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The Riches of His Glorious Inheritance in the Saints Week 8

The Riches of His Glorious Inheritance in the Saints Week 8. Westminster Larger Catechism Q57-89. Where are we going?. Our theme for the next several weeks:.

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The Riches of His Glorious Inheritance in the Saints Week 8

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  1. The Riches of His Glorious Inheritance in the SaintsWeek 8 Westminster Larger Catechism Q57-89

  2. Where are we going?

  3. Our theme for the next several weeks: “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe,…” (Eph 1:15-19)

  4. The WLC Begins with the End FOUNDATION BRIDGE TO THE REST BIBLICAL PATTERN: BELIEVE DO

  5. What did Christ procure? How is it applied? REDEMPTION HOLY SPIRIT But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12, ESV) The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8, ESV)

  6. Who are the recipients of these benefits? Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:35-40, ESV)

  7. Can someone receive redemption through their sincerity? This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:11-12, ESV) JESUS Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6, ESV) For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. (Ephesians 5:23, ESV)

  8. What is the visible church? What are the benefits? A visible, organized, society assumed to exist in the NT • “… tell it to the church….” (Matthew 18:15-17, ESV) • Obey your leaders and submit to them,… (Hebrews 13:17, ESV) • “… not neglecting to meet together, …” (Hebrews 10:23-25, ESV) • This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— (Titus 1:5, ESV) • The ordained means for God to dispense His grace • Proclamation of His word • Administration of the sacraments • Overseeing the membership So, all I need to do is join a church?

  9. What is the invisible church? • the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the head This could represent ALL of time and history. This could represent a snapshot in time. SIZE of CIRCLES NOT TO SCALE!!

  10. Q. 65. What special benefits do the members of the invisible church enjoy by Christ?A. The members of the invisible church by Christ enjoy union and communion with him in grace and glory. This question serves as a GATEWAY or OUTLINE to the following questions in the catechism …. What is union with Christ? What is communion with Him? What does that look like now? What will it look like in glory?

  11. An EFFECTUAL call… And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30, ESV) predestined foreknew glorified called justified The “golden chain” of redemption

  12. Are the elect only effectually called? Vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor… • Romans 9 • “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.”

  13. Q. 69. What is the communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ?A. The communion in grace which the members of the invisible church have with Christ, is their partaking of the virtue of his mediation, in their justification, adoption, sanctification, and whatever else, in this life, manifests their union with him. Justification Virtue of Christ’sMediation Adoption Sanctification Whatever Else

  14. How can the sinner go free? • What if the Judge would let the guilty go free? • What if someone who is not guilty would go to prison or be executed in their place? • Why would that not be acceptable? Manson Capone Kaczynski Andrew Kehoe Tom Horn Gacy Lanza Bundy Jones McVeigh

  15. Q. 70. What is justification?A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight; not for anything wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received by faith alone. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV) Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19, ESV)

  16. The Great Exchange Righteousness Christ Sinners (HisPeople) Sin/Guilt IMPUTATION By FAITH ALONE (Sola Fide)

  17. Q. 71. How is justification an act of God’s free grace?A. Although Christ, by his obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice in the behalf of them that are justified; yet inasmuch as God accepteth the satisfaction from a surety, which he might have demanded of them, and did provide this surety, his own only Son, imputing his righteousness to them, and requiring nothing of them for their justification but faith, which also is his gift, their justification is to them of free grace.

  18. The Logic of Calvin (Institutes) • To save us from judgment, the Son became flesh and merited our salvation (2.15 – 17) • Thus, the righteousness by which we are saved is alien to us (3.11.2, etc.) • Yet Christ must not only be given for us; he must be given to us (3.1.1) • We are not only recipients of Christ’s gifts but of Christ himself with his gifts (3.1.1; 3.1.4; 3.2.24; 4.17.11)

  19. QUESTIONS? • COMMENTS? • OBJECTIONS? • MUSINGS?

  20. Q. 72. What is justifying faith?A. Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assentethto the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receiveth and resteth upon Christ and his righteousness, therein held forth, for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation.

  21. Q. 73. How doth faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?A. Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which do always accompany it, or of good works that are the fruits of it, nor as if the grace of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification; but only as it is an instrument by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness.

  22. What are the components of faith?

  23. EXAMPLE: Jews, Pharisees & Sadducees You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about methat the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:33-40, ESV)

  24. EXAMPLE: Rich Young Ruler And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.” When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! (Luke 18:18-24, ESV)

  25. EXAMPLE: Zacchaeus And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. (Luke 19:2-9, ESV)

  26. Is faith the one work that we do to be saved? What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:1-8, ESV)

  27. What is the connection between faith and works? What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:18-26, ESV)

  28. Other questions about faith: • How much truth is enough to believe? • WLC 72 suggests 4 things: our sinful condition; our misery; our inability to save ourselves; the inability of any other creature to save us; the sufficiency of Christ and His righteousness to save us • Heidelberg Catechism points to the Apostles Creed • Does faith have to be ‘perfect’ to be justifying? • Example: the disciples… “O ye of little faith!...” (Mt 6:30; 8:26; 14:31; 16:8; 17:20; Lk 12:28) • Of the brother with weaker faith Paul says: “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. (Romans 14:1-3 ESV) • What is the connection between faith and reason? • Is our faith an implicit faith? Just believe because the church, the pastor or whoever says so…? This was one of the errors of the church that the reformers wanted to correct – ours is not to be implicit faith just because the church or bishop or pope says so. • Faith is based on historical events, doctrinal claims that can be rationally evaluated.

  29. How is your faith exhibited? • Has God called you to slay giants, to cross seas on dry ground, etc.? • How is our obedience of faith demonstrated? • Ordinary obedience – attending to God’s word; managing your money in a way that is consistent with faith; training your children in the Lord’s nurture and admonition. • As Larry Burkett (former host of Money Matters) used to say: “Do really trust God; or do you just say you trust God?” • More???

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