Of repentance unto life, part 1

Of repentance unto life, part 2

CONFESSION OF FAITH CHAPTER 15: OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE 2. By it, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature, and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God,1 purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments.2 ---------------------------------------- 1. EZEKIEL 18:30-31 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? EZEKIEL 36:31 Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. ISAIAH 30:22 Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, “Be gone!” PSALM 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. JEREMIAH 31:18-19 I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the Lord my God. For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ JOEL 2:12-13 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. AMOS 5:15 Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph. PSALM 119:128 Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way. 2 CORINTHIANS 7:11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. (ESV) 2. PSALM 119:6 Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. PSALM 119:59 When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies; PSALM 119:106 I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. LUKE 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 2 KINGS 23:25 Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. (ESV)

Of repentance unto life, part 1

CONFESSION OF FAITH CHAPTER 15: OF REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE 1. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace,1 the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.2 ---------------------------------------- 1. ZECHARIAH 12:10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. ACTS 11:18 When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.” (ESV) 2. LUKE 24:47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. MARK 1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” ACTS 20:21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

Of saving faith, part 3

CONFESSION OF FAITH CHAPTER 14: OF SAVING FAITH 3. This faith is different in degrees, weak or strong;1 may be often and many ways assailed, and weakened, but gets the victory:2 growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance, through Christ,3 who is both the author and finisher of our faith.4 ---------------------------------------- 1. HEBREWS 5:13-14 for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. ROMANS 4:19-20 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, MATTHEW 6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? MATTHEW 8:10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. (ESV) 2. LUKE 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” EPHESIANS 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 1 JOHN 5:4-5 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (ESV) 3. HEBREWS 6:11-12 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. HEBREWS 10:22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (ESV) 4. HEBREWS 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (ESV)

How doth faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?

LARGER CATECHISM Q 73. How doth faith justify a sinner in the sight of God? A. Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which do always accompany it, or of good works that are the fruits of it,1 nor as if the grace of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification;2 but only as it is an instrument by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness.3 ---------------------------------------- 1. GALATIANS 3:11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” ROMANS 3:28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (ESV) 2. ROMANS 4:5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ROMANS 10:10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (ESV) 3. JOHN 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, PHILIPPIANS 3:9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— GALATIANS 2:16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (ESV)

Of saving faith, part 2

CONFESSION OF FAITH CHAPTER 14: OF SAVING FAITH 2. By this faith, a Christian believeth to be true whatsoever is revealed in the Word, for the authority of God himself speaking therein;1 and acteth differently upon that which each particular passage thereof containeth; yielding obedience to the commands,2 trembling at the threatenings,3 and embracing the promises of God for this life, and that which is to come.4 But the principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace.5 ---------------------------------------- 1. JOHN 4:42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” 1 THESSALONIANS 2:13 And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. 1 JOHN 5:10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. ACTS 24:14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, (ESV) 2. ROMANS 16:26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— (ESV) 3. ISAIAH 66:2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. (ESV) 4. HEBREWS 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 1 TIMOTHY 4:8 for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. (ESV) 5. JOHN 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ACTS 16:31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” GALATIANS 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ACTS 15:11 But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (ESV)