Baptist Catechism - Lesson 18 - Questions 32, 33, and 34

Descripción

Lesson 18: Questions 32, 33, and 34 In our last lesson we considered Christ’s humiliation and exaltation. He humbled Himself in His low birth, His life under the law, His sufferings, His bearing the wrath of God, His cursed death, His burial, and His remaining under the power of death for a time (Q30). Then He was exalted in His resurrection, ascension, sitting at the Father’s right hand, and future coming to judge the world (Q31). Now the catechism turns from redemption accomplished by Christ to redemption applied to us by the Holy Spirit. Question 32: How are we redeemed? 17. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ? 1. We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit. This question is necessary. Christ has purchased redemption. He has obeyed, suffered, died, risen, ascended, and reigns. But how does that redemption become ours? How are sinners made partakers of what Christ has accomplished? The catechism answers: “by the effectual application of it to us by his Holy Spirit”. That means salvation is not only planned by the Father and purchased by the Son; it is also applied by the Spirit. The work of Christ is not left suspended in history as a bare possibility, waiting for spiritually dead sinners to activate it by their own native power. The Holy Spirit effectually applies what Christ purchased. That word “partakers” matters. The catechism does not ask merely how we hear about redemption, admire redemption, or understand redemption outwardly. It asks how we partake of it. In other words, how do we come into actual possession of Christ and His benefits? John 1:11-12 says, “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” That passage holds two truths together. First, fallen man does not naturally receive Christ. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. The problem is not that Christ lacks glory, but that sinners are blind, proud, and unwilling apart from grace. We see this as we look at Acts 17 and Romans 8: The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. (Acts 17:30-31, ESV) For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:7-8, ESV, emphasis mine) Second, those who do receive Him, those who believe in His name, are given the right to become children of God. Receiving Christ and believing in His name are not empty religious gestures. They are God’s appointed means by which sinners come into the privileges of salvation. But John does not allow us to think that this receiving arises from unaided human strength. John 1:13 says that these children of God “were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” We truly receive Christ. We truly believe. But the new birth behind that believing is of God. Titus 3:4-6 teaches the same truth: But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior… (Titus 3:4-6, ESV) The Spirit does not bring us another salvation. He applies the salvation purchased by Christ. He does not compete with Christ. He brings us to Christ and makes us partakers of Christ. This is why the catechism uses the word “effectual”. The Spirit’s saving application actually accomplishes what God intends. It is not a weak influence that may or may not succeed. It is not mere external persuasion. It is not a theoretical salvation awaiting a human decision. It is the powerful work of God by which the redeemed are brought to receive the Redeemer. This should keep us from two errors. On one side, we must not think of Christ’s redemption as accomplished but uncertain in its application. Christ did not purchase a salvation that may finally fail to save His people. No, Christ saves His people. On the other side, we must not detach the Spirit’s work from Christ’s finished work. The Spirit applies redemption purchased by Christ. The foundation is Christ’s blood and righteousness. The application is the Spirit’s gracious and powerful work. In this we see the Trinitarian nature of the Gospel: * The Father elected a people and sent the Son to redeem them. * The Son purchased full redemption through perfect execution of the three offices in His humiliation, ascending to the Father in His exaltation in order to send the Spirit. * The Spirit applies to the elect the redemption that the Son purchased, uniting them to Christ and bringing to glory the very people whom God elected to save. If you could lose your salvation, you would, but you cannot, for it is all of God from start to finish. Question 33: How is redemption applied? 17. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ? 1. The Spirit applieth to us the redemption purchased by Christ, by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ, in our effectual calling. Question 32 told us that the Holy Spirit effectually applies Christ’s redemption to us. Question 33 now asks how He does that. The answer is wonderfully precise: “by working faith in us, and thereby uniting us to Christ, in our effectual calling.” First, the Spirit applies redemption “by working faith in us”. Faith is not a natural power fallen man already possesses in himself. Faith is something the Spirit works in us. That does not make faith fake. We really believe. We really receive Christ. We really trust Him. But even that believing is the fruit of grace. It is a gift. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God”. Salvation is by grace through faith, and the whole arrangement is gift. Faith is not a meritorious work that earns salvation. Faith is the empty hand receiving Christ. It is the means by which we receive Him, not the ground on which God accepts us. Christ saves. Faith receives Him. Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Notice the order. They heard the word of truth. They believed in Christ. They were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. The Spirit is not an optional addition to the Christian life. He is the seal and guarantee of the inheritance. John 6:37 says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” That is one of the strongest comforts in Scripture. All whom the Father gives to the Son will come to the Son. And all who come to Christ will never be cast out. The sinner’s coming is real, but it is grounded in the Father’s giving and secured by the Son’s welcome. John 6:39 adds, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.” Christ does not merely make salvation possible and then hope His people endure. He saves His people. He loses none of them. He will raise all of them on the last day. Second, the Spirit applies redemption by “uniting us to Christ”. This is crucial. There is no salvation for those detached from Christ. We are saved by being joined to Christ Himself. Christ is not merely the supplier of salvation, as though He hands us forgiveness, righteousness, life, and hope while remaining separate from us. No, the Spirit unites us to Christ, for only in union with Christ are we saved. Ephesians 3:17 says, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”. Faith is not bare agreement with facts (though the content of our faith is critical; belief in a false gospel cannot save). Rather, faith is the Spirit-worked bond by which we receive and rest upon Christ. Through faith, Christ dwells in His people and we abide in Him. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Salvation brings us into communion with Christ. God does not merely call us into moral improvement, religious activity, or doctrinal awareness. He calls us into fellowship with His Son. This guards us from thinking mechanically about salvation. We are not saved by association with the church, exposure to preaching, knowledge of doctrine, or outward morality. These are important fruits, but the root of our salvation is Christ’s work of redemption, applied to us by the Spirit working faith in us and thereby uniting us to Christ. And this happens “in our effectual calling”. The gospel call is preached outwardly: repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. But in effectual calling, the Spirit works inwardly so that the sinner truly comes. He works faith. He unites to Christ. He brings the sinner into fellowship with the Son. This should make us humble. If you believe in Christ, Who worked that faith in you? The Holy Spirit did. If you are united to Christ, Who joined you to Him? The Holy Spirit did. Our salvation is the gracious work of God’s Spirit applying the redemption purchased by Christ. Question 34: What is effectual calling? 17. What is effectual calling? 1. Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel. Now the catechism defines the phrase it has just used. What is effectual calling? The answer is one of the most pastorally helpful definitions in the catechism. It shows us what the Spirit does in bringing sinners to Christ. He convinces, enlightens, renews, persuades, and enables. First, effectual calling is “the work of God’s Spirit”. 2 Timothy 1:9 says God “saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began”. This call is not rooted in our works, but in God’s purpose, grace, and timing. 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 says, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These truths belong together. God (the Father) chose. The Spirit sanctifies. The sinner believes the truth. God calls through the gospel. The goal is the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Second, the Spirit convinces us “of our sin and misery”. Acts 2:37 gives a vivid example: “Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’” That is the Spirit’s work, not flattering sinners, but convicting them of sin and misery. This conviction is mercy. It may feel painful, but it is kindness. A sinner who does not know his guilt and misery will not flee to Christ. The Spirit wounds in order to heal. He exposes sin so that sinners will stop hiding, stop excusing, and stop pretending. Third, the Spirit enlightens “our minds in the knowledge of Christ”. Acts 26:18 says that Paul was sent “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [Jesus].” Fallen sinners are not merely guilty. They are darkened. They may know religious vocabulary, but unless the Spirit opens the eyes, they do not behold Christ savingly. This enlightening is not new revelation beyond Scripture. It is the Spirit enabling us to see the truth of Christ in Scripture. He opens the mind to understand that Christ is not merely a teacher, not merely an example, but the only Redeemer of God’s elect, freely offered to sinners.Fourth, the Spirit renews “our wills”. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” That is not mere advice. That is transformation. Fallen man’s problem is not that he has a good will but bad information. His will is bound by sin. Therefore, the Spirit renews the will. He does not drag sinners to Christ while they remain hostile. He changes the heart so that Christ becomes desirable. He makes the unwilling willing. Finally, the Spirit persuades and enables us “to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered to us in the gospel”. John 6:44 says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” That is inability stated plainly. But John 6:45 adds, “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me”. That is effectiveness stated plainly. Those taught by God come to Christ. Philippians 2:13 says, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” God works not only in outward circumstances, but in the will itself. Effectual calling does not destroy the human will. It renews it. The sinner comes freely, for God has made him willing by grace. We should not miss the sweetness of the phrase “freely offered to us in the gospel”. Effectual calling does not make the gospel offer less free. It explains how sinners come to embrace that free offer. Christ is freely offered. Sinners are truly invited. The command to repent and believe is sincere. The promise is real: all who come to Christ will be received; none who repent and believe are rejected. So if you have embraced Christ, give thanks, for the Holy Spirit convicted, enlightened, renewed, persuaded, and enabled you to embrace Jesus Christ. If you have not embraced Christ, He is freely offered to you in the gospel. Come to Him. Conclusion Questions 32, 33, and 34 move us from redemption accomplished to redemption applied. Christ purchased redemption, but we are made partakers of it only by the effectual application of it to us by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit applies what Christ purchased. * Q32 teaches that redemption must be applied. * Q33 teaches that the Spirit does so by faith, which unites us to Christ in effectual calling. * Q34 teaches that effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit: * convincing us of sin and misery * enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ * renewing our wills * persuading and enabling us to embrace Jesus Christ freely offered in the gospel So take this lesson with you this week in two ways. FIRST, let it shape what you believe: redemption must not only be decreed by the Father and accomplished by Christ, but applied by the Holy Spirit. If you are in Christ, you are there because the Spirit brought you to Him. Your faith is not a boast. Your union with Christ is not self-created. Your calling is not because of your works, but because of God’s purpose and grace. SECOND, let that corrected belief change what you do. * When you pray, ask God to do what only God can do. Ask Him to open blind eyes, soften hard hearts, awaken dead sinners, and make Christ beautiful to those who now resist Him. Pray this for your children, your spouse, your neighbors, and yourself. * When you evangelize, speak with confidence. Do not manipulate, flatter, or hide the hard truths of sin, judgment, repentance, and grace. Offer Christ freely, knowing the Spirit is able to make the outward call effectual. The Father elected to redeem a people. The Son redeemed that people. The Spirit applies redemption to that people. And it is all of grace.

Baptist Catechism - Lesson 23 - Questions 47, 48, and 49

Lesson 23: Questions 47, 48, and 49 In Lesson 22, we began our introduction to the Law of God. We saw that the duty God requires of man is obedience to His revealed will (Q44), that the rule God first revealed to man for his obedience was the moral law (Q45), and that the moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments (Q46). That means we are not approaching the Ten Commandments as a ladder by which sinners climb into justification. We come as people who have already been taught the doctrines of sin, Christ, redemption, effectual calling, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, death, resurrection, and judgment. Now, standing in that doctrinal context, we ask how the Ten Commandments are summarized and how God Himself introduces them. Question 47: What do the Ten Commandments teach? * What is the sum of the ten commandments? * The sum of the ten commandments is, to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind; and our neighbour as ourselves. The catechism begins its treatment of the Ten Commandments by asking for their “sum”. That is important. Before it walks through each commandment one by one, it teaches us the inner logic of the whole moral law. The Ten Commandments are not a random list of divine rules. They are the moral law summarized, and that moral law is summarized in love: love for God and love for neighbor. But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40, ESV) The first and great commandment is love for God. The second is like it: love for neighbor. And on these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. That means love is not a replacement for God’s commandments. Love is the heart of God’s commandments. The law shows us what love requires. This matters because modern people often pit love against law. They assume that love is flexible, spontaneous, and sincere, while law is rigid, external, and cold. But Scripture does not give us that opposition. Biblical love is not lawless emotion. Biblical law is not loveless control. God’s law teaches us the shape of love, and true love gladly walks according to God’s law. The first table of the law teaches us how to love God. We love Him by having no other gods before Him (1), by worshiping Him as He commands (2), by honoring His Name (3), and by keeping His appointed rhythm of worship and rest (4). The second table of the law teaches us how to love neighbor. We love our neighbor by honoring lawful authority (5), preserving life (6), pursuing chastity (7), respecting property (8), telling the truth (9), and governing our desires (10). So when someone says, “Christianity is about love, not rules”, we should ask, “What kind of love?” If love is detached from God’s revealed will, then love becomes whatever fallen man wants it to mean. It becomes sentiment, preference, permission, or self-expression. But if love is governed by God’s law, then love is holy. It seeks what God says is good. Notice also the totality of love required. We are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind. That leaves nothing outside. God does not ask for a small religious compartment within an otherwise self-governed life. He requires the whole person: affections, desires, thoughts, will, body, energy, decisions, habits, relationships, and worship. This exposes us. If the sum of the law is love for God with all that we are and love for neighbor as ourselves, then who among us can say, “I have kept the law”? We may compare ourselves favorably to other people, but the law does not ask whether we have been more outwardly decent than our neighbor. It asks whether we have loved God perfectly and loved our neighbor rightly. That is why this question must not become sentimental. The summary of the law in love does not make the law easier. In one sense, it makes it much more difficult. God does not require mechanical rule-keeping only. He requires love. He does not merely command the hands, but the heart. He does not merely forbid outward law-breaking. He requires inward love toward God and neighbor. At the same time, this question also protects us from treating the commandments as bare externalism. The law is fulfilled by love. A man may avoid certain outward sins because of pride, fear, reputation, convenience, or self-interest. That is not the obedience God requires. God commands love. Here again we see our need for Christ. Christ alone loved the Lord His God with all His heart, soul, strength, and mind. Christ alone loved His neighbor perfectly. Christ alone fulfilled the law from the heart. And those who are united to Christ are not only justified by His righteousness (i.e., His law-keeping), but also renewed by His Spirit so that we begin to love what God commands. So Question 47 teaches us how to read the whole moral law. The Ten Commandments are not less than commandments, but they are more than bare commands. They are the revealed shape of love: love for God first, and then love for neighbor under God. Question 48: What is their preface? * What is the preface to the ten commandments? * The preface to the ten commandments is in these words; I am the Lord thy God which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Question 48 turns from the summary of the Ten Commandments to their preface. That may seem like a small detail, but it is not. God does not begin the Ten Commandments with, “here are My rules.” He begins with Himself: “I am the Lord your God”. He identifies Himself before He commands. And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (Exodus 20:1-2, ESV) This preface teaches us that the commandments come from the covenant Lord and Redeemer. God’s law is not an abstract moral code floating above God. It is the revealed will of the living God Who speaks to His people. The authority of the commandments rests on God’s authority. The first thing God says is, “I am the Lord”. This is Covenant Name language. God is not merely a vague deity, a higher power, or a religious concept. He is the Lord, Yahweh (YHWH), the God Who is, the God Who has spoken, the God Who keeps covenant, the God Who reveals Himself, the God Who rules, saves, and judges. The law comes from Him. That means obedience is personal. We are not obeying an impersonal rulebook. We are obeying the living God. This is one reason sin is so serious. Sin is not merely breaking a principle. It is rebellion against the Lord. To disobey God’s law is to disobey God Himself. Then God says, “your God”. That is covenant relationship. He is not only the Lord in the abstract; He is the Lord Who has taken a people to Himself. He has claimed them. He has bound them to Himself. He has set His Name upon them. The commandments come in the context of covenant. That matters because some people imagine law and relationship are opposites. They think relationship means warmth without command, and law means command without warmth. Scripture does not speak that way. God’s covenant relationship includes commands, and His commands come within covenant relationship. The God Who says “your God” also says “you shall” and “you shall not”. Then God says He brought them “out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Before Sinai, there was redemption. Before the commandments were written on tablets of stone, God had delivered His people from slavery. That order matters enormously. Israel was not given the law so that they might earn deliverance from Egypt. God did not say, “Keep these commandments, and if you do well enough, I will bring you out of bondage.” No, He redeemed them first. Then He commanded them. Redemption came before Sinai obedience. This does not mean Israel was redeemed in exactly the same way we speak of redemption accomplished by Christ in the New Covenant. The Exodus was a historical redemption from Egyptian bondage and a type of the greater redemption to come. But the pattern (type) is still important: God’s commands come to a redeemed people. He saves, then He instructs. He delivers, then He commands. This guards us from legalism. The law is not a ladder out of Egypt. God brought them out. They did not climb out by obedience. But it also guards us from antinomianism. The same God Who redeemed them also commanded them. Grace does not mean, “I brought you out, so now live however you want.” Grace means, “I brought you out; therefore, you belong to Me and must obey Me.” This is exactly why the preface matters for Christian obedience. We must not detach commandment from redemption. If we do, we will either turn them into a system of self-salvation or reject them as if they were hostile to grace. But when we read them in light of redemption, we see them rightly: the redeemed life has a shape. God saves His people and teaches them to walk before Him. The Exodus also reminds us that sin is bondage. Egypt is not only a geographical memory; it becomes a picture (type) of slavery from which God delivers. The Israelites were not brought out so they could invent their own freedom. They were brought out to worship and serve the Lord. Likewise, Christ does not redeem us from sin so that we may become autonomous. He redeems us from slavery to sin so that we may become servants of righteousness. What is righteousness? The opposite of sin. What is sin? Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4, ESV) It follows, then, that the righteousness after which we strive is lawful obedience. So Question 48 teaches us that the Ten Commandments begin with God Himself: the Lord, our God, the Redeemer. The Law comes from the One Who has authority to command and has given grace to redeem. Therefore, the preface prevents us from reading the commandments as cold legalism. They are covenant words from the redeeming Lord. Question 49: What does the preface teach? * What doth the preface to the ten commandments teach us? * The preface to the ten commandments teacheth us that because God is the Lord, and our God and redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all his commandments. Question 49 explains the theological meaning of the preface. Because God is the Lord, because He is our God, and because He is our Redeemer, therefore we are bound to keep all His commandments. That word “therefore” matters. Obedience is not detached from God’s identity or God’s saving work. It flows from both. FIRST, we are bound to obey because God is the Lord. He is Creator, King, Judge, and Sovereign. He does not need to ask permission to command His creatures. The Lord has absolute authority over everything He has made. His commands are not suggestions. They are binding. This is where modern man often stumbles. He wants a god who advises but does not command, comforts but does not rule, forgives but does not judge. But God is the Lord. We are bound to obey. SECOND, we are bound to obey because He is our God. That brings the matter closer. The commandments are not merely imposed from outside, as though God were an unknown ruler issuing distant decrees. He is our God. For Israel, the preface reminded them that the Lord had taken them to Himself in covenant. For believers in Christ, the point is even richer. The God Who commands us is the God Who has made us His people in Christ. “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (Luke 1:68-75, ESV, emphasis added) Zechariah speaks of deliverance in order that God’s people might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all their days. Notice the purpose of redemption: service, holiness, righteousness. God delivers His people so that they may live before Him. This is deeply important. Redemption is not merely rescue from consequences. It is rescue unto worship and obedience. Christ does not save us so that we can remain devoted to the same sins that enslaved us. He saves us so that we may serve God without fear. That phrase “without fear” matters. Gospel obedience is not servile terror. The believer does not obey in order to make God merciful. God has shown mercy in Christ. The believer obeys as one delivered, forgiven, adopted, and loved. But “without fear” does not mean without reverence, holiness, or seriousness. Zechariah immediately says “in holiness and righteousness”. Freedom from condemnation does not produce freedom from obedience. It produces freedom for obedience. THIRD, we are bound to obey because God is our Redeemer. Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Peter 1:13-19, ESV) Peter grounds holy conduct in both God’s holiness and Christ’s redemption (by precious blood). That is exactly the logic of the catechism. Because God is holy, we must be holy. Because Christ has redeemed us, we must live with holy conduct. Notice how Peter speaks. He does not say, “You were ransomed, therefore obedience no longer matters.” He says the opposite. You were ransomed from futile ways. You were bought with precious blood. Therefore, be holy in all your conduct as obedient children. This means redemption strengthens the obligation to obey. It does not weaken it. Since God made us, He has authority over us. Since God redeemed us, He has claim upon us twice over. We belong to Him by creation and redemption. The Christian is not less obligated to obey because he is saved by grace. He is more deeply bound, but now gladly, as one who has been bought with blood. This is where we must be careful and pastoral. Some people hear “bound to keep all His commandments” and immediately fear legalism. That is understandable, especially if they have seen God’s law abused. But legalism is not the same as obedience. Legalism uses obedience as the ground of acceptance with God. Gospel obedience rests on acceptance in Christ and responds with love. It’s also important to note that it’s not legalism if it’s right. It’s not legalism for me to be faithful to my wife. It’s not legalism for me to be honest on my taxes. It’s not legalism for me to honor my Father and Mother. Others hear “grace” and assume that commandment-keeping must be contrary to the gospel. But that is antinomianism. Grace does not make God’s will irrelevant. Grace writes God’s law on the heart and teaches us to walk in His ways. Grace does not destroy obedience; it enables it. Listen to what Jesus says: Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him. (John 14:21, ESV, emphasis added) What commandments would His hearers have heard? The Ten Commandments! So the preface to the Ten Commandments teaches gospel-shaped obedience. God is the Lord, so He has authority. God is our God, so obedience is covenantal. God is our Redeemer, so obedience is grateful. We obey not as slaves trying to earn release from Egypt/sin, but as those already redeemed. This also means partial obedience is not the goal. The catechism says we are bound to keep “all his commandments”. We do not get to choose our favorite commands and ignore the rest. God’s authority is not selective. His Word does not come to us as a buffet. We are not permitted to obey where obedience is easy and then negotiate where obedience is costly. At the same time, we must remember that our obedience in this life remains imperfect. We are not justified by the quality of our commandment-keeping. Christ is our righteousness. But imperfect obedience is not the same as indifferent disobedience. The believer’s obedience is real, growing, Spirit-wrought, and grateful, even though it is not yet perfect. Q49 teaches the foundation of Christian duty. God is the Lord, our God, and our Redeemer, so we are bound to keep all His commandments. Authority, covenant, and redemption stand together. Conclusion Questions 47, 48, and 49 prepare us to walk through the Ten Commandments rightly. 47. The sum of the law: Love God with all that we are, and love our neighbor as ourselves. 48. The preface summarized: The God Who commands is the Lord our God, Who brought His people out of bondage. 49. The preface explained: Because God is the Lord, our God, and our Redeemer, we are bound to keep all His commandments. So, let’s take this lesson with us this week in a few ways: FIRST, we should believe differently. We should stop thinking of law and love as enemies. The law shows us the shape of love. Love for God and neighbor is not a vague feeling; it is obedience ordered by God’s revealed will. SECOND, we should read the commandments redemptively. God does not bring His people to Sinai before bringing them out of Egypt. Redemption comes first. The commandments are not a ladder into salvation. They are covenant instruction for those whom God has delivered. THIRD, we should obey differently. We do not obey to become justified. We obey because God is the Lord, because He is our God, and because He has redeemed us. Our obedience should therefore be humble, grateful, serious, and joyful. So as we move into the commandments themselves, we should come neither as legalists nor as antinomians. We come as redeemed people, trusting Christ’s righteousness, depending on the Spirit’s help, and desiring to love the God Who first loved us. The Lord has brought us, His people, out of bondage. Therefore, we are bound to keep all His commandments.

14 de jun de 202651 min

Baptist Catechism - Lesson 22 - Questions 44, 45, and 46

Lesson 22: Questions 44, 45, and 46 In Lesson 21, we considered what happens to the wicked at death and at the day of judgment. We saw that the souls of the wicked are cast into the torments of hell at death, while their bodies lie in their graves until the resurrection and judgment of the great day (Q42). We also saw that, at the day of judgment, the wicked will be raised, sentenced body and soul, and punished forever with the devil and his angels (Q43). Those are heavy truths. Question 44 is an inflection point in the catechism. Question 6: What is the Bible about? 17. What things are chiefly contained in the holy scriptures? 1. The holy scriptures chiefly contain what man ought to believe concerning God, and what duty God requireth of man. Questions 7 through 43 have fleshed out “what man ought to believe concerning God”. Now, with Question 44, we begin the second part of that answer: “what duty God requireth of man.” Before we begin, I want to say something frankly. Faithful Christians have disagreed about aspects of the Law of God, especially how the moral law relates to the Christian life under the New Covenant. I want to give grace to brothers and sisters who disagree with me, and I am willing to discuss and even debate those questions outside of class. But in class, we do not have time to chase every side trail. Clarifying questions are welcome, especially if you are trying to understand what is being taught. But I do need time to teach the material without turning the class into an extended debate. Question 44: How then shall we live? 17. What is the duty which God requireth of man? 1. The duty which God requireth of man is, obedience to his revealed will. This is a simple answer, but it is not shallow. After teaching us about salvation, death, resurrection, judgment, and eternal destiny, the catechism now asks: what does God require of man? The answer is “obedience to His revealed will.” That word duty is important. The catechism does not ask what man finds inspiring, what man prefers, what man feels is meaningful, or what man considers spiritually useful. It asks what duty God requires. Man is a creature. God is the Creator. Man is not autonomous. He is not self-defining. He does not get to invent his own moral universe. God made man, and therefore God has the right to command man. This is already offensive to the modern mind. We live in a time when many people treat obedience as a threat to authenticity. They assume freedom means self-rule. But Scripture teaches the opposite. True freedom is not freedom from God’s will. True freedom is life ordered under God’s will. When a fish is “free” from water, it is not flourishing. When man is “free” from God, he is not liberated. He is dying. “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:6-8, ESV) Notice that this passage does not treat obedience as mysterious. God has told man what is good. He has revealed what He requires. Man’s duty is not to speculate upward into the clouds, trying to discover a hidden moral standard. God has spoken. He requires justice, mercy, and humility. That phrase “to walk humbly with your God” is essential. Biblical obedience is not mere external conformity, though external conformity matters. It is not simply keeping up appearances, though appearances matter. It is the life of a creature before the face of God. Humility is built into obedience because obedience begins with the confession that God is God and I am not. And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23, ESV) This comes after Saul had disobeyed the command of the Lord while trying to preserve a religious-looking excuse. He claimed the spared animals were for sacrifice (i.e., worship). Samuel’s response is devastating. God does not desire religious performance as a substitute for obedience. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” That matters because sinners are very skilled at religious substitution. We would rather do something impressive than submit to something plain. We would rather offer a grand gesture than obey a clear command. We may prefer dramatic sacrifice, public intensity, emotional display, or theological talk over simple obedience. But God is not fooled. The duty God requires is obedience to His revealed will. This also helps us understand the role of doctrine. True doctrine never exists to make us clever rebels. Sound theology should make us obedient worshipers. If our doctrine increases our confidence while leaving us careless about obedience, something has gone wrong. Knowledge and obedience are not enemies. The Bible presents true knowledge of God as the root of faithful obedience. Now we must be careful. When the catechism says God requires obedience, it is not saying fallen man can render that obedience in his own strength. It is not saying obedience is the ground of our justification. We have already learned that justification is God’s gracious act of pardoning all our sins and accepting us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. We do not obey in order to become justified. We obey because we are justified. But that does not mean obedience becomes optional. Grace does not cancel duty. Grace restores us to God so that we may begin, however imperfectly, to walk in His ways. Christ did not redeem a people so they might remain lawless. He saves rebels and makes them sons, servants, and worshipers. So Question 44 teaches us a foundational principle: God requires obedience to His revealed will. Not obedience to human tradition. Not obedience to personal preference. Not obedience to cultural fashion. Not obedience to private impressions that contradict Scripture. Obedience to His revealed will. And that means the Christian life must be governed by the Word of God. Question 45: What rule do we obey? 17. What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience? 1. The rule which God at first revealed to man for his obedience, was the moral law. Question 45 takes the general principle of Question 44 and applies it more specifically. Since God requires obedience to His revealed will, what did He first reveal to man as the rule of that obedience? The catechism answers: “the moral law.” This is where controversy often increases. Many Christians hear “law” and immediately think “legalism”. Others hear “moral law” and assume we are retreating from the gospel, weakening grace, or putting Christians back under Moses in a way that undermines the New Covenant. We need to slow down. Legalism is a real danger. We should reject it. Legalism treats obedience as the ground of acceptance with God, adds human traditions as though they were divine commands, or uses law without Christ and without grace. But the moral law itself is not legalism. God’s commands are not the enemy. Sin is the enemy. Self-righteousness is the enemy. Misusing the law is dangerous; the law itself is holy. For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:12-16, ESV) Paul teaches that even Gentiles, who did not receive the law in the same covenantal form as Israel, still show “the work of the law” written on their hearts. Their consciences accuse or excuse them. This does not mean fallen man has saving righteousness by nature. He does not. It does mean man remains a moral creature living before God’s moral order. This is why all human beings have some sense of right and wrong, even when that sense is corrupted, suppressed, inconsistent, or misdirected. Men may deny God, but they cannot escape moral reality. They still accuse. They still defend. They still appeal to justice. They still condemn betrayal, cruelty, theft, and dishonesty when those sins are committed against them. Their conscience bears witness that they live under moral obligation. That matters because the moral law is not an arbitrary list God invented at Sinai. The moral law reflects God’s own righteous character and the moral order He built into creation. Man is not a blank canvas morally. God made man in His image, obligated to love, worship, trust, and obey Him. For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. (Romans 10:5, ESV) Paul is contrasting righteousness based on the law with righteousness based on faith. The one who would be justified by law must do the law. That is a crushing word to sinners. The law does not grade on a curve. It does not say, “Try your best and perhaps God will accept you.” If you seek life by law-keeping, the demand is obedience. Perfect, unerring, perpetual obedience. This is why the law exposes our need for Christ. The moral law tells us what righteousness requires, and then our sin shows us that we have not met that requirement. The law is good; we are not. The problem is not that God’s standard is defective. The problem is that man is guilty and corrupt. So we must hold two truths together: * FIRST, the moral law remains a true rule of obedience. * SECOND, the moral law cannot justify sinners. If we confuse those two truths, we will fall into error. * If we deny the law as a rule of obedience, we drift toward antinomianism. * If we use the law as the ground of justification, we drift toward legalism. The Reformed path is neither lawlessness nor self-righteousness. It is gospel obedience: justified by Christ alone, and then taught by grace to walk in God’s ways. This is why the sequence of the catechism matters. It does not begin with the law (what we do). It begins with God, Scripture, creation, providence, sin, Christ, redemption, effectual calling, justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, death, resurrection, and judgment (what we believe). Only then does it unfold the moral law in detail. That order is pastoral and theological. The law is not being introduced as a ladder into God’s favor. It is being introduced as the revealed rule of obedience for creatures before God, and for redeemed people who now belong to Christ. It is not optional for any human, but true obedience is only possible for redeemed believers. So Question 45 teaches us that God first revealed the moral law as the rule of man’s obedience. That law condemns us when we seek righteousness by it, but it also teaches us what obedience looks like. For the unbeliever, it exposes guilt. For the believer, it remains a duty, lived through Christ, by the Spirit, in gratitude, faith, and love. Question 46: Where is the moral law summarized? 17. Where is the moral law summarily comprehended? 1. The moral law is summarily comprehended in the ten commandments. Question 46 now tells us where the moral law is summarized. The catechism says it is “summarily comprehended in the ten commandments.” That phrase means the Ten Commandments summarize the moral law. They do not exhaust every possible application, but they give the central summary. “At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and make an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’ So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. And he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark that I had made. And there they are, as the Lord commanded me.” (Deuteronomy 10:1-5, ESV) The Ten Commandments were written by the very finger of God on tablets of stone. That alone should make us slow to treat them lightly. They are not merely Israelite cultural artifacts. They are not moral suggestions. They are not an embarrassing older stage of religion that Christians must outgrow. They are the summary of God’s moral law. Now, we need to say this carefully. The Ten Commandments were given at Sinai within the Mosaic covenant. That historical setting matters. We must not flatten all biblical covenants as though nothing changes from Moses to Christ. The New Covenant is not simply the Mosaic covenant reprinted. Christ has fulfilled the law. The ceremonial and civil aspects of Israel’s covenant life are not binding on the church in the same way they were binding on national Israel. The catechism is not saying the Mosaic Law remains over the Christian as a covenant. I do not believe the Mosaic Law remains over the Christian as a covenant. It is saying the moral law is summarized in the Ten Commandments. That is an important distinction. The moral law did not begin at Sinai. Sinai gave a covenantal publication of the moral law, written by the finger of God, summarized in ten words. But the moral law itself is rooted in God’s character and creation order. And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Matthew 19:16-22, ESV) Jesus points the rich young man to commandments from the Decalogue: murder, adultery, theft, false witness, honoring father and mother, and loving neighbor. Jesus does not treat the commandments as morally irrelevant. He uses them to expose the man’s understanding of goodness, obedience, and his own heart. In context, the man was claiming perfect righteousness for the second table of the Law, those commandments that govern relationships between man and man. He was wrong about this, so Jesus then goes back to the first table and exposes how this man’s wealth is a god competing with God, violating the First Commandment. This is one use of the law: it exposes sin. The rich young man thought he had kept these commands. But when Christ pressed him, his idolatry was revealed. He loved his possessions. The law did not save him. It exposed him. That should teach us how to study the Ten Commandments. We must not study them superficially. “You shall not murder” does not merely forbid the physical act of murder while permitting hatred. “You shall not commit adultery” does not merely forbid the outward act while permitting lust. “You shall not steal” does not merely forbid robbery while permitting greed and exploitation. The commandments reach the heart. Jesus shows this in Matthew 5. (We’ll unpack these later.) At the same time, we should not study the commandments only as instruments of condemnation. For the believer, the law also teaches the shape of love. Jesus says the whole law hangs on love for God and love for neighbor. That does not make the commandments disappear. It shows their inner logic. The first table teaches love for God. The second table teaches love for neighbor. This is why we should not pit love against law. Biblical love is not lawless sentiment. If I say I love God while worshiping idols, taking His Name in vain, and refusing His appointed worship, I am lying. If I say I love my neighbor while dishonoring authority, hating, lusting, stealing, lying, and coveting, I am lying. Love fulfills the law because love gladly seeks the good that God commands. Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. (1 John 3:4, ESV; emphasis added) Here, John makes the explicit point that “sin is lawlessness.” Do you wish to avoid sin? The Law, even the Mosaic Law, especially the Ten Commandments, shows us the pattern for lawful obedience. So as we begin this section, we need the right posture. We do not come to the Ten Commandments trying to earn justification. Christ is our righteousness. We do not come as autonomous critics sitting over God’s law. God is our Lord. We do not come as legalists looking for ways to feel superior. We are sinners saved by grace. We do not come as antinomians looking for loopholes. We are children learning our Father’s will. Conclusion Questions 44, 45, and 46 bring us into a new major section of the catechism. We have considered salvation in Christ, the benefits believers receive, the destiny of believers, and the destiny of the wicked. Now we begin to consider the duty God requires of man. FIRST, we should believe differently. We should stop thinking of obedience as a threat to grace. Biblical obedience is not the enemy of the gospel. Self-righteousness is the enemy. Legalism is the enemy. Lawlessness is the enemy. Obedience to God’s revealed will is our duty and the grateful calling of every redeemed child. SECOND, we should understand the law rightly. The moral law reveals God’s righteous standard. It exposes our sin. It shows our need for Christ. For the believer, it serves as a rule of grateful obedience. We are not justified by law-keeping. We are justified by Christ alone. But the Christ Who justifies us also teaches us to walk in His ways. THIRD, we should come to the Ten Commandments humbly. We should not come eager to argue, looking for loopholes, or trying to soften God’s commands. We should come ready to listen. We should come as people who: * know our weakness * trust Christ’s righteousness * depend on the Spirit’s help * desire to please our Father So as we enter this section on the moral law, let us remember the catechism’s order. Grace has come first. Christ has come first. Justification, adoption, sanctification, perseverance, and resurrection hope have come first. Now, standing in that grace, we ask: “Lord, what do You require of us?” And the answer begins here: * obedience to His revealed will * according to the moral law * summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments

7 de jun de 202649 min

Baptist Catechism - Lesson 18 - Questions 32, 33, and 34

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