Recently I received a letter which asked a question of gravest importance. It read—

This is my reply.

Text: "Who hath gathered the wind in His fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, if thou canst tell" –(Proverbs 30:4)

(St.} Patrick –"He (God) hath a son co-eternal and co-equal with Himself. The Son is not younger than the Father, nor is the Father older than the Son."

"God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom He also made the worlds." (Hebrews 1:1,2) With these words the writer of Hebrews teaches the doctrine of eternal Sonship of

Christ since it is said that God made the worlds by His Son.

With these words—"Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power" the writer pronounces the Son co-equal with God, hence making Him Divine. (3)

In verse 5 and 6, the writer continues by presenting the preexistence of the Son saying, "Unto which of the angels said He at any time, ‘Thou art MY son; this day have I begotten thee?’ And again, ‘I will be to him a Father, and He shall be to me a son?’ And again, when He bringeth in the first begotten into the world, He saith, ‘And let all the angels of God worship Him.’"

From this passage, it is evident first, that there is a generation of the Son, for it is said God has brought His "firstbegotten" into the world.

Second, it is equally evident that this is an eternal generation for the Scripture says, "When He bringeth in the ‘firstbegotten’ into the world"; this showing He was the "Firstbegotten" before He was brought into the world.

Third, note that when the writer states "let all the angels of

God worship Him" he declares the Son is divine since it is contrary to divine law for the creation to worship anyone but God.

Again, note the words of the Apostle John: "...God sent His only begotten Son into the world." (1 John 4:9) With this statement he affirms that before God sent "His only begotten Son" into the world. He was the "only begotten Son."

It has been contended by some that the Sonship of Christ is not eternal: that before the incarnation he was not known as the "Son of God", but was known only as "the Word." The denial of the eternal Sonship of Christ, however, amounts to a denial of the eternal nature of the Father and is tantamount to a denial of the immutability of the Godhead. (Malachi 3:6)

In what sense, then, is Jesus the "Son" of God? And, in what

Son of God "begotten"?

Jesus Christ is co-existent with the Father. (John 1:1-3). His "goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting," said the prophet. (Micah 5:2) John argues that the Son whom he calls "the Word" is co-equal with the Father: that He is consubstantial with Him and unless there can be a "Father" without having a Son, He is co-essential with Him.

Like the Father, He in sovereign, ever-present and Almighty. He controls the waves, and, like His Father, He "gathers the wind in His, fists. (Proverbs 30:4)

When Solomon asks, "...Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is His name?" He asks a rhetorical question inquiring into the essence of His being. It is as if he said, "Show me His nature. Point out His infinity and His incomprehensibility." Without a doubt the writer speaks of God; and when he asks after the name of His Son, it is obvious the writer speaks from a knowledge of the Sonship of the Son of God.

"Begotten"— In What Sense?

If the Son of God is eternal and all-wise, in what sense is the Son of God "begotten"?

People who reject the doctrine of the eternal Sonship of Christ do so because they consider humiliation to be essential to Sonship. It is true that in His incarnation our Lord voluntarily laid aside the independent exercise of His divinity (Philippians 2:5-11) in order to "learn obedience by the things which He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8) It is incorrect, however, to assume such a state is essential to Sonship, for note how the Apostle John affirms that the "Son" on earth was also the "Son" in Heaven. (John 3:13)

The Son of God was begotten from eternity, and not in time. At the time of His incarnation, He was already a Son. "Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered." {Hebrews 5:8) He became the Author of eternal salvation" (9) which thing would be impossible unless from eternity He had authority over eternity. (See: Proverbs 8:22-30) He is therefore essentially a Son, not according to His humiliation in time, but a Son from eternity.

It is abundantly clear from Scripture that there is a generation of the Son. It is equally clear that we are not to understand this generation as having been completed in the distant past. In distinction to the sons of men, the Son of God is "begotten" or "generated" as an act in the eternal present. It is an act by the Great "I Am" who dwells in the eternal present. It is therefore an act ever completed, yet ever continuing.

Jesus is repeatedly called the "only begotten" (John 1:14,18; 3:16, 18; I John 4:9) because in the whole realm of the living no other being has had such a generation. Although the angels are sometimes called the "sons of God" (Job 1:6, 2:1, 38:7) yet none was ever begotten in this manner.

Among the sons of men, believers are called the "sons of God" (I John 3:1), yet we are sons by adoption, not by nature (Galatians 4:4,5); by regeneration; not by generation – and only by grace.

The generation of the Son of God was a necessary act, for if it were according to the option of the Father, then the existence of the Son would be optional. This would rob the Son of His Deity since He could not then be equal with the Father.

The nature of this generation concerns the personal subsistence of the Son, and not the subsistence of His divinity. "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father," Jesus said (John 14:9). And again He said, "I and My Father are one." (John 10:30) The Father and the Son are therefore of the same essence. He is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature." (Colossians 1:15) "In Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." (2:9)

Patrick preached correctly when he declared, "He (God) hath a Son co-eternal and co-equal with Himself. The Son is not younger than the Father, nor is the Father older than the Son."

The generation of the Son is a spiritual generation. The Arians of old (the ancient Unitarians} fallaciously argued that the generation of the Son involved a separation or division in the Godhead. Like Nicodemus who thought the New Birth necessitated re entering his mother’s womb, and like the woman at the well who wanted "living water" so she would not have to draw water daily; so detractors of this doctrine argue according to a carnal understanding. The things of God, however, are spiritually and not physically discerned. (I Corinthians 2:14)

The generation of the Son of God is not to be understood in a physical or carnal sense: It is a spiritual generation, and as such it involves neither division nor change.

HOW TO LIVE AMID THE HEATHEN

The progenitors of this nation forged from a wilderness of paganism "one nation under God." Justice Joseph Story wrote

Nevertheless, Christianity is being proscribed. Government, Education, and the Media – each have become the lackey of the globalists to dilute the principles upon which this nation was founded. While America was founded as a Christian land, it has become a land of "pluralism."

How are Christians to live among the heathen? How should we behave toward idolaters in the market place and in our neighborhoods?

the Lord" (I Kings 21:20), most are simply deceived by the delusions

It may be that God has purposed to use you as His instrument to awaken some to righteousness. Therefore--

God will not share His glory with another. His truth is dogmatic and exclusive. True religion, therefore, cannot accept heathenism as an acceptable alternate religion.

Woe unto those fundamentalist preachers who have appeared on nationally televised talk shows who, when asked pointed questions regarding the damnation of Christ-rejecters, have fudged and not told the truth.

Woe unto them who have no convictions but who esteem all religions to be of equal value. "Neither is there salvation is any

other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:12)

Woe unto the ecumenists who seek to reduce truth to the least common denominator by asserting all that is required of men is that they live a good life.

While we aunt beware of destroying our influence by displaying a caustic or an obnoxious attitude, yet we must not surrender truth in the hope of preserving peace. All is then lost: the Christian loses his influence, and the pagan is denied the "balm in Gilead."

God has not left Himself without witness. (Acts 14:17) Melchizadek, King of Salem, priest of the Most High God, was not a Hebrew (Hebrews 7:1) neither was Job of whom it is said that he was "perfect and upright in his generation" (Job 1:1)

Joseph delivered from famine the land of his captivity. Christ ministered compassion to the Samaritans without diluting His message to a mere social gospel. The Apostles certainly did not believe all religions are equal, nor did they disdain to use their own poets to illustrate the truth (Acts 17:28); yet, they uncompromisingly attacked the moral perversions attendant with paganism. (Romans 1:19-32)

There is much we need to learn experientially about living a vital testimony amid the heathen. Could it be that "we whose souls are lighted; the lamp of life denied" for so long, that God in His infinite wisdom has brought them to our neighborhoods that they may "see our good works and glorify our Father which is in Heaven?" (Matthew 5:16)