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1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 12: Of Adoption - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 11,386 views | 2,439 words | 0:12:42 hours | 04 March 2015 21:56

... on The Perseverance of the Saints where we will, Lord willing, make a case for that doctrine and also a Scripture List supporting the Perseverance of the Saints.

The Future Aspect of Adoption

While all that we listed above about our adoption concerns the present (1 John 3:2), yet there is still a future and final aspect of our adoption, namely the resurrection of our bodies. In Romans 8:23, Paul connects our adoption to the redemption of our bodies. Our redemption and adoption with all its privileges and graces will be final and complete on The Last Day when the Lord raises us up unto glory, to have a body like His (1 John 3:2; Phil. 3:21). Our adoption will be known to everyone on The Last Day and we will receive our glorified body when our redemption is final and complete.

Conclusion

Dr. Waldron defines adoption as—

Adoption is a change in legal status from that of slave to that of son of God which takes place by faith at the moment of union with Christ, but will be publicly revealed at the resurrection. It is an act of God’s free grace flowing from the electing love of God and Father in eternity and the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit in time, and immediately confers the Spirit of adoption and the privilege of being one of God’s heirs, as well as other privileges, obligations and liabilities.^[2]

Thank You, Father, for Your marvelous and amazing grace toward us, who were children of wrath and now made children of the living God.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

(1 John 3:1)

Footnotes

^ Many Scriptural references have been supplied by Samuel Waldron’s Modern Exposition of 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith which was apparently supplied by the Westminster Confession of Faith 1646.
^ Sam E. Waldron. A Modern Exposition Of The 1689 Baptist Confession Of Faith. (Darlington: Evangelical Press, 2013). p. 208, footnote references removed.

...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 9: Of Free Will - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 19,958 views | 16,462 words | 1:25:57 hours | 04 March 2015 21:41

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 9 Chapter Nine Free Will Libertarian Free Will Determinism Fatalism Compatibilism Incompatibilism Moral Agency Jonathan Edwards The Freedom Of The Will

...hem. In the former, men are seeking after idols; in the latter, men are seeking after God because He is seeking after them. The Lord Jesus’ mission was “to seek and save the lost” (Luke 19:10), He was not sent so that the lost might seek Him, rather, He is the Seeker! But we have a more express testimony to this effect from the lips of our Lord:

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on The Last Day.

For a discussion of this passage and John 6 see chapter 3 on Unconditional Election.

The Lord Jesus is not excluding people by saying no one can come, rather He is expressing the inability of natural man to come to Him. He does not say no one may come, but He says no one can. “Can” has to do with power and ability, “will” has to do with desire. He who “cannot” likewise “wills” not. The two are interconnected. The Greek word here is dunamai from which we get the word “dynamo” from. Thayer’s Greek Definitions (G1410) says the following:

- Original: δύναμαι
- Transliteration: Dunamai
- Phonetic: doo’-nam-ahee
- Definition:

to be able, have power whether by virtue of one’s own ability and resources, or of a state of mind, or through favourable circumstances, or by permission of law or custom

to be able to do something

to be capable, strong and powerful

- Origin: of uncertain affinity
- TDNT entry: 06:44,2
- Part(s) of speech: Verb^[28]

Now couple this definition with the negative: man is not able, man does not have the power. No man has the power and ability to come to Jesus. Why would this be if fallen man was not dead in his sins and married to unrighteousness and enmity to God? He cannot, not because God has forced him so, but he cannot because he will not, because he desires not. It is a lack of inclination through which an inability is formed. This inability is unstoppable by man because he will not will something contrary to his desires, but it is not unstoppable for God Who is able to draw and make men willing (Ps. 110:3 KJV) so that they will definitely come to the Lord Jesus and be raised up. Man lacks the ability and desire to come to God, but God can change the heart so that the desires, which are pleasing to Him, can be found within redeemed man.

Inability to believe

John 3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

Fallen man is unable to come to God, which is actually the same as believing in Him, so likewise he is unable to believe. As he is flesh, the only thing that he will bring forth is flesh. In conversion, the flesh is no help at all. It is all the work of God’s Spirit Who makes us new. The Spirit places in us a heart of flesh that is actually able to love and obey God and removes the heart of stone through which we were unable and unwilling to love God and His Law (Ezek. 36:25-27). The flesh, the sinful nature, cannot bring us to life. Someone outside of us must make us alive and bring us to faith. Here is seen the necessity of being born again. It means that we receive a new nature and a new heart to be able and willing to love and obey God. In our fallen state, we will never desire to do that, but when God gives us a new nature and makes us new creatures we become able to do that which is pleasing in God’s sight. Let us look at a different passage found in...

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

Simon Wartanian | 19,570 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

...1035“"Good Works.

Man Is Unable To Come To God

Our sin makes a separation between us and God (Isa. 59:2). We do not desire to seek Him. We do not seek Him for the same reason a thief does not seek the police.

Rom. 3:11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

Rom. 8:7-8 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.

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on The Last Day.

The Scripture directly says that none of us seeks after God. There is one Seeker, and it is God Himself. Man is running away and hiding from God, as Adam did, because they do not desire the presence of the Almighty. When we hear people who say that they are seeking God, two things may be the case, as far as I can see:

God is seeking them, and therefore they seek Him; or...
They are not seeking the God of the Bible, or they are seeking the blessings of God, but not the person of God.

It is true that the Bible calls us to seek God (e.g., Isa. 55:6), but that is exactly how the Bible awakens us to our inability and we realize we cannot and thus seek help from above. Furthermore, there is not only unwillingness but also an inability. Ability refers to power, willingness refers to desire. We are unable to come to God because we do not desire Him. More on this in chapter 9 on Free Will. The prime commandment of God’s Law is to love Him and love our neighbor, which presupposes repentance and faith in Him. But this is the very thing which the natural man cannot do (Rom. 8:7-8). He does not merely want or desire to do that which is pleasing in God’s sight, including having faith, which is pleasing to God (Heb. 11:6), but he cannot. He does not have the power and ability. The Greek word in Romans 8:7-8 as well as John 6:44, is δύναται (dunatai, G1410), which means “to be able, have power whether by virtue of one’s own ability and resources, or of a state of mind, or through favourable circumstances, or by permission of law or custom”^[10]. But in these instances, it is used with the negative. It means not having the ability, not having the power and so on.

The Lord Jesus does not say you do not want to come, no, He says that we are unable (the difference between ability and will). That is because their mind is set on the flesh and not on the things of God. They are slaves of Satan. Satan will never desire his subjects to seek God. They seek that which they desire, which is anything (sin) but God. Matthew Poole comments on Romans 8:7, saying, “Those that are at enmity, cross each other’s wills, and will not submit to one another: and the carnal mind is rebellious in the highest degree against the will of God, unless it be changed and renewed; it is impossible it should be otherwise; there is in it a moral impotency to obedience: see Joh 8:43; 1Co 2:14.”^[9] The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges comments:

enmity] Cp. ch. Rom. 5:10. The expression here is as forcible as possible. As truly as “God is Love,” so truly, essentially, and unalterably is the “mind of the flesh,” the liking and disliking of unregenerate man, “enmity,” “personal hostility,” towards the true God and His real claims.

Nothing short of this is St Paul’s meaning. It is not to be toned down, as by the theory that other impulses in the unregenerate may counterbalance, or at least modify, this enmity. We must keep...

Total depravity, Radical corruption - Scripture List

Simon Wartanian | 5,826 views | 3,175 words | 0:16:18 hours | 23 March 2014 18:00

Calvinism Election Predestination Mercy Sovereignty Verse List God Is In Control Total Depravity Radical Corruption

..."Man is not able to come to God or believe in Him on his own

Jn 3:5-7 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.’

Jn 6:43-47 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on The Last Day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

Jn 6:60-71 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61 But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65 And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” 71 He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

Jn 8:39-47 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

Jn 10:22-29 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us pla...

1 Timothy 2:4 & Titus 2:11, 'desires all people to be saved'

Simon Wartanian | 15,910 views | 2,692 words | 0:14:11 hours | 07 September 2014 16:04

Limited Atonement Timothy 2:4 Titus 2:11 Universalism Intercession The Cross ESV Study Bible MacArthur Study Bible Reformation Study Bible NLT Study Bible

...as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

In the book of Hebrews we see Christ’s High Priestly work. We see also that Christ intercessory work is rooted in His cross-work. He saves to the uttermost those who draw near to God, but then the question arises: Who draws near to God? The answer from Jesus’ lips is recorded in John 6:44 – No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on The Last Day. And on their behalf does He make His intercessory work. Imagine the Risen Lord of Glory interceding for someone for whom He did not died and for a one whom the Father had no chosen, He would fail miserably, but it’s impossible for the Lord of Glory to be rejected by the Father or for God to fail.

Commentaries

All Kinds of People

The ESV Study Bible explains: [3]

1 Tim. 2:4 Evangelistic prayer for all people is rooted in the fact that God desires all people to be saved. It appears that Paul is countering an exclusivist tendency in the false teachers or at least their downplaying of the importance of evangelizing the Gentiles (along with their emphasis on the Jewish law). This statement figures prominently in theological disagreements over the extent of the atonement. It cannot be read as suggesting that everyone will be saved (universalism) because the rest of the letter makes it clear that some will not be saved (4:1; 5:24; 6:10; cf. Matt. 25:30, 41, 46; Rev. 14:9–11). Does that mean God desires something (all people being saved) that he cannot fulfill? Both Arminian and Calvinist theologians respond that God “desires” something more than universal salvation. Arminians hold that God’s greater desire is to preserve genuine human freedom (which is necessary for genuine love) and therefore he must allow that some may choose to reject his offer of salvation. Calvinists hold that God’s greater desire is to display the full range of his glory (Rom. 9:22–23), which results in election depending upon the freedom of his mercy and not upon human choice (Rom. 9:15–18). However one understands the extent of the atonement, this passage clearly teaches the free and universal offer of the gospel to every single human being; “desires” shows that this offer is a bona fide expression of God’s good will. Come to the knowledge of the truth highlights the cognitive aspect of conversion, i.e., individuals must come to understand key truths in order to be converted. “The truth” occurs often in the Pastorals as a synonym for the gospel (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15; 4:3; 2 Tim. 2:15, 18, 25; 3:7, 8; 4:4; Titus 1:1, 14).

ESV Reformation Study Bible[4]

2:1 all people. As can be seen from the next expression (“for kings and all who are in high positions”), this does not mean “every human being,” but rather “all types of people,” whatever their station in life.

2:4 who desires all people to be saved. This does not mean that God sovereignly wills every human being to be saved (i.e., that God saves everyone). It may refer to God’s general benevolence in taking no delight in the death of the wicked, or to God’s desire that all types of people (v. 1 note) be saved (i.e., God does not choose His elect from any single group).

NLT Study Bible[5]

1 Timothy 2:1 all people: The prayers of the false teachers and their dis...

1689 Baptist Confession Chapter 24: Of the Civil Magistrate - Commentary

Simon Wartanian | 12,451 views | 5,667 words | 0:29:28 hours | 06 March 2015 19:38

The 1689 Second Baptist Confession Of Faith Confession Commentary Reformed Baptist Chapter 24 Civil Magistrates Civil Government Romans 13

...wicked men. ^[5]

This bearing of the sword addresses both the issue of the death penalty and of war. As it is said in the next paragraph of the Confession, it is not directly sinful for civil governments to go to war. But it is sinful only when the war is not necessary and not for a just cause. Likewise, it is with the death penalty or other sorts of punishments. Some governments do, in fact, bear the sword in vain and use the sword for all kinds of violations and injustices not warranted by the Word of God. They will be judged by the Sword of God’s truth on The Last Day.

Subject to Authority for God’s Sake (v. 5)

Therefore, on the basis of vv. 1-4, we are to subject ourselves to the government for God’s sake, in order to avoid His wrath and “for the sake of conscience.” Obedience to the civil government, when they’re in agreement with the laws of the Almighty, is at the foremost, obedience to the Almighty. Hence, “for the sake of conscience.” Barnes notes:

For conscience’ sake - As a matter of conscience, or of “duty to God,” because “he” has appointed it, and made it necessary and proper. A good citizen yields obedience because it is the will of God; and a Christian makes it a part of his religion to maintain and obey the just laws of the land; see Mat 22:21; compare Ecc 8:2, “I counsel them to keep the king’s commandments, and “that in regard of the oath of God.”^[3]

Jamieson, Fausset, Brown note that this phrase means “out of conscientious reverence for God’s authority.”^[6] God is the foremost authority and King Whom we should obey. Therefore Peter writes, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Pet. 2:17). This is significant because of the fact that this Epistle was written to a group of Christians who were being persecuted by everyone around them including the emperor or king, Nero. John Gill notes on this passage:

Caesar, the Roman emperor, though a wicked, persecuting Nero, and so any other king or governor; who, so far as he acts the part of a civil magistrate, preserves the peace, the property, and liberty of his subjects, is a terror to evil works, and an encourager of good ones, and rules according to the laws of God, and civil society, is deserving of great honour and esteem from men; and which is to be shown by speaking well of him; by a cheerful subjection to him; by an observance of the laws, and by payment of tribute, and doing everything to make him easy, and honourable in his government^[4]

Even to these wicked kings, Christians are called to show honor for their position and obedience, when they are in accord with God. Peter also wrote, before this passage:

1 Pet. 2:13-14 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.

Peter and Paul are on the same page.

Give Government their Due (vv. 6-7)

Therefore, since civil magistrates are God’s servants, they are worthy of honor and respect. As worthy of honor and as servants of God, we also give them taxes. As our Lord so amazingly answered the Pharisees, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt. 22:21). That taxes and tributes to be paid to the government is a question that is definitely settled in this passage, but the question of how much taxes should be paid is wholly another.

Summary

The import of this passage is th...