Tag Archives: westminster confession of faith

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 27, Section 1

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Chapter 27 of the confession deals with sacraments. They are called signs and seals of the covenant of grace. Because it is an outward visible sign and an inward, spiritual grace to which it points to.

It is a sign because the sacrament is a visible picture that reminds and represents Christ’s covenant to us. It is a seal because it authenticates of the spiritual reality of Christ’s finished and completed work for us.

So that in faith, we receive all the benefits that comes with the covenant. The sacraments direct each of us away from self and towards Christ in faith. And because we are in Christ, we benefit in all God’s spiritual blessings including indwelling of the Holy Spirit and our union with Christ.

The sacraments are a visible proclamation of the gospel, that’s why when we partake of it we are proclaiming that we believe and trust in the work of Christ. So it provides a visible distinction between those who belong to the church and the rest of the world.

As a reminder, when we partake of the sacraments we aren’t proclaiming how big our or strong our faith is, but rather how strong Christ’s work is so that even those with the weakest possible faith can come and rest on Christ. In fact the sacraments, given to us from God, are meant for the weak in faith to help sustain those who struggle with their faith and struggle with sin.

1. Sacraments are holy signs and seals of the covenant of grace. They were directly instituted by God to represent Christ and his benefits and to confirm our relationship to him. They are also intended to make a visible distinction between those who belong to the church and the rest of the world, and solemnly to bind Christians to the service of God in Christ, according to his Word.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 25, Section 1

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Today’s confession looks at what the church is.

We learn that the catholic or universal church consists of all believers past present and future. Christ is the head of the church and the relationship between Christ and the church.. Is that The church is the bride, the body and the fullness of him.

The confession calls the universal church invisible meaning we cannot see or know everyone who is saved.

As we worship today, we are reminded that we join all our brothers and sisters around the world, past present and future in, through, and by Jesus Christ. And that this local body here is a small representation of a much larger reality.

CONFESSION OF FAITH:

The catholic (that is, universal) church, which is invisible, consists of all the elect who have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ its head. This church is his bride, his body, and the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 17, Sections 1 and 2

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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

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 16, Section 5

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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.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 15, Section 1

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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

Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 11, Section 2

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Last week we were introduced to Justification. As a reminder justification is the forgiveness of our sins and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. Though we were spiritually dead, we receive a right standing with God (we are justified) through faith in Jesus Christ. When God opens our hearts to trust in Christ, our sins become his and his righteousness become ours.

Today’s confession speaks about this faith. It says that justifying faith is not dead, but works by love. What does that mean? Ephesians 2:8-10 sheds some light on this issue. It says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Salvation is a gift of God. We do not earn it, we do not deserve it. It is a gift of God so that no one can boast… but our salvation doesn’t leave us where we are. God continues to shape us and mold us into the image of his Son, Jesus. As our old pastor use to say, it is a package deal. Justification is accompanied by other saving graces including sanctification, adoption, faith and repentance, good works, glorification, and others. It is a package deal.

As a quick warning… If you are a Christian and think that because I believe Christ and he forgives all my sins… I can go on sinning all the more because he’s gonna forgive me… then you are truly mistaken.

As we read today’s confession we are reminded that faith alone in Christ justifies us, (saves us), but our faith does not remain alone… it is accompanied by a real inward change of our hearts to do good works prepared by God. That is what a true Christian experiences.

Faith—receiving and resting on Christ and his righteousness—is the only instrument of justification; yet it is not the only grace in the person justified, but is always accompanied by all other saving graces. Justifying faith is not dead, but works by love.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 10, Section 3

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This confession deals with a difficult and sensitive issue. As we dealt with effectual calling, it is the outward call, the preaching of the Gospel and the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. What happens to people who are not capable of making a decision for Christ die, like infants? What is their eternal destiny?

This confession really hit home recently when a family friend lost their four month old baby girl. This confession is a great comfort to the grieving by revealing the great mercy of our God.

This is a sensitive topic because we know that all man is born into sin, this includes babies. If we are all born under sin, and salvation is by faith in Christ (which infants do not seem to have the mental capacity to exercise), then it might at first seem that no infants can be saved. However, that would be a premature and unbiblical conclusion.

The difficulty is then how do we reconcile God’s justice with his mercy and compassion?

Scripture does not say very much about the eternal destiny of babies. Ephesians 1:4 says that “He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” God in his great love has predestined his people, the elect to be saved in Jesus Christ… that includes elect persons who are not capable of grasping the outward call like infants who die in infancy.

It is important to emphasize that God is not saving infants because they are innocent. He is saving them because, although they are sinful, God is true to His name when He says that He will be gracious to whom He will be gracious and will show mercy on whom He will show mercy.

This truth underscores the greatness and the depth of God’s love and mercy when an infant He has chosen to be part of His family is allowed to die even before she is able to publicly confess her faith in Christ, God is still able and willing to save from hell.

As we comfort one another, especially those parents who lost their little ones, we turn them to Jesus Christ and allow them to see how truly merciful and compassionate our God is.

Confession of Faith 10.3 Elect infants who die in infancy are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit, who works when, where, and how he pleases. So also are all other elect persons who are incapable of being outwardly called by the ministry of the Word.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 10, Section 1

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Why do some people believe in the gospel and others don’t? Today we will see that when the Gospel is preached some very important things happen. We see that in our fallen state we would naturally reject Christ and reject his free offer of salvation.

However when the Gospel is preached something mysterious and awesome happens. We call this Effectual Calling. Through the spoken word of God, the spirit of God moves in some people and not in others… and regenerates our hearts. He gives us eyes to see and ears to hear and minds/hearts to understand the Gospel.

We see the Gospel as the power of God unto salvation for all that believe… It is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ that calls us into a loving relationship with God, it is also in this call that the loving God sends his Spirit to draw men to himself.

When we feel conviction of sin, when we are reminded of his goodness, his loving kindness, when we understand the great salvation in which we have been saved, it is because the spirit of God has changed our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. This is a working of God… the power of God… the grace of God so that we may come freely to him, out of our own free will.

Two important points to note about Effectual Calling:
1) God calls us through the Word and his Spirit. That is why the preaching and teaching of the word is so important. It is through the Word that we see God’s spirit moving to change and draw people to himself.
2) Is God unfair? Some say it is not fair that God chooses some to be saved and others to go to hell. But we know that salvation is grace, which is by definition undeserved. No one deserves it. If we acted in our own free will we would not choose God. If we want fairness, if we want justice, the sinless Christ would not have died and we would be the ones condemned to death. We recognize that salvation is a gift… it is by the grace of God.

Let’s read together Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 10, Section 1. It’s a long section so I encourage you to read this again in your spare time and to mediate on God’s work of salvation:

1. All those—and only those—whom God has predestined to life, he is pleased to call effectually in his appointed and accepted time, by his Word and Spirit. He calls them from the state of sin and death—in which they are by nature—to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ. In this calling, God enlightens their minds spiritually and savingly, so that they understand the things of God. He takes away their hearts of stone and gives them hearts of flesh, renews their wills, and by his almighty power turns them to what is good and effectually draws them to Jesus Christ. Yet he does this in such a way that they come most freely, being made willing by his grace.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 8, Section 8

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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…