WSC Q&A #39

Q: What is the duty which God requires of man?
A: The duty which God requires of man is obedience to his revealed will.
Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

I really appreciate the verse for this week. It seems that many, many times, we as Christians spend a lot of time pondering the "secret things of God". What does God have in store for my life? What am I "called" to do? Where should I go, what should I be, all these questions that Christians and non-Christians ask constantly. But the plain and simple fact is, we can only answer these questions in light of God's revealed will. And where is his will revealed? It is not revealed in some subjective impression or feeling that we may get. Statements like "I feel like God is telling me..." for example, are not a good guide for living our lives. It is not revealed in some special, secret revelation that God gives you. No, rather, God's revealed will is found in his Word. Deuteronomy 29:29 makes that clear, "but the things that are revealed belong to us...that we may do all the words of this law". God has revealed all we need to know concerning how to live lives in obedience to him, and it is found in his revealed, holy Word.

Now I realize this may seem like a cop-out, or at least it may seem like none of the questions we deem as "the big questions of life" are truly answered here. The Bible doesn't tell you whether or not to take that job offer. It doesn't tell you who to marry. It doesn't tell you where to go to college. But what it does tell you is how to live a life that is obedient to God. It tells you how to glorify and obey God in all walks of life, in all decision making, in all questions of calling and purpose, and this is what should consume our minds. "The secret things belong to the Lord our God". Can we trust God with them? Can we let God be God and trust that he has revealed all that we need to know? Can we trust that "the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law"? This is what God requires of us. He requires obedience to his revealed will. He does not require that we solve or figure out the secret things that belong to him, even as it concerns our own lives. Rather, he requires that we submit to and obey what he has revealed in his holy Word. When we strive to do this, when we strive to obey and submit to what God has revealed in his Word, then and only then are we truly living up to our calling as followers of Christ. Then, and only then, are we living up to the duty which God requires of us.

WSC Q&A #38

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 judgement, and made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

We got into this a little bit with the last blog post when I reminded us that the final and great hope for the Christian is the bodily resurrection. This is because, again, mankind was not created to be merely a spiritual being, but rather, we were created to be spiritual and physical creatures. Or, to quote Leslie Newbigin, "The human person is not a mind attached to a body, but a single psychosomatic being." And, as last week's scripture reference reminds us, it is not only the elect who can expect a bodily resurrection, but also the reprobate. "An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgement." (Jn 5:28-29)

This resurrection of the body is what this week's catechism is about. Believers in Jesus Christ will be raised up in glory and remarkably, before the great judgement seat of God himself, will be declared finally and wholly righteous before the just and holy God. But notice the full circle the catechism makes. Remember back to question 1 of the catechism, "What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever." The catechism here has that chief end in mind when it says that believers shall be "made perfectly blessed in the full enjoying of God to all eternity". On the final day, when God recreates the heavens and the earth, when God gives us new, glorified, perfected, resurrected bodies, then will we finally and perfectly experience that which we were created to do. Then we will finally know what it means to glorify and enjoy God perfectly, without the burden of sin laid upon our backs, forever!

 

WSC Q&A #37

Q: What benefits do believers receive from Christ at death?
A: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory; and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves until the resurrection.
John 5:28-29: Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Many of you know that in April of 2014, my beloved brother Peter was suddenly and unexpectedly called home to glory. At his funeral, Dr Michael Rogers at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster preached a sermon entitled, "With Jesus Forever". Drawing from the narrative of the thief on the cross in Luke 23 and 2 Corinthians 5:8 where Paul speaks of his desire to be away from the body and present with the Lord, Dr. Rogers reminded the 500 or so people in attendance at the funeral of the great reality which my brother is experiencing now. The great reality of being a perfected soul in the presence of Jesus Christ. This is a reality that my brother talked about often, and is the hope upon death for all believers.

I can't help but wonder why we speculate beyond this concerning what happens to a believer upon death. There are so many misconceptions, especially among Christians, as to what the Bible says concerning this matter. After my brother died, many Christians would talk to me as if my brother was "an angel", in particular, a "guardian angel" who is with me and watching over me. I'm sure this was meant to comfort me, but it is simply not reality. Where does this idea come from? A believer, upon death, does NOT become an angel. Angels are their own created beings. They are not human. They are not the souls of humans who died. Humans who die do not transform into angels. There is nothing that would even suggest that humans, upon death, transform into an entirely different species of created being, such as an angel. We become perfected souls in the presence of Jesus Christ (this is particularly seen in Hebrews 12 when the author is describing the inhabitants of the heavenly Jerusalem and the author mentions "the spirits of the righteous made perfect"). So let's put to rest this talk about so-and-so dying and becoming your guardian angel. When people die, they remain human. When believing humans die, they become perfected souls, free from the burdens of the sinful flesh, and enter into the presence of Jesus Christ. Yes, in the presence of Christ. Not in my presence, not hovering around loved ones invisibly, watching over and guarding us. In the presence of Jesus Christ! Let us not cheapen the reality of the loved ones who die in the Lord. They are with their Lord and Saviour, and that is far better a reality than anything the human imagination will ever dream up.

And yet, that is not as good as it gets. Our hope is not JUST in becoming a perfected soul. Notice the catechism here speaks about our bodies. The writers of the Shorter Catechism realized something very important about mankind. We are not merely souls trapped in a sinful body, but rather, mankind is an embodied entity. We are soul AND body, and while at death the two may be temporarily disunited (although I believe the authors are right to speak of the body as still being united to Christ), on the last day when Christ comes in glory, we will be reunited with our new resurrected and glorified bodies. The hope of the Christian is not to spend eternity in Heaven floating around as spirits. Rather, it is that we will exist for all of eternity in resurrection bodies, inhabiting the New Earth!

This is what the Apostle's Creed means when it says, "I believe...in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting". That statement is not about Christ's resurrection, as some have supposed (and which the creed confesses earlier), but rather, it's about OUR resurrection! And all of this is the great hope of the Christian. The resurrection of the body, the life everlasting, and WITH JESUS FOREVER.

WSC Q&A #36

Q: What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?
A: The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption and sanctification, are, assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.
Romans 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

I wonder how often we reflect on the benefits we receive right here and right now from our salvation. We so often reflect on our great, future hope as Christians. And it is a great, future hope that we have! It's unimaginable. But perhaps we do this while neglecting the present reality.

I would encourage us all to reflect more on the benefits of our present reality. Bask in the wonders of being brought into communion with the Holy, Triune God. Marvel at what it means to be able to call God, "Abba Father". Reflect upon his graces and mercies that are daily poured out upon you. Delight in being able to call Jesus Christ, "brother". Rest in knowing that it is Christ's righteousness that is counted onto you. Know that Christ's work on your behalf is a finished work, and that the face of God will never, in this life, be turned away from you. See the work of the Holy Spirit in your life as he conforms and transforms you into the likeness of Jesus Christ daily, and take joy in knowing that the hand of God will hold you fast until the day of Christ's return, when the Spirit's work will be completed in you!

 

WSC Q&A #35

Q: What is sanctification?
A: Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed into the whole man after the image of God, and are enabled more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness.
Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 

Election, justification, and adoption are what many focus on when it comes to salvation. But what of sanctification? For a long time, the church, especially in our cultural context here in America, didn't say much about it. Salvation was reduced to a single moment when you said the "sinner's prayer", responded to an altar call, or "asked Jesus into my heart", and that was it. Very little was mentioned concerning this process of being renewed and being made into new creations, and certainly the idea of striving to live holy lives in accordance to the law of God was rarely mentioned for fear that we would be accused of believing a works-based salvation, or worse yet, be labeled "legalistic".  Everything seemed to be focused on making sure that after you die, you go to the right place. Not that that doesn't matter. It matters immensely! But it is not the whole of what it means to be saved, and we really short change the work of the Holy Spirit by not talking about the work of sanctification. 

Perhaps part of the neglect of sanctification comes from the difficulty that can come with the subject. We have these indicatives and these imperatives in Scripture concerning sanctification, and it can be complex and confusing. In other words, there's a balance in the Word of God between what God has already done for us in the person of Jesus Christ, in the work of the Holy Spirit in giving us the new birth and new hearts, the great grace-filled promises of Scripture concerning our salvation and holiness (these are the indicatives), but then we have all these commands about how to live, about how we are, as new creatures in Christ, to keep the law of God and how God's law becomes a joy instead of a burden, to keep his commands, to obey God's rules (these are the imperatives). For a long time I struggled with sanctification. Is it a work of the Holy Spirit, or must I do something? Must I participate in that work? The answer is yes and yes! 

I realize I just answered nothing and added no clarity to this. The catechism is quite helpful in understanding this tension between the indicatives and the imperatives. "Sanctification is the work of God's free grace, whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God". This is the indicative of sanctification. But notice what the catechism goes on to say. It says  that sanctification enables us to "more and more to die unto sin, and live unto righteousness". To die unto sin and live unto righteousness are imperatives. The Scripture is littered with commands to God's people to live righteous and upright lives. But, the catechism clearly shows us that our ability, and even our desires to do so, are dependent upon what God has already done for and in us. The catechism makes this clear. The work of God's free grace in sanctification ENABLES us more and more to "die unto sin, and live unto righteousness". This week's verse in Ezekiel also makes this clear, "I will put my Spirit within you, AND CAUSE you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules."

Sanctification is a process, and it is a process that will be seen in one who is truly elected, justified, and adopted. Sanctification is not an optional ad-on feature. The reality for those who are united to Christ by faith is that we are being sanctified as the Spirit does this mighty work in us of renewing our whole selves, conforming us to the image of Jesus Christ. It will look different in everyone's lives. We will be at different stages in this process of sanctification, and there may even be moments when the process of sanctification is hard to see, but for those who are in Christ Jesus, it is a work of the Holy Spirit that is definitely taking place. Ultimately, this work of transformation will be completed on the final day when Christ appears in glory and even our flesh, our human bodies, will be completely renewed as we are given new, resurrection bodies. But until that day, we must persevere, be encouraged and empowered by the indicatives of Scripture, lean upon the grace of our Heavenly Father, rely fully upon the work of Jesus Christ on our behalf,  and strive whole-heartily by the power of the Holy Spirit as he works in and through us to keep the imperatives of God's Word to the glory and honor of our great and holy God.