5 Things You Should Know about Evangelism

By L. Anthony Curto

Evangelism is part of the life and purpose of the church and of every Christian. A church that does not evangelize is not a true church. This may seem to be a hard statement, but it is true. The church is to make disciples, and discipleship begins with evangelism (Matt. 28:16–20). Our Savior has commissioned the church to be an instrument for extending His kingdom to all nations. As Paul states: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Rom. 10:14). Here are five things we can bring remember when we think about evangelism.

1. The Holy Spirit serves as Christ’s emissary in the worldwide expansion of Christ’s kingdom.

In the last days of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He began to tell the disciples that it was necessary for the Son of Man to die and rise again. The disciples were confused and troubled. Jesus encouraged them not to be troubled. He would go away but would come again to receive them. In the meantime, He would send another Helper. In the interim between Christ’s going and returning, amid all circumstances, the Holy Spirit would be their help.

In John 16, Jesus reveals that the Holy Spirit would also equip the church for the Great Commission. The Holy Spirit would “convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit would serve as Christ’s emissary in the worldwide expansion of Christ’s kingdom. As the disciples went to all nations, the Holy Spirit would bring home the truth of man’s need of salvation.

2. Sin is not something that people can escape on their own.

By the Spirit’s work, sin can be seen for what it truly is: the great malady of mankind. Sin is not just something one does or doesn’t do. Sin is a state—a fallen state of depravity, helplessness, and hopelessness. Man is not a sinner because of what he does or doesn’t do. Man is a sinner by nature. He does what he does because of who he is. Therefore, salvation is not just a change in lifestyle. Salvation is the beginning of a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17), and it is the Holy Spirit who convicts men and women of this fundamental truth. Because of who man is, there is never the possibility that he can change or rescue himself on his own. Mankind needs a Savior who will save His people from their sin.

The good news of the gospel is that there is just such a Savior. As Paul reminds us in Romans 1, there is a righteous Savior, and from Him there is a righteousness that is received by faith. He is a Savior who can restore His people to fellowship with God; who removes the penalty of sin, the dominion of sin, and the guilt of sin; and who atones for sin so that sinners can be made right with God. The Father has accepted the perfect righteousness of Christ, and by the Spirit that righteousness is offered to helpless, hopeless, depraved mankind.

3. Christ will return again as Judge.

Jesus tells His disciples that one day He will come again not as Savior, but as Judge. History will not go on forever. Men and women will stand before the judgment seat of God and give an account of all they have thought, said, and done. God’s judgment will be final, consigning to each person his or her eternity. By the Spirit’s convicting work, all will be left without excuse. All whose names are not in the Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:15).

This awareness of God’s coming judgment propels our evangelism. As we proclaim the gospel, we also remember that the Spirit goes before us to prepare people’s hearts to hear the Word of Life, which alone can make them new.

4. The gospel is a spiritual message and evangelism is a spiritual endeavor.

Because the gospel is a spiritual message, believers and churches that seek to evangelize must always pray for the Holy Spirit’s anointing in evangelism. Without such assistance from the Spirit, all efforts to speak the gospel would be fruitless. Paul reminds the church at Corinth that he did not come to them with a message clothed in the plausible words of man’s wisdom. Rather, he came in the demonstration of the Spirit and power (1 Cor. 2:4–5).

The one who evangelizes is seeking a spiritual change in another person that only the Spirit of Christ can effect. To rely on a method, technique, or man-centered ploy rather than depending upon the Holy Spirit is to be disloyal to the Lord who gave us His Spirit. Therefore, witnesses for Christ must rely on the Holy Spirit.

5. When we evangelize, we are engaged in spiritual warfare.

We must remember the opposition we might encounter when we proclaim the good news. Those to whom we witness are lovers of sin and haters of God and His people. As sinners, they always seek to suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They want to continue in darkness because their deeds are evil. When we recognize this, we might think that the task is impossible. While that may seem true, what is impossible with man is possible with God.

When we evangelize, we must remember that we are engaged in spiritual warfare. Therefore, as Paul reminds the Ephesian church, we must always approach this task with the whole armor of God (Eph. 6:10–20). We must not be taken unaware by the designs of the evil one (2 Cor. 2:11). We must be strong, ever abounding in our service to Christ, knowing by whom and for whom we have been sent. We must remember that Jesus said, “On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).

5 Things You Should Know about the Holy Spirit

By Alistair Begg

Jesus said: “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). Now, I don’t want to bring cold coals to Newcastle by giving you information with which you are already familiar, so let me just briefly give some background on this verse. You know that the Greek word translated here as “Helper” is parakletos. In its technical form, it has a legal dimension; it refers to one who would be an advocate. In its wider context, it speaks of comfort, of protection, of counsel, and of guidance. Jesus also spoke of the Spirit as the Helper in John 14 and introduced Him as “the Spirit of truth” (John 14:17; 16:13).

I think it best for me to simply say a number of things concerning the identity of this Helper with little embellishment.

1. The Holy Spirit is a unique person.

First, we need to notice that the Holy Spirit is a unique person and not simply a power or an influence. He is spoken of as “He,” not as “it.” This is a matter of import because if you listen carefully to people speaking, even within your own congregations you may hear the Holy Spirit referenced in terms of the neuter. You may even catch yourself doing it. If you do, I hope you will bite your tongue immediately. We have to understand that the Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity, is personal. As a person, He may be grieved (Eph. 4:30), He may be quenched in terms of the exercise of His will (1 Thess. 5:19), and He may be resisted (Acts 7:51).

2. The Holy Spirit is one both with the Father and with the Son.

Second, the Holy Spirit is one both with the Father and with the Son. In theological terms, we say that He is both co-equal and co-eternal. When we read the whole Upper Room Discourse, we discover that it was both the Father and the Son who would send the Spirit (John 14:16; 16:7), and the Spirit came and acted, as it were, for both of Them. So the activity of the Spirit is never given to us in Scripture in isolation from the person and work of Christ or in isolation from the eternal will of the Father. Any endeavor to think of the Spirit in terms that are entirely mystical and divorced from Scripture will take us down all kinds of side streets and eventually to dead ends.

3. The Holy Spirit was the agent of creation.

Third, the Holy Spirit was the agent of creation. In the account of creation at the very beginning of the Bible, we are told: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:1–2). The Hebrew word translated as “Spirit” here is ruach, which also can mean “breath.” The ruach elohim, “the Breath of the Almighty,” is the agent in creation. It is not the immateriality of the Spirit that is in view here, but rather His power and energy; the picture is of God’s energy breathing out creation, as it were, speaking the worlds into existence, putting the stars into space. Thus, when we read Isaiah 40:26 and the question is asked, “Who created these?” we have the answer in Genesis 1:2—the Spirit is the irresistible power by which God accomplishes His purpose.

Tangentially, one of the questions of Old Testament scholarship concerns the extent to which we are able to discover the distinct personhood of God the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament. In other words, can we understand the nature of His hypostasis in the Old Testament alone? When we read Genesis 1, it is not difficult to see that we have in the second verse, certainly in light of all that has subsequently been revealed, a clear and distinct reference to the third person of the Trinity.

In his book The Holy Spirit, Sinclair B. Ferguson notes that if we recognize the divine Spirit in Genesis 1:2, that provides what some refer to as the missing link in Genesis 1:26, where God said, “Let us make man in our image.” Ferguson observes that this is a clear antecedent reference to the Spirit of God who is at work in Genesis 1:1–2.

This issue reminds us, incidentally, that it is helpful to read our Bibles backward. As we read from the back to the front, we discover the truth of the classic interpretive principle attributed to Augustine: “The New [Testament] is in the Old [Testament] concealed, and the Old is in the New revealed.” In other words, we discover the implications of those teachings and events that come earlier in the Scriptures.

4. The Holy Spirit is the author of the new birth.

Fourth, the Holy Spirit is the agent not only of creation, but also of God’s new creation in Christ. He is the author of the new birth. We see this in John 3, in the classic encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, where Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). This truth, of course, is worked out in the rest of the Scriptures.

5. The Spirit is the author of the Scriptures.

Fifth, the Spirit is the author of the Scriptures. Second Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” The Greek word behind this phrase is theopneustos, which means “God-breathed.” In creation, we have the Spirit breathing His energy, releasing the power of God in the act of creation. We have the same thing in the act of redemption, and we see it again in the divine act of giving to us the record in the Scriptures themselves. The doctrine of inspiration is entirely related to the work of God the Holy Spirit. Peter affirms this view, writing, “No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21). The men who wrote the biblical books were not inventing things. Neither were they automatons. They were real people in real historical times with real DNA writing according to their historical settings and their personalities. But the authorship of Scripture was dual. It was, for instance, both Jeremiah and God, because Jeremiah was picked up and carried along. Indeed, in Jeremiah’s case, God said, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth” (Jer. 1:9). He did so without violating Jeremiah’s distinct personality, and he then wrote the very Word of God. This is why we study the Bible—because this is a book that exists as a result of the out-breathing of the Holy Spirit.

Concerning the identity of the Helper, we could go on ad infinitum, but we must be selective rather than exhaustive. His identity is as “another Helper.” The word translated as “another” here is allos, not heteros. Jesus promised a Helper of the same kind rather than of a different kind. The Spirit is the parakletos, the one who comes alongside. Jesus said He would “be with you forever . . . he dwells with you and will be in you” (John 14:16-17). In other words, His ministry is both permanent and personal.

5 Things You Should Know about Assurance

By Robert M. Godfrey

Introduction

When Horatius Bonar wrote The Everlasting Righteousness, he devoted a chapter to the doctrine of assurance. He defined the Reformed, Roman Catholic, and Arminian views of assurance. When he then compared Arminian and Calvinist views of assurance, he stated:

To an Arminian, who denies election and the perseverance of the saints, the knowledge of our present reconciliation to God might bring with it no assurance of final salvation; for, according to him, we may be in reconciliation today, and out of it tomorrow; but to a Calvinist there can be no such separation . . . Indeed, apart from God’s electing love, there can be no such thing as assurance. It becomes an impossibility.

Bonar shows how assurance accompanies the doctrines of election and perseverance of the saints. Therefore, the Canons of the Synod of Dort serve as an excellent resource for understanding assurance. When we focus on the first and fifth heads of doctrine (which define election and perseverance), we find five essential truths concerning the doctrine of assurance.

1. Assurance Starts with Election (I.12)

The Canons of Dort give a helpful definition of election in article 7 of the first head of doctrine. The article explains how “before the foundation of the world, by sheer grace, according to the free good pleasure of [God’s] will, he chose in Christ to salvation a definite number of particular people.” Election is an immense truth. Scripture calls us to realize that the Lord had chosen His people before the world even began. How then does this overwhelming truth assure us? The Canons of Dort answer in article 12 of the first head of doctrine by stating that “assurance . . . is given to the chosen in due time . . . Such assurance comes not by inquisitive searching into the hidden and deep things of God.” We must realize that our God is completely different from us. Our Maker has chosen those who belong to Him. Therefore, as His creatures, we find assurance not by trying to delve into His hidden things but by reflecting on what He has revealed. We can receive immense assurance in the truth of election that He has revealed clearly throughout Scripture (Rom. 9–11).

2. Assurance Has Evidence (I.13)

Second, we see the fruit of assurance in article 13 of the first head of doctrine. The article states that in “the assurance of this election God’s children daily find greater cause to humble themselves before God . . . and to give fervent love in return to him.” The fruit of assurance answers one of the greatest allegations against the doctrine of election, as the canons go on to say that “this is far from saying that this teaching concerning election . . . make God’s children lax in observing his commandments or carnally self-assured.” As those who have full confidence that we are God’s elect, we also receive assurance in the evidence of our Christian lives.

3. Assurance Applies to Our Lost Infants (I.17)

Article 17 of the first head of doctrine gives great pastoral assurance for children of believers who die at a very young age. We are told, “not by nature but by virtue of the gracious covenant in which they together with their parents are included, godly parents ought not to doubt the election and salvation of their children whom God called out of this life at infancy.” An assurance of God’s covenantal promises is given for a specific sorrowful situation. We are pointed to the assurance of everlasting life even in the face of death’s sadness.

4. Assurance Is More than an Experience (V.9–11)

Sometimes we can be tempted to look entirely to our own experience for assurance. How we feel quickly becomes the measurement of our assurance. However, the fifth head of doctrine provides a helpful description of assurance that involves more than our personal experience in articles 9–11. Article 9 shows how our assurance comes “in accordance with the measure of [our] faith.” Article 10 goes on to show what ground this assurance must come from. We are told that “this assurance does not derive from some private revelation beyond or outside the Word, but from faith in the promises of God . . . in his Word.” Furthermore, article 11 goes as far as to state that even our own doubts serve to strengthen our assurance (see 1 Cor. 10:13). So rather than looking for assurance in a personal experience or emotion, we are called to find assurance in the truth of faith in God’s Word.

5. Assurance Is Not Apathetic (V.13)

Finally, the assurance of salvation leaves no room for apathy. The idea of apathy was another allegation brought by the Remonstrants against the doctrines of election and perseverance of the saints. The argument was that if the Lord had sovereign power in election, and if the Holy Spirit was at work in preserving the saints, then wouldn’t we be tempted to be apathetic in the Christian life? Why would we not claim assurance and live in apathy? Article 13 of the fifth head of doctrine answers this allegation by stating that we seek “to observe carefully the ways of the Lord . . . in order that by walking in them [we] may maintain the assurance of [our] perseverance.” In the second point, we considered how assurance has evidence. In this conclusion, we see how assurance desires evidence. Assurance cannot produce “immorality or lack of concern for godliness.” Rather, we find assurance as pilgrims on a journey. While we face doubts, difficulties, stumbles, and failures, we still may continue on a journey with full assurance that our Lord will not forsake us.

5 Things You Should Know about the Doctrine of the Trinity

By Keith Mathison

1. The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most fundamental doctrines in Christianity.

The Christian doctrine of God is the doctrine of the Trinity, and the Christian doctrine of God is foundational to every other Christian doctrine. There is no doctrine of Scripture (bibliology) apart from the doctrine of God because Scripture is the Word of God. Human beings are created in the image of God. Sin is rebellion against the law of God. Soteriology is the doctrine having to do with the redemptive work of God. The church is the people of God. Eschatology has to do with the final goals and plans of God.

2. The doctrine of the Trinity was not invented at the Council of Nicaea.

There is a popular myth today that the doctrine of the Trinity was invented in the fourth century at the Council of Nicaea. This is not true. In the first centuries of the church, Christians were already teaching the fundamental doctrines they found in Scripture. Scripture teaches that there is one—and only one—God. Scripture also teaches that the Father is God. Scripture teaches that the Son is God and that the Holy Spirit is God. Furthermore, Scripture teaches that the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, that the Son is not the Father or the Spirit, and that the Spirit is not the Father or the Son. Anybody who held these basic propositions of Scripture held to the foundations of the doctrine of the Trinity. Over the centuries, there arose those whose teaching denied or distorted one or more of those biblical teachings. The Council of Nicaea was called to respond to one such teaching—the teaching of Arius, who had denied that the Son is God. The Nicene Creed provided boundaries to ensure that the church teaches everything Scripture affirms.

3. The doctrine of the Trinity is not fully comprehensible to human minds.

The doctrine of the Trinity, along with the doctrine of the incarnation, is one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith. This means that it exceeds the ability of finite human minds to fully grasp. If we treat the doctrine of the Trinity like some kind of math puzzle, requiring only the right amount of ingenuity to solve, we will inevitably fall into one heresy or another. The doctrine of the Trinity is not a Rubik’s Cube. There is nothing in creation that is a precise analogy to the doctrine of the Trinity.

4. Most popular Trinitarian analogies are misleading at best and heretical at worst.

Because there is nothing in creation that is a precise analogy to the doctrine of the Trinity, most popular Trinitarian analogies are misleading at best and heretical at worst. Most end up suggesting that the three persons of the Trinity are three parts of God (e.g., the clover analogy; or the egg shell, yolk, and egg white analogy), or that they are three modes or roles of a unitarian God (e.g., the Father, Son, and Spirit “masks”; or the water, ice, and steam analogies). At best, some analogies are perhaps able to illustrate a certain aspect of the doctrine of the Trinity, but they all tend to deny one or more elements of biblical teaching.

5. Misunderstandings regarding who Jesus is tend to lead to misunderstandings of the doctrine of the Trinity.

In the incarnation, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son, assumed a human nature, which is united to the divine nature. The human nature includes His body and His soul. This means that the Lord Jesus Christ is God-incarnate. He is one Person with two natures, and those two natures are united in the one Person of the Son without confusion, change, division, or separation. Since both natures are His natures, everything that is true of either nature is said of Him, the one Lord Jesus Christ. However, some things are said of Him according to His divine nature (e.g., being the Creator of the world) and others are said of Him according to His human nature (e.g., getting hungry or thirsty). If we confuse the divine and human natures of Christ, it will easily distort our doctrine of the Trinity, because we will read human attributes into God. For example, the Bible teaches that God is immortal (1 Tim. 6:15–16). In other words, God cannot die. But don’t we believe that Jesus is God? And didn’t Jesus die on the cross? Yes, He did, and He did so according to His human nature. A human can die. A human can suffer. A human can change. Jesus did all of these in His human nature, but we can’t transfer those human attributes into the divine nature. The divine nature cannot die or change or suffer. Similarly, Christ perfectly submitted His human will to the divine will of God, but that doesn’t mean that the divine will of the Son was submitted to the divine will of the Father. Why not? Because there is only one divine will. The Son’s divine will is the same divine will as that of the Father because the Son is God just as the Father is God. To use the language of the Nicene Creed, the Son is homoousios with the Father. If the Son’s divine will is submitted to the Father’s divine will, we no longer have the Trinity. We have polytheism.

5 Things You Should Know about Adoption

By Kevin Gardner

Of the cardinal benefits that believers receive by faith in Jesus Christ, adoption is perhaps the most overlooked. Justification is much discussed, and sanctification is part of our day-to-day life as believers. But adoption is important as well, and understanding it and resting in its precious truths can bear fruit in the lives of believers. Here are five things you should know about adoption.

1. Adoption is one of the benefits of union with Christ.

Like justification and sanctification, adoption accrues to believers by virtue of their union with Jesus Christ by faith alone. The Westminster Larger Catechism states:

Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, whereby all those that are justified are received into the number of his children, have his name put upon them, the Spirit of his Son given to them, are under his fatherly care and dispensations, admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow-heirs with Christ in glory. (WLC 74)

Adoption is a one-time, definitive act that flows from the work of Jesus Christ and that brings us into the family of God, with all the privileges that that new status brings (John 1:12).

2. Adoption means becoming a member of the family of God.

In our natural state, we are alienated from the family of God. We are of the devil, enslaved to sin (John 8:44; Eph. 2:1–3). But in adoption, we are received into the family of God and numbered among His children. The Apostle Paul writes of this glorious change in status: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19).

3. Adoption means that we have God as our Father.

In the late nineteenth century, the prominent liberal theologian Adolf von Harnack distilled the essence of Christianity down to two truths: the universal brotherhood of man and the universal fatherhood of God. While God is the Creator of all people, He does not stand in a fatherly relationship to all people. To have God as one’s Father and to be a son of God is a privilege reserved for those who have been adopted into His family (John 1:12). This is why the Apostle John says with reverence, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1). It is why the Pharisees were so scandalized by Jesus’ calling God His Father (John 5:18) and why Jesus taught His disciples to pray to God as their Father (Matt. 6:9).

4. Adoption means that we have access to God.

One of the great tragedies of Roman Catholic theology is its theology of the saints. Roman Catholics are taught that God is too busy to hear their prayers, so they should ask the saints—especially the Virgin Mary—to intercede on their behalf. This is a horrible doctrine. True believers have no need to ask for intercession, for through Christ, the one Mediator, they have access to God Himself (John 14:13–14; 1 Tim. 2:5). Paul writes: “For through him we both [i.e., Jewish and gentile believes] have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18; see Rom. 5:2).

5. Adoption means that we have rights as sons of God.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God by nature, and we are sons of God by adoption. That status brings with it a host of rights and benefits that we enjoy alongside our Older Brother. Those rights and benefits include the gift of the Spirit, the bestowal of the name of God, freedom from the slavery of the law, a share in the suffering and glory of Christ, and especially an inheritance that is stored up for those who are in Christ. The Apostle Paul writes:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Rom. 8:14–17; see Eph. 1:11–14)

May we live in the comfort and confidence that comes with knowing that our heavenly Father has adopted us in love.

5 Things You Should Know about Creeds

By Keith Mathison

Most Christians have heard of things like the Nicene Creed or the Apostles’ Creed, but many Christians also have a number of misconceptions about creeds. There is a lot of misunderstanding about the nature, history, and purpose of creeds. Here are five things you should know about creeds.

1. The word “creed” comes from the Latin word credo, which simply means “I believe.”

The plural form is credimus, which means “we believe.” In short, when we recite a creed, we are simply making a statement concerning what we believe. What this means is that if you believe anything, you have a creed. What if you say, “I believe in no creed but Christ”? Well, then, that’s your creed. It’s a short creed, but it is a creed. When we understand that creeds are human statements of faith, it also helps us better understand the relationship between Scripture and creeds. Holy Scripture is inspired. The Greek word in 2 Timothy 3:16 is theopneustos, which literally means “God-breathed.” Scripture is the inspired Word of God. Creeds are non-inspired words of men. In the Scriptures, we hear God saying, “Thus saith the Lord . . .” In the creeds, we respond, “We believe you . . .”

2. The Bible itself uses creed-like summaries.

Probably the most well-known example of this is the Shema in Deuteronomy 6:4, which begins “Hear, O Israel: The lord our God, the lord is one.” This short creed-like statement is expanded upon by Paul in 1 Corinthians 8:6 to take account of the further revelation concerning Jesus Christ. Other creed-like statements in the New Testament are found in Romans 10:9–10 (“Jesus is Lord”) and 1 Corinthians 15:3–4.

3. The Apostles did not write the Apostles’ Creed.

The legend that the twelve Apostles wrote the Apostles’ Creed appears to have originated in the fourth or fifth century, but there is no evidence that the legend is true. There is evidence in the second and third centuries of the existence of short creedal statements in the churches. One of the most well-known is the Old Roman Creed. Its content, and the content of the others, is very similar to the content of the later Apostles’ Creed. The content of all these early creedal statements derives from even earlier baptismal liturgies in which the baptized was asked a series of questions to which he or she gave short formulaic responses. The content of these short liturgical statements of faith is the same as the content of the early creedal statements. Some early Christian writers, such as Irenaeus, referred to this content as the regula fidei or “rule of faith.” It was a summary of the biblical teaching concerning God.

4. The Nicene Creed was written in order to defend the biblical teaching concerning God against heretics.

Any reader of Scripture will notice that it teaches several things quite clearly.

• First, it teaches that there is one and only one true God.
• Second, it teaches that the Father is God.
• Third, it teaches that the Son is God.
• Fourth, it teaches that the Holy Spirit is God.
• Finally, it teaches that the Father is not the Son or the Spirit, the Son is not the Father or the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father or the Son.

As both Christians and non-Christians asked how all five of these teachings fit together, occasionally an answer would be proposed that solved the difficulties by rejecting one or more of these biblical doctrines. In the fourth century, a man named Arius “solved” the problem by denying that the Son is God. This created a controversy that lasted for decades. The controversy was dealt with at the Councils of Nicaea (AD 325) and Constantinople (AD 381). The result of these councils is what we know as the Nicene Creed. It is a statement of the church’s belief about the biblical doctrine of God written to defend that belief against the anti-Christian doctrine of Arius and others. It follows the basic outline of the earlier and shorter creedal statements, but it adds specific language to rule out heretical distortions of that content.

5. The use of creeds is not a slippery slope to Roman Catholicism.

As mentioned above, all Christians have a creed whether they realize it or not. All you have to do to prove this is to ask any Christian (including yourself), “What do you believe the Bible teaches about (pick a topic)?” Whatever the response is, it is a creed. The early Protestants did not reject the ancient creeds of the church. They continued to teach and defend the biblical doctrine of the Trinity as summarized in the Nicene Creed. They continued to teach and defend the biblical doctrine of Christ as summarized in the Definition of Chalcedon. It was only heretics like the Socinians (the liberals of the sixteenth century) who rejected the ancient Christian creeds.

5 Things You Should Know about Heaven

By Robert Rothwell

From music to movies to books and more, heaven is a topic that fascinates people both in the church and in the world. Yet as with other spiritual matters, much confusion abounds regarding the concept of heaven. Scripture alone gives us the truth. Here are five things you should know about heaven.

1. Heaven is a place.

Acts 1:6–11 tells us that Jesus ascended to heaven, indicating His movement from one place (earth) to another (heaven). Furthermore, we know that Jesus continues to have a physical human body after His resurrection, albeit one that is glorified by the Holy Spirit (John 20:24–29; 1 Cor. 15). Physical objects are located in space and time; in other words, they are localized in a particular place. On the last day, Jesus will descend from heaven to bring the final resurrection and judgment (1 Thess. 4:16). His physical, glorified body will move from one place (heaven) to another (earth).

2. Heaven is the place of God’s throne.

The psalms often refer to heaven as the place of God’s throne (Ps. 9:7; Ps. 11:4; Ps. 103:19). Since God is spirit and does not have a physical body (John 4:24), we understand that to some degree this is a metaphor that indicates that God makes His special ruling presence felt most powerfully in heaven. However, to say God does not have a physical body is not quite right. Since the incarnation more than two thousand years ago, the Son of God has had a physical body, for it is part of the human nature that is united to the divine nature in the one divine person of Jesus Christ. This means that since the incarnation, many of the references to God’s throne can be read as an actual location where Christ is seated on high (e.g., see Eph. 1:20; Heb. 1:1–3). This throne is actually the throne of David’s kingdom, which was promised to Christ forever (Luke 1:32–33). In other words, God in Christ has made David’s kingdom His kingdom.

3. Heaven is where the souls of believers go when they die.

Paul anticipated in Philippians 1:23 that when he died, he would be “with Christ.” Since we know that Jesus is presently in heaven, this must mean that believers in Christ go to be with Him in heaven when they die. Similarly, 2 Corinthians 5:6–8 says that to be “away from the body” is to be “home with the Lord.” Again, if the Lord Jesus Christ is presently in heaven, then at death we are in heaven. Specifically, our souls, “absent from the body,” go to heaven, where we will enjoy a continuing conscious existence while we await the resurrection. “The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection” (WSC 37).

4. Heaven is where believers are presently seated with Christ.

Although the Bible is clear that the souls of believers go to be with Christ in heaven when they die, there are also texts that say Christians have already been seated with God “in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). Since believers who have not died are presently on the earth, this must be a positional reality. In other words, although we are not physically present in heaven right now, we are there in effect. We are to regard ourselves as already ruling and reigning alongside Jesus by right even if we do not have the full realization of that in our experience. This is a great encouragement to sanctification. We may not be ruling over nations just yet, but with Christ, we already sit with Him over sin and the other rulers and authorities disarmed by the cross of Jesus (see Col. 2:13–15). When Romans 6:12 tells us to “let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,” we really can, by the power of the Holy Spirit, obey this command. Sin has no real dominion over us and exercises such dominion only to the extent that we allow it. So, let us not allow sin to reign in us.

5. Heaven will not last forever.

The present locale of heaven, where Jesus sits on His throne and believers who have died enjoy His presence, is just temporary in terms of the full scope of history. One day, Revelation 21:1–22:5 explains, God will bring “a new heaven and a new earth.” Heaven and earth will be reunited, and we will live there with our Creator forever, seeing Him face to face. The ultimate hope is not the destruction of creation but its full renewal and restoration (see also Isa. 65:17–25; 2 Peter 3:13).

5 Things You Should Know about Moses

By Benjamin Shaw

Moses is one of the most important figures in the Bible. Here are five things you may not know about him:

1. Moses was the youngest of three siblings.

His sister, Miriam, was old enough to watch out to see what would happen with the baby, and then to intercede with Pharaoh’s daughter (Ex. 2:1–10). His brother, Aaron, was three years older (compare Num. 33:39 and Deut. 34:6).

2. Moses’ life was divided into three periods of forty years each.

Though Exodus 2 does not mention it, Acts 7:23 tells us that Moses was forty years old when he struck down the Egyptian. Acts 7:30 tells us that forty years passed with Moses tending sheep in the wilderness before God appeared to him in the burning bush. Then, Deuteronomy 34:6 tells us that Moses died at the age of 120. So Moses spent forty years in Egypt, forty years in the wilderness herding sheep, and forty years in the wilderness herding Israelites.

3. Moses married a Cushite woman (Num. 12:1).

We know that he married Zipporah, the daughter of a Midianite priest (Ex. 2:16, 21). But was the Cushite wife mentioned in Numbers 12 Zipporah? Some, such as Augustine and Calvin, have taken the view that Zipporah and the Cushite wife were the same woman. Others have taken the view that the Cushite woman was a second wife since Cush usually refers to Ethiopia. Since the Bible itself does not see fit to give us further illumination on the matter, we must leave it undecided.

4. Moses was “very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” (Num. 12:3).

This statement, presumably coming from Moses himself, seems a contradiction. Could a meek or humble man properly write about his own meekness? Critical scholars have taken this statement to be an indication that Moses did not write this. But properly understood, the comment is essential to the context. Miriam and Aaron have raised an assault on Moses’ right to leadership. Rather than responding with anger and resentment, Moses allowed God to speak for him. As the Keil and Delitzsch commentary puts it, “Because he was the meekest of all men, he could calmly leave this attack upon himself to the all-wise and righteous Judge, who had both called and qualified him for his office.”1

5. Moses and Elijah appeared along with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8; Mark 9:2–8; Luke 9:28–36).

Why Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus and not other Old Testament worthies is a subject of debate. Some take the view that Moses and Elijah represent the law and the prophets, respectively. Together, in personal form, they represent the entire Old Testament. Others take the view that they represent the two main periods of miracles in the Old Testament. My own view is that Moses and Elijah were the two men in the Old Testament who met with the Lord on Mount Sinai. It is thus fitting for them to meet with the Lord in His transfiguration, thereby affirming His messianic identity.

5 Things You Should Know about the Apostle Paul

By Matthew Dudreck

The Apostle Paul was the most prolific writer of the New Testament, and his travels took him all over the Mediterranean. His background was of Jewish descent, and yet he was a Roman citizen. As one of the more fascinating characters of the Bible, here are five things you may not know about his life and writings:

1. Paul may have been the first to write among New Testament authors.

Those critical of historic orthodox Christianity have long asserted significant discontinuity between the teachings of Jesus and the Apostle Paul. This criticism, in large part, arises from the fact that Paul only became part of the Christian movement after Jesus’ resurrection and the initial period of the church’s evangelical ministry after Pentecost. However, a good portion of Paul’s letters predate the earliest proposed dates for the Gospels, and some of Paul’s earliest letters may even predate James’ letter according to some proposals. Paul was not only influential in shaping the faith of the early church due to the amount he wrote, but also because his writings are possibly the earliest historical witness we have to Jesus Christ and His gospel.

2. Paul often wrote with a degree of collaboration with others.

Many books have been written about Pauline theology. This is not surprising, given the incredible literary legacy he produced under the inspiration of the Spirit as the New Testament canon took shape. Masterpieces like Romans clearly demonstrate the genius of Paul’s theological mind. Even so, though Paul was undoubtedly the principal author of all his letters, his salutations clearly indicate that roughly half of his letters involved collaboration with fellow missionaries and ministers of the gospel. Paul was not a maverick or an ivory tower theologian; he often worked out his teaching and instruction to the churches in partnership with fellow believers.

3. Not everything Paul wrote was Scripture.

God used Paul in a remarkable fashion to provide the church with thirteen inspired, infallible, and inerrant letters of teaching and instruction. However, it was not the case that Holy Scripture was produced every time Paul set ink to papyrus. Indeed, there are several places in Paul’s letters that mention other letters of his that were neither preserved nor ever recognized as Scripture by the early church. There were likely at least two other letters sent by Paul to the church in Corinth during his missionary work (1 Cor. 5:9; 2 Cor. 2:3–4, 9; 7:12). The Apostle also makes mention of a letter he wrote to the Laodicean church when he wrote to the church at Colossae (Col. 4:15–16). His intention was for the two churches to exchange the letters they had both received from him for their mutual benefit. Only Paul’s letter to the Colossians, however, would be recognized and received by the early church as Scripture.

4. Paul was probably not the most impressive individual when in person.

Many notable Christian figures tend to possess certain natural gifts that commend them to positions of leadership. Regrettably, polished speech, infectious charisma, and a pleasant appearance can often conceal a significant amount of theological and ethical deficit for the less-than-faithful ones. Given the prominence of Paul’s letters in the New Testament, we might assume that this greatness corresponded with Paul’s persona and raw abilities. Yet, we find evidence in Scripture that Paul often wasn’t very impressive, appealing, or polished in person (e.g., 2 Cor. 10:10). This should remind us that Christ is magnified in our weakness, and that the advancement of the gospel is not dependent on earthly wisdom or natural ability.

5. Paul was probably in poor health throughout his ministry.

Although extremely active and productive as a missionary, Paul likely suffered from chronic illness and pain throughout his ministry. His first visit to Galatia was occasioned by a physical ailment (Gal. 4:13–14). We also know from his letter to the Galatians that Paul likely suffered from an eye condition that drew great empathy from the believers there (Gal. 4:15) and caused him to write in large print when certifying his letter to them (Gal. 6:11). This condition may have been what was behind Paul’s famous “thorn in the flesh” (2 Cor. 12:7–9). Aside from this, it’s not hard to imagine that the severe trauma Paul recounts in 2 Cor. 11:23–28 likely left permanent marks upon his physical health as well. For Christians today who experience chronic pain and trauma, Paul’s legacy can be a welcome encouragement.

The Apostle Paul has much to tell us about God and the salvation He accomplishes for us in Jesus Christ. God used the Apostle Paul to disciple His people both in his time and in ours. It’s well worth knowing more about him as you study the Bible, because knowing more about the Apostle Paul helps us understand Scripture better, and understanding Scripture better helps us grow in our faith.

5 Things You Should Know about the Apostle Peter

By Matthew Dudreck

The Apostle Peter is the only other Apostle who can be said to be Paul’s equal in terms of significance for the history of the early church. His given name was Simon (Matt. 4:18; Mark 1:16; Luke 5:4), but he would become most well-known as Petros, the Greek translation of the Aramaic nickname Cephas (meaning “rock”), given to him by Jesus (Matt. 16:18). His prominence in the early church is anticipated by his special naming by Jesus and would develop in light of his association with the church at Rome (1 Peter 5:13). Here are five things about Peter that can help explain his prominence among Christ’s Apostles.

1. Mark likely wrote his gospel based on Peter’s account of Jesus’ ministry.

Most scholars today understand Mark’s gospel to be the first written among the four accounts. The early church historian Eusebius reports testimony from Papias that Mark wrote his account based on Peter’s teaching concerning Jesus. According to Papias: “Mark became Peter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order, of the things said or done by the Lord. For he had not heard the Lord, nor had he followed him, but later on, as I said, followed Peter, who used to give teaching as necessity demanded but not making, as it were, an arrangement of the Lord’s oracles, so that Mark did nothing wrong in thus writing down single points as he remembered them.”

2. Peter was the first among Jesus’ disciples to identify Him as the Messiah (Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20).

This is the occasion where Jesus designates Simon as “the rock” (Peter). However, Mark and Matthew also demonstrate that Peter likely had not yet grasped how that identity would contradict prevailing expectations of God’s kingdom and its coming. Indeed, in the very next passage where Peter rebukes Jesus for speaking about His betrayal, death, and resurrection, Jesus responds by rebuking the newly named Peter as “Satan” (Matt. 16:21–23; Mark 8:31–33). Both Peter’s first sermon in Acts (Acts 2:14–36) and the opening blessing of his first epistle (1 Peter 1:3–5) demonstrate that he would eventually never forget that moment’s lesson on the centrality of Christ’s death and resurrection for the coming of God’s kingdom.

3. Peter was also among the first two Apostles to witness the empty tomb (Luke 24:1–12; John 20:1–10).

Like Peter’s recognition of Jesus as Messiah, this event also demonstrates the inability to grasp the full significance of Christ’s death and resurrection apart from Jesus’ own teaching and the work of the Holy Spirit. In Luke’s gospel, it is only after Jesus instructed Peter and John in the Scriptures about Himself and signified it in the breaking of bread that they understood (Luke 24:25–35). In John’s gospel, they leave the empty tomb not yet understanding (John 20:9). It is only later when Jesus appears to them that He then breathes the Holy Spirit upon them to equip them for their upcoming gospel mission (John 20:21–23).

4. Peter is the first among the Twelve to witness and confirm the conversion of the gentiles in Luke’s second volume, the Acts of the Apostles.

This happens in an ironic fashion that seems to echo Peter’s initial resistance to Jesus’ death and resurrection message, as well as his behavior at Christ’s crucifixion. Peter receives his famous vision wherein three times he’s resistant to Jesus’ command and is then corrected by Him (Acts 10:1–16; 11:5–10). It is during the next moment when three men visit Peter and he is explaining the significance of his vision to them that the Holy Spirit falls upon them, confirming that they too should be baptized as Christians (Acts 10:17–48; 11:11–18).

5. Finally, the Apostle Peter is the only human author of Scripture within his own inspired work to refer to Paul’s letters and associate them with Scripture.

At the conclusion of his instruction concerning the coming day of the Lord, Peter reminds his readers to be patient, just as Paul had also written them concerning these things (2 Peter 3:14–15). In an encouraging example of humility, and a demonstration of growth in God’s grace for one who in the past was slow to understand, Peter recognizes that there are some things about these matters in Paul’s letters that are hard to understand (2 Peter 3:16a). Thus, Peter warns his readers to avoid the teaching of some who seek to twist Paul’s words and the other Scriptures to deceive them (2 Peter 3:16b–17).

While many more things could be said to explain Peter’s prominence among Christ’s Apostles, the points outlined above compel us to focus on a common theme: the redemption and transformation that comes by faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ despite our own weakness.

5 Things You Should Know about Justification

By William C. Godfrey

God’s Word clearly teaches the precious doctrine of justification by faith alone. All who believe “are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Rom. 3:24–25). While this doctrine is of tremendous theological importance and can be a subject of deep scholarly study, here are five truths all God’s people should know about the doctrine of justification.

1. Justification is a wonderful comfort.

First, we should know the wonderful comfort of this doctrine. Justification reminds us that Jesus Christ has done everything necessary for our salvation. He paid the penalty that our sins deserved by His sacrificial death on the cross. His death satisfied God’s justice and turned away His wrath from us. Jesus also lived a perfect life by His righteous obedience to God’s law. Both Christ’s satisfaction and His perfect righteousness are imputed to us by grace through faith. Therefore, all believers should take comfort in knowing that the Father looks upon us in Christ as if we had been as sinless and as perfect as Jesus is.

2. Justification brings supreme blessing.

Second, we should know the supreme blessing God bestows upon us in justification. By grace through faith, we are righteous before God and heirs to eternal life. The blessing of eternal life has been conveyed upon us now, just as Jesus promised: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36). Eternal life is a particular kind or quality of life. Eternal life means the perfect blessedness of hearts that rightly love God, minds that truly know Him, and wills that completely follow Him. Already the beginning of this new and eternal life dwells in us. We are heirs who have spiritually received eternal life as our inheritance now. And one day soon, when Jesus returns in glory, we will experience eternal life fully, body and soul. Jesus bestows upon us the eternal life of perfect and indestructible fellowship with God. We should celebrate the supreme blessing of eternal life enjoyed by those who are justified by faith.

3. Justification means present peace with God.

When we keep these blessings in mind, they lead us to a third truth regarding justification: the present peace we have with God. In Christ, all of our obligations to God have been met. Nothing stands unaccounted for between us and God. But the reality of this peace can be very hard for a sinner to accept. Casper Olevianus, one of the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism, wrote “there is nothing more difficult than to believe the forgiveness of sins.” But if we do not believe we are truly forgiven, we will not believe that we have peace with God. Dr. R.C. Sproul put it well: “It is often a difficult thing to accept the grace of God. Our human arrogance makes us want to atone for our own sins or make it up to God with works of super-righteousness. But the fact of the matter is that we can’t make it up to God. We are debtors who cannot pay. That’s what justification by faith is all about.” We cannot find peace with God through our own sacrifices or our own obedience. And we don’t need to try. Christ has made peace through His sacrifice and His obedience. Faith calls us to look away from ourselves and to trust in Christ’s work alone. Everything that was between us and God—our sin, guilt, and condemnation—has been cleared away by the saving work of Jesus Christ. By faith in Christ, we have peace with God now (Rom. 5:1).

4. Justification provides future hope.

Our present peace with God leads us to a fourth truth: we have future hope. We have peace with God now and forever on account of Christ’s work. Christians do not need to live in any fear of the future, not even when we think about standing before God’s final judgment. Justification is God’s once for all declaration that we are righteous in His sight. This decree of God will never be revoked or annulled. Even the final judgment will simply confirm and prove the truth of Christ’s promise: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Justification also gives us hope for the future, particularly when it comes to standing before the judgment seat of God.

5. Justification gives eternal glory to God.

Finally, everything we have considered thus far leads us to the last and best thing we should know about the doctrine of justification. It gives eternal glory to God alone. The glory is all God’s because He does everything from everlasting to everlasting for our salvation. The Father set His everlasting love on His people from all eternity. Out of this eternal love, He sent His Son into the world to save His people from their sins. Jesus Christ willingly came into this world and accomplished our salvation by His life, death, and resurrection. Both the Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit who creates faith in us through His Word. Our faith is His gracious gift, by which we are justified. The Holy Spirit dwells in us forever, uniting us to Jesus and making us partakers of all Christ’s benefits. The doctrine of justification helps us glorify the triune God who Himself does all that is necessary to make us righteous before Him. May our reflection on the precious doctrine of justification always help us to praise and glorify God our Savior.

5 Things You Should Know about Martin Luther

By Stephen Nichols

1. Martin Luther read through the Psalms roughly every three weeks of his adult life.

Sola Scriptura. This Latin expression means Scripture alone. It means that Scripture alone is our final authority for doctrine, church practice, and the Christian life. In the early years of the Reformation, Luther fought for this. He argued that the Roman Catholic church preached a false gospel of works and merits. Instead, he argued for justification by faith alone: Sola Fide. In early debates with Roman Catholic officials, like the one with Johann Eck at Leipzig in 1519 or at Worms in 1521, Luther was forced to account for the source for his position. If he stood against the church, what did he stand on? “Scripture,” he thundered. Luther stood on Scripture.

Luther spent his life defending, reading, studying, living, and loving the Bible. He read through the whole Bible two or three times every year, while also studying particular passages or books in depth. He especially loved the Psalms. He maintained a daily reading schedule that covered the entire Psalms in three weeks. Luther taught and lived Sola Scriptura.

2. After he posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the church door, Luther also wrote a series of Twenty-Eight Theses for the Heidelberg Disputation.

Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses, posted on October 31, 1517, ignited the Protestant Reformation. At the time he was an Augustinian monk and the head of his monastic order in that region, Johannes Staupitz, had sympathies for Luther’s criticism. Staupitz invited Luther to present his case at the meeting of the Augustinian order in April of 1518 at Heidelberg.

In Heidelberg Thesis number 16 he argues, “The person who believes he can obtain grace by doing what is in him adds sin to sin so he becomes doubly guilty.” He continues in number 17, “Nor does speaking in this manner give cause for despair, but for arousing the desire to humble oneself and seek the grace of God.” While we despair for our own inability, yet there is hope. It is not found in us but in Christ and in the gospel.

Heidelberg Thesis number 28 may very well be the most beautiful line Luther ever wrote: “The love of God does not find, but creates, that which is pleasing to it.” God loved us and sent Christ for us when we were His enemies. That’s grace.

3. Luther, a former monk, married a former nun.

A group of nuns escaped from the Nimbschen Convent and made their way to Wittenberg. Some returned to their families. Some married students or pastors at Wittenberg. One of them, Katrina Von Bora, married Martin Luther in 1525. Luther called her “Katie, my rib.” They were a formidable couple. While Luther advanced the Reformation tirelessly, she managed a busy household, large garden, a fish hatchery, and a small brewery. They had six children of their own and adopted others orphaned by relatives. They lost an infant son, and they endured the passing of their thirteen-year-old daughter, Magdalena.

After Martin Luther died, Katie fell on hard times. Friends and supporters rallied to assist her. During the trying moments she professed, “I find myself clinging to Christ like a bur to a dress.”

4. Martin Luther was almost as good a musician as he was a theologian.

Luther loved music. He played the lute. He wrote his first hymn in 1524—which was more of a folk ballad than a hymn—titled “A New Song Shall Here Be Begun.” It runs twelve stanzas long and commemorates the martyrdom of two Augustinian friars in the Netherlands. They had followed Luther and converted and became preachers of the Reformation doctrines, committed to bring the gospel to their homeland. They were arrested and martyred. When the word reached Luther, he turned to music. Five years later he wrote his most famous hymn and arguably one of the best-loved hymns in church history, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” He published the first Protestant hymnal in 1524. He also inspired future generations of musicians in the Lutheran church and in classical music. For a brief time, Luther studied at Eisenach, the hometown of Johann Sebastian Bach, a Lutheran musician of the highest order.

At one point Luther said, “Next to theology, I accord music the highest place and the greatest honor.”

5. Martin Luther died in his hometown.

Martin Luther was born in Eisleben on November 10, 1486. He went to Wittenberg in 1511 to study and to teach. Wittenberg would become the town most associated with him. He was a monk there. He posted his Ninety-Five Theses there. He married and raised his family there. He preached at Wittenberg’s St. Mary’s Church almost daily, and he taught at the University of Wittenberg. In January of 1546, a dispute erupted in Eisleben that threatened to bring down church and town. Luther, an old man and rather feeling his age, set out on the journey to his hometown.

After a difficult trek, Luther arrived to a hero’s welcome, brokered peace among the opposing parties, preached a few times, and then fell ill. The sick bed became his death bed. He sketched out his final written words on a scrap of paper: “We are beggars. This is true.” Luther died on February 18, 1546. Like Katie, he was clinging to Christ at the last.

5 Things You Should Know about David

By Tyler Kenney

David, king of Israel, is well-known for many things, from his astounding faith before Goliath, to his terrible sins against Bathsheba and her husband, to his heartfelt psalms of praise and repentance. Here are five things about David you should also know.

1. David descended from a gentile.

David was the son of Jesse from the tribe of Judah, but his line wasn’t pristine. Like Jesus, he had significant sinners and even a gentile in his family history (Gen. 38; Ruth 4:17). The gentile was his great-grandmother Ruth, that remarkable Moabitess who declared to her Jewish mother-in-law, “Your people shall be my people, and your God my God” (Ruth 1:16). This reminds us that greatness in God’s house is not limited to those with “pure” pedigrees, just as it is not guaranteed to those with them.

2. David was an unexpected king.

The first king of Israel stood out because of his physical appearance—Saul was very tall (1 Sam. 9:2)—but David did not stand out in the same way. He was the youngest of eight sons, and when Samuel first comes to Jesse’s house to anoint a new king in Saul’s place, he is certain it will be David’s eldest brother, Eliab (1 Sam. 16:6). But God tells him not to look at height or outward appearance, because He doesn’t select kings based on stature. He looks on the heart, and David stands out from among the rest because he is “a man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Sam. 13:14). Nevertheless, Jesse makes all seven of David’s brothers pass before Samuel—and get rejected—before calling David in from watching the sheep (1 Sam. 16:10–13).

3. David was a shepherd at heart.

David’s occupation before becoming a soldier in Saul’s army was to keep his father’s sheep. Remarkably, he killed lions and bears in defense of his flock, not only from a distance with a sling but sometimes by catching them “by the beard” and striking them (1 Sam. 17:35). He seemed genuinely to know their needs and to care for his sheep, which remained true even when he moved to tending people (Ps. 78:70–72). David’s shepherding heart and experience provided a picture for him of God’s perfect care for His sheep, which David captures movingly in Psalm 23. We also see that when Nathan confronts David about his sin with Bathsheba, he brings it home to his heart by telling a story about a poor man and his little ewe lamb (2 Sam. 12).

4. David tried to build Solomon’s temple.

Once David was finally settled as king in Jerusalem, he realized he was living in a house of cedar but the ark of God only in a tent. So he set out to build a house for God, but God stopped him. Instead, God tells David that He will build him a house—not another physical structure, of course, but a dynasty that will culminate with One who will reign forever and ever (2 Sam. 7:1–17). Thus, the building of the temple fell to David’s son Solomon. We learn later that God kept David from building the temple in part because he was a man of war and had shed much blood (1 Chron. 28:2–3). Nevertheless, David prepared nearly everything for Solomon to execute the work (1 Chron. 22:5).

5. David awaited a greater Son.

David received God’s promise to him of an everlasting house with great joy and gratitude (2 Sam. 7:18–29). David came to understand that one of his offspring will also be his Lord, which he expresses in Psalm 110: “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ ” Jesus quotes this psalm as evidence of David’s understanding that one of his future sons according to the flesh would also be his “Lord” (in addition to the Lord his God) and therefore greater than any merely natural offspring (Mark 12:35–37).

5 Things You Should Know about Sanctification

By Nick Batzig

If you were seeking a succinct definition of the biblical doctrine of sanctification, you would be hard-pressed to find a better one than that found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. In the answer to Question 35, the Westminster divines wrote, “Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.” Although this is an accurate definition of the progressive nature of sanctification, Scripture sets out several other important aspects of sanctification that are necessary for us to gain a full-orbed understanding of this benefit of redemption. Consider the following five things:

1. Christ is the source of sanctification.

Believers are sanctified by virtue of their union with Christ. He is the singular source of sanctification insomuch as He supplies His people with all that they need to grow spiritually as they abide in Him by faith. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “You are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30, emphasis added). To become the source of sanctification for His people, Jesus had to sanctify Himself in the work of redemption (John 17:19). Though He had no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), He consecrated Himself for His people by perfectly obeying the law of God as well as the mediatorial commands of God (John 10:17–18). Geerhardus Vos explained, “This . . . is not to be understood as a change in the Savior, as if this sanctification presupposes a previous lack of holiness, but as the consecration of His life in mediatorial obedience (passive and active) to God.” In addition to His obedient life, Christ was sanctified for us when He died on the cross. Since the sins of believers have been imputed to Christ, and He bore them in His body on the tree, they were judicially purged when He fell under the fiery wrath of God.

2. Regeneration is the fountain of sanctification.

Since justification is a legal benefit of redemption (i.e., a once-for-all act), sanctification more properly flows from the transformative blessing of regeneration. The implementation of a new nature (i.e., regeneration) into the lives of believers at the beginning of their Christian experience begins the process of sanctification. As the Westminster Confession of Faith states, “They who are . . . regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified . . . [and] through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part doth overcome: and so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” (WCF 13:1, 3).

3. Sanctification has a definitive aspect to it.

John Murray, late professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, rightly distinguished between definitive sanctification and progressive sanctification. Regarding the New Testament passages that speak of believers having been sanctified (e.g., 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:11; Heb. 10:10), Murray wrote, “In the New Testament the most characteristic terms used with reference to sanctification are used not of a process but of a once-for-all definitive act . . . it would be, therefore, a deflection from biblical patterns of language . . . to think of sanctification exclusively in terms of a progressive work.”

Definitive sanctification involves a radical breach with the power of sin in the life of believers. This breach with the power of sin occurred when Jesus died to sin on the cross (Rom. 6:10). As Murray explained:

Christ in his death and resurrection broke the power of sin, triumphed over the god of this world, the prince of darkness, executed judgment upon the world and its ruler, and by that victory delivered all those who were united to him from the power of darkness and translated them into his own kingdom. So intimate is the union between Christ and his people that they were partakers with him in all these triumphal achievements and therefore died to sin, rose with Christ in the power of his resurrection.

When a believer is savingly united to Christ in time, this aspect of the work of redemption is realized in his Christian experience.

4. Faith and love are the dual instruments of sanctification.

Whereas the justification of believers (i.e., their being accepted as righteous before God) is by faith alone, the process of sanctification occurs in the lives of believers by “faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). Believers are sanctified by the same faith in Christ as that by which they were justified. However, in the experience of believers, faith actively works together with love to bring about growth in grace. There is a harmony between what God is doing in the lives of His people and what they are called to do in response. The Apostle Paul captures these joint operations when he writes, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:12–13).

5. God has appointed certain means to help believers advance in progressive sanctification.

Though sanctification is based on what Christ accomplished in His death and resurrection and is experienced in the lives of believers by the power of the Holy Spirit, God has appointed certain means to assist believers in the pursuit of growth in grace. The believer’s progressive sanctification will be commensurate with his employment of the means of grace. The central means that God has appointed for the sanctification of His people are the Word, sacraments, and prayer. In His High Priestly Prayer, Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17). The Apostle Paul referenced the grace of the Lord’s Supper when he spoke of “the cup of blessing” (1 Cor. 10:16). The ministry of the Word, sacraments, and prayer are the central elements of corporate worship. Therefore, being gathered in Lord’s Day worship with the saints is vital to our progressive sanctification.

5 Things You Should Know about John Calvin

By William VanDoodewaard

1. John Calvin was ousted from his church, ministry, and home.

Less than two years after beginning his ministry in Geneva, a twenty-nine-year-old John Calvin (1509–64) found himself ousted from his church, ministry, and home, with two days’ notice to quit the city. No doubt as he and William Farel traveled away from Geneva that April, they wondered what would come next. Their thoughts were on a looming ecclesiastical battle in response to this bitter experience; they were planning how they could persuade Zurich and Bern to work to reinstate them in Geneva. Yet, unknown to Calvin, the Lord in His providence would thwart their attempts. Instead, He was arranging a season of pastoral training that would prove foundational for Calvin’s future pastoral labors.

2. John Calvin experienced ministry failures.

While those who have some familiarity with Calvin’s life story know of his early efforts in Geneva to implement a faithful observance of the Lord’s Supper through church discipline, fewer know the story of how the Lord changed Calvin through this failure. Once in exile, Calvin initially settled in Basel, but then was invited to come to Strasbourg by Martin Bucer (1491–1551). Bucer, who was almost twenty years older than Calvin, not only opened up ministerial opportunity in the city, but also warmly befriended Calvin, welcoming him into his home, and in time assisting with the purchase of a neighboring home for Calvin. This was despite the fact that the year before, Calvin had written him a confrontational and arrogant letter—which Bucer had met with a patient, loving response. In Bucer, Calvin met the mentor and pastor he needed.

3. John Calvin served as pastor to refugees.

The year that Calvin arrived in Geneva (1538) was also the year that Bucer was completing the manuscript of his “little book,” Concerning the True Care of Souls.1 No doubt in their mealtime conversations, the two spoke extensively about pastoral ministry and the life of the church. Bucer had long experienced obstacles in ministry in Strasbourg, and his writing was part of his patient effort to bring Christ-centered growth to the church and her ministry. In God’s kind providence, Calvin’s opportunity for ministry in the city went beyond teaching; he served as the pastor of the French refugee congregation. While there were many encouragements in the work, Calvin also experienced sorrows. His close friend and cousin, Pierre Robert Olivétan, who had been instrumental in his conversion, died. An old friend from France, Louis du Tillet, who had sheltered him from persecution and provided resources for the first draft of The Institutes of the Christian Religion, returned to Roman Catholicism. A new joy came through his marriage in 1540 to Idelette de Bure, “the best companion in my life.”

4. John Calvin willingly returned to the church that ousted him.

The same year of Calvin’s marriage, in the midst of the new work in Strasbourg, a time he called “the happiest years of my life,” a most unexpected call came. Geneva wanted him to come back and serve as pastor again. He hesitated, stating “there is no place under heaven I am more afraid of . . . I would rather submit to a hundred other deaths, than to that cross on which I would have to perish a thousand times every day.” Yet, it was not only Geneva that had changed—Calvin had as well in these few short years. With Bucer’s encouragement, and his own trepidation, Calvin yielded to the call. In some respects, the city had changed and was more welcoming to a Reformation direction in the church and community. In other ways, it was the same. It would take fourteen long years of ministry before the issue of the faithful administration of the Lord’s Supper would be resolved. While he continued to grieve the weaknesses of the church, Calvin, in part due to the Lord’s instrumental use of Bucer’s ministry in his life, had a much longer vision and a more patient love for the church.

5. Through joys and trials, John Calvin looked for God’s providences.

Nine years later, well into his renewed ministry in Geneva and just months after burying his dear wife, Calvin taught on Paul’s words to the Thessalonians: “Paul does not ascribe merely the beginning of our salvation to the grace of God . . . the whole progress of our salvation is nothing but the grace of God.” Through joys and trials, he had learned more profoundly that behind both pleasant days and what seem frowning providences is the smiling face of the Savior who continues to shape us for service and glory.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism

1. What is the chief end of man?

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?

The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?

The Scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.

4. What is God?

God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

5. Are there more Gods than one?

There is but one only, the living and true God.

6. How many persons are there in the Godhead?

There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory.

7. What are the decrees of God?

The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass.

8. How doth God execute His decrees?

God executeth His decrees in the works of creation and providence.

9. What is the work of creation?

The work of creation is God’s making all things of nothing, by the word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good.

10. How did God create man?

God created man male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.

11. What are God’s works of providence?

God’s works of providence are, His most holy, wise, and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, and all their actions.

12. What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created?

When God had created man, He entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.

13. Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?

Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.

14. What is sin?

Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.

15. What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?

The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created was their eating the forbidden fruit.

16. Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?

The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.

17. Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?

The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.

18. Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell?

The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.

19. What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?

All mankind, by their fall, lost communion with God, are under His wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell forever.

20. Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?

God having, out of His mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a redeemer.

21. Who is the redeemer of God’s elect?

The only redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever.

22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man?

Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to Himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin.

23. What offices doth Christ execute as our redeemer?

Christ, as our redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in His estate of humiliation and exaltation.

24. How doth Christ execute the office of a prophet?

Christ executeth the office of a prophet, in revealing to us, by His Word and Spirit, the will of God for our salvation.

25. How doth Christ execute the office of a priest?

Christ executeth the office of a priest, in His once offering up of Himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice and reconcile us to God, and in making continual intercession for us.

26. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?

Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to Himself, in ruling and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.

27. Wherein did Christ’s humiliation consist?

Christ’s humiliation consisted in His being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time.

28. Wherein consisteth Christ’s exaltation?

Christ’s exaltation consisteth in His rising again from the dead on the third day, in ascending up into heaven, in sitting at the right hand of God the Father, and in coming to judge the world at the last day.

29. How are we made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ?

We are made partakers of the redemption purchased by Christ, by the effectual application of it to us by His Holy Spirit.

30. How doth the Spirit apply to us the redemption purchased by Christ?

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.

31. What is effectual calling?

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.

32. What benefits do they that are effectually called partake of in this life?

They that are effectually called do in this life partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and the several benefits which, in this life, do either accompany or flow from them.

33. What is justification?

Justification is an act of God’s free grace, wherein He pardoneth all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in His sight, only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and received by faith alone.

34. What is adoption?

Adoption is an act of God’s free grace, whereby we are received into the number, and have a right to all the privileges, of the sons of God.

35. What is sanctification?

Sanctification is the work of God’s free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.

36. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.

37. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?

The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves until the resurrection.

38. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?

At the resurrection, believers, being raised up to glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.

39. What is the duty which God requireth of man?

The duty which God requireth of man is obedience to His revealed will.

40. What did God at first reveal to man for the rule of his obedience?

The rule which God at first revealed to man for His obedience was the moral law.

41. Where is the moral law summarily comprehended?

The moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments.

42. 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 neighbor as ourselves.

43. 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.

44. 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.

45. Which is the first commandment?

The first commandment is, Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

46. What is required in the first commandment?

The first commandment requireth us to know and acknowledge God to be the only true God, and our God, and to worship and glorify Him accordingly.

47. What is forbidden in the first commandment?

The first commandment forbiddeth the denying, or not worshipping and glorifying, the true God as God, and our God; and the giving of that worship and glory to any other, which is due to Him alone.

48. What are we specially taught by these words, before me, in the first commandment?

These words, before me, in the first commandment teach us that God, who seeth all things, taketh notice of, and is much displeased with, the sin of having any other God.

49. Which is the second commandment?

The second commandment is, Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me: and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

50. What is required in the second commandment?

The second commandment requireth the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath appointed in His Word.

51. What is forbidden in the second commandment?

The second commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in His Word.

52. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?

The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God’s sovereignty over us, His propriety in us, and the zeal He hath to His own worship.

53. Which is the third commandment?

The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

54. What is required in the third commandment?

The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works.

55. What is forbidden in the third commandment?

The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh Himself known.

56. What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?

The reason annexed to the third commandment is that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape His righteous judgment.

57. Which is the fourth commandment?

The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it.

58. What is required in the fourth commandment?

The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as He hath appointed in His Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to Himself.

59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week, ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.

60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.

61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?

The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.

62. What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?

The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, His challenging a special propriety in the seventh, His own example, and His blessing the Sabbath day.

63. Which is the fifth commandment?

The fifth commandment is, Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

64. What is required in the fifth commandment?

The fifth commandment requireth the preserving the honor, and performing the duties, belonging to every one in their several places and relations, as superiors, inferiors, or equals.

65. What is forbidden in the fifth commandment?

The fifth commandment forbiddeth the neglecting of, or doing anything against, the honor and duty which belongeth to every one in their several places and relations.

66. What is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment?

The reason annexed to the fifth commandment is a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God’s glory, and their own good) to all such as keep this commandment.

67. Which is the sixth commandment?

The sixth commandment is, Thou shalt not kill.

68. What is required in the sixth commandment?

The sixth commandment requireth all lawful endeavours to preserve our own life, and the life of others.

69. What is forbidden in the sixth commandment?

The sixth commandment forbiddeth the taking away of our own life, or the life of our neighbor unjustly, or whatsoever tendeth thereunto.

70. What is the seventh commandment?

The seventh commandment is, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

71. What is required in the seventh commandment?

The seventh commandment requireth the preservation of our own and our neighbor’s chastity, in heart, speech, and behavior.

72. What is forbidden in the seventh commandment?

The seventh commandment forbiddeth all unchaste thoughts, words, and actions.

73. Which is the eighth commandment?

The eighth commandment is, Thou shalt not steal.

74. What is required in the eighth commandment?

The eighth commandment requireth the lawful procuring and furthering the wealth and outward estate of ourselves and others.

75. What is forbidden in the eighth commandment?

The eighth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever doth, or may, unjustly hinder our own, or our neighbor’s, wealth, or outward estate.

76. Which is the ninth commandment?

The ninth commandment is, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

77. What is required in the ninth commandment?

The ninth commandment requireth the maintaining and promoting of truth between man and man, and of our own and our neighbor’s good name, especially in witness bearing.

78. What is forbidden in the ninth commandment?

The ninth commandment forbiddeth whatsoever is prejudicial to truth, or injurious to our own or our neighbor’s good name.

79. Which is the tenth commandment?

The tenth commandment is, Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.

80. What is required in the tenth commandment?

The tenth commandment requireth full contentment with our own condition, with a right and charitable frame of spirit toward our neighbor, and all that is his.

81. What is forbidden in the tenth commandment?

The tenth commandment forbiddeth all discontentment with our own estate, envying or grieving at the good of our neighbor, and all inordinate motions and affections to anything that is his.

82. Is any man able perfectly to keep the commandments of God?

No mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed.

83. Are all transgressions of the law equally heinous?

Some sins in themselves, and by reason of several aggravations, are more heinous in the sight of God than others.

84. What doth every sin deserve?

Every sin deserveth God’s wrath and curse, both in this life, and that which is to come.

85. What doth God require of us, that we may escape His wrath and curse, due to us for sin?

To escape the wrath and curse of God, due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.

86. What is faith in Jesus Christ?

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.

87. What is repentance unto life?

Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience.

88. What are the outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?

The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption are, His ordinances, especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.

89. How is the Word made effectual to salvation?

The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort through faith unto salvation.

90. How is the Word to be read and heard, that it may become effectual to salvation?

That the Word may become effectual to salvation, we must attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.

91. How do the sacraments become effectual means of salvation?

The sacraments become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that doth administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of His Spirit in them that by faith receive them.

92. What is a sacrament?

A sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.

93. Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?

The sacraments of the New Testament are baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

94. What is baptism?

Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord’s.

95. To whom is baptism to be administered?

Baptism is not to be administered to any that are out of the visible church, till they profess their faith in Christ, and obedience to Him; but the infants of such as are members of the visible church are to be baptized.

96. What is the Lord’s Supper?

The Lord’s Supper is a sacrament, wherein, by giving and receiving bread and wine, according to Christ’s appointment, His death is showed forth; and the worthy receivers are, not after a corporal and carnal manner, but by faith, made partakers of His body and blood, with all His benefits, to their spiritual nourishment and growth in grace.

97. What is required to the worthy receiving of the Lord’s Supper?

It is required of them that would worthily partake of the Lord’s Supper, that they examine themselves, of their knowledge to discern the Lord’s body, of their faith to feed upon Him, of their repentance, love, and new obedience; lest, coming unworthily, they eat and drink judgment to themselves.

98. What is prayer?

Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, for things agreeable to His will, in the name of Christ, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.

99. What rule hath God given for our direction in prayer?

The whole Word of God is of use to direct us in prayer, but the special rule of direction is that form of prayer which Christ taught His disciples, commonly called, The Lord’s Prayer.

100. What doth the preface of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?

The preface of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, “Our Father which art in heaven,” teacheth us to draw near to God with all holy reverence and confidence, as children to a father, able and ready to help us; and that we should pray with and for others.

101. What do we pray for in the first petition?

In the first petition, which is, “Hallowed be thy name,” we pray, that God would enable us and others to glorify Him in all that whereby He maketh Himself known, and that He would dispose all things to His own glory.

102. What do we pray for in the second petition?

In the second petition, which is, “Thy kingdom come,” we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed; and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it, and kept in it; and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.

103. What do we pray for in the third petition?

In the third petition, which is, “Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,” we pray that God, by His grace, would make us able and willing to know, obey, and submit to His will in all things, as the angels do in heaven.

104. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?

In the fourth petition, which is, “Give us this day our daily bread,” we pray that of God’s free gift we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy His blessing with them.

105. What do we pray for in the fifth petition?

In the fifth petition, which is, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” we pray that God, for Christ’s sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by His grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others.

106. What do we pray for in the sixth petition?

In the sixth petition, which is, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” we pray that God would either keep us from being tempted to sin, or support and deliver us when we are tempted.

107. What doth the conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer teach us?

The conclusion of the Lord’s Prayer, which is, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen,” teacheth us to take our encouragement in prayer from God only, and in our prayers to praise Him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to Him; and in testimony of our desire and assurance to be heard, we say, Amen.