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Studies in Dogmatics
Studies in Dogmatics: Faith and Sanctification
In this series rooted in the normative significance of Scripture, noted Dutch theologian G. C. Berkouwer examines great doctrines of the Reformed faith, developing and defending Reformed theology through interaction with a wide range of theologies and theologians.
- GenresTheology
196 pages, Paperback
First published December 26, 1952
About the author
G.C. Berkouwer
35 books20 followersGerrit Cornelis Berkouwer was for years the leading theologian of the Gereformeerde Kerken in the Netherlands (GKN). He occupied the Chair in systematic theology of the Faculty of Theology, Free University (VU) in Amsterdam.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 12, 2024
Amazing what you can read in a few flights! I throughly enjoyed it more this time, mostly because I’ve matured in both my theological understanding and my own walk with Christ. However, the last two chapters still went on a tad too long. It was a helpful survey of sanctification as prepare to preach through Romans 8 this year and the Sermon on the Mount next.
June 29, 2024
THE SECOND VOLUME IN BERKOUWER’S 14-VOLUME “STUDIES IN DOGMATICS”
Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer (1903-1996) taught systematic theology at the Free University in Amsterdam. The other volumes in this series are: The Providence of God,Faith and Justification,The Person of Christ,General Revelation,Faith and Perseverance,Divine Election,Man: The Image of God,The Work of Christ,The Sacraments,Sin,The Return of Christ,Holy Scriptures,The Church. He also wrote books such as The Second Vatican Council and the New Catholicism,Modern Uncertainty and Christian Faith,Recent Developments in Roman Catholic Thought,A Half Century of Theology: Movements and Motives, etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1949 book, “The timeliness of our subject becomes the more evident when we observe to what extent the problem of the renewal of life is attracting the attention of moralists. Amid numberless chaotic and demoralizing forces is sounded … the cry for help and healing, for the re-organization of a dislocated world… Also in the interest of what seems to be a common goal, namely the renovation of society and resistance against its deterioration, there are the efforts of those who wish to unite humanistic with Christian ideals… they say, is there no common sphere of operation in which to work toward the ‘sanctified’ society? Surely concrete results are more important than the rationale that produced them. Could we not somehow acquire a common vision of the Good? These are the questions we must answer. For implicit in them is the intent to destroy the connection between justification and sanctification, as well as the bond between faith and sanctification.” (Pg. 11-12)
He notes, “it is not true that believers are children of God---justified, purified, sanctified, called, and loved---without having to heed the voice of admonition. This antinomian error not only denies the true sanctification of believers but has lost sight of the holiness of God and his sanctifying influence. Because it is God who sanctifies, this admonition is fully integral with the Gospel of grace… Hence the sanctification of believers is never an independent area of human activity. The … sanctification of the believer is a corollary of his faith.” (Pg. 26)
He points out, “Paul continually refers to this arch-contention which arose in his soul upon his encounter with Jesus Christ… Paul knows that the believer is constantly embroiled in a conflict which issues into growing alienation. Human existence lies beneath the benediction and in the church of grace… Paul adduces two related events: a cry of contrition over sins committed and a cry of victory through a conquering Christ, the events corresponding to his being a captive to sin and a bondservant to Christ. This conflict is not a poignant tragedy played behind closed curtains; at the decisive moment it breaks through the chrysalis of a windowless past and breathes hope and humility.” (Pg. 61)
He observes, “In any discussion of ‘Militia Christiana’---the warfare which key-notes the Christian life---both the ‘militia’ and the ‘Christiana’ need to be emphasized. Neither may be neglected. The ‘Christiana’ may not weaken but must motivate the warfare. In addition, there is the danger that, when the victory of Christ is lost sight of, the warfare degenerates into self-reliant activism. The true Militia Christiana can be waged only from the incentives of Romans 7: humility and gratitude. This warfare is taught throughout the New Testament; and everywhere we hear the confession of guilt: ‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us’ [1 Jn 1:8, 10]. This confession is the ground in the New Testament for every warning, admonition, and indictment directed at the Christian Church.” (Pg. 63)
He states, “All progress in sanctification moves within the boundaries of being sons of the Father. This progress is not an automatic, causal development from first-fruits to full harvest but a progression in faith, prayer, meekness, and confession of guilt… The progress of sanctification, therefore, is a process comparable with no other process… Thus we can understand that progress in sanctification can never consist in building ourselves up on our morality… The debate concerning the nature of sanctification has never been exclusively theological. Ties with common, everyday life have never been severed.” (Pg. 112)
He notes, “Self-glorification is possible only through unbelief, which may move God, who spared not the natural branches, to remove also the high-minded gentile Christian. Thus the Scriptures preach humility: the only suitable response to the mercy of God. This humility is not to be sloughed off as believers advance to new levels but to be preserved as long as grace communicates itself.” (Pg. 125)
He observes, “Following in the steps of the Shepherd: that is the kind of conformity propagated by Peter. This is the king of conformity which excludes mere imitation. It is a conformity related to Christ’s act of abolishing sin. At bottom, it is to live conformably to, and on the basis of, the Atonement. On this basis alone believers are called to walk in his steps… They have communion with the suffering of Christ. By the Atonement he cleared the title deed on them and now they are his. Believers no longer have the right to dispose of their lives as they see fit… For to be a cross-bearer is to have surrendered all authority to Christ. The of the cross-bearer is not one of austere imitation but rather one of conformity rooted in reconciliation.” (Pg. 142-143)
He points out, “Undeniably true it is that the New Testament enlarges again and again upon the vital fellowship existing between believers and Christ---fellowship issuing in conformity… The eschatological prospect… does not preclude a conformity to Christ in this dispensation.” (Pg. 156)
He suggests, “The history of the people of Israel is a drama whose leit-motif is the danger besetting him who misconceives the law. The Gospel nowhere militates against the law but it does not trample all over the nomistic interpretations given to the law by the Jews. It always insists that love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:10) and never that believers are raised above it. Paul waged his war, too, against the Jewish abstraction of the law by which it was made a doorway to salvation.” (Pg. 173)
He notes, “One of the most central problems touching the relationship of believers to the law is that of heteronomy [i.e., acting in accordance with one's desires rather than reason or moral duty]… For the live of believers this vast tissue of questions concerning heteronomy and autonomy ceases to be important. Autonomy, at least, is no longer possible under the administration of the Gospel. The Atonement brought release from the self-determination of sin. The entire life of believers is now subject to the will of Another in genuine heteronomy, not as an oppressive menace to burgeoning life but as the sustaining statutory rule of the Other. It is essential that God’s law is imposed from without. Now it comes to man as a threat to his autonomy, nullifies this autonomy, and rids him of its illusions.” (Pg. 176)
He states, “throughout the history of the church, the true relationship between Gospel and Law has been obscured Two opposite tendencies are apparent: the tendency to make the Gospel into a new law and the tendency to sever the Gospel from the law…. The responsibility of the church is grave indeed. It must preach salvation full and free; and be constantly vigilant against both nomism and antinomism. These dangers can be overcome only by a faith that yields itself wholly to the grace of God.” (Pg. 188)
For anyone interested in conservative Reformed theology, this entire series will be of great interest. The diversity of the theologians and sources with whom Berkouwer interacts make this series a very stimulating reading project.
Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer (1903-1996) taught systematic theology at the Free University in Amsterdam. The other volumes in this series are: The Providence of God,Faith and Justification,The Person of Christ,General Revelation,Faith and Perseverance,Divine Election,Man: The Image of God,The Work of Christ,The Sacraments,Sin,The Return of Christ,Holy Scriptures,The Church. He also wrote books such as The Second Vatican Council and the New Catholicism,Modern Uncertainty and Christian Faith,Recent Developments in Roman Catholic Thought,A Half Century of Theology: Movements and Motives, etc.
He wrote in the first chapter of this 1949 book, “The timeliness of our subject becomes the more evident when we observe to what extent the problem of the renewal of life is attracting the attention of moralists. Amid numberless chaotic and demoralizing forces is sounded … the cry for help and healing, for the re-organization of a dislocated world… Also in the interest of what seems to be a common goal, namely the renovation of society and resistance against its deterioration, there are the efforts of those who wish to unite humanistic with Christian ideals… they say, is there no common sphere of operation in which to work toward the ‘sanctified’ society? Surely concrete results are more important than the rationale that produced them. Could we not somehow acquire a common vision of the Good? These are the questions we must answer. For implicit in them is the intent to destroy the connection between justification and sanctification, as well as the bond between faith and sanctification.” (Pg. 11-12)
He notes, “it is not true that believers are children of God---justified, purified, sanctified, called, and loved---without having to heed the voice of admonition. This antinomian error not only denies the true sanctification of believers but has lost sight of the holiness of God and his sanctifying influence. Because it is God who sanctifies, this admonition is fully integral with the Gospel of grace… Hence the sanctification of believers is never an independent area of human activity. The … sanctification of the believer is a corollary of his faith.” (Pg. 26)
He points out, “Paul continually refers to this arch-contention which arose in his soul upon his encounter with Jesus Christ… Paul knows that the believer is constantly embroiled in a conflict which issues into growing alienation. Human existence lies beneath the benediction and in the church of grace… Paul adduces two related events: a cry of contrition over sins committed and a cry of victory through a conquering Christ, the events corresponding to his being a captive to sin and a bondservant to Christ. This conflict is not a poignant tragedy played behind closed curtains; at the decisive moment it breaks through the chrysalis of a windowless past and breathes hope and humility.” (Pg. 61)
He observes, “In any discussion of ‘Militia Christiana’---the warfare which key-notes the Christian life---both the ‘militia’ and the ‘Christiana’ need to be emphasized. Neither may be neglected. The ‘Christiana’ may not weaken but must motivate the warfare. In addition, there is the danger that, when the victory of Christ is lost sight of, the warfare degenerates into self-reliant activism. The true Militia Christiana can be waged only from the incentives of Romans 7: humility and gratitude. This warfare is taught throughout the New Testament; and everywhere we hear the confession of guilt: ‘If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us’ [1 Jn 1:8, 10]. This confession is the ground in the New Testament for every warning, admonition, and indictment directed at the Christian Church.” (Pg. 63)
He states, “All progress in sanctification moves within the boundaries of being sons of the Father. This progress is not an automatic, causal development from first-fruits to full harvest but a progression in faith, prayer, meekness, and confession of guilt… The progress of sanctification, therefore, is a process comparable with no other process… Thus we can understand that progress in sanctification can never consist in building ourselves up on our morality… The debate concerning the nature of sanctification has never been exclusively theological. Ties with common, everyday life have never been severed.” (Pg. 112)
He notes, “Self-glorification is possible only through unbelief, which may move God, who spared not the natural branches, to remove also the high-minded gentile Christian. Thus the Scriptures preach humility: the only suitable response to the mercy of God. This humility is not to be sloughed off as believers advance to new levels but to be preserved as long as grace communicates itself.” (Pg. 125)
He observes, “Following in the steps of the Shepherd: that is the kind of conformity propagated by Peter. This is the king of conformity which excludes mere imitation. It is a conformity related to Christ’s act of abolishing sin. At bottom, it is to live conformably to, and on the basis of, the Atonement. On this basis alone believers are called to walk in his steps… They have communion with the suffering of Christ. By the Atonement he cleared the title deed on them and now they are his. Believers no longer have the right to dispose of their lives as they see fit… For to be a cross-bearer is to have surrendered all authority to Christ. The of the cross-bearer is not one of austere imitation but rather one of conformity rooted in reconciliation.” (Pg. 142-143)
He points out, “Undeniably true it is that the New Testament enlarges again and again upon the vital fellowship existing between believers and Christ---fellowship issuing in conformity… The eschatological prospect… does not preclude a conformity to Christ in this dispensation.” (Pg. 156)
He suggests, “The history of the people of Israel is a drama whose leit-motif is the danger besetting him who misconceives the law. The Gospel nowhere militates against the law but it does not trample all over the nomistic interpretations given to the law by the Jews. It always insists that love is the fulfillment of the law (Rom 13:10) and never that believers are raised above it. Paul waged his war, too, against the Jewish abstraction of the law by which it was made a doorway to salvation.” (Pg. 173)
He notes, “One of the most central problems touching the relationship of believers to the law is that of heteronomy [i.e., acting in accordance with one's desires rather than reason or moral duty]… For the live of believers this vast tissue of questions concerning heteronomy and autonomy ceases to be important. Autonomy, at least, is no longer possible under the administration of the Gospel. The Atonement brought release from the self-determination of sin. The entire life of believers is now subject to the will of Another in genuine heteronomy, not as an oppressive menace to burgeoning life but as the sustaining statutory rule of the Other. It is essential that God’s law is imposed from without. Now it comes to man as a threat to his autonomy, nullifies this autonomy, and rids him of its illusions.” (Pg. 176)
He states, “throughout the history of the church, the true relationship between Gospel and Law has been obscured Two opposite tendencies are apparent: the tendency to make the Gospel into a new law and the tendency to sever the Gospel from the law…. The responsibility of the church is grave indeed. It must preach salvation full and free; and be constantly vigilant against both nomism and antinomism. These dangers can be overcome only by a faith that yields itself wholly to the grace of God.” (Pg. 188)
For anyone interested in conservative Reformed theology, this entire series will be of great interest. The diversity of the theologians and sources with whom Berkouwer interacts make this series a very stimulating reading project.
January 5, 2020
Very quotable. He did spend a lot of time debating Barth and Brunner. 193 pages on faith and sanctification does not feel right - at one hand what he wrote could be condensed to something like 60-70 pages, or he should expand it and explore things a lot more deeply, which he could - at times it felt like sermons with historical theology bit added.
April 23, 2019
This volume by Berkouwer, a Dutch Reformed theologian, is clearly written (or translated at least), pastorally sensitive, and thought provoking. He makes a persuasive case that sanctification must be connected with and understood by sola fide and sola gratia, which in turn places him in conversation with perfectionism, antinomianism, and Roman Catholicism. Though a often forgotten theologian in many ways, he is one that ought to be returned to even if one disagrees with him at points, and this work on sanctification is no exception.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews