Archive for the ‘confession’ Category

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8, Section 8

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

To all those for whom Christ purchased redemption, he certainly and effectually applies and communicates it. He makes intercession for them and reveals to them, in and by the Word, the mysteries of salvation. He effectually persuades them by his Spirit to believe and obey, and governs their hearts by his Word and Spirit. He overcomes all their enemies by his almighty power and wisdom in such a manner, and by such ways, as are most agreeable to his wonderful and unsearchable administration.

In concluding chapter 8 of the westminster confession of faith, in which we confess Christ as mediator…

We learn that those whom Christ worked to save by His life, death, and resurrection will most certainly be saved and will never be lost. In our struggles, in our failures, when we fall, when we reject Christ, when we stumble, when we sin, we have an advocate. We have Christ who continually pursues us, we have Christ who fights for us, we have Christ who sends his Spirit to give us life, to give us the necessary faith in Christ, to strengthen us, to empower us, to remind us of the truth, and to persuade us to obey….

Because we are in union with Christ, we have a constant reminder that He will not leave us nor forsake us. It is in this union that we will experience our personal weakness and his power, and strength, and love.

It is in love that Christ redeemed us, and it is in love that Christ pursues us to the end…

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Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 8, section 6

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Although the work of redemption was not actually accomplished by Christ until after his incarnation, yet the power, efficacy, and benefits of it were applied to the elect in all ages successively from the beginning of the world, in and by those promises, types, and sacrifices by which Christ was revealed and signified to be the seed of the woman who would bruise the serpent’s head, and to be the Lamb slain from the beginning of the world. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
– Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8, section 6

Chapter 8, section 6 of the confession describes that even though Christ’s work was accomplished after his incarnation it was still effective prior to his coming but in different ways.

In God’s infinite wisdom and through his master plan, he set forth in motion a rescue plan for humanity. This plan was actually foretold in Genesis right after the fall of Adam and Eve.

God said to the serpent in Genesis 3:15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heal.

And throughout redemptive history we saw various promises, types, and sacrifices which pointed to this truth… pointing to a coming savior who would defeat the serpent. People were saved because they believed in God’s promised salvation. When Christ finally came into this world, God fulfilled this promise with Christ as our mediator. So all believers or the elect are able to benefit in this salvation, both believers in ages past before Christ’s incarnation, as well as believers after Christ’s incarnation.

This can be summarized in Galatians 4:4 says that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons.”

In conclusion, John 3:16 summarizes it for us: “For God so loved the world, that he sent his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

It is through faith in God’s Son Jesus Christ that we are saved.

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Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8, Section 3

Thursday, April 16th, 2009

Chapter 8 of the Westminster Confession of Faith looks at Jesus Christ as Mediator.
Background in church history. The first two centuries after Christ, the church battled mostly against generalized doctrinal errors like paganism and Gnosticism. Between the third and fourth centuries, the Doctrine of the Trinity came under fire. It was at the Councils of Nicea and Constantinople that the statement of the Church’s faith and creeds concerning the orthodox understanding of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were crystallized.

After that, the big controversy was over the Doctrine of Christ. Between the fifth and seventh century, theologians debated and argued whether Christ was only divine and not human or if he were two persons, one divine and the other human or if he was both divine and human in one person… It was at the council of Chalcedon in AD 451 where the church formulated the true doctrine of Christ’s person. We learn last week that two whole, perfect, and distinct natures, the Godhead and the manhood, were inseparably joined together in one person without conversion, composition, or confusion.

In this section of the Confession we learn how the human nature of Christ was equipped for his mediatorial work by the power of the Holy Spirit. We also see why he needed to be God to perform this work, that he was invested with authority and ability by God the Father to execute this work.

Why did Jesus have to be Man? Only in being man was Christ qualified to become the second Adam to undo the wrong of the first Adam… Only as a man could he keep to the law perfectly where Adam failed in meeting the condition of the covenant of works. Only as a man could Jesus experience suffering and accomplish the work of salvation.

Why did Jesus have to be God? Because a man could not have endured what the mediator endured. If we look at the Old Testament, Moses, Noah, David… they were all men yet they sinned. They could not perfectly fulfill the law of God and were in need of a savior. A mere man could not satisfy divine justice. A mere man could not endure the wrath of God as Christ did. Only by being both divine and human could Christ as mediator fulfill the requirements of the law of God.

In his human nature, united to the divine nature, the Lord Jesus was set apart and anointed with the Holy Spirit beyond measure, having in him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. In him the Father was pleased to have all fullness dwell, so that—being holy, blameless, and undefiled, full of grace and truth—he might be completely equipped to fulfill the office of a mediator and guarantor. He did not take this office to himself but was called to it by his Father, who put all power and judgment into his hand and commanded him to execute it.

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Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 8, Section 1

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

God was pleased, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the mediator between God and man. As the mediator, he is the prophet, priest, and king, the Head and Savior of the church, the heir of all things, and the judge of the world. God gave to him, from all eternity, a people to be his seed and to be by him, in time, redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.

This confession considers Christ as mediator. It is out of God’s mere good pleasure and foreknowledge that he chose Jesus to be the mediator between God and man… It is by grace alone that God saves his people through Christ. Because humanity left to themselves would result only in the wrath of God being poured out.

As the mediator Christ fulfills the role of prophet, priest and king. The Old Testament gives us a glimpse of these offices… we saw a succession of prophets (Abraham, Moses, etc.), priests (Melchizedek, Moses, Aaron, etc.) and kings (Saul, David, Solomon, etc.) throughout Old Testament history. As mediator, Christ is our perfect Prophet, our perfect Priest and our perfect King… all fulfilled in one person.

Even today, in this worship service and in our lives, Jesus Christ as prophet reveals God’s will for our salvation through his Word and Spirit; Christ as Priest, has offered himself as a sacrifice and has, therefore, satisfied divine justice to reconcile us to God, and continues to pray for every Christian while sitting at the right hand of the Father; and Christ as King actively rules and defends all His people, while restraining and conquering all His enemies.

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Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 7, Section 5

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

In the time of the law, this covenant was administered differently than in the time of the gospel. Under the law, it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover lamb, and other types and ordinances given to the Jewish people, all of which foreshadowed Christ to come. These were, for that time, sufficient and efficacious, through the work of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in their faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they received complete forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation. This covenant administration is called the old testament.

Throughout redemptive history, the covenant of grace has slowly been revealed. We can read through the bible and see the covenants made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and others and see that they are the same covenant.

Through the various administrations there “appears” to be different covenants, but upon closer inspection, we can see that it is the unfolding of God’s revelation throughout history.

In the Old Testament, we see the Jewish people sacrificing animals, circumcision, and many other things that are stopped after Christ came. The error in thought is to believe that God used entirely different principles in saving mankind in different time periods.

But if you look closer, all the requirements in the law of Moses, the promises in the Psalms, the prophecies… they all pointed to Christ. They all foreshadowed the coming of the Lord Jesus and in this there is a unity between old and new testaments… there is a unity in the covenant of grace that spans all of redemptive history after the fall of Adam.

As we read today’s confession, let us with thanksgiving, acknowledge the unity of the covenant of grace that has fully been revealed and wholly accomplished through the person of Jesus Christ, our mediator.

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Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, Section 6

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

This section of the confession takes a look at sin and the consequences of sin. One thing the bible is clear is that we are responsible for every sin we commit and we will reap the consequences of those sins.

What are the consequences of sin? According to the WSC#19 All mankind by the fall lost communion with God, under his wrath and curse, and made liable to all the miseries of this life, to death itself and the pains of hell forever.

We can see that life is not as it should be. Because of the fall even good things in this life God created like marriage and childbirth are cursed. There is pain and suffering, war, and murder. Because of sin, all mankind is separated from God and death was introduced to humanity [cf. Matt. 25:41].

Sin against an infinite God requires an infinite payment. Because man cannot satisfy the divine justice of an infinite and holy God, mankind will receive infinite punishment. As the bible says, the wages of sin is death.

As we read this part of the confession, let us humbly come before God and acknowledge our guilt and our need for Christ, recognizing that because of sin this life is not as it should be… we need Christ’s redeeming power.

6. Every sin—both original and actual—is a transgression of the righteous law of God and contrary to it. Therefore, every sin in its own nature brings guilt upon the sinner, on account of which he is bound over to the holy wrath of God and the curse of the law. Consequently, he is subject to death, with all miseries—spiritual, temporal, and eternal.

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Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, Section 2

Wednesday, December 24th, 2008

Redemptive history can be broken down into four major divisions of time. Creation/Fall/Redemption/Consummation.

In the creation, we know that God made everything very good. Last week, we learned in Gen 3, that our first parents were tempted and fell by eating of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam tried to gain understanding apart from God’s truth.

This fall is a major event in biblical history because it plunges humanity into a state of sin and misery. Man is separated from God because God is a holy God and cannot tolerate sin. Through the fall, man loses his original righteousness and his whole nature is corrupted which is commonly called “original sin.”

Another term we use is “total depravity” that describes the condition of man. It means that in our sinful condition nothing we do is good. The prophet Isaiah said “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Because our whole nature is corrupted by sin and because we are separated from God, even the “good” we do is tainted.

No matter how bleak things looked in Gen 3, there is hope. In God’s mercy and grace, he did not leave man in sin and misery. As stated earlier, biblical history does not end at the fall. There is redemption. This is where we see God’s grace. This is where we see God become man in order to save us.

This is where we see salvation that has come through Christ. The reason of the fall of Adam that God came to this world in the person of Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, in order to save his people.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, Section 2
But this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God and so became dead in sin and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body.

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Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, Section 7

Monday, December 1st, 2008

The scope of God’s providence reaches all creatures, it touches everyone, believer, unbeliever, good, evil but God’s providence is worked out in a special way for the church.

Exodus 19:5-8 – God says the whole earth is mine, and he says to the church you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. We learn that God is everywhere, but God’s heart is to be with the church. God owns the whole universe but God owns the church as his own people, his treasured possession. God is everywhere but God desires to be with his people…

In Ephesians 1:23, Paul says the fullness of him who fills all in all… God is everywhere, he fills everything… but God is here with his church in a special way. God is with his church in a different way than with the world.

Two powerful truths we can learn from today’s confession.
1. God controls all things, he owns all things, he is everywhere
2. God cares for his church in a special way;

The church, anyone who is in Christ, is his treasured possession. We learn that God enters into a special relationship with man. This relationship is such that “God is our God and we are his people.” It is within this covenant relationship that God cares for his people the church.

We will look at that more in the following weeks. But for today, remember that God has planned in a special way to care for his people. If you are in Christ, you are in a covenant relationship with the God of the universe who cares for you and loves you. God loves his children even to the point where He has placed them in a particular local church to uniquely form each congregation.

WCF 5.7. As, in general, the providence of God reaches to all creatures, so, in a very special way, it cares for his church and disposes all things for its good.

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Confessions: Clarity

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

I need clarity.

With all the talk going around, I just don’t know what is true anymore. Individually, I have been able to read, write and think but I haven’t been able to figure things out much. I use a lot of examples in everyday life, football, starcraft, etc. to describe my situation so that I can understand. But still, I can’t see beyond the problems.

I need light to shine on what is dark. We need the truth to shine on the lies and untruths. We need Jesus more than ever but instead of seeking him, we have relied on our own intelligence and our own insights to go about doing things. Lord, shine your light in our lives. Illumine my heart Lord. See if there is anything that is dishonoring to you, anything that is not pleasing to you. Show me.

Shine your light on my life, shine your light on my wife, shine your light on my family. Shine your light on darkness that fills my mind and the unclarity that disturbs my heart.

Lord, what is truly wrong with us? Sin, unforgiveness, lack of love, etc. We need you above all else. no vision, no direction, these are merely symptoms of a larger problem. We are disconnected from God. We are disconnected from the source of light, of true fellowship, of true worship. That is the reason we have worshiped idols rather than the true God. We need to conform our lives, our minds, our hearts, our desires to the Lord Jesus Christ.

I need Him above all else. Without Him, I will continue to complain, I will continue to be blind, I will continue to walk in darkness. Let me walk in faith, daily. Let me walk in faith in every circumstance. May my prayers match my words. May I not continue in my hypocrisy.

As I talked with A, L, N, and others, I continue to feel that I’m not quite there. I don’t know the answers, and I don’t know how to work with people to come to the answers, or answer. Even as I talk with R, I know that he doesn’t understand me completely. It is due mainly to our fallen nature and sin. But it is in those circumstances when we pray and look solely on God that we are set back on to the right track. Even during the deacon meeting and leadership meetings, discussion after discussion I am at a loss for words. I don’t know what to say or do. But I do know that after each meeting, I am a little bit more disgruntled… We seek not after God, so many times we are after our own agendas (knowingly or unknowingly)… But again, it is at the time of prayer that we are brought back to the reality of God and his kingdom. We need not only be reminded, but we need to experience, to taste, to feel, to truly be brought into the presence of God.

I need clarity. I need to pray… I need Jesus….

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Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 3 Section 1

Sunday, June 29th, 2008

Chapter 3: Of God’s eternal decree
God, from all eternity, did—by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will—freely and unchangeably ordain whatever comes to pass. Yet he ordered all things in such a way that he is not the author of sin, nor does he force his creatures to act against their wills; neither is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.

— The Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 3, Sect. 1 (Modern English Version)

This week we will begin studying Chapter 3 of the Westminster Confession of Faith. This chapter is entitled “Of God’s Eternal Decree”

Note first that the word “decree” in the title is singular. God has one all-encompassing decree, which originated from eternity and has remained unchanged. God did not have to make any new decrees or backup plans.

In today’s confession, God’s decree is described as being wise, free, and holy:

1. First, it is WISE because God’s decree is in harmony with God’s perfect wisdom.
2. God’s decree is FREE because it is not constrained or influenced by anything outside of God’s nature. God ordained whatsoever comes to pass according to the counsel of his will.
3. And God’s decree is HOLY in that it is in harmony with his perfect holiness and utterly free of sin.

So to summarize God’s decree, it is according to his own holy purposes, guided by his own perfect wisdom, without necessity or influence from outside forces, and all without the possibility of revision.

However, when we look at God’s eternal decree, we have to guard against two errors:

1) God’s decree does not make God the author of sin/responsible for sin (even though there is sin in the world, he is not author of sin) and
2) God’s foreordination does not remove man’s responsibility for his own sin.

The Bible clearly establishes both truths: God’s foreordination and man’s responsibility. We recognize that God is holy and sin is a violation of God’s holy will and his holy character. Fallen man alone is responsible for his sin. And people sin freely out of their own freewill according to their own nature, without any external influences or compulsion (or what the confession calls “second causes”). God’s decree does not violate free will but instead establishes it.

The Bible clearly establishes both truths: 1) God’s foreordination and 2) man’s responsibility for his own sin and actions. And we affirm this in our confession today.

Let me now leave you with some good news, because if man is left to his own responsibility, there would be no hope. As part of God’s eternal decree, He knew that his people would fall, so he chose his people in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless in Christ. As part of God’s eternal purpose, He sent Jesus Christ into this world at just the right time to save his people.

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