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1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 5: Of Divine Providence - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 14,182 views | 5,231 words | 0:28:11 hours | 04 March 2015 21:17

... that he has made” (Ps. 145:9). The patience of God with us is merely His great mercy displayed to those who deserve nothing but His righteous and swift judgment.

In Romans 1, three times, the hardening and punishment of God on present sin is said to be a giving over of God to more sin. Because people became idolatrous and traded the glory of the true God for dumb idols, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity” (Rom. 1:24). It is like God said, “is sin what you want? Okay, here, I will give you over to your sin so that you will commit more sin.” And because they went into Idolatry and “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25), God says, “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions” (Rom. 1:26). He sends more sin to them and gives them more freedom in sin than they had as a punishment on present sin. As it has been observed by wise theologians, the punishment of sin is more sin. From the second “giving up” of God comes homosexuality and lesbianism (Rom. 1:26-27), and then the apostle says, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done” (Rom. 1:28). There is a progression of wickedness and sinfulness, and it is a miserable and wicked path to Hell. When God brings judgment on these people by giving them over to their sins, He is doing that which is right to those who sin against Him. These are not some innocent people whom God is punishing, but these are criminals and rebels against the Lord of heaven and earth. Take a look at chapter 3, paragraph 3 where I try to lay a case out for reprobation.

§7 The Providence of God as it relates to His Church

As the providence of God doth in general reach to all creatures, so after a more special manner it taketh care of his church, and disposeth of all things to the good thereof. 1
1. Prov. 2:7-8; Isa. 43:3-5, 14; Amos 9:8-9; Rom. 8:28; Eph. 1:11, 22; 3:10-11, 21; 1 Tim. 4:10

The promise of Romans 8:28 is given to His church. It is for them that “all things work together for good”. The Lord Christ is given as head over all things “to the church” (Eph. 1:22). He exercises His sovereign rule for the good of the church and disposeth of all things to the good thereof. What a comfort and what a blessing to know that all things work together for our good and that nothing is outside of His control.

It is only the elect—the church of God, the people of God, that have received the promise of Romans 8:28. For the reprobate, everything works for the bad and for more condemnation. For the sake of the righteous, the godless often are blessed (e.g., Gen. 39:2-4). Joseph found favor with Potiphar because the Lord was with Him and God gave success both to Joseph and Potiphar, because of Joseph’s presence. Laban says to Jacob, “If I have found favor in your sight, I have learned by divination that the LORD has blessed me because of you” (Gen. 30:27). God takes care of all His creation, but especially of His covenant people, and He often blesses the godless for their sake.

The love of God for His own is shown in Isaiah 43:3-5, 14 in how God gives other nations away as “ransom” for His covenant people. He regards these people as nothing compared to the love that He has for Israel, His covenant people, which He brought up from the Babylonian captivity. Why? “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, a...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 7: Of God's Covenant - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 38,903 views | 65,864 words | 5:42:00 hours | 04 March 2015 21:27

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 7 God's Covenant 1689 Federalism Westminster Federalism Presbyterian Covenant Theology Covenant Of Works Covenant Of Redemption Covenant Of Grace Nohaic Covenant Abrahamic Covenant Mosaic Covenant Old Covenant Davidic Covenant New Covenant

...nted to stay in one place and thereby disobey God’s commission. Therefore, they wanted to build a tower which reached to heaven to make a name for themselves. God was not pleased. At that time, the Lord caused the division of the languages and scattered the people over the face of the planet. When reading the list of Shem’s descendants we are being prepared to meet a person who will be remembered for the rest of history and who will be called the father of the faithful. From Genesis 12 onward, the story told in the Bible is that of Abraham’s physical and spiritual offspring.

The Call of Abram

Out of mere grace and mercy, God calls Abram out from a life of Idolatry to walk before Him (Josh. 24:2). God promised him great blessings, which he could not have deserved or imagined. We already know about Abraham and his call, how he received great promises from God and how he almost offered his son Isaac up. But I’ll be content to give a summary here. The Lord Almighty calls Abram to go out from the Ur of the Chaldeans to the land of Canaan (Gen. 11:31). The blessings were:

Making him a great nation (Gen. 12:2);
Blessing him so that he would be a blessing (Gen. 12:2);
Blessing those who bless him, cursing those who curse him (Gen. 12:3);
In him will all the families of the earth be blessed (Gen. 12:3);
The land of Canaan will be his offspring’s (Gen. 12:7; 15:18-19).

These blessings and promises, he received and they are repeated often to him, to Isaac and to Jacob. Reminding them of the goodness and love of God toward His people. So, as Hebrews says:

Heb. 11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

He went and followed God’s command, but at the same time, he did not exactly know where he was going. As time went by, God made it clear both to Abram and to the people who were with and against him that the God Almighty is with him (as with the case of Pharaoh’s house in Gen. 12:10-20). God has blessed those who have blessed him and cursed those who have cursed him according to His promise. The Lord visibly appeared to Abram a few times in his life (Gen. 12:7; 17:1; 18:1) and has made clear that He loves Abram and is set to fulfill His promises to him. But now you may be wondering and asking yourself, “his name was Abraham, not Abram, right?” And here comes our story. The Lord promised that Abram would be made a great nation. There was only one problem: Sarai, his wife, was barren. It was not possible for them to have children. But the Lord, Who is sovereign over life and death, had promised Abram that he would give him a child. When he got the promises, he thought that a servant of his would be counted as his offspring and get the promises since he is childless. But this is the Lord’s reply:

Gen. 15:4-6 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man [Eliezer of Damascus, v. 2] shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

None other than a child from his own seed will be the child of the promise. Well, if you know the story, you know that Sarai took things into her hand and gave him her maid Hagar who bore him Ishmael whom he thought to be the ch...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 13: Of Sanctification - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 16,163 views | 16,934 words | 1:29:010 hours | 05 March 2015 18:23

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen Sanctification Holiness

...in, but also living unto holiness and righteousness. Living unto that which befits a child of God. We do not merely kill sin and leave it at that. We kill sin and replace it with righteousness and holiness! We do not kill the desire to lust merely, but we kill it by teaching ourselves to be content with our wives and with God.

Colossians 3:5 is to the same effect as this passage. Paul, there, gives a command to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you”. We may ask what is the “earthly” in us? Paul answers in the remainder of the verse: “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is Idolatry.” But let us not gloss over this verse without first asking what came before it since it seems to be a conclusion (“Put to death therefore...”). The apostle does not merely tell us to kill sin, but he does it because he first called us to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is” (Col. 3:1). This means that we are to set our minds on the things that are above (Col. 3:2). In fact, we have already “died” and the “life” which we now have “is hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). In fact, “Christ...is [our] life” (Col. 3:4). We see in this passage not only the call to kill sin, but it is prefaced by the call to focus on Christ and have our minds set on the things that are above and belong to Him. This is based on the fact that we have died to the flesh and our old man is dead. We have a new life and this life is Christ. Then comes the call to put to death what is earthly in us because that which is heavenly (or from above, i.e., holy and belonging to Christ) is inconsistent with that which is earthly (i.e., sinful). In fact, those things which are earthly were part of our mindset before we came to know Christ (Col. 3:7). But they no longer belong to us and we should stay away from them (Col. 3:8). Why? Because “you have put off the old self with its practices”. In other words, you “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24; cf. Gal. 2:20). But this passage does not stop at the death of the old man, but points us to the fact that we “have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col. 3:10). The parallel passage in Ephesians 4:24 tells us that this “new self” is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” What we must note from Colossians 3:10 is the fact that this image is being renewed. We are not created anew and thereby are made perfect in our conduct. Rather, there is a process of continual renewal. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown observe that the new man’s “development into a perfectly renewed nature is continually progressing to completion.”^[17] The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges explains this renewal in these words:

is renewed] Lit. and better, is being renewed; a present not aorist participle.—In the parallel place in Eph. “the new man” “was created,” as a definite fact; here he is continuously “being renewed,” maintained as it were by a continuous creative act. (Cp. for the verb in a kindred context, 2Co 4:16.)—Practically, the thought is of the believer’s maintained union with His Lord, and his realization in that union of continued peace and spiritual power. As if the Head, for the member, were evermore “made new,” and so always newly reflected and as it were reproduced in the member.—Lightfoot compares, in contrast, Eph 4:22; “the old man is being corrupted, is decaying.”^[18]

A...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 23: Of Lawful Oaths and Vows - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 12,461 views | 5,299 words | 0:27:50 hours | 06 March 2015 19:34

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 23 Oaths Vows Swearing Allegiance

... Lord Jesus is not doing away with swearing and taking oaths, but He is doing away with Jewish hypocrisy and false teaching concerning the Third Commandment. The Jews “avoided of God’s personal name and instead used reverent substitutions, clever liars could take an oath that seemed to appeal to God without technically doing so (23:16-22).”^[10] Therefore, we see here our Lord a clear understanding of the Third Commandment and exposing the hypocrisy of the Jews and the taking of God’s Name in vain. Furthermore, swearing by other things than God “would indicate Idolatry, or apostasy, which the passage from Jeremiah (mentioned above concerning lust [Jer. 5:7-9]) also conveys.”^[11] The Lord Jesus did not do away with oaths, but showed their real intent and exposed false and sinful use of oaths. The Lord’s brother, James, also speaks to the same effect in James 5:12.

§4 The Plain And Common Sense Of The Words

An oath is to be taken in the plain and common sense of the words, without equivocation or mental reservation. 1
1. Ps. 24:4; Jer. 4:2

An oath should be made in the plain and common sense of the words, using common definitions so as to avoid and confusion, or worse—deception. Therefore, our words should be without equivocation, meaning open to multiple interpretations, and also without mental reservation, which means by not telling the whole truth. Our words should be clear and understood by everyone involved without ambiguity or reservations or qualifications which we mentally make and those involved are unaware of.

We should not say things which would imply different things than what we actually intend. We should not use verbiage which communicates something different to people in order to be deceptive and cunning in what we actually intend. Our words must be plain and to the point. “The language of the oath must be unequivocal and as to be clearly understood by all parties.”^[12] If we are to use difficult verbiage we should be plain about our understanding and definitions of the words. Our intent is to honor the truth and the God of truth (Isa. 65:16), therefore, we make every effort to be truthful in our words and oaths.

§5 Vows

A vow, which is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone, 1 is to be made and performed with all religious care and faithfulness; 2 but popish monastical vows of perpetual single life, professed poverty, and regular obedience, are so far from being degrees of higher perfection, that they are superstitious and sinful snares, in which no Christian may entangle himself. 3
1. . 30:2-3; Ps. 76:11; Jer. 44:25-26
2. . 30:2; Ps. 61:8; 66:13-14; Eccl. 5:4-6; Isa. 19:21
3. 1 Cor. 6:18 7:2, 9; 1 Tim. 4:3; Eph. 4:28; 1 Cor. 7:23; Matt. 19:11-12

Now the Confession moves...