Editor's Comments

Walter J. Chantry


Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? . . . (Rom. 11:33–34a).

The first five issues of The Banner of Truth in 2004 have been devoted to themes of the Doctrines of Grace. This issue has a follow-up article. Since the doctrine of election has been asserted, the human mind instinctively turns to the wider issues of predestination. If God has decreed the election of a people to grace, it is implicit that he has also decreed the reprobation of other members of humanity.

As Joel Beeke takes up the biblical teaching of predestination, he leans heavily on the fact of the incomprehensibility of God. Any truth of Scripture that we explore will very quickly lead us to the vast borders of the secret things which belong alone to the Lord our God. Whether studying creation, God’s decrees, the existence of evil, or eternal life, we are soon left gazing uncomprehendingly into a vast unknown. Each of the contributors to this month’s issue comments wisely on the incomprehensibility of God.

When Herman Bavinck undertook to write his volume on The Doctrine of God, his first chapter was on God’s Incomprehensibility. This was followed by a chapter on God’s ‘Knowability’. Never does man attain to infinity. That is an attribute which God does not communicate to any creature. Since the Lord’s knowledge and wisdom are infinite, they are and will forever remain far above our own.

For spiritual maturity we must come to terms with this great truth. Like the Doctrines of Grace, the Incomprehensibility of God exalts the Lord above all. At the same time a grasp of this subject promotes humility in every man. There is no place for confidence in the flesh. At our highest spiritual progress we are utterly dependent upon God’s Word and God’s Spirit to disclose any truth to us. But this is the posture of faith.

God’s glory is supremely revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ. We feel that we understand God most fully by our knowledge of our Saviour. Yet who understands two vastly different natures united in one Person? Paul was right when he said, ‘Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh . . .’ (1 Tim. 3:16).


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