Journal: Journal of Dispensational Theology
Volume: JODT 19:56 (Spring 2015)
Article: Editorial
Author: Ron J. Bigalke, Jr.

Editorial

Ron J. Bigalke

Swiss evangelist and hymn writer César Malan always enjoyed sharing his faith in God with others. Malan asked a young woman, who was seated at his table, whether she was a Christian. The woman, Charlotte Elliott, became rigid with irritation, responding that she would rather not answer that question. Malan apologized if he had given offense. Nevertheless, the witness of Malan became a decisive moment in her life for Charlotte could not remove the inquiry from her mind. Three weeks later, she met Malan and told him that ever since he had spoken to her, she was wrestling with the thought of receiving God’s acceptance.

She wondered how she could gain God’s favor. Malan replied, “You have nothing of merit to bring to God. You must come just as you are.” Charlotte rejoiced at those words, and placed her faith in Christ. Although feeble and weak in body, Charlotte possessed a wonderful imagination, in addition to being cultured and thoughtful. She loved music and poetry, which is evident in her writing approximately 150 hymns. One of the finest and most commonly known of her hymns recalls the Christian witness of Malan; the hymn is entitled, “Just As I Am.”

The classic hymn says, “just as I am, without one plea” which means the new believer has years of sinful habits and patterns to overcome. The subheading for the hymn was “him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). How wonderful to know that God receives all those who come to Him by grace through faith, and thereafter “He always lives to make intercession” for his people (Heb 7:25). The one who trusts in God has the promise of God’s favor and peace, and with those blessings is God’s enablement to live by his grace and for his glory.

Calvinism, of course, has historically emphasized the doctrines of God’s grace in salvation, and how those divine decrees manifest the glory of God. The second part in Drew Curley’s article series continues to address those doctrines of grace as expressed in New Calvinism. Orthodox churches tend to emphasize mystery and transcendence in their doctrinal formulations; therefore, it can be difficult to determine the precise theology of those congregations. For this reason, Hal Smith’s article, which addresses the Orthodox Church’s relationship to supersessionism is included, so as to better understand their position, even though we (the publisher) recognize grave propositional errors. We are thankful for Mike Stallard’s response to the article, wherein we are in complete agreement with his assessments. The final article, written by David Q. Santos, does clearly expound the future for Israel, as revealed in You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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