Chapter 17 discusses the Perseverance of the Saints.

Can Believers in Christ, Born again Christians, those adopted into God’s family fall away? Or is it true that once you’re saved, you’re always saved? We can learn three things from today’s confession:

1. True believers cannot fall from grace
2. They will persevere
3. This is only by the grace of God.

God has made a covenant with his people and it is God who will uphold and guarantee it. Those who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, those who have been elected and adopted into God’s family will necessarily be kept by God.

Phil 1:6 being confident of this, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

John 3:36 He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.

So what about Christians who fall away or backslide? Jesus told a parable in Luke 15 about how God will seek after the lost. If you had 100 sheep and one went astray. You would leave the 99 to find the 1. And in a similar way God will not let true believers fall away, God himself guarantees the salvation of his people for eternity.
We are again reminded of the promises God has made to us. We can be assured of this because of the Father’s love, the effectiveness of Jesus work for our salvation, and the continued presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Chapter 17 – The Perseverance of the Saints
1. Those whom God has accepted in his Beloved, effectually called, and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace, but shall certainly persevere in it to the end and be eternally saved.

2. The perseverance of the saints does not depend upon their own free will, but on the unchangeableness of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; on the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; on the continuing presence of the Spirit and the seed of God within them; and on the nature of the covenant of grace. These are grounds of the certainty and infallibility of their perseverance.
–Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 17, Sections 1-2

John Piper’s Desiring God Ministries has now a simplified Chinese translation to their site. A wonderful resource for the Chinese. Please share with your friends:

Kemushen.com

In Luke 17, the rich young ruler asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replies by saying that no one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.

The young ruler responds by saying “All these I have kept since I was a boy.”

When Jesus heard this he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me.”

When the ruler heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.
Today’s confession points us to this reality… God’s perfect law demands perfect obedience. Whatever good we think do in this life to fulfill God’s perfect law is tainted with sin… every good work that we do is merely fulfilling what God requires, so nothing we do can be called extra credit or bonus points to make up for past failures or earn us future glory eternal life.

Even as the rich young ruler thought “All these I have kept since I was a boy” Jesus points him back to the perfect law. We deceive ourselves if we think we can do over and above what God requires of us. In fact, we are merely doing our duty and we fall far short of God’s perfect standard.

We are reminded again that it is by God’s Spirit that we do good works and it is our abiding by faith in the perfect work of Jesus that makes us acceptable to God, not our works by themselves.

5. We cannot, by our best works, merit forgiveness for sin or eternal life at the hand of God. This is true because of the great disproportion between our best works and the glory to come, and because of the infinite distance between us and God. We cannot benefit God by our best works nor render satisfaction for the debt of our former sins, for when we have done all we can, we have done merely our duty and are unprofitable servants. This is because, insofar as they are good, these deeds proceed from the Spirit; and, insofar as they are done by us, they are defiled and mixed with so much weakness and imperfection that they cannot endure the severity of God’s judgment.

This section of the confession teaches us

1) The Christian’s ability to do good works is not of himself but only of the Holy Spirit who dwells in him
2) The Spirit’s constant influence in the believer
3) We should not neglect good works if we don’t “feel something”
4) We must be diligent in stirring up the grace of God in us.
John 15:5 Jesus says “without me you can do nothing”

God saves us and empowers us to do good works. “Jesus says As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”
As we grow in maturity in the faith, we realize God empowers us to do good works. He conforms our heart and mind to a right attitude so that we desire to do his will, do what he commands. When we do something good, we realize it is of God and God’s spirit that has empowered us.

So the question arises: What if I don’t feel God’s spirit? Should I not do something?
The confession speaks directly against this. In most instances it is our laziness and sinfulness that brings up this issue. As Christians, our desires, our feelings will conform to God’s desires… and we will want to do what is right, what is good, what is just… and when we see ourselves getting lazy, slothful, negligent… it is a sign we are not as spiritual as we think we are. In some ways, the way we view work is an indicator of our spirituality.

God saves us to bear fruit, to do good works. This is from the Spirit of God. Let us then seek the Spirit of God.

3. Their ability to do good works is not at all from themselves, but entirely from the Spirit of Christ. And—in order that they may be enabled to do these things—besides the graces believers have already received, there must also be an actual influence of the same Holy Spirit working in them both to will and to do God’s good pleasure. This truth, however, should not cause believers to become negligent, as though they were not bound to perform any duty without a special moving of the Spirit; rather, they ought to be diligent in stirring up the grace of God that is in them.

To summarize the previous five sections concerning repentance:

1. It is a Gospel Grace meaning true repentance brings life. Godly Sorrow leads to repentance which leads to salvation. 2 Cor 7:10.

2. By repentance we mean hating sin and turning to Christ and seeking his mercy. In repenting we recognize that we are sinners, that it is only through Christ that we are righteous and only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can change.

3-4. We recognize the need for repentance and even daily repentance we are not mindful of the things of God. No sin so small that it does not deserve damnation nor any sin so great that it can bring damnation to those who truly repent.

5. Our repentance should be to repent of each particular sin particularly. Each specific sin reveals or is an indication of some part of our heart that is still captivated by something besides God.

As we close off Chapter 15, we note that God’s desire for repentance is not only in a right vertical relationship between God and man but also a right relationship horizontally, between man and man.

We see two aspects in this horizontal dimension of repentance:

The offender (the one who sins against his brother or the church) confessing his sin, and having sorrow for his sin, declaring his repentance to the offended party AND
The offended party being reconciled to the offender and receiving him in love.

We have few passages regarding horizontal repentance:

James 5:16 Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Matthew 5:23″Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 18: 21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.
True repentance means confessing specific sins specifically, recognizing our fallen condition and that we all desperately need Christ and recognizing that those that sin against us also desperately need Christ. We are called to pray and forgive them when they fail and have them pray and forgive us when we fail. There is also a great urgency to do this quickly. We are not to let unconfessed sin nor unforgiveness linger or simmer as it will destroy relationships. True repentance leads to true worship and true fellowship.

As genuine repentance is the gift of Christ, its exercise is an indication that the person exercising it is forgiven by Christ.

We, then, as sons through faith in Christ, can have Shalom with our Father… wholeness and peace, reconciliation and love… just as Jesus had with his Father. This Shalom is what God desires for us to have with one another…

6. It is the duty of each one to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for pardon (and whoever confesses his sins, prays for forgiveness, and forsakes those sins shall find mercy). Similarly, anyone who has scandalized a brother, or the church of Christ, ought to be willing by private or public confession, and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are offended, who are then to be reconciled to him and receive him in love.

Found this post off the Shepherd’s Scrapbook.

I know that a number of you who read this blog are pastors of small churches (thanks for reading!). Tonight I came across this from Arthur J. Gossip in his book on preaching, In Christ’s Stead (1925), pages 27–28. I thought I would pass it along:

“…religion is by far the most interesting subject in the world, and the people prove it by the way they flock to hear about it, even yet [1925]. Take any other theme you choose, politics let us say, and through a heated fortnight at an election time you can gather eager meetings. But let them continue, in scores and hundreds of places in the cities, week in and week out the whole year round, and what size would they be in a year? But you—oh, you at times will be grumpy over thin pews. Watch yourself then; be sure that that is really zeal for Christ, and not, as is much more likely, merely hurt pride that stings you. Never rail at a congregation because it is small. It is not the fault of those who are there. And in your deeper moods you will stand gazing in amazement at the folk coming back, sitting there looking hopefully toward you, not yet discouraged, it appears, by the sad persistent failures of the past, apparently still sure that God is going to break through all our imperfections to them.”

Been updated with the Robert Morrison Project. They have a bunch of translation projects to translate Christian books into Chinese. There are a bunch of other sources but not legally translated material.

Two responses of Christians to God’s salvation through Jesus Christ is faith and repentance.

Faith as we recall is belief and trust in the promise and work of Jesus Christ for salvation, Repentance is the turning away from sin and turning to God, it is the putting off sin and putting on righteousness.

Romans 2:4 says that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. We recognize that repentance is a grace given to us from God. It is not something we can boast in because apart from Christ we cannot truly repent, it is a gift of God.

Today’s confession calls it a Gospel grace.

As Christians, God has given us the grace to turn away from sin and to turn to God. Because of this we must do this often as well as call others to repentance. Our lives must be lives of continual repentance of confessing our sins and turning to God. This is how we work out our salvation. That is why we have the confession of sin during our worship service every week.

Let’s read today’s confession acknowledging that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.

Repentance unto life is a gospel grace, the doctrine of which is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, just as is the doctrine of faith in Christ.
Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 15, Section 1

Accountability questions from Acts 29 Network.

Leadership Accountability Questions
A Self Leadership

1 How are you unique? (calling, gifts, passions, personality, experiences, sin patterns)
2 How do you stay inspired? How often do you practice this?
3 How do you preach the gospel to yourself? (What’s the message in your mind?)
4 What are the rhythms of grace in your life? (scripture practices, worship, community, Sabbath)
5 What idols are calling for your worship?
6 How do you forsake each idol?
7 What are the lies that you believe in your head?
8 How is the gospel applied to those lies?

B Interpersonal Leadership

1 Who gets you and why? Who are your guys? (2 Timothy 2:2)
2 Who do you pray for? What are you praying for them?
3 Who are you considering to become one of your guys and what is your plan?
4 Are you telling the “truth in love” to your guys, consistently? When do you tend to “spin” something?
5 Are you “on time” and following through with promises?
6 Do you say “yes” and “no” with clarity? Who are the people you tend to “please” and why?
7 How are you discipling each of your children and your spouse?
8 Who KNOWS you?

C Organizational Leadership

1 What mission and vision has God entrusted to you?
2 Are you aligned to this mission and vision?
3 To what extent is your identity wrapped up in your position or your mission?
4 Where is there “sideways energy” in your life (schedule)?
5 Do people in your organization know with clarity what you expect of them?
6 What do you expect of others in your organization?
7 How do assure that each person under your charge connects expectations to mission?
8 In what ways do you personify vision and values?
9 What opportunities did you decline for the sake of mission, vision or values?
10 What are the stories that define the culture of your organization? How do you capture these stories? How are the stories being shared?

D Team Leadership

1 Who is your team? (Roles, Styles)
2 Who is going to replace you?
3 How do you demonstrate your love for each team member?
4 What dysfunctions on your team are you addressing?
5 With whom do you sense the most synergy? How can you maximize that?
6 With whom do you sense the least synergy? Why? How are you minimizing that?
7 Who do you struggle to trust? Why? Do you address issues of trust with them? Why or why not?
8 What inspires each team member? (Ask each one, “What aspect of your work brings you the most joy? What stories do you tend to tell most often?)
9 Do team members feel empowered to exercise their greatest gifts and talents on the team?

E Pastoral Leadership

1 What does faithfulness in your calling look like for you?
2 In what new areas are you learning to apply the gospel?
3 Describe your system for managing your availability and “interruptability.”
4 How do you develop men by involving them in ministry and making decisions?
5 What opportunities have you had / taken to herald the gospel in serving others?

Here are ten questions you should ask the new year… got these questions off the 9Marks blog.

One thing I like about the New Year is how reflective everyone is. This should be a constant thing, something that goes year round. I’m glad though, because I know how unreflective I can be at times and end up in some kind of slump. God is gracious by placing mirrors along the way so I can see…

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?