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The Active Obedience of Christ

Christ as Mediator entered the federal relation in which Adam stood in the state of integrity, in order to merit eternal life for the sinner. This constitutes the active obedience of Christ, consisting in all that Christ did to observe the law in its federal aspect, as the condition for obtaining eternal life.... Christ merits more for sinners than the forgiveness of sins. According to Gal. 4:4,5 they are through Christ set free from the law as the condition of life, are adopted to be sons of God, and as sons are also heirs of eternal life, Gal. 4:7. All this is conditioned primarily on the active obedience of Christ. Through Christ the righteousness of faith is substituted for the righteousness of the law, Rom. 10:3,4.

[I]f Christ suffered only the penalty imposed on man, those who shared in the fruits of His work would have been left exactly where Adam was before he fell... still confronted with the task of obtaining eternal life in the way of obedience.

 

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Affirmations of Inerrancy

WE AFFIRM that Scripture, having been given by divine inspiration, is infallible, so that, far from misleading us, it is true and reliable in all the matters it addresses.

WE DENY that it is possible for the Bible to be at the same time infallible and errant in its assertions. Infallibility and inerrancy may be distinguished, but not separated.

WE AFFIRM that Scripture in its entirety is inerrant, being free from all falsehood, fraud, or deceit.

WE AFFIRM the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness of Scripture.

 

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Against Anabaptist Spirituality

[It cannot be tolerated in the church] that our righteousness before God consists not only in the sole obedience and merit of Christ, but in our renewal and our own piety in which we walk before God; which they, for the most part, base upon their own peculiar ordinances and self-chosen spirituality, as upon a new sort of monkery.

 

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Agreement of the Old and New Testaments

We believe that the ceremonies and symbols of the law ceased at the coming of Christ, and that all the shadows are accomplished; so that the use of them must be abolished among Christians; yet the truth and substance of them remain with us in Jesus Christ, in whom they have their completion. In the meantime we still use the testimonies taken out of the law and the prophets to confirm us in the doctrine of the gospel, and to regulate our life in all honorableness to the glory of God, according to His will.

 

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Already / Not Yet

The coming of Jesus Christ at his incarnation marked the beginning of a glorious new redemptive age with a corresponding set of blessings (the already). Yet this new age is not fully consummated and will be fulfilled in the future (the not yet). Christians today can experience a measure of the blessings and promises of heaven while still living in a fallen world that is groaning for the consummation.

The already / not yet concept is expressed in the New Testament's distinct and pronounced tension between what God has already done in fulfilling the promised of the Old Testament and what God will do yet in the future. It can be said that the already / not yet structure gives the New Testament a strong forward-looking focus.

 

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Antinomianism

Although antinomianism has a complicated history, it refers primarily to the view that we do not have to obey God's law since we are justified by grace alone. If legalism confuses law and gospel, antinomianism severs the connection entirely. Paul challenges both in his teaching on union with Christ in Romans 6, where Christ is the answer both to sin's guilt and tyranny.

 

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The Apocryphal Books

We distinguish between [the canonical books] and the apocryphal ones, which are the third and fourth books of Esdras; the books of Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Jesus Sirach, Baruch; what was added to the Story of Esther; the Song of the Three Children in the Furnace; the Story of Susannah; the Story of Bell and the Dragon; the Prayer of Manasseh; and the two books of Maccabees.

The church may certainly read these books and learn from them as far as they agree with the canonical books. But they do not have such power and virtue that one could confirm from their testimony any point of faith or of the Christian religion. Much less can they detract from the authority of the other holy books.

 

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The Apostles' Creed

22. What, then, is necessary for a Christian to believe?
All that is promised to us in the Gospel, which the articles of our catholic, undoubted Christian faith teach us in summary.

23. What are these articles?
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, a holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

 

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Apostleship

Apostles received first mention in the lists of spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:28; Eph. 4:11). Since these gifts are bestowed by the risen Christ through the Spirit, it is probable that at the beginning of the apostolic age these men, who had been appointed by Jesus and trained by him, were now regarded as possessing a second investiture to mark the new and permanent phase of their work for which the earlier phase had been a preparation. They became the foundation of the preparation. They became the foundation of the church--in a sense secondary only to that of Christ himself (Eph. 2:20).

The distinctive features of Paul's apostleship were direct appointment by Christ (Gal. 1:1) and the allocation of the Gentile world to him as his sphere of labor (Rom. 1:5; Gal. 1:16; 2:8). His apostleship was recognized by the Jerusalem authorities in accordance with his own claim to rank with the original apostles. However, he never asserted membership in the Twelve (1 Cor. 15:11), but rather stood on an independent basis. He was able to bear witness to the resurrection because his call came from the risen Christ (Acts 26:16-18; 1 Cor. 9:1). Paul looked on his apostleship as a demonstration of divine grace and as a call to sacrificial labor rather than an occasion for glorying in the office (1 Cor. 15:10).

 

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Apostolic Inspiration

The operation of the Holy Spirit after the day of Pentecost differed from that which from that which the prophets in their official capacity enjoyed. The Holy Spirit came upon the prophets as a supernatural power and worked upon them from without. His action on them was frequently repeated but was not continuous. The distinction between His activity and the mental activity of the prophets themselves was made to stand out rather clearly. On the day of Pentecost, however, He took up His abode in the hearts of the apostles and began to work upon them from within. Since He made their hearts His permanent abode, His action on them was no more intermittent but continuous, but even in their case the supernatural work of inspiration was limited to those occasions on which they served as organs of revelation. But because of the more inward character of all the Spirit's work, the distinction between His ordinary and His extraordinary work was not so perceptible. The supernatural does not stand out as clearly in the case of the apostles as it did in the case of the prophets. Notwithstanding this fact, however, the New Tesyament contains several significant indications of the fact that the apostles were inspired in their positive oral teachings. Christ solemnly promised them the Holy Spirit in their teaching and preaching, Mt 10:19,20; Mk 13:11; Lk 12:11,12; 21:14,15; Jn 14:26; 15:26; 16:13. In the Acts of the Apostles we are told repeatedly that they taught "being full of," or "filled with" the Holy Spirit. Moreover, it appears from the Epistles that in teaching the churches they conceived of their word as being in very deed the word of God, and therefore as authoritative, 1 Cor 2:4, 13; 1 Thess 2:13.

 

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Apostolic Preaching

"Between his resurrection and his ascension to God's right hand, the Lord Jesus taught the original apostles that the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms all predicted the Messiah's suffering, rejection, death, resurrection, outpouring of the Spirit, and worldwide reign through the servants of his Word. The fruit of this intensive forty-day hermeneutics course is heard in the apostolic sermons preserved in the book of Acts, as well as in the Gospels themselves and the other New Testament books. Apostolic preaching, therefore, must be Christ-centered."

 

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Arminianism

Arminianism is primarily the theological system inspired by Jacobus Arminius, and by extension any similar theological position. Historical Arminianism belongs to 17th century Holland where it was condemned by the Synod of Dort (1618-19). Its basic, anti-Calvinist tenets were contained in the "Remonstrance" (1610): 1) predestination is conditioned by God's foreknowledge of man's belief; 2) Christ died for all and all can benefit by his atonement; 3) although fallen and in need of grace, man cooperates in his regeneration; 4) grace is not irresistible; 5) grace can be lost and hence final perseverance is not assured.

In its wider use, designating a theological viewpoint, the term Arminianism applies first of all to an emphasis on the freedom to accept grace.

 

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The Ascension's Importance

We must stress the point that it is indeed the ascension towards which the biblical story constantly strives, especially in its messianic dimensions, not the resurrection.... Resurrection may be a necessary ingredient, since death cuts short our individual journeys, but it is not too bold to say that the greater corporate journey documented by the scriptures continually presses, from its very outset and at every turn, towards the impossible feat of the ascension" (26-27)

It is important to remember what is at stake here. If there is no real ascension that took place in history then the church's sacramental acts are devoid of meaning... then the church's distinction from the world does indeed reduce to something that is purely ideological or ethical or social. If we wish to take the [Lord's Supper] and the church seriously we must also take the ascension seriously" (39).

 

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Assurance of Salvation

Q. 80 Can true believers be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace, and that they shall persevere therein unto salvation?
A. Such as truly believe in Christ, and endeavor to walk in all good conscience before him, may, without extraordinary revelation, by faith grounded upon the truth of God's promises, and by the Spirit enabling them to discern in themselves those graces to which the promises of life are made, and bearing witness with their spirits that they are the children of God, be infallibly assured that they are in the estate of grace, and shall persevere therein unto salvation.

Q. 81 Are all true believers at all times assured of their present being in the estate of grace, and that they shall be saved?
A. Assurance of grace and salvation not being of the essence of faith, true believers may wait long before they obtain it; and, after the enjoyment thereof, may have it weakened and intermitted, through manifold distempers, sins, temptations, and desertions; yet are they never left without such a presence and support of the Spirit of God as keeps them from sinking into utter despair.

 

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Attributes of Scripture

"A doctrine concerning Scripture’s attributes developed in the Reformation churches as a counter to Roman Catholicism on the one hand and Anabaptism on the other. The key issue was the nature and extent of scriptural authority. Rome honors church and tradition above Scripture, while Anabaptism respects the inner word at the expense of the external word of Scripture. In Roman Catholicism the precedence of the church over Scripture eventually led to the dogma of papal infallibility. Here, materially, Scripture is unnecessary. Over against this position, the Reformers posited their polemical doctrine of Scripture’s attributes: authority, necessity, sufficiency, and perspicuity."

 

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Augustine

(354-430) More is known about Augustine than about anyone else in classical antiquity. When he was about nineteen, he read Cicero's now-lost Hortensius, which introduced him to philosophy; became acquainted with the Categories of Aristotle; attempted to read the Bible, but was repelled by the sytle of the available Latin translations; and join Manichaeism. In 384 he was appointed rhetor to the imperial court of Milan. There he began listening to sermons of the bishop, Ambrose, at first for their style, and later for their content. Through them he came to realize that Scripture can be interpreted in more than a literal sense. He was baptized by Ambrose on Easter of 387. In 388 he formed a community of fellow Christians dedicated to serving God. In 391 he moved to Hippo and served church there as presbyter, bishop, and beginning in 396 as chief pastor until his death.

Augustine's literary output is immense, and a major reason for his enduring influence on western Christian thought. Besides hundreds of sermons and letters, he has left us over ninety treatises, which fall into three main groups: commentaries on biblical books; polemical writings, such as those against Pelagianism; and various books on theological subjects. He is especially known for three works: Confessions, The Trinity, and The City of God.

 

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The Authority of Christ in Scripture's Authorship

Christianity is often called a book-religion. It would be more exact to say that it is a religion which has a book. Its foundations are laid in apostles and prophets, upon which its courses are built up in the sanctified lives of men; but Christ Jesus alone is its chief cornerstone. He is its only basis; he, its only head; and he alone has authority in his Church. But he has chosen to found his Church not directly by his own hands, speaking the word of God, say for instance, in thunder-tones from heaven; but through the instrumentality of a body of apostles, chosen and trained by himself, endowed with gifts and graces from the Holy Ghost, and sent forth into the world as his authoritative agents for proclaiming a gospel which he placed within their lips and which is none the less his authoritative word, that it is through them that he speaks it. It is because the apostles were Christ's representatives, that what they did and said and wrote as such, comes to us with divine authority. The authority of the Scriptures thus rests on the simple fact that God's authoritative agents in founding the Church gave them as authoritative to the Church which they founded. All the authority of the apostles stands behind the Scriptures, and all the authority of Christ behind the apostles. The Scriptures are simply the law-code which the law-givers of the Church gave it.

If, then, the apostles were appointed by Christ to act for him and in his name and authority in founding the Church--and this no one can doubt; and if the apostles gave the Scriptures to the Church in prosecution of this commission--and this admits of as little doubt; the whole question of the authority of the Scriptures is determined. It will be observed that their authority does not rest exactly on apostolic authorship. The point is not that the apostles wrote these books (though most of the New Testament books were written by apostles), but that they imposed them on the Church as authoritative expositions of its divinely appointed faith and practice.

 

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The Authority of the Canon

We receive all these books, and these only, as holy and canonical, for the regulation, foundation, and confirmation of our faith; believing without any doubt all things contained in them, not so much because the Church receives and approves them as such, but more especially because the Holy Spirit witnesses in our hearts that they are from God, and also because they carry the evidence thereof in themselves. For the very blind are able to perceive that the things foretold in them are being fulfilled.

 

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Baby Boomers

In the United States, the term is commonly applied to people with birth years after World War II and before the Vietnam War. The beginning and end dates of the baby boom is popularly identified as starting in 1946 and ending in 1964, during which 76 million American children were born. Boomers account for about 39 percent of Americans over the age of 18 and 29 percent of the total population.

Steve Gillon has suggested that one thing that sets the baby boomers apart from other generational groups is the fact that "almost from the time they were conceived, Boomers were dissected, analyzed, and pitched to by modern marketers, who reinforced a sense of generational distinctiveness." The effect of the baby boom continued to be analyzed and exploited throughout the 1950s and 60s.

The baby boomers were the first group to be raised on television, and television has been identified as "the institution that solidified the sense of generational identity more than any other." Starting in the 1950s, people in diverse geographic locations could watch the same shows, listen to the same news, laugh at the same jokes. Television showed idealized family settings such as "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver." Later the boomers watched scenes from the Vietnam War, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King. The boomers also found that their music, Rock 'n Roll, was another expression of their generational identity.

In 1993, Time magazine reported on the religious affiliations of baby boomers. Citing Wade Clark Roof, the articles stated that about 42% of baby boomers were dropouts from formal religion, a third had never strayed from church, and one-fourth of boomers were returning to religious practice. The boomers returning to religion has shown were "usually less tied to tradition and less dependable as church members than the loyalists." They are also more liberal.

 

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Baptism of the Holy Spirit

For Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 it is unthinkable that anyone could be a member of the Body of Christ, united to Christ by faith and a member of the church whom he redeemed by his death, and yet for that person not to have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. "Baptism in Spirit" brought about our incorporation into the Body. We were "baptized into one Body" by the one Spirit. It is unthinkable that someone might be a member of the Body, yet not have been baptized by the Spirit, for all who are in the Body have entered into the Body through the door of Spirit-baptism.

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A Believers' Struggle with Sin

1. Those people whom God according to his purpose calls into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord and regenerates by the Holy Spirit, he also sets free from the reign and slavery of sin, though in this life not entirely from the flesh and from the body of sin.

2. Hence daily sins of weakness arise, and blemishes cling to even the best works of God's people, giving them continual cause to humble themselves before God, to flee for refuge to Christ crucified, to put the flesh to death more and more by the Spirit of supplication and by holy exercises of godliness, and to strain toward the goal of perfection, until they are so freed from this body of death and reign with the Lamb of God in Heaven.

 

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The Benefits of the Resurrection

Q. What benefit do we receive from the resurrection of Christ?
A. First, by His resurrection He has overcome death, that He might make us partakers of the righteousness which He has obtained for us by His death. Second, by His power we are also now raised up to a new life. Third, the resurrection of Christ is to us a sure pledge of our blessed resurrection.

Q. What benefits do believers receive from Christ at the resurrection?
A. At the resurrection, believers being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the day of judgment, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.

 

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The Bible

biblion, "roll" or "book." More exactly a biblion was a roll of papyrus or byblus, a reed-like plant whose inner bark was dried and fashioned into a writing material widely used in the ancient world.

The word as we use it today, however, has a far more significant connotation than the Greek biblion. While biblion was somewhat neutral--it could be used to designate books of magic (Acts 19:19) or a bill of divorcement (Mark 10:4) as well as sacred books--the word "Bible" refers to the Book par excellence, the recognized record of divine revelation.

Although this meaning is ecclesiastical in origin, its roots go back into the OT. In Dan 9:2 (LXX) ta biblia refers to the prophetic writings.... The expression ta biblia passed into the vocabulary of the Western church and in the 13th century the neuter plural came to be regarded as a feminine singular, and in this form the term passed into the languages of modern Europe. This significant change from plural to singular reflected the growing conception of the Bible as one utterance of God rather than a multitude of voices speaking for him.

 

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Calvin, John (1509-1564)

Calvin was born and raised at Noyon in north­ern France. He studied at the Universities of Paris, Orleans and Bourges and became an admirer of Erasmian humanism. At some stage in the early 1530s he underwent a 'sudden conversion' (described in the preface to his commentary on the Psalms) and aligned himself with the Reformation. Persecution forced him to flee France and he settled at Basle. While passing through Geneva in 1536 he was con­scripted by Farel to take part in the ministry in that duty. Calvin was to spend the rest of his life there, apart from a time of exile from 1538 to 1541, spent mostly at Strasburg.

Calvin was the greatest Reformed theologian of the sixteenth century and is today read far more widely than any other Reformed theologian. This fact can be misleading. Calvin's influence was profound, but he was by no means the only influential Reformed theologian of the century. However great he may have been, he stood in a tradition that began before him and on which he was but one of a number of important influences. The Reformed tradition has always been more than and wider than Calvin.

Calvin's genius was to imbibe the existing Protestant (especially Reformed) tradition and to construct out of it his own creative synthesis. The durability of his contribution is due both to the skill with which he created the synthesis and to the 'lucid brevity' with which he expressed it. It is because of his success in both areas that he became and remained the most influential Reformed theologian.

Calvin is often seen as the man of one book: his Institutio. This is very misleading. While he devoted considerable time to producing the five major editions of that work, he spent signifi­cantly more time on biblical exegesis. He commented on almost all of the books of the New Testament and covered much of the Old Testament (Hexateuch, Psalms and all of the prophets except for the second half of Ezekiel) in commentaries or (published) lectures. He also preached regularly through books of the Bible, preaching almost two hundred times a year for much of his time in Geneva. Just as the Institutio is widely read today, his commentaries have also remained popular and are among the few precritical commentaries still of interest to biblical scholars.

Calvin also published many polemical works, primarily against Roman Catholics but also against Anabaptists and other radicals and against Lutherans and other Protestants. He also published many works for church use, such as confessions of faith, catechisms and liturgies.

 

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Canon of Scripture

Scripture expresses and mediates the authority of God, which means, formally, his right to be believed when he speaks and obeyed when he commands; and, materially, the sum total of declarations and directives by which he requires us to live. Hence Scripture is called 'canonical' (Gk. kanan, a rule, measure, or standard). The use of 'canon' for a list of books that are canonical in the defined sense is secondary and derivative. The church has always known, more or less clearly, that it did not create a canon by discretionary fiat but received the canon that God created for it. The OT canon (i.e. the 39 books of the 1st century Palestinian canon, Jesus' Bible) came to the church from the hands, as it were, of Christ and the apostles, for whom Christianity's credentials presupposed the divine authority of the Jewish Scriptures which the Christian facts fulfilled (Mt. 5:17; 26:56; Lk. 4:21; 18:31; Acts 3:18; 13:27-33; Rom. 1:2; 16:25-27; 1 Pet. 1:10-12; 2 Pet. 1:19-21; etc.).

The NT canon came from the same source, for it was the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent who enabled the apostles to speak and write divine truth about Jesus and who all along has brought about recognition of apostolic documents containing this truth as canonical. The basis of that recognition was and is a. apostolic authorship or authentication, b. Christ-honoring doctrinal content, in line with the known teaching of other apostles, and c. continuous acknowledgment and spiritually fruitful use of the books within the church from the apostolic age on -a consideration that becomes weightier and more compelling with every passing year. The Protestant* claim, that the Holy Spirit decisively authenticates the canonical Scriptures by causing them to impose themselves on believers as a divine rule for faith and life, should be understood in corporate terms -as meaning that at no time has the great body of the church rejected any book now in the canon, and that divine authority is constantly experienced by the faithful when canonical Scripture is read and preached in the congregation.

 

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Of the Catholic (Universal) Church

We believe and profess one catholic or universal Church, which is a holy congregation of true Christian believers, all expecting their salvation in Jesus Christ, being washed by His blood, sanctified and sealed by the Holy Spirit.

This Church has been from the beginning of the world, and will be to the end thereof; which is evident from this that Christ is an eternal King, which without subjects He cannot be. And this holy Church is preserved or supported by God against the rage of the whole world; though it sometimes for a while appears very small, and in the eyes of men to be reduced to nothing; as during the perilous reign of Ahab the Lord reserved unto Him seven thousand men who had not bowed their knees to Baal.

Furthermore, this holy Church is not confined, bound, or limited to a certain place or to certain persons, but is spread and dispersed over the whole world; and yet is joined and united with heart and will, by the power of faith, in one and the same Spirit.

 

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The Centrality of Preaching the Gospel

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!" But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?" So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ (Rom 10:14-17).

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart." Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Cor 1:18-25).

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed (Gal 1:6-9).

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry (2 Tim 4:1-5).

 

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The Character of the Kingdom of God - Present and Future

Jesus did not hold that the coming of the kingdom was only a reality to be expected in the more or less near future, Moreover he also proclaimed it as the present fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy of salvation, manifested in his person and work. However, this does not mean that the statement "the kingdom of heaven has come" exhaust all that can be said. Jesus again and again speaks of the future of the kingdom of God, and that this future bears the character of the consummation and fulfillment of all things. This constitutes the startling point of Jesus' pronouncements concerning the presence of the kingdom and his messianic self-revelation. They claim the presence of the kingdom and of the Messiah, whereas the great moment of the consummation has not yet arrived.

Any attempt should be rejected which tries to divide the coming of the kingdom into separate parts. The kingdom of heaven appearing in the world with the coming of Christ, signifies no less than the end of prophecy (Matt 11:13; Luke 16:16), the binding of Satan (Matt 12:28), the wonderful and all-embracing redemption of life (Matt 11:5; Luke 4:18-19), the authority and power of the Son of Man (Mark 2:10), and the bliss of the poor in spirit (Matt 5:13). Any attempt to detract from this character either by the application of an ethicizing or a symbolizing reduction, or by detaching the present from the future, is a dissolution of the contents of the gospel of the kingdom. We should rather consider the characteristic and peculiar nature of Jesus' preaching to be his proclamation of the kingdom in its consummative, eschatological significance both as a present and as a future reality. The fulfillment is there, and yet the kingdom is still to come. The kingdom has come, and yet the fulfillment is in abeyance.

 

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Christ in the Old Testament

Q. How do we come to know that Christ came to make us right with God?

A. The holy gospel tells me. God himself began to reveal the gospel already in Paradise; later, he proclaimed it by the holy patriarchs and prophets, and portrayed it by the sacrifices and other ceremonies of the law; finally, he fulfilled it through his own dear Son.

 

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Christian Missions

This is how God showed his love: he sent his only begotten Son into the world, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

In order that people may be brought to faith, God mercifully sends proclaimers of this very joyful message to the people he wishes and at the time he wishes. By this ministry people are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. For how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without someone preaching? And how shall they preach unless they have been sent? (Rom. 10:14-15).

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Christianity vs. Evangelicalism

There is a huge difference between Christianity and much of Evangelicalism. Christianity defines the gospel as "Jesus Christ is God who assumed our flesh, lived a perfect life in our place under the law, fulfilled it perfectly, bore our debt for having broken the law, and then was raised the third day for our justification." The whole gospel is completely about Jesus Christ and everything contained in that gospel happened between the years 1 to 33 AD [sic]. That gospel was finished in 33 AD and then it was proclaimed and it is still being proclaimed to the ends of the earth.

The Evangelical version of that is: no, the gospel really is, not just includes, but the gospel really is Jesus in my heart; my being born-again (it is not that the gospel brings about my new-birth), but the gospel is my new-birth. And therefore, the gospel is my moral transformation.

Brothers and sisters, if you hold that second view there is no reason at all for you to criticize the Medieval [Roman Catholic] church because the doctrine of justification for the Medieval church was, "What happens inside of you. Your sanctification." This is what the whole Reformation was about, and why we need a second reformation.

 

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Church Discipline

The Church is in duty bound to guard its holiness by the exercise of proper discipline. The purpose of discipline in the Church is twofold. In the first place it seeks to carry into effect the law of Christ concerning the admission and exclusion of members; and in the second place it aims at promoting the spiritual edification of the members of the Church by securing their obedience to the laws of Christ. Both of these aims are subservient to a higher end, the maintenance of the holiness of the church of Jesus Christ. If there are diseased members, the Church will first of all seek to effect a cure, but if this proves impossible, it will put away the diseased member for the protection of the other members. While all the members of the Church are in duty bound to warn and admonish the wayward, only the officers of the Church can apply Church censures. The latter can deal with private sins only when these are brought to their attention according to the rule given in Matt. 18:15-17, but are in duty bound to deal with public sins even when no formal accusation is brought.

 

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Church Government

We believe that this true Church must be governed by the spiritual polity which our Lord has taught us in His Word; namely, that there must be ministers or pastors to preach the Word of God and to administer the sacraments; also elders and deacons, who, together with the pastors, form the council of the Church; that by these means the true religion may be preserved, and the true doctrine everywhere propagated, likewise transgressors punished and restrained by spiritual means; also that the poor and distressed may be relieved and comforted, according to their necessities. By these means everything will be carried on in the Church with good order and decency, when faithful men are chosen, according to the rule prescribed by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy.

 

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Church Growth According to Calvin

...the restoration of the church is the work of God, and no more depends on the hopes and opinions of men, than the resurrection of the dead, or any other miracle. Here, therefore, we are not to wait for facility of action, either from the will of men, or the temper of the times, but must rush forward through the midst of despair. It is the will of our Master that his gospel be preached. Let us obey his command, and follow whithersoever he calls. What the success will be it is not ours to inquire. Our only duty is to wish for what is best, and beseech it of the Lord in prayer; to strive with all zeal, solicitude, and diligence, to bring about the desired result, and at the same time to submit with patience to whatever that result may be. Groundless, therefore, is the charge brought against us of not having done all the good which we wished, and which was to be desired. God bids us plant and water. We have done so. He alone gives the increase. What, then, if he chooses not to give according to our wish? If it is clear that we have faithfully done our part, let not our adversaries require more of us: if the result is unfavorable, let them expostulate with God.

 

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The Church-Growth Movement

The church-growth movement is one of the church's most deliberate and important responses to the crisis of authority of faith in modern culture. (Other prominent but less laudable responses are the resort to the therapeutic revolution or to a politicized faith.)

To be sure, many church-growth advocates see the church's problem simply as a matter of out-of-date structures and out-of-touch communication, which can all be remedied easily. This naivete trivializes a crisis that is far more massive than they realize. But it is not surprising that when the church, and its ministers and preaching, are all widely perceived as "irrelevant" in the modern world, such a resort to new forms of authority and relevance appears justified as well as necessary.

 

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Church Membership

Church membership and adherence are regulated to the theological and institutional understanding of the church. Church membership has both spiritual and legal dimensions.

On the Protestant view, the church is the communion of saints instituted by the Holy Spirit. Church membership, then, is essentially being a part of the communion of saints. It begins with the work of the Holy Spirit, who brings one into this fellowship through the preaching of the Gospel. Baptism is incorporation into the body of Christ and the people of God. Participation in the gifts of the Eucharist (I can use Lord's Supper) confers fellowship with other church members in anticipation of perfected fellowship with God.

The legal aspect of church membership is connected to the spiritual-it confers both the rights and duties of this membership. The rules of the various churches differ on how membership is attained and how it ends, as well as how membership rights may be suspended. The rights include participation in worship and ministry and voting. Duties include participation in worship, rendering diaconal service, and giving financial support.

 

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The Churches of Galatia

There is some dispute as to which churches specifically Paul was addressing in his epistle to the Galatians. The region of "Galatia" in the first century generally referred to a more northern area, but there is no record of Paul explicitly traveling to that region, let alone establishing churches there. This is in contrast to the account of Paul visiting and founding churches in the more southern region containing the cities of Lystra, Derbe, Iconium and Pisidian Antioch, of which the term "Galatia" would have still been appropriate. Paul could have also been addressing the churches in the northern reaches of Galatia, but the evidence is more compelling that he was focusing his attention to those churches in Southern Galatia.

 

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The City of God vs. The City of Man

The earthly cities, taking their cue from the history of human rebellion from the fall to Babel to pagan Rome, know only power, not grace. They all belong to "the city of this world, a city which aims at dominion" and is itself dominated by a lust for power. Because of God's providential restraint, however, even this earthly city is capable of generating culture, civic morality and justice, as well as other essential characteristics of human community.

With this perspective, clearly distinguishing between the nature, goals, and methods of both kingdoms, Augustine was able to hold out optimism about what Christians could do in the fallen world around them while not confusing the heavenly kingdom and its earthly manifestation in the present (the Church) with the kingdoms of this world.

What a different approach this was from Jerome, Augustine's famous contemporary, who exclaimed, "What is to become of the Church now that Rome has fallen?" There was for Jerome a certain correspondence between Rome and the kingdom of God. Hadn't Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion?

Augustine said that even a "Christian" nation is still a kingdom under judgment, a kingdom of power and domination to be sharply distinguished from the kingdom of Christ and its progress through grace rather than glory.

Augustine's theological conviction at this point made him view sacked Rome as a mission field rather than a battlefield. Viewed in terms of the latter, one such as Jerome could only conclude that a devastating blow had been dealt to Christ's cause. But viewed from Augustine's perspective, God had brought the pagans to the missionaries!

 

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The Civil Magistrate

We believe that, because of the depravity of mankind, our gracious God has ordained kings, princes, and civil officers. He wants the world to be governed by laws and policies, in order that the licentiousness of men be restrained and that everything be conducted among them in good order. For that purpose He has placed the sword in the hand of the government to punish wrongdoers and to protect those who do what is good (Rom 13:4).

Moreover, everyone - no matter of what quality, condition, or rank - ought to be subject to the civil officers, pay taxes, hold them in honour and respect, and obey them in all things which do not disagree with the Word of God. We ought to pray for them, that God may direct them in all their ways and that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way (1 Tim 2:1, 2).

 

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The Communion of Saints

First, that believers, one and all, as members of the Lord Jesus Christ, are partakers with Him in all His treasures and gifts; second, that each one must feel himself bound to use his gifts readily and cheerfully for the advantage and welfare of other members.

All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by His Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with Him in His grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man.

 

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The Council of Trent

The nineteenth general council of the Catholic Church was held at Trent in several phases from 1545 to 1563. When the council opened in the northern Italian city of Trent, it was too late for a reconciliation between the various religious factions, although this was the reason there had been calls for a council since the 1520s.... The council, with a great sense of moderation, systematically adhered to the criterion of responding to the objections raised by the Protestants on each issue, constantly resisting the temptation to draw up a summary of Catholic theology on each of the subjects it dealt with.... While the Protestants were absent, various national and theological currents as well as striking differences of opinion gave rise to tensions that were difficult to resolve.

 

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Corinth

Corinth was located on the isthmus that connects the Peloponnese with the rest of Greece. Not only was it ideally situated to control north-south trade, but because the port of Lechaeum lay a mile and a half to the north (on the Gulfof Corinth) and Cenchreae (Rom. 16:1) was just over seven miles to the east on the Saronic Gulf, it also provided an indispensable land link between east and west.

The wealthy and ancient city of Corinth was utterly destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C., and its citizens were killed or sold into slavery. Roman might ensured that the prohibition against rebuilding it was respected. Nevertheless, a century later Julius Caesar founded the city afresh, this time as a Roman colony, and from 29 B.C. on, it served as the seat o a proconsul and the capital of the senatorial province of Achaia. The new city was populated by people from various parts of the empire, doubtless not a few of them retired soldiers. According to Strabo, many were freedmen from Rome, whose status was only a cut above slaves. Jews were certainly included in the new citizenry (a broken inscription of uncertain date, with the words "Synagogue of the Hebrews," has been discovered, confirming Acts 18:4). Some Greeks were also residents of the new Corinth, perhaps large numbers of them; but the Romans dominated the scene with their laws, culture, and religion. Much of the empire had been thoroughly Hellenized, however, so not only was the lingua franca Greek but doubtless many ties-religious, philosophical, and cultural-were quickly reestablished with the rest of the Greek peninsula. From Asia and Egypt came various mystery cults. Because there was no landed aristocracy in the new Corinth, there arose an aristocracy of wealth. Inevitably, the poor were correspondingly despised or ignored (see 1 Cor. 11:17-22).

 

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The Covenant of Grace in the Old and New Testaments

Question 34: How was the covenant of grace administered under the Old Testament?
Answer: The covenant of grace was administered under the Old Testament, by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover, and other types and ordinances, which did all foresignify Christ then to come, and were for that time sufficient to build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they then had full remission of sin, and eternal salvation.

Question 35: How is the covenant of grace administered under the New Testament?
Answer: Under the New Testament, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the same covenant of grace was and still is to be administered in the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper; in which grace and salvation are held forth in more fulness, evidence, and efficacy, to all nations.

Question 36: Who is the Mediator of the covenant of grace?
Answer: The only Mediator of the covenant of grace is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, of one substance and equal with the Father, in the fulness of time became man, and so was and continues to be God and man, in two entire distinct natures, and one person, forever.

 

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Creeds and Confessions

A creed is a confession of faith; put into concise form, endowed with authority, and intended for general use in religious rites, a creed summarizes the essential beliefs of a particular religion. According to this definition, there are three Christian creeds: the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Athanasian.

The Protestant confessions of the Reformation era were intended to restore to the church its true image and identity, which, it was widely agreed, had been obscured by the abuses of the later Middle Ages. The heart of the Reformation creeds is the rediscovery of the Gospel as, in Luther's memorable phrase, "the real treasure of the church." The church, Luther held, is the creation of the gospel; it is the word of God in Jesus Christ that makes the church the church.

Lutheran Confessions
The Book of Concord containing: Luther's Large and Small Catechisms, the Augsburg Confession, Melanchthon's Apology for the Augsburg Confession, Luther's Smalcald Articles, Melanchthon's Treatise on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, and the Formula of Concord.

Reformed Confessions
The Westminster Standards containing: The Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger Catechism, and the Smaller Catechism. (Primarily used in Presbyterian Churches)

The Three Forms of Unity containing: The Belgic Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of the Synod of Dort. (Primarily used in Reformed Churches)

Reformed Baptist Confession
The London Baptist Confession of 1689