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1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 29: Of Baptism - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 26,056 views | 45,510 words | 3:58:30 hours | 06 March 2015 23:14

.../blockquote

These citations do not only support our position, but also show that the framers of the Confession and our forefathers, did not believe that baptism functioned as a seal of the New Covenant. There is only one seal of the New Covenant and that is the Blessed Spirit.

See here in chapter 7 for a little more on this passage.

Conclusion On Signs And Seal

The New Covenant has two signs, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The seal of the New Covenant is the third Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Holy Spirit. A sign is something visible which signifies the realities of the covenant, while a seal is a stamp of ownership and protection.

Not Necessary For Salvation

Almost always, when generally speaking of baptism, the question has to be answered concerning the connection between water baptism and salvation. Is water baptism necessary for salvation? Does an unbaptized person get to heaven? Are the sins of an unbaptized person forgiven? The “person” of whom we are speaking in this connection is a believer. He believes that Jesus Christ died on the cross to take his sins away and through faith in Christ, he is justified before God on the basis of Christ’s work alone. There are groups, which I consider heretical because they teach that baptism is necessary for salvation. They are basically saying that faith alone is not enough to save, but something else must be coupled with that faith for the person to be saved, and that thing is water baptism. This turns salvation into a works system, even if the thing to be done is nothing great. There are several texts which, when read in isolation from the rest of the Bible, seem to teach that baptism is necessary for salvation. We will look at a few of these texts below, but first, let’s see why baptism is not necessary for salvation.

Let us first begin with the biblical doctrine of salvation by grace and through faith alone (e.g., Eph. 2:8-9). Justification is by faith alone (e.g., Rom. 3:21). Baptism is a deed of faith, but it is not faith. It is something which the regenerate heart would want to do in obedience to their Lord, but not a thing/deed which “activates” the fruits of faith (forgiveness, justification). See chapter 11 for more on justification by faith alone. In every discussion of justification by the apostle Paul, baptism is never seen as a condition of justification or a prerequisite for the forgiveness of sins, but faith is everywhere the condition in such discussions. Faith is the empty hand where Christ, Who is our righteousness, is placed in. This is my fundamental presupposition.

The second reason is the obvious example of the thief on the cross. He expressed faith in Christ and he was assured by the words of Christ that he will be with Christ in Heaven (Luke 23:39-43). He expressed simple faith in Christ and asked Him to remember Him and Christ did not refuse this man. He did not require water baptism or anything else from him. His simple faith in Christ saved him. This is a clear example of a person going to heaven who was not baptized.

The third reason is that various people are said to have the Spirit before being water baptized. Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit prior to his baptism (Acts 9:17-18). The first Gentile converts to the Lord, first receive His Spirit and then water baptism (Acts 10:44-48). We recognize that there are instances where water baptism occurs first and then the giving of the Spirit, but these are special occasions peculiar to that time...

Welcome To The Staunch Calvinist

Simon Wartanian | 14,389 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

...;section, you will find some book reviews and the resources from which I mainly drew the content of the “God’s Absolute Sovereignty” document.

As a Reformed Baptist, I started the 1689 Confession section wherein I seek to explain the chapters and make a biblical case for what is said on a particular subject. As of 18/09/2016, the commentary is complete:

Of the Holy Scriptures
Of God and the Holy Trinity (the attributes of God and a case for the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity)
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)

...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 28,177 views | 35,236 words | 3:04:25 hours | 04 March 2015 20:52

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 1 Holy Scriptures Bible Canon Inspiration Authority Inerrancy Infallibility Apocrypha Old Testament New Testament Canon Sufficiency Sola Scriptura

...

1Pet. 1:10-11 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

The Spirit of Christ was working within the prophets in the Old Testament. He is specifically identified to be Christ’s indicating that Christ is God Who has the fullness of the Spirit, and also that Old Testament prophecy is ultimately about Christ (cf. Rev. 19:10). The Third Person of the Trinity is the Author and Originator of Scripture. Pastor MacArthur writes concerning the phrase “carried along by the Holy Spirit”:

Grammatically, this means that they were continually carried or borne along by the Spirit of God (cf. Luke 1:70; Acts 27:15, 17). The Holy Spirit thus is the divine author and originator, the producer of the Scriptures. In the OT alone, the human writers refer to their writings as the words of God over 3,800 times (e.g., Jer. 1:4; cf. 3:2; Rom. 3:2; 1 Cor. 2:10). Though the human writers of Scripture were active rather than passive in the process of writing Scripture, God the Holy Spirit superintended them so that, using their own individual personalities, thought processes, and vocabulary, they composed and recorded without error the exact words God wanted written.’^[20]

The phrase stresses the authorship, activity, and involvement of the Holy Spirit in the origination of prophecy. They did not simply spew out words of God and prophesied as they wanted. As Calvin says, “They did not of themselves, or according to their own will, foolishly deliver their own inventions.”^[18] Rather, they prophesied and spoke the words of God when “they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” We should not be bothered or brought down just because we do not exactly know how this process of inspiration took place. It is supernatural and it is special, no doubt, but we should nonetheless believe the testimony of God about His Word. There are many mysteries to our faith as the Trinity, the true and full humanity and divinity of our Lord, absolute sovereignty and responsibility, and so on, which we do not fully comprehend. Likewise, the Bible is a divine and human product.

Therefore, in these two passages, 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21, we see clearly the divine authorship of the Holy Scriptures, the Old Testament, and by necessary and plain implication, the New Testament.

The Words Of The Bible Are God’s

Not only do the words of 2 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:20-21 testify to the fact that all the Bible is the Word of God, but Scripture elsewhere identifies words as words of God, which are not directly spoken by God. Therefore, not only words which are explicitly attributed to God are identified as the Word of God, but words also which are not spoken by God are attributed to God.

A search on the phrase “Thus says the Lord” delivers 415 results in the Old Testament. “Declares the Lord” delivers 344 results in the Old Testament. The formula “the word of the LORD came” is used 109 times in the Old Testament. Expressions similar to “the mouth of the LORD has spoken” occur 5 times. The Old Testament is filled with assertions about the divine origin of its content. We read a lot in the prophets that their prophecies are from the true God, rather than their own inventions. For the following section, I am heavily relying on Grudem’s chapter o...

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

Simon Wartanian | 26,483 views | 43,749 words | 3:48:12 hours | 05 March 2015 19:18

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Perseverance Of The Saints Preservation Of The Saints Assurance Of Salvation Eternal Security Apostasy Falling Away. Hebrews 6

...aith.

7. Lastly, we observe the fact that here the Lord Jesus most clearly and definitely speaks of regenerate, justified and Spirit-indwelt believers. He is not speaking of those who merely profess the faith, but those who actually possess true and lasting God-given faith. He speaks of all believers when he calls us His sheep. This is seen even as He looks forward to the coming of the Gentiles into His fold (John 10:16). Therefore, this passage is a great piece of confidence that Christ is indeed victorious and will lose none of His elect. It is the Godhead here Who will assure the fact that none of the sheep given to the Son will be lost, how can the Blessed Trinity fail? Are we willing to go so far as to say that such a thing is possible? May God forbid the thought!

Eternal Life

John 3:14-16 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 6:40 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.”

John 6:47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

John 6:54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

1 John 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.

Nowhere do we read in Holy Writ about people losing their “eternal life”, not even a hint of such a thing in the “difficult passages.” It is John’s writings that mention eternal life the most and especially of it being something we possess at the present time. Notice the passages that I have cited above from John’s corpus. All of them speak of eternal life and of it being a possession at the present time. First, let us answer the question, “What is eternal life?” We can understand eternal life in two ways. One way is how it is described and the second way is how it is contrasted or what it is not.

1. In John 17:3, we read: “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Here we see that eternal life is connected with the saving knowledge of the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Eternal life has to do with the relationship that we have with God through the Lord Jesus. It is the “abundant life” that we have now in Christ (John 10:10). In 1 John 1:2, the apostle connects eternal life with the Lord Jesus and calls Him “the eternal life” (see also 1 John 5:20). In 1 John 5:11, John says, “God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” Therefore, to have eternal life means to have life in God’s Son through Whom we can come to God in peace and love.

2. What does it mean to have eternal life? It means not perishing (John 3:16). It means not having the wrath of God abiding on us (John 3:36). To ...

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

Simon Wartanian | 36,622 views | 77,737 words | 6:42:45 hours | 05 March 2015 19:46

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 19 Law Of God Law Of Moses Law Of Christ Moral Law Decalogue Ten Commandments Thomas Watson John Calvin Robert Dabney Westminster Standards Catechism Civil Law Judicial Law Ceremonial Law Threefold Division Of The Law

...o all things to His glory. We should reject all things that try to take the place of God in our lives. Most people nowadays do not have wooden idols, but they have set up idols in their hearts (Ezek. 14:3). Whether it is sex, money, fame, beauty, “science,” self and many other things; when they are number one in someone’s life, they become that person’s idol and that God will not tolerate that.

The 1^st Commandment In The New Testament

The New Testament puts a greater light upon the God Whom we worship. There, it is revealed that “we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance.”^[20] Our obligation is even more strengthened by the Son’s “exegesis” of the Father (John 1:18). God entered His own creation and demonstrated His love by shedding His blood for us wicked sinners. For this display of love and redemption, God deserves all the more to be our life.

When the Lord Jesus was being tempted by Satan, for all the three recorded temptations, the Lord answered by quoting Scripture. When Satan asked our Lord to worship him, he was rebuked by the Lord:

Matt. 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’”

The Lord Jesus refers back to Deuteronomy 6:13 and that Yahweh alone is to be worshiped and served religiously and no other. Even our Lord obeyed this first commandment.

In Matthew 6:24, the Lord Jesus confirms the exclusivity of worship that is God’s due. You cannot serve God and that which is no God religiously. If we worship and serve money, by finding our happiness and hope in that, we reject God and dishonor Him. The true God will not tolerate substitutes. In 1 Corinthians 8:4, where Paul is discussing idolatry and eating food sacrificed to idols, he mentions some common things known to Christians and Jews, like “an idol has no real existence” and “there is no God but one.” Referring back to the exclusivity of Yahweh and rejecting the existence of any other god than Him (1 Cor. 8:6). Revelation 14:7 calls upon the earth to worship and fear the true God. By referring to Him as being the Creator of all things, the passage calls upon the obligation of man to offer thanks and worship to their Creator. In 1 John 5:20-21, we are first pointed toward the true God and then drawn away from idols. Jesus Christ is the true God and therefore we are to serve Him. We are to devote our lives to Him Who is true and not to things that do not exist and don’t deserve our attention.

Conclusion On The 1^st Commandment

We conclude with Dabney who observes that to have Yahweh as our God is the basis on which we will be able to perform the rest of the commandments and it entails certain duties:

The duty of “having Him for our God” may be said to be the summary of almost all the commands of love, reverence and obedience, which so abound in the Scriptures. But we may say that includes especially, under the general idea of rendering Him all the affection and service which our nature, His character, and our relations to Him require; the following: The duty, (a) of loving Him supremely. (See Matt. 22:37). (b) Of regulating all our moral acts by His revealed will Matt. 28:20. (c) Of owning and acknowledging Him publicly. Josh. 24:22. (d) Of promoting His cause and glory in all suitable ways. 1 Cor. 10:31. (e) Of rendering to Him such acts of religious worship as He may see fit to demand. Ps. 29:2....

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 4: Of Creation - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 17,506 views | 6,589 words | 0:34:34 hours | 04 March 2015 21:12

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 4 Creation Young Earth Creationism Image Of God Imago Dei

...er and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” The glory and power of God is displayed in the created world in such a way that no one would make an excuse before His Majesty. The power and divine nature of God displayed in the created world is undeniable and sufficient to render us without an excuse before Him. When God created, there was no higher goal than creating for Himself and to display His glory. He could not have depended for His glory on His creatures, which were yet uncreated, for He is completely independent of His creation for His perfections. The Trinity enjoyed fellowship and glory even before the creation of the world (John 17:5). God was not lacking anything. The host of heaven, in Revelation 4:11, declares:

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

God is worthy to receive, i.e., be credited of having glory, honor, and power. Why? “for you created all things”. The fact that God is the Creator of all things makes it obligatory on us to bring Him glory, honor, and praise. It is by His will that everything exists or has existed. It was He who determined if this thing existed or not, or that thing happened or not. He creates these things by His will so that they would bring glory and honor to Him. In Proverbs 16:4, we read, “The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.” Everything that God created, He created with its assigned purpose. It is He Who gives everything its purpose. It is not to be thought that the created things gave themselves a purpose. That is absurd. He has even created the wicked for a purpose, namely, a purpose of destruction and punishment (see more in chapter 3 on Reprobation). All things exist and were created to display His glory in one way or another. The people of God are said to be that sons and daughters of God who were created for His glory, and they are called by His holy Name (Isa. 43:6-7). In Colossians 1:16, we read:

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

The Son of God was not only the Agent of Creation, but He was the goal of Creation. Not only were all things that were created, created by Him and through Him, but also for Him. Do not miss this bit. The reason that the Creation exists is for the Son—for His pleasure and for His glory. Everything is set up and is created for the praise of Jesus’ glory. Such is the Father’s good pleasure that the Son may be glorified in all things, just like the Father (John 5:22-23).

Even salvation has the glory of God as its end and goal. Three times in Ephesians 1 we are told that we have been predestined and saved “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph. 1:6) and “to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:12, 14). See also Isaiah 43:7; 60:21; 61:3; Psalm 143:11; Ezekiel 36:21-22; 39:7; Ephesians 3:9-10.

In Romans 9:22-23, it is said:

What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—

God will display both the glory o...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 6: Of the Fall of Man, Of Sin, And of the Punishment Thereof - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 18,144 views | 7,955 words | 0:42:14 hours | 04 March 2015 21:18

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 6 Fall Of Man Sin Condemnation Total Depravity Total Inability Original Sin Federal Headship

... has no explanatory power. We do not believe that it sufficiently answers the question. That’s why the Fall and every sin needs to be recognized as ordained by God of old and is purposed to display His glory. Sin is never outside of God’s control. It is indeed mysterious why would or how would a “very good” (Gen. 1:31) creature rebel against God. I reject the notion that there is no freedom without the opposite, that is, man must have the ability to obey and disobey to be truly free (see chapter 9 on free will). The Persons of the Blessed Trinity have always obeyed each other and never done anything contrary, yet God is most free and sovereign. The Lord Jesus has only done what the Father pleases, but that does not mean that He is not free because He cannot but love and obey His Father.

When God created, He consciously created Adam as a type of Christ. Adam did not become a type after the Fall, or when Paul wrote Romans, but he was, in fact, created as a type, he did not become one.

Rom. 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

This would mean that Adam was created to point to Christ and display Christ. But this also means that Christ came to do that which Adam was supposed to do. When we look at what Christ accomplished, we can also look back to Adam and see what he was supposed to accomplish had he obeyed God in his time of probation. We can learn about the type from the antitype and vice-versa.

The fact that God predestines us to be holy and blameless presupposes that we would not be holy and blameless, and that God had purposed to permit the Fall. Therefore, God, before the creation of the world, predestined people to be sinless:

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.

For more on these things, see chapter 3 (God’s Decree), chapter 5 (Divine Providence) and chapter 9 (Free Will).

§2 Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness

Our first parents, by this sin, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and we in them whereby death came upon all: 1 all becoming dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts of soul and body. 2
1. Gen. 3:22-24; Rom. 5:12ff; 1 Cor. 15:22-22; Ps. 51:4-5; 58:3; Eph. 2:1-3; Gen. 8:21; Prov. 22:15
2. Gen. 2:17; Eph. 2:1; Titus 1:15; Gen. 6:5; Ps. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-18; 1:21; Eph. 4:17-19; John 5:40; Rom. 8:7

Our first parents, by transgressing this command of God, fell from their original righteousness and communion with God (Rom 3:23; 5:12-14). The relationship between man and God was damaged and has never been the same since then. Thanks to their sin and transgression, death, the punishment for transgressing the command (Gen. 2:16-17), came upon all their descendants. Adam was the federal head of all mankind (paragraph 3). What he did counted for all of us. Therefore, all of us became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all our faculties and parts (Gen. 6:5; 8:21; Jer. 17:9; Rom. 3:10-18). No p...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 12: Of Adoption - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 10,741 views | 2,439 words | 0:12:42 hours | 04 March 2015 21:56

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve Adoption Children Of God

...usly children of wrath (Eph. 2:3), but now we are the sons and daughters of the living God (Rom. 9:26).

Receive the Spirit and Sealed by Him

Not only do we receive the Spirit when we believe, but we are sealed and protected by the same Spirit until our salvation is complete–until the day when we rise again (Eph 1:13-14). The Spirit is called the “Spirit of adoption” (Rom. 8:15). It is through Him that we are adopted into God’s family and become children of God. It is thanks to His powerful and sovereign working that we are regenerated and brought into the fold of Christ. It is through the Spirit who is in us, the Third Person of the Blessed Trinity, that we are made able to love God and pray to God. It is the Spirit who regenerates us and thus brings us into God’s family (John 3:5-8; 6:63; Titus 3:5). It is through the Spirit that we realize that we are children of God and address God as our “Abba” (Rom. 8:14-16; Gal. 4:4-5; Matt. 6:9). Through the Spirit who indwells us, we have access to the throne of God (Eph. 2:18; Heb. 4:16). Through the Spirit, we may go to God at any time we need Him. Through the Spirit of God, we are always “connected” to God. In fact, the Spirit helps us in our pitiful prayers (Rom. 8:26-27).

Pitied, Protected, Provided For

The Lord is compassionate toward us as we are His children (Ps. 103:13). He cares for us and grants us grace in times of need. In Him, we are protected. He is our refuge (Ps. 46:1; 64:7-8; Prov. 14:26). When trouble comes, in Him can we hide from our enemies. We find our peace in Him because He is the Prince of Peace (Eph. 2:14; Ps. 85:8; Isa. 9:6). As our Father, He provides for our daily needs as we pray to Him (Matt. 6:11, 31-33; 7:11). He cares for us and He loves us as a father loves his children (1 Pet. 5:7).

Chastened

As true and legitimate children, Hebrews 12:3-11 (also Prov. 3:11-12) argues, we are and will be chastened and disciplined by the Father. It is not because He hates us. It is exactly because He loves us that He will discipline us for our sins. He will never condemn those who are in Christ (Rom. 8:1). There is no condemnation and no one is able to condemn the children of God. But as He is grieved by our sin (Eph. 4:30), so likewise, He has in mind our best and thus disciplines us for our sins, but never condemns us. He welcomes us and cleanses us from sin when we confess them to Him (1 John 1:8-9). He demonstrates His love and care for us and to us through discipline because He does not want us to keep walking in our sins. His will is that all His children attain the “holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14). We should subject ourselves to the Father Who lovingly disciplines His children for their good and His glory.

It is important to make a distinction between condemnation and discipline. Condemnation sends us to hell, but discipline makes us more like our Elder Brother and purifies us from indwelling sin. God’s discipline is motivated by His love for His children, and not vindictive justice. Scripture says, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Heb. 12:6). It is not those whom He hates that He disciplines, but those whom He dearly loves with an everlasting love.

Never Cast Off

We are never cast off from His presence, never. Although He disciples us, He never rejects or forgets us. We are His children and He’s a loving and gracious Father Who will never forget His own....

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 13: Of Sanctification - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 16,152 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

...ified and justified by the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11). Our regeneration, justification, and sanctification are the work of the Spirit. In 2 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul says again that our sanctification is through the Spirit of God within us. If the Spirit was not given to us we would have been hopeless. But it is the Spirit through Whom God works in us. It is the Spirit Whom He has given to us (Ezek. 36:25-27). It is the Spirit Who works in us fruit that is acceptable to God (Gal. 5:22-23). It is through the Spirit that the war against the flesh and sin is waged (Rom. 8:1-13). See more on the Spirit in chapter 11.

The Lord Jesus prays to His Father that His people may be sanctified in the truth and this truth He identifies as His Word (John 17:17). The means whereby we are sanctified and become more like Christ is through meeting the God revealed in Jesus Christ in the Word that His Spirit wrote down for us (1 Sam. 3:21). In Acts 20:32, Paul commends and puts the Ephesians into the hands of God and the word of His grace, which Paul says that it “is able to build [us] up”. Where would we find the will of God except in the Word of God through which we are made more like Christ? God sanctifies us through His Spirit and the Word which He inspired humans to write down as the rule of all faith and practice. We grow in grace as we grow in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 3:18). As we learn to behold and adore His beauty in the Word and through the Spirit, we are transformed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18). James Boyce shows us how fundamental the Word of God is to our sanctification by listing its effects:

(1.) Such passages as connect spiritual life with truth; as John 6:63; 8:32.
(2.) Such as ascribe quickening power to the word of God; as Ps. 119:50, 93.
(3.) Such as teach the that truth is promotive of obedience; as Ps. 119:34, 43, 44.
(4.) Such as declare its usefulness in preventing sin; as Ps. 119:11.
(5.) Such as associate it with cleansing from sin; as Ps. 119:9; 1 Pet. 1:22.
(6.) Such as state that it produces hatred of sin; as Ps. 119:104.
(7.) Such as assert its power to lead to salvation; 2 Tim. 3:15-17.
(8.) Such as say that “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” have been given through the knowledge of God, and Christ; as 2 Pet. 1:2, 3.
(9.) Such as imply that growth in grace is due to greater knowledge; as Heb. 5:12-14.
(10.) Such as account for inability to accept higher doctrinal truth, by such weakness as should be characteristic only of those who are babes in Christ; as 1 Cor. 3:1-3.
(11.) Such as set forth the word of God as “the sword of the Spirit;” as Eph. 6:17.
(12.) Such as announce that all the ministerial gifts bestowed by Christ are “for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ; till we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Eph. 4:11-16.^[37]

Prayer is another means by which God sanctifies us. In prayer, we go to God with our struggles, desires, supplications, and thanksgivings. In prayer, He molds us into the likeness of Christ as His Spirit teaches us how we ought to pray (Rom. 8:26-27). As our Lord took His time to pray (Matt. 14:23; 26:36; Mark 6:46; Luke 6:12), so we should seek to imitate Him even in that aspect of His earthly life. In prayer, we draw close to God, behold His glory and be transformed into His im...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 14: Of Saving Faith - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 20,289 views | 21,954 words | 1:58:30 hours | 05 March 2015 18:34

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen Saving Faith True Faith Temporal Faith Historical Faith Nature Of Faith Ground Of Faith Elements Of Faith Blessings Of Faith Gift Of Faith Pisteuo Pistis Greek Word Study Expressions For Faith

...God. We believe that the Bible is perfectly consistent with reality and speaks about reality as it is when properly interpreted. That saving faith accepts the Word of God as it is, does not mean that believers do not have difficulties with the Bible, but it means that they should not doubt the truthfulness of the God speaking therein.

We do not regard the Bible as just another book. We love the Bible, we trust it. We apprehend “an excellency therein above all other writings and all things in the world”. We love its words. We love what it says. We seek to submit to what it teaches and what it denounces. We believe God’s testimony about Himself and the Persons of the Trinity. We believe everything about Christ as His divinity, humanity, glory, excellency, majesty, grace, love, His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and His soon Parousia. We believe in its testimony about the Holy Spirit and thus expect and see Him working in us, even in testifying to us about the truthfulness of Scripture (see chapter 1:5). It is He Who testifies to us about the truthfulness of the Scriptures which He has inspired for our sake. When we read the Bible, we do not read it just like any other book. We read it with the realization that this is the very word of our Creator and Redeemer, and that we have the obligation to believe everything that is affirmed as truth in it. We cannot, as with merely human writings, simply reject something because we do not like it without walking in disobedience toward God. When we read Scripture, we are made aware of its excellence and uniqueness. We esteem Scripture highly and wish to study it diligently and carefully. We wish to follow it in all things and make it the rule of all faith and practice. It is not something that we spend an hour reading per day. But we think always of what Scripture tells us about our God and seek to treasure God’s Word in our heart that we may walk in a way pleasing to Him. It is in the Scriptures that God speaks to us.

Several times, the Word of God or the words of Jesus are said to be the object of our faith. So, in John 5:46-47, our Lord connects believing Moses as a prerequisite to believing Him. If they do not believe the Word that Moses wrote, then they cannot believe in Jesus. The Risen Christ rebukes the Emmaus disciples with the words: “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (Luke 24:26). The gospel itself is also said to be an object of faith in Mark 1:15. We believe in the good news of King Jesus and His Kingdom (see also Acts 4:4; 8:12; Rom. 10:15).

This faith, trust, and confidence are also in the promises of God. The Lord promises to anyone: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38; see more on this passage). What Paul says to the Philippian jailer is to anyone who would receive the promise by faith: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). So it is testified of Abraham that he believed God’s promise about Christ and was justified (Gen. 15:5-6). The promises of God concerning Christ were the object of the saints of the Old Testament, which were expressed in various ways whether by the shadows, the types, the sacrifices or the prophecies (Rom. 4:20-21; Heb. 11:11, 39-40). Dr. John Frame comments shed some light upon the promises of God as an object of faith:

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