Last week we talked about the second type of law, ceremonial laws. We said because of Christ they are no longer binding on us.

Today we will look at a third type of law. The confession calls them “Judicial Laws” or civil laws.

These laws include various capital crimes, with its procedures and punishments as well as a number of regulations and restrictions, including issues involving land, economics, etc. Are these laws still binding today?

When we look at them we see that they were given to the Nation of Israel for a specific time at a specific place. With the coming of Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of the law, we know that Jesus came not only for the people of Israel but also people from every tongue and tribe and nation. The salvation of God is coming through a spiritual kingdom and not a temporal nation.

Even though civil laws applied only to the Nation of Israel and have been superseded by the Gospel in view of the Kingdom of God, they do offer general principles of justice and is useful for study and understanding God.

Let’s read confess our faith concerning civil laws.

4. To the people of Israel, as a civil entity, he also gave various judicial laws
which expired at the time their State expired. Therefore, these judicial laws place no obligation upon anyone now, except as they embody general principles of justice.

Related posts:

1. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 19, Section 3
2. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 5, Section 7
3. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 7, Section 5

God also gave us ceremonial laws. These included the sacrificial system, the dietary regulations… we learn that these were temporary, and that they served the purpose of pointing us to Christ. In the Old Testament, we learn about Christ’s suffering, sacrifice, God’s love and grace through these laws.

But we also learn that when Christ came he fulfilled these laws and as a result we no longer practice them. Today’s confession uses the term abrogate meaning the laws have been fulfilled by Christ and are no longer binding to us.

One example can be seen with the Apostle Peter in Acts 10. Jewish customs forbade eating unclean animals. But God gives Peter a vision to kill and eat. Thus abrogating this restriction. It symbolically showed how God allowed both Jew and Gentile to come to him through faith in Jesus Christ.

Another example comes from Hebrews 9 in which it is explained that Christ is the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, he did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption…

So if someone asks you: why don’t you have to sacrifice goats and calves? you can safely tell them that the sacrificial system of the Old Testament pointed to Christ who is the greater and more perfect sacrifice. His blood is the greater and more perfect offering, as a result we no longer need to offer up goats and calves
and bulls and sheep.

Let’s read today’s confession together and praise Jesus for being our righteousness..

3. In addition to this law, commonly called the moral law, God was pleased to give the people of Israel—as the church under age—ceremonial laws, which contained several typological ordinances. These ordinances consisted partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits, and partly of various instructions of moral duties. All these ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the new testament.

Related posts:

1. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 19, Section 4
2. Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 8, Section 1
3. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 13, Section 2

Two examples of this in scripture:

King David, a man after God’s own heart, commits adultery with Bathsheba, and
then murders her husband to cover up his sins. Even in his deepest sin, God in
his grace and mercy sends Nathan to rebuke him. And in his spirit God brings
David to a place of repentance and restoration. True believers are not left in
despair no matter how great the sin or how perilous the situation.

Second example is that of the apostle Peter. When our Lord Jesus Christ was
arrested and sentenced to be crucified. Peter denied knowing Jesus three
times. Even in Peter’s darkest hour, Christ did not leave Peter in his shame
and guilt but instead brought him to a place of repentance and restoration.

God’s salvation is not conditional on our obedience and we do not lose God’s
salvation in our disobedience. God’s salvation is God’s grace to us by faith in the
work of Christ. Our sins grieve God, grieves his spirit but it is not so great that
God cannot forgive nor are they so bad that we cannot be restored back to him.

4. True believers may have the assurance of their salvation shaken, diminished,
or temporarily lost in various ways: as by negligence in preserving it, by falling
into some special sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the Spirit, by
some sudden or violent temptation, or by God’s withdrawing the light of his
countenance and allowing even those who reverence him to walk in darkness
and have no light. Yet, true believers are never completely deprived of that seed
of God and life of faith, that love for Christ and fellow believers, that sincerity
of heart and conscience concerning duty, out of which—by the operation of
the Spirit—this assurance may in due time be revived; and by which, in the
meantime, they are supported from utter despair.

Related posts:

1. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 17, Sections 1 and 2
2. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 16 Section 3
3. Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 11, Section 2

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

Related posts:

1. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 18, Section 4
2. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 7, Section 5
3. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8, Section 3

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.

Related posts:

1. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 16 Section 3
2. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 10, Section 3
3. Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 3 section 5

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.

Related posts:

1. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 16, Section 5
2. Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 11, Section 2
3. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 18, Section 4

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.

Related posts:

1. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 15, Section 1
2. Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 11, Section 2
3. Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 18, Section 4