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

Simon Wartanian | 44,118 views | 65,864 words | 5:42:00 hours | 04 March 2015 21:27

...rongabove.

God’s Story

After our first parents disobeyed and broke the Lord’s covenant, they were severed from the fellowship of God and all that is good. God, being merciful and gracious in nature, promised to them salvation in the Offspring from Eve (Gen. 3:15). Now man, being severed from fellowship with His good Creator, has become opposed to Him and to what He represents and has sided with the one who questioned the Lord’s authority in the first place (see chapter 6 on Total Depravity). Man has become totally opposed to God and has become wholly evil by rebelling against their good Creator. About the condition of man, Genesis 6:5 is very negative:

The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

The Lord was sorry that He made man on the earth and that man had become so wicked. The Lord wanted to blot out mankind which He had created as very good, but which has sought out many wicked and sinful ways away from God (Eccl. 7:29).

Gen. 6:7 So the LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.”

The Fall affected much more than Adam and Eve alone. The Fall affected not only the whole human race but the whole creation itself. Indeed, Paul says that “the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth” (Rom. 8:22) and that “the creation was subjected to futility” (Rom. 8:20). This would include all animals, creeping things, birds and fish. The impact of the Fall was so great that even the non-human creation was affected and corrupted by it and therefore, it had to be destroyed. God wanted to destroy all. We rejoice when reading about God’s judgment and then encounter the word “but.” We are thankful for the “but’s” in the Bible. Notice, for example, the “but” in Genesis 50:20 and Ephesians 2:3-5. Likewise, in this case, we see that the Lord’s intention is not to destroy all life and thus undo His creation. Rather, His purpose is to start all over again—with Noah. But a question may be raised about what excluded Noah from the people in Genesis 6:5? Well, Genesis 6:8 (KJV) puts it in this way:

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

It pleased the Lord to grant mercy to Noah and his family and to start over with them. In the midst of God’s terrible decree of destruction overflowing with righteousness (a phrase borrowed from Isa. 10:22), God decided, out of mere grace, to persevere Noah and his family. Now it is true that the Bible describes Noah as “a righteous man, blameless in his generation” (Gen. 6:9), but it would be a great error, opposing the Bible’s doctrine of justification by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8-9; see chapter 11), to ascribe the cause of the Lord’s choice to Noah’s intrinsic (an intrinsic property is an essential or inherent property of a system or of a material itself or within) righteousness. Noah was righteous and blameless because he had found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The grace of God was the cause of his righteousness, not the other way around. Otherwise, it would contradict the very meaning of grace, which is unmerited favor.

But I Will Establish My Covenant With You

Now that God’s plan to “clean” the planet is in place, He commands Noah to build an ark wherein he, his family and the animals can survive God’s decree of destruction (...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 10: Of Effectual Calling - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 23,009 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

.... It is those who are totally depraved. It is those who are dead and soaked in sin. All they know is sin (Rom. 14:23). It is those people who by their sinful nature and thanks to the fall of Adam, are dead in sins and trespasses. This is who we were before the Spirit called us to that which we do not deserve which God had beforehand ordained that we would attain.

See for more chapter 6 on the Total Depravity of man (see also this) and chapter 9 on the will of man in the State of Sin.

Enlightening our Minds

God changes our nature and cleanses us (Ezek. 36:25-27) and thereby He also cleanses and enlightens our minds and enables us to understand the things of God. The commission which Paul received was:

Acts 26:18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

We lived in sin and darkness (Eph. 2:1-3; Matt. 4:16), but the light of the Lord has enlightened us. He has turned us from the darkness and sin that we previously loved to the light of the glorious gospel. We were blinded by sin and Satan, but God has shone His light in us–

2 Cor. 4:4-6 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We were held in darkness by the god of this world, but God in His mercy has reached down to us and shone the light of Christ in us. This work is described as nothing other than a re-creation. Just like God, at the beginning said “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3), so likewise there had to be a work of spiritual creation in our hearts. He made the light of Christ to shine so that we would see the glory of God, Who is actually a person, even our Lord Jesus Christ. He shone the light of the gospel so that we would acknowledge Him as the Lord of everything and the Savior of our souls. So that we would see His beauty and treasure Him above all things as the satisfaction of our souls.

Eph. 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Paul prays that the believers may more and more know God intimately and understand His work. He prays that God would especially reveal to us Himself and the riches of the salvation that He has given us. He prays that we would be freed from our sin and made children of the living God. He wants not their physical eyes, but their spiritual eyes—the eyes of their hearts, to be enlightened so that they may, at the present, behold the glory of God and in the future, in our flesh see God (Job 19:26-27). God reveals Himself to His children through His Spirit and infallible Word.

The natural person does not understand the things of God, but the one who is spiritual, i.e., led by the Spirit, is made able to understand the things of God (1 Cor. 2:9-16). We have received the mind of Christ in H...

Welcome To The Staunch Calvinist

Simon Wartanian | 15,968 views | 547 words | 0:02:57 hours | 08 March 2014 16:57

Calvinism Absolute Sovereignty Of God Reformed Theology Reformed Baptist 1689 Baptist Confession Calvinist Baptist

...y/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Of God’s Decree (I make a case for predestination, election, reprobation and absolute sovereignty even over evil and sin)

Of Creation

Of Divine Providence

Of the Fall of Man, Of Sin, And of the Punishment Thereof (Total Depravity)

Of God’s Covenant (1689 Federalism)

Of Christ the Mediator (including a case for the Substitutionary Atonement, Active and Passive Obedience of Christ, Definite Atonement and answers to passages used against the doctrine)

Of Free Will (with the help of Jonathan Edwards, the consistency of moral agency being found in carrying one’s desires, the inconsistencies of libertarian free will, explanation of necessity and inability)

Of Effectual Calling (with a case for infant salvation)

Of Justification (faith is a gift and regeneration precedes faith)

Of Adoption

Of Sanctification

Of Saving Faith

Of Repentance Unto Life and Salvation

Of Good Works

Of The Perseverance Of The Saints (A positive case for the Reformed doctrine and responses to passages such as Hebrews 6 and the like)

Of The Assurance Of Grace And Salvation

Of The Law Of God (Threefold Division of the Law, the Decalogue before Moses, a brief exposition of the Decalogue, ceremonial and civil laws, the abiding moral law under the New Covenant in the OT prophecy and the NT, Threefold Uses of the Law, The Law and the Gospel)

Of The Gospel, And Of The Extent Of The Grace Thereof

Of Christian Liberty And Liberty of Conscience

Of Religious Worship And the Sabbath Day (A case for the Regulative Principle of Worship and the Christian Sabbath)

Of Lawful Oaths And Vows

Of The Civil Magistrate

Of Marriage

Of The Church

Of the Communion of Saints

Of Baptism And The Lord’s Supper

Of Baptism

Of The Lord’s Supper

Of The State Of Man After Death And Of The Resurrection Of The Dead (Intermediate State Hades, Sheol, Heaven; A Case for Amillennial Eschatology; critique of Premillennialism)

Of The Last Judgment (Endless punishment in Hell contra Annihilationism)

...

God's Absolute Sovereignty: Concise Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 5,559 views | 1,379 words | 0:07:02 hours | 08 February 2014 15:59

Calvinism Election Predestination Limited Atonement Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control

...05:16-17

Job

Job 1, 2:10, 42:11

Assyria, the rod of His anger

Isa 10:5-6, 12-13, 15-16, 14:24-27

Reprobation

Jn 3:18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

2Thess 2:11-12 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

1Thess 5:9; 1Pet 2:8; 2Pet 2:12; Jude 4

Total Depravity

Rom 3:9-18 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Rom 8:5-8 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Eph 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Jn 6:43-47; Rom 6:20; 1Cor 2:14; Col 2:13-15; 2Tim 2:24-26

Unconditional Election

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.

Eph 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Jn 1:11-13; Rom 9: 10-13, 15-16, 22-24, 10:20; Phil 1:29-30

Limited Atonement

Jn 10:14-18 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own ...

Acts 7:51, 'You always resist the Holy Spirit'

Simon Wartanian | 8,385 views | 1,097 words | 0:05:36 hours | 03 April 2014 14:01

Resistible Grace Irresistible Grace Calvinism John Gill Matthew Henry ESV Study Bible Acts 7:51

...s resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. (Acts 7:51 ESV)[1]

Calvinists, have no problem with this passage at all. Dead sinners always resist the Spirit of God. But when Spirit comes to regenerate, for the purpose of salvation, the dead sinner is made alive and willing, with no resistance.

Rather, there is a bigger problem for those Arminians who say that sinners are not really dead in sin or unable to come to God, how do they cooperate or respond to the Spirit if they always resist Him? There is said here much more than some Arminians would want to admit. The Total Depravity of human kind which without sovereign grace always resists the work of God.

This is what the ESV Study Bible says:[2]

Acts 7:51 Stephen concluded with a direct attack on Israel for rejecting the Messiah. While this may seem harsh, Luke will soon say that Stephen was “full of the Holy Spirit” (v. 55; cf. 6:10, 15) and he was no doubt led by the Spirit, who knew the hearts of Stephen’s listeners, to make this accusation. Using the language of the OT he accused them of being stiff-necked (see Ex. 33:3, 5; 34:9; Deut. 9:6, 13), uncircumcised in heart and ears (Lev. 26:41; Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:4, 6:10, 9:26; Ezek. 44:7, 9), and resisting the Holy Spirit (Isa. 63:10). In fact, the repeated rejection of God’s will is the point of his story, justifying the charge that prophets also made against the nation.

John Gill comments on this:[3]

Ye stiffnecked,.... Or "hard necked", the same with קשה עורף, which is a character frequently given of this people, Ex 32:9 and elsewhere, and is expressive of their obstinacy, stubbornness and refractoriness; who would not submit their necks to the yoke of God's law, and be obedient to his commands:

and uncircumcised in heart and ears; for though they had the mark of circumcision in their flesh, of which they boasted; yet they had not the true circumcision of the heart; their hearts were not circumcised to fear and love the Lord, nor their ears to hear the word of the Lord and the Gospel of Christ; so that notwithstanding their confidence in carnal privileges, they were uncircumcised persons:

ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; the resistance made by these persons was not to the Spirit of God in them, of which they were destitute, but to the Spirit of God in his ministers, in his apostles, and particularly in Stephen; nor to any internal operation of his grace, but to the external ministry of the word, and to all that objective light, knowledge, evidence, and conviction that it gave of Jesus's being the Messiah: and such who resist Christ's ministers, resist him, and such who resist him, may be said to resist his Holy Spirit; and the word here used signifies a rushing against, and falling upon, in a rude and hostile way, and fitly expresses their ill treatment of Christ and his ministers, by falling upon them and putting them to death: which is the resistance here designed, as appears by the following verse: so that this passage is no proof of the resistance of the Holy Spirit, and the operations of his grace in conversion, when he is in men, and acts with a purpose and will to convert them; since it does not appear that he was in these persons, and was acting in them, with a design to convert them; and if he was, it wilt be difficult to prove that they so resisted, and continued to resist, as that they were not hereafter converted; since it is certain that one of them, Saul, was really ...