Tag Archives: westminster confession of faith

Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 8, Section 1

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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.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 7, Section 5

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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.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, Section 6

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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.

Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 6, Section 2

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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.

Westminster Confession of Faith Chapter 3 Section 6

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I asked a friend, is it presumptuous that we proclaim God’s election? I’m not sure if it is presumptuous or not, but it should make us completely humble. Today’s confession provide a glimpse at who God is and how he operates. It should completely humble us as we affirm both God’s complete power over WHO is saved and HOW man is saved… as well as man’s complete inability to save himself.

This section of the confession teaches that God in determining the ends he intends to accomplish at the same time determines the means by which he intends to accomplish them; that God has determined that the elect shall be saved ordinarily by “effectual calling, justification, adoption, sanctification, and perseverance in grace.”

Our salvation in Christ is more than just the forgiveness of sins. Our union with Christ includes a new life in which God’s spirit is with us and sustains us, justification which is forgiveness of sins and imputation of Christ’s righteousness, we have new status as being adopted into God’s family, sanctification the process where God is continually making us holy, and finally our end is glorification with God. This all is the work of the God who will carry it on to completion.

May the elect be completely humbled when reading this portion of the confession of faith

(WCF Chapter 3 Section 6)

6. As God has appointed the elect to glory, so he has—by the eternal and most free purpose of his will—foreordained all the means to that end. Therefore, his chosen ones, all of them being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ and are effectually called to faith in Christ by his Spirit working in due season. They are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by his power, through faith, unto salvation. No others are redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, except the elect only.