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1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 19: Of the Law of God - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 36,573 views | 77,737 words | 6:42:45 hours | 05 March 2015 19:46

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And then Dr. Barcellos adds:

As noted above, the Moral Law is summarily comprehended in the Decalogue, not exhausted by it. Though the formal promulgation of the Decalogue had a unique redemptive-historical context and use, it is nothing other than the Natural Law incorporated into the Mosaic Covenant. This is one of its uses in the Bible but not all of its uses.

The Decalogue contains the summary and the essence of the Moral Law, but it does not contain all the moral laws. For example, there is no “thou shalt respect Elders”, but we understand that this is comprehended under the fifth commandment to honor our parents, and derived from it.

Positive Law

Positive Law simply said is a moral law that has no basis in nature nor is it self-evident, but is based upon a commandment of God. Dr. Barcellos defines positive laws as:

Positive laws are those laws added to the Natural or Moral Law. They are dependent upon the will of God. These laws are “good because God commands them.” They become just because commanded. The first Positive Laws were given to Adam in the Garden (Gen. 1:28; 2:17), as far as we know. Subsequent Positive Laws are spread throughout the Old and New Testaments. Positive laws can be abrogated for various reasons. They are not necessarily universal or perpetual. Some obvious illustrations of Positive Law in the Old Testament are circumcision and animal sacrifices and two New Testament illustrations are baptism and the Lord’s Supper under the New Covenant...Neither circumcision, animal sacrifices, baptism, or the Lord’s Supper are either universal or perpetual.^[3]

§1 God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience written in his heart

God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience written in his heart, 1 and a particular precept of not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; 2 by which he bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with power and ability to keep it. 3
1. Gen. 1:27; Eccles. 7:29; Rom. 2:12a, 14-15^[4]
2. Gen. 2:16-17
3. Gen. 2:16-17; Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:10,12

Adam was given a law of universal obedience written in his heart (Rom. 2:14-15). Even in his innocence, man was never without the law of God (chapter 4:2). This law is a law of universal obedience, i.e., it concerns everyone. The location of this law was not in stone, but in his heart; it was inward. In addition to this law, he was also given a particular precept of not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17). By obedience to the law and the precept he was given, he was bound along with all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. Everyone was to obey all of the law, exactly as God required and forever. This law being given in the context of the Covenant of Works had promises and threats. For a law without a covenant has no rewards or threats. But when it is placed in a covenantal context, it is expanded with rewards and threats. The reward or promised life was upon the condition of obedience, which is implied if they did not breach the covenant but would eat of the tree of life (Gen. 2:9; 3:22). But death was the punishment for the breach of the commandments and the covenant (Gen. 2:17). Furthermore, God endued Adam with the power and ability to keep all those t...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 2: Of God and of the Holy Trinity - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 23,723 views | 28,880 words | 2:33:55 hours | 04 March 2015 20:55

The Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Chapter 2 God Trinity Attributes Of God Immutability Repentance Of God Love Of God Justice Of God Spirituality Of God Monotheism

...ikeness.” This is conclusive to me that God is speaking within the Divine Being, and not within His angelic council. The very next verse is very clear and unambiguous so as to whose image man bears: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27; cf. Gen. 5:1; 1 Cor. 11:7). Because of this, I conclude that the plural way of speaking about God by God Himself is a proof of the plurality of persons within the one Being of God. Some object that this may be some highly or very respectful manner of talking about someone, which is common, for example, in my Armenian language. When we speak to Elders, we speak to them in the plural. I’m sure many other languages have such a thing. The problem with this theory is that the plural way of speaking of God is non-existent in the Old Testament (except those few disputed places), therefore, this theory is implausible. If this theory were true, we would find that all references to God would be in the plural because of respect. The Quran, for example, speaks of Allah in the plural because of respect, but this does not make Muslims doubt the Unitarian nature of Allah. The Quran is filled with such speeches of Allah in which he refers to himself in the plural, but the Bible, in fact, is not. If it were, then we would not have approached this verse as a proof for the doctrine of plurality of persons in the Divine Being. There are other “us” verses in the Bible, but these are, in my opinion, less clear than Genesis 1:26 on the plurality of persons with the one Being of God.

Gen. 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”

Gen. 11:7-8 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

Isa. 6:8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

John 12:37-41 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

Who’s glory did Isaiah see? God’s or Jesus’? Jesus is God. Jesus is Yahweh.

Dr. Grudem agrees with us that this is the best explanation of the plurals in Genesis 1:26. He writes, “The best explanation is that already in the first chapter of Genesis we have an indication of a plurality of persons in God himself. We are not told how many persons, and we have nothing approaching a complete doctrine of the Trinity, but it is implied that more than one person is involved.”^[44] Although we see this plurality within God, we see also clear evidence of God’s oneness throughout the whole Bible.

Deut. 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

Mark 12:29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.

1 Cor. 8:6...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 3: Of God's Decree - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 32,204 views | 38,059 words | 3:19:02 hours | 04 March 2015 20:58

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 3 God's Decree Predetermination Predestination Sovereignty Compatibilism Reprobation Unconditional Election Calvinism

...e parents of Moses left him in a basket into the Nile assigning His destiny in the hands of Providence, where he then gets picked up by Pharaoh’s daughter and is taught in all Egyptian wisdom (Acts 7:22). A time goes by and Moses escapes from Egypt to Midian where he settles and marries. He spends 40 years in Midian. He was 40 years old when he fled from Egypt to Midian. At age 80, Moses meets God on Mount Sinai, the Mountain of God, where God tells him that the LORD has not turned a deaf ear to the cries of His people, but He will surely deliver them (Ex. 3:7-10). Then the LORD says to Moses:

Exod. 3:18-20 And they will listen to your voice, and you and the Elders of Israel shall go to the king of Egypt and say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us; and now, please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God.’ 19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. 20 So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go.

Here we see the Lord’s perfect knowledge of Pharaoh’s actions. This is not the same Pharaoh who lived when Moses was in Egypt, but this Pharaoh is even more wicked than the older. The LORD tells Moses in advanced, both 1) to command the Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go and 2) the fact that Pharaoh will not let Israel go. And by Pharaoh being disobedient to the Lord, Pharaoh will incur the wrath of God upon himself for his disobedience and God will thereby be seen as glorious and just for His judgments. The Lord gives Moses signs by which the presence of God with Moses is to be attested to (Ex. 4:5). But the Lord again warns Moses, before he sets a foot in Egypt:

Exod. 4:21 And the LORD said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

The Lord tells of His determination to destroy Pharaoh king of Egypt. The LORD has had it with Pharaoh’s sins and the persecution he’s dealing to God’s people. The LORD, Yahweh Himself, will harden Pharaoh (give him more freedom in his sins), in order that, for the purpose (“so that”) of Pharaoh not letting Israel go. By Pharaoh not letting Israel go, Pharaoh is disobeying God and is, therefore, incurring more wrath upon himself (Rom. 2:4-5). The LORD Himself is the ultimate cause of Pharaoh’s hardened heart, but this does not mean that He is the author of sin. The Confession is clear on the fact that God ordaining that sin be does not mean that He commits sin, commends sin or approves of sin (paragraph 1). But we see from these passages where God is said to be the One hardening Pharaoh that God is the ultimate cause of Pharaoh’s hardening. This does not mean that Pharaoh did not harden his own heart, on the contrary, we read often of Pharaoh hardening his heart. Rather, God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart is a judgment upon Pharaoh’s current sins where the LORD gives him more freedom to act in sin. And to have more freedom in sin means not obeying God and Pharaoh remained in his disobedience.

We read again before Moses goes to Pharaoh about God’s determination to harden Pharaoh’s heart. In Exodus 7, the Lord is again determined to set the people of Israel free and have Pharaoh destroyed.

Exod. 7:3-5 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 10: Of Effectual Calling - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 20,699 views | 14,049 words | 1:13:47 hours | 04 March 2015 21:42

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 10 Chapter Ten Effectual Calling Irresistible Grace Regeneration Reformed Theology Calvinism Infant Salvation

...in that they all are not of us.

The false teachers, prophets, and professors went out of the congregation because they did not actually belong to the mystical body of Christ. They were not believing in their hearts. For whatever reason, they found themselves in the congregation of the saved, while they themselves were not. This is the way it is going to be in the church buildings, congregations, and the world until Christ comes (Matt. 13:30). The church universal consists of the elect alone and only God perfectly knows who are His. But as the church universal finds itself in local congregations, it is a mixed group of elect and reprobate, because Elders cannot see into people’s hearts and they take their profession at their word, not knowing whether they’re being deceived. Some people will even be working miracles and think that they were Christians all the while they were not. The most terrifying thing is to be self-deceived.

Matt. 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

These people did not “fall away,” because they did never truly and savingly know the Lord Christ. They pretended to be believers and followers of His, all the while having no evidence that they, in fact, were. The Lord Jesus denounces them in the strongest words. He does not say “I knew you, but now I don’t.” But it is: “I never knew you.” The Lord distances Himself from those who merely professed His name and did things in His name, but they did not truly know Him or belong to Him. So likewise and sadly, there will be people with whom we go to church who will receive this severe denouncement from the Lord because they did not truly know Him. Let us always preach the gospel, especially in the church where many hypocrites gather.

Only the Christian Religion Can Save

That Christ is the only Savior is plain from the New Testament. By the “Christian religion,” the Confession means Christ. Salvation is only found in Him and is through Him. Many passages are plain on this point. The reason why it is only through Christ is because He is the only propitiation—the satisfaction of God’s wrath for the world (1 John 2:2; Rom. 3:25). He is the only sacrifice that was provided for the forgiveness of sins. To receive forgiveness, we must have faith in Him. That is the way that we receive the application and effects of the propitiation made for us on the cross. No other religion provides man with a solution to this major sin problem. Essentially, all other religions are work-based. You have to do something to earn heaven or whatever it is. While biblical Christianity alone is the religion of pure grace. It answers the need of man. It answers the problem of man’s sin. But not only that, it presents us with Someone Who can go between us and between God—the God-Man—Christ (see chapter 8 on Christ the Mediator). He Who is sinless would stand between us and God to plead on our behalf on the basis of His finished work on the cross and not because of anything that we’ve done. Sinful man needs a mediator who would go between him and a most holy and just God. That mediator was provided in the God-Man, the Lord Chri...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 21: Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 13,581 views | 6,372 words | 0:32:47 hours | 06 March 2015 19:19

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Confession Study Reformed Baptist Chapter 21 Christian Freedom Liberty Liberty Of Conscience Antinomianism

...e new presence of the Spirit—baptism, outpouring, river—all speaks of increase. This seems logical, because really to know the increased truth of the New Covenant requires increased measures of the Spirit.^[7]

Moreover, the gifts of the Holy Spirit are, unlike under the Old Testament, distributed according to God’s will to all believers (1 Cor. 12-14; Rom. 12:3-8). This was not the case under the Old Testament. Back then some of God’s people would have the gifts of the Spirit, but now all of them do. The Spirit came upon the 70 Elders of Israel in the wilderness (Num. 11:25). He came upon the judges of Israel (Judg. 3:10, 6:34; 11:29; 14:6, 19; 15:14). He indwelt David (Ps. 51:11; 1 Sam. 16:13). The Holy Spirit could have come upon a person and then depart as in the case of King Saul (1 Sam. 10:6, 10; 11:6; 16:14). But In the New Covenant, not only all covenant members have the Spirit (under the OT all true believers did have the indwelling Spirit), but also all have some gift(s) of the Holy Spirit:

1 Cor. 12:7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Oh, beloved brothers and sisters, how great are the liberties that God has blessed us with! Praise God from Whom all blessings and liberties flow!

§2 Liberty Of Conscience

God alone is Lord of the conscience, 1 and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in any thing contrary to his word, or not contained in it. 2 So that to believe such doctrines, or obey such commands out of conscience, 3 is to betray true liberty of conscience; and the requiring of an implicit faith, an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also. 4
1. James 4:12; Rom. 14:4; Gal. 5:1
2. Acts 4:19; 5:29; 1 Cor. 7:23; Matt. 15:9
3. Col. 2:20, 22-23; Gal. 1:10; 2:3-5; 5:1
4. Rom. 10:17; 14:23; Acts 17:11; John 4:22; 1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 1:24

God alone is Lord of the conscience (Jas. 4:12; Rom. 14:4), which means that God alone can dictate to us what we ought or ought not to do or believe. Therefore, since He is Lord of the conscience, He has left the consciences of men free from the doctrines and comments of men which are contrary to His word, or not contained in it (Matt. 15:9; Acts 4:19; 5:29; 1 Cor. 7:23). God has not left the conscience free and that’s it. He has left it free in a specific place, namely, when it comes to the doctrines and comments of men which are against His word, or not contained in it. Therefore, when a church or a person pushes upon others the following and obeying such commandments and doctrines, it is a betrayal to true liberty of conscience and it requires an absolute and blind obedience because that which is to be believed and followed does not come from God.

As God is the Lawgiver, so likewise He is the only One who has the authority to bind or loose the consciences of His moral creatures (Isa. 33:22; Jas. 4:12). He is the One who gives the “you shall” and “you shall not’s.” Therefore, He alone has authority over our conscience concerning obedience and how we should conduct ourselves and what we should believe. This paragraph was written without a doubt with the Roman Catholic Church in mind, which binds the consciences of its members to a host of unbiblical doctrines concerning Mary, Purgatory, the Mass and so on. These doctrines are based upon the traditions of men and they have no basis in the Holy Scriptures, but spring forth either from misinterpretations of Scripture or...

Review of Dean Davis' The High King of Heaven on Amillennialism

Simon Wartanian | 12,971 views | 8,095 words | 0:42:03 hours | 13 April 2015 23:31

Review Book Review Dean Davis The High King Of Heaven Amillennialism Eschatology Reformed Eschatology

... in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, Rev 6:16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, Rev 6:17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

We have in Revelation 7 a beautiful picture of the Consummation.

The Judgment in Revelation 11

Rev 11:15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” Rev 11:16 And the twenty-four Elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, Rev 11:17 saying, “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. Rev 11:18 The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” Rev 11:19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.

Yet another beautiful picture of the Consummation and transformation (and glorification) of the world.

The judgment of God is spoken of as a past event, the nations were destroyed. The dead were judged. The slaves of God were rewarded.

The Judgment in Revelation 14

Rev 14:14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. Rev 14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, calling with a loud voice to him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.” Rev 14:16 So he who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was reaped. Rev 14:17 Then another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Rev 14:18 And another angel came out from the altar, the angel who has authority over the fire, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the earth, for its grapes are ripe.” Rev 14:19 So the angel swung his sickle across the earth and gathered the grape harvest of the earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. Rev 14:20 And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood flowed from the winepress, as high as a horse's bridle, for 1,600 stadia.

We have already seen the reference to the harvest in Matthew 13:24-30, 36-48 and the fact that it happens at the end of the age and also that it is the time of judgment.

The Judgment in Revelation 16

Rev 16:12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, to prepare the way for the kings from the east. Rev 16:13 And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. Rev 16:14 For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty. Rev 16:15 (“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the ...

Review of Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology

Simon Wartanian | 17,130 views | 1,938 words | 0:010:06 hours | 19 July 2015 19:18

Wayne Grudem Systematic Theology Book Review Calvinism Baptist Continuationist Premillennialism

...way:

Rom 8:29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

The Doctrine of the Church

Part 6 of this treatment deals with Ecclesiology. I’ve learned a ton in this part, because it wasn’t something that I’ve read about before.

Being a baptist, he argues for a congregational and independent type of church and makes the case for the consistent plurality of Elders in NT congregations.

What I also liked was the distinction that he made with with more and less pure churches. He admits that in the present time there will not be a church which is perfect in doctrine, but there will be churches which are more or less pure churches. There are no perfect churches.

Being a Reformed Baptist myself, I loved his treatment of Baptism (chapter 49) and his interaction with Louis Berkhof’s Systematic Theology on Protestant Infant Baptism. I though that his case for Credobaptism was strong and he was gracious toward our Padeobaptist brethren.

An important doctrine which he got me more thinking about was the Gifts of the Spirit. He being a continuationist and I...kinda undecided, but was practically a cessationist, but couldn’t make up my mind from the Scriptures because according to my judgment I didn’t see any where in the NT the idea that the spritual gifts would stop.

A few things should be said, Dr. Grudem is an excellent theologian, so he is not like the prosperity preachers and the Benny Hinns. He does not believe that “NT congregational prophecy” is the speaking of the very words of God, but he defines prophecy as “telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind.”^[3] He does not believe that NT congregation prophecy is predicting the future. Further, he believes that in the OT the prophets spoke the very words of God and to disobey a prophet was the same as to disobey God. But this is not the case in the NT. In the NT, the prophets are replaced with the Apostles (which is an office limited to the first century he believes) which are given the authority to write the God-breathed word of God. It is the Apostles, not the prophets in the NT which write and speak the very words of God. At first I found this rather strange and I was committed that the prophets were God’s mouthpiece as that is the case in the OT, but Dr Grudem argues that the Apostles replace the prophets in the NT.

As for healing, Dr Grudem believes that God heals through the prayers of people. He does not believe that the reason why people are not healed is caused by lack of faith, as the prosperity heretics do. But that it is the sovereign and free will of God which grants healing.

I found it strange that Dr. Grudem believes that tongues can in fact be a nonexistent language, but in the words of John MacArthur “gibberish.” I have not studied this very deeply, but I cannot say that I agree. Dr Grudem argues that just because in Acts 2 tongues were actual languages, does not mean that that will always be the case because he believes that 1 Corinthians14 supports the idea of tongues not actually being a language sometimes.

I cannot say that now I’m fully a continuationist, but I can say that I see now more support for continuationism and weakness for cessationism.

The Doctrine of the Future

...