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1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 17: Of The Perseverance of the Saints - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 29,001 views | 43,749 words | 3:48:12 hours | 05 March 2015 19:18

...His work half done, rather He will perfect it. They will not be abandoned by Him, neither will He let them go out of His hand.

Conclusion on Paul

We’ve seen in clear words that Paul believed that the elect will certainly be preserved and not be lost. Therefore, when we come to the difficult passages, we must have this in mind: Paul declares in no unclear terms that those chosen by God will not be lost, nor can they be lost, for God Himself, the Father and the Son, keep them.

Petrine Corpus

1 Peter 1:3-5 – Being guarded through faith

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great Mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1. First, we notice again, as Paul often does, so likewise Peter begins with thanksgiving to God for the believers he’s writing to. The audience is identified as “Those who are elect exiles” (1 Pet. 1:1). He is writing to suffering believers. They are chosen according to God’s foreknowledge or fore-love as in Romans 8:29, in or through the sanctification of the Spirit and for obedience to Jesus (1 Pet. 1:2). Notice that when Peter will later write about being guarded by God, he is speaking about those who are chosen by God, being and are sanctified by the Spirit and are obeying Jesus. He is not talking about those who merely profess the faith, but those who possess the truth and abiding faith given by God. This is important to see, as it makes clear the audience that Peter is writing to are believers. There may be unbelievers, obviously, but he is not writing about them, but rather is assuming that all of them are believers.

2. God receives all praise and glory for the great Mercy shown to believers, because Mercy was given to us by pure grace and not because of anything in us. We did not earn it, therefore God is forever to be given glory for every good thing in us and done to us. His grace was shown in the fact that it was He Who “caused us to be born again”. It is God Who regenerated us, giving us His Spirit and a new nature (e.g., Ezek. 36:25-27) and thereby we have become new creations (2 Cor. 5:17). Those who claim that true believers may, in fact, fall from grace, have trouble finding in Scripture any slight reference to those who after being regenerated by God, later become unregenerate. There is not a hint of such a thing that those who are circumcised in their heart by God, later become uncircumcised in their heart. Previously, we were dead in sin, but now we have been made alive by the will and working of God (Jas. 1:18; John 1:12-13).

3. We have been born again to a living hope which includes “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you”. This inheritance includes but is not limited to our final salvation when we will be freed from all sin, given our new glorified body and living with God in the New Heaven and New Earth. This inheritance is kept, guarded and attended to carefully by God for a specific people, namely, the plural “you” of the believers who have been caused to be born again. This inheritance is kept in heaven, where God is. It is God Who is keeping it for the believers, therefore He will not fail to give them their inheritance.

4. In v. 5...

Irresistible Grace, Effectual Calling - Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 11,467 views | 2,545 words | 0:13:07 hours | 23 March 2014 22:21

Calvinism Election Predestination Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control Irresistible Grace Effectual Calling

...ying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Rom 8:29-30 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.

Rom 9:15 For he says to Moses, “I will have Mercy on whom I have Mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has Mercy.

Rom 11:25-29 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”[5]; 27 “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.[6]” 28 As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The metaphor of ‘being made alive’ and being ‘born again’

Jn 1:11-13 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Jn 3:3-8 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Jn 5:21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

Rom 6:3-4 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Col 2:13-15 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

2Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Titus 3:4-7 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us i...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 31: Of the State of Man after Death and Of the Resurrection of the Dead - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 30,916 views | 63,926 words | 5:35:37 hours | 06 March 2015 23:27

...nal. But a stronger case that death fixes our eternity destiny can be made from Luke 16:19-31. There is a chasm that separates the saved in heaven and the damned in Hades in the Intermediate State. No one can cross over and this takes place after physical death. That’s why death should be terrifying to those who do not know God and who have not obeyed the gospel of our Lord. There are no second chances. All that awaits those who have not put their trust in Christ is doom and misery.

The Souls Of The Righteous In Heaven

Already in the Old Testament believers were expecting a blissful existence with God after their physical death. David says, “Surely goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Ps. 23:6; cf. Ps. 16:10-11; 17:15; 73:24; 115:18). He expects to ever live in the presence of God. He did not only live with and for God in his earthly life, but he believes that God’s presence will always be with Him. He will dwell in His house and this is said at a time when the Temple was not yet built. Elijah is said to have “went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2Kings 2:11). Jesus shows that there will be a resurrection from the fact that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living before the presence of God (Matt. 22:31-32; Luke 20:37-38).

But there is the greater revelation of this fact in the New Testament. There is general agreement amongst Christians that once they die, they will be in the presence of the Lord. (1) The Lord Jesus, before being crucified and going back to the Father, tells His disciples that He will go before them to prepare a place for them, and then come and take them to that place (John 14:1-4). The Lord Jesus, through His atonement on the cross and resurrection, made a place for His people, and then He comes and takes them in their death to Himself. (2) Paul says that it is better for him to die because dying is gain, why? Because in dying we will go to the place where the Lord Christ is (Phil. 1:21-23). To depart and to die is to be with Christ, which is better. (3) To another church, he writes that as long as we live in the body, we are away from the Lord. His greater desire is to be “away from the body and at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). As long as we live our lives here, we are with the Lord and the Lord is with us, but it is not the same as being “at home with the Lord.” Then we will see Him face to face and have close and direct communion with Him. (4) The Author of Hebrews says that Christians join in worship with those in heaven, which includes “the spirits of the righteous made perfect” (Heb. 12:22-23). In heaven, they reach sinless perfection, yet they still await the resurrection of their body. Notice that these are said to be the “spirits of the righteous”, the Author is not speaking of a bodily resurrection, for that is after the Intermediate State is over and Christ has come back. (5) John describes the martyrs of the Lord Christ who were waiting until God’s judgment would come upon the wicked who persecuted them. They are described as “the souls of those who had been slain” (Rev. 6:9). They were living in the presence of God, they were neither inactive nor in a state of soul sleep. These passages teach us that there is a better state of existence awaiting Christians after they die.

The Souls Of The Wicked In Hades

Sheol

The Old Testament does not directly say that much about the place of punishment, but this does not mean that ...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 5: Of Divine Providence - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 15,140 views | 5,231 words | 0:28:11 hours | 04 March 2015 21:17

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 5 Sovereignty Providence Compatibilism Calvinism

...ng3 all creatures and things, from the greatest even to the least, 4 by his most wise and holy providence, 5 to the end for the which they were created, 6 according unto his infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of his own will; 7 to the praise of the glory of his wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and Mercy. 8

Gen. 1:31; 2:18; Ps. 119:68^[1]
Ps. 145:11; Prov. 3:19; Ps. 66:7
Heb. 1:3; Isa. 46:10-11; Dan. 4:34-35; Ps. 135:6; Acts 17:25-28; Job 38-41
Matt. 10:29-31
Prov. 15:3; Ps. 104:24; 145:17
Col. 1:16-17; Acts 17:24-28
Ps. 33:10-11; Eph. 1:11
Isa. 63:14; Eph. 3:10; Rom. 9:17; Gen. 45:7; Ps. 145:7

God the good Creator is the One Who is sovereign over all things and the One who upholds, directs, disposes, and governs all creatures and things (Heb. 1:3; Eph. 1:11; Isa. 46:10-11; Ps. 115:3; 135:6; Rev. 4:11). His sovereignty extends from the greatest even to the least (Matt. 10:29-31). God is as much concerned about little things as He is about big things because they all work out for His glory and according to His most wise plan. By His most wise and holy providence, He has assigned an end and purpose for everything that was created (e.g., Prov. 16:4). This was done according to God’s infallible foreknowledge of that which He has ordained and according to the free and immutable counsel of His own will. The purpose for disposing and directing all things as He does is to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, infinite goodness, and Mercy which is seen in His providence.

Providence may be defined as:

Divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. The doctrine of divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole (Psalm 103:19), the physical world (Matthew 5:45), the affairs of nations (Psalm 66:7), human destiny (Galatians 1:15), human successes and failures (Luke 1:52), and the protection of His people (Psalm 4:8).^[2]

It is the God, the good Creator, Who governs and directs every step in the universe. He is the standard of goodness. He means and intends everything for good (defined by Himself), while man means it for evil (Gen. 50:20). Everything He does is most holy and wise, free and immutable, and for His glory (Isa. 46:8-11). He upholds the universe by the power of His word and He directs history to its predetermined end (Heb. 1:3; Eph. 1:11). He disposes of good and evil and governs every molecule and atom the way He pleases (Dan. 4:34-35; Isa. 45:7; Ps. 115:3; 135:6; Eph. 1:11). Why? To the glorification of His attributes! See chapter 4 for the purpose of creation. This is closely connected with God’s decree in chapter 3 (see the commentary there). God’s sovereign decree could be seen as the blueprint of history, while God’s Providence is the execution of that blueprint or plan.

§2 God, the First Cause

Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly; so that there is not anything befalls any by chance, or without his providence; 1 yet by the same providence he ordereth them to fall out according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently. 2
1. Acts 2:23; Prov. 16:33
2. Gen. 8:22; Jer. 31:35; Ex. 21:13; Deut. 19:5; Isa. 10:6-7; Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 27:31; Matt. 5:20-21; Phil. 1:9; Prov. 20:18; Luke...

John Owen's Case For Particular Atonement

Simon Wartanian | 12,715 views | 15,628 words | 1:22:53 hours | 21 March 2017 23:01

John Owen Definite Redemption Limited Atonement Particular Atonement Calvinism Five Point Calvinism Arminianism

... that are appointed to life and glory, and those that are appointed to and fitted for destruction, — “elect” and “reprobate;” those that were “ordained to eternal life,” and those who “before were of old ordained to condemnation:” as Eph. 1:4, “He hath chosen us in him;” Acts 13:48, “Ordained to eternal life;” Rom. 8:30, “Whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” So, on the other side, 1 Thess. 5:9, “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation;” Rom. 9:18–21, “He hath Mercy on whom he will have Mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel to honour, and another to dishonour?” Jude 4, “Ordained to this condemnation;” 2 Pet. 2:12, “Made to be taken and destroyed;” “Sheep and goats,” Matt. 25:32; John 10 passim. Those on whom he hath “Mercy,” and those whom he “hardeneth,” Rom. 9:18. Those that are his “peculiar people” and “the children of promise,” that are “not of the world,” his “church;”^[18] (Book III, chapter 2)

All these things are true only of the redeemed, the elect of God from all eternity. But this is not the only group which Scripture knows. On the other hand, Scripture designates the reprobates in the following words:

...in opposition to them, are “the world,” “not prayed for,” “not his people:” as Tit. 2:14; Gal. 4:28; John 15:19, 17:9; Col. 1:24; John 11:52; Heb. 2:10, 12, 13. Which distinction of men is everywhere ascribed to the purpose, will, and good pleasure of God: Prov. 16:4, “The Lord hath made all things for himself, even the wicked for the day of evil.” Matt. 11:25, 26, “I thank thee, O Father, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Rom. 9:11, 12, “The children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth; it was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.” Verses 16, 17, “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth Mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.”^[19] (Book III, chapter 2)

Furthermore, Christ is said to die for the first group, but not for the second. He laid His life for “his people” (Matt. 1:21), His own sheep (John 10:11, 14), His "church” (Eph. 5:25; Acts 20:28).

Mediator for Whom He Died (Arg. VII)

This is a strong argument building upon that which we have sought to prove before, namely, that the offering and intercession of Christ are inter-connected and are the two faces of the same coin. Christ intercedes as a Mediator and those for whom He intercedes are “save[d] to the uttermost” (Heb. 7:25). His intercession is limited to those for whom His offering was made. See above for more. In his own words:

For whom Christ died, for them he is a mediator: which is apparent; for the oblation or offering of Christ, which he made of himself unto God, in the sheddin...

Preservation of the Saints - Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 19,565 views | 3,263 words | 0:16:33 hours | 23 March 2014 22:28

Calvinism Election Predestination Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control Preservation Of The Saints

...life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Phil 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

2Tim 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

1Pet 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great Mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

None of Christ’s sheep will be lost—ever!

Jn 6:39-40 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Jn 10:27-29 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Rom 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Eph 1:13-14 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

Heb 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

Heb 10:14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

God causes His sheep to persevere in the faith

Jn 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

1Cor 6:11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

1Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Phil 2:12-13 Therefore, my belov...

1689 Second Baptist Confession of Faith Highlighted

Simon Wartanian | 27,067 views | 17,012 words | 1:29:18 hours | 16 November 2014 22:30

1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Creed Calvinist Reformed Baptist

Gen. 1:31; 2:18; Ps. 119:68
Ps. 145:11; Prov. 3:19; Ps. 66:7
Heb. 1:3; Isa. 46:10-11; Dan. 4:34-35; Ps. 135:6; Acts 17:25-28; Job 38-41
Matt. 10:29-31
Prov. 15:3; Ps. 104:24; 145:17

Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, the first cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly; so that there is not anything befalls any by chance, or without his providence; 1 yet by the same providence he ordereth them to fall out according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently. 2
1. Acts 2:23; Prov. 16:33
2. Gen. 8:22; Jer. 31:35; Ex. 21:13; Deut. 19:5; Isa. 10:6-7; Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 27:31; Matt. 5:20-21; Phil. 1:9; Prov. 20:18; Luke 14:25ff; Prov. 21:31; 1 Kings 22:28, 34; Ruth 2:3

God, in his ordinary providence maketh use of means, 1 yet is free to work without, 2 above, 3 and against them 4 at his pleasure.
1. Acts 27:22, 31, 44; Isa. 55:10-11; Hosea 2:21-22
2. Hosea 1:7; Luke 1:34-35
3. Rom. 4:19-21
4. Ex. 3:2-3; 2 Kings 6:6; Dan. 3:27

The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God, so far manifest themselves in his providence, that his determinate counsel extendeth itself even to the first fall, and all other sinful actions both of angels and men; 1 and that not by a bare permission, which also he most wisely and powerfully boundeth, and otherwise ordereth and governeth, in a manifold dispensation to his most holy ends; 2 yet so, as the sinfulness of their acts proceedeth only from the creatures, and not from God, who, being most holy and righteous, neither is nor can be the author or approver of sin. 3
1. Rom. 11:32-34; 2 Sam. 24:1; 1 Chron 21:1; 1 Kings 22:22-23; 2 Sam. 16:10; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28
2. Acts 14:16; 2 Kings 19:28; Gen. 50:20; Isa. 10:6, 7, 12
3. James 1:13. 14. 17; 1 John 2:16; Ps. 50:21

The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruptions of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself; and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for other just and holy ends. 1 So that whatsoever befalls any of his elect is by his appointment, for his glory, and their good. 2
1. 2 Chron 32:25-26, 31; 2 Sam. 24:1; Luke 22:34-35; Mark 14:66f; John 21:15-17
2. Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 12:7-9

As for those wicked and ungodly men whom God, as the righteous judge, for former sin doth blind and harden; 1 from them he not only withholdeth his grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understanding, and wrought upon their hearts; 2 but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had, 3 and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin; 4 and withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan, 5 whereby ...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 11: Of Justification - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 25,030 views | 23,400 words | 2:03:21 hours | 04 March 2015 21:54

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven Justification Justification By Faith Alone Sola Fide Sola Gratia Imputed Righteousness Infused Righteousness Roman Catholicism Protestantism

...sup God has not only graciously granted us to suffer for Christ’s sake, which is not a reproach, but an honor and an occasion of joy (Acts 5:41; 16:23-25; Matt. 5:10-12; Luke 6:22; Rom. 5:3; 2 Cor. 12:10; Heb. 10:34; Jam. 1:2; 1 Pet. 4:13-16). He has also granted us to believe in Him! Just like God has granted and ordained that His children suffer according to His will (1 Pet. 4:19), so likewise He has graciously granted us to believe in the Lord Christ. Our faith did not originate with us, but it was given to us by God for the sake of Christ. Christ has completely propitiated and pleased the Father on our behalf so that all the graces which the Father of Mercy sends down upon us have their basis in Christ’s active and passive obedience. It has, by grace, been granted to us to believe in the Lord, but also to suffer for His sake because He is worthy! Suffering is the focus in this passage, but “Faith in Christ is here incidentally spoken of as a grant of Divine grace.”^[20] As Calvin observed, “Here Paul clearly testifies, that faith, as well as constancy in enduring persecutions, is an unmerited gift of God.”^[8] This faith which we have been granted is not merely faith that Christ existed, but it is faith in Him for salvation. John Gill explains:

not only to believe in him for faith in Christ, which is not merely believing that he is the Christ, and all that is said of him, or all that he himself says, but is a seeing of the Son, a going to him, receiving, embracing, leaning, relying, and living upon him, as God’s salvation, is a pure gift of grace; it is not in nature, nor in every man, and in whom it is, it is not of themselves, it is the gift of God; the first implantation of it, all its acts and exercise, its increase, and the performance of it at last with power, are all owing to the grace of God; and this is only given to the elect, for it is a distinguishing gift; it is given to them, and them alone, and, therefore called the faith of God’s elect^[19]

While confronting the Jewish leaders after Peter healed the lame beggar at the Temple, he said to them in Acts 3:16:

Acts 3:16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

It is by faith that the lame beggar was healed. Whether the faith was the apostles’ or the beggar’s is irrelevant for my point. Notice that faith is said to be in Jesus’ name, but it is also the same faith which is through Jesus. The saving, healing and lasting faith was in Jesus’ name, but it also came by and through the Lord Jesus. It was something that He gave them to the man and of which He was the author. It originated with Him. It is not merely faith in His name, but also that faith came through Him. The Lord Jesus is indeed “the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). He gives it to us, works it in us and He by grace enables us to endure because He gives us a saving faith which endures. Bengel observes:

Peter sets down not only the act, but even faith itself, to the account of Christ and His name. Through Christ, our faith is of GOD, and tends to GOD. 1Pe 1:21, “Who by Him do believe in God. etc., that your faith and hope might be in God.”^[27]

This faith is “not only faith, as on Christ as its object, but by and from Christ as its author”.^[16] See also Acts 18:27.

We may also take up a passage which Bengel mentioned—1 Peter 1:21:

1 Pet...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 15: Of Repentance Unto Life and Salvation - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 17,293 views | 8,593 words | 0:44:49 hours | 05 March 2015 18:55

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 15 Chapters Fifteen Restoration Repentance Salvation Faith

... be a gross sinner in order to be sorry for sin; all people are sinners by nature and by deed, and all need to repent of their sins...The first [paragraph] deals with men and women who have spent many years of their life dead in trespasses and sins (sometimes terrible and vile sins) before being converted. Examples include: Manasseh, the king of Judah who even went so far as to sacrifice his children to idols, but who repented and believed after God took him into exile (2 Chronicles 33.1-20); the apostle Paul, the violently arrogant blasphemer who persecuted the church of Jesus Christ until the risen Lord confronted him on the road to Damascus, saving him as a pattern of divine patience and Mercy (Acts 9.1-9; 1 Timothy 1.12-16); and, the Philippian jailer, who was about to commit suicide at the prospect of his prisoners having escaped, but was prevented from doing so by Paul, who preached to him salvation in Christ, after which he believed, rejoicing (Acts 16.25-34).^[4]

Notice also that the Confession connects repentance with effectual calling (chapter 11). When God calls us, He not only gives us faith, but He also grants repentance which accompanies that faith (2 Tim. 2:25; c.f. Acts 20:21). This happens at conversion when God transfers us from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of Christ. He grants us faith and repentance and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. The Reformed understanding of the Ordo Salutis (Order of Salvation) is:

Election (chapter 3)
Effectual Calling (chapter 10)
Regeneration (chapter 11)
Conversion (chapter 14 Of Saving Faith and chapter 15, the current one on repentance)
Justification (chapter 11)
Adoption (chapter 12)
Sanctification (chapter 13)
Perseverance (chapter 14)
Glorification

See this helpful picture by Tim Challies.

It is important to note that here we are speaking of the logical order of salvation and not how we experience salvation. In chapter 11, I argued for “Regeneration Precedes Faith”. From our experience, the new birth and faith in the Lord Jesus happened at the same time. So, when we speak of the Ordo Salutis, we do not mean the order in time, but logically. This has to do more with causation and which one is dependent on the other. Repentance is in stage four. Repentance and faith together constitute conversion and they describe what conversion consists in. There would not be a conversion if there was no regeneration. There would be no regeneration if there was no effectual calling. There would be no effectual calling if there was no sovereign election in eternity past. One is dependent upon the other and springs forth from the other.

§2 God has mercifully provided that believers so sinning and falling be renewed through repentance unto salvation

Whereas there is none that doth good and sinneth not, 1 and the best of men may, through the power and deceitfulness of their corruption dwelling in them, with the prevalency of temptation, fall into great sins and provocations; 2 God hath, in the covenant of grace, mercifully provided that believers so sinning and falling be renewed through repentance unto salvation. 3
1. Ps. 130:3; 143:2; Prov. 20:9; Eccl. 7:20
2. 2 Sam. 11:1-27; Luke 22:54-62
3. Jer. 32:40; Luke 22:31-32; 1 John 1:9

There is none that doth good and sinneth not; everyone sins (Ps. 130:3). This is the sad reality of fallen man and even of redeemed man. Even Christians, through the power and deceitfulness of their corruption dwelling in them...f...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 29: Of Baptism - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 29,408 views | 45,510 words | 3:58:30 hours | 06 March 2015 23:14

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 29 Baptism Believer's Baptism Immersion Dipping Infant Baptism Covenant Theology 1689 Federalism Westminster Federalism

...expressed in the phrase which follows.’^[26]To be baptized into Christ is to be closely identified with Him and, as the passage says, to put on Christ. To put on His character and His sentiments, being united with Him and to seek to be like Him. It is to have our identity in Him. Therefore, every true believer, even if not water baptized, is, in fact, baptized into Christ. They are in union with Christ, even if they have not yet taken the step to signify this union publicly.

Titus 3:5

he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own Mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,

Wayne Grudem writes that this passage is not speaking of water baptism, but ‘“the washing of regeneration,” explicitly stating that it is a spiritual giving of new life. Water baptism is simply not mentioned in the passage.’^[35] He is right. There is not an iota said here about water baptism. The Greek word for baptism is not used here, neither is the Greek word used here for “washing” ever used of baptism in the New Testament. The word is only used here and in Ephesians 5:26. There may be an allusion to baptism and what is signified by baptism, but this passage, along with Ephesians 5:26, is not about water baptism, but about spiritual cleansing, the thing signified by water baptism. The washing in Ephesians 5 happens by the Word of God and not by physical water.

This “washing of regeneration” is the work of renewal and recreation by the Holy Spirit which was promised in the Old Testament (Ezek. 36:25-27). He is the Agent Who brings the new birth to the elect (John 3:3-8). Our works are explicitly excluded at the beginning of the passage, therefore, no act of baptism can bring the regenerating work of the Spirit to pass, but the Spirit works as He pleases and on whom He pleases. The way that God saved us was “by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” God saved us by regenerating us and giving us the Spirit in accordance with His promise in the Old Testament. This washing and regeneration are not effects produced because of water baptism, but because of the Spirit’s work in God’s elect. John Gill notes:

by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; by the former is meant, not the ordinance of water baptism; for that is never expressed by washing, nor is it the cause or means of regeneration; the cause being the Spirit of God, and the means the word of God: and besides, persons ought to be regenerated before they are baptized; and they may be baptized, and yet not regenerated, as Simon Magus; nor is it a saving ordinance, or a point of salvation; nor can it be opposed to works of righteousness, as this washing is; for that itself is a work of righteousness; see Mt 3:15 and if persons were saved by that, they would be saved by a work of righteousness, contrary to the text itself: but regenerating grace is meant, or a being born of water, and of the Spirit; that is, of the grace of the Spirit, comparable to water for its purity and cleansing virtue: hence such who are regenerated and sanctified, are said to be washed and cleansed, having their hearts purified by faith, and their consciences purged from sin by the blood of Christ^[10]

Philip Schaff notes that “Renewing is added to further define ‘regeneration.’ The word occurs in Rom 12:2. It describes the moral change which passes on a man when he becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus.”^[36] Reg...