Walking Through Westminster, WCF 16.5-7 "Of Good Works" Pt. 2

Westminster Confession of Faith 16.5-7

V. We cannot by our best works merit pardon of sin, or eternal life at the hand of God, by reason of the great disproportion that is between them and the glory to come; and the infinite distance that is between us and God, whom, by them, we can neither profit, nor satisfy for the debt of our former sins, but when we have done all we can, we have done but our duty, and are unprofitable servants: and because, as they are good, they proceed from his Spirit, and as they are wrought by us, they are defiled, and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection, that they cannot endure the severity of God's judgment.

VI. Notwithstanding, the persons of believers being accepted through Christ, their good works also are accepted in Him; not as though they were in this life wholly unblamable and unreproveable in God's sight; but that He, looking upon them in his Son, is pleased to accept and reward that which is sincere, although accompanied with many weaknesses and imperfections.

VII. Works done by unregenerate men, although for the matter of them they may be things which God commands; and of good use both to themselves and others: yet, because they proceed not from an heart purified by faith; nor are done in a right manner, according to the Word; nor to a right end, the glory of God, they are therefore sinful and cannot please God, or make a man meet to receive grace from God: and yet, their neglect of them is more sinful and displeasing unto God.

Summary

There's a great standup bit by comedian Norm MacDonald in which he makes the basic point that everyone is a hypocrite. After a great few minute introduction on the topic of hypocrisy and how we don't like it, he delivers a great line about all of us being rightly lumped into that camp. "Can you imagine," he asks, "having a little kid there, 7 or 8 years old, sitting them down...and telling them who you really are? Like, 'Hey, Billy, let me tell you all the evil (stuff) I've ever done.' That doesn't seem like a good idea."  

Essentially, we are all hypocrites on some level or another, because we are full of evil, but don't want anyone else to really know it. The problem we run into is that, while we can hide our evil from each other, God sees right through our hypocritical guise. He knows everything about how evil we really are. That's why the Confession echoes the Biblical teaching that we can never, by our own attempts at goodness, earn heaven. The distance between our sin and God's goodness is so vast that we can never cross it. Even when we have done everything commanded of us (which, if we are honest we never even come close to), Jesus still taught us that we were "unprofitable servants". Even if we did everything God told us to do, we still wouldn't have Him in our debt. He wouldn't owe us anything. Children growing up are often required to do chores (or they should be). When a child has done his chores, he has no right to go to his mother and demand payment. He was only doing what was expected of him. It is the same with God. 

This doesn't mean that God doesn't care about our good work: He does. If you are in Christ, then not only has God accepted you, but He accepts the good works you do, as done in Christ. Christ takes your imperfect good works and purifies them with His own blood so that the Father finds them wholly acceptable and pleasing. But they are only pleasing through Christ, not through you. 

The question then becomes: can unbelievers do "good works"? The Confession in section 7 echoes what Scripture teaches: good works can only be truly done by faith (Heb 11:6). As the unbeliever, by definition, does not have faith, none of their works can truly be called "good" the way that God defines it. This does not mean that their works are not helpful. It is better to live in a society where even unbelievers try not to harm their neighbor. It is better to live in a world where people try to help each other; where even unbelievers strive to live by God's 10 Commandments. However, because their works do not come from a heart that is born-again, thankful to God, and seeking to please God through faith, their works cannot be "good" in the sense that God requires. Yet, the Confession teaches (again, echoing Scripture) that it is still more sinful for the wicked to neglect good works. In other words, it is better that all men do works that are outwardly good; souls who reject God's Law because they don't believe in Him anyway are only making things worse for themselves on Judgment Day, not better. 

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Walking Through Westminster, WCF 16.1-4 "Of Good Works" Pt. 1

Westminster Confession of Faith 16.1-4

I. Good works are only such as God has commanded in his holy Word, and not such as, without the warrant thereof, are devised by men, out of blind zeal, or upon any pretence of good intention.

II. These good works, done in obedience to God's commandments, are the fruits and evidences of a true and lively faith: and by them believers manifest their thankfulness, strengthen their assurance, edify their brethren, adorn the profession of the Gospel, stop the mouths of the adversaries, and glorify God, whose workmanship they are, created in Christ Jesus thereunto, that, having their fruit unto holiness, they may have the end, eternal life.

III. Their ability to do good works is not at all of themselves, but wholly from the Spirit of Christ. And that they may be enabled thereunto, beside the graces they have already received, there is required an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit, to work in them to will, and to do, of his good pleasure: yet are they not hereupon to grow negligent, as if they were not bound to perform any duty unless upon a special motion of the Spirit; but they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them.

IV. They who, in their obedience, attain to the greatest height which is possibly in this life, are so far from being able to supererogate, and to do more than God requires, as that they fall short of much which in duty they are bound to do.

Summary

What is it that makes something good? We are often tempted to think that our own positive imaginings, ideas, or feelings about a thing make it "good". We like a particular person and so we call him a "good man". We like a particular idea and so we call it a "good idea". But the Scripture teaches, and the confession summarizes this truth, that the only thing that makes something good or not is what God says about it. God is all-goodness, there is no spot in Him of evil or wrongdoing. So, when He says that a thing is "good", it must be, of necessity. And anything that He declares "not good" is not good, of necessity. 

Based on this, when we come to the question of what makes a work good, the confession teaches that only thing that makes a work good is what God has said about it. Only if God has commanded it in His holy Word is a work defined as "good". We, in our unending efforts to justify ourselves, want our works to become good based on our own zeal or good intentions. This is what leads certain religious sects towards self-flagellation, extreme ascetism, or unneeded suffering. But God never called any of these things "good", and so we cannot call them good works. Many people today may proclaim the goodness of veganism, teetotalling, grain-free diets, childlessness, etc. But they are either self-deceived, or willingly imposing a standard on themselves and others that God has not set. 

Paul saw this in the church in Colosse. He said to them, "you subject yourselves to regulations -- 'Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle,' which all concern things which perish with the using...these things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." (Col 2:20-23) Good works are those that God says are good, and no others. 

Only the believer is truly capable of doing good works. While unbelievers may have the appearance of good works, they do not come from a living soul, freed from sin. Sin corrupts the human soul to the core so that no one living apart from Christ can truly do anything good. Yet, believers adorn their faith in Christ with their good works. The good works of the Christian are what stops the mouths of their enemies. The Spirit gives believers the ability to do good works, and continually produces goodness in them as the fruit of His work in their souls. 

When the confession speaks of works that "supererogate", it is speaking of the idea that we could ever meet and go beyond God's standards. Even if we did everything that God commanded of us, Jesus still said that the proper response was to say, "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do." (Luke 17:10) Even when we have done all that is commanded of us, we have not profited God anything. God has not gained anything when we have only done what we were obligated to do. A child may occasionally be rewarded for good behavior, but that reward is a grace. A child ought to obey their parents simply because of their authority. In the same manner, God expects us to obey Him. He may reward us for our obedience, but that is a grace and we can never surpass His commandments to the point where He is indebted to us for anything. 

God is good. He tells us what is good. His Spirit enables us to do good through faith in Christ. And He is good to graciously reward even the smallest motions of faith and obedience. He loves His children, and He loves even the most childlike acts of godliness.

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Walking Through Westminster, WCF 15.1-6 "Of Repentance unto Life"

Westminster Confession of Faith 15.1-6

I. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the Gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.

II. By it, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature, and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of His mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with Him in all the ways of His commandments.

III. Although repentance is not to be rested in, as any satisfaction for sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, which is the act of God's free grace in Christ, yet it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may expect pardon without it. 

IV. As there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation; so there is no sin so great, that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent.

V. Men ought not to content themselves with general repentance, but it is every man's duty to endeavor to repent of his particular sins, particularly.

VI. As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof; upon which, and the forsaking of them, he shall find mercy; so he that scandelizeth his brother, or the Church of Christ, ought to be willing, by a private or public confession and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are offended; who are thereupon to be reconciled to him, and in love to receive him.

Summary

Repentance is a grace of God. It is a gift. What does it mean? The Westminster Divines were a little wordy in section 2, but the gist of repentance is that it is a turning. In repentance, a sinner turns from his sins, and turns to God. Repentance is not true repentance if only done out of a sense and sight of the danger of sin, but also the filthiness and odiousness of sin. In other words, repentance isn't legitimate if you are only scared of hell. True repentance means turning from sin, not just to escape punishment, but because you actually see sin for its true ugliness and are rightly repelled away from it. It's like when a kid gets caught doing something wrong and says "Sorry", and his mom asks, "Are you sorry for what you've done, or are you sorry you got caught?" Repentance is not legitimate if it is only done because you "got caught", but it must be done because you see sin as being truly evil, ugly, and revolting. 

Nathaniel rebukes King David for his sins. David responded with true repentance, seen in Psalm 51.

Repentance also requires true apprehension of God's mercy in Christ. In order to properly repent, you must know that God forgives the penitent. True repentance is not done in fear that God will not forgive you, but in knowing that God will forgive all who come to Him in repentance. Repentance also requires a purposing and endeavoring to walk with God in all His commandments. In other words, if you know that you intend to go right back to your sins, then don't waste your breath repenting for them. True repentance does not require perfect obedience to follow, as perfect obedience has to be provided to you by Christ, but it does require faithful obedience to follow. Those who declare repentance with their mouths, but do not intend to change their ways, are not truly repentant, and do not have God's forgiveness. 

Repentance doesn't earn God's mercy, in the same way that faith doesn't earn justification. But repentance, like faith, is the channel, the instrument whereby we lay hold on something. We use faith to grasp justification. We use repentance to lay hold on God's mercies. And, because God's mercies are deep, wide, and strong, we know that no sin is "unrepentable". The only unforgivable sin, according to Matthew 12:31, is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. If you look at the context of that passage it becomes clear that what this means is a person sees the works of God through the Holy Spirit, but they attribute it to demonic activity. In other words, they see what God is doing, but refuse to repent. The unforgivable sin is portrayed in Revelation 9:20-21, "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."

True repentance is radical, life-changing. It means not just admitting that we are sinners, but being real with ourselves and others about the specific ways we sin. One way that we often try to skirt repentance is a cheap, general acknowledgment of our fallen nature. "Of course I make mistakes. Nobody's perfect," we might tell ourselves, or others. But true repentance doesn't just see and acknowledge sin as a general state of affairs; it sees and acknowledges the specific ways that we sin against God and others, and it specifically repents from and hates those sins. We never sin against God and others in vague generalities; we always sin against them in specific ways. We must repent for those specific sins, not simply the fallen state of being a sinner. 

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A Brief Update

Beloved friends,

As many of you know, Olivia and I have begun a new ministry at Trinity Chapel Charlotte, a church plant of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP). We are excited for the future God has for us in this new work. 

With the transition, we will be transitioning out of the apartment ministry. With that coming to a close, we want to thank all you who have faithfully supported us through your prayers and financial gifts. As indicated in the newsletter sent out last month, if you feel the Lord leading you to direct your support elsewhere, please feel free to end your support of us at this time. Move on to support something else great, knowing that you go with our tremendous thanks! You have loved us very well and we have felt so blessed by your partnership. 

However, if you feel that the Lord is leading you to still support us through prayer and finances, we would love to continue this relationship. Trinity Chapel is an unincorporated church, meaning that any gifts given are now tax-deductible (woohoo!). Trinity Chapel has a Paypal registered to its website (https://www.trinitychapelclt.org/give/) where you can also find mailing info if that is your preferred method of giving.

Our goal over the next 5 months is to raise roughly $180,000 to cover Keith's salary for the next 3 years. The method used in ARP church planting is to have 3 years of a salary raised, diminishing over that period as the church becomes able to support their own pastor. So Keith's salary for the next 3 years will transition gradually from outside support, to church support, as in the following rough model:

Year 1: 100% Outside Giving/0% Church Support

Year 2: 75% Outside Giving/25% Church Support

Year 3: 50% Outside Giving/50% Church Support

This model operates on the assumption that a church will be unable to fully support their pastor for a time (a "worst case scenario" of sorts). If God blesses the work sooner than later, and a church becomes financially able to support a pastor after a year, the outside support could cease then. However, if the soil proves difficult, and a church struggles to grow, this model allows for the ministry to continue for at least ~3 years, so we can make a good run at it.

Our intention is to raise all of these funds through established churches within our presbytery (the regional body of churches in North Carolina). But we know that some of you see value in our ministry, enjoy Keith's preaching, and may want to continue (or begin) supporting us. If that is the case, we hope you will commit to supporting our first year at Trinity Chapel, that we might start well and see what the Lord will do!

If you have any questions, please feel free to message me on Facebook, text/call (630-502-9081), or email me at my fancy new email address (kginn@trinitychapelclt.org). 

Thank you for taking the time to read our update. We love y'all!

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One Year in the Deep End

How has it already been a year since we began this adventure? There have been so many ups and downs, frustrations and joys over this past year, it's hard to know where to start! 

In the Apartments

Our apartment ministry continues to grow, albeit slowly and not in all the ways we expected. We have come to know many of our immediate neighbors in a close way, and we will often just spend time outside together, chatting, playing soccer with the kids, helping with groceries...

Our office management underwent a change several months ago. We ran into difficulties with the former office staff. Our visions for what this LIV ministry program should be were obviously different, and no one seemed to be happy with how things were going. However, the new staff are so encouraging to work with! We are freer now to pursue this program in the way that seems best to us, which is just so much more enjoyable. We have already noticed an improvement in our personal attitudes and the response of our neighbors.

We have had rough times, however. Many of you might know that Keith was the victim of an armed carjacking in the apartment parking lot last Thanksgiving. Praise God, the car was recovered the very next morning, the criminal was caught, and Keith had no lasting harm done to him. We strongly felt that this was a spiritual attack more than a simple crime, and our hearts were very discouraged in this ministry for a while. There was a very real possibility of us leaving then with no hard feelings from the LIV ministry, or the management, and we thought about seeking something safer; something easier. 

But the Lord encouraged our hearts. Through the support of God's people, especially in our local church, we were strengthened to endure and continue our ministry. We were reminded of Acts 14:22, "that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." By God's grace, we endured, and the carjacking even opened up new doors for us to get closer with families and the management. 

In the Church

In my role as pastoral apprentice of outreach/evangelism there have also been highs and lows. This role has afforded me plenty of new opportunities to meet people. The local restaurant outreach in particular has been very fun, even just on the strategic and social levels. It has been a thrill to walk into an establishment with a secret mission, not just to care for the souls of the wait staff and managers, but to maybe meet another patron, or secretly buy a mom and kids' meals and have the cashier tell them the angels covered their costs today. What a treat for me!

There have also been opportunities to merge our ministries together. And so we held our church's Christmas Eve service outside, in the middle of our apartment community. Several church members have made the effort to get involved in our apartment events. Our church has been particularly encouraging to me in these ministries and we have been encouraged to see this attitude rub off on church members.

Future Hopes 

In spite of the effort and the prayer, the ground has proven hard. We have yet to witness a conversion through these efforts and that has been discouraging. People have been led to Christ through our words and actions, but we have yet to see someone embrace Him as their Savior. 

I am reminded, though, that there was a drought of rain for more than 3 years in Elijah's time. It did not rain in Israel for years, but Elijah was bold when he told the wicked king Ahab, "Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain." (c.f. 1 Kings 18) Following his prophetic declaration, he went and prayed. But even then, he had to pray seven times to the Lord before God sent a little cloud to rise out of the sea. 

Though the first year of our ministry looks like a drought, we have seen little clouds popping up all around: increasing relationship with our neighbors; increasing interest in evangelism; increasing concern for their souls among the people we meet. Our field of labor is marked by dry, hard ground, and we've yet to see the Spirit pour out rain, but I believe we hear the sound of an abundant rain coming. The Lord keep us faithful until we see it. 

Thank you for your support, friends. We love y'all!

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The Law of Greatest Love: First and Foremost

"The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire...saying, I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage." (Deuteronomy 5:2-6)

First and Foremost

Before God delivers any of the Ten Commandments to Israel, He establishes the basis of this Law. He rehearses for Israel what God has brought them through; what He has done among them. This is highly significant as we try to understand the nature of God's Law and our relationship to it. 

The Law of Moses is Gracious

A common misconception in large portions of evangelicalism is the idea that God's Law, specifically the Ten Commandments, are given through Moses as a list of commandments that Israel must keep in order to have a relationship with God. We view the Law given through Moses the same way we might view the Law given to Adam. The Westminster Confession says, "God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which He bound him and all his posterity, to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience, promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with power and ability to keep it." (WCF 19.1) In other words, when Adam received commandment from God, he received it with the promise of life for obedience and the threat of death for disobedience. Adam disobeyed God, broke the Law, and here we are. 

We are mistaken if we think that the Law given through Moses functions the same way. To lump Moses in with the same covenant of works that Adam was under is mistaken. The reason this is so important is that, as Christians today, if we ask the question, "Does a Christian need to keep the Ten Commandments?" the answer is YES! But we automatically import this idea that the need is relative to being made right with God. So if I asked a random person in an evangelical church, "Do Christians need to keep the Ten Commandments?" their answer would probably be something like, "No. We are justified by faith alone, not by keeping the Ten Commandments. Keeping the Ten Commandments is legalism." We hear the question about Christians keeping the Ten Commandments, and we automatically assume that we are asking, "Do Christians need to keep the Ten Commandments in order to be justified before God?" The answer to that question is an adamant NO. But that is a different question than, "Do Christians need to keep the Ten Commandments?"

The Significance of Order

Consider what God does in giving the Ten Commandments. First, He establishes and rehearses the history of His relationship with Israel. He emphasizes two things in this preamble to the Ten Commandments: 

1. His enduring, personal covenant with Israel ("The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire" 

2. His salvation and deliverance that He has already provided for them ("I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.")

Only after God has established and rehearsed His relationship with Israel does He then give them the Ten Commandments. He 

So another way to say it in contemporary "Christianese" is that God gives the Law to His people, because they have a personal relationship with Him through Jesus. God doesn't give His Law to Israel so that they can earn His love, but because they have already graciously received His love. The Law instructs them in how to live in this loving relationship with God. He already has a personal relationship with them. He has already accomplished their deliverance from Egypt. And, in light of this grace He has already given Israel, He then gives them the Law as a gift, not a curse.

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The Law of Greatest Love: Dividing the Tables

"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
(Matthew 22:37-40) 

Dividing the Tables

Jesus divides the Law into two general sections, both relating to love: we must love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. The 98th question of the Westminster Larger Catechism asks, "Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?" The answer given is "The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments, which were delivered by the voice of God upon Mount Sinai, and written by him in two tables of stone; and are recorded in the twentieth chapter of Exodus. The four first commandments containing our duty to God, and the other six our duty to man."

If we list the Ten Commandments out according to this division, we see the following:

Loving God

1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, etc.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Loving Neighbor

5. Honour thy father and thy mother, etc.
6. Thou shalt not murder.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, etc.

Since the Ten Commandments are a summary of God's moral law, and a perfect reflection of His own character, everything about how to love God and how to love our neighbors is summed up in the them. One consistent thing we will see in the Ten Commandments is that each commandment contains both positive and negative elements. So every duty commanded also carries a contrary sin forbidden; and every sin forbidden also carries a contrary duty commanded.

For example, the seventh commandment not only forbids adultery, but also commands the duty of loving your spouse. The eight commandment not only forbids stealing, but also commands the duty of seeking our neighbor's welfare. We will consider this reality with each of the Ten Commandments as we address them. Ultimately, we will see that each of these commandments is wrapped up in the word "love", and we will see that "love" is properly defined and clarified in each of the commandments.  

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The Law of Greatest Love: Introduction

"For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:7-8)

The Law of Greatest Love

In the history of the world, there has never been anything like what Moses and Israel experienced at Mount Sinai. God manifested Himself in a tremendous firestorm of lightning, thunderous booms, smoke, and the trumpet blast (Exodus 19:16-20). The smoke covered the mountain to such an extent that it was no longer visible and the earth quaked and shook. And out of the midst of this terrifying storm, God commanded His people to stay away from the mountain, lest they gaze upon God's glory while still in their sins and be destroyed. But God called for Moses to ascend the mountain, where God wrote with His own finger in stone the Ten Commandments.

These Ten Commandments are the perfect self-revelation of God's own moral character. They are the Law of God written with His own finger (Exodus 34:1). They are perpetually binding on all people, and will never fade away, even into eternity, for they are the full expression of love for God and our neighbor (Matt 22:37-40; Rom 13:8-10; 1 John 2:3-8). Jesus was very clear in the sermon on the mount:

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matt 5:17-18)

It is in light of this that I am branching out into a new writing venture, specifically focusing on the Ten Commandments. How can these commandments comprehensively cover our relationship with God with other people around us? Are Christians still obligated to keep them all? What do we do with the hundreds of other commandments in the Bible? Lord willing, we shall seek and discover some answers...

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Walking Through Westminster, WCF 14.1-3 "Of Saving Faith"

 Westminster Confession of Faith 14.1-3

I. The grace of faith, whereby the elect are enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word, by which also, and by the administration of the sacraments, and prayer, it is increased and strengthened.

II. By this faith, a Christian believes to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God Himself speaking therein; and acts differently upon that which each particular passage thereof contains; yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life, and that which is to come. But the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.

III. This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong; may often and many ways assailed, and weakened, but gets the victory: growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance, through Christ, who is both the author and finisher of our faith.

Summary

Faith is a grace; a gift given by God. True faith is not something conjured up by us in our hearts, but something that God the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of His elect people. It is the responsibility of the believer to exercise that God-given faith, but the faith itself is from God. This faith is normally given by the Spirit through the ministry of the Word, particularly the preaching of the Bible. Additionally, this saving faith is strengthened and increased through the Word, the sacraments, and prayer. This is not to say that saving faith is only ever wrought through these means, but that these are the channels the Spirit normally uses to work saving faith in a believer's heart. The Lord may, of course, work in unordinary ways to produce saving faith. For example, John the Baptist expressed faith in Christ when he was still in his mother Elizabeth's womb.

This saving faith leads the Christian to believe everything that the Bible says. The Christian acknowledges all of the Bible to be true because it is God speaking therein. Based on God's supreme authority, the Christian submits even his own mind to the truths of Scripture. The Christian does not submit to the Bible because of the authority of the Church, the pope in Rome, the opinion of critical scholars in high academia, nor even because their own reason tells them to. Rather, the Christian submits to every part of God's word because of the authority of God Himself. 

This does not mean that a Christian never wrestles with believing the Bible, nor does it mean that they believe what every human teacher might say about the Bible, but it does mean that the Christian believes everything in the Bible in the way it is meant to be believed. This is what it means to "act differently upon that which each particular passage thereof contains". We yield obedience to the commands of Scripture; we tremble at the threatenings of Scripture; we embrace the promises given to us in Scripture. We accept the histories as history. We embrace the miraculous events portrayed in narratives as real and true. We embrace the metaphors of the psalmists in describing the character of God. We take the Bible as it is presented to us, and in no other way than that.

All that being said, the ultimate significance of saving faith is not found in our relationship to the Bible, but to the God who reveals Himself in and through the Bible. The chief significance of saving faith is found in what we will do with Jesus. Real, living faith must lead the believer to accept, receive, and rest upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life. Those three theological terms and statements cover the entirety of human life; from the moment we are reconciled to God all the way into eternity. So another way of saying it is to say that saving faith looks to Christ alone for everything that we need for all of our life. Saving faith looks to no other source for anything that we need, for all our needs are met by God the Father through Jesus, His Son.

Saving faith is the same in every believer in its object (Christ), its source (the Holy Spirit), and its ultimate end (victory and eternal life). But saving faith differs among individual Christians in its strength and conflict. Some Christians have weaker faith than others; some have stronger faith than others. Some Christian's faith is attacked in one way; some are attacked in wholly different ways. Some Christians have faith that leads to a full assurance of their salvation; others struggle all their life with finding full assurance. But Christ is the author of every Christian's faith, and He is the one who will ultimately finish it in each of us, bringing it to full fruition in heaven. 

When people board a plane, some folks are totally confident in flying; others only have enough confidence to get them on board and in their seat. While their levels of faith and assurance may vary, the success of the flight does not truly depend on their individual levels of confidence, but on the skills and training of the pilot. If God has given you saving faith in Jesus, then it ultimately depends on Him to bring you to your eternal home. Your faith may weaken or falter, but God has promised and He is faithful to fulfill what He has sworn.

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Walking Through Westminster, WCF 13.1-3 "Of Sanctification"

Westminster Confession of Faith 13. 1-3

I. They, who are once effectually called, and regenerated, having a new heart, and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by His Word and Spirit dwelling in them: the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed, and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified; and they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces, to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

II. This sanctification is throughout, in the whole man; yet imperfect in this life, there abiding still some remnants of corruption in every part; whence arises a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

III. In which war, although the remaining corruption, for a time, may much prevail; yet, through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part does overcome; and so, the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

 Summary

All those whom God has chosen, called, and regenerated, He will also sanctify. The word "sanctify" means "to set apart" or "to make holy". So God determines to not only call His people and regenerate them, but He does these things in order to make them holy. It is important to note that God is the one doing the sanctifying. Sanctification is not where God abandons His people to their own devices. It is not as though God justifies a person, makes them born again, and then leaves them to figure out the rest on their own. Rather, the work is all of God, from beginning to end.

What does it look like to be sanctified? First, the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed. This means that the dominion of sin over the human soul is undone. Mankind in his fallen state is under a yoke of bondage, unable and unwilling to do anything but sin. But when God calls us to Himself, that yoke of bondage is destroyed in such a way that we become able and willing to not sin. This happens instantaneously, the moment that the sinner is converted. While this does not destroy all sin within the human soul, the power of those lusts are weakened and put to death with time as the Christian walks in grace and the Spirit's power. The Christian becomes stronger and stronger in true holiness, and weaker and weaker in sin. 

While the Christian may make more or less progress in their pursuit of holiness, they will always remain imperfect in this life. Remnants of sin's corruption will continue in every part of the person (the mind, body, will, etc.) The continued existence of these remnants of sin, combined with the Spirit's presence in the soul of the Christian, leads to an irreconcilable conflict in the soul of the Christian. Paul describes this conflict in Romans 7, which is worth your personal reading. Paul says therein, "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I want to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do." The Christian now has the desire and the ability to do good, but the remnant of sin within us means that we do not always do what we know we should; we still sin, as our lusts resist the Spirit and the Spirit within us wars against our lusts. 

In this irreconcilable conflict, the Christian has ups and downs, wins and losses. The reality is that a Christian may be, for a time, overcome by their lusts and the power of sin still within them. A Christian may, for a time, backslide into old sinful habits or practices. They may even appear to have given up on Christ completely. But if God has called them, He has promised to never give them up. If they are truly God's children, He will always call them back, no matter how long He may allow them to stray.

The English reformer, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, jailed and under punishment of death, recanted all of his Reformed beliefs and confessed his teachings as sin. By all accounts, he had returned to the church of Rome as a corrected son, and had given up on true Bible religion. But Mary was determined to see him burn, in spite of his recantations. On the day he was to die, Cranmer stood in front of University Church at St. Mary's to issue a full, public recantation of his teachings. Instead, he recanted of his recantations, declaring all of them invalid and reasserting his belief in the Bible. Although it seemed Cranmer had totally backslidden, yet in his dying day, he returned to the true faith of Christ and admirably embraced the martyr's death that God had put before him, and entered into glory.

This reality should give us both caution and hope. Caution, that we not dismiss everyone who backslides as a hopeless unbeliever. When someone goes astray it is easy to be cynical and lose hope for them. But God would teach us through examples like Cranmer that, until death, no one is truly beyond the hope of returning to Christ. Even if we are the guilty party, and we are wholly uninterested in the things of God, and wonder if we are even Christians anymore, we can still hold out hope for ourselves that God will, in due time, restore us to the joy of salvation and not cast us off.

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Walking Through Westminster, WCF 12.1 "Of Adoption"

Westminster Confession of Faith 12.1

All those that are justified, God vouchsafes, in and for His only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption, by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have His name put upon them, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry, Abba, Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by Him as by a Father: yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption; and inherit the promises, as heirs of everlasting salvation.

Summary

What did Jesus come to do? One very adequate answer is that He came to die for our sins (1 John 2:2). In line with last chapter, WCF 11, we know that He came to justify us before God the Father. But He doesn't just do that. His work of reconciling us to God does more. We are not simply reconciled as servants or creatures or image-bearers, but we are reconciled as sons and daughters of God. He adopts us into His family and we become His children. 

In one sense, everyone who has ever lived has been God's child, in the sense that He is their Creator and they are His creatures. They even all bear His image. But when God adopts believers into His family, He does so through Jesus. That is, the believer is viewed as a child of God in the way that the Father views Jesus as His Son. That unique relationship that the Father and Son have always had for all eternity is what the believer enters into. They are able to cry to God, "Abba, Father". We don't think of this much, but consider that no angel in heaven calls God their Father. In fact, the author of Hebrews makes clear that God's relationship with the angels is one of a Ruler and His servants (Heb 1:5-7). The believer experiences a relationship with God unlike any other creature, even unbelieving humans. The love that God had for His Son from eternity past is the love that is poured out on the believer in Christ, as we are called sons and daughters of the Father; fellow heirs with Christ of eternal life and everlasting glory. 

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Walking Through Westminster, WCF 11.1-6 "Of Justification"

Westminster Confession of Faith 11.1-6

I. Those whom God effectually calls, He also freely justifies; not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins, and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone; nor by imputing faith itself, the act of believing, or any other evangelical obedience to them, as their righteousness; but by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ unto them, they receiving and resting on Him and His righteousness by faith; which faith they have not of themselves, it is the gift of God.

II. Faith, thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness, is the alone instrument of justification: yet is it not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but works by love.

III. Christ, by His obedience and death, did fully discharge the debt of all those that are thus justified, and did make a proper, real and full satisfaction to His Father's justice in their behalf. Yet, in as much as He was given by the Father for them; and His obedience and satisfaction accepted in their stead; and both, freely, not for any thing in them; their justification is only of free grace; that both the exact justice, and rich grace of God might be glorified in the justification of sinners.

IV. God did, from all eternity, decree to justify all the elect, and Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins, and rise again for their justification: nevertheless, they are not justified, until the Holy Spirit does, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them.

V. God does continue to forgive the sins of those that are justified; and although they can never fall from the state of justification, yet they may, by their sins, fall under God's fatherly displeasure, and not have the light of His countenance restored unto them, until they humble themselves, confess their sins, beg pardon, and renew their faith and repentance.

VI. The justification of believers under the Old Testament was, in all these respects, one and the same with the justification of believers under the New Testament.

 

Summary

 

The chosen people of God are not only called, but also justified by God. Justification means that God pardons their sins and accounts them as righteous in His sight. It does not mean that they actually are righteous; they are sinners. But God counts them as righteous for the sake of Christ alone. This righteousness is given to them as a free gift, laid hold of by faith alone, which is itself a gift of God. Faith alone is the instrument whereby the elect lay hold of Christ's righteousness and are justified by God. But that faith which justifies them is a living faith, not dead, and it is a faith which produces the fruit of the Spirit in them, working through love. This is how we reconcile the apparent contradiction between Paul and James:

 

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law...but to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness". (Romans 3:28; 4:5)

 

"You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only." (James 2:24)

 

Paul is speaking of what it is that justifies a person before God: faith alone, and not works. James is speaking of what sort of faith it is that justifies a person: not a faith that is dead and alone, but a living faith which always produces good works. Justification by faith alone means justification by living faith alone; dead faith has never and will never justify anyone before God. 

 

Christ paid the penalty for His people in full, discharging their debt to the Father. But inasmuch as He was freely given by the Father in love, and not because His people deserved it, the satisfaction He provided is still gracious. In this way, God demonstrates His exact justice in the substitutionary punishment of His Son, and He demonstrates His rich grace in giving His Son freely for sinners. "...that God might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:26b)

 

Once God has justified a sinner, He never rescinds on it. He invented the principle of double jeopardy. Once God has dealt with His peoples' sins in the death and resurrection of Jesus, He never brings them up again. Another way to say this is that those whom God justifies can never become unjustified again. However, as His children, the elect can fall under God's fatherly displeasure. Their sins may lead God to hide His face from them for a time of chastisement, much as our earthly fathers may punish us for a time when we transgress or disobey them. But His fatherly mercy will always win out and He is quick to forgive. When we humble ourselves, confess our sins, and renew our repentance, God restores us to His favor again. 

In the contrast between Paul and James (above), it is interesting that they both use Abraham as their example. Abraham, the spiritual father of all believers, is the prime Biblical example of faith in God. Abraham, and all Old Testament believers, were justified in the same way that New Testament believers are justified: faith in Jesus Christ alone. In Hebrews 11, the apostle goes through a laundry list of OT believers, from Abel to the prophets. He declares that all of them were justified by faith, and even faith in Jesus. Some people, especially apostate Jews, believe that Jesus isn't in the Old Testament. But Paul says that even Moses, the greatest prophet, believed in Jesus. In fact, Moses went through with his God-ordained mission because "he esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt" (Hebrews 11:26). Another way to say it is that the Bible is always the book of Christians: Abel was a Christian; Abraham was a Christian; Moses was a Christian; David was a Christian; and they were all Christians in the same way that we are: by faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

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