Introduction

In the controversy of the Reformed Protestant Churches (RPC) with the Protestant Reformed Churches (PRC), there are a few articles of the Canons of Dordt to which the PRC continually appeal. These articles are especially Canons 3–4.12, Canons 3–4.17, Canons 5.5, and Canons 5.7. They appeal to these articles as proof that Protestant Reformed doctrine as it is currently taught is the doctrine of the Reformed faith. They also appeal to these articles as proof that Reformed Protestant doctrine is a departure from the Reformed faith. Protestant Reformed theologians accuse the RPC of rejecting the clear teaching of the Canons. Protestant Reformed theologians predict that the RPC will eventually formally and officially remove these articles of the Canons that she now informally and unofficially supposedly finds offensive. The PRC’s accusation is that the RPC are not Reformed because they have departed from the doctrine of the Canons, which doctrine of the Canons defines what it means to be Reformed.

The Protestant Reformed accusation that the RPC have departed from the Canons is effective. The accusation is not effective because it is true, but it is effective exactly because it is a lie. In fact, it is an example of the big lie. The big lie is an untrue statement that one repeats loudly enough and often enough that men come to believe that statement as the truth. By now everyone who has even a passing knowledge of the controversy between the RPC and the PRC has heard the accusations that the RPC deny the law, that they deny regeneration, that they deny the real spiritual activity of the believer, and that they deny the necessity of repentance. These accusations are false and are part of the big lie that the RPC are not Reformed. By now most have also heard the accusations that the RPC disagree with Canons 3–4.12 that “man is himself rightly said to believe and repent by virtue of that grace received” (Confessions and Church Order, 169); that the RPC disagree with Canons 3–4.17 that “grace is conferred by means of admonitions” (Confessions and Church Order, 170); that the RPC disagree with Canons 5.5 that impenitent believers “sometimes lose the sense of God’s favor for a time, until, on their returning into the right way of serious repentance, the light of God’s fatherly countenance again shines upon them” (Confessions and Church Order, 174); and that the RPC disagree with Canons 5.7 that God “certainly and effectually renews them [his own people] to repentance, to a sincere and godly sorrow for their sins, that they may seek and obtain remission in the blood of the Mediator, may again experience the favor of a reconciled God…” (Confessions and Church Order, 174). These accusations are false and are part of the big lie that the RPC are not Reformed. When these accusations are repeated loudly enough and often enough, even without proof, these accusations come to be seen as true.

The Protestant Reformed appeal to these articles of the Canons as establishing Protestant Reformed doctrine is also effective. In reality, the PRC have left the Reformed faith. Though the PRC now loudly pay lip service to certain articles of the Canons of Dordt, their appeals are superficial. One does not need to look far to find the PRC’s departure. Ask yourself if any of this sounds Reformed, according to the confessions; ask yourself if you think you could find any of this doctrine in the Canons: if a man would be saved, there is that which he must do. Or this: there is a vitally important sense in which, in our salvation, our drawing nigh to God precedes God’s drawing nigh to us. Or this: there is a sense in the sphere of salvation in which our forgiving each other is first and in which God’s forgiving us follows. Or this: as means, repentance precedes remission of sins; as end, remission of sins follows repentance. Or this: God is pleased to use the preaching of the commands of his word in order to accomplish the obedience that he commands.

All of that is Protestant Reformed theology, but none of it is Reformed. None of it is in the Canons. All of it is a denial of the Reformed faith. And yet Protestant Reformed theologians deceive men by proof-texting from the Canons. They find a single word or phrase in the Canons that sounds something like what they teach, quote that word or phrase out of context, and then condemn the RPC for not agreeing with their misrepresentations of the Canons.

Therefore, it is the happy burden of this and future editorials to examine these articles from the Canons as teaching the doctrine upon which the RPC squarely stand. Contrary to the big lie, the RPC do not reject the Canons. We do not reject them as a whole, and we do not reject any particular article in the Canons. We stand upon every article and doctrine of the Canons of Dordt, God being gracious. If the RPC ever do reject the Canons, whether informally or formally, and will not repent of their rejection, then that is the day that I (God being gracious) will condemn the RPC as apostate and either leave the RPC or be put out of the RPC. That is what I and others have done (God being gracious) in our controversy with the PRC. In doing so we rejected the PRC and their corruption of the truth, but we have not in any sense rejected the Canons. On the contrary, we love the Canons! We say with the original signers of the Canons, “That this is our faith and decision we certify by subscribing our names” (Conclusion [of the Canons], in Confessions and Church Order, 180). And these signatures are no mere lip service, for we are committed (God being gracious) to the pure doctrine and substance of the Canons.

In this first editorial in a series on select articles of the Canons, let us examine Canons 3–4.17. The Protestant Reformed misrepresentation of this article has become entrenched in the thinking of many. The chair of dogmatics in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches also recently appealed to this article to establish his doctrine that God justifies and sanctifies his people by the commandments of the law. More important than the Protestant Reformed misrepresentation of this article is the fact that this article, properly understood, is a tremendous comfort to God’s people that he saves them from all their sin and death by means of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.

Canons 3–4.17

Canons 3–4.17 reads,

As the almighty operation of God whereby He prolongs and supports this our natural life does not exclude, but requires, the use of means, by which God of His infinite mercy and goodness hath chosen to exert His influence, so also the before mentioned supernatural operation of God by which we are regenerated in no wise excludes or subverts the use of the gospel, which the most wise God has ordained to be the seed of regeneration and food of the soul. Wherefore, as the apostles and teachers who succeeded them piously instructed the people concerning this grace of God, to His glory, and the abasement of all pride, and in the meantime, however, neglected not to keep them by the sacred precepts of the gospel in the exercise of the Word, sacraments, and discipline; so, even to this day, be it far from either instructors or instructed to presume to tempt God in the church by separating what He of His good pleasure hath most intimately joined together. For grace is conferred by means of admonitions; and the more readily we perform our duty, the more eminent usually is this blessing of God working in us, and the more directly is His work advanced; to whom alone all the glory, both of means and of their saving fruit and efficacy, is forever due. Amen. (Confessions and Church Order, 170)

There is one particular statement in Canons 3–4.17 that is quoted more often than the rest of the article: “Grace is conferred by means of admonitions.” This statement is highly quotable because it is a pithy summary of the entire article. The article teaches the means by which God bestows the grace of salvation upon his people. A good title for the article would be “The Means of Grace.” Canons 3–4.17 is a sister article to Lord’s Day 25, Q&A 65 of the Heidelberg Catechism. Question 65 asks, “Whence this faith?” in order to teach the means by which God bestows the gift of faith upon his people. Both Canons 3–4.17 and Q&A 65 teach the means by which God saves his people. They both teach the means of grace. The oft-quoted statement from Canons 3–4.17 succinctly captures this doctrine: “Grace is conferred by means of admonitions.”

Now, that statement from Canons 3–4.17 is a beautiful statement about the gospel. You must read and understand the statement this way: “Grace is conferred by means of the gospel.” I know that some men will hoot that I am changing the plain language of the Canons and that I am rejecting the clear doctrine of the Canons. I know that other men will not hoot but that they will be genuinely concerned that I am changing the meaning of (and thus slyly rejecting) the Canons. The thought will be, “The Canons says, ‘Grace is conferred by means of admonitions,’ but Lanning says, ‘Grace is conferred by means of the gospel.’” Well, to the hooters I say, “Hoot away.” To those who are genuinely concerned that I am changing the meaning of the Canons, I will explain why the Canons itself demands that we understand this statement as a statement about the gospel. But to all I say that when the Canons says, “Grace is conferred by means of admonitions,” you must read it this way: “Grace is conferred by means of the gospel.” The means of grace by which God confers grace, salvation, and faith upon his church is the gospel of Jesus Christ crucified and risen.

The Popular Misrepresentation

Especially in the current controversy between the Reformed Protestant Churches and their mother, Canons 3–4.17 is grossly misrepresented. The misrepresentation concerns the word “admonitions.” According to this teaching, the word “admonitions” in Canons 3–4.17 means commandments. The oft-quoted statement from Canons 3–4.17, then, would read, “Grace is conferred by means of commandments.” In this teaching the admonitions or commandments refer to God’s holy law. They refer to the first commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me”; to the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”; to the summary of the whole law, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God”; and to every other commandment of God’s law. In this teaching the “admonitions” of Canons 3–4.17 refer to all of the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots” of scripture.

This view of the word “admonitions” in Canons 3–4.17 is taught by Prof. Ronald Cammenga, the current professor of dogmatics and Old Testament studies in the Theological School of the Protestant Reformed Churches. In the latest issue of the Protestant Reformed Theological Journal, Professor Cammenga writes,

Two articles in the Canons of Dordrecht address the issue of God’s use of the preaching of the law, including its admonitions, rebukes, and threatenings. Article seventeen of the third and fourth heads of doctrine begins by asserting that as God uses means to support our natural life, so He is pleased to use the preaching of His Word as “the seed of regeneration and food of the soul.” The article concludes,

For grace is conferred by means of admonitions; and the more readily we perform our duty, the more eminent usually is this blessing of God working in us, and the more directly is His work advanced; to whom alone all the glory, both of means and of their saving fruit and efficacy, is forever due.¹

Professor Cammenga’s entire article in the Journal is about God’s law. His article is a call to Reformed preachers to preach the commandments of the law.

The commands and warnings of Scripture must be preached from the Reformed pulpit. Reformed ministers must not draw back from issuing the imperatives of God’s Word, binding the will of God upon the hearts and minds of their hearers. (36)

It is in connection with the law that Professor Cammenga quotes Canons 3–4.17. He understands Canons 3–4.17 to refer to “God’s use of the preaching of the law.” He cites the Canons’ statement on admonitions as addressing “the issue of God’s use of the preaching of the law.” For Professor Cammenga the “admonitions” of Canons 3–4.17 are the commandments of God’s law, which law the church preaches. Professor Cammenga’s interpretation of Canons 3–4.17 is representative of the Protestant Reformed interpretation.

Professor Cammenga’s interpretation of Canons 3–4.17 is deceptive. Its deception is that it appeals to an apparent meaning of the word admonitions but conceals the actual meaning of the word “admonitions” as that word is used in the article. At first glance the word “admonitions” might very well appear to mean commandments. After all, an admonition might involve a warning, a rebuke, a threatening, an exhortation—all concepts that we assume are associated with the law. It might seem natural to take the word “admonitions” as commandments.

Add to this that Canons 3–4.17 immediately goes on to speak about our “duty”: “The more readily we perform our duty.” Which duty? According to Professor Cammenga’s teaching, the believer’s duty to obey God’s commandments. Without examining it any further, it might all appear to fit: grace is conferred by means of commandments, and the more readily we obey these commandments, the more eminent usually is the blessing of God working in us.

The Doctrine of the Misrepresentation

The doctrine that is being taught by this misrepresentation of Canons 3–4.17 is the doctrine of salvation by the law. It is the doctrine that God uses the law to bestow salvation on his people. It is the doctrine that God uses the law to work, effect, and accomplish his people’s salvation. It is the doctrine that the commandments of the law are a means of grace. It is the doctrine that God uses his commands to his people to obey him to accomplish their sanctification. It is even the doctrine that God uses his commands to his people to obey him to accomplish their justification. It is the doctrine that salvation is of the law, by the law, and under the law.

The doctrinal issue here is not whether God commands his people. Yes, God commands his people, and no one in this controversy denies it. Neither is the doctrinal issue whether commands are necessary for God’s people. Yes, commands are necessary for God’s people, and no one in this controversy denies it. Neither is the doctrinal issue whether God’s law must be preached and preached strictly. Yes, God’s law must be preached and preached strictly, and no one in this controversy denies it. Rather, the doctrinal issue is whether salvation is of the law or not. The doctrinal issue is whether the law is a means of grace or not. The doctrinal issue is whether God uses the law as the means by which he accomplishes the salvation and the obedience of his elect, regenerated people. Professor Cammenga and the PRC say that the law is a means of grace; that the law is the power by which God grants justification and sanctification; and that the law is the power by which God grants his people their obedient lives of gratitude. The RPC, on the other hand, say that the gospel, not the law, is the means of grace; that the gospel, not the law, is the power by which God grants justification and sanctification; and that the gospel, not the law, is the power by which God grants his people their obedient lives of gratitude.

When I say that Professor Cammenga’s doctrine is the doctrine of salvation by the law, I am not merely inferring what his doctrine must be. I am not taking statements that he actually makes and then extrapolating to what he must eventually say but what he does not yet say. Rather, I am simply stating what Professor Cammenga himself teaches as his doctrine of the law. It is Professor Cammenga’s teaching that God’s commandments to his people to obey are the means of grace by which he grants them their salvation and obedience. Here is Professor Cammenga in his own words.

It is clear, both from our Reformed confessions and from the teaching of our spiritual forebearers, that preaching commands, admonitions, prohibitions, warnings, and rebukes is a positive means of grace in the lives of God’s people. (45)

It ought to be no surprise that God is pleased to use the preaching of the commands of His Word to work the obedience that is commanded. He does the same with the command to elect sinners to repent and believe. Just as God is pleased to use commands for our justification, we should not wonder that He is pleased also to use commands for our sanctification. This is indeed the case. (46)

If the whole great work of the Holy Spirit in us, the Spirit’s work of sanctification, can be described in terms of the law and of indelibly impressing God’s law upon our hearts, who can object to the preaching of the law as a positive means of grace? Who can object to the preaching of the law as that which calls forth the work of the Spirit in our hearts so that we do what the Spirit has put in our inward parts and written upon our hearts? Who can object to preaching that calls us to honor God’s law and actively obey His commandments, which are already engraved within us? What God does by His Spirit inwardly, He calls to outward manifestation by the preaching of the very law that He has stamped upon the hearts of those whom He has regenerated. If that were not true, it is unimaginable that the Old Testament Scripture would prophesy the saving work of the Holy Spirit in terms of the law of God. (51)

God is pleased to use the preaching of the commands of His Word in order to accomplish the obedience that He commands. (53)

In regeneration, they have become new men and new women who can obey God’s law. By the preaching of the law, that new life is roused to activity, the activity of obedience. (53)

As the command of God was effective in the beginning to cause all things to come into being, (“For he spake, and it was done; he commanded; and it stood fast,” [Ps. 33:9]) so the word of God in the preaching of the law works to accomplish what God commands in the law. (55) In the beginning, God was pleased to use His word of command to bring the universe and all creatures into existence. God is pleased to use His word of command sounded in the preaching of the gospel, “Repent and believe,” to work repentance and faith in the elect who hear the command of the gospel. God is also pleased to use the preaching of the commands of His law to accomplish that which is commanded in the hearts and lives of the people of God. He is ever the God who uses His word of command to bring about that which He commands. (61)

Whatever else could be said about this doctrine, it is clearly and unambiguously a doctrine of salvation by the law. The justification of God’s people is accomplished by God’s commandments to them that they must obey. The sanctification of God’s people is accomplished by God’s commandments to them that they must obey. It makes no difference that Professor Cammenga also teaches that Christ redeemed his people. It makes no difference that Professor Cammenga also teaches that the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearer of the law. Whether the people are justified comes down to the law: thou shalt. Whether the people are sanctified comes down to the law: thou shalt not. For Professor Cammenga justification and sanctification are accomplished by means of the law, which tells the hearers of the law that which they must do. And Professor Cammenga’s proof for his doctrine is his misrepresentation of Canons 3–4.17: grace is conferred by means of commandments.

This misrepresentation of Canons 3–4.17 explains why the PRC have been so enthusiastic about this article in their controversy with the RPC. The PRC have been developing a doctrine of man’s experience of salvation. Protestant Reformed doctrine is that a man must perform good works of obedience to God’s law in order to enjoy and experience his salvation. These good works are the prerequisite conditions for man’s experience. So, in the well-documented language of the PRC, if a man would be saved (in the sense of consciously entering into and enjoying God’s kingdom), there is that which he must do.² Or again, the more a man obeys God’s law, the more he prospers in the great blessings of the covenant.³ Or again, in salvation there is a vital sense in which man’s activity precedes God’s activity.⁴ Or again, justification is by means of repentance, so that a man’s repentance must precede God’s forgiveness of that man’s sins, and God’s forgiveness must follow that man’s repentance.⁵ How will the PRC find proof for their doctrine in the Reformed confessions? By misrepresenting Canons 3–4.17. Read the last part of the article with the Protestant Reformed misrepresentation in mind, and the article teaches Protestant Reformed doctrine with a vengeance.

Grace is conferred by means of [commandments]; and the more readily we perform our duty [of obeying God’s commandments], the more eminent usually is this blessing of God working in us, and the more directly is His work advanced; to whom alone all the glory, both of means and of their saving fruit and efficacy, is forever due. Amen.

 

The True Interpretation of Canons 3–4.17

Over against the Protestant Reformed misrepresentation of the article, the true interpretation of Canons 3–4.17 is as follows.

The Means of Grace

First, the subject of Canons 3–4.17 is the means of grace. The great question that Canons 3–4.17 answers is, how does God bestow his grace upon his elect people? How does God take his elect people out of the darkness of their sin and death and bring them into his marvelous light? Canons 3–4.17 teaches that God is pleased to save his people by the use of means. That is, God has appointed certain instruments as the tools by which he saves his people. Hypothetically speaking, God does not need to use these means to save his people. He could save them immediately, without the use of means, as the sovereign and omnipotent God. But God, in his infinite mercy and goodness, is pleased to use certain means to save his people.

Canons 3–4.17 compares God’s use of means in the salvation of his people to his use of means in the support of man’s natural life. God preserves and nourishes the physical life of man through food and drink, through the crop in the field and the meal on the table. The preservation and nourishment of man’s life are due entirely to the almighty operation of God. But God is pleased to exercise his almighty operation through the means of food and drink. So also, God gives spiritual life and strength to his elect people through the specific means that he has ordained.

The opening sentence of Canons 3–4.17 establishes that the subject of the article is the spiritual means of grace.

As the almighty operation of God whereby He prolongs and supports this our natural life does not exclude, but requires, the use of means, by which God of His infinite mercy and goodness hath chosen to exert His influence, so also the before mentioned supernatural operation of God by which we are regenerated in no wise excludes or subverts the use of the gospel, which the most wise God has ordained to be the seed of regeneration and food of the soul.

 

The Gospel Is the Means of Grace

Second, the means that God has appointed for the salvation of his elect people is the gospel. According to Canons 3–4.17, God has ordained the gospel “to be the seed of regeneration and food of the soul.” Just as earthly food and drink are God’s means to prolong and support man’s natural life, so the gospel is God’s means to save his elect people and to feed their spiritual lives.

The gospel is Jesus Christ. That is, the gospel is the message and announcement of Jesus Christ. The gospel is the good news that God has reconciled sinners to himself through Jesus Christ. The gospel is the good news that Christ has borne the iniquity of all his people so that they do not have to bear it. The gospel is the good news that Christ was made sin for his people so that they might be made the righteousness of God. The gospel is the good news that Christ was made a curse for his people’s sins so that they might be blessed of God. The gospel is the good news that Christ has obeyed the law perfectly instead of his elect people so that they do not have to obey the law for their salvation. The gospel is the good news that Christ has risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of his Father. The gospel is the good news that Christ has received from God the promise of the Spirit and has poured out that Spirit into the hearts of his people. The gospel is the good news that all of our crying out, “Abba, Father” is the crying of Christ’s Spirit in our hearts. The gospel is the good news that all of our working and doing the commandments of God is given to us as a gift through Christ. The gospel is the good news that all of our obedience is the activity of Christ’s Spirit within us. The gospel is the good news that Christ has prepared for us an inheritance in heaven that fades not away. The gospel announces and declares to us all of the things of Christ. The gospel is Jesus Christ.

This gospel is distinct from the law. This gospel is distinct from commandments. The law does not announce Christ. The commandments do not declare what Christ has done. The law of God teaches men what they must do. The law says, “Thou.” Thou shalt do this. Thou shalt not do that. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not have any other gods before the Lord thy God. Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

The gospel declares Jesus Christ and what he has done. The law declares thou and what thou must do.

According to Canons 3–4.17, God’s means of grace is the gospel.

The before mentioned supernatural operation of God by which we are regenerated in no wise excludes or subverts the use of the gospel, which the most wise God has ordained to be the seed of regeneration and food of the soul.

The Canons is teaching what all scripture declares: God saves his people by the gospel. God saves his people by the announcement and declaration of Jesus Christ crucified.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (Rom. 1:16)

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Rom. 10:17)

But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. (1 Cor. 1:23–24)

And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Cor. 5:18)

Canons 3–4.17 teaches that the gospel is God’s means of grace. The entire article is about the gospel. The entire article is only about the gospel. The article has nothing to do with the law. The article has nothing to do with commandments. The article does not so much as mention the law. It does not mention the law in the word “admonitions.” It does not mention the law in the words “the more readily we perform our duty.” The article itself announces its own subject: the means of grace. The article itself identifies the means of grace: the gospel. Canons 3–4.17 is only about the gospel as the means of grace, and it is not at all about the law of God. Therefore, when men read the law into Canons 3–4.17, they introduce a subject that is entirely foreign to the article. “Grace is conferred by means of admonitions” has nothing to do with the law. That phrase is strictly about the gospel.

What is true of Canons 3–4.17 in particular is true generally of the entire third and fourth heads of doctrine in the Canons. Canons 3 and 4 are not about the law as any kind of means of grace. Canons 3 and 4 are strictly about the gospel as the means of grace. Canons 3 and 4 as a whole are entitled “Of the Corruption of Man, His Conversion to God and the Manner Thereof.” Notice that: “And the Manner Thereof.” The entire two heads of doctrine teach the manner (or the means) by which man is converted to God. The entire two heads  teach the means of grace. And what do Canons 3 and 4 say in all of their articles is the means of grace? The gospel! The gospel comes up again and again in Canons 3 and 4 as the means of grace. And what never comes up in these two heads as the means of grace? The law! The commandments! The Reformed doctrine of the means of grace, according to Canons 3 and 4, is that the gospel and the gospel alone is the means of grace.

What therefore neither the light of nature nor the law could do, that God performs by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word or ministry of reconciliation, which is the glad tidings concerning the Messiah, by means whereof it hath pleased God to save such as believe, as well under the Old as under the New Testament. (Canons 3–4.6, in Confessions and Church Order, 167)

As many as are called by the gospel are unfeignedly called. (Canons 3–4.8, in Confessions and Church Order, 168)

That others who are called by the gospel obey the call and are converted is not to be ascribed to the proper exercise of free will…but it must be wholly ascribed to God. (Canons 3–4.10, in Confessions and Church Order, 168)

This is only a smattering of quotations from Canons 3 and 4. One can read through the entire two heads and find that from beginning to end, the manner of man’s conversion is the gospel, which God sovereignly and powerfully uses as the means by which he opens the heart and by which he gives faith and salvation. As one reads through these heads, one will not find anywhere that God uses the law as the means of man’s salvation. When one comes to Canons 3–4.17, therefore, it is impossible to read the law into the article. Not only does Canons 3–4.17 clearly teach the gospel as the means of grace, but all of the third and fourth heads teach the gospel as the means of grace. The law simply has nothing to do with it.

In fact, the third and fourth heads are explicit that salvation does not come by the law and cannot come by the law. Canons 3 and 4 explicitly draw our attention to the decalogue—the ten commandments, the law—in order to deny that any kind of saving grace can come by the law.

In the same light are we to consider the law of the decalogue, delivered by God to His peculiar people, the Jews, by the hands of Moses. For though it discovers the greatness of sin, and more and more convinces man thereof, yet as it neither points out a remedy nor imparts strength to extricate him from misery, and thus, being weak through the flesh, leaves the transgressor under the curse, man cannot by this law obtain saving grace. (Canons 3–4.5, in Confessions and Church Order, 167)

According to Canons 3–4.5, the law does some things. The law discovers the greatness of sin. The law convinces man that he is wicked. But there are also certain things that the law does not do and never was intended to do. The law does not point out a remedy for sin. The law only says, “Thou. Thou shalt, and thou shalt not.” The law never says, “Christ. Christ has done, and Christ has accomplished.” The law also does not impart strength to a man so that he can obey the law’s commands. You can say “Thou shalt” to a man all you want, but that commandment will never give him the strength to obey. That commandment will never effect or cause his obedience. Contrary to Professor Cammenga, who teaches that God uses the law to give the obedience that the law requires, Canons 3–4.5 says that the law does not impart any strength to a man.

The law is thus weak. Oh, yes, the law is powerful to point out sin. The law is powerful to condemn men. But the law is weak to save. The law is so weak that it cannot deliver a man from his sin but leaves him in it. The law is so weak that it cannot give obedience but leaves a man impotent to obey. The law’s weakness is not the fault of the law. The law is holy, just, and good. The law is the holy law of God himself. Rather, the law is weak through the depravity and helplessness of man. The law is “weak through the flesh.” The law is weak by the ordination of God himself, who never intended the law as the means of grace and salvation. All that the law can do to the transgressor is to leave “the transgressor under the curse.” Because of this, “man cannot by this law obtain saving grace.” The law is not the manner of man’s conversion! The law is not God’s means of grace.

If the law cannot save and if the law cannot be the means of grace, then what is? The gospel! This is the crystal clear Reformed doctrine of the Canons.

What therefore neither the light of nature nor the law could do, that God performs by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word or ministry of reconciliation, which is the glad tidings concerning the Messiah, by means whereof it hath pleased God to save such as believe, as well under the Old as under the New Testament. (Canons 3–4.6, in Confessions and Church Order, 167)

The Canons teaches that the gospel and not the law is the means of grace because this is the clear doctrine of scripture. 

For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Rom. 8:3–4)

Therefore, it is a flagrant denial of the Canons to teach that grace is conferred by commandments. It is a flagrant denial of the Canons to teach that the law of commandments is God’s means of grace. When Professor Cammenga and the PRC introduce the law into Canons 3–4.17 as that by which God confers his grace, they are overthrowing the Reformed faith. The doctrine of the Canons, as it is the doctrine of the Reformed faith and as it is the doctrine of scripture, is that the law is not the means of grace and the means of salvation. The doctrine of the Canons, as it is the doctrine of the Reformed faith and as it is the doctrine of scripture, is that the gospel of Jesus Christ alone is the means of grace and the means of salvation.

God Wills the Means of Grace

Third, the true doctrine of Canons 3–4.17 is that God wills to use the means of grace in conferring salvation upon his people. According to the article, God “hath chosen to exert His influence” through means, and “the most wise God has ordained [the gospel] to be the seed of regeneration and food of the soul.” We (in our folly) could imagine a scenario in which God might save one of his elect children directly and immediately, without the use of the means of the gospel. Perhaps a man in a tribe on a remote island nation is elect, but he never hears the gospel at all. Yet when that man dies, he finds himself inexplicably in heaven. He never knew the name Jesus, never heard anything about forgiveness, and never believed in God. Yet God saved him. Why could not God do such a thing? God is sovereign and free and omnipotent. God could save a man in any way that he pleased, and no one could tell God that it was inappropriate.

But that is exactly the point: God could save a man in any way that he pleased, and he is only pleased to save by means of the gospel. It is not his good pleasure to save a man apart from the gospel. God is only pleased to save by means of his only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. He has “chosen to exert His influence” this way, and he has “ordained” this. Saving his people by means of the gospel pleases God as that which most displays his infinite mercy and goodness. This pleases God as that which most honors Jesus Christ as the only savior from sin and death. God declares his goodness and mercy in the gospel. God displays his lovingkindness and perfect righteousness in the gospel. God causes his elect people to know him and believe in him by the gospel. It is God’s will not only to save men by his Son but also to make men know that they are saved by his Son. God wills to save his elect people by means of the gospel.

And therefore, the “supernatural operation of God by which we are regenerated in no wise excludes or subverts the use of the gospel” (Canons 3–4.17). The article is warding off a false charge by the Arminians against the Reformed faith. The false charge of the Arminians was that if salvation is by grace alone and not by the free will of the sinner, then what is the point of preaching the gospel? The sinner who hears the gospel cannot by his free will respond anyway. The sinner is going to be delivered by God sovereignly and supernaturally. Why even preach then? The Reformed answer, as it is the answer of scripture, is that God “hath most intimately joined together” the preaching of the gospel and the salvation of his elect people. God is pleased to use the means of the gospel because the glory of the means redounds to God: “To whom alone all the glory, both of means and of their saving fruit and efficacy, is forever due. Amen” (Canons 3–4.17).

Canons 3–4.17 points to the apostles and to the ministers appointed by the apostles as the authoritative example of the church’s practice. On the one hand, the apostles taught clearly and forcefully that salvation is by grace alone. They taught that God’s salvation of a man was a supernatural and sovereign work of God and not in any way the work of man. The apostles condemned all contrary teachings that justification and salvation were of man, of man’s obedience, of the law, or of man’s cooperation in any sense whatsoever. The doctrine of the apostles was salvation by grace alone. The apostles “piously instructed the people concerning this grace of God, to His glory, and the abasement of all pride.”

On the other hand, the apostles did not abandon the preaching of the gospel. The apostles did not conclude from their doctrine of salvation by the sovereign operation of God that the people no longer needed to hear the gospel. Rather, the apostles preached and instructed the ministers following them to preach. The apostles administered the sacraments and taught the church to administer the sacraments. The apostles exercised Christian discipline and taught the church to exercise Christian discipline. Why did the apostles do this? Because the gospel is the means of grace, which God hath “most intimately joined together” with salvation as the means by which he saves his people. Therefore, the apostles, who taught the people that their salvation was by the free and gracious operation of God, “in the meantime, however, neglected not to keep them by the sacred precepts of the gospel in the exercise of the Word, sacraments, and discipline.”

When Canons 3–4.17 speaks of “the sacred precepts of the gospel,” it is not speaking of the law. We might think that the word “precepts” naturally refers to commandments or laws. But the word “precepts” is a poor translation of the original Latin of the Canons of Dordt. The original Latin uses the word monitum. The Latin word monitum means admonition. In fact, we get our English word admonition directly from the Latin monitum. In the oft-quoted section of Canons 3–4.17 about admonitions, the very same Latin word is in the original Canons of Dordt: “Grace is conferred by means of monitum.” A better translation of “the sacred precepts of the gospel” would be “the sacred admonitions of the gospel.”

And what are the sacred admonitions of the gospel? The sacred admonitions of the gospel are not the law: thou shalt, and thou shalt not. We must not understand these sacred admonitions of the gospel as the ten commandments. The ten commandments are not the sacred admonitions of the gospel, but they are the sacred commandments of the law. Remember that the Canons is referring to what the apostles did. The apostles did not teach salvation by grace alone in one breath and then turn around and teach salvation by means of the law in the next. Rather, “the sacred admonitions of the gospel” refers to the call of the gospel that always accompanies the gospel: believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The essential meaning of that call of the gospel is Jesus Christ alone. Even though the call of the gospel comes in the form of a command—Believe!—the call of the gospel is not essentially the law. The call of the gospel is the gospel. The call of the gospel is Jesus Christ as the savior of the sinner from his death and misery. The call of the gospel does not point the sinner to himself: you must believe or else! The call of the gospel points the sinner away from himself to Jesus Christ and to the salvation that is found in Christ alone: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:31).

This sacred admonition of the gospel, which is the call of the gospel to believe in Jesus Christ, keeps God’s people in the gospel. When the apostles called men to believe in Jesus Christ, that sacred admonition of the gospel did not send believers away from the gospel. Rather, that preaching of the gospel with its sacred admonition to believe in Jesus Christ kept God’s people in the exercise of that gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ was found in the word preached, and the sacred admonition of the gospel kept them under the word preached. The gospel of Jesus Christ was found in the administration of the sacraments, and the sacred admonition of the gospel kept God’s people in the use of the sacraments. The gospel of Jesus Christ was found in Christian discipline that called sinners to repent of their iniquity and to believe in Jesus Christ, and the sacred admonition of the gospel kept God’s people in the exercise of Christian discipline.

All of this, Canons 3–4.17 sets before the church as the example of the apostles. On the one hand, the apostles instructed God’s people in the truth of salvation by the sovereign and gracious operation of God. On the other hand, the apostles recognized the gospel in word, sacrament, and discipline as God’s means to confer his grace.

Wherefore, as the apostles and teachers who succeeded them piously instructed the people concerning this grace of God, to His glory, and the abasement of all pride, and in the meantime, however, neglected not to keep them by the sacred precepts of the gospel in the exercise of the Word, sacraments, and discipline…

The example of the apostles is prescriptive and normative for the church. The Canons warns ministers and members alike that God has willed the gospel as the means by which he saves his elect people. He wills the preaching of the gospel, the administration of the sacraments, and Christian discipline as the means of grace by which he delivers his people. Therefore,

even to this day, be it far from either instructors or instructed to presume to tempt God in the church by separating what He of His good pleasure hath most intimately joined together.

 

Grace Is Conferred by Means of the Gospel

Fourth, the true interpretation of Canons 3–4.17 is that the famous line “Grace is conferred by means of admonitions” means “Grace is conferred by means of the gospel.” In light of everything that has come before in this article of the Canons, and in light of everything that has come before in the third and fourth heads, the doctrine of this line is that grace is conferred by means of the gospel. The entire article is about the gospel, not the law, as the means of grace. The entire third and fourth heads are about the gospel, not the law, as the means of grace. Heads 3 and 4 have not taught the gospel as the means of grace and excluded the law as the means of grace only to go back on that at the end of article 17. Canons 3–4.5 has not taught that “man cannot by this law obtain saving grace” only to teach in 3–4.17 that saving “grace is conferred by means of [this law].” The doctrine throughout the third and fourth heads and the doctrine throughout Canons 3–4.17 is that grace is conferred by means of the gospel.

This can be demonstrated in the language of the oft-quoted phrase itself: “Grace is conferred by means of admonitions.” The “admonitions” by which grace is conferred are not some new thing in the article. The admonitions came up earlier in the article and were defined earlier in the article. Although our English translation does not capture it, the admonitions came up earlier as “the sacred precepts [admonitions] of the gospel.” The same Latin word—monitum—was used earlier in the article and translated as “sacred precepts of the gospel.” Now that very same word is translated as “admonitions.” The admonitions have already been defined. And the admonitions have not been defined as law. The admonitions have not been defined as commandments. The admonitions have already been defined as “the sacred [admonitions] of the gospel.” They are the admonitions of the gospel! They are the sacred admonitions of the gospel call to believe in Jesus Christ, which call of the gospel is the gospel. Grace is conferred by means of the sacred admonitions of the gospel! Grace is conferred by means of the gospel!

This interpretation, and this interpretation alone, fits with Lord’s Day 25, Q&A 65 of the Heidelberg Catechism. In this sister confession to Canons 3–4.17, the Heidelberg Catechism teaches, “Since then we are made partakers of Christ and all His benefits by faith only, whence doth this faith proceed? From the Holy Ghost, who works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel, and confirms it by the use of the sacraments” (Confessions and Church Order, 108).

What is the means of grace in salvation? How is grace conferred? By the gospel! Grace is conferred by means of the gospel!

Away with the misrepresentation of Canons 3–4.17 as teaching salvation by the law, justification by the law, sanctification by the law, and obedience by the law. Away with the appeal to Canons 3–4.17 as teaching that grace is conferred by means of the law. Grace is not conferred by means of the law but by means of the sacred admonitions of the gospel.

God Blesses the Preaching of the Gospel

Fifth, the true interpretation of Canons 3–4.17 is that God blesses the gospel in his church. God blesses his people under the preaching of the gospel. God blesses his people under the administration of the sacraments. God blesses his people in the exercise of Christian discipline. God blesses the gospel!

Why does God bless the preaching of the gospel? Not because of the church’s obedience in the gospel but because God is pleased to confer his grace and salvation to his people by the gospel. God feeds and nourishes his people with Jesus Christ through the gospel unto everlasting life. God advances his work of salvation by the gospel. God has appointed the gospel as the means by which he saves; he has intimately joined together salvation and the gospel; and he blesses his own means of the gospel in his church.

For grace is conferred by means of admonitions; and the more readily we perform our duty, the more eminent usually is this blessing of God working in us, and the more directly is His work advanced; to whom alone all the glory, both of means and of their saving fruit and efficacy, is forever due. Amen.

It is at this point that the misrepresentation of Canons 3–4.17 makes its last-ditch attempt to introduce the law into the article. The word “duty” is taken to mean our duty to obey the law. Our performing our duty, then, is our obedience to the law. The teaching, then, would be that the more we obey God’s law, the more eminent is God’s blessing.

That interpretation is entirely wrong. The word “duty” is a poor translation. As Homer Hoeksema notes in his book The Voice of Our Fathers, a better translation would be office.⁶ The word duty or office is not a reference to any law or commandment. And our “performing” our duty or office is not the obeying of any law or commandment. Rather, the article refers to the office of minister in preaching the gospel and the office of believer in hearing the gospel. God does not bless puppet shows in church for the salvation of his people. God blesses the gospel. God does not bless personal testimonials in church for the salvation of his people. God blesses the gospel. God does not bless liturgical dance, Super Bowl screenings, religious dramatic presentations, or any other thing for the salvation of his people. God blesses the gospel. Why? Because he is pleased to confer grace by means of the gospel. The church that abandons the gospel will not be blessed and will not be saved. Why? Because God is pleased to confer grace by means of the gospel. This is the meaning of the statement about performing our duty.

For grace is conferred by means of admonitions; and the more readily we perform our duty, the more eminent usually is this blessing of God working in us, and the more directly is His work advanced.

And lest anyone think that somehow that still must be interpreted in terms of ministers’ obeying God’s command to preach the gospel and believers’ obeying God’s command to come to church, the Canons rules that out with its last line: “To whom alone all the glory, both of means and of their saving fruit and efficacy, is forever due.” The issue is not obedience to God’s law. The issue is God’s saving means of grace.

What a beautiful and comforting article this is for God’s people! How awful for men to rob God’s people of their comfort in this article by teaching it as law. How deadly to the soul to think and believe that grace comes by means of commandments and obedience. Let teachers of such things be accursed, for they do not teach the gospel, and they turn the comfort of the Canons into bondage. Thank God for his gospel, by which we are saved. And may God preserve that gospel among his true church. And he will! For grace is conferred by means of the gospel!