liberty, that it is
neither forced, nor, by any absolute
necessity of nature, determined to good, or
evil. [1]
1. James 1:13-14; 4:7; Deut.
30:19;
Isa. 7:11-12; Matt. 17:12; John 5:40
II. Man, in his state of
innocency,
had freedom, and power to will and to do
that which was good and well pleasing
to God;[2] but yet, mutably, so that he
might fall from it.[3]
2. Eccl. 7:29; Gen. 1:26, 31;
Col.
3:10
3. Gen. 2:16-17; 3:6, 17
III. Man, by his fall into a
state
of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will
to any spiritual good accompanying
salvation:[4] so as, a natural man, being
altogether averse from that good,[5]
and dead in sin,[6] is not able, by his own
strength, to convert himself, or to
prepare himself thereunto.[7]
4. Rom. 5:5; 8:7-8; John 6:44,
65;
15:5
5. Rom. 3:9-10, 12, 23
6. Eph. 2:1, 5; Col 2:13
7. John 3:3, 5-6; 6:44, 65; I
Cor.
2:14; Titus 3:3-5
IV. When God converts a sinner,
and
translates him into the state of grace, he
freeth him from his natural bondage
under sin;[8] and, by his grace alone,
enables him freely to will and to do
that which is spiritually good;[9] yet so,
as that by reason of his remaining
corruption, he doth not perfectly, nor only,
will that which is good, but doth
also will that which is evil.[10]
8. Col. 1:13; John 8:34, 36;
Rom.
6:6-7
9. Phil. 2:13; Rom. 6:14,
17-19, 22
10. Gal. 5:17; Rom. 7:14-25; I
John
1:8, 10
V. The will of man is made
perfectly
and immutably free to good alone, in the
state of glory only. [11]
11. Heb. 12:23; I John 3:2;
Jude
1:24; Rev. 21:27
It is my prayer that these
Scriptures and reasoning based upon
Scripture will convince the reader that God
is truly Sovereign in our salvation. If He
were not Sovereign in our salvation,
no one would be saved.
“Not by works of righteousness
which
we have done, but according to his mercy he
saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy
Ghost” (Titus 3:5). “To God only wise,
be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen”
(Romans 16:27). “Heirs according
to the promise” (Galatians 3:28, 29).
“Blessed art thou, O LORD:
teach me
thy statutes.” (Psalm 119:12)
“Study to shew thyself approved
unto
God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
To God, only wise, be glory
through
Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” (Romans 16:27)
and “heirs according to the
promise.” (Galatians 3:28, 29)
Mr. Kettler has previously
published
articles in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea
attend the Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. He
served as an ordained ruling elder
in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He
worked in and retired from a fortune
five hundred company in corporate America
after forty years. He runs two blogs
sites and is the author of the book
defending the Reformed Faith against
attacks,
titled: The
Religion That Started in a
Hat. Available at:
www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com