Faith In Jesus Christ (The New City Catechism #30)

“What is faith in Jesus Christ?” Since trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation is the only way to eternal life (John 3:36; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 16:31), there is no more important question than this asked by The New City Catechism (#30).   

One of the catechisms that The New City Catechism was derived from, The Westminster Shorter Catechism (#86), asks the same question and answers this way: “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.” Here are some biblical passages to support that answer: John 1:12; 6:35; Galatians 2:15-16, 20; Philippians 3:9; Hebrews 10:39.

Here is the answer given in The New City Catechism: “Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.” 

One of the most capable theologians that America has ever produced, the 18^th century New England pastor, Jonathan Edwards, explained saving faith this way:

Upon the whole, the best, and clearest, and most perfect definition of justifying faith, [the most scriptural one] that I can think of, is this, faith is the soul’s [fully] embracing the revelation of Jesus Christ as our Savior. The word “embrace” is [one of the clearest ones we could use]. [I]t is called believing, because believing is the first act of the soul in embracing a [message] or revelation: and embracing, when [talking] about a revelation or thing declared. [It] is more properly called believing, than loving or choosing. If it were [talking] about a person only, it would be more properly called loving. If it were [talking] about a gift, an inheritance, or reward, it would more properly be called receiving or accepting.

 

The definition might have been expressed in these words: faith is the soul’s entirely adhering [to] and [complying with] the revelation of Jesus Christ as our Savior—Or thus: faith is the soul’s embracing that truth of God, that reveals Jesus Christ as our Savior—Or thus: faith is the soul’s entirely [complying with], and depending upon, the truth of God, revealing Christ as our Savior.

 

It is the whole soul [trusting in] and assenting to the truth, and embracing of it. There is an entire yielding of the mind and heart to the revelation, and a closing with it, and adhering to it, with the belief, and with the inclination and affection.[1]

Praising God For The Gift Of Saving Faith With You,

Tom

 

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[1] From The New City Catechism Devotional.

How We Can Be Saved (The New City Catechism #29)

The New City Catechism #29 is this: “How can we be saved?  Answer: Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross; so even though we are guilty of having disobeyed God and are still inclined to all evil, nevertheless, God, without any merit of our own but only by pure grace, imputes to us the perfect righteousness of Christ when we repent and believe in him.” 

Pastor Kevin DeYoung explains the question and answer in this way:[1]

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are in prison when a violent earthquake occurs. Prisoners are escaping, and the jailer wakes up and is absolutely dismayed that everyone is running off. The jailer is about to kill himself, and Paul stops him. And the jailer asks this very famous question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30). Paul gives him the short, biblical, absolutely beautiful answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household” (v. 31).

“What must I do to be saved?” There’s no more important question in this life or for the next life. The answer to our catechism question provides a wonderful summary of what it means to have faith in Christ—the sort of faith that saves—and how God saves through faith.This summary contains two key words. First is the very first word: only. Only faith in Jesus Christ. You see, it wouldn’t be terribly controversial to talk about faith. People are into faith and believing something. But it’s only faith, not faith plus something else. It’s not faith in addition to your background, faith plus your family of origin, faith plus how many good things you can do for social justice, or faith plus how often you pray. It’s only faith, and it’s faith in Jesus Christ—there is an object to it.

Many people will wax on and on about faith and belief and say, “I’m a person of faith” or “You’ve got to have faith.” But faith by itself doesn’t mean anything. It is the object of faith that saves us. It’s not being a person who has strong beliefs, who is sincere, or who has a mystical belief in spiritual things that saves us. It’s faith in Jesus Christ. He’s the object. It’s the object of our faith that saves us. Faith is only an instrument. It’s not the one good deed that God sees and says, “Well, you don’t have much going for you, but you have faith, and I really like that.” No. Faith is what joins us to Christ, and then he saves us. It’s the object that matters.

Growing up in a cold part of the country, I often went ice skating and played hockey. I might tiptoe out onto that first freeze of the year, and sort of wonder, “Is this ice thick enough?” Someone else might be on the ice zipping around skating with great freedom and having a lot of faith in the ice, while I’m gingerly tiptoeing and have just enough faith to get out on the ice. But what makes both of us secure? It’s not the level of faith, though you’d like to have the strong faith that’s zipping around there, but it’s the thickness of the ice.

It’s the object on which you’re standing that saves you. And that’s Jesus Christ. So it’s only faith in him.

The other word that is so crucial here is imputes. It is essential to the gospel and to the Christian faith that the righteous life that Christ lived is imputed to us. That means it’s reckoned to us. It’s counted to us. It’s sort of a wire transfer of funds. And there’s a difference between a righteousness that is inherent in us, infused in us, a kind of righteousness that says, “Well, look at me, I’m righteous. I do righteous things.” That’s not what this is talking about. This is talking about the righteousness of Christ that is outside of us, but because we’re joined to Jesus by faith, it gets counted as our righteousness, so that God can be both the just and the justifier of the wicked.

That’s the problem in Romans 3, and that’s the good news of the gospel—that though we are still sinners, God justifies us. And he is just to do so not because he waves a magic wand or says sin’s not a big deal (wink-wink); it’s because we belong to Christ and his righteousness is our righteousness that God can be just and we can be justified.

Delighting In Salvation With You,

Tom

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[1] Taken from The New City Catechism Devotional.

The Difficult Biblical Teaching Of Hell (The New City Catechism #28)

The New City Catechism #28 reads: “What happens after death to those not united to Christ by faith?  Answer: At the day of judgment they will receive the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them. They will be cast out from the favorable presence of God, into hell, to be justly and grievously punished, forever.” 

Here is how John Lin in The New City Catechism Devotional comments on this subject.

One of the Bible’s more difficult and often misunderstood teachings is that of hell being a real, conscious, eternal punishment. And this is understandable. All of us have people in our midst who don’t know Christ—friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues—about whom we would rather not think that hell could be their future. In fact, people have had discomfort about the idea of hell throughout history, because on the surface it seems inconsistent with everything we read in the Bible about God’s mercy and love. And yet the Bible’s teaching on hell as conscious and eternal suffering is unavoidable. Actually, without the existence of hell, much of what we know about God’s love comes into question.

First, Jesus, the most loving man who ever lived, spoke about hell more frequently and vividly than all other biblical authors combined. He described it as Gehenna, which was a garbage heap where fires burned constantly, or as the outer darkness, where there’s no illumination but only misery. In the story he tells of the rich man and Lazarus, hell is a place of conscious and real suffering. Jesus warns us about hell again and again (Matt. 13:41–42; Mark 9:42–48; Luke 16:19–31).

Second, the existence of hell helps us to understand the consequences of sin. In some ways hell is the outworking of what we as sinful people have always wanted: autonomy and independence from God. In hell we are therefore cut off from God and from everything that God is. So in hell there’s no love, there’s no friendship, there’s no joy, there’s no rest, because those are all things that exist only where God is present.

But most importantly, until we acknowledge the reality of hell, we cannot truly understand the meaning of the cross. Put another way, we cannot understand God’s love until we understand the reality of his wrath. God’s wrath is a settled, controlled opposition and hatred of anything that is destroying what he loves. God’s wrath flows from his love for creation. It flows from his justice. He’s angry at greed, self-centeredness, injustice, and evil because they’re destructive. And God will not tolerate anything or anyone responsible for destroying the creation and the people that he loves.

Think of it this way. Saying, “I know God loves me because he would give up everything for me” is much different from saying, “I know God loves me because he did give up everything for me.” One is a loving sentiment; the other is a loving act. And while we may try to make God more loving by diminishing the reality of hell and God’s wrath, all we’ve really done is diminish the love of God. Without a real hell we can’t understand the real price that Jesus paid for our sin. And without a real price that was paid, there’s no real love, there’s no real grace, and there’s no real praise for what he has done.

Unless you believe in hell, you’ll never know how much Jesus loves you and how much he values you. Jesus experienced hell himself on the cross. Jesus was separated from his Father. On the cross Jesus cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). When Jesus lost the eternal love of the Father, he experienced an agony, a disintegration, an isolation greater than anything anyone of us would have experienced in eternity in hell. He took the isolation and disintegration that we deserve upon himself. Unless you believe in hell and see what Jesus took for you, you will never know how much he loves you.

The real issue is not how a loving God would allow there to be a hell. The issue is, if Jesus Christ would experience hell for me, then, truly, he must be a loving God. It’s not “Why would God allow hell?” It’s “Why would God experience hell for me?” And yet he did.

Delighting In Divine Love With You,

Tom

“Our Gracious God” (The New City Catechism #27)

In the 14^th question and answer of the catechism we discover the biblically accurate teaching that because of Adam’s sin “we are all born in sin and guilt, corrupt in our nature and unable to keep God’s law.” In other words, we are all lost. It is this reality that leads to a good question asked in question #27: “Are all people, just as they were lost through Adam, saved through Christ?”

Here is the answer given: “No, only those who are elected by God and united to Christ by faith. Nevertheless, God in his mercy demonstrates common grace even to those who are not elect, by restraining the effects of sin and enabling works of culture for human well-being.”

Here we learn two important truths, each about a different aspect of God’s grace.   

God Saves By Sovereign Effective Grace

Though it is God’s moral will that all repent and turn to his salvation (Acts 17:30) and this is the only way to be saved (Acts 4:12), he has not ordained that all will trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation (Mt. 22:44; 1 Pt. 2:8). People are saved because God has chosen them (Rom. 8:29; Col. 3:12) and therefore they trust Christ as Savior (Acts 13:48). In trusting Christ, they are united to him (Rom. 6:1-5). Not one of those whom God has chosen and given to the Son and for whom the Son died will be lost (John 6:37, 39; 10:15, 27-30). God exercises what some call sovereign effective grace in the lives of those whom he has chosen.

God Displays Common Grace To Those Who Are Not Elect.

God displays undeserved blessings (e.g. kindnesses, sunshine, rain, etc. Mt. 5:45; Rom. 2:4) upon those whom he has not chosen to save, but whom he has ordained that he would let them stay in their sin. Common grace is the “[undeserved favor] of God by which he gives people innumerable blessings that are not part of salvation.” (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology) The word “common” speak of what all people experience.

Specifically, what the answer focuses on are two aspects of common grace. First, even though we can look around at the world and see that it is extremely evil and painful, the effects of sin are not as bad as they could be. Even the worst of sinners could always be worse and besides, there are many unsaved people who do good things that benefit others (e.g. unsaved teachers, physicians, dentists, mechanics, engineers, carpenters, farmers, business owners, etc.).

Related is the aspect of common grace whereby people are enabled by God to bring order in the world in such a way that life can be more enjoyable and involves people flourishing. Consider just one example, the way God has graciously enabled humans to have some control over water—in irrigation of fields that would otherwise be too dry to grow crops, over areas that would normally flood and can be protected, and through digging wells such that people who would normally be without, can have fresh, clean water for drinking and washing.

Though the unsaved will not typically give thanks to God for every good gift that comes from him (James 1:17), the saved are called regularly to give him continual thanks (e.g. Col. 3:15-17).

Enjoying God’s Grace With You,

Tom

Future Glory: Free From The Presence Of Sin (The New City Catechism #26)

 The New City Catechism, #24, correctly affirmed that Christ’s saving work redeems those united to him from the penalty of sin (hell) and from the power of sin (i.e. growing to be more like Jesus, Rom. 8:29). 

In the 26^th question it is asked if there is anything else part of that redemption: “What else does Christ’s death redeem?”  The answer rightly asserts that Christ’s death brings about the eventual total removal even from the presence of sin: “Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good.”  Paul’s statement in Colossians 1:19–20 is one of the clearest passages that supports this truth: "For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross."

Elsewhere, the Bible refers to this future perfection of soul, body, creation, and even the reputation of the believer as “glory” or the doctrine of “glorification (Ps. 73:24; Rom. 8:30; 1 Cor. 2:7; 2 Cor. 3:18; 2 Thes. 2:14; 1 Pt. 5:10; 2 Pt. 1:3). 

Since this future glory is our certain hope (Rom. 5:2), it is helpful to give an overview of what this doctrine entails:[1]

God created mankind with glory, a full and rich weightiness, a significance that consisted of being made in His image.  Man’s original identity was one in which he was intended to represent and reflect God in a way that none of the other creation was.  The very purpose for his existence was to bring other men and the angelic world to worship God, to glorify God in response to His glorification of man.

With the fall of mankind into sin his original identity and purpose were twisted.  Man’s history has been one of only wanting to honor himself and reflect his own glory, not God’s.  The history of redemption has consisted of God’s planning for, accomplishing, and working out His restoration of man to His full identity and purpose of God glorification. 

Man’s restoration takes place in and through Jesus Christ alone who is uniquely qualified as the perfect and second Adam and the only begotten Son of God to reflect the glory of God to and through man as no one else can.  Once united to Christ, man, through the saving work of Christ, is continually transformed into His image. 

This transformation begins with spiritual change.  Within the area of thought life, behavior, how he relates to God, man becomes more like Christ and thus is able to serve as a billboard for the greatness of God.  This change progresses through life and becomes complete at the time of death.

Yet it doesn’t stop here.  At the return of Christ God’s perfected saints will be resurrected, thus being changed physically.  This physical change will enable man to resemble Christ in His glorified body.  This transformation is necessary since man is whole only as both soul and body.  This shows the importance of the physical, it also increases God’s glory--His redemption of man includes the whole person.

Once man is glorified fully, his reputation also will be transformed.  All the world will see who each believer is, who the Church is in community, and how significant they are as billboards for God’s glory.  Their true identity may be hidden now, in fact, they may even be scorned.  Yet, at the time of their glorification they will be the very trophies of God whom He will praise and glorify that, in turn, He will be glorified.  Our desire for significance and purpose will be fulfilled throughout all of eternity as we dive into the highest  of all purposes--God Himself.

God also will transform man’s environment.  The curse of sin extended to the rest of creation and, as such, it must be transformed in order for the restoration to be complete.  It also is necessary for the realization of God’s covenantal promises and also as an accompaniment to man’s other aspects of transformation.  Glorified man cannot live in a fallen world.

Finally, we must see that glorification not only deals with the perfection of each individual, but also with the perfection of the Church collectively.  It is only as men are in perfect community with one another in the new heaven and earth that the image of God and the glory of God through His redeeming grace will shine forth with the greatest intensity.

Delighting in Future Glory With You,

Tom

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[1] The following is from Tom Barnes, Living In The Hope Of Future Glory (Evangelical Press, 2006), 263-65.