Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #7

Q: What are the decrees of God?
A: The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. 
Ephesians 1:11-12: In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 

I want to be cautious here. This week's question and answer sets our minds spinning, and we can often times feel overwhelmed by what it means to confess that God foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. Everything. Everything that has ever happened or will ever happen is ordained by God and part of his eternal decree. Not just the "good stuff", but also the terrible things are part of God's eternal decrees. This notion shakes us to the bones. It rattles us to the core of who we are. The implications of this idea are huge, and we can't help but go to the extremes. We can't help but think, "Is God, then, the author of sin?" Or perhaps we ask, "Is there no such thing as free will?" The Bible must be our guide on this. We know from the Word of God that God is not the author of sin, and we know that free will is very much real. But it baffles our minds on how all of this can work and be true. The Westminster Divines were no doubt baffled by this mystery as well. But they worked with  the understanding that there are two worlds at play here. They believed that there was a very clear distinction between the Creator and the creation. The creation (you and me) work with a very finite understanding of reality. The Creator, on the other hand, is infinite. It's a wonderful thing for the finite to be overwhelmed in exploring the decrees of the Infinite, but we must always keep this distinction between Creator and creation in mind, lest we go too far in trying to explain God that we end up falling into serious error.

If we can, however, move past the great mystery of this truth and accept it as fact, then I do believe there is great comfort in this. I was once asked by a coworker who lost her eight year old daughter, "Do you think God ordained for my daughter to die?" She was a Christian who was struggling with this very idea about the decrees of God. I was unprepared to answer that question in the moment, but I have spent years reflecting on that question. The question haunted me as I faced my brother's death last April. Did God truly ordain this to happen? Here, then, is the conclusion to which I came, based on the Word of God. If God did not ordain all things, then we are working with a God who is simply reacting to the ways of the world. He is not a proactive God, but rather, a reactive one, simply doing damage control. But, if God truly does ordain all that has and will happen, then we know that truly, God is in control of all things. We know that truly, God is working all things according to the counsel of his will, and for the good of those who love him. We know that God is not surprised by anything that happens, nor is he simply reacting to circumstances or man's decisions. And, we know that all that comes to pass is for the glory of God. I find no comfort or peace in the idea of a reactive God. God is not some kind of cosmic "first responder", being called on the scene to minimize the damage and effect of a fallen world. I do find, however, great comfort in a God who, having proven himself trustworthy, ordains and sets all things into motion, who is working all things for his glory, and is working all things for the good of his people. 

Brothers and sisters, this is not a cheap, theological meandering. This idea strikes at the heart of who we believe God is. But lest any of us think that God is heartless, if any of us dare ask how God could be loving and yet ordain such pain and agony in our lives, let us remember this. God, in his eternal wisdom and counsel, did not spare himself from the greatest of all suffering. We need only to look to the cross of Christ to see that this is true. And just as God proved himself faithful to his Son as his eternal decrees were carried out on the cross, despite the tremendous amount of pain and suffering Christ endured (more suffering than even the worst sinner in Hell will ever experience), we can know that God has, and will, continue to prove himself faithful to us as his decrees are being worked out in this world. He will hold us fast. As the answer to the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism says, "He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven". This God, this all powerful, fully sovereign God, is who loves us, holds us in his hands, and who is working all things for our salvation.
 

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #6

Q: How many persons are there in the Godhead?
A: There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. 
Matthew 28:19: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit 

How confused we can become about the mystery of the Trinity! We professed last week to be firmly grounded upon the idea that there is "but One only, the living and true God", and now we're talking about three persons, one God, and it's enough to make our heads spin. Is it any wonder that the other monotheistic religions often accuse Christianity of worshiping more than one God? The Christian Church has been clear though: We believe the Bible reveals one God in three persons. 

What does that mean, to worship and confess one God in three persons? People throughout the centuries have made attempts at explaining the mystery of the Trinity. They've used analogies that have, for the most part, come up short. Some throughout the history of the Church have gone so far in attempting to explain the triune nature of God that they've ended up abandoning Biblical truth. For example, some believe that God simply plays three different roles, or manifests himself in three different modes, at different times (the Modalist heresy). But this heresy denies what the Bible reveals: that there are three distinct persons in the Godhead, not simply three roles that God plays. We see this most clearly at the baptism of Jesus where we hear the audible voice of God, we see the Son being baptized, and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove. Others attempt to describe the Trinity by saying that the three persons of the Godhead are simply components of God (the Partialist heresy). The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, they say, are each only part of God, but neither is fully God in and of themselves. Only together do they form the one true God. This heresy denies what Scripture plainly teaches, that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all fully and equally divine in their person. 

Despite the many errors and heresies that have popped up over the centuries in attempts to explain the tri-unity of God, the Church has indeed produced some helpful and biblical documents to help us understand the mystery of the Trinity. One of these documents is the Athanasian Creed. This creed is universally accepted by Christians as a concise statement of what the Bible teaches concerning the triune nature of God, and I hope that it will help us all to understand this great mystery a little more clearly so that we may worship the one living and true God more completely!

The Athanasian Creed: 

Whoever desires to be saved should above all hold to the catholic faith*.

Anyone who does not keep it whole and unbroken will doubtless perish eternally.

Now this is the catholic faith:

    That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity,
    neither blending their persons
    nor dividing their essence.
        For the person of the Father is a distinct person,
        the person of the Son is another,
        and that of the Holy Spirit still another.
        But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one,
        their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.

    What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
        The Father is uncreated,
        the Son is uncreated,
        the Holy Spirit is uncreated.

        The Father is immeasurable,
        the Son is immeasurable,
        the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.

        The Father is eternal,
        the Son is eternal,
        the Holy Spirit is eternal.

            And yet there are not three eternal beings;
            there is but one eternal being.
            So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings;
            there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.

    Similarly, the Father is almighty,
        the Son is almighty,
        the Holy Spirit is almighty.
            Yet there are not three almighty beings;
            there is but one almighty being.

        Thus the Father is God,
        the Son is God,
        the Holy Spirit is God.
            Yet there are not three gods;
            there is but one God.

        Thus the Father is Lord,
        the Son is Lord,
        the Holy Spirit is Lord.
            Yet there are not three lords;
            there is but one Lord.

    Just as Christian truth compels us
    to confess each person individually
    as both God and Lord,
    so catholic religion forbids us
    to say that there are three gods or lords.

    The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone.
    The Son was neither made nor created;
    he was begotten from the Father alone.
    The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten;
    he proceeds from the Father and the Son.

    Accordingly there is one Father, not three fathers;
    there is one Son, not three sons;
    there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.

    Nothing in this trinity is before or after,
    nothing is greater or smaller;
    in their entirety the three persons
    are coeternal and coequal with each other.

    So in everything, as was said earlier,
    we must worship their trinity in their unity
    and their unity in their trinity.

Anyone then who desires to be saved
should think thus about the trinity.

But it is necessary for eternal salvation
that one also believe in the incarnation
of our Lord Jesus Christ faithfully.

Now this is the true faith:

    That we believe and confess
    that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
    is both God and human, equally.

     He is God from the essence of the Father,
    begotten before time;
    and he is human from the essence of his mother,
    born in time;
    completely God, completely human,
    with a rational soul and human flesh;
    equal to the Father as regards divinity,
    less than the Father as regards humanity.

    Although he is God and human,
    yet Christ is not two, but one.
    He is one, however,
    not by his divinity being turned into flesh,
    but by God's taking humanity to himself.
    He is one,
    certainly not by the blending of his essence,
    but by the unity of his person.
    For just as one human is both rational soul and flesh,
    so too the one Christ is both God and human.

    He suffered for our salvation;
    he descended to hell;
    he arose from the dead;
    he ascended to heaven;
    he is seated at the Father's right hand;
    from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.
    At his coming all people will arise bodily
    and give an accounting of their own deeds.
    Those who have done good will enter eternal life,
    and those who have done evil will enter eternal fire.

This is the catholic faith:
one cannot be saved without believing it firmly and faithfully.

*(The word catholic with a lowercase "c" means "universal" and refers to the true Christian church of all times and all places throughout history, which belongs to Christ alone.)

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #5

Q: Are there more Gods than one? 
A: There is but One only, the living and true God. 
Isaiah 44:6: Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. 

Monotheism isn't unique to Christianity. Islam teaches that there is one God, Judaism teaches that there is one God. And while these religions have a perverted, limited, and downright wrong doctrine of the one, true God, it gives us a starting point in any conversation we engage in with a Muslim or Jew. But even beyond these religions, the Western world generally accepts this notion as well. When was the last time we heard a skeptic say, "Well, if there are Gods", or an atheist say, "I don't believe in the existence of Gods". Western society simply doesn't talk about God plurally. Not yet, anyway. It is a presupposition in our culture that as we discuss the existence and nature of God, we are talking about one God. However, in the undercurrents of the American way of life, and certainly in the mainstream spirituality of our culture, we can see that society is far from being monotheistic. In fact, for all practical purposes, our culture is essentially polytheistic.

As followers of the one, true, living God, we have to ask ourselves this question. Are we living in a way that is truly monotheistic? We may reject polytheism on the surface. We may reject the modern, pop-spirituality that we see around us, but are we fleshing this out? Are we living our lives in a way that brings glory and honor to the one true God, or, are we too, for all practical purposes, essentially polytheists? Let's be honest with ourselves. We worship many things as gods. As Calvin said, man's heart is an idol factory, and the Church is not immune to this reality. We worship ourselves, money, careers, success, status among other men, our material possessions, even our loved ones become objects of worship. And we shower our praise, adoration, and affections on these other gods. Not only do we worship them, we go as far as to put our faith in them. We trust these gods with our safety and security. We look to them for a sense of peace. We look to them for guidance and wisdom. You see, when we do this, when we worship these things as gods, not only do we steal from God the worship that only he deserves, we undermine the very foundation of the Christian faith! We do not live out our belief that there is one God, he is "the first and the last", apart from him there are no other gods. 

This realization about ourselves is painful, and it is ongoing. None of us will be free from idolatry until we are in Glory. But brothers and sisters, we must make every effort to break free from our polytheism. We know there is no hope, comfort, security, wisdom, or peace that comes from these other gods. We know that only in the one, true, living God do we find our eternal joy!  Let us pray every day that God, through the working of the Holy Spirit in us, would show us our idols so that we may repent and worship him alone! Let us pray that God would be, as CS Lewis put it, the great "iconoclast" in our hearts so that we would truly testify, both in our words and deeds, that he alone is God, and is worthy of our worship! 

 

Jesus Conquers For Us (Mark 1:12-15)

What is the main point of this sermon/passage? I hope that is a question you learn to ask every time you listen to a sermon. As a reminder, the main point this past Sunday was that Jesus, God’s anointed King, was sent by God to conquer our enemy by obeying in our place. He then invites us into his kingdom if we will repent and believe in the good news. 

Here is another question that I hope entered into your mind as you listened on Sunday:

Was Jesus Alone in the Wilderness?

I believe the answer to that question is yes and no. I emphasized the yes Sunday night to help us understand that Jesus’ tempting by Satan in the wilderness involved real suffering in a real battle with a real enemy. Jesus had no human friend with him to help him. He can identify with us in our temptations and our loneliness.

At the same time, Jesus was not alone. At this point Jesus still enjoyed perfect fellowship within the Trinity, and it was the Spirit who led him into the wilderness. But the text also tells us that the angels were ministering to him. The angels were with Jesus and were ministering to him throughout his time in the wilderness. This was another sign of God’s love and favor toward his Son. God the Father sent his angels to care for his beloved Son. Jesus remained sinless and had pleased the Father by obeying in our place.

This is a great encouragement to us. First, because Jesus did what we could not do. He obeyed where we sin, he succeeded where we fail, he conquered our greatest enemy, Satan. But the fact that the angels ministered to Jesus should also encourage us because the angels also minister to us today. The writer of Hebrews, speaking of angels, writes in Hebrews 1:14, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” 

Beloved, God is with you today. He gave his own Son to live, die, and rise again in your place. And he has created supernatural beings to minister to you as you strive to glorify God in all you do while you look forward to Jesus coming again.

Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A #4

Q: What is God?
A: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. 
John 4:24: God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

It is strange to me that the authors of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the shorter and larger catechisms have been criticized over the past 400 years for trying to "define" God. Dr. Sinclair Ferguson has said that the statements made within this section of the confession and catechisms are clear statements of Biblical orthodoxy which no true Christian can contest. Yet, many Christians have taken up issue. They feel as if the Westminster Divines have tried to make the infinite into a finite being that we can understand. That certainly was not their intention, though, and that is seen clearly in the fact that the Westminster Confession of Faith also says that God is "incomprehensible" (Chapter II). Rather, what the authors of the confession and catechisms have done is simply summarized what the Bible has revealed God to be. And it is in no way a complete list of his glorious attributes! 

But the importance of this question, I believe, is related to last week's question concerning what the Scriptures principally teach. The Bible overflows with revelations about God's character and nature, and as we pour over the pages of Scripture, our hearts and minds should overflow with love and affection for our great God. 

It is Jesus himself who defines God as spirit, and he himself  gives the command to worship him in spirit and truth. We should give some consideration to what it means to worship God in spirit and truth. For that, I leave you with the words of Pastor John Piper:

Worship must be vital and real in the heart, and worship must rest on a true perception of God. There must be spirit and there must be truth. . . . Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half-full) of artificial admirers . . . . On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship."